The game of power begins with the police officers at the local police station.

Chen Shi arrived at the Education Bureau in the morning. Xu Mengmeng was cleaning the office. Chen Shi noticed that Xu Mengmeng's belly was getting bigger every day and asked, "Director Xu, how many months pregnant are you?"

Xu Mengmeng smiled and said, "More than four months."

"Do you need to apply for maternity leave in advance? I'll approve a few more months for you."

"Thank you for your care, Director Chen. I took maternity leave early because I was bored at home. The doctor advised me to move around properly and not stay at home all the time, as it is not good for the fetus's development."

I want to wait until I'm eight months pregnant before taking maternity leave.

"From now on, other staff from the Party and Government Office will be responsible for cleaning the office. Don't overwork yourself. If you feel unwell, please ask for leave and go home to rest."

"Thank you for your concern, Director Chen. I will be careful."

Xu Mengmeng filled Chen Shi's thermos with water, and seeing that Chen Shi had no further instructions, she left the office.

Chen Shi started working. Around 10 o'clock, his phone rang. He picked it up and saw that it was Wan Xirong, the chairman of Donghai Zhencheng Group, calling.

"Chairman Wan"

"Director Chen, congratulations on your promotion! Please take good care of me in the future."

"Being a candidate doesn't guarantee you'll be elected."

"Director Chen, you're too modest. You're the only candidate for executive deputy county head; there won't be any changes."

Wan Xirong changed the subject: "Director Chen, now that you've been promoted, you need to settle the remaining payments for our projects. It will be difficult to collect these payments after you leave the Education Bureau."

After the New Year, Chen Shi was busy running for executive deputy county head and didn't pay attention to the final payment from Donghai Zhencheng Group: "How much is left in the project payment?"

"Three hundred million"

"Chairman Wan, please wait a moment. I've assigned this matter to Director Huang. Let me check with him to see what's going on."

"Thank you, Director Chen."

After hanging up the phone, Chen Shi called Huang Ming.

Director Chen

"Director Huang, come to my office for a moment."

Huang Ming put down the landline and hurried to Chen Shi's office.

"Director Chen, you wanted to see me?"

Chen Shi stood up and the two sat down in the reception room.

Chen Shi poured Huang Ming a glass of warm water: "Director Huang, Wan Xirong called me earlier, saying there's still a 300 million yuan project payment outstanding. What's the specifics?"

Huang Ming took a sip of water and put down his cup. "Director Chen, I wanted to report this to you earlier, but I didn't because I saw you were busy. We're waiting for the remaining 300 million yuan from the Donghai Chengzhen Group project, and another 300 million yuan is still pending from the education special fund support project. I've been following up on it, and every time I ask them, they say it'll be ready soon and tell us to wait."

Two or three months passed, and the funds still hadn't arrived.

"The funding should have come through in March, but it's already June. I'll check with Director Zhao later to see if there's any progress."

Huang Ming added, "It's been delayed by three months, and I don't know why the Education Department is so slow to allocate funds."

Chen Shi looked at Huang Ming: "The election is next month. When I leave the Education Bureau, I will recommend you to Secretary Zhang to take over as the director of the Education Bureau. We need to centralize basic education and implement this throughout the county in 2015. This is the last thing I will do in my term. Please help me finish it."

Huang Ming said sincerely, "Thank you for your guidance, Director Chen. I will complete the work of centralized school management in basic education."

Chen Shi nodded: "I've thought about it. Principal He Chunsheng and Vice Principal Hou Weigui of No. 7 Middle School have a long-standing feud. After I leave the Education Bureau, you can transfer Hou Weigui away."

Huang Ming seemed to want to say something, but hesitated and stopped.

"What is it? Just say it."

Huang Ming thought for a moment and said, "Director Chen, the Education Bureau needs stability right now, so there are many things we haven't reported to you."

When He Chunsheng became the principal, he was ambitious and eager for quick results. In order to improve the grades, he only allowed the first-year high school students to sleep for five or six hours a day. They had to get up at five o'clock in the morning and have morning self-study at five-twenty. There were three periods of morning self-study: from five-twenty to six o'clock, from six-tenths to seven o'clock, and from seven-tenths to eight o'clock, after which the formal classes would begin.

Evening self-study ends at 11 p.m., which is too much for many students' health. Parents complained to the Education Bureau, but I suppressed the issue and talked to Principal He Chunsheng, asking him to reschedule morning self-study at 6:30 p.m. and evening self-study until 10 p.m., so that students could get more rest.

He disagreed, saying that the students at No. 7 Middle School had a weak foundation and needed time to make up for it. He also argued that the Education Bureau was interfering in the daily teaching at No. 7 Middle School, so he resigned voluntarily.

Chen Shi asked, "How are the students at No. 7 Middle School?"

"Many students couldn't handle it and applied for a leave of absence. Several students, who were physically weak, fainted and were sent to the hospital during morning self-study."

The parents complained to the education bureau, received compensation, and only then did they stop making a scene.

"How are the results at No. 7 Middle School?"

Huang Ming shook his head: "It's hard to say, we'll have to wait for the final exams to find out. Learning is about talent, forcing students to study like this will only make them dislike learning and drop out."

The dropout rate at No. 7 Middle School has reached 15%, which is a terrifying figure. If this were exposed by malicious individuals, it would be labeled as student abuse.

Chen Shi looked at Huang Ming: "Director Huang, this matter needs to be taken seriously. We can't wait until a tragedy happens before trying to make amends, or it will be too late."

In addition to academic performance, students' physical and mental well-being is equally important at school.

On behalf of the Education Bureau, you issue a rectification notice requiring the four high schools to ensure that morning self-study cannot start earlier than 6:30 a.m. and evening self-study cannot start later than 10 p.m., so as to guarantee students sufficient sleep time.

Teachers must not discriminate against students with poor academic foundations. Any teacher found to be discriminating against students will be expelled.

Class teachers should care about students' physical and mental health. If they discover any abnormal behavior in students, they should promptly report it to the school, contact the parents, and provide psychological counseling.

Huang Ming wrote it down in his notebook.

"The results of the final exams at No. 7 Middle School have not improved, so Principal He Chunsheng has been removed and Dong Xuexi has taken over."

Huang Ming nodded. He Chunsheng was promoted by Chen Shi, so he dared not touch him. With Chen Shi's orders, he could act freely.

After Huang Ming left the office, Chen Shi took out his phone and called Ding Yi.

Director Chen

"Director Ding, excuse me, are you busy?"

"No rush, go ahead."

"Director Ding, I would like to inquire about the allocation of 300 million yuan in special funds for education support projects. Before the Lunar New Year, Director Zhao said that the funds would be allocated in March, but it is now June and the funds have not been allocated yet."

"Director Chen, why are you only calling now? The education special fund support project was previously in charge of Director Zhao. Director Zhao removed the title of deputy and has to coordinate the entire education department. He doesn't have time to deal with this matter."

Now it's the Executive Deputy Director-General Qi Shijiang in charge. You're not familiar with Qi Shijiang, so he might hold back the funds and not allocate them to you.

Chen Shi said angrily, "This is special funding, and he dares to suppress the allocation."

"We have plenty of reasons not to allocate funds to you. We can say you didn't follow the Education Department's plan. We can find any excuse. What can you do about it?"

Chen Shi took a deep breath, composed himself, and smiled, saying, "Director Ding, this payment is the final payment for the Donghai Zhencheng Group's project. If the funds cannot be allocated, the Education Bureau will have no money to settle the final payment for them."

"Director Chen, this is easy to handle. Just tell Wan Xirong about the situation, and Wan Xirong will speak to Director Zhao. As long as Director Zhao gives the word, Qi Shijiang won't dare to withhold the special funds."

"Thank you for your guidance, Director Ding," Chen Shi said repeatedly.