Courtyard House: From Deputy Division Commander to Civilian, Progressing All the Way

The air in the conference room instantly froze to freezing point.

Liang Qiming trembled with fright, and the pen in his hand fell to the ground and rolled under the table. He didn't dare to bend down to pick it up.

"Read it? Why did you stop reading?" Lin Yang sneered, his smile filled with chilling mockery and rage.

"Liang Qiming, do you really think that I, Lin Yang, traveled for two days and two nights by train from Beijing to this sweltering, muddy southern wasteland just to listen to you read the newspaper here?!"

Lin Yang suddenly stood up, his hands braced on the conference table, like an enraged lion, his powerful aura instantly overwhelming the entire conference room.

"Not open-minded enough? Afraid of making mistakes? Is this self-criticism? You're just whitewashing yourself! You're using official jargon to cover up your cowardice and incompetence!"

Lin Yang pointed at Liang Qiming's nose, his voice booming like thunder.

"Do you know how foreign investors describe your management committee? They call you 'beggars sitting on a gold mine'! A land permit for a foreign-invested factory had to go through the planning department, then the fire department, the environmental protection department, and the foreign exchange bureau, all from your office, Liang Qiming! It took a total of twenty-eight official stamps and three and a half months!"

"Is this what you call 'excessively long approval process'? Do you know how many times the price of raw materials on the international market has increased in the past three and a half months? How many US dollars are foreign businesses paying in interest to the bank every day? You're afraid of making a mistake, so you dare not sign! You're not only a coward, you're also a sinner against this country's economic take-off!"

Liang Qiming's face turned deathly pale instantly, his lips trembled violently, and he couldn't utter a single word. He had served as an official for most of his life, and had never before been so openly and brutally insulted in such a humiliating manner.

Lin Yang didn't let him off the hook, turning to look at Zhang Jianye, the deputy director sitting on his right.

"Zhang Jianye, you're in charge of infrastructure. Tell me, where did your problem lie?" Lin Yang's gaze was like a knife.

Zhang Jianye was a dark-skinned man with a straightforward personality, but under Lin Yang's pressure, he began to stutter.

"Chairman... My main problem is that I wasn't tough enough on the interference of local clan forces. This caused the first phase of the earthwork project for the South District Deepwater Port, which we were in charge of, to be delayed by a full forty days." Zhang Jianye forced himself to tell the truth.

"Not tough enough?" A fierce killing intent flashed in Lin Yang's eyes. "You mean not tough enough? You're just trying to smooth things over! You're just compromising with thugs!"

Lin Yang suddenly waved his hand.

Shen Yan, who was standing at the door, immediately opened his briefcase, took out a large stack of photos, and threw them directly in front of Zhang Jianye.

The photos show trucks loaded with sand and gravel blocked outside a construction site. A group of local bullies, armed with hoes and iron bars, are sitting arrogantly on the hoods of the trucks, smoking. Several other photos show construction workers from other areas lying in the mud, their heads bleeding from beatings.

"Look at these photos!" Lin Yang shouted angrily. "The government allocated hundreds of millions of yuan in special funds for you to develop infrastructure in the special economic zone. And what's the result? The purchase of sand and red bricks has been monopolized by a few local thugs! They've tripled the price of sand and gravel! If you don't buy from them, they won't let your construction vehicles onto the site!"

"Zhang Jianye, as the chief commander of the infrastructure project, what did you do? You went to negotiate with them! You went to treat those village chiefs to meals and drinks, begging them to be lenient! You've disgraced all state officials!"

Zhang Jianye lowered his head in shame, his fists clenched so tightly that his nails dug deep into his flesh.

"Chairman, I have no choice," Zhang Jianye said through gritted teeth, his voice filled with deep helplessness. "Those people are all local natives. They frequently gather the entire village, young and old, women and children, to cause trouble in front of the management committee. A whole bunch of them just lie there. The security department is afraid of triggering a large-scale incident, so they don't dare arrest anyone. I can't exactly drive a bulldozer over them, can I?"

"What's there to be afraid of?!"

Lin Yang let out a loud shout, which made the ceiling fan on the ceiling buzz.

"This is a special economic zone established by the state! It's not some clan's private backyard! Any force that attempts to hinder the rise of a great power is an enemy of the nation!"

Just then, the conference room door was pushed open forcefully.

Chen Feng strode in, exuding a menacing aura and carrying a faint smell of gunpowder. His grey jacket even had a few drops of still-dry dark red bloodstains on it.

When the officials in the conference room saw Chen Feng's appearance, they trembled with fear and didn't dare to breathe.

"Reporting, sir!" Chen Feng walked to Lin Yang's side, stood at attention, and saluted, his voice filled with a bloodthirsty excitement. "The anti-sabotage rapid response team has successfully completed the clearing mission!"

"Speak," Lin Yang said expressionlessly.

Chen Feng turned around, his cold gaze sweeping over the special economic zone officials around the conference table, and loudly reported the error.

"Over the past three days, we have launched a devastating crackdown on four major criminal gangs that monopolized the sand and gravel trade and extorted protection money within the Special Administrative Region."

"The 'Sea Sand Gang' at the South Wharf, led by their leader, gathered 120 armed thugs in an attempt to violently resist law enforcement. Six were killed on the spot, 28 were seriously wounded, and the rest surrendered!"

"The 'clan protection team' at the West District construction site used elderly people and women as human shields. We used high-pressure water cannons and tear gas to forcibly disperse them and arrested fourteen ringleaders, who are currently all detained in a secret detention center awaiting severe sentencing!"

"All illegally monopolized sand and gravel pits and underground banks have been shut down. The seized illegal proceeds, including cash and gold, totaling 3.2 million RMB, have all been deposited into the Special Economic Zone's infrastructure account! Starting this morning, the transportation of materials to all construction sites in the Special Economic Zone is unimpeded, and no one dares to charge a single penny in tolls!"

Every word Chen Feng uttered was like a heavy hammer, striking Zhang Jianye and Liang Qiming's hearts hard.

Shot dead on the spot! Severely punished! House confiscated!

These civilian officials had never witnessed such an unreasonable, ruthless, and merciless crackdown. They finally understood why Lin Yang had placed this murderous man in the special zone.

This is a butcher's knife used to cut off all rotten flesh and malignant tumors!

"Did you hear that?" Lin Yang turned to look at Zhang Jianye, who was drenched in cold sweat. "The obstacles have been cleared away. We've played the villain. If your infrastructure construction continues at a snail's pace, Zhang Jianye, I'll skin you alive and send you to the construction site to carry cement!"

Zhang Jianye suddenly stood up, his eyes red-rimmed, and roared in a hoarse voice, "Don't worry, Chairman! Once the road is open, if I, Zhang Jianye, still hold you back, I'll offer my head! I guarantee that the core building of the special economic zone will be built one floor every three days! We'll show you the speed of the special economic zone!"

"Sit down." Lin Yang nodded slightly.