Me! A high-ranking official!

Empty promises, empty promises.

If he were a greenhorn who had just entered the system, he would probably be moved to pledge his loyalty by now. But he has been working in this compound for more than ten years, and he finds this kind of rough work, which is predictable at a glance, disgusting.

But he had to keep up the act, so he immediately stood up, his face full of excitement, his voice even trembling slightly from the exertion: "Thank you for your trust, Director Zhang! Rest assured, I will absolutely not let you down. I'll bring out my script tonight, even if it means staying up all night!"

Seeing his grateful expression, Zhang Baocheng nodded in satisfaction and waved for him to leave.

As soon as he closed the door to the director's office, the excitement on his face vanished instantly. He returned to his own office, locked the door, lit a cigarette, and began typing on the keyboard.

He didn't hold anything back. Instead, he told Zhou Qingyan all the core information he had reported in the car yesterday, including the settlement of labor for the villagers' NPCs, the 50/50 split of silver notes, the scenario of the army besieging the city, the expansion of the county government's case-handling department, and so on. He filled in every single word of it in the report.

Repay evil with kindness? Clean up Zhang Baocheng's mess?

of course not.

He exhaled a puff of smoke, looked at the dense text on the screen, and savored the written material.

Zhou Qingyan was an extremely shrewd woman. As soon as she saw the newly submitted materials, she would immediately recognize the "Zhao-style writing" between the lines and immediately understand who had written the plan.

This is the "fingerprint" he left on the project.

His intention was to use this crisis management to make Zhou Qingyan see clearly that without Zhao Jianguo, Zhang Baocheng wouldn't even be able to produce a decent report. When the next meeting came around and extended plans were needed, he would again "fall ill" or "be called away by the Discipline Inspection Commission." At that time, whatever Zhang Baocheng forced himself to write would be utter garbage in Zhou Qingyan's eyes. He wanted the leader to get used to his presence, and then suddenly withdraw, leaving the power grabber in the spotlight to make a fool of himself. This was the kind of ruthless, bloodless killing within the system.

He actually finished typing this report on the computer in just over half an hour, but he lit a cigarette and kept watching the cursor blink on the screen until 2:05 a.m. before pressing the send button.

Within the system, hard work must be seen by the leaders. If you submit a draft at nine o'clock, the leader will only think that the work is easy. If you send it at two o'clock in the morning, even if there are a few typos, the leader will still praise you for your hard work and dedication.

The next morning, with deliberately unwashed dark circles under his eyes, he bumped into Zhang Baocheng in the corridor while holding a teacup.

Zhang Baocheng held a thermos in his hand, a smug smile in his eyes, and patted Jianguo on the shoulder: "Jianguo, I've read the draft, it's very well written! As expected of the top writer produced by our county government, you must have worn yourself out last night, right? You've worked hard."

"It's all for the work of the bureau, it's what I should do." He forced a tired but honest smile and lowered his body slightly.

Back in the office, Wang Pingping hadn't arrived yet. Leaning back in his swivel chair, his mind drifted into the treasure basin.

Nearly two million more funds have quietly rolled into his account in the past few days. He now has about fourteen or fifteen million in readily available cash. As for the county's population data, it's still fluctuating by a couple hundred a day, so there's no time to rush it.

His gaze swept over the physique options on the panel. The items here were quite cheap. He could just click on arm strength and get a permanent boost of one point for ten million. Although he didn't know how much of a difference one point would make, he figured that if he encountered a desperate situation, exchanging a few hundred thousand for temporary arm strength to defend himself would definitely be useful.

He glanced at his watch; it was almost midnight. He grabbed his bag and left.

As he passed by other departments, where people were still struggling with the extended plan Zhang Baocheng had requested yesterday, their keyboards clattering loudly, the sense of being marginalized that he felt suddenly vanished. Not being in the center of power meant at least he didn't have to be a donkey pushing the millstone.

As soon as he stepped out of the compound gate, he paused. On the curb outside the iron gate, there was a figure that looked like a stone block.

It's Li Gan.

Seeing Zhao Jianguo come out, Li Gan jumped up, staggering slightly from squatting for too long. He quickly rubbed his calloused hands and jogged over, his dark face full of a simple, honest smile: "Brother Jianguo, you're off work?"

"You stubborn mule, how long have you been here? Why didn't you even call me? Just sitting here baking in the sun?" He laughed and punched Li Gan on the shoulder.

Li Gan scratched his head, his smile a little forced: "I was worried you'd be busy with the big boss's business in the compound, and it wouldn't be appropriate for a rough guy like me to call. I'm fine, it won't hurt to wait a bit. Brother Jianguo, my sister is recovering really well in the sterile ward, the doctor said she'll be out in a month at most!"

"Then why aren't you at the hospital taking care of her? What are you doing here?" Zhao Jianguo asked.

Li Gan looked down at his faded work boots and lowered his voice: "The food and drinks in the warehouse are all specially provided by the hospital. I can't go in, and just staying here is a waste of money... Brother, didn't you say you wanted me to come and help? I'm strong, and I want to earn money as soon as possible."

His heart ached. This man was traumatized by the medical expenses; he couldn't feel at ease if he didn't work for a day. He immediately waved his hand and said, "Alright, you've come at the right time! Liu Tao's supermarket just started demolishing walls, it's a complete mess. They need someone of their own to keep things in check. Come on, let's go get some noodles first, and I'll take you to see him this afternoon!"

After finishing two bowls of ramen and instructing Li Gan to go to the construction site, he strolled back to the hotel and took a nap.

At 2:30 p.m., he walked into the bureau right on time, but found the corridor eerily quiet. He passed several departments, but none of the directors were there, and even the office doors of Zhang Baocheng and Li Dafang were tightly locked.

Has she been sidelined again by holding another secret meeting?

He frowned, pushed open the door to his office, and found Wang Pingping sitting at her workstation, no longer eating sunflower seeds, holding her phone and rapidly pressing the voice call button, looking excited.

"Sister Wang, why is this floor all empty? Where are Director Zhang and the others?" He pulled out a chair.

Wang Pingping lowered her voice, her eyes gleaming with gossip: "Director, you didn't know? Things are in an uproar in Xiaozhai Village!"

"What happened?"

"It's all because of time constraints!" Wang Pingping leaned closer and said like a thief, "To speed up the process, the county is doing that 'approving and building simultaneously' thing. This morning, people from the county's industrial investment department went to the countryside with our bureau's industrial division to talk to the remaining twenty or thirty households in Xiaozhai Village, trying to get them to stay put as some kind of NPCs (non-player characters). But when those villagers heard that the county was going to do another big cultural tourism development project, they just refused!"

"You think the money isn't enough?" He raised an eyebrow.

"It's not just that they think the money is too little! Those people are shrewd!" Wang Pingping curled her lip. "They gathered over a hundred people and completely blocked our bureau and investment representatives in the village committee. No matter what kind of NPCs or not, they insisted that we had to pay them to buy their old houses according to the 1:2.3 demolition compensation standard from a few years ago! I heard they even picked up shovels and hoes on the spot. The Public Security Bureau sent two buses full of riot police, and they almost started a fight. Even Deputy County Head Lian Wei didn't have lunch; he led a team down to negotiate, and they still haven't gotten them out!"

After listening, he slammed the lid of his teacup onto the cup with a "click," and his eyes instantly became deep and unfathomable.

Mass incidents are a red line that cannot be crossed within the system.

The people of Xiaozhai Village were notorious holdouts back then, stubbornly resisting to the end and even causing deaths. They managed to ruin the demolition plans of previous leaders. Now, these people are desperate and have finally seen that the county is going to invest again. They want to get back all the money they couldn't extort in the past few years, with interest!

His mind started racing.

According to the standards of that time, with a replacement ratio of 1 to 2.3, those large courtyards and homesteads would have required each household to pay at least one million yuan in compensation. For 20 or 30 households, that would have resulted in a financial hole of nearly 30 million yuan!

The total start-up capital for the cultural tourism project was only five million yuan, which was intended to be used as leverage to stimulate the market. Now, the villagers are trying to squeeze thirty million yuan out of the county. How can the county possibly provide that?

However, if she doesn't give it to him, and if Deputy County Head Lian Wei can't control the situation and a bloody conflict breaks out, Zhou Qingyan, the newly appointed County Party Secretary, will be in serious trouble! This is the first benchmark project she pushed forward despite all opposition!

Compromise? Even less likely. Once the government opens the floodgates, others will follow suit for any project, and the entire county's business environment will be ruined.

A stalemate, a deadlock.

He leaned back in his chair, his fingers tapping unconsciously on the table. He quickly reviewed the blueprint he had created yesterday for the "borderless ancient style experience" and the subsequent "county yamen case." If this plan succeeded, the commercial value of those dilapidated houses in Xiaozhai Village would definitely not only double, but could even increase tenfold or twentyfold! It was a golden goose.

The villagers want quick money, while the government lacks a steady flow of funds.

Zhao Jianguo's heart skipped a beat.

He has 14 to 15 million in cash at his disposal, which he can use at any time. Although he can't take down 30 households at once, this money could be used to break up the core members of the other party, or as leveraged capital...

"Zhang Baocheng, you've snatched a hot potato in your power grab. Now let's see how you fry in this pot of oil."

He stood up, walked to the window, looked outside, and an extremely bold idea slowly emerged.