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

Liu Xiangdong's office was on the far east side of the third floor, and the door was ajar.

Zhao He stood outside the door, pacing back and forth. He dared not leave, nor dared he listen.

The secretary's original words were: "Close the door and don't see anyone who comes."

Liu Xiangdong sat behind his desk, surrounded by swirling smoke.

He stubbed out his cigarette in the ashtray, stood up, and shook hands with Zheng Kai.

"Secretary Zheng, please have a seat."

Zheng Kai didn't sit down immediately. His gaze lingered on Liu Xiangdong's face for a moment, then lingered on Yang Fan's face for a second.

Then he sat down on the sofa opposite Yang Fan and placed the leather notebook on his lap.

Liu Xiangdong looked at Yang Fan. "You speak first, so that Secretary Zheng can understand the situation clearly."

"Secretary Zheng, this is what happened."

Yang Fan recounted the entire situation from the beginning.

From the moment he found the approval documents for the Ninghe County Teachers' Training School's comprehensive building in the county party committee archives, to the moment he noticed that the main building materials were listed as "steel slag concrete," to the moment he called Dr. Fang Ping of the building materials laboratory at Handong University to request a sample for testing.

Finally, he pulled out a handwritten draft from the materials, which was covered with data that Fang Ping had read to him over the phone.

"Free calcium oxide content: 9.3%." Yang Fan's voice wasn't loud, but he enunciated each word clearly. "What is the national standard limit? The standard for steel slag concrete is below 1%."

Zheng Kai's brow twitched.

"The inflation rate in our sample is more than seven times the normal value."

He paused.

"Moreover, Secretary Zheng, this time we took samples from the shallow layer—the low-pressure area of ​​the teaching building."

"Dr. Fang's original words were that if the low-pressure area already has a clear expansion trend, then after last year's heavy rain, the expansion coefficient of the foundation may follow suit."

"Optimistically, this building has five more years. Conservatively, it will definitely experience large-scale cracking within three years."

Zheng Kai took off his glasses and wiped them with his sleeve. He didn't say anything, but tapped his fingers lightly on his knee twice.

Liu Xiangdong took over the conversation.

His voice wasn't loud, but every word seemed to be squeezed out from between his teeth.

"Secretary Zheng, regarding the issue Yang Fan discovered, I had Dr. Fang prepare a separate formal report, which will arrive in a couple of days. Until then, only the three of us will know the test results. Dr. Fang's side is currently completely sealed off."

He lit a cigarette and took a drag. The smoke obscured half his face.

"The steel slag concrete we're using now is even worse than the ordinary steel slag concrete that has been widely banned and phased out in the industry!"

"The free calcium oxide content exceeds the standard by nine times, and the expansion rate is more than six times the standard. This is someone using substandard building materials to cheat on the project, shortening the lifespan of a building that could have lasted for decades to only three to five years. This is blatant disregard for human life!"

Zheng Kai raised his head and looked at Liu Xiangdong.

Liu Xiangdong flicked his cigarette ash, then suddenly slammed his hand on the table. The enamel mug bounced, spilling tea that soaked a document lying next to it.

"What's even more infuriating is that this batch of substandard concrete was sold to the government at the price of normal concrete! Six million eight hundred thousand! For an entire building, from materials to labor, everything was priced according to high standards, but they used something that's worse than garbage! They've gone mad! If something goes wrong, no one will escape unscathed!"

There was a three-second silence in the office.

Zheng Kai leaned back in his chair, recalling a report he had read in the Handong Daily a few years ago—it said that Lincheng Steel Company had developed a new type of building material called steel slag concrete, which was high in hardness, low in cost, and utilized waste, representing an innovative direction in materials technology.

At the time, he thought this thing looked pretty good and that the county could use it for future projects.

Now he knows.

The report he read in the newspaper back then was probably someone endorsing this bunch of trash.

Liu Xiangdong stubbed out his cigarette and leaned back in his chair. "Secretary Zheng, you're the secretary of the Discipline Inspection Commission. You know better than I what kind of issue this involves."

Yang Fan interjected, "Dr. Fang will come again in a few days to take foundation samples for secondary testing. If the foundation expansion coefficient exceeds 0.18—his advice is to immediately stop using this building and abandon it."

Zheng Kai stood up.

He paced back and forth in his office. Outside the window was the gray skyline of Ninghe County.

He stopped and turned around.

He stared intently at Liu Xiangdong, then glanced at Yang Fan, and suddenly realized something.

Both of these people graduated from Handong University!

A county party secretary and a county party committee office director, they were senior and junior colleagues.

Dr. Fang is also from the Building Materials Laboratory at Handong University.

The test report, which hadn't arrived yet, only had Dr. Fang's signature—it lacked review by someone at the professor level or above.

If we are to proceed with this case, this report is not enough!

Zheng Kai, gripping the edge of the table, spoke, each word carefully chosen. "Does this test report have the signature of a professor or associate professor from Handong University?"

Liu Xiangdong and Yang Fan exchanged a glance.

Yang Fan turned around to face Zheng Kai. "Secretary Zheng, the report is professional testing data issued by Dr. Fang Ping in his personal capacity."

He paused for a moment, then said, "Dr. Fang Ping is an on-the-job researcher at the Building Materials Laboratory of Handong University. He holds a doctoral degree and is legally qualified to issue test reports."

Zheng Kai remained silent, waiting for him to continue.

"Because this matter involves a large number of people and has a far greater scope than currently known, I have requested Dr. Fang Ping to keep this data strictly confidential for the time being, and even his colleagues in the laboratory are unaware of it."

Yang Fan put down the file folder and looked into Zheng Kai's eyes.

"If Secretary Zheng needs it, when Dr. Fang comes to collect the foundation samples, I can ask him to submit the complete test report of the secondary test to Professor Wang Minhua, the highest leader of the laboratory at Handong University, for review and signature."

Zheng Kai fell silent.

He knew Wang Minhua.

He is a leading authority in domestic building materials testing; he led the team that conducted the acceptance tests for several major bridges in Handong Province.

If this report can get Wang Minhua's signature, then it will no longer be "Dr. Fang Ping's personal opinion," but an irrefutable piece of evidence that even the province would have to acknowledge.

Zheng Kai sat back down in his chair, his mind racing with calculations.

Looking at Yang Fan's serious expression and Liu Xiangdong's solemn face, I wondered if these two would really resort to academic fraud to fight for personnel matters?

Even if the two of them really did have a change of heart, if they fabricated the story, these two outstanding students from Wuhan University would have to ruin their futures and bring shame to the university. The school would definitely send them back to get a scolding instead of supporting them.

But if it's true, damn it, I've really become their vanguard!

However, at this moment, he had no way out.

"This complete original test report—I must obtain it within three days. Three days later, there is a meeting at the Provincial Commission for Discipline Inspection, where I can report directly to the leaders of the Municipal Commission for Discipline Inspection."

He paused.

"The investigation of deputy-division-level cadres must be reported level by level according to procedures. Without authorization from the municipal discipline inspection commission, the county discipline inspection commission cannot conduct preliminary investigations on its own. This is an ironclad rule."

Liu Xiangdong stubbed out his cigarette, stood up, walked up to Zheng Kai, and extended his hand, which Zheng Kai grasped.

"Secretary Zheng, thank you for your hard work." Liu Xiangdong's voice was steady.

Zheng Kai loosened his grip, picked up the leather notebook, and turned to walk out with a serious expression.

The footsteps faded into the distance in the corridor.

In the office, only Liu Xiangdong and Yang Fan remained, exchanging a knowing smile.

Three days!

Zheng Kai was to hand the fuse of the explosives to the Municipal Commission for Discipline Inspection three days later—at the same meeting of the Provincial Commission for Discipline Inspection.

Before that, they must make sure that all preparations are done perfectly.

Hongda Building Materials, the Second Municipal Construction Company, Zhao Guodong, Sun Zhiguo, and the people who might be hiding behind this line all need to be preliminarily identified first.

When the time comes, if we don't move, we'll remain still; but if we do move, we'll take them all down with the force of an autumn wind sweeping away fallen leaves!