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

Sha Ruijin's wrist was trembling uncontrollably, as if it were electrified.

The drop of thick blood landed squarely on the dotted line for "Party A's signature".

A glaring red plum blossom instantly appeared on the white paper, with blood streaks creeping out along the paper fibers.

The pen tip hovers less than a millimeter above the paper.

The metallic luster of the fountain pen appeared cold and lifeless under the dim, flickering light.

But he just couldn't bring himself to make that last stroke.

"Secretary Sha, you can't hesitate any longer!"

Li Dakang was so anxious that his eyes almost popped out, and the acid in his stomach was rising to his throat.

He scrambled over and met Old Zhou's gaze as he lay sprawled on the ground.

The two men, with perfect understanding, stretched out their hands, which were covered in mud and cold sweat, and flanked the other from the left and right.

Li Dakang's palms were completely wet and slippery as he grabbed Sha Ruijin's arm.

All he can think about right now is filling that 300 billion yuan hole; he'd do anything, even risk his life, let alone sell franchises.

Just as those fingers were about to touch Sha Ruijin's shirt sleeve...

"Bang!"

A deafening thud.

The half-open solid wood door of the conference room was violently shoved open from the outside.

The brass doorknob slammed against the wall stop, producing a sickeningly loud scream.

White paint powder was falling off the walls in a flurry.

A gust of wind, carrying the muddy smell of sewers and the biting cold rain, swept directly into the house.

The wind made the indenture contract on the mahogany table rattle loudly.

The pages flipped, and the sharp edges nearly cut the back of Li Dakang's hand.

Yi Xuexi stood at the door.

He was soaking wet, looking like a dead man just pulled out of a waterlogged cave.

The cheap black raincoat had a large tear in it, and the edges were fluttering messily in the wind.

Muddy yellow water dripped from the hem of the raincoat.

The old canvas shoes on my feet were long since worn out from being soaked in water.

Stepping onto the wool carpet, a puddle of black water was squeezed out, making a "splat" sound.

The dirty water instantly spread across the expensive carpet.

"Huff... huff..."

Yi Xuexi gripped the door frame tightly with both hands, exhaling heavily.

A hissing sound, like a saw being pulled apart, came from the pulmonary tubes.

His chest heaved violently, and each breath carried the sour smell of sweat soaked by the rain.

Rainwater streamed down the wrinkles of that old face, which was covered with deep lines.

The fluid dripped into his chapped lips, but he didn't bother to wipe it away.

"Old Yi! What are you doing running around like that!"

Li Dakang shuddered in fright and abruptly pulled his hand back from mid-air.

"Why are you causing trouble in the provincial party committee compound in the middle of the night instead of maintaining stability at the grassroots level?"

Yi Xuexi completely ignored him.

Those bloodshot eyes were fixed on the stiff Sha Ruijin in the main seat.

"Secretary Sha... stop wasting time!"

Easy-to-learn's voice split in two, his Adam's apple scraping painfully against his dry esophagus.

"The pressure gauge on the external water supply network has completely dropped to zero!"

He yelled as he ripped off his rain hat, revealing his soaking wet, gray hair plastered to his scalp.

"In those old residential areas in the south of the city, you can't even get a speck of mud out of the water taps on the first floor!"

Yi Xuexi became increasingly impatient as he spoke, his spittle spraying into the cold wind.

"Someone tampered with the substation's switches; the lights are flickering like will-o'-the-wisps in a cemetery!"

"Did you hear me, Secretary Sha!"

Old Zhou slapped his thigh, stamping his feet in frustration, his shoes making a "splat" sound as he stepped into the dirty puddle.

"If we don't sign, before the contractor even storms in, the villagers will chop us up with kitchen knives!"

Yi Xuexi wiped the rain off his face.

The black dirt from under his fingernails rubbed onto his forehead, leaving a comical black mark.

He knew exactly what was going on.

That bastard Yan Qingfeng is a ruthless capitalist tyrant who eats people alive.

Once this document is signed, the lifeline of Handong Province is completely tied to the conglomerate's alloy leash.

From now on, even a government-issued official document won't be as effective as a water outage notice from the Lingxiao Consortium.

However, he had just waded through knee-deep water from the neighborhood office.

He watched with his own eyes as workers finishing their night shifts lined up in long queues in front of the stinking fire hydrants, carrying empty basins.

The elderly man, who suffers from high blood pressure, couldn't even take a sip of warm water offered with his medicine.

Those eyes, filled with despair and rage, were more piercing than a knife.

"Do you think I don't know what Yan Qingfeng is doing!"

Yi Xuexi strode forward, leaving two muddy black footprints on the carpet in his liberation shoes.

He rushed to the mahogany table.

"Yan Qingfeng is using 50 million people in Handong as hostages, forcing us to hand over our assets!"

Yi Xuexi shoved Li Dakang's arm away from him.

He is incredibly strong.

Li Dakang was caught off guard and slipped.

"Ouch!" He fell to the ground with a thud, his tailbone throbbing with pain.

"Old Yi, are you crazy! Why are you throwing a tantrum at a time like this!"

Yi Xuexi didn't even glance at him.

He stretched out his large, rough hand covered in thick calluses.

The back of my hands was covered with tiny cracks from being exposed to wind and rain, and felt the biting cold of the outside.

He pressed his hand down on Sha Ruijin's trembling hand.

The icy touch made Sha Ruijin stiffen abruptly.

"Old Yi..."

Sha Ruijin raised his head, his bloodshot eyes filled with resentment and despair.

His dry lips twitched twice. "Once this contract is signed... we'll become the historical sinners who sold out Handong."

"Sell it! If we don't sell now, people will die right now!"

Yi Xuexi's eyes instantly became bloodshot, so red they looked like they were about to bleed.

The veins on his neck bulged out.

He suddenly exerted force on his wrist, with a desperate, reckless determination.

The rough palm pressed down hard on the back of Sha Ruijin's hand.

He forcibly took that high-grade red-lacquered fountain pen and slammed it hard onto the indenture paper.

Sha Ruijin instinctively wanted to resist.

The muscles in his arms tensed instantly, but they were no match for Yi Xuexi's brute force.

The two were locked in a stalemate in mid-air for less than half a second.

"Sizzle—"

The pen tip scraped heavily against the paper, emitting a piercing scream.

"Click!"

The fragile pen nib broke off due to excessive force.

The bloody metal stump was embedded in the rosewood table underneath, scraping out a few wood chips.

Black ink gushed out.

The blood seeping from the wound on Sha Ruijin's palm spread across the paper.

With this brute force, a crooked and shocking name was firmly imprinted on the client's horizontal line.

Sha Ruijin looked as if his spinal cord had been drained, and he slumped limply in the main seat.

He was panting heavily when his stomach suddenly spasmed violently again.

Easy to learn, hands-free.

My palms were covered in black ink and blood stains, sticky and disgusting.

The broken quartz clock on the wall made a soft "click".

The second hand was stuck at 11:59:50.

Li Dakang scrambled forward and pounced on him.

He grabbed the blood-stained contract and hugged it tightly in his arms like he was holding his own father.

"It's signed...it's signed! I'll take it to the legal representative downstairs right away!"

Yi Xuexi coldly watched Li Dakang scramble out the door.

He turned his head and looked at Sha Ruijin, who was limp as a rag doll.

A strong rusty taste filled my mouth.

"Doesn't Yan Qingfeng want power? Just give it to him!"

Yi Xuexi gritted his teeth, the sound echoing in the dimly lit, flickering conference room like a tolling death knell.

"Even if I, Yi Xuexi, am dragged into target practice tomorrow for casting my vote in favor, it's still better than 50 million ordinary people not even having a sip of water tonight! But Secretary Sha, do you think Yan Qingfeng's next step after taking this thing is to boil our bones into soup?"