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

But most people don't have this opportunity, or their positions aren't that important, so they can only continue to live in fear and trepidation.

During Li Dakang's four years in Jingzhou, how many cadres did he promote? The secretaries and mayors of various districts and counties, the heads of various municipal departments, and the section chiefs and division chiefs of the Municipal Party Committee Office—all of them are now trembling with fear.

Some people began to distance themselves. On the third day after the incident, a district head under the jurisdiction of Jingzhou publicly said at a district meeting: "Comrade Li Dakang's problem is Comrade Li Dakang's problem. Our district cadres should trust the organization and work with peace of mind." These words sounded grand, but anyone with discerning eyes could hear that this was a statement: I am not Li Dakang's man, and I am not of one mind with him.

Some are observing. Several deputy directors of the municipal party committee office, those who usually fawn over Li Dakang, have become almost invisible these past few days. They arrive at work on time, leave promptly, avoid visiting others, attend gatherings, and speak in WeChat groups. They are waiting for the wind to blow completely before deciding on their next move.

Moreover, the emotions were not contained within the cadre group in Jingzhou City, but instead spread to provincial-level departments and other cities, with many people adopting the "do nothing is better than doing nothing during this sensitive period" mode.

-

Rumors in the business world arrive earlier and more directly than in the officialdom.

One of the main investors in the Guangmingfeng project is the state-owned enterprise Huayuan Group. Huayuan Group has invested nearly 8 billion yuan in Jingzhou and is the largest strategic partner of the Guangmingfeng project. On the afternoon of the day Li Dakang was taken away, Lao Gu, the chairman of Huayuan Group's headquarters, called Qi Tongwei.

Qi Tongwei reassured them with a lot of words, and after all, they were members of the national team and his own people, so he calmed them down.

However, not all investors have the connections and resources of Huayuan Group. Smaller investors, lacking direct access to Qi Tongwei, could only piece together information from news reports and social media. Someone forwarded an unverified message in a group chat claiming that Jingzhou was undergoing a "major purge," and all projects related to Li Dakang would be re-examined. Upon hearing this, several partners in various projects backed out.

Lin Long'an instructed the Provincial Development and Reform Commission to urgently meet with investors from over a dozen key projects, working with and reassuring them one by one. The director of the Development and Reform Commission returned from the meetings looking very displeased.

“Governor Lin, some investors have made their stance very clear—they will suspend investment until the situation becomes clearer. They say it’s not that they don’t trust the provincial government, but they are worried that once the money comes in, the project will be halted and the funds will be frozen.”

Lin Long'an reported the situation to Qi Tongwei. After listening, Qi Tongwei remained silent for a while, then said, "Have Dong Dingfang hold an investor symposium in the name of the Jingzhou Municipal Party Committee. Invite the main partners of the Guangmingfeng project and the shantytown renovation project. Dong Dingfang should attend in person, and you should go on my behalf to reassure them."

"Governor Qi, won't holding this meeting make it seem like things are too tense in Jingzhou?"

“It’s normal to be nervous. It would be abnormal not to be nervous. What we need to do is not to bury our heads in the sand and pretend nothing happened, but to let them see that we are doing something. Back then, when a large number of investors in Lincheng fled, Li Dakang was only concerned with protecting his reputation and trying to distance himself from the situation after the incident, which was also a big part of the reason.”

Lin Long'an nodded and went to make the arrangements.

Even so, some investors still fled.

On the afternoon Li Dakang was taken away, three business owners flew away from Jingzhou Airport. One was a real estate developer surnamed Lin, who had several projects in Jingzhou and had previously collaborated with the Shanshui Group. Another was a trading company surnamed Chen, who was rumored to be Zhao Ruilong's front man. The third was an investment company surnamed Zhou, whose fund had invested in the supporting projects of the Guangmingfeng project.

The three arrived at the airport almost one after the other. Mr. Lin took the 3 PM flight to Hong Kong; Mr. Chen took the 3:30 PM flight to Singapore; Mr. Zhou was the most cautious, saying he was going to Shanghai to discuss business, but before even leaving Hongqiao Airport, he immediately transferred to a flight to Vancouver.

They left in different ways, but for the same reason—they were afraid.

It's not that I'm afraid of being investigated, it's that I'm afraid of being investigated about my relationship with the Zhao family.

After all, even if Li Dakang has no connection with the real estate and infrastructure projects in Handong, it is very rare for them to have no connection with the Zhao family; it's just a matter of how close or distant the relationship is.

The news of Li Dakang being taken away spread among the people.

Some say he embezzled hundreds of millions, others say he kept dozens of mistresses, still others say he bought several villas in Beijing. The rumors are endless, growing increasingly outrageous. But no one bothers to verify the truth, because people don't need the truth. They just need a target to vent their emotions.

"Corrupt officials should be executed!"

"The housing prices in Jingzhou were driven up by these people!"

"Not a single one of them is any good!"

Those who are most vocal in their criticism probably have no idea who Li Dakang is, what he has done, or the connection between Ouyang Jing's $1.3 million bribe and Zhao Ruilong. All they know is that another corrupt official has been arrested. Good riddance.

-

When Hou Liangping came out of Yi Xuexi's office, it was almost 10 p.m.

The corridor lights were on, a cold, white glow. He walked quickly, his leather shoes clicking crisply on the tiled floor, rhythmic and distinct. He returned to his office, closed the door, and stood in the darkness without turning on the light.

He was thinking about what Yi Xuexi had just said.

"Keep the materials you found there for now, don't make them public."

“Jingzhou doesn’t need any major moves right now. Why don’t you go back to the Provincial Commission for Discipline Inspection first? You can better utilize your talents there.”

Looking at Yi Xuexi's cold and hard face, Hou Liangping felt a pang of sorrow.

The person in front of me is like a hard iron hammer, with hard bones and a hard heart.

But Hou Liangping is different. He's not tough, he's sharp. Sharp things break easily, and he's already on the verge of breaking.

He walked to the window, drew back the curtains, and looked out at the night sky. The sky over Jingzhou was overcast, with no stars in sight, only the lights of a few tall buildings twinkling in the distance.

He wondered if what he had been doing lately had really made him look like a clown.

He was jumping around like a maniac, thinking he was solving a major case. And what was the result? Perhaps they never expected him to find anything. What he uncovered was nothing more than a scrap of paper on Sha Ruijin's chessboard.

He recalled his early days in Handong, wearing a leather jacket, whistling, and full of youthful vigor. He thought he was invincible.

Then Liu Changsheng suspended him from his job for 24 hours. He thought that was the biggest setback in his life, and then he got divorced; after the divorce, he thought he had gotten rid of his ties and could charge forward fearlessly, cutting through everything.

He was just a fake knife. The real knife was elsewhere; he was merely a scabbard to protect it.

No, Yi Xuexi is the scabbard; he doesn't even qualify as a scabbard.

Hou Liangping was disheartened and suddenly missed Xiao Ai and his son.

This time, Hou Liangping was different from the previous times. He didn't cause any trouble or mess things up. He completed the task step by step, and of course, he didn't get any credit either.

There was only some hard work.

It was as if there had been no loss at all.

However, he lost his most important and precious possession, something he had kept to this day for various reasons.

The youthful spirit, ambition, and aspirations!

From then on, time dulled his brilliance, and the world gained another mediocre person.

Chapter 211 Expansion (Part 1)

It's normal for conflicts to arise between a strong top leader and a young second-in-command.

It could even be said that a harmonious and peaceful atmosphere is a rare phenomenon.

Sha Ruijin was dissatisfied with Qi Tongwei's statement, but it was still within his acceptable range.

However, he also knew that he had been delayed for too long by the Zhao family's affairs, and he had to finish them as soon as possible and get his energy back on track.

When Tian Guofu delivered the materials, it was the seventh day since Li Dakang had been taken away. The materials weren't thick, only a dozen pages, but every page was meticulously crafted by Tian Guofu and the staff of the Provincial Commission for Discipline Inspection's Case Management Office, working through the night and polishing each word. Sha Ruijin took them, but didn't rush to read them. He first asked, "Can these materials withstand scrutiny?"

Tian Guofu nodded: "Not a single word is a lie. Every single point has evidence, and every single detail has a source."

Sha Ruijin opened the document and read it page by page.

The material is structurally simple. The first part is a statement of facts: Zhao Ruilong, through the Shanshui Group, bribed Li Dakang's ex-wife, Ouyang Jing, with US$1.3 million, which was deposited into a Swiss bank account. This money was received during Li Dakang and Ouyang Jing's marriage. Li Dakang claimed to be unaware of it, but as a leading cadre, he bears an unshirkable responsibility for his spouse's serious violations of discipline and law.

The second part is a statement of facts: Zhao Ruilong's Shanshui Group and its affiliated companies obtained multiple major projects in Jingzhou and other cities in Handong through illegal means, involving huge sums of money, including but not limited to the Luzhou Food City project, the supporting works for the Jingzhou Guangming Peak project, and a real estate project in Lincheng. In the process of acquiring these projects, there were issues such as bid rigging, collusion, transfer of benefits, and illegal approvals.

The third part is the conclusion. Tian Guofu's conclusion is short, only two lines long:

"First, Zhao Ruilong bribed Li Dakang and his wife with US$1.3 million, a huge amount, and is suspected of serious violations of discipline and law."

Second, Zhao Ruilong engaged in rampant bribery and rent-seeking in Handong Province, which was serious in nature and egregious in its circumstances. It is recommended that the leads regarding Zhao Ruilong's suspected illegal activities be transferred to the judicial authorities for handling according to law.

Not a single word was mentioned about Zhao Lichun.

Given Zhao Lichun's rank, the Handong Provincial Commission for Discipline Inspection lacked the authority to investigate. All the evidence they gathered only extended to Zhao Ruilong's level.

But he also knew that once this material was sent to higher authorities, anyone who read it would automatically replace the name "Zhao Ruilong" with "Zhao Lichun's family" in their minds.

It's not framing or setting a trap; it's the power of words. You can present the same facts, rearrange the word order, and get different results.

As the conclusion above states, every word is true, but the result is that Li Dakang was Zhao Ruilong's protector in Handong.

Why did Sha Ruijin insist on bringing along a deputy provincial-level official? This raises a crucial question: purely economic issues are never the decisive factor.

If a deputy speaker of a county council is involved in corruption, rent-seeking, or other issues, the case should at least be brought to light by a case involving a deputy town mayor, not a village head.

So in his previous life, Sha Ruijin chose Gao Yuliang, but in this life he chose Li Dakang.

"Report it," Sha Ruijin said.

Tian Guofu nodded, picked up the materials, and turned to leave.

Sha Ruijin leaned back in his chair, gazing out the window. In October, Jingzhou was bathed in clear skies and bright sunlight streaming through the window, illuminating his desk. He wondered how the higher-ups would react after submitting this document. Would they take it seriously, or shelve it? Would they investigate, or suppress it?

He couldn't be certain either; it depended on the outcome of the game.

However, after the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, the red line of high-pressure anti-corruption is unshakable, and overall, the likelihood of greater emphasis on investigation and prosecution should be increased.

But he knew that Zhao Lichun would not sit idly by and wait for his doom.

Zhao Lichun saw the material the next day; at the time, he was reading an ancient chess manual.

The document was not an original, but a photocopy. It didn't come from a higher-level discipline inspection commission, but from a former subordinate of the provincial discipline inspection commission. He saw the document during the circulation of documents, noted down the main contents, and then sent it to Beijing through an intermediary.

After reading it, Zhao Lichun showed no anger or panic; instead, he smiled gently.

"That's all we have."

After speaking, he put down the materials and picked up the ancient chess manual again:

"Watch how I, this old man, will turn the tables on you!"

His secretary, nearly fifty years old and known as Old Zhang at work, made a special trip from Shuntian to Handong. When he returned, he brought back a long list. The list contained all the major projects Zhao Lichun had handled in Handong over the past twenty years—the food city in Luzhou, the industrial park in Lincheng, the renovation of several main roads in Jingzhou, several rounds of restructuring of provincial state-owned enterprises, and several phases of port expansion projects—nearly thirty in total. Each project was marked with the approval date, approval number, investment scale, and land area involved.

When Lao Zhang placed the list in front of Zhao Lichun, Zhao Lichun was reading a copy of the People's Daily in his study. He put down the newspaper, picked up the list, read it from beginning to end, and then put it down.

“Too few,” he said.

Old Zhang was taken aback for a moment: "Secretary, this has been a major project for nearly twenty years."

“It’s not that we have fewer projects, it’s that we have fewer ideas.” Zhao Lichun leaned back in his chair, his gaze fixed on the window. “Sha Ruijin wants to fight corruption, so we’ll help him fight it. He wants to investigate me, Zhao Lichun, right? Then let’s dig up all the historical issues left over from Handong and investigate them together. We can’t just investigate my corruption; we have to investigate the corruption of the entire Handong.”

Old Zhang looked at him, waiting for him to continue.

Zhao Lichun picked up his teacup, took a sip, and put it down. His movements were slow, as if he were using this action to buy himself time to think.

"After you go back, do three things. First, through normal channels, report to the National Development and Reform Commission, the Ministry of Natural Resources, the Ministry of Ecology and Environment, and the National Audit Office that there are a large number of historical problems in Handong Province during Comrade Zhao Lichun's tenure, and suggest a comprehensive investigation. Don't say 'investigate the problems,' but say 'in order to better summarize the lessons learned, it is recommended to review all major projects of this period.'"

He paused.

"Second, contact several retired veteran comrades and have them write a letter to the higher authorities as 'old Party members' reflecting the serious problems in the political ecology of Handong Province and suggesting a comprehensive and thorough rectification. The letter should not mention me or Sha Ruijin, but simply say that 'Handong Province needs a thorough baptism'."

“Third,” Zhao Lichun’s voice lowered, but every word was clear, “tell those still in their positions in Handong not to be afraid. If Sha Ruijin wants to investigate, let him investigate. If he finds problems, it’s a legacy of history, and the law doesn’t punish everyone; if he doesn’t find anything, it’s because Sha Ruijin is incompetent and is using the name of anti-corruption to wage a political struggle. No matter the outcome, Handong’s economy will be affected. If the economy is affected, the higher-ups will ask—who messed up Handong?”

After listening, Old Zhang remained silent for a moment.

“Old Secretary, this could cause the situation in Handong to get out of control.”

Zhao Lichun shook his head.

"It won't get out of control. It will only get more chaotic. When it gets chaotic to a certain extent, the higher-ups will intervene. Sha Ruijin is just a pawn. The people behind him won't and dare not overturn the entire Handong chessboard for the sake of a single pawn."