Nominal: Starting with an entrance exam for a PhD in Economics at Peking University

Zhong Xiaoai closed her notebook, stood up, and said to her colleague, "You continue the interrogation. I need to organize this material immediately and report it to Team Leader Zhang."

When Tian Guofu pushed the door open, Li Dakang and Sha Ruijin were both there. He walked in and sat down next to Sha Ruijin.

"Secretary Sha, Secretary Dakang." Tian Guofu placed the folder in his hand on the table. "The inspection team just reported the latest developments in the Wang Dalu case, and there are some important new discoveries."

Li Dakang sat there with his back straight, but his fingers were clenched tightly on his knees.

“Speak,” Sha Ruijin gestured for him to continue.

"Further investigation revealed that many of the luxury goods purchased under Li Jiajia's name were actually high-quality counterfeit products, not genuine," Tian Guofu said calmly, as if reading a report. "Professional appraisal showed that their market value was far lower than the amount shown in the transfer records."

Upon hearing this, Li Dakang's finger twitched.

“Wang Dalu confessed that although he had assets worth billions on paper, most of them were fixed assets and inventory, and his cash flow was relatively tight. He did not have the ability to spend tens of millions of yuan in cash in the short term without affecting the company’s operations.” Tian Guofu continued, “He arranged for his associate Zhang Xiaoxue to approach Li Jiajia in the United States, induce her to develop a high-consumption habit, and sell her high-quality counterfeit luxury goods at high prices. After the funds were recorded as transfers on paper, most of them actually flowed back to accounts controlled by Wang Dalu.”

The office was quiet for a moment.

Li Dakang sat there, listening to these words, slowly piecing together the puzzle in his mind.

The $5.1 million figure is fake.

Most of the money just circulates on paper.

“Wang Dalu admitted,” Tian Guofu said, putting the last piece of the puzzle in place, “that he actually spent about one million US dollars on Li Jiajia, including normal expenses such as tuition, living expenses and some real luxury goods, while the rest of the money was from fictitious transactions.”

One million US dollars.

Li Dakang's fingers slowly loosened a little.

He can accept this amount.

“In addition,” Tian Guofu continued, “Wang Dalu explained his motives. After the Jinshan County incident in 1993, Wang Dalu was implicated and forced to resign from his position as deputy county head to go into business. After that, he tried to contact Comrade Dakang many times, hoping to meet him.”

"But Secretary Dakang kept avoiding us, not answering our calls or replying to our texts, and even had his secretary tell him not to come to the office."

Tian Guofu paused for a moment, "Wang Dalu said that this made him feel deeply humiliated. He felt that he was being treated like a thief even though he was implicated by Secretary Dakang. This sense of humiliation made him resent Li Dakang, so he plotted this scheme, intending to create the illusion of a huge debt so that Li Dakang would be unable to repay it and thus ruin his career."

"The original plan was to launch the operation once the amount of money had accumulated to a certain level, but the Ouyang Jing case broke out ahead of schedule, disrupting the plan."

After Tian Guofu finished speaking, he closed the folder and looked at Sha Ruijin.

The office remained quiet for a long time.

Li Dakang sat there, head down, hands on his knees, motionless.

After hearing these words, every single one felt like a knife cutting into his heart.

Avoid them as if they were thieves.

humiliation.

He understood all of those words.

Sha Ruijin looked at him, paused for a moment, and then said, "Comrade Dakang, did you hear that?"

Li Dakang nodded, his voice low: "I heard you."

“Wang Dalu is a very cunning man,” Sha Ruijin said. “If Ouyang Jing hadn’t gotten into trouble beforehand, and if the inspection team hadn’t investigated so thoroughly, his scheme might have actually succeeded.”

He paused for a moment, then continued: "But now the truth has been found out, one million dollars. This figure is completely different in nature from five million dollars."

Li Dakang raised his head and looked at Sha Ruijin.

“Regardless of whether the organization believes you were unaware,” Sha Ruijin said, “you still have to repay this money. One million US dollars, which is equivalent to six or seven million RMB, can you afford to repay it?”

Li Dakang was silent for a moment, then spoke in a low but steady voice: "Secretary Sha, I can repay it."

"How do I repay it?"

“Sell the house,” Li Dakang said. “I have a house in Jingzhou, which should be worth five or six million. I’ll sell it; if that’s not enough, I can take out a loan from the bank to make up the difference.”

Sha Ruijin looked at him, paused for a moment, and then nodded: "Have you thought it through?"

“I’ve thought it through,” Li Dakang said, his voice carrying something indescribable, a sense of responsibility mixed with self-reproach. “No matter what Wang Dalu’s purpose was, no matter whether I knew about this money or not, my daughter accepted it, so I have to return it. This is my responsibility as a father, and it’s also the attitude I should have as a Party member and cadre.”

“I don’t have high demands for material life. At my current level, the government takes care of everything from birth to death. This house was also meant for my child. Now that this has happened, I’ll sell it to pay off her debts.”

Li Dakang paused for a moment, then continued, his voice even lower: "And Secretary Sha, regarding what Wang Dalu said, I... I do bear some responsibility. Back then, when he approached me, I avoided him. I was afraid he would implicate me, afraid it would affect my work, so I chose not to see him. I thought it was the most rational thing to do, but I never expected something like this to happen."

"I admit to this."

Sha Ruijin picked up his teacup, took a sip, and then put the cup down: "Although you did go a bit overboard in handling this matter, Wang Dalu is indeed up to no good, and it's right for you to avoid him."

"Your problem is that you don't care enough about the people around you. It's not enough to just look up at the sky; you also need to look down at the road."

Li Dakang's body hunched slightly: "Secretary Sha is right, I will definitely pay attention in the future."

Sha Ruijin continued, "You can go back and handle the house issue; the organization will give you time. But Comrade Dakang, you should also think carefully about what I said before."

After a pause, he spoke, his tone becoming more serious: "There are a few other things I feel I need to make clear to you."

Li Dakang raised his head and looked at Sha Ruijin, a sense of unease rising in his heart.

“You did a good job in Jingzhou, that’s a fact,” Sha Ruijin said. “But over the years, there have been quite a few problems around you. The deputy mayor of Lincheng, Ding Yizhen in Jingzhou, your ex-wife Ouyang Jing, and now Wang Dalu, one after another. Although you yourself have no direct problems, as the top leader, your management of the people around you is lacking.”

Li Dakang nodded: "Secretary Sha, this is my problem, I apologize."

Sha Ruijin didn't respond, but continued, "Comrade Dakang, let me tell you the truth today—it's very difficult for you to advance any further."

After those words were spoken, the office fell silent for a moment.

Li Dakang's body stiffened slightly, his fingers tightened on his knees until his knuckles turned white, but his face showed nothing. He simply lowered his head, as if digesting the words.

“It’s not that you’re incompetent,” Sha Ruijin said, his tone carrying an objective assessment, neither sympathy nor accusation, but simply stating a fact. “You’re carrying too many burdens. The Ouyang Jing case, no matter how it’s ultimately classified, will have an impact; regarding the Wang Dalu incident, although you were unaware of it, it’s hard to say how the outside world will view it; and then there’s your work style over the years—it’s been assertive, offending quite a few people, with people in the province and city having opinions about you.”

"Most importantly, these matters have already been made public by the inspection team, and your situation may already be on the desk of your superiors."

"All of these things combined make the organization have to be careful when considering your advancement."

Li Dakang kept his head down and remained silent. His Adam's apple bobbed, as if he wanted to say something, but in the end, he said nothing.

“However,” Sha Ruijin’s tone shifted again, “the organization still recognizes you. The provincial committee will protect your position in Jingzhou. But the prerequisite is that you must do the Guangming Peak project well, completely, and beautifully.”

He paused, then emphasized the weight of his words: "Guangming Peak is your last trump card in Jingzhou, and also your guarantee to stay in this position. Do you understand what I mean?"

Li Dakang raised his head, looked at Sha Ruijin, remained silent for a moment, and then nodded, his voice a little hoarse: "I understand."

“Good that you understand,” Sha Ruijin said. “If you do a good job at Guangmingfeng, you can hold onto your position as the Secretary of the Jingzhou Municipal Party Committee until the reshuffle. We’ll talk about the rest later. But if Guangmingfeng runs into problems, you should be prepared to go to the CPPCC in advance.”

Li Dakang lowered his head: "I will do my best and not let the organization down."

"Put other things aside for now. Once you've done what needs to be done, the rest will take care of itself."

Li Dakang nodded, his voice low: "I understand, I will do my best."

“Okay,” Sha Ruijin said, “that’s enough for today, you can go back now.”

Li Dakang stood up, bowed slightly, his posture even more humble than when he came in: "Thank you, Secretary Sha. I'll take my leave now."

"Go."

Li Dakang turned around, walked to the door, and went out.

After leaving the provincial party committee building, Li Dakang stood at the entrance for a while. The sunlight was dazzling.

He took a deep breath and then opened the car door that had already driven up to him.

I got in the car, closed the door, and the car became quiet.

The driver asked, "Secretary, are we going back to the Municipal Party Committee?"

"Let's go back."

The car started and drove away from the provincial party committee compound.

Li Dakang leaned back in his seat, closed his eyes, and went over what had just happened in his mind.

Five million one hundred thousand became one million.

The problem he thought was unsolvable suddenly became manageable.

But he felt no relief.

Because after learning this news, Sha Ruijin told him something else—

It's very difficult for him to climb any higher.

The ceiling is right above your head.

And it can't be broken.

All he can do is hold onto his current position, finish his work at Guangming Peak, and then wait for the organization's arrangements.

As for going up, that's no longer an option.

This is a bittersweet "good news".

The numbers have decreased, making it possible to repay them, but the ceiling on one's career path is also clearly visible.

The car was driving on the road, and the scenery outside the window was rushing past frame by frame.

Li Dakang opened his eyes, looked out the window, and recalled the time many years ago when he and Wang Dalu worked together in Jinshan County.

Back then, they were all young. He, Wang Dalu, and Yi Xuexi were full of enthusiasm and determined to change the status quo of Jinshan County.

Later, when something happened in Jinshan County, Wang Dalu was implicated and forced to leave the system; Yi Xuexi was demoted and appointed as the county magistrate of Daokou County.

He chose to turn a blind eye, to cut ties, and to protect himself.

He thought this was the most rational thing to do.

Looking back now, this was the most cold-blooded and ruthless thing to do.

Every gift bestowed by fate has a price already secretly marked on it.

You'll have to pay it back sooner or later.

The car stopped in front of the municipal party committee building, and Xiao Jin, the secretary who had already been notified by the driver, opened the car door.

As Li Dakang got out of the car, his legs suddenly gave way and he almost fell.

Xiao Jin quickly helped Li Dakang up: "Secretary..."

“I’m fine,” Li Dakang said. “Let’s review the progress of the Guangming Peak project and call a meeting with the relevant departments.”

"Ok."

Li Dakang walked into the office, closed the door, and sat down in the chair.