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

"Bang!"

Broken glass shards were scattered everywhere.

The scalding hot tea mixed with red goji berries steamed on the floor.

Li Dakang stared intently at his secretary, Xiao Jin, his chest heaving violently like a broken-down tractor about to explode.

"Eighty percent of the shares?"

He forced out those words through gritted teeth, his eyes bloodshot from exhaustion.

"That idiot George just handed over our municipal committee's trump card to Yan Qingfeng like that!"

Xiao Jin pressed himself against the door frame, his legs trembling with fear, too scared to utter a sound.

Li Dakang ripped off his tie and strode out of his desk.

"Where's Yi Xuexi?! What kind of mess did he get up to at the science park?!"

He pointed outside the door and roared, spitting everywhere.

"Immediately notify all Standing Committee members who are at home, plus the district heads and bureau chiefs!"

"Meet in Conference Room One within fifteen minutes for an expanded meeting!"

Li Dakang gritted his teeth, a hint of desperate madness flashing in his eyes.

"Today, in front of all the officials in the city, I'm going to expose Yi Xuexi's true colors!"

Fifteen minutes later, in the No. 1 meeting room of the Municipal Party Committee.

The air was as solid as a block of cast iron, making it hard to breathe.

Dozens of powerful figures from Jingzhou sat around a long table, each looking down at the tabletop.

No one dared to provoke the municipal party secretary at this critical juncture.

Yi Xuexi, wearing his faded old jacket, sat calmly to Li Dakang's left.

He was holding an enamel mug and blew on it to cool it down.

He seemed completely oblivious to the low-pressure atmosphere around him.

"Bang!"

Li Dakang slammed his hand on the table, making the microphone buzz loudly.

"Easy to learn! You still have the nerve to drink tea!"

He pointed at Yi Xuexi's nose, his anger reaching its peak.

"The municipal party committee sent you to assist foreign-invested enterprises in resuming operations, but what exactly did you do?"

"You took the safety inspectors and firefighters to raid and shut down their factory, forcing George to surrender!"

Li Dakang grew angrier as he spoke, his face turning a deep purplish-red.

"Giving away 80% of the shares to the Lingxiao Consortium for free? That's surrender capital!"

"This is treason for personal gain!"

That hat is too big.

Normally, people would have already chimed in to agree.

But today, the huge conference room was deathly silent.

Only the crisp sound of Yi Xuexi putting down his teacup was pleasing to the ear.

"Secretary Li, don't put such a big accusation on me."

Yi Xuexi raised his head, his gaze open and honest as he met that murderous stare.

"I don't understand what it means to sell out one's country for personal gain. I only know that those three thousand local workers are waiting to buy rice to cook."

He pointed out the window towards the High-tech Zone, his voice steady yet firm.

"As soon as the Lingxiao Consortium took over, the funds arrived instantly, and all the machines were turned on."

"The people can get their wages today. Isn't that a hundred times better than sitting on a pile of scrap metal?"

Yi Xuexi stared at him, not giving an inch.

"Secretary Li, go out into the streets and listen to what the people call this now?"

"People call this a way out, and they call Ling Xiao their benefactor!"

Li Dakang laughed in anger and pointed at all the cadres in the room.

"Fine! You think you're right now!"

"Today, let's vote by show of hands to remove Yi Xuexi from his post as acting mayor and report this to the provincial party committee!"

He sat down with an air of authority, his gaze sweeping over his former subordinates who had always obeyed his orders like a hawk.

"The Safety Supervision Bureau and the Fire Brigade, you're just following Yi Xuexi's nonsense."

"Now, each of you, give me your opinion!"

The deathly silence in the conference room lasted for a full half minute.

Li Dakang picked up his water glass, intending to drink, only to realize that he had already smashed it.

He irritably withdrew his empty hand, his brows furrowed into a tight knot.

"What? Have you all become mute?"

Director Zhang of the Municipal Safety Supervision Bureau rubbed the sweat from his palms and slowly stood up.

He didn't look at Li Dakang, but instead turned his gaze to the clean tabletop.

"Secretary Li, we are just following the rules. The foreign-owned factory does indeed have safety hazards."

Old Zhang swallowed hard, his mouth dry, and forced himself to continue.

"Furthermore, after Ling Xiao took over, he immediately allocated ten million yuan for safety rectification, and all the hidden dangers were eliminated."

"I think... Mayor Yi handled this matter perfectly."

Li Dakang stared wide-eyed at Lao Zhang as if he had seen a ghost.

Before he could lash out, the finance bureau chief slowly stood up, his face full of bitterness.

"Secretary Li, you are well aware of the financial situation of our city."

"Those thousands of foreign employees are constantly asking us for subsidies for their food, drink, and other necessities. Where would we find any surplus funds in our accounts?"

The finance bureau chief sighed and decided to be frank.

"With Master Yan's arrival, billions of yuan in cash flow have poured in, completely turning around the dead end in Jingzhou."

"I also support Mayor Yi."

This statement is like toppling the first domino.

The acting district head of Guangming District stood up.

The head of the environmental protection bureau stood up.

Even the police chief, Zhao Donglai, leaned back in his chair and casually added insult to injury.

"Police officers need to eat too. If the God of Wealth doesn't come back, the brothers can't even push the police car."

"My auxiliary police officers can't even afford instant noodles, you can't expect them to eat up my food with empty promises, can you?"

Li Dakang angrily rebuked him.

"Zhao Donglai! You wear this coat just to make a living?!"

Zhao Donglai rolled his eyes and simply shut his mouth and stopped talking.

Of the dozens of people present, not a single one spoke up for Li Dakang!

Everyone sided with Yi Xuexi, who was wearing an old jacket.

Everyone present knew exactly what was going on.

Following Li Dakang's obsession with saving face is a dead end.

By siding with the Lingxiao Consortium, the common people will have food to eat, and everyone's political achievements will be as solid as Mount Tai.

Li Dakang sat stiffly in the main seat, feeling as if the blood in his body had frozen.

He looked at the room full of his subordinates, who used to tremble at the mere sight of him.

Now, they all look at me like I'm an idiot.

The government order couldn't even leave the door of this conference room.

The dignified Party Secretary of Jingzhou City has become an old bachelor who can't even mobilize a single soldier.

Li Dakang's legs went weak, and he slumped against the back of the large leather chair.

He finally understood that, nominally, Jingzhou still held the official title.

In fact, even the air he breathes has long since been renamed Yan.

Lingxiao Manor, on the outskirts of Beijing.

The afterglow of the setting sun shone through the French windows, bathing the rosewood desk in a golden light.

Yan Qingfeng leaned back lazily in his leather swivel chair, a thick Goosebah cigar between his fingers.

The monitor speakers on the table were playing Li Dakang's heavy breathing from inside the conference room.

The old butler, Afu, carried a freshly brewed cup of Da Hong Pao tea and gently placed it on the table.

"Young Master, Li Dakang is now completely all alone."

Ah Fu smiled, his eyes crinkling with wrinkles, and his tone conveyed a sense of contentment.

"Those bureau chiefs and district heads down there now only recognize our Lingxiao's real money."

Yan Qingfeng exhaled a thick white smoke ring, which slowly dissipated in mid-air.

He ignored the municipal party secretary's predicament, because it had already been planned.

Yan Qingfeng stood up and strode over to the huge map of China on the wall.

His gaze swept across the tiny city of Jingzhou, following the crisscrossing transportation lines all the way north.

In his deep eyes, a wild ambition to conquer the world throbbed.

Su Jianxin, wearing a floral shirt, strode in through the door.

"Master Yan, we've swallowed the whole plate of Jingzhou."

Su Jianxin rubbed his hands together, his eyes gleaming with the greed of a hungry wolf.

"Shouldn't we take a break now and digest these hundreds of billions of assets?"

Yan Qingfeng turned around and stubbed out the half-smoked cigar in the pure copper ashtray.

A cold, domineering smile curled at the corner of his lips, his sharp gaze fixed on a red dot on the map.

"Stop? Those vampires in Beijing sent an investigation team to sabotage my business. We haven't settled that score yet."

Su Jianxin paused for a moment, and the smile on his face faded slightly.

"The capital is a deep and dangerous place, Master Yan. There's a very important person behind that old man Qi."

Yan Qingfeng patted Su Jianxin on the shoulder, his eyes filled with a chilling murderous intent.

"No matter how deep the water is, it depends on whether it can drown this dragon."

"Go tell Lin Yubing to pack his bags. We're chartering a plane to Beijing tomorrow morning."

Yan Qingfeng slightly raised his chin, his aura instantly dominating the entire study.

"I'm going to establish some decent new rules for those high and mighty big shots."