Handong: Sha Li wants political achievements? I'll shut down the entire province.

Inside the No. 1 office building of the provincial party committee, it was so quiet that you could hear the sound of cigarette ash falling.

On the large mahogany desk, there was a high-resolution photo that had just been printed in color.

The foreign old man in the photo, wearing a gray "Lingxiao Cleaning" uniform and bending over to scrub the toilet, is George William.

A financial tycoon who once wielded immense power on Wall Street.

His eyes were vacant, and he held a cheap plastic brush in his hand, like a soulless shell.

Sha Ruijin leaned back in his wicker chair, staring intently at the photograph.

He had half a specially supplied cigarette between his fingers.

The cigarette ash burned so long that it was about to burn his fingers, but he didn't notice at all.

Sitting opposite him, Li Dakang only dared to rest half of his buttocks against the edge of the sofa.

He wiped the cold sweat from his forehead and cautiously began to speak.

"Secretary Sha, this photo is going viral online, and foreign media are in an uproar."

"Zhou Yuan is too ruthless. He's tearing off Wall Street's face and trampling it on the ground."

Sha Ruijin did not respond.

He stubbed out the nearly burnt-out cigarette butt heavily in the ashtray and casually picked up a top-secret red war report next to the photograph.

"Two hundred billion US dollars in short positions were swallowed up by Yan Qingfeng in one night."

Sha Ruijin slammed the battle report down in front of Li Dakang, his voice strained.

"Li Dakang, take a look at this data, look at it carefully!"

Li Dakang quickly picked up the battle report and flipped through two pages.

He forced a dry laugh onto his face.

"Secretary Sha, this is fantastic news!"

"Wall Street has been brought down, but the Lingxiao Consortium has been saved, so our Jingzhou High-tech Industrial Park can continue to be built."

"The economic foundation of Handong has been completely stabilized!"

"Stay calm my ass!"

Sha Ruijin slammed his hand on the table, causing the water in the teacup to splash out.

His eyes twitched wildly as he looked at Li Dakang as if he were an idiot.

"Do you really think Yan Qingfeng is going to fight Wall Street head-on with the profits from his few internet companies?"

Li Dakang paused for a moment, then looked back at the battle report.

When he saw the detailed annotations in the "Source of Funds" section, his pupils instantly shrank to the size of pinpoints.

"The Cloud System...private investment funds have intervened...a total of 500 billion?!"

Li Dakang gasped, the paper in his hand trembling loudly.

"Where did this 500 billion come from? Which bank in Handong would dare to approve such a large amount of bridge financing?"

Sha Ruijin braced his hands on the table, leaning forward, his eyes filled with an overwhelming fear.

"It didn't go through the banks, the China Banking Regulatory Commission, or even our provincial party committee."

He gritted his teeth and spat out each word slowly and deliberately.

"That's the life-saving money of tens of millions of people across the province, which they've entrusted to his holographic system to earn interest on!"

With a loud bang.

It felt like a bomb had exploded in Li Dakang's mind.

He even had his salary card linked to the Lingxiao system, so he knew all too well how terrifying the amount of money was.

"Has he gone mad?!" Li Dakang suddenly stood up, his legs trembling.

"Using private savings to gamble on the international market? This... what if we lose..."

"Yes! What if we lose?"

Sha Ruijin walked around the desk, pressing closer step by step, pointing to the iron gate of the provincial party committee compound outside the window.

"If George William had withstood that short squeeze last night, and if Lingxiao's portfolio had collapsed!"

"Five hundred billion yuan vanished in an instant, leaving tens of millions of people in Handong penniless overnight!"

Sha Ruijin was breathing rapidly, loosening his tie around his neck, looking like someone who was about to suffocate.

"This morning, the mob will push that big iron gate down!"

"You and I, along with hundreds of cadres in this compound, will all be skinned alive by the angry masses."

"Hang them one by one from the streetlights in Jingzhou Square!"

Li Dakang slumped back onto the sofa with a thud.

His shirt was instantly soaked with cold sweat, clinging damply to his flesh, chilling him to the bone.

too frightening.

Yan Qingfeng isn't doing business at all.

He's treating the entire territory of Handong Province like his private gambling table.

He tied the hats of all the people in the province and the officials in the provincial party committee compound to the explosives of his Lingxiao Consortium!

If he wins, he, Master Yan, will feast on meat and drink soup, treating Wall Street like a pig to be slaughtered.

If they lose, they'll shift all the blame to the provincial party committee and make the government deal with the rioting people.

This is not a business genius at all; he is a complete dictator and warlord!

The office was deathly silent.

All that could be heard were the heavy breathing of two large men.

Sha Ruijin paced back and forth in the room, his leather shoes creaking on the floor.

"No, we absolutely can't let him continue to mess things up like this."

Sha Ruijin abruptly stopped, a fierce glint of desperation flashing in his eyes.

"What does Yan Qingfeng take Handong for? His personal garden?"

"If he dares to embezzle 500 billion today, he'll dare to empty the provincial finance department tomorrow!"

Sha Ruijin walked to his desk and grabbed the red secure telephone used to contact important figures in the capital.

Li Dakang wiped his sweat and asked in a trembling voice, "Secretary Sha, what are you trying to do?"

"Give him a talking-to!"

Without hesitation, Sha Ruijin pressed the speakerphone button and dialed the dedicated line to the president's office of the Lingxiao Consortium.

"Even if he wins against Wall Street, I'll make him understand that the sky over Handong still belongs to our Provincial Party Committee!"

"Half of the oversight of that private fund pool must be handed over, or I will immediately report it to the capital!"

This was Sha Ruijin's last line of defense and dignity as a high-ranking official.

"Beep—beep—"

The dedicated line rang twice before being answered.

Sha Ruijin immediately adopted the airs of a provincial party secretary, cleared his throat, and spoke in a dignified tone.

"Hello, this is Sha Ruijin. Let Yan Qingfeng answer the phone."

There was a moment of silence on the other end of the phone.

Instead of Yan Qingfeng's lazy and arrogant voice, a young woman's cold voice came through.

She is Yan Qingfeng's senior secretary.

"I'm sorry, Secretary Sha. Mr. Yan is not available to answer the phone right now."

The secretary's voice was flat and emotionless, like a precision machine.

Sha Ruijin's eyebrows furrowed, and his official demeanor instantly rose.

"Inconvenient? He caused such a huge mess, and now he's hiding from me?"

He slammed his hand on the table.

"Tell Yan Qingfeng that he must be in my office within ten minutes!"

"If he doesn't give me a reasonable explanation today, the Lingxiao Building will have to prepare to welcome a joint inspection team from the province!"

His words were forceful and resounding.

Even Li Dakang, who was standing next to him, felt that Secretary Sha had really stood up for himself this time.

But the secretary on the other end of the phone suddenly chuckled.

The laughter was filled with undisguised mockery and contempt, like a slap in the face to Sha Ruijin.

"Secretary Sha, you may have misunderstood. Master Yan is not avoiding you."

The secretary paused, her tone turning cold again.

"Master Yan's private jet took off half an hour ago. It's probably already crossed the Yellow River."

Sha Ruijin froze, his hand, which was raised in mid-air, stiffly stopped.

"It's taken off? Where did he go?"

"To the capital," the secretary replied crisply.

"Who approved his departure from Handong? He's just abandoning such a large operation?"

Sha Ruijin became anxious, and his voice unconsciously rose eight octaves.

"Secretary Sha, we don't need to ask anyone where Master Yan goes."

The secretary interrupted the provincial party secretary's questioning directly, displaying an arrogant attitude.

"However, before Master Yan left, he specifically instructed me to leave a message for the Provincial Party Committee."

Sha Ruijin's Adam's apple bobbed, and an ominous premonition instantly enveloped his entire body.

"What did you say?"

"Master Yan said so."

The secretary conveyed the order, word by word, a message that was enough to shake the entire financial sector of Handong.

"Not a single penny of the money in Handong is allowed to flow out."

boom!

Sha Ruijin's mind went blank.

"What do you mean?" He stared intently at the red landline phone.

"The literal meaning." The secretary's tone was as if he were reading an imperial edict.

"Foreign capital wants to withdraw, and capital from other provinces wants to flee. The Lingxiao system has completely blocked their settlement channels."

"You're welcome to do business in Handong. But if you want to take the money you earn, no way."

The secretary paused for a moment, then finally uttered a sentence tinged with bloodshed.

"Master Yan instructed that this is Lingxiao's rule."

"The provincial party committee should turn a blind eye. If anyone dares to abuse their power and give those out-of-town investors free rein..."

"Master Yan wouldn't mind stripping the provincial party committee compound bare, skin and all, after returning from Beijing."

beep - beep - beep -

The phone was abruptly disconnected, the jarring dial tone echoing through the office.

Sha Ruijin's hand, which had been raised high, finally fell limply to his sides.

He originally wanted to make a phone call to regain his dignity and put a rein on Yan Qingfeng.

As it turned out, they didn't take him seriously at all.

They even turned around and issued a death order to the provincial party committee to close the province off!

Sha Ruijin slumped back two steps.

His legs went weak, and he collapsed onto the rattan chair.

Cold sweat instantly soaked through the back of his expensive shirt.

Li Dakang looked at Sha Ruijin, whose face was ashen, his teeth chattering.

"Secretary Sha...Master Yan has spoken. Those big bosses from Beijing who are threatening to withdraw their investments across provinces, are we... still going to do anything about it?"

Sha Ruijin closed his eyes in despair.

"Mind your own business!"

His voice was hoarse, as if he had swallowed a handful of sand, and it was filled with endless sorrow.

"Let's do it according to Lord Yan's rules. We have no say in this Handong anymore."