In name only: The land of Handong, I shall rule its fate.

These three days.

The entire Handong system was shrouded in a profound silence, calm and still, yet with a chilling undercurrent of unease.

Of course, this feeling only applies to the provincial-level system.

For example, in the provincial procuratorate, everyone diligently completes their work, and even when it's time to leave work, they dare not leave their workstations.

The Jingzhou Municipal Party Committee and Government, however, were in full swing, with many officials busy preparing and arranging the bidding process for the subway line demolition project.

Two subway projects were tendered separately and conducted simultaneously.

The sudden announcement from the Jingzhou Municipal Party Committee and Government has affected the decision-making of many companies, meaning they must make choices and go all out.

At the Municipal Public Resources Trading Center.

As Fang Wu watched the real estate company executives enter with solemn expressions, he gave Li Dakang a thumbs up. "Secretary Li, this is a brilliant move. It not only weeds out those who are just trying to take advantage of the situation, but also makes the truly capable companies dare not hold back at all and must participate with the utmost sincerity."

Ah!

Li Dakang sneered repeatedly, his gaze sweeping over the group of people, a cold glint in his dead fish eyes. "Those who are going to be dishonest will still be dishonest."

"However, they chose the wrong place. They dared to engage in fraud and collusion in Jingzhou, which is under my jurisdiction, so let them taste what prison food is like."

"Give the recordings and transfer information from overseas accounts to the anti-corruption bureau. Be careful not to let that monkey find out."

Fang Wu nodded. "Comrade Cheng Du was in charge of the whole process. He made a solemn promise to me that he would pay with his life if anything went wrong."

"Hmm, this young comrade is not bad."

"He's still a deputy section chief after all these years, right?"

Li Dakang nodded.

The incident at Dafeng Factory had a profound impact on Cheng Du, and Lin Zhiyuan also had high hopes for him.

Li Dakang pondered for a moment, "Isn't the Municipal Public Security Bureau still short of a deputy director?"

Oh, so Li Dakang, that miserly guy, is actually willing to pluck some feathers?

Fang Wu was quite surprised.

"Secretary Li, have you forgotten?"

Fang Wu reminded him, "Some time ago, Comrade Sun Liancheng proposed that Cheng Du be promoted to deputy district head in charge of political and legal affairs. His personal administrative rank has been resolved. He has jumped two ranks and is now considered a deputy bureau-level cadre."

This deputy bureau-level official is not the same as that deputy bureau-level official.

This is a special rank in a sub-provincial city. The official rank is still at the level of a full-fledged department head, but the status is comparable to that of the executive vice mayor of an ordinary prefecture-level city.

"and…"

Fang Wu scratched his head. "Director Qi also plans to transfer Comrade Cheng Du to the provincial department for further training."

"Oh!"

Li Dakang scoffed dismissively, "Does Qi Tongwei dare to try and steal someone from me, Li Dakang?"

Fang Wu dared not respond.

The current Director Qi is not the same Qi Tongwei who didn't know how to use his power. If he were to say something bad about someone and it got back to them, they could really make sure he couldn't get anything done.

"Coward!"

Li Dakang cursed and took the lead into Bidding Room No. 1.

Sigh, I can't afford to mess with them!

What could Fang Wu do? He shrugged helplessly, turned around, and walked into the No. 2 bidding room on the other side.

The entire bidding process lasted for more than two hours.

Of the 22 companies bidding for the subway line in the old town, apart from four uninformed companies that didn't even have complete materials, the other 18 companies all submitted their bids.

Five of the bidders were from outside the area, and their bids were invalidated due to the 85% threshold being triggered.

Seven medium-sized companies in the province quoted prices as low as 86%-91%, while four established companies, including Hanyuan Real Estate, quoted prices more conservatively, with profit margins controlled at 92-96%.

Hanyuan Urban Construction, controlled by Hanyuan Real Estate, was the only bidding company to submit 92% of the bids. Based on the three sections of scoring—price quotation, performance, and stability maintenance plan—it won the bid without any controversy.

"Thank you, Secretary Li, for choosing Hanyuan Urban Construction."

Gu Beilou flattered Li Dakang enthusiastically, patting his chest and assuring him, "We will definitely not let the municipal party committee and government down."

"I hope so."

Li Dakang's attitude was indifferent; it seemed he was only there to ensure the bidding process proceeded smoothly.

A strong sense of unease welled up in Gu Beilou's heart; something was wrong with the other party's attitude.

Even if it's to avoid suspicion, such coldness is inappropriate.

"Let's go back to the company first."

Gu Beilou quickly walked out of the trading center, turned back and whispered to his secretary, "Find out where Qunshan is and tell him to come back!"

"Contact General Manager Yang, General Manager Wang, and General Manager Xu again."

"And Lu Wucheng."

The secretary responded quickly.

But as soon as they arrived at the door, three or five men and women in suits and badges blocked their way.

"Is it Mr. Gu Beilou, the general manager of Hanyuan Urban Construction?"

Before the other party could ask any questions, Hou Liangping directly held up the investigation warrant, saying, "We're from the Provincial Anti-Corruption Bureau. We received a tip-off about Hanyuan Urban Construction's bid-rigging and collusion. Mr. Gu, would you please come with us?"

Anti-Corruption Bureau? Hou Liangping!

Gu Beilou's expression changed. The Anti-Corruption Bureau had taken action, but Chen Qunfang's side hadn't made any move. However, his expression quickly returned to normal. "Director Hou, isn't there some misunderstanding? Hanyuan Construction's bidding this time was compliant and legal, and there was no violation of discipline."

"Whether something is compliant or not is not up to you to decide, but up to the law."

Hou Liangping pointed to the cars outside, "This is a public place after all, Mr. Gu should save some face."

What a load of rubbish!

He had just won a project worth nearly 10 billion yuan, and was taken away in public. What face did he have left?

The procuratorate arrives quickly and leaves even faster.

But the commotion spread rapidly through eyewitness accounts, only to come to an abrupt halt when they discovered that the prosecutor's office had sent more than one group of people.

Yang Qianxiong, head of Hanjiang City Investment Jingzhou, Wang Lixue, head of Donghai High-tech Investment Jingzhou, and Xu Yishan, head of Jingzhou Transportation Investment, were all taken away for investigation.

These four companies are the most competitive in this bidding process.

Many people felt uneasy and quickly left.

"Tsk tsk, this monkey is fast and ruthless."

Fang Wu watched the commotion downstairs in amazement, "They just took him away like that, they really didn't leave him any face at all."

"Wait for the Anti-Corruption Bureau's investigation results to file a case. Those who should be arrested will be arrested, those who should be disciplined will be disciplined, and those who should be fined will be fined."

Li Dakang remained calm and composed, his eyes like those of a dead fish. "We will hold a second bidding meeting."

Oh, for the fine!

Fang Wu's eyes lit up. No wonder Secretary Li was willing to hold such a bidding meeting that was destined to have no result.

Even if we calculate it as a fine of a few per thousand, if one company wins the bid and three companies collude, that would amount to tens of millions.

Jingzhou is poor now.

He desperately needs those tens of millions; there might even be a portion of his salary for this month in them.

Punish them! They must be punished severely!

"Secretary Li, Gu Beilou is involved in Jingzhou's overall development plan, and I'm worried about it!"

"or!"

"I'll discuss this with Deputy Chief Prosecutor Lu and request the Anti-Corruption Bureau to conduct a swift and thorough investigation, and provide a response to the public as soon as possible."

Fang Wu asked cautiously.