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

"Clatter."

Beads of cold sweat dripped from Sha Ruijin's forehead.

Sweat seeped into the expensive Persian carpet, making a faint thud.

Yan Qingfeng's words, "Why should I give you this way out?" were like a steel knife quenched in ice water.

It went straight into Sha Ruijin's lung tube through his ear.

The heavy solid wood door to the president's office wasn't closed tightly, leaving a gap about two fingers wide.

The motion-sensor lights in the corridor on the 33rd floor were dim.

The cold air from the central air conditioning seemed to have a mind of its own, drilling straight down the collar into people's necks.

Secretary Bai pressed herself tightly against the cold marble wall of the corridor, hiding in the shadows.

He covered his mouth with both hands, as if they were iron clamps.

The pads of all ten fingers were pressed so hard that they turned completely bloodless and deathly pale.

The tips of his fingernails dug deep into the soft flesh of his cheek.

The pain stimulated his nerves, but it couldn't suppress the nauseating, acidic vomit churning in his stomach.

He swallowed hard, making a faint gurgling sound in his throat.

It’s ridiculous.

Secretary Bai's bloodshot eyes stared intently at the scene inside the room through the crack in the door.

His worldview collapsed into countless fragments in that instant.

The top official of Handong Province, appointed by the capital to govern a region.

Now he's actually kneeling on his hands and feet in front of a businessman!

Holding up a five-year performance summary report that represents the highest official authority, he cried and begged the other party to do him the honor of signing it!

Secretary Bai's meninges, which connect to his temples, throbbed wildly.

It felt like hundreds of greenbottle flies were swarming inside my eardrums, buzzing loudly.

He had personally witnessed Sha Ruijin's arrival in Handong five years ago.

That day, the entire highway was physically closed, and eight escort vehicles with flashing police lights were on, making a grand entrance.

The red carpet in the provincial party committee compound stretched for hundreds of meters. Sha Ruijin stood on the stage and spoke, and the applause from below made the chandeliers sway.

Back then, Sha Ruijin stood up straighter than a steel bar, and his every word was about rules and laws.

But now?

That high-ranking official, spouting legal theories, was like an old, stray dog ​​with its spine broken.

He was wearing a sour and smelly old suit, his forehead pressed tightly against the tip of Yan Qingfeng's leather shoes.

In order to crawl back to the capital and save his remaining life, he even threw away his most basic humanity like toilet paper.

"Mr. Yan...Master Yan! I'm begging you!"

Inside the office, Sha Ruijin's hoarse, piercing sobs seeped through the crack in the door.

The noise was like scraping hard on a rusty iron plate, making one's bone membranes ache.

"If you sign this document for me, I promise I'll keep my mouth shut and act like a dead man once I return to the capital!"

"Oh? To be a dead man?"

Yan Qingfeng swirled his wine glass, the crisp "clinking" sound of ice cubes hitting the glass conveying an air of superior arrogance.

"Secretary Sha, the dead certainly keep their mouths shut. But I, Yan Qingfeng, never keep worthless dead people around."

Yan Qingfeng's words were devoid of any emotion, yet they were more ruthless than cutting flesh with a dull knife.

He stood at the very top of power, casually toying with the life and death of an old man who had once held immense influence.

Upon hearing this, Secretary Bai outside the door instantly tensed the muscles in her thighs into a tight knot.

The intense spasms and cramps caused his legs to tremble uncontrollably.

The fabric of the trousers rubbed against my cold skin, raising a dense layer of goosebumps.

Panic transformed into a tangible chill, rushing up the coccyx straight to the bladder.

Secretary Bai's lower abdomen suddenly tightened.

Under the pressure of physiological fear, the sphincter muscles uncontrollably ache in waves.

The urge to urinate surged up like a floodgate opening, causing him unbearable abdominal pain.

He continued to cover his mouth with one hand, while pressing down hard on his lower abdomen with the other.

With his five fingers forming claws, he gripped the expensive suit fabric tightly.

He cleaved several deep, lifeless creases into his hands, and the veins on the back of his hands bulged out.

He didn't even dare to breathe too hard.

His chest ached terribly, and the lack of oxygen made his vision blur and turn black.

But he could only hold his breath.

Because he could smell the deadly odor emanating from the crack in the door.

Besides the malty aroma of whiskey, there was also a strong, pungent smell of engine oil.

It was filled with the nauseating smell of rusted blood from dead bodies.

That was the scent of Security Minister Shen Pojun.

That iron tower, more than two meters tall, stood less than three meters behind the door, like a man-eating black demon.

Secretary Bai was well aware of her position.

He was sent from the capital to assist with the handover; to put it bluntly, he was a military supervisor who came in advance to scout the location.

If Shen Pojun discovers him eavesdropping outside the door now...

In this totalitarian empire of Handong, where even the Renminbi has become worthless.

Shen Pojun would definitely snap his neck with one hand, just like crushing a greenbottle fly.

Just open the window and throw him off the 33rd floor.

There wasn't even a ripple, not even a single A4 sheet of paper announcing the death.

"Master Yan! I have value! I have intelligence!"

Sha Ruijin knelt on the ground and suddenly raised his old face, which was covered with tears and dust.

He seemed to have grasped at a straw, speaking so fast he was practically stammering, as if afraid Yan Qingfeng would ask him to leave.

"The person sent from the capital to replace me this time is named Zhao Gang!"

Sha Ruijin swallowed a mouthful of bloody saliva and unhesitatingly revealed the true nature of the new leader.

"Before Zhao Gang took office, the central government in the capital gave him a strict order: to act blind and absolutely not touch the core interests of Handong!"

"Not only that, the top brass in the capital are completely terrified of your nuclear fusion and fleet."

"Their plan to set up three physical defense lines along the southeast coast is purely for defense; they dare not launch any offensive attacks!"

Sha Ruijin spilled the secrets like beans.

"I've told you all my cards! I just beg you to leave me a way out in this performance report!"

Secretary Bai, listening outside the door, felt his scalp tingle.

In an attempt to curry favor with Yan Qingfeng, Sha Ruijin spilled all of the capital's core secrets like garbage!

The last vestige of official dignity was shattered by this old man himself.

A deathly silence fell over the office.

The whooshing sound of the central air conditioning blowing out cold air was amplified infinitely at this moment.

Shen Pojun's rough voice rang out, filled with disdain.

"Old man, you're trading your life for this kind of dubious information that even a random gossip outlet could guess?"

"The Yunxiao AI terminal on Master Yan's desk has already stripped away the top-secret meeting minutes of the Beijing high-level officials, leaving them with absolutely nothing."

Sha Ruijin froze, letting out a desperate gasp.

He collapsed completely onto the Persian carpet, like a lump of mud.

Just when he thought he was going to be dragged into the sewer to be fed to the rats today.

Yan Qingfeng finally made a move.

He casually placed the crystal glass containing the whiskey on the coffee table.

The glass base collided with the crystal tabletop, producing a dull thud.

Yan Qingfeng's slender fingers brushed over the crumpled performance report.

He grabbed a pure black carbon pen from the pen holder on the table.

He pinched the pen cap with two fingers and pulled it outwards with a slight push from his thumb.

"Click".

The crisp sound of plastic clips detaching broke the silence of the empty office.

Like a death knell tolling in a graveyard at midnight.

The tiny noise slipped through the crack in the door and reached Secretary Bai's ears.

But it became the last straw that broke his spirit.

The string in Secretary Bai's mind snapped completely with a "pop".

The shock caused his already cramped legs to instantly lose all support.

His kneecap buckled, and he slid down the marble wall.

"thump."

Secretary Bai slumped onto the icy cold corridor floor.

His tailbone slammed hard against the floor tiles, causing him to roll his eyes in pain.

But he gritted his teeth and forced back the scream that was about to burst from his throat, along with the acid reflux.

inside the house.

Sha Ruijin stared at the pen in Yan Qingfeng's hand, his bloodshot eyes flashing with wild, red light.

He didn't care about his image and scrambled forward to get closer.

"Master Yan, you've agreed?"

Sha Ruijin's voice trembled like a torn windowpane in the cold wind, his face full of flattery.

"Just sign this, and I'll get out of Handong immediately and won't be an eyesore to you!"

Yan Qingfeng twirled the pure black carbon pen in his hand, the tip hovering above the yellowed performance report.

His eyes were devoid of warmth, his lips were smirked, and he coldly stared at Sha Ruijin on the ground.

"Secretary Sha, you can sign here."

Yan Qingfeng parted his thin lips slightly, his voice revealing a cruelty that chilled one to the bone.

"However, I have a rule. I only give my pens to my own family."

"Are you an official or a lackey of my Lingxiao Consortium? You have to pick one today, right?"

Sha Ruijin froze, his whole body stiffening.

Secretary Bai sat on the ground outside the door, desperately covering her mouth, her eyes wide open, and she had even stopped breathing.

Yan Qingfeng casually tossed the carbon pen onto the carpet in front of Sha Ruijin, making a soft thud.

"If you still want to maintain the facade of officialdom, the door's over there. Get out and wait to die."

Yan Qingfeng straightened his cuffs and, looking down from his superior position, dropped the final line.

"If you want me to sign and endorse this, it's simple. Pick up this pen and write a pledge of loyalty in blood on the back of this report, voluntarily selling yourself to Ling Xiao."

"Once you finish writing, I, Yan Qingfeng, will mercifully grant you this opportunity to make a living."