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

The morning sunlight slanted through the iron bars, cutting out bright spots of light on the concrete floor of the detention cell.

While the outside world was in turmoil, this small space remained as quiet as a secluded teahouse.

Gao Yuliang sat cross-legged on the hard bed. His blue and white prison uniform was faded from washing, but the collar was still neat.

He laid the copy of the "Handong Daily" out on his lap, wearing his tortoiseshell-framed reading glasses.

My fingers traced the creases of the newspaper, smoothing it out little by little.

The headline on the front page, in bold black font, took up almost half the page.

"The Handong Stock Exchange triggered a circuit breaker immediately upon opening, with all 57 companies hitting their daily limit down!"

The subheading was even more eye-catching: "Eight major companies with assets exceeding 100 billion yuan evacuated overnight, bringing the Guangming Peak project to a complete standstill!"

Gao Yuliang read on, word by word.

Not a single punctuation mark was missed, and even the amount of liquidated damages in the corner of the report was clearly visible.

He didn't seem particularly surprised after reading the last line.

A complex smile gradually appeared on that originally serious and rigid old face.

The smile contained mockery, relief, and even a hint of schadenfreude.

He folded the newspaper and placed it on the bedside table.

Outside the iron bars, prison guard Xiao Wang was pacing back and forth, holding a stainless steel thermos.

Xiao Wang usually enjoys trading stocks, but when he looked at the market this morning, his face turned as green as a leek.

Seeing that Gao Yuliang had finished reading the newspaper, he couldn't help but come over.

"Teacher Gao, is it getting dark outside?"

Xiao Wang, behind the railing, was clicking his teeth in a low voice.

"The stocks I bought in Handong Heavy Industry all hit their daily limit down the moment I opened my eyes. There's no way to escape!"

Gao Yuliang took off his reading glasses, took out a glasses cloth from his pocket, and slowly wiped the lenses.

"Young Wang, what's a little bit of loose silver to you?"

He blew the dust off his glasses, his tone revealing the insight of an outsider.

"The people who should really be having trouble sleeping are those few people in the provincial party committee compound."

Xiao Wang craned his neck, looking completely puzzled.

"I'm just baffled. How could the municipal party committee just stand by and watch these eight large companies run away?"

"Isn't Secretary Li supposed to be the most efficient and decisive person in the government?" Xiao Wang smacked his lips. "How come they haven't even set up a roadblock?"

Gao Yuliang chuckled softly and put his glasses back on his nose.

The laughter echoed through the empty corridor, carrying a hint of mockery.

"Stop him? What can Li Dakang use to stop him?"

Gao Yuliang shook his head, as if he were explaining a problem to a slow learner in class.

"Dakang is such a domineering and successful person."

He held up one finger and gently tapped the metal frame at the head of the bed.

"He always felt that since he held the seal of office, all the merchants in Handong had to kneel on the ground and eat at his mercy."

"He thought that he could fill the financial hole of Guangmingfeng by simply slamming his fist on the table and throwing a tantrum."

Xiao Wang scratched the back of his head, seemingly understanding but not quite.

"Didn't those bosses in the past also hand over their money just because Secretary Li glared at them?"

"Isn't Cai Chenggong of Dafeng Factory a living example?"

"That's where we went wrong!"

Gao Yuliang suddenly raised his voice, his eyes becoming sharp.

"Li Dakang has mistaken Yan Qingfeng for one of those easy targets he used to manipulate!"

Upon hearing Yan Qingfeng's name, Gao Yuliang's expression instantly turned somewhat wistful.

That young man who once strolled leisurely through the campus of Han University has now become a behemoth overlooking Handong.

He knew this young man's methods all too well.

"Yan Qingfeng never plays those shameless tricks like flipping tables and cursing."

Gao Yuliang placed his hands on his abdomen and leaned against the cold wall.

"They're using an open and aboveboard strategy, a fair and square crushing of capital."

Xiao Wang was so engrossed in listening that he didn't even notice the hot water from his thermos splashing onto the back of his hand.

"Teacher Gao, what's the meaning of this 'open conspiracy'? Doesn't his running away make him legal?"

Gao Yuliang glanced at Xiao Wang coldly.

"What law did they break? They paid the penalty for breach of contract, settled the workers' wages, and their tax returns are cleaner than yours."

"The legal team that Lin Yubing led was able to overwhelm Zhao Donglai's small police force so much that they couldn't even get through the door."

"Li Dakang wanted to seize the property, but he couldn't even find a name to stamp it with an official seal. That's what you call a legal dimensional reduction attack."

Xiao Wang gasped, and cold sweat broke out on his back.

"This is too ruthless! This isn't just withdrawing investment; it's practically slitting a knife across Jingzhou's throat!"

"But Teacher Gao, Secretary Sha is currently under pressure from above."

Xiao Wang lowered his voice and looked around.

"Secretary Sha was parachuted in here, and he's very tough. Will he swallow this insult?"

Upon hearing Sha Ruijin's name, Gao Yuliang's smile deepened.

He turned his head and looked at the small patch of azure sky outside the iron bars.

"Sha Ruijin? He probably doesn't even have the mood for drinking tea now."

In Gao Yuliang's mind, he could already picture the comical scene of the people in the provincial party committee meeting room, looking utterly bewildered.

"These people are always talking about putting the big picture first, but all they think about is their political achievements."

"But they forgot that the economic lifeline of Handong no longer belongs to the Duke, but to the Yan."

Gao Yuliang sighed, whether with mockery or regret, it was hard to tell.

"My good student, Qi Tongwei, was always thinking about how to outmaneuver fate, but in the end, he got himself locked up in jail."

"But Yan Qingfeng, instead of playing chess with you, he just overturned the chessboard!"

Xiao Wang was stunned and swallowed hard.

"Then...can the municipal party committee clean up this mess?"

Gao Yuliang closed his eyes, his fingers tapping unconsciously on his knees.

A sense of unease, like the impending storm, filled the air.

He knew all too well Yan Qingfeng's series of moves.

The withdrawal of capital is never a one-sided battle; it is a devastating avalanche.

Li Dakang thinks he can just cover up the funding hole? That's ridiculously naive.

"tidy?"

Gao Yuliang suddenly opened his eyes, a glint of light flashing in his cloudy eyes.

He stared at the glaring words "shutdown" on the newspaper.

"Dakang, Dakang, do you think they've only cut off your source of income?"

Gao Yuliang seemed to be talking to himself, or perhaps he was calling out to his former partner from afar.

"That kid Yan Qingfeng, when he makes a move, it's a sure kill."

He held onto the edge of the iron bed, slowly stood up, and walked to the iron bars.

My gaze went past Xiao Wang's shoulder and landed on the heavy iron door at the end of the corridor.

It was as if one could see the social order outside collapsing through that door.

"Stock market circuit breakers and infrastructure projects halting are just appetizers."

Gao Yuliang took off his reading glasses, carefully folded them, and put them into his shirt pocket.

He moved closer to the iron bars, the sneer on his face vanishing, replaced by a chilling solemnity.

"Sha Ruijin, Li Dakang, just you wait and see."

Gao Yuliang stared out the window, lowered his voice, and spoke slowly and deliberately.

"If the supply chain is disrupted, the livelihoods of these 300,000 workers will immediately be at risk. Can you handle the overwhelming public outrage?"