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

Chen Shi didn't take a nap. He had something on his mind and couldn't sleep, so he paced around the room.

I checked it three times. All the documents had to be prepared. Meeting Zhu Xiaoyong was no easy feat.

I left home at 3 p.m. and was stopped by the armed police when I arrived at the provincial government building.

The armed police officer, with a stern expression, said: "Please show your pass."

Chen Shi got out of the car: "Comrade, hello, I am the executive deputy county head of Chunyang County, Mingzhou City. I am going to the provincial government to report to Governor Zhu."

"Without a pass, the vehicle cannot enter. Please go to the police station and register."

Chen Shi said to Yang Bin, "Go find a place to park. I'll come out and call you."

Chen Shi followed the armed police to the police station to register. After registration, the armed police called the Third Comprehensive Division to confirm.

The armed police hung up the phone, checked Chen Shi's identification, and then let him in.

Chen Shi asked around until he finally found Liang Jihua's office in the Third Comprehensive Division.

Chen Shi knocked gently on the door, and a voice came from inside: "Come in."

Chen Shi pushed open the door and entered with a smile on his face: "Is this Director Liang? I am Chen Shi, the executive deputy county head of Chunyang County, Mingzhou City. I called you this morning."

Liang Jihua sat there without moving, glanced at Chen Shi, and then looked at his watch: "You're early. I made an appointment for you at 4:20, and it's only 3:50 now. Go to the lounge and wait. I'll call you when it's time."

Chen Shi readily agreed and went to the lounge to wait.

At 4:30, Liang planned to enter the lounge. The people waiting inside all stood up and greeted him.

Liang planned to wave to Chen Shi: "County Chief Chen, it's your turn to report."

There were six or seven people in the lounge: two mayors and five deputy mayors. Seeing that Chen Shi was just a county magistrate, yet he could report to Governor Zhu, his background must be quite impressive.

Chen Shi grabbed his briefcase and quickly followed Liang Jihua to Zhu Xiaoyong's office.

Liang Jihua said, "Governor Zhu, we've arrived in Chen County."

Zhu Xiaoyong put down the documents in his hand: "County Chief Chen, the following reports are from the mayors and deputy mayors of various cities. Time is of the essence, you only have five minutes to report."

Chen Shi quickly took out the prepared documents from his briefcase and handed them to Zhu Xiaoyong with both hands.

Zhu Xiaoyong didn't take it: "Give the information to Xiao Liang. I'll look at it when I have time."

Chen Shi handed the documents to Liang Jihua, organized his thoughts, and began to report on Chunyang County's economic development plan. He said that Chunyang County needed to build a highway to get rid of poverty.

Highways are the foundation; without highways, everything else is just castles in the air and cannot be put into practice.

After listening to Chen Shi's report, Zhu Xiaoyong solemnly said, "The province only has a few quotas for building highways each year. Every county wants to build them, but there are too many monks and not enough porridge, so there aren't enough to go around."

Every county has its own difficulties, and the province also lacks funds.

Chunyang County wants to build a highway, and the province can approve it. However, the county itself will have to raise the funds for the road construction; the province doesn't have the money, so it will allocate funds to you.

Chen Shi tried to persuade him: "Governor Zhu, this expressway has a total investment of 145 billion yuan. Chunyang is a poor county and really can't come up with that much money. Can the province think of a way to provide some support?"

Zhu Xiaoyong looked at Chen Shi and thought, "Dream on. The province may have money, but it's not Chunyang County's turn."

His face darkened: "If your Chunyang County doesn't have the ability to raise funds for road construction, I don't think there's any point in getting approval. Even if it's approved, it won't be built. It's just sitting in the Department of Transportation and the Development and Reform Commission's hands, which is meaningless. The province also has quotas for approving expressways. Don't hogging the quotas and not doing your job. Give the quotas to counties that have the ability to raise funds."

Chen Shi quickly said, "Governor Zhu, I have reported the highway construction plan to Secretary Xiao, and he supports it. I will go to the city to find ways to raise funds for the road construction."

"Can you raise the funds?" Zhu Xiaoyong asked in a deep voice.

Chen Shi nodded: "Yes."

Zhu Xiaoyong looked at Liang Jihua beside him: "Liang, call the Department of Transportation and the Development and Reform Commission, and ask them to verify the expressway project that Chunyang County of Mingzhou City has reported to the province. If there are no problems, send it to my office."

"Okay, I'll go arrange it." Liang glanced at his watch: "Governor Zhu, we're two minutes overtime."

Zhu Xiaoyong waved his hand: "County Chief Chen, that's enough for now. Go and get back to work."

Chen Shi nodded, turned and left the office, feeling like a primary school student being criticized by his teacher.

He wouldn't even offer me a glass of water, nor would he ask me to sit down; he had to stand while I reported. This shows he doesn't treat me, the executive deputy county head, like a proper official.

When we were in school, my classmates used to tell a joke: A county magistrate went to the provincial government to report on his work, but no one received him. So he shouted, "I am the county magistrate!"

A female colleague in the office poured a glass of water and spilled it on all the cadres at the division level or above.

In the provincial government, there are countless cadres at the division level and above, a fact Chen Shi experienced firsthand this time.

As Chen Shi walked out of the provincial government building, he took out his phone, ready to call Yang Bin. Yang Bin drove up, stopped in front of Chen Shi, got out of the car, and opened the door.

Chen Shi was somewhat surprised: "They arrived so quickly."

Yang Bin chuckled: "There are no parking lots around here, so I've been circling around the provincial government building the whole time."

Chen Shi got into the car: "Back to the hotel."

Back at the hotel, I received a call from Gu Jia.

"President Gu"

"Chen County Magistrate, have you reported to Governor Zhu yet?"

"You're right, you only gave us five minutes to report. The approval process is just a matter of one word from Governor Zhu. Once it's approved, the province won't allocate a single penny, leaving our county to figure out the funding problem ourselves."

"I'll find some time to report the road construction plan we discussed yesterday to the group president and see what he thinks."

Chen Shi knew that business people were greedy and insatiable, and if they got hold of his weakness, they would demand exorbitant prices.

"I'm going back to Chunyang tomorrow. I'll report to the county's main leaders and try to find a solution in the city. If we can't raise the money, we won't do the repairs. It's not like we absolutely have to. I'll just stay here as the executive deputy county head."

"County Chief Chen, if that's your thinking, I won't report it and I won't get involved in this mess."

"President Gu, it's not that I don't want to fix it, it's that I've tried my best. But I don't have the money, so how can I fix it? This isn't a political task, so it has no impact on me personally."

The road repair plan we discussed yesterday is still valid. If you agree, I will strongly support it.

"None of you men are reliable. Forget it."

Gu Jia hung up the phone and paced around the room. She had originally planned to use this opportunity to ask Chen Shi for more benefits.

Chunyang County was short of funds and wanted to build a road, so they had to rely on themselves and persuade the company to invest. Unexpectedly, Chen Shi backed down and decided not to continue the project.

Having just taken over as the general manager of the branch office, he urgently needed to produce results to silence the shareholders.

Chunyang County is going to develop; this is an opportunity that we cannot let go of.

The plan we discussed yesterday is also beneficial to the group. The 20-year operating rights for the highway can break even, and the thermal power plant and the 100-acre commercial area in the Greater Bay Area can generate a large profit.

Gu Jia took out her phone and called her assistant, asking him to prepare a detailed plan and send it to her in three days so she could report to the CEO.

All investments involve risk; the greater the risk, the higher the potential return.

You can't make money without taking risks, at least not big money.