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

The office of the top leader in the Hantong Provincial Party Committee compound.

The voice coming from the receiver of that red secure telephone was not loud.

But to Sha Ruijin, it was more deafening than thunder from the heavens.

"Sir...please let me explain."

Sha Ruijin suddenly stood up straight, and the military overcoat draped over his shoulders slipped to the ground.

He didn't even dare to pick it up, holding the microphone tightly with both hands, cold sweat pouring down his forehead.

"This situation in Handong is truly not my fault! It was the Lingxiao Consortium that maliciously cut off our supply!"

Sha Ruijin's eyes turned red with anxiety, like a drowning person desperately trying to grab a straw.

"They're controlling energy resources and foreign exchange reserves; they're challenging the bottom line of local administration!"

There was a two-second silence on the other end of the phone.

Immediately following was a chilling, bone-chilling sneer.

"Provoking the bottom line? Sha Ruijin, do you really think the people above are blind?"

The old man's voice was devoid of any emotion, yet it was so oppressive that it was hard to breathe.

"Do you think that those old foxes from the Zhong family are playing dead in the capital, and that's why you have no sources of information up there?"

Sha Ruijin's Adam's apple bobbed as he swallowed a mouthful of dry saliva, and a layer of white sweat instantly broke out on his back.

The boss didn't give him a chance to breathe; the cold, hard facts came crashing down on him.

"Just three hours ago, Yan Qingfeng overturned the table on Wall Street."

"That damn William Group's parent company was so badly damaged by Su Jianxin's quantitative system that it plummeted and was delisted on the spot."

"Five billion US dollars! All in real gold and silver foreign exchange!"

The sound of the old man's fingers heavily tapping on the table could be clearly heard over the phone.

"The money they took from foreigners flowed cleanly and legally into our domestic funds!"

Sha Ruijin's head buzzed, and his vision went black.

Five billion US dollars! Fleeing Wall Street's investors!

Yan Qingfeng is not only lawless in Handong, but he also dares to be so arrogant in the world's capital center!

"Sir, this...this cannot cover up the fact that they are arrogant and domineering in Handong..."

Sha Ruijin was still making a last-ditch effort, but his voice was as weak as a mosquito's hum.

"Shut up!"

The old man's angry shout caused a piercing electrical noise to fill the receiver.

"You know nothing about the big picture! Why do you think no one in the capital is taking action against him?"

"Right now, half of the retired marshals and leaders lying in the special needs wards of Beijing are using imported life support systems provided by Lingxiao!"

The old man's words were like knives, mercilessly slicing through Sha Ruijin's pitiful political facade.

"The most effective medicines are only available through Yan Qingfeng's channels!"

"They're now a 'key protected enterprise' listed by the authorities! They're a strategic asset the country urgently needs!"

Sha Ruijin's legs went weak, and his knees hit the solid wood desk, making him shudder in pain.

His self-righteous political maneuvering is utterly laughable in the face of such enormous national interests.

"That mess in Handong..." Sha Ruijin's lips turned white, and it took him a long time to squeeze out half a sentence.

"That's because of your local bureaucratic incompetence in giving orders!"

The big boss ruthlessly dumped a huge scapegoat on him, covering it up completely.

"You blindly brought in foreign capital, and you allowed speculative capital to come in. Now you can't even pay salaries, and you still have the nerve to complain?"

The voice on the other end of the phone suddenly became stern, carrying an undeniable authority.

"Sha Ruijin, I'll give you the real inside information."

"Tens of millions of people in Handong need to eat, and tens of thousands of grassroots police officers need to be on duty!"

"The one who tied the knot must untie it! Do I need to teach you this basic principle of cleaning up your own mess?"

Sha Ruijin shuddered, a deep sense of humiliation welling up in his eyes.

The meaning of the elder brother's words couldn't be clearer.

To make a high-ranking official like him bow down and admit his mistake to a capitalist!

"Commander... I'm the top official in the provincial party committee, after all. If I go and beg him, where will Handong's reputation be?"

Sha Ruijin gritted his teeth, still clinging to the last vestige of his official authority.

"Face? You've almost lost everything, and you're still talking to me about face?"

The elder brother sneered repeatedly and issued an ultimatum.

"If you can't swallow this pride before dawn, write your resignation letter yourself tomorrow morning."

"Get out of Handong! Replace him with someone who's willing to humble himself!"

"Beep—beep—beep—"

The phone call was abruptly ended, the jarring dial tone echoing in the empty office.

Sha Ruijin loosened his grip, and the red receiver slammed onto the table with a "thud".

He collapsed into the boss's chair like a rag doll, as if his spine had been removed.

The cold wind howled through the cracks in the window, and the generator roared as if it were about to fall apart in the corner.

Secretary Xiao Wu huddled in the shadows by the door, trying to keep her breathing as low as possible.

He looked at Secretary Sha, who used to be the one to have the final say, now staring blankly at the ceiling.

Like a salted fish left to dry on the shore.

A full ten minutes passed.

Sha Ruijin looked like a Parkinson's patient, supporting himself on the edge of the table with both hands and slowly straightening up.

His face was frighteningly pale, and the wrinkles at the corners of his eyes seemed to have deepened by ten years in an instant.

He opened the drawer, crumpled up the reports he had stayed up all night to write, and slammed them into the wastebasket.

To hell with political pride.

To hell with those powerful regional officials.

Compared to Yan Qingfeng's absolute overwhelming power, he was nothing.

If he doesn't back down, he'll have to pack his bags and leave tomorrow, and he'll also bear the eternal infamy of causing Handong to come to a standstill.

"Xiao Wu."

Sha Ruijin's voice was so hoarse it sounded like he had swallowed a piece of burning charcoal.

"Yes...yes, Secretary." Xiao Wu quickly stepped forward, his legs spinning around.

"Prepare the car."

Sha Ruijin closed his eyes, concealing the humiliation in them that was worse than death.

"Now?" Xiao Wu was stunned, glancing at the stopped clock on the wall. "Secretary, it's only four in the morning."

"Just get the car ready! Stop arguing!"

Sha Ruijin suddenly opened his eyes and roared like a mad old dog.

"If I were a second later, all the lightning in Handong would have struck me on the head!"

Xiao Wu shrank back in fright, standing there motionless with a mournful face.

"Secretary, it's not that I don't want to go. The last Santana in the compound that can still run has its fuel gauge at the bottom."

Xiao Wu pointed to the dark courtyard outside the window, his face full of helplessness.

"Lingxiao Energy absolutely refuses to allow us to put the money on the balance sheet, and the Finance Bureau's account is locked. We can't even buy a liter of gasoline."

After hearing this, Sha Ruijin's lips twitched twice.

The top official of the provincial party committee can't even find a car with fuel to go out and run some errands.

absurd.

That's absolutely absurd!

"If the bus is out of gas, go find me a private car!"

Sha Ruijin slammed his fist on the table, gritting his teeth and roaring.

"Go borrow! Go rent! Find those people who paid cash for overpriced gas!"

"Even if it's by three-wheeled vehicle, you have to get me to where I'm going!"

Xiao Wu swallowed hard, then nodded vigorously.

As he ran outside, he mustered up the courage to ask a question.

"Secretary, where are we going in this car in the middle of the night?"

Sha Ruijin gripped the edge of the table tightly, his fingernails scratching white marks into the solid wood surface.

He took a deep breath of the cold air, which smelled of cheap diesel, and resignedly squeezed out a few words.

"Go to Lingxiao Manor. I'll go and beg Yan Qingfeng."