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

The building materials laboratory at Handong University is located at the far east end of the third floor.

Fang Ping stood in front of Wang Minhua's office desk, clutching three reports in his hand.

Wang Minhua was hunched over the table, flipping through a German journal, her reading glasses perched on her nose, without even lifting her head.

Fang Ping gently placed the three reports on the corner of the table.

"Professor, this is the second test report from Ninghe County."

"This sample was taken by a senior student from the Hanjiang area—a steel slag concrete sample produced by the Hanjiang Steel Plant, manufactured in March of this year."

"This is the test report for the Weihai Yuecheng project in Guangming District, Jingzhou. It was topped out last November and used steel slag concrete from Lincheng Steel."

Wang Minhua first picked up the Hanjiang edition, flipped through a few pages, then picked up the Jingzhou edition and read it from beginning to end.

Fang Ping stood in front of the table, rubbing his fingers along the seam of his trousers.

Wang Minhua put the two reports aside.

"Their lifespan is no more than fifteen years."

"Yes, the Han River area, optimistically estimated, will take fifteen years. The Gyeongju area is even worse; structural risks will begin to emerge in about thirteen years."

"Fifteen years," Wang Minhua repeated the two words.

He leaned back in his chair, staring at the ceiling, and Fang Ping didn't dare to make a sound.

Last year, he went to Xizhou to attend the National Building Materials Academic Conference, where a company called Fengda New Materials gave a presentation.

The presenter stated that their technical team had overcome the challenges of aging steel slag concrete, significantly lowering the barrier to entry for its use. Sooner or later, steel slag concrete would completely defeat ordinary concrete due to its cost-effectiveness.

"This breakthrough will truly bring steel slag concrete into every household," said the person on stage.

Sparse applause rang out from the audience. Wang Minhua, who was sitting in the first row, did not applaud.

He didn't believe it.

The expansion reaction of free calcium oxide in steel slag is a structural problem of the material itself, and cannot be solved by changing the formula or modifying the process.

It can delay the disease for a few years at most, but it is absolutely impossible to eradicate it.

Later he heard that the company's formula and process had sold for a lot of money. The buyers included state-owned factories and private construction companies.

He just sighed and didn't say anything more.

The academic community has its own rules—you can't publicly accuse someone of fabrication unless you've personally tested their samples.

Looking back now, money and silk really are tempting!

Fang Ping now places three test reports in front of him.

Ninghe, Hanjiang, and Jingzhou. Three different suppliers, three different formulas.

All of them failed to meet the standards, with a lifespan of less than fifteen years.

This is not a technical issue.

This is someone trading ordinary people's lives for money!

Wang Minhua picked up Ning He's report and read it again. When he saw the last line—"It is recommended to stop using it immediately and discard it as soon as possible"—he slammed his hand on the table.

The enamel mug bounced, spilling tea that soaked a magazine on the corner of the table.

Fang Ping shuddered in fright, secretly thinking to himself, "This old guy is 60 years old, and his temper is still as volatile as ever!"

"Ninghe County uses this kind of material to build buildings?" Wang Minhua's voice wasn't loud, but each word seemed to be squeezed out from between her teeth. "This isn't making money through dishonest means; this is blatant disregard for human life!"

He stood up and walked to the window. Outside the window was the old campus of Handong University, where the plane trees were lush and green.

"I used to think that academic fraud was the worst thing ever. Now, looking at this—I was too naive all my life."

Fang Ping stood in front of the table and rubbed his hands together.

"Professor, Ninghe County is waiting for this report. Their discipline inspection secretary said that as long as you sign it, they can start a formal investigation."

"What's there to sign?" Wang Minhua turned around. "Why even bother signing this? Just contact the security department and have them arrested and shot one by one—"

"Professor, this..." Fang Ping said in a very low voice.

Wang Minhua stared at Fang Ping for a few seconds, then suddenly laughed.

"How can you be so stupid? Can't you tell I'm just saying this out of anger?"

Fang Ping's lips twitched.

Wang Minhua picked up the Ninghe report, then the two reports from Jingzhou and Hanjiang, weighing them in her hands as if she were assessing the enormous interests involved and wondering how many officials were involved in this fabrication.

"When Yang Fan graduated, a few of us old guys advised him to stay at the university. We said that this kid was quick-witted and that if he stayed, he would definitely lead our university to further progress in academia."

He put the report down.

"As a result, he went to Qingping and stayed in the mountains for three years, turning a poor village with less than 200 yuan per capita into a model village for the whole province."

Fang Ping didn't dare to reply; he didn't know why Wang Minhua was bringing up Yang Fan at this time.

"Now that I'm the director of the county party committee office in Ninghe, I've discovered such a huge hidden danger."

"He's done quite a few good things in politics, otherwise we would have tied him up and thrown him into the lab."

"I will personally conduct this test again, and then issue a final report in my own name and the name of the laboratory, and submit it to the Municipal Commission for Discipline Inspection!"

Fang Ping's lips twitched. Luckily, the favoritism hadn't come out yet, otherwise he might have sung a couple of lines.

You're already 60, and you're still doing such small experiments, it's really...

……

Meanwhile, in Jingzhou.

The provincial discipline inspection commission's work meeting lasted the entire morning and ended at 12:30.

The attendees walked out in small groups, some heading to the cafeteria, others standing in the corridor smoking.

Zheng Kai, carrying a leather notebook, followed behind the crowd from the Ningzhou Municipal Commission for Discipline Inspection.

His gaze swept across the crowd and landed on a man in his early fifties—Wang Jian, deputy secretary of the Municipal Commission for Discipline Inspection.

Zheng Kai took two quick steps and moved closer.

"Secretary Wang, do you have any plans for lunch? I'd like to invite you to lunch."

Wang Jian glanced at him sideways. Zheng Kai was a special liaison officer for the Discipline Inspection Commission. He was usually quiet and low-key.

He offered to treat him to a meal—Wang Jian thought for a moment, then nodded.

"Okay, we've got nowhere to go anyway. Let's go grab something to eat."

Instead of going to the canteen, the two strolled out of the Provincial Commission for Discipline Inspection compound. While walking, Zheng Kai gave Wang Jian a brief but accurate report on the steel slag concrete building materials in Ninghe County.

Zheng Kai then took out Fang Ping's report from his briefcase and handed it over.

Wang Jian opened the report, quickly glanced at it, flipped through the conclusion page, then closed it and put it into his briefcase.

"I will report to Secretary Gu immediately after I get back this afternoon. Wait for my call tonight."

He paused.

"Don't alert them in the county yet, understand?"

"clear."

"This case currently appears to involve a deputy division-level official, but based on my experience, the city estimates..."

"If I'm not mistaken, the Municipal Commission for Discipline Inspection will take over—but you'll be responsible for getting a clear picture of the situation beforehand. You need to know who's involved, their network of relationships, and the other projects they've handled."

"But remember, secrecy and concealment are paramount. Compared to evidence, maintaining secrecy is the most important thing right now!"

Zheng Kai nodded and asked, "What about the bookshelf, the follow-up reading, and the urging for updates?"