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

On the last day of November, Liu Feng arrived at Chen Shi's office early in the morning: "Old Boss."

Chen Shi stood up to greet him: "Liu Feng, please sit down."

The two sat down in the reception room. Xie Shanquan poured Liu Feng a cup of tea, then left the office and closed the door behind him.

Liu Feng took out a document from his briefcase and handed it to Chen Shi: "Old leader, take a look. This is the detailed plan for building the highway. The blueprints have been surveyed, but there are some discrepancies compared to the previous ones."

The entire line is 134 kilometers long, with 106 kilometers in Chunyang County and approximately 28 kilometers within Yixing County. It features four lanes in both directions, a speed limit of 80 km/h, a roadbed depth of 25.5 meters, 7 extra-large bridges, 51 large bridges, and 12 tunnels. Bridges and tunnels account for over 55% of the total length, with a total budgeted investment of 145 billion yuan.

Chen Shi took the documents, read them carefully, and found them very detailed. He was very satisfied with Liu Feng's efficiency.

"Liu Feng, you did a great job. Go back and report to the Municipal Transportation Bureau and the Municipal Development and Reform Commission immediately."

The route of the highway construction, and the villages it passes through, are classified information. This must be kept strictly confidential; no one may leak it. Anyone who does so, even a single word, will be severely punished.

"Old leader, rest assured, the personnel involved in the surveying were all invited from other provinces. They all signed confidentiality agreements. After the surveying was completed, they all left Donghai Province. Only a few leaders from the Transportation Bureau have seen the drawings. Not a single word will be leaked. I specifically emphasized to them that if anyone leaks even a single word, I will report it to the county government and impose penalties."

Chen Shi said in a deep voice, "Tell them that anyone who leaks even a single word of this information will be dismissed immediately and never be employed again."

Chen Shi chatted with Liu Feng for a while, and after Liu Feng left, Chen Shi took the detailed information on the expressway and went to the county committee to report to Zhang Xiangdong.

The two sat down in the reception room, and Chen Shi took out the documents and handed them to Zhang Xiangdong.

"Secretary, the plan for the expressway has been completed. Please take a look."

Zhang Xiangdong took the documents, glanced at them, and saw the budget was 145 billion yuan. He looked at Chen Shi and said, "You're in charge of this highway project. You can arrange how to do it. Just report the progress to me."

Chen Shi thought to himself, "You old man, the budget is 145 billion, are you not going to give me a single cent?"

"Secretary, the budget is 145 billion yuan. How much of that can the county's finances allocate?"

Zhang Xiangdong looked troubled: "Chen Shi, it's not that the county finance department won't allocate funds to you, it's that the county finance department simply doesn't have the money. If we had the money, you wouldn't need to tell us. Of the 145 billion yuan, the county would take the lion's share, since the county would benefit from the completion of the highway."

Chen Shi said with a forced smile, "Secretary, we have to allocate some funds. It wouldn't be right not to allocate a single penny."

Zhang Xiangdong thought for a moment: "The county finance department will allocate 20 billion yuan to you, in two installments. If it's more than that, the county finance department won't be able to come up with it."

Chen Shi exclaimed, "Secretary, you're being too stingy. The budget is 145 billion, and you're only giving 20 billion. You should at least give us a fraction of that, 45 billion. I'll go to the city and province to figure out a way to get the remaining 100 billion."

"Even if you sold me, you still wouldn't be able to come up with that much money. How much is Chunyang's annual fiscal revenue? If I give you this 20 billion, the whole county will have to tighten its belt and live frugally. For the next five years, office supplies, except for necessities, can be used temporarily and no further purchases are allowed."

"Secretary, could you increase it a little, even 30 billion would be fine?" Chen Shi asked tentatively.

"You think this is a vegetable market? 20 billion yuan, not a penny more. This is the limit of the county's finances."

"Building the highway was your idea, and I fully support you. But if you mess it up, I won't let you off the hook."

Zhang Xiangdong looked at Chen Shi and said, "Get lost, I hate seeing you."

Chen Shi took a sip of tea and said with a grin, "Secretary, your tea is quite good. Do you have any more? Could I have a packet?"

Zhang Xiangdong took a packet of tea from the drawer and threw it to Chen Shi: "Get out of here. Don't come to me to report on anything unless it's important. It'll give me a headache."

Zhang Xiangdong was indeed having a headache; he had no idea how to raise the 20 billion yuan.

Money is needed everywhere, but government revenue is pitifully small.

Chen Shi took his tea and left the office. He had solved 20 billion yuan, but there was still 125 billion yuan left. How should he solve that?

Money is one aspect, but the city will definitely approve the expressway project. Liu Youguang is in charge of the Municipal Transportation Bureau, and he will support his work, mainly because of the provincial government.

Chen Shi had no acquaintances in the Provincial Development and Reform Commission or the Department of Transportation; he was completely clueless and didn't know who to contact.

If the province can't approve the project, even if there's money, construction on the highway can't begin.

In the afternoon, Chen Shi went to Zhang Kaizhi's office.

Zhang County

"County Magistrate Chen, please have a seat. Is there anything I can help you with?"

"Zhang County, let me report to you on the expressway plan."

Chen Shi handed the documents to Zhang Kaizhi, who took them and read them carefully.

With a budget of 145 billion, let's see how you, Chen Shi, manage to solve it?

Chen Shi said, "Zhang County, the highway plan has been submitted to the Municipal Development and Reform Commission and the Municipal Transportation Bureau and is awaiting approval. What do you think should be the name of this highway?"

"The Ministry of Transport has detailed regulations regarding the full name of highways; you can't just call them whatever you want." Zhang Kaizhi thought for a moment, then asked Chen Shi, "What does County Magistrate Chen think would be a good name?"

Chen Shi thought for a moment: "This expressway connects Chunyang and Yixing County. According to the Ministry of Transport's regulations, it's called the Chunyi Expressway, Zhang County. What do you think?"

"Chen County, bring it up at the meeting. If everyone has no objections, we'll call it Chunyi Expressway and report it to the county committee."

The final name needs to be submitted to the Ministry of Transport for approval, which involves Nanxi Province and Yixing County, thus crossing provincial boundaries.

Two days later, a county mayor's office meeting was held. Chen Shi proposed at the meeting that no one objected and that the matter be reported to the county party committee.

The county party committee decided to temporarily name it Chunyi Expressway and reported the decision to the municipal government and the municipal transportation bureau.

Chen Shi's next step is to go to the city to implement the plan and get approval first. He can't waste too much time in the city, as he has no way to get things approved at the provincial level. Getting approval will require time to smooth things over.

When Chen Shi returned home, Jiang Yiqiu was still not back. He had been eating too much rich food lately and just wanted a bowl of vegetarian noodles.

After waiting for a while, Jiang Yiqiu returned, looking displeased, and sat down next to Chen Shi.

Chen Shi asked, "What's wrong?"

"I kicked Jiang Yishan out of the apartment. This house is so big, and he lives alone in it. It's like a pigsty. He doesn't clean up the trash and doesn't take it down to throw it away for a long time. The whole house smells musty."

I warned him last time, but he didn't take it seriously; he's too sloppy.

From Jiang Yishan, I noticed a problem: students with good grades are good at everything, while students with poor grades, like Jiang Yishan, are just minor flaws; they are incompetent and stupid.

The library director told me that Jiang Yishan had misplaced all the newly arrived books, and it took several library staff several days to correct the mistake.

He can't even do something this simple. It's not a matter of ability, it's a matter of attitude.

People like him need to be thrown into the harsh realities of society and experience its tough times to truly mature.

Chen Shi never interfered in Jiang Yiqiu's family affairs. Jiang Yiqiu looked at Chen Shi and asked, "Honey, have you eaten?"

"not yet"

"What do you want to eat? I'll make it for you."

"Cook a bowl of vegetarian noodles, eat something light, and add an egg."

Jiang Yiqiu stood up and went to cook noodles.