Official title: Refused to stay at the university, started his career in a rural town.

Night falls at Villa No. 7 of the Jingzhou Provincial Party Committee.

Zhao Lichun pushed open the door, changed into slippers, and placed his briefcase on the cabinet in the entryway.

The TV in the living room was on, and it was playing a music variety show.

Zhao Ruilong sprawled on the sofa, his suit jacket crumpled up and tossed aside, his tie hanging loosely around his neck, a glass of red wine in his hand, his feet propped up on the coffee table, leisurely swinging his toes.

Zhao Lichun stood in the entryway, looked at the mess on the sofa, frowned slightly. He didn't want to look at it a second time, so he turned around and walked towards the stairwell.

"Dad." Zhao Ruilong's voice came from behind, with a lazy tone.

Zhao Lichun didn't stop walking.

"Secretary Zhang told me about today's Standing Committee meeting."

Zhao Lichun had already placed his hand on the stair railing when he heard those words, and he stopped.

"That old bastard Qin Zhen is a real scoundrel."

Zhao Ruilong placed the wine glass on the coffee table and sat up straight.

"I'm just a nobody, do you think it's easy for me to earn money honestly? And they're messing with me like this! Should I just cancel this project?"

Zhao Lichun turned around.

He looked at the face on the sofa—unlike his usual carefree demeanor, Zhao Ruilong's face didn't have that smug, roguish grin when he said those words today.

Hearing this, Zhao Lichun felt much better. He turned and walked to the center of the living room, where he sat down on the single sofa opposite Zhao Ruilong.

He leaned back in his chair, his back straight, his hands resting on the armrests, exuding an air of authority without anger.

"Hmph." Zhao Lichun snorted. "If there's a real problem, I won't let you do it."

Zhao Ruilong was stunned for a moment, then the corners of his mouth slowly turned up.

He knew his father too well. What he meant wasn't "I'll protect you," but "I've already settled the score." He picked up his glass of red wine, took a sip, and leaned back on the sofa.

Zhao Lichun closed his eyes and pondered for a while, his fingers slowly tapping on the armrest of the sofa.

He was thinking about Ninghe's political landscape—Liu Xiangdong came from the Municipal Party Committee's Organization Department and was somewhat shrewd; Su Shunda was a nice guy and not to be feared; Yang Fan was a top student trained by Handong University, a capable person, and had dealt with Zhao Ruilong in Qingping Township, so he knew the situation well.

Ninghe's investment promotion process is open and transparent. The application materials have been published in newspapers and the review team has signed records.

This process can withstand scrutiny from beginning to end. As long as Qin Zhen doesn't resort to underhanded tactics, the supervisory team won't find anything wrong.

If they resort to underhanded tactics, hmph...

"Just do your job normally." Zhao Lichun opened his eyes, his voice not loud, but every word was heavy.

"If you need to go to Ninghe to cooperate, then go cooperate; if you need to go to your manor and lie around, then lie around!"

Zhao Ruilong chuckled, put his legs off the coffee table, and leaned forward slightly.

"Dad, from what you're saying, you actually think my Ruilong Electronics business is doing quite well? Aren't you going to ask?"

Zhao Lichun glanced at him disdainfully. His eyes held a mixture of disgust, helplessness, and a deeply hidden—filial piety.

"I know the whole story better than you do. What are you asking? Which college student did you hire?"

When the topic turned to college students, Zhao Lichun's finger paused on the armrest of the sofa.

He leaned back on the sofa, squinted, and stroked his chin in deep thought.

University students, Handong University!

Zhao Lichun silently calculated in his mind. He couldn't win. He simply couldn't win.

Even if they do come to power, Handong University is not someone they can directly confront.

The profound heritage of this century-old prestigious school is like a deep pool of water, its bottom unseen. If you offend one of their students today, they can find someone to give you a lesson tomorrow, and it will be the kind of lesson that leaves you nodding in agreement.

However, Handong University...

Qin Zhen, hmph!

------

A few days later, in Ninghe County.

After the snow cleared, the audit team from the Provincial Audit Office entered the Ninghe County Guesthouse.

Zhou Jianming, along with a dozen or so people, converted the two easternmost rooms on the second floor of the guesthouse into temporary offices. Stacks of reports covered the desks, chairs, and windowsills, and the printer hummed non-stop all day.

Confirmation letters from the fax machine piled up on the floor, leaving almost no room to step.

Eleven companies, each one a large stack.

But Ruilong Electronics' stack, placed separately on Zhou Jianming's right, was taller than the other ten companies combined.

On top of it were photocopies of the academic certificates of the thirty members of the technical team, the original labor contracts, details of their R&D investment over the past three years, and the study records of several PhDs from Harbin University and Northwest University, one page for each person, all stamped with the red seals of social security centers in various regions.

Zhou Jianming leaned back in his chair, flipping through a contract for the purchase of equipment between Ruilong Electronics and Hanjiang Precision Machinery Factory. The contract amount was 12 million yuan.

The package included photos of the equipment, technical specifications, a delivery schedule, and bank transfer receipts.

He flipped through the pages one by one, until he reached the last page, then put it down.

Then I picked up another document, a capital verification report.

The accounting firm, the largest in Handong Province, issued the certificate; the registered capital was 40 million yuan, with 10 million yuan actually paid in.

Attached were bank statements, clearly listing the date, amount, and remitter of each transaction. He turned to the last page and put it down.

He picked up another document—the technology team's patent certificate.

There were seven items in total. He wrote down the patent number of each item in his notebook, preparing to have his colleagues in Jingzhou compare them one by one in the State Intellectual Property Office system.

However, after copying it, I still impatiently crossed out each number I had just written down and carefully compared it with the patent number I had written down.

The authenticity of these patents is meaningless!

The printer finished spitting out another sheet of paper and emitted a beeping sound.

"Director Zhou, Ruilong Electronics has sent over some more information."

The young auditor sitting by the door tidied up the fax and handed it over.

Zhou Jianming took off his glasses, pinched the bridge of his nose with two fingers, and rubbed it hard, revealing a dark circle under his eyes.

He opened his eyes and looked at the stack of documents on his desk that was almost as high as the desk lamp. He then glanced around at the seven or eight subordinates in the room who were engrossed in flipping through documents. Everyone had their heads buried in the pile of files, with only a few tufts of messy hair showing.

"Stop." Zhou Jianming stood up and placed the patent certificate on the table.

Everyone looked up.

Zhou Jianmin, who had just breathed a sigh of relief, felt even more annoyed looking at his exhausted subordinates.

The audit work in Ninghe County was very meticulous. Every problem, even a personal issue of an employee, was marked, along with the reasons why they gave it the green light.

"Stop flipping through it. Since the city and county have already reviewed the materials, there's probably no problem." He grabbed his coat from the back of the chair, put it on, and buttoned it up one by one.

"Let's go and take a look at the company in person!"

(Can you give me a call?)