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

Downstairs at Jingzhou International Hotel.

Sha Ruijin bent down and sat in the back seat of the Audi A6, leaning heavily against the seat back.

He rubbed his throbbing temples, feeling as if his mind was a jumbled mess.

George and his group of Wall Street foreign investors fled in a panic.

Li Dakang stood in the cold wind like a puppet who had lost his soul.

The last vestige of dignity of the Handong Provincial Committee was shattered by an invisible slap from capital.

"Go to the outskirts of the city." Sha Ruijin closed his eyes, his voice revealing a weary sense of despair.

Secretary Bai in the front row didn't dare to breathe and quickly instructed the driver to step on the gas.

The car sped off towards Lingxiao Manor.

Meanwhile, at the entrance of Lingxiao Manor, dozens of kilometers away.

A somewhat old and dilapidated Hongqi sedan screeched to a halt on the side of the road.

The car door opened, and the old chief prosecutor, Chen Yanshi, leaning on his wooden cane, stepped out of the car with trembling steps.

The cold wind of early winter blew in through his collar, making his gray hair fly wildly.

Ignoring the cold, Chen Yanshi strode quickly to the two towering, intricately carved brass doors.

He banged his cane against the iron fence, making a dull thud.

The main gate was closed, but the small side door next to it was opened.

The old butler, Afu, dressed in a well-tailored tuxedo, walked out unhurriedly.

He stood behind the fence, his hands clasped in front of him, his back ramrod straight.

"Mr. Chen, it's so cold outside, why did you come all the way here?"

Afu spoke politely, but his face held a cold indifference that kept people at arm's length.

Chen Yanshi was so anxious that he stomped his feet, and his cane thumped loudly on the cement ground.

"Where is Yan Qingfeng? Tell him to come out and see me!"

Chen Yanshi's eyes were red-rimmed, and his chest was heaving violently.

"He can withdraw his investment if he wants, but why stop the logistics?! Cabbages at the Nancheng market are selling for ten yuan today!"

Afu didn't move, but simply nodded slightly.

"Mr. Chen, the young master is tired today and will not be receiving guests. Please leave."

This unexpected setback left Chen Yanshi glaring in disbelief.

"No visitors? Hundreds of thousands of people are eagerly waiting for their meals, and he's just hiding away doing nothing?"

Chen Yanshi stretched out his withered hand and gripped the iron fence tightly, the veins on the back of his hand bulging.

"Your Lingxiao Consortium has made mountains of gold and silver, but has your sense of social responsibility been eaten by dogs?!"

"Using ordinary people's livelihoods as political bargaining chips—that's a sin! How can Yan Qingfeng live with himself like that?!"

The old man's angry roar echoed on the empty road.

Deep within the manor, in the monitoring room on the top floor of the main building.

Yan Qingfeng, dressed in loose silk loungewear, leaned back on a soft single sofa.

On the huge screen, the surveillance footage outside the gate was being switched.

He picked up a freshly brewed cup of Da Hong Pao tea and blew on the steam rising from the rim.

Hearing Chen Yanshi's heartbroken curses, Yan Qingfeng's eyes remained completely unmoved.

He pressed the invisible communicator on his ear and parted his thin lips slightly.

"Afu, tell Old Chen."

Yan Qingfeng took a sip of tea, his voice as cold as a knife chilled to the bone.

"The rules in Handong were first broken by the provincial party committee."

Outside the gate.

Afu pressed his ear and listened for a few seconds, then raised his head and looked directly into Chen Yanshi's eyes.

"Old Chen, Master Yan asked me to pass on a message to you."

Afu dropped his polite smile, and his aura suddenly became sharp.

"Li Dakang pulled out the knife first, but the officials were the ones who started the table-flipping."

"Master Yan said he will neither be a pushover nor a saint."

Chen Yanshi was stunned, and his hand gripping the fence suddenly stiffened.

Afu's words were like a hammer, making his eardrums ring.

"If you want to revive this hopeless situation in Handong, don't come looking for us."

Afu pointed in the direction of the municipal party committee compound.

"Let Sha Ruijin personally bring the plate and invite them to our door."

After saying that, Afu bowed slightly, turned around and walked back to the side door, locking it with a snap.

Chen Yanshi stood frozen in place, his lips trembling.

He had lived most of his life and had never seen a businessman dare to so bluntly slap the provincial party committee in the face.

This is not doing business at all; this is trampling on Sha Ruijin's dignity.

"This is insane... utterly insane!"

Chen Yanshi sighed deeply, hunched over, and turned away with a forlorn expression.

He used his cane to slowly make his way back to the dilapidated Hongqi sedan.

Just as the Hongqi car started its engine and was about to turn around.

Several black Audis bearing the official license plates of the provincial party committee turned from the intersection and came to a steady stop outside the manor gate.

Sha Ruijin pushed open the car door, and as soon as his foot touched the ground, he came face to face with Chen Yanshi through the car window.

Seeing the highly respected senior leader leave with a gloomy face, Sha Ruijin's heart skipped a beat.

A chill instantly shot from the soles of my feet to the top of my head.

Even Chen Yanshi was turned away when he stepped forward, so it's probably even harder to get through Yan Qingfeng's door than the Southern Heavenly Gate.

Li Dakang climbed out of the car behind him, glanced at the tightly closed brass gate, and his face turned ashen.

"Secretary Sha, this..."

Sha Ruijin didn't respond, but just stared intently at the door, his fists clenched so tightly in his sleeves that they cracked.

At the same time, in the capital city, thousands of miles away.

In a detached villa, the air pressure was so low you could wring water out of it.

Hou Liangping slumped on the large leather sofa, his beard unshaven and his eyes bloodshot from lack of sleep.

On the coffee table in front of him lay the audit report he had read countless times.

They worked non-stop for three days and three nights, but not a single penny of corruption was uncovered.

He, the head of the anti-corruption bureau of the Supreme People's Procuratorate, was slapped in the face by a businessman using legitimate account books.

Zhong Xiaoai, wearing silk pajamas, walked out of the kitchen carrying a cup of hot milk.

Seeing her husband's dejected and listless appearance, she felt a pang of pain in her heart.

"Ryohei, have some milk to line your stomach first."

Hou Liangping didn't take the cup; he grabbed his hair with both hands, his voice hoarse.

"Xiao Ai, you don't understand. Yan Qingfeng's account book is so clean it's creepy."

"I lost, and I can't even find an excuse."

Zhong Xiaoai placed the milk heavily on the coffee table, the glass making a crisp sound as it clattered.

She has always been proud and arrogant, having grown up in the elite circles of Beijing. How could she bear to see her own family members suffer such a humiliation?

"lose?"

Zhong Xiaoai sneered, her eyebrows furrowed, and a fire blazed in her eyes.

"A local nouveau riche, after making a few dirty bucks, really thinks he's the King of Hell?"

She was furious at Hou Liangping's cowardly appearance.

"The people in the Handong Provincial Committee are all incompetent; they can't even control a businessman."

Zhong Xiaoai turned around and walked to the mahogany display shelf, grabbing the red, secure landline phone.

She skillfully dialed an internal number, her eyes chillingly sharp.

"Ryoping, don't worry about this, leave it to me."

The moment the call connected, Zhong Xiaoai's voice instantly rose in pitch.

"Those useless bunch from Handong can't even handle a businessman. Go, check the flights from Handong to Beijing, and have the joint investigation team set off immediately. This time, I'm going to make Yan Qingfeng pay back everything, with interest!"