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

Jiang Yiqiu asked, "What did Mayor Liu say?"

Chen Shi said irritably, "How did Liu Youguang end up with Wang Xiaoya?"

"What are you doing together?"

"Wang Xiaoya contacted Liu Youguang and asked me to arrange for Shen Xiaorong's top scholar notes to be authorized to a publisher. The authorization fee was only 100,000 yuan, and Shen Xiaorong was required to cooperate in the promotion."

Chen Shi looked at Jiang Yiqiu: "Yiqiu, go and talk to Shen Xiaorong about this."

Jiang Yiqiu put down his chopsticks: "Shen Xiaorong is your god-sister. You should talk to her about this. It will be more effective than me doing it."

Shen Xiaorong is no ordinary high school student; she is very opinionated. This matter needs to be explained to her clearly; don't try to fool her.

She couldn't possibly agree to 100,000; she needed at least a million. She knew her own worth very well.

"I'll talk to her tomorrow night," Chen thought to himself. All the things Liu Youguang asked him to do were difficult, none of them were easy. He should stay away from Liu Youguang and find a new backer.

Shen Xiaorong was interviewed by Donghai TV for two hours. The TV station also interviewed school leaders and teachers. They will do a special interview program on the TV station, which will be broadcast next Tuesday at 10 pm.

After the interview, Shen Xiaorong took out her phone from her bag, opened the screen, and saw that Chen Shi had called her twice. She quickly called back.

"Brother, you were looking for me?"

"Is the interview over?"

"Just finished"

"I'll pick you up and take you out for a fancy meal."

"Okay, I'll wait for you at the school gate."

Tian Guangliang walked over: "Shen Xiaorong, you'll be having dinner with the TV reporters later, along with the school leaders."

"I have an appointment with a friend. You guys keep the TV reporters company while you eat. Excuse me."

Before Tian Guangliang could speak, Shen Xiaorong slung her bag over her shoulder and walked toward the school gate.

Tian Guangliang watched Shen Xiaorong's retreating figure. Her mission was complete; whether she ate or not was unimportant.

When Shen Xiaorong arrived at the school gate, Chen Shi's car happened to pull up and stop.

Chen Shi got out of the car: "Xiao Rong."

Shen Xiaorong ran over: "Brother!"

Once in the car, Chen Shi asked, "What would you like to eat?"

Shen Xiaorong thought about it seriously for a moment: "Fried chicken and fries."

"I treated you to a fancy meal, and you just ate fried chicken and fries?"

"Fried chicken and fries are a feast for me. When I was a child, I would drool when I saw other kids eating them. I dreamed of eating fried chicken and fries."

It wasn't until I was in junior high school, when I received a scholarship from the school, that I ate fried chicken and fries for the first time.

At the time, I thought, "This is the most delicious food in the world, it's so delicious!"

Shen Xiaorong looked at Chen Shi: "I want to relive the delicious food from my childhood."

Chen Shi nodded: "Okay, let's have French fries."

Yang Bin drove to the mall, and Chen Shi and Shen Xiaorong got out of the car. Chen Shi said to Yang Bin, "Go back and rest first. I'll call you if you need a car."

Yang Bin drove away, and Chen Shi took Shen Xiaorong to eat French fries.

"Xiao Rong, eat your fill tonight, it's on me."

"Then I won't be polite," Shen Xiaorong said with a sweet smile, ordering two hamburgers, two fries, two chicken wings, and two Cokes.

When Chen Shi saw Shen Xiaorong bring the food over, he said, "This is all you've ordered. It's not even enough to fill my teeth."

"As if you can eat that much!"

"This isn't enough for me," Chen Shi said with a smile, standing up to order two chicken drumsticks.

Shen Xiaorong said, "I thought you were going to order a lot, just two chicken legs."

"How can you eat fried chicken and fries without chicken drumsticks?"

As the two ate and chatted, Chen Shi said, "Xiao Rong, I need your help."

"I knew you wouldn't invite me to dinner for no reason." Shen Xiaorong looked at Chen Shi: "What is it?"

"You're the top science student and the highest scorer in the history of the college entrance examination. A publisher wants to buy your top scorer's notes and is offering you a licensing fee of 100,000 yuan. You need to cooperate with the promotion."

Shen Xiaorong ate her fries slowly and deliberately: "Brother, you're using me to do someone a favor."

"I can't do anything about it since the boss made the request. If you don't want to, I'll refuse."

"If you refuse, you'll offend the leaders, but do you still want to work in Chunyang County? I'm going to university in Kyoto, and I won't have much contact with people from Chunyang anymore."

Shen Xiaorong stared at Chen Shi: "If you ask, I'll definitely help you. But they're too stingy, only offering 100,000 and expecting you to cooperate with the publicity."

Chen Shi thought for a moment and said, "Here's the arrangement: the 100,000 is just the licensing fee for the notes. They'll charge separately for promotional support, at least 500,000. Without your cooperation in promotion, the notes are just a pile of waste paper."

Shen Xiaorong said, "Brother, you can't offend the boss. I'm not short of money right now. Before I leave Chunyang, you owe me a favor, and you have to pay it back."

Just as Chen Shi was about to speak, his phone rang. He picked it up and saw it was an unfamiliar number, so he answered it.

Hello.

"Is this Director Chen?"

"Who are you?"

"My name is Jia Dali, and I'm the head of Mingzhou Jianye Culture Co., Ltd., introduced by Director Wang. Are you free tomorrow afternoon? I'd like to finalize the authorization for the 'Top Scholar's Notes' with you."

"You're free tomorrow afternoon, come find me at the Education Bureau."

"Thank you, Director Chen."

Chen Shi hung up the phone, and Shen Xiaorong asked, "Who called?"

"It's from the publisher. They'll be coming down tomorrow afternoon to sign the licensing agreement."

"When I get back, I'll organize my notes, make a copy, and give it to them."

Chen Shi felt sorry for Shen Xiaorong. This was the last time he would do these lousy things for Liu Youguang, and he would never do it again.

Shen Xiaorong ate a hamburger and some fries, and Chen Shi ate the rest.

Shen Xiaorong said, "Brother, come with me for a walk."

Chen Shi accompanied Shen Xiaorong as they strolled through the streets. Banners were everywhere, with the words "Shen Xiaorong" prominently displayed.

Shen Xiaorong was tired from walking around and said to Chen Shi, "Let's go back."

Chen Shi called Yang Bin and asked him to come pick her up.

Chen Shi escorted Shen Xiaorong to the No. 1 Middle School teachers' apartment before returning to Jingtai Garden.

Back home, Jiang Yiqiu was watching TV in the living room: "Did Shen Xiaorong agree to help?"

"I agreed; I owe her a favor."

"She really listens to you. If it were someone else, she would have refused outright."

"I'm her brother, I have to give her this much face."

"I'm still her sister-in-law, and she doesn't give me any face at all."

Chen Shi felt very tired, so he went to take a shower and go to bed.

The next afternoon, Jia Dali came to Chen Shi's office: "Director Chen, this is Jia Dali. I called you last night."

Jia Dali handed over his business card with both hands, and Chen Shi took it and placed it on the table.

"Boss Jia, please have a seat."

Jia Dali sat down: "Director Chen, may I meet with the top science student first to confirm the notes with her?"

Chen Shi took out his phone and called Shen Xiaorong.

"Student Shen, could you come to my office at the Education Bureau? The publisher's people are in my office."

Knowing there were outsiders present, Shen Xiaorong didn't feel comfortable saying much: "Okay, Director Chen, I'm coming over."

After hanging up the phone, Chen Shi looked at Jia Dali: "Let me see the authorization agreement."

Jia Dali took out the authorization agreement from his bag and handed it to Chen Shi with both hands.

Chen Shi took the agreement, read it carefully, and said in a deep voice, "The notes can be exclusively published by you, but the publicity will take a month, which is too long. The top scholar's time is very tight, so I can only cooperate with your publicity for one day. The location is Chunyang No. 1 Middle School, not Mingzhou. You can arrange the publicity location."

Jia Dali smiled ingratiatingly and said, "Is this Director Wang's idea?"

"No one's opinion matters. If you don't want to sign, then forget it."

Seeing Chen Shi's firm attitude, Jia Dali quickly said, "Director Chen, please wait a moment, I'll call Director Wang."