Qi Tongwei at the start: Not relying on Liang Lu, but winning by a single move against Heaven.

After seeing Baimaiti off, Qi Tongwei lit a cigarette and stared blankly at the phone on the table.

As soon as General Manager Zhao, who claimed he could solve the problem of unplanned materials, appeared, the Municipal Planning Commission cut Fuyuan's planned materials by 20%.

Could there really be such a coincidence in the world?

In his past life, Qi Tongwei might have believed in such coincidences, but in this life, he wouldn't...

Having lived two lives, he was accustomed to the intrigues and power struggles within officialdom...

So-called coincidences are nothing more than the product of careful calculation and repeated deduction by the player.

He slowly exhaled a puff of smoke, and as the smoke rose, the chaotic clues gradually became clear.

Reflecting on the series of events that had unfolded over the past few days, he began to have some vague guesses...

A three million yuan special fund is by no means a small sum; Zhang Wei might be tempted, but Cheng Shizhong wouldn't...

It's not that Cheng Shizhong wasn't greedy, but once you reach a certain position, money is merely a stepping stone to power.

Cheng Shizhong would never be greedy simply for the sake of greed...

The appearance of this incredibly capable General Manager Zhao perfectly fills the missing link...

Zhang Wei's unexpected death brought General Manager Zhao to light, and the Municipal Planning Commission cut Fuyuan's planned material supplies...

At such a sensitive time, instead of retreating, he advanced... This Mr. Zhao's capabilities are truly remarkable.

He had initially thought that Zhong Zhengguo revealing his identity was a gesture of approval, a form of recognition...

But now it seems he was wrong.

Zhong Zhengguo's statement was not only a statement, but also a form of protection for him...

Why did Chung Cheng-kuo need to step in to protect him? What exactly did he do wrong?

Thinking of this, Qi Tongwei felt a chill run down his spine, and his scalp tingled...

They say curiosity killed the cat, and Qi Tongwei was no exception.

Even though he knew that this Mr. Zhao was dangerous, he was even more curious about the man's identity.

......

Bai Maiti felt uneasy ever since leaving Qi Tongwei's office.

Although he did not directly reject Qi Tongwei's idea, he was holding a grudge.

He felt that Qi Tongwei was making a mountain out of a molehill; why bother Cheng Shizhong with a simple material allocation plan?

He knew those people in the State Planning Commission all too well; their greatest skill was maneuvering and maneuvering.

No matter how scarce resources are, they always manage to scrape together enough supplies for a specific project...

He didn't believe it; he had cultivated his career in the city for nearly twenty years, yet the Planning Commission wouldn't listen to him.

As for supplies, as long as there's some, you can always squeeze some out if you try.

After much deliberation, Baimaiti decided to visit the Planning Commission first.

Back in his office, he made several phone calls to old acquaintances in the city.

On the phone, he adopted a very humble attitude and offered a long list of New Year's greetings.

But after making a round of calls, the responses were surprisingly consistent, like a generic template.

Fuyuan's project clashed with a key municipal project, leading to a shortage of resources. Fuyuan had no choice but to concede...

It would be one thing if only one person said that, but when four or five people said it, Baimaiti got angry.

He'd been playing football in the city for twenty years, and now he'd become the football himself—how could he not be angry?

Without hesitation, Baimaiti made a direct call to Director Guo, the head of the Municipal Planning Commission.

The two were former colleagues who joined the company at the same time and lived in the same staff quarters, so they had a pretty good personal relationship.

When the call was connected, Director Guo's story was exactly the same as the previous ones.

Baimaiti became furious and slammed his fist on the table with his former colleagues.

"Old Guo, we've known each other for twenty years... I've helped you a lot, haven't I? What have I ever asked you for?"

Don't give me that bureaucratic talk, I'm not a sitting duck... Give me a straight answer today.

"Can you approve the supplies for these two projects at Fuyuan? And how much can you approve?"

On the other end of the phone, Director Guo remained silent for a long time before slowly speaking.

"Old Bai... given our relationship, you'd definitely help me if you could... but this time it's really impossible..."

To be honest, the higher-ups specifically instructed us on this matter... Fuyuan's supplies can only be approved at 40%.

To be honest with you... this is only possible because it's your project; otherwise, a 40% chance of it not being approved...

Please, I'm begging you, don't make things difficult for me... I'll treat you to a drink later to apologize...

Director Guo's voice wasn't loud, but it was full of helplessness, which made Baimaiti's heart tighten.

He frowned, took a deep drag of his cigarette, and squeezed out a sentence from his throat.

"Someone from above gave instructions... Was it Secretary Cheng?"

On the other end of the phone, Director Guo sighed deeply, but his reply was neither yes nor no.

"Old Bai...you're an old man now, how am I supposed to answer something like this..."

Since you already know this, why make things difficult for me? The one who tied the knot must untie it...

After two days of hard work, Baimaiti was met with a rebuff.

After understanding the situation, he was completely convinced by Qi Tongwei's judgment.

Without the slightest hesitation, Baimaiti immediately found Qi Tongwei and poured out his grievances to him.

He sat on the sofa, lit a cigarette, and said with a wry smile.

"Hey Tongwei... I just don't understand, what is Cheng Shizhong trying to do by interfering with the allocation of supplies..."

Qi Tongwei glanced at Baimaiti, lit a cigarette, and asked with a smile.

"What? You ran a lap, then realized you couldn't... and ended up getting stuck with Cheng Shizhong?"

Baimaiti shook his head, sighed, and said in a deep voice.

"I went to the Planning Commission, the Materials Bureau... I visited them all, but not one dared to give a straight answer..."

Old Guo practically made it clear that Cheng Shizhong had given instructions to only allocate 40% of the supplies to Fuyuan...

He paused slightly, looked at Qi Tongwei, and shook his head helplessly.

"So, when are we going to find Cheng Shizhong?"

Qi Tongwei grinned and replied with a smile.

"You can decide when to go; I'm not going with you..."

Upon hearing Qi Tongwei's words, Baimaiti was taken aback and frowned as he asked.

"Hey, what are you saying... You mentioned finding Cheng Shizhong... You're not going, and you want me to go by myself?"

"You're the county party secretary of Fuyuan, and the county's key projects...aren't you going to step in?"

Qi Tongwei smiled, slowly exhaled a puff of smoke, and asked a question instead of answering.

"If we each go to Cheng Shizhong to ask for supplies, whose face do you think he'll give us...?"

Before Baimaiti could answer, Qi Tongwei spoke again.

"To put it another way, will Cheng Shizhong tell you the truth, or will he tell both of us the truth?"

Baimaiti didn't respond. He frowned, took two deep drags on his cigarette, and then slowly asked.

"You mean... even if we search, it won't yield any results... it's just to test the waters?"

After saying that, he didn't wait for Qi Tongwei's reply, glanced at him, and asked again.

"Then I'll go to the city to pull strings and find Cheng Shizhong. What are you doing? Just sitting here waiting for news?"

"You can't just say a few words and I have to run myself ragged..."

Qi Tongwei chuckled and gave a very straightforward answer.

"Of course I have things to do... I promised Xiao Ai I'd go shopping with her in the city this weekend."

His voice wasn't loud, but he spoke with such conviction that it made Baimaiti roll his eyes.

Baimaiti gave Qi Tongwei a deep look, gritted his teeth, and said in a deep voice.

"That works well... Let's go to the city together this weekend. You can go shopping, and I'll go find Cheng Shizhong..."

"If we take the same bus, it'll save me the trouble of calling a driver..."

But to Baimaiti's surprise, Qi Tongwei rejected him as soon as he finished speaking.

"Oh no, that won't do... Xiao Ai has a lot of things to buy, and there's not enough space in the car..."

"If I bring one more person, there won't be any room to put things..."

Baimaiti was so angry that he was speechless.

He frowned, pointed at Qi Tongwei, said nothing, and got up to leave...