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

Gao Yuliang was slightly taken aback, then relaxed and waved his hand: "You're right, it's just that your teacher is getting old and always wants everything to be harmonious and peaceful. I take back what I said."

After relinquishing power, Gao Yuliang did change somewhat; he became more gentle.

"Don't worry, teacher," Qi Tongwei's tone softened, carrying a sense of promise, "Chen Hai's matter ends here. Back then, Chen Yanshi simply looked down on me, a poor country boy, and was unwilling to marry his daughter to me. This time, I'm handling Chen Hai more officially. He did make a mistake and needs to pay the price. Now that we've vented our anger, I naturally won't target him specifically in the future."

Of course, how Sha Ruijin views and utilizes Chen Yanshi, this "discarded pawn," and whether he will make a fuss about Chen Hai again, is none of Qi Tongwei's business.

Gao Yuliang nodded in agreement, but his mind was clearly elsewhere.

His words just now had a probing undertone. The old grudge between the Chen family and Qi Tongwei was, in the end, just a matter of pride. But the Liang family… that was a real feud. He wanted to speak, but swallowed the words back.

In this life, Qi Tongwei did not grow up entirely under his protection. They had a teacher-student relationship and a political lineage, but their relationship was not simply that of superior and subordinate.

Gao Yuliang could not use a tone of "command" or "request" to plead for the Liang family.

As for exchanging his great favor of "peacefully handing over the Han University gang" for it? That's too much of a bargaining chip. Gao Yuliang didn't want to waste it on the Liang family, which was already declining and might even become a burden.

He refused.

For a moment, the air in the office became quiet.

Qi Tongwei was also afraid that Teacher Gao would bring up the Liang family's matter, so he didn't want to get entangled in this thorny issue and took the initiative to change the subject:

"However, teacher, you've really wronged me. My good mood isn't entirely because of this little thing like putting Chen Hai on the sidelines."

"Oh?" Gao Yuliang raised his eyes, a look of interest on his face. "Then why?"

"Teacher, did you notice a detail at the meeting?" Qi Tongwei leaned forward slightly. "I specifically mentioned that regarding Comrade Chen Yanshi, the follow-up reassurance and communication would probably require Secretary Sha's personal involvement. How did Secretary Sha respond at the time?"

Gao Yuliang recalled briefly: "Secretary Sha said... he would personally call Old Chen to explain the situation."

“That’s right!” Qi Tongwei’s smile deepened, with a sharp insight. “Such a serious mass incident as the 116 Incident has occurred, and Chen Yanshi is the key figure in calming the situation on the spot. Both in terms of sentiment and reason, the best way for Secretary Sha to handle this is to personally meet with and appease Chen Yanshi.”

He paused, a glint in his eyes:

"But he didn't. He only said he would 'make a phone call.' And afterwards, he immediately transferred Chen Yanshi's son, Chen Hai, to a completely sinecure position. What does this mean?"

Gao Yuliang gestured for him to continue.

"This illustrates two points, teacher," Qi Tongwei said, holding up two fingers. "First, Secretary Sha's political skills may be exceptional in controlling the situation and pushing things forward forcefully, but in handling issues that require flexibility and human touch, he appears too harsh and crude, lacking the necessary flexibility and diplomacy. This is good news for my upcoming plans. At least it's easier than dealing with a watertight, flexible, and adaptable leader. It also gives me more confidence in my future plans."

“Secondly, and more importantly,” Qi Tongwei lowered his voice, his tone brimming with confidence, “this shows that our Secretary Sha has not been disrupted by this unexpected event. He still has no intention of ending his province-wide research trip ahead of schedule. This means that before he actually returns to the Provincial Party Committee, I still have more time to…adjust the layout and fill in the gaps.”

Gao Yuliang gave him a deep look, his gaze seemingly trying to pierce through his composed facade and see through all the scheming behind it. After a few seconds of silence, he slowly spoke, his tone calm yet profound:

"Secretary Sha has not finished his research plan... Did you play a role in this?"

Qi Tongwei smiled, but his voice was calm and unwavering, revealing nothing about his true feelings:

"No, teacher, you're overthinking it."

-

Meanwhile, Chen Yanshi's nursing home has become bustling with activity, no longer the quiet place it used to be.

Although he went to bed very late last night, he is getting old and needs less sleep, so he still got up early today.

Normally, only ordinary people with problems who couldn't get their issues resolved through official channels would come to him to try their luck. But today, the place was packed with powerful figures from both the political and business circles of Handong.

After all, unless someone is in a position of power, they wouldn't receive the news so quickly.

They carried rare potted flowers and surrounded Chen Yanshi, showering him with compliments. Chen Yanshi had a fondness for flowers, but he wasn't obsessed with them. What he truly reveled in was the feeling of being the center of attention, as if he were still at the center of power.

He was beaming and said something about taking the things away, but was turned away by polite remarks about the things he dug up in his hometown being worthless and that he couldn't raise them well. He then spoke some righteous and politically correct official jargon, which his wife would usually ignore or even ridicule, but now he was being flattered in various ways by these people, and for a moment he felt a little lighter.

Suddenly, his phone rang. He picked it up and Bai Jingwen's voice came from the other end: "Is this Chen Yanshi, the old man? I'm Secretary Sha's secretary. Secretary Sha wants to speak with you."

Chen Yanshi quickly agreed, "Okay."

Then he said to the crowd surrounding him, "Secretary Sha is looking for me, I'm going to take this call."

Then, amidst a sea of ​​eager gazes, she took her phone and went to the bedroom.

"Hey, Little Gold."

"It's nothing, staying up a little late is nothing. When I was fighting in the war, I didn't sleep for days and nights!"

"Mmm, mmm..."

"Ah~"

Chapter 118 Zhao Xiaohui's Call

The most secluded suite in the Shanshui Manor is completely darkened by heavy blackout curtains, blocking out the morning light and creating a perfect ambiance for a good night's sleep.

The air still carried the decadent scent of last night's expensive cigars, spirits, and perfumes.

Zhao Ruilong lay sprawled in the center of the custom-made bed, snoring loudly.

He was used to a life with his days and nights reversed, and this was the time when he was soundly asleep in the "late night".

The sudden ringing of the cell phone shattered the silence and chaos of the room like a sharp knife. The ringing persisted, once, twice.

"Damn it..." Zhao Ruilong mumbled a curse, his brows furrowed, and he reached out to grope haphazardly on the bedside table with extreme impatience.

Touching the cold phone, he barely managed to open his heavy eyelids. The nickname "Second Sister" on the screen eased his irritable expression slightly, but his displeasure at being disturbed was still evident.

He answered the phone, his voice heavy with sleepiness and nasal tone: "Hello, Second Sister... what time is it? What do you want?"

On the other end of the phone, Zhao Xiaohui's voice was clear and urgent, completely unlike what he should be like at this time: "Ruilong, wake up, something's happened. There's a big problem with the land at Dafeng Factory. You have to go and pay the outstanding land transfer fee right now."

"What?!" Zhao Ruilong felt as if he had been doused with a bucket of ice water. His sleepiness vanished instantly, and he sat bolt upright in bed, causing the silk quilt to slip to the side. "Why, Second Sister? Weren't the procedures all done long ago? Chen Qingquan's second trial has already reached a verdict, it's all in black and white, the shareholding is clear, and the procedures are completely legal and compliant. Li Dakang didn't utter a single word back then! Why should I have to pay the land transfer fee now?"

His voice was filled with incomprehension and a hint of offended anger. In his logic, once the "procedure" was completed and the official seal was affixed, it was set in stone and belonged to him.

“Ruilong, let me finish!” Zhao Xiaohui’s voice rose slightly, carrying an undeniable seriousness. “Last night, the demolition company forcibly demolished our property, triggering a large-scale mass incident…”

Zhao Ruilong interrupted, "I know that, but wasn't it resolved? Li Dakang was still planning to continue the forced demolition. Later, he called Sha Ruijin. What? Did Sha Ruijin want us to relocate the workers?"

Zhao Xiaohui: "Ruilong, let me finish. This matter has been completely blown up online! The higher-ups have taken notice. Some things don't seem significant until they're weighed, but once they're on the scale, they're incredibly powerful! This piece of land is the thing that's been put on the scale. The land transfer fee must be paid; this is not negotiable. Otherwise, it will affect Dad."

Zhao Xiaohui spoke the last few words with both softness and emphasis.

The lightness refers to the tone of voice, while the heaviness refers to the intonation.

All of Zhao Ruilong's anger and resentment deflated like a balloon punctured by a needle.

He may be domineering or greedy, but he has an instinctive and profound awe for the ultimate source of his power and wealth—his father, Zhao Lichun.

Anything that might threaten his father's position was a bottom line he absolutely could not cross.

His expression shifted constantly, but the thought of having to take out real money, and such a large sum at that, made him feel as if an invisible hand was squeezing his heart, sending waves of suffocating pain through him.

He doesn't think that the money didn't belong to him in the first place; in his view, he has truly "lost" a billion yuan.

He breathed heavily, like a fish out of water. After struggling for a few seconds in extreme heartache and resentment, he finally managed to come up with an idea: "Second sister... can I just give up on this land? I'll withdraw! Let Guangming District auction it off again! As long as the money from the auction covers the tens of millions of yuan I lent to Dafeng Factory as a bridge loan, that's fine. This time... I admit defeat!" He clenched his teeth as he said the word "admit defeat."

Zhao Xiaohui: "No way!"

Zhao Ruilong gritted his teeth: "Then I don't want these tens of millions either!"

If a billion yuan were truly invested in a large-scale development project like Guangming Peak, it would certainly be profitable in the long run.

But that kind of profit is a slow and steady stream, requiring a long construction period, complex coordination and management, and immense patience. Who is Zhao Ruilong? He's used to making money out of thin air, engaging in rent-seeking for exorbitant profits, and making quick money through reselling.

Making him tie up a billion yuan in a project that will take several years to slowly recoup his investment is almost as unbearable as putting him in jail.

As readers who frequently run companies know, large sums of money have opportunity costs. Therefore, Zhao Ruilong would rather give up the tens of millions he invested in the early stages than be tied up in this billion yuan.

Zhao Xiaohui paused for a moment on the other end of the phone, her voice becoming even calmer, even tinged with a hint of sternness: "Ruilong, this time it won't work. You still underestimated the impact this matter has now. I'll say it again—this matter has reached the highest levels! Do you know what 'reached the highest levels' means?"

She paused, making sure Zhao Ruilong was listening: "Now everyone can see what's going on at a glance. But if you announce your withdrawal from the project now, your intentions will be too obvious, which is tantamount to admitting that you want to embezzle the national assets."

"But if you go and pay the outstanding land transfer fees, at least you can have a facade of just overdue fees and a willingness to develop the area. Even if everyone knows that facade is transparent and can be easily punctured, at this critical juncture, even if this facade can only provide the slightest buffer, even if it can only obscure the truth, we absolutely cannot give up! Do you understand?"

Zhao Ruilong fell silent.

He knew the gravity of the situation; Zhao Xiaohui had put it this way, and he knew there was no room for negotiation.

He could bargain with Li Dakang, Gao Yuliang, and even the newly arrived Sha Ruijin, and even stand his ground, because his father Zhao Lichun's position gave him the confidence to stand tall. But once pressure from higher levels, even if it was just a possibility, began to emerge, he would bend faster than anyone else.

But this didn't stop him from complaining and calculating his losses, which was part of his spoiled nature: "What kind of mess is this! I've been busy for half a year on this piece of land, putting in so much effort and using up so many favors. Now, after all the calculations, I'm not only not making any money, but I'm going to lose almost a hundred million! Wait a minute..." He suddenly raised his voice, as if he had discovered an even bigger loss, "I've lost eleven billion!"

He naturally included the expected profit of one billion that he failed to obtain in his "loss book".

Zhao Xiaohui loved her only younger brother dearly. Hearing him back down and understand the situation, she softened her tone and began to comfort him: "Dafeng Factory is in the eye of the storm right now. Let's avoid it for a while and stabilize our position. Once this storm passes, Handong is so big, are we afraid there won't be any opportunities to make money? Think long-term."

"Alright..." Zhao Ruilong dragged out the words, reluctantly agreeing, but then he immediately remembered something, and his bargaining instincts resurfaced. "Then you have to tell the old man that he owes me an IOU... no, I've invested so much in Dafeng Factory, and now I'm losing a fortune. He owes me at least three!"

Zhao Xiaohui chuckled helplessly on the other end of the phone, her tone indulgent: "Okay, I understand, I'll tell Dad."

He couldn't help but mutter regretfully, "Damn it, if only I had spent tens of millions more back then, and just gotten rid of those poor workers from Dafeng Factory quickly... I wouldn't have caused such a commotion, not only did I not make any money, but I almost dragged the old man down with me..."

Rarely hearing her younger brother show such "filial piety," Zhao Xiaohui gently comforted him, "It's good that you have this intention, but that old geezer Chen Yanshi is not easy to deal with."

Zhao Ruilong: "When the people from Guangming District communicated with us before, it seemed to me that all they wanted was a few tens of millions of yuan in resettlement fees, right?"

Zhao Xiaohui: "You think Chen Yanshi just wants to help the workers get a little money? He's clinging to this project so tightly. I think he might want to hold you hostage and give you to Sha Ruijin or Qi Tongwei so they can use it as leverage to negotiate with Dad and win over the influence Dad has left in Handong."

"He won't stop until he hands this knife over to Sha Ruijin or Qi Tongwei. Even if you give the workers tens of millions, it won't help. If you don't pay the land transfer fee, the land ownership won't be clear. People are greedy. The old man is holding this billion yuan in front of you. You think you can get rid of the workers with tens of millions? No way!"

"That's why I told you from the beginning not to give it, it was no use!"

Zhao Ruilong asked in bewilderment, "Since you and Dad knew from the beginning that it would be so troublesome, why didn't you stop me from taking this land?"

Zhao Xiaohui: "Because Dad is about to retire."

Expired and void! Expired and void!

He now understands how Liang Jin felt 10 years ago when Liang Qunfeng was about to retire.

After hanging up the phone, Zhao Ruilong threw it on the messy bed. Looking at the dim ceiling, he felt as if the fat duck he had almost caught had not only flown away, but had also turned around and pecked him, making him bleed.

"Damn it, these politicians are all filthy-hearted and their guts are twisted!" Zhao Ruilong cursed under his breath, feeling a surge of frustration and helplessness. "I can't outsmart them... It's better to just honestly find a way to make money."

But the thought of having a full billion yuan withdrawn from his account brought back a sharp, agonizing pain. How much quick money would he lose?

Suddenly, his cloudy eyes darted around, and an idea popped up like a will-o'-the-wisp.

That's right! This money... doesn't necessarily have to come from my own pocket, Zhao Ruilong!

A look of cunning and greed flashed across his face as he picked up his phone from the bed again, quickly scrolling through his contacts and locking onto a name.

He licked his dry lips, which were still feeling the effects of his hangover, adjusted his breathing and tone, and dialed the number.

A few seconds later, the call was connected.