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

Yan Qingfeng's thick puff of cigar smoke landed directly on Sha Ruijin's stiff old face.

The bulletproof Maybach let out a deep roar and sped away.

The wheels rolled over the puddles, leaving the two high-ranking officials of Handong covered in exhaust fumes.

Tens of thousands of onlookers cheered wildly on the roadside, their whistles deafening.

Sha Ruijin stood frozen in place, listening to the harsh cheers, a fierce glint appearing in his eyes like that of a trapped beast.

He clenched his fists so tightly that his nails dug deep into the soft flesh of his palms, drawing a few drops of blood.

Half an hour later, at the No. 1 office of the Hantong Provincial Party Committee.

As soon as the solid wood door was closed, Sha Ruijin rushed into the private bathroom.

He suddenly turned on the tap, and the icy water gushed out onto the bottom of the ceramic basin.

Sha Ruijin cupped his hands in cold water and splashed it hard on his face.

The biting cold stimulated his nerves. He leaned against the sink and looked up at the mirror.

The face in the mirror was ashen and tired, yet it exuded a madness that refused to be completely crushed.

"This is outrageous!"

Sha Ruijin slapped the sink, splashing water all over the floor.

Li Dakang slumped onto the sofa in the outer room, his hands covering his gray hair, looking utterly dejected.

"Secretary Sha, we've signed all the franchise agreements for water, electricity, gas, and infrastructure."

Li Dakang's voice was weak and shaky, like a leaky bellows.

"From now on, Jingzhou will no longer belong to the Li family, nor to the Sha family, and even the air we breathe will be renamed Yan."

"fart!"

Sha Ruijin grabbed a towel and wiped his face haphazardly before striding out of the bathroom.

He grabbed the industrial layout map of Handong from his desk and slammed it onto the coffee table with a "thud".

"We may have ceded infrastructure and public services, but the foundation of high-end manufacturing remains in our hands!"

Sha Ruijin bent down and jabbed his thick fingers heavily into a red area on the map.

That was a strategically important location north of Jingzhou City.

"High-tech Industrial Park! Qin Wushuang cut off the power and internet, forcing hundreds of chip foundries to shut down."

Sha Ruijin was panting heavily, his eyes fixed on Li Dakang.

"But the ownership of that several thousand acres of land, and the core factory building shell, still belongs to the municipal party committee!"

Li Dakang paused for a moment, a glimmer of light flashing in his cloudy eyes, before quickly fading away.

"What's the use of an empty shell? Lingxiao Technology holds all the core patents."

He shook his head, his mouth full of bitterness.

"At this critical juncture, which domestic capital firm dares to wade into these murky waters? Aren't they afraid of being swallowed whole by Yan Qingfeng?"

Sha Ruijin sneered, his eyes twitching violently twice.

"If no one in China dares to do it, then we'll find someone overseas!"

He straightened up, walked to the French windows, and looked like a gambler who had lost everything, calculating his last chips.

"We must bring in an outside force to break the deadlock of Yan Qingfeng's monopoly!"

"You mean..." Li Dakang swallowed, a sudden sense of foreboding rising in his heart.

"Go contact George William!" Sarek said through gritted teeth, uttering the foreigner's name.

"George? Wasn't he just shorted by Su Jianxin a few days ago and rushed back to Wall Street overnight in a panic?"

"That was before." Sha Ruijin turned around, his eyes sinister.

"I just got word that their Wall Street parent company has given them an emergency injection of capital to save them. Those foreign capitalists' family bastards will definitely come back when they smell the meat."

Sha Ruijin strode back to his desk and grabbed the red secure telephone.

"Dakang, you go and make an overseas call to him yourself."

"Tell him that as long as the William Consortium is willing to take over the high-end manufacturing in the technology park."

Sha Ruijin paused for a moment, then threw out an almost insane bottom line.

"The municipal party committee granted them a ten-year tax exemption! They gave them factory space for free! Everything went smoothly!"

Li Dakang gasped in shock. This was utterly disgraceful and a betrayal of national sovereignty!

But seeing Sha Ruijin's murderous gaze, he shut his mouth and silently picked up the microphone.

As long as they can keep Yan Qingfeng in check, they can afford this price right now.

……

Three days later, at the Jingzhou Grand Hotel, in the top-floor international banquet hall.

The crystal chandelier was dazzling, and a red carpet stretched all the way to the front door.

The aisle was packed with media reporters with their long lenses and microphones, and the flashes from the cameras were so bright that it was hard to open one's eyes.

This is the highest-level international press conference held in Handong in recent years.

On the huge screen behind them, several large, gold-plated English words were scrolling.

"William Foundation Hantong Core Project Launch Ceremony".

George William wore a flamboyant white haute couture suit, his blond hair slicked back and polished.

He stood under the spotlight, holding a tall champagne glass, his chin practically pointing to the sky.

The shadow of being thoroughly humiliated by Shin on Nasdaq a few days ago seems to have vanished.

Sha Ruijin and Li Dakang, dressed in dark suits, stood on either side of George like two guardian deities.

The flashes of the cameras kept going off, making the smiles on their faces look a little stiff.

They're swallowing their pride and endorsing foreigners.

"ladies and gentlemen!"

George, speaking in heavily accented Chinese, shouted into the microphone.

"The William Consortium will join forces with the Hantong government to take full control of the High-Tech Park!"

Those sitting in the front row below the stage were all sycophants hired by the municipal party committee, and they immediately began to applaud enthusiastically.

George waved his arms triumphantly, his eyes radiating an arrogant and overbearing air.

"We will bring in the top capital from Wall Street to take over the semiconductor and chip foundry industry here."

He took a sip of champagne and glanced defiantly at the several large media cameras pointing directly at him.

"We Western capital will take care of the high-end manufacturing that local conglomerates can't do!"

These words are arrogant, openly and secretly challenging the Lingxiao Consortium.

Li Dakang steeled himself and stepped forward, getting closer to the microphone.

"The municipal party committee will fully cooperate with the William Consortium to build a world-class silicon valley for chips. Any stumbling blocks that hinder the development of Handong will be kicked away."

The reporters below the stage exchanged glances, all sensing the intense tension in the air.

George swirled the wine in his glass; the red wine clung to the side of the glass.

"Tomorrow morning, over two hundred of our senior Western engineers will move into the cleanroom. Please look forward to it!"

……

At this time, at Lingxiao Manor on the outskirts of Beijing.

The afternoon sun slanted into the spacious glass greenhouse, making it warm and cozy.

Yan Qingfeng was wearing a loose-fitting coarse cloth jacket with the sleeves casually rolled up to his forearms.

He was holding a pair of pure silver pruning shears, gesturing at a Podocarpus macrophyllus bonsai worth millions.

The huge LCD TV on the wall next to us is broadcasting the press conference held at the Jingzhou Hotel.

In the video, George and Sarrikin are clinking glasses, their smiles as bright as two chrysanthemums.

"Click."

The silver shears fell swiftly, and a sprouting twig landed on the black, nutrient-rich soil.

Yan Qingfeng took a half step back, examining the shape of the bonsai, without even lifting his eyelids to look at the screen.

Lin Yubing walked in wearing red-soled high heels and carrying a tablet computer.

"Master Yan, Sha Ruijin is desperate and has given away the science park to foreigners like it's free food."

She pushed up her gold-rimmed glasses, a professional smirk playing on her lips.

"Ten years of tax exemption, factory buildings given away for free, they didn't even ask for their underwear. George and his gang are so forgetful, they actually dare to come back and reap the benefits."

Yan Qingfeng took a warm, damp towel and slowly wiped his slender fingers.

"The authorities' little scheme is nothing more than wanting to find an outsider to stir up trouble in our pond."

He casually tossed the towel into the tray next to him and turned to look at the television screen.

On the screen, George is spouting nonsense about reshaping Handong Semiconductor.

Yan Qingfeng chuckled lightly, his eyes revealing an indifference as if he were looking at pigs and sheep to be slaughtered.

"Sha Ruijin had a pretty good plan. It's a pity that a machine with steel and concrete but no soul is just a pile of scrap metal."

He sat back down in the cushioned armchair and picked up a cup of hot tea from the side.

Qin Wushuang strolled in from outside, wearing a wrinkled plaid shirt and chewing on a lollipop.

"Mr. Yan, the foreigners are coming to the factory first thing tomorrow morning. Shouldn't we prepare a surprise for them?"

Qin Wushuang crunched the candy with a "crunch," his eyes gleaming with the excitement of a tech fanatic.

"Those lithography machines and production lines in the workshop are all embedded with our underlying code."

Yan Qingfeng blew on the tea foam, took a small sip, and the steam blurred his vision.

He slowly put down his teacup, leaned back in his chair, and crossed his long legs.

He stared at the smug George on TV, the corner of his mouth curving into a chilling smile.

"Open the door and let the foreign dog in to chew on the bone. But don't close the door yet."

Yan Qingfeng glanced at Qin Wushuang, a flash of murderous intent crossing his eyes.

"Take over? Do you really think I'm that easy to take advantage of? Go, change the timed authorization program in the system background."