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

The air in the tea room seemed to freeze.

Yan Qingfeng's question, "Sign or not sign," hit Sha Ruijin like a heavy hammer, leaving his head buzzing.

He was breathing heavily, his withered chest heaving violently.

The two blisters on the back of his hand, scalded by boiling water, were now throbbing with excruciating pain, burning away his reason.

Sha Ruijin trembled as he reached out his left hand and touched the manila file folder on the table.

The moment his fingertips touched the rough paper, he shuddered as if he'd been electrocuted.

"I...I'll take a look at the terms."

He gave himself a way out, his voice hoarse, and shakily pulled out the first document.

As soon as he opened the title page, the bold, black text on the front page made his eye twitch.

"Agreement on the transfer of ownership and franchise of Guangmingfeng New Area Project".

Sha Ruijin gasped, and a layer of white sweat instantly broke out on his back.

Guangmingfeng New Area is the core development engine of Handong Province for the next ten years!

With planned investments reaching hundreds of billions, the land, infrastructure, and supporting franchise rights represent the most lucrative piece of the pie in the entire Handong officialdom.

"President Yan, you have quite the appetite, you're digging right into Handong's heart right from the start."

Sha Ruijin gritted his teeth, suppressing his anger, and continued flipping through the pages.

When his gaze fell on the "Transfer Consideration" section on the second page, he froze instantly.

His eyes were fixed on that number, almost bulging out of their sockets.

Transfer amount: One RMB.

The string in Sha Ruijin's mind snapped completely.

"One dollar?!"

He suddenly sprang up from the low stool, the documents in his hands rattling loudly.

"Yan Qingfeng! This is blatant robbery! It's outright theft!"

The once aloof provincial party secretary now resembled a shrew whose tail had been stepped on, spitting everywhere.

"A project worth hundreds of billions! The initial infrastructure investment alone amounted to tens of billions!"

Sha Ruijin pointed at Yan Qingfeng's nose, trembling with anger.

"You think you can just take it all and leave for a dollar? That's called the loss of state-owned assets! That's a capital offense!"

Yan Qingfeng leaned back in his armchair, not even lifting his eyelids.

He picked up the purple clay cup and slowly sipped the hot tea.

"Robbery? Secretary Sha, you can eat whatever you want, but you can't say whatever you want."

Yan Qingfeng put down his teacup, a mocking sneer curling at the corner of his lips.

"Attorney Lin, please give this legally illiterate secretary a proper lesson in the law."

Standing to the side, Lin Yubing pushed up her gold-rimmed glasses and took half a step forward.

She wore high heels, and her demeanor was as cold as a block of ice that could never be warmed.

"Secretary Sha, the Guangming Peak project currently has a debt of up to 30 billion yuan."

Lin Yubing's voice was clear and crisp, each word like a knife.

"The municipal finance bureau's account has been locked, construction has been completely halted, and migrant workers are besieging the municipal party committee compound to demand their unpaid wages."

Her fair fingers tapped the document twice heavily.

"According to the bankruptcy reorganization law, the Lingxiao Consortium will take over this mess and assume all debts and subsequent development costs."

Lin Yubing parted her red lips slightly and uttered a sentence that could kill someone's spirit.

"This one dollar is a fig leaf that Master Yan bestowed upon your Han Dong officialdom. Don't want it? You can count it as zero."

Sha Ruijin was speechless, his face turning pale and then red.

"That...that's the culmination of half a lifetime's work by Li Dakang and the municipal party committee!"

He was stiffening his neck, still making a futile struggle.

"If I just give it to you like this, how am I supposed to explain it if the capital investigates? If Li Dakang finds out, he'll be so angry he'll die in his hospital bed!"

"Li Dakang's life's work?"

Yan Qingfeng suddenly let out a cold laugh, as if he were listening to a huge joke.

He reached into the rosewood drawer beside him and pulled out a thick stack of photocopies.

A crisp "snap" sounded.

Yan Qingfeng flicked his wrist, and the stack of papers, as if guided by eyes, was flung directly at Sha Ruijin's face.

Paper scraps were scattered all over the ground.

Sha Ruijin was stunned for a moment, looked down, and his pupils suddenly contracted to the size of pinpoints.

Those are the account books and details that Ding Yizhen took with him before he fled!

Previously, Yan Qingfeng sent someone to deliver this to Li Dakang's ward, and now, another one has been thrown directly in Sha Ruijin's face.

"Open your eyes and look! What does it say on there?"

Yan Qingfeng suddenly stood up, placing his hands on the tea table, feeling an oppressive pressure like Mount Tai pressing down on him.

"Ouyang Jing's commission on bridging loans! The Construction Bureau's 30 million yuan in material kickbacks!"

"The money laundering scheme of the deputy director of the Public Security Bureau's brother-in-law!"

With each sentence Yan Qingfeng spoke, Sha Ruijin's face grew paler.

"A business worth hundreds of billions? Li Dakang's life's work?"

Yan Qingfeng sneered repeatedly, looking at Sha Ruijin as if he were a pile of stinking garbage.

"Beneath this Bright Peak lies a mountain of filthy debts and dirty money from your Han Dong officialdom!"

"This place is a breeding ground for money laundering! It's a cancer that's rotten to the core!"

Sha Ruijin's legs went weak, and he slumped back onto the low stool without a backrest.

He looked at the copies scattered all over the floor, and large beads of cold sweat poured down his forehead.

It’s over.

Yan Qingfeng even stripped the last shred of the officialdom in Jingzhou bare.

How can we even talk about this? We're talking about this with our heads down!

"Secretary Sha, haven't you figured out the situation yet?"

Yan Qingfeng walked around the tea table, stood in front of Sha Ruijin, and looked down at him.

"In Handong right now, the finances are at a standstill, and the banks are locked up. Aside from my Lingxiao Consortium, you can search the entire country of China..."

He stuck out a finger and poked Sha Ruijin's shoulder.

"Who else can come up with the real money to fill the 30 billion hole in Bright Peak's coffers?"

Sha Ruijin deflated like a punctured balloon, biting his lip tightly as he tasted a strong, metallic flavor of blood.

There's no one here.

Domestic speculative capital was terrified, and chambers of commerce from other regions fled faster than rabbits.

Handong today is an isolated island completely sealed off by the Lingxiao Consortium.

"I've shown you the way clearly."

Yan Qingfeng took half a step back, his tone regaining its unquestionable coldness.

"If you don't sign, I'll send someone tomorrow morning to slam this ledger right onto the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection's table."

He stared coldly at Sha Ruijin's ashen face.

"At that time, the Guangming Peak project will become the biggest unfinished corruption case since the founding of the People's Republic of China."

"The entire Jingzhou Municipal Party Committee leadership went in to work on sewing machines. And you, Sha Ruijin, are a sinner for all time who couldn't keep things in check."

Yan Qingfeng's words were like thorns in the side, directly cornering Sha Ruijin.

The angry rebuke from the bigwig in Beijing on the phone buzzed in his mind like a death knell from a demon.

"If you can't solve this deadlock by dawn tomorrow, you're fired!"

Sha Ruijin closed his eyes, and two lines of humiliated tears slid down his cheeks.

He completely gave in.

Between his paralyzed state and his political life, he had no room to struggle.

With trembling hands, he pulled out a Parker pen that he had carried with him for over a decade from the inside pocket of his military overcoat.

That was a gift from a senior leader in the capital when he took office in Handong.

I pulled off the pen cap, and my hand was shaking so badly that I couldn't even align it with the signature line on the document.

Lin Yubing stepped forward expressionlessly, extended her slender finger, and tapped the blank space marked by the red line.

"Secretary Sha, over here. Sign your full name and put your fingerprint on it."

Sha Ruijin bit his back teeth until they broke, and a heavy, dying breath escaped his throat.

The pen tip landed heavily on that humiliating "1 yuan acquisition" agreement that ceded sovereignty and national humiliation.

"Sha... Rui... Jin".

The three characters were signed in a distorted and twisted manner, even tearing the fine paper.

The bluish-black ink spread at the crack, like a pool of stagnant blood that couldn't be dissolved.

After signing the last piece of paper, Sha Ruijin felt completely exhausted.

The pen slipped from between his fingers and rolled down the table onto the carpet.

He leaned against the edge of the low stool, gasping for breath, too exhausted to even lift his head.

"President Yan... I'll sign the document for Guangming Peak."

Sha Ruijin's voice was terribly hoarse, like a broken bellows leaking air.

"Will the funds in Handong's fiscal accounts, and those gas stations that have been shut down, be unfrozen by tomorrow morning?"

Yan Qingfeng looked at the signed agreement and smiled with satisfaction.

He did not answer Sha Ruijin's pleas.

She simply turned her head slightly and gestured with her chin toward Lin Yubing beside her.

Lin Yubing understood and deftly put the first agreement into a top-secret file.

Then, she pushed the second heavy brown paper bag to Sha Ruijin's cold hands.

"Secretary Sha, whether the funds can be unfrozen is not your concern right now."

Yan Qingfeng looked down at him, a cruel, mocking smile playing on his lips.

"Bright Peak is just an appetizer. This second agreement is the main course that Master Yan has specially prepared for you."