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

The provincial party committee compound in Handong was dark in late autumn.

The once brightly lit administrative building now resembles a haunted mass grave.

The automatic door in the lobby on the first floor had long since stopped working due to a power outage and was now being blocked by two broken bricks.

The cold wind blew in relentlessly through the cracks in the door.

Outside the power distribution room in the northwest corner of the yard, an old diesel generator was emitting a mournful "putt-putt-putt" sound.

The pungent smell of cheap diesel fuel wafted down the corridor and into the top leader's office.

The office wasn't air-conditioned, and it was freezing cold, like an icebox.

Sha Ruijin was wrapped in a faded military overcoat, looking like an old farmer who was half-buried in the ground.

His hands were red from the cold, and he kept rubbing the thin collar of his coat.

His sunken eye sockets were surrounded by dark circles, clearly indicating that he had stayed up for several nights without sleep.

The large solid wood desk was piled high with crumpled pieces of waste paper.

The only light source on the corner of the table was an eye-protecting table lamp powered by the generator.

The lights flickered intermittently due to the unstable voltage.

"Squeak."

The heavy wooden door was pushed open a crack.

Secretary Wu, carrying a chipped enamel mug, shuffled in cautiously.

In his other hand, he was still clutching a document that had just been torn from the secure fax machine.

"Secretary Sha, have some hot water to warm yourself up."

Xiao Wu put down the teacup, his voice trembling violently.

"The boiler room in the government canteen has been shut down completely, so I'm just using an electric kettle to heat it for you."

Sha Ruijin didn't even glance at the glass of water, his eyes fixed on the document in Xiao Wu's hand.

"Did they reply? How did the bigwigs approve my report about the Lingxiao Consortium?"

In his haste, he snatched the document and examined it under the dim lamplight.

He racked his brains and carefully considered every word in order to write this report.

The entire text is a scathing critique of how Yan Qingfeng was rich but heartless, and how the Lingxiao Consortium maliciously damaged the local economy.

He had hoped that the capital would consider the "big picture" and issue an official document to reprimand Yan Qingfeng.

When Sha Ruijin saw the contents of the document, his eyes nearly popped out of their sockets.

That's not a new instruction at all!

That was a copy of his own self-criticism that he submitted verbatim!

However, on top of the black and white text, there was a long, glaring red annotation.

The brushstrokes are sharp and powerful, penetrating the paper.

Sha Ruijin pointed at the red characters, his fingers trembling.

"Why...why was it rejected again?!"

In a fit of anger, he kicked over the wastebasket next to the table, sending crumpled paper scattering all over the floor.

"This is the third time! I stayed up for three nights in a row writing this report!"

Xiao Wu huddled in the corner, swallowed hard, and didn't even dare to breathe.

"Secretary, Director Li from the General Office in Beijing just called and said so."

Xiao Wu reluctantly gave the report, cold sweat streaming down his forehead.

"He said that after reading your report, he smashed a cup and got very angry."

Sha Ruijin grabbed his gray hair, his voice tinged with a hint of sorrow and grievance.

"I'm innocent! This mess in Handong was clearly created by Yan Qingfeng!"

He grabbed the report, pointed to the paragraphs he had written, and loudly defended himself.

"The Lingxiao Consortium has blocked our foreign exchange reserves, and the energy group has cut off our oil supply."

"What is this if not deliberately disrupting social order? Can't the higher-ups see it?!"

"Those above can see it, but they don't see it that way."

Xiao Wu, with a long face, pointed to the few lines of bright red annotations.

"Secretary, please take a closer look at the words personally approved by the elder statesman."

Sha Ruijin lowered his head and brought his face close to the lamp.

The red penmanship was like sharp blades, each word piercing his eyes.

"What do you mean by malicious monopoly? Every transaction they make follows proper procedures, and they pay taxes legally and compliantly!"

"The foreign-invested William Consortium was brought in by your local government, which you then brought upon yourselves and couldn't even keep!"

"The domestic speculative capital is being allowed in by your local authorities to maliciously short-sell!"

The more Sha Ruijin looked, the more cold sweat poured down his back, soaking his shirt inside his military overcoat.

That final sentence in red was like a resounding slap in the face, completely destroying his dignity.

"Local administration is now at a standstill, and tens of thousands of civil servants are not getting paid. This isn't the fault of the capitalists; it's your incompetence, Sha Ruijin!"

"Incompetent...you're saying I'm incompetent?"

Sha Ruijin slumped into the boss's chair like a deflated balloon.

With a creak, the chair protested, unable to bear the weight any longer.

His political acumen, which he was so proud of, was seen as a laughable farce by those who truly controlled the situation.

"What about the Zhong family? Aren't Zhong Xiaoai's uncles incredibly influential in the capital?"

Suddenly, Sha Ruijin seemed to grasp at a straw and abruptly looked up at Xiao Wu.

"Yan Qingfeng has cut off the distribution channels for high-end, effective drugs. Do you think they can just swallow this? Why isn't anyone speaking up for me!"

Xiao Wu sighed, his eyes filled with deep despair.

"Secretary Sha, you should give up on the Zhong family as soon as possible. I just asked an acquaintance to find out the details."

Xiao Wu lowered his voice, his tone filled with fear.

"Su Jianxin somehow obtained the invoice and exposed the Zhong family's overseas money laundering to Interpol."

"Those powerful uncles who used to swagger around in the capital are now in dire straits themselves and are all playing dead at home!"

"I also heard that a few who couldn't hold on any longer are kneeling outside the gates of Lingxiao Manor, crying and begging Master Yan to give them medicine to prolong their lives."

Sha Ruijin was completely stunned.

He opened his mouth, but no sound came out.

He finally realized that his old tricks of playing dumb and shifting blame in officialdom had run their course.

Without the protection of the capital and without the Zhong family's intervention, they were left without protection.

He's now all alone.

Compared to Yan Qingfeng's capital behemoth at full speed, he wasn't even a stumbling block in the way.

"I'll keep writing... I'll continue writing."

Sha Ruijin gritted his teeth, pushed aside the scraps of paper, and laid out a brand new sheet of letter paper.

My hands were shaking so badly I couldn't even hold a pen properly.

The bluish-black ink spread out on the paper, creating a large, glaring black blob.

"I wrote it for the fourth time. I've reflected deeply on it; isn't it enough that I take full responsibility?"

He was like a gambler who had lost everything, still making a last-ditch effort.

The moment the pen nib touches the paper.

"Ring ring—"

The red secure hotline on the corner of the table, which usually didn't ring for ten days or half a month, suddenly started screaming wildly!

The shrill ringing of the bell rang out like thunder in the office, which was as quiet as a morgue.

Xiao Wu's legs went weak, and he leaned against the peeling white wall.

Sha Ruijin's hand trembled, and the pen fell to the table with a "clatter," drawing a long black line on the paper.

He stared intently at the red machine, his breath catching in his throat.

Once this phone rings, it's definitely a direct, bypassing-level order from the core power circle in Beijing.

The bell rang for a full ten seconds.

One after another, like a death knell, the calls grew increasingly urgent.

"Secretary... please answer, or things will really get out of hand." Xiao Wu said, his voice trembling with tears.

Sha Ruijin took a deep breath of the cold air, which smelled of diesel fuel.

He swallowed hard, his hand trembling as he reached out and picked up the heavy red microphone.

There was no unnecessary small talk on the other end of the phone.

A deep, authoritative, yet oppressive old voice exploded right next to my ear.

"Sha Ruijin, we've read enough of your self-criticism. Tens of millions of people in Handong need to eat, and tens of thousands of civil servants are waiting for their salaries. How long do you plan to keep hiding like a coward?"