In name only: I will break the chess game in Handong!

At the provincial party committee, Sha Ruijin looked somewhat grave after hanging up the phone. He had placed high hopes on Yi Xuexi, who had not only failed to achieve anything in Lüzhou, but had also completely messed up his task of restraining Li Dakang in Jingzhou.

Now they're even linked to Hou Liangping...

One was his sharpest weapon, the other his pawn, yet neither of them focused their energy on what they should be doing, instead preoccupied with personal grudges.

After a moment of contemplation, Sha Ruijin decided to have Secretary Bai call Hou Liangping into his office for a good talking-to.

Secretary Bai was very efficient; Hou Liangping arrived at the Provincial Party Committee building in just one hour after receiving the notification.

"Secretary Bai, what does Secretary Sha want to talk to me about?"

Hou Liangping looked somewhat flustered. As the saying goes, if you have a clear conscience, you have nothing to fear. However, Hou Liangping knew very well that his focus was not on his main task at all, so being reprimanded was the least of his worries.

Secretary Bai frowned, but still gave a formulaic reply: "I'm sorry, Director Hou, I'm unaware of the reason why Secretary Sha summoned you here."

After saying that, Secretary Bai quickened his pace and walked past Hou Liangping, seemingly to lead the way, but actually because he didn't want Hou Liangping to ask him about the specifics anymore.

Upon arriving at the office door, Secretary Bai knocked on the door.

"Secretary Sha, Comrade Hou Liangping has arrived."

"Let him in!"

"Director Hou, please!"

After Secretary Bai opened the door, he gestured for Hou Liangping to come in. Taking a deep breath, Hou Liangping stepped into the office with a feeling of unease.

"Secretary Sha!"

Upon entering the room, Hou Liangping spoke first, while Sha Ruijin remained seated in his chair, scrutinizing Hou Liangping with sharp eyes before nodding and asking, "Comrade Hou Liangping, how has your work progressed lately?"

Instead of asking Hou Liangping to sit down, they directly inquired about his work. Hou Liangping immediately realized that they were truly holding him accountable.

"Secretary Sha, you know that I was falsely accused by Cai Chenggong, the boss of Dafeng Factory, which led to me being taken away by the Discipline Inspection Commission for investigation for a month. I have just returned to my post, and since my work has been neglected, I have to start all over again, so..."

Sha Ruijin did not give Hou Liangping a chance to continue explaining.

"So you disregarded the Anti-Corruption Bureau's duties, let your personal emotions control you, and used your energy to retaliate against Chen Hai, the head of Guangming District?"

Tell me yourself, do the things you've been doing lately align with your original intention of serving the people?

Hou Liangping was completely speechless.

"Secretary Sha, I..."

"You don't need to explain. I know a lot about your conflict with Chen Hai. But Comrade Hou Liangping, let me remind you that your mission in Handong is your main focus."

Chen Hai is now the district head of Guangming District, the government official in charge of the more than 400,000 people in Guangming District. You used the special status of the Anti-Corruption Bureau to delay the process, causing Guangming District's finances to continuously decline. To put it bluntly, your actions completely disregard the interests of the organization and the people, and you are only thinking about personal grudges.

For that alone, I can dismiss you right now!

He slammed his hand on the table, startling Hou Liangping so much that he jumped up, beads of sweat dripping from his forehead.

"Secretary Sha, I really didn't..."

"I won't listen to your explanations. I only believe what I see. Immediately resolve the issue of that demolition office director in Guangming District. Furthermore, remember your mission: if this happens again, I will dismiss you, and even Director Zhong's pleas won't help!"

After being thoroughly berated, Hou Liangping could only slink away. Secretary Bai, who was waiting outside, heard everything clearly, given Sha Ruijin's intense anger.

Seeing Hou Liangping fleeing as if he were about to escape, Secretary Bai shook his head slightly. A person like Hou Liangping wouldn't last long.

Having finally returned to the Anti-Corruption Bureau of the Procuratorate, Hou Liangping was still somewhat frightened. He immediately called Zhou Zheng over to arrange work, directly publicizing the problems of the director of the Guangming District Demolition Office, while releasing the real estate developer and pinning all the blame on the director of the Demolition Office.

Even if he was unwilling, he had no choice but to do it.

From the moment Yi Xuexi called Sha Ruijin to the moment the matter was resolved, only a few hours had passed.

When Chen Hai learned of this result, his gaze toward Yi Xuexi was incredibly complex. Was this the power of having someone behind him?

Looking back at myself, I saw no one behind me.

Once bitten, twice shy. This real estate developer originally intended to make a quick buck by selling inferior goods, but he ended up failing in Guangming District.

The company's initial investment was essentially wasted, and coupled with shoddy workmanship, the thought of having to redo the work led the construction company to file for bankruptcy. As a limited liability company, and with the legal representative being the boss's father, it faced high legal resistance and decided to cut its losses and accept its bad luck.

This put Chen Hai and Yi Xuexi in a difficult position. Although no payment had been made upfront, the delay in the project was still financially costly. Yi Xuexi decided to let Wang Dalu's team take over the project.

Having learned their lesson the hard way, Chen Hai and Yi Xuexi were afraid that such a problem would occur again if they let a small company handle things.

And what about Darren Wang?

They were naturally willing to take advantage of the business that came to them. After some haggling, they signed the contract and took over two renovation projects in old residential areas. Work continued, and everything seemed to be going very smoothly.

Chen Luo was unaware of these things; his work in Lüzhou during this period was far from easy.

After some housing was sold, the municipal government recovered some funds, which was not a shortage. In particular, after Chen Luo asked Sun Liancheng to issue an announcement to improve the treatment of public officials, some voices from the public began to rise.

Specifically, there are two issues: one is the gap in pension indicators between rural villagers and urban residents, and the other is the demand from retired cadres for an increase in their retirement pensions.

The problem isn't scarcity but inequality. The former is somewhat better, as we hope the Luzhou Municipal Party Committee and Government will pay attention to it. The latter is different. Some retired public officials, relying on their age, openly defied the law and gathered in the center of the municipal government square to carry out a so-called "petition."

Chen Luo originally didn't want to pay any attention to them, since these people's retirement pensions were quite high to be honest. But they just took advantage of his kindness and became more and more aggressive every day.

At this point, we can't ignore it anymore.

The city government square, which is usually a place for Luzhou citizens to stroll and relax, is now completely occupied by retired elderly people.

Chen Luo's car was parked in the center of the square.

Next to arrive were a group of members of the municipal party committee.

Meanwhile, reporters and media personnel arrived to record and film, and Chen Luo stood on a high place with a gloomy face.

The first thing he said after taking the microphone was to show no mercy.

"Are you old comrades trying to blackmail the municipal party committee and government? I admire all of you here for your past contributions to the country and the people, but ask yourselves honestly!"

Has the country wronged you all?

Some of the older comrades present had retirement pensions that were much higher than the average income of young people in Lüzhou City.

Do you not have enough money?

Or is it that all of you older comrades feel that since the treatment of younger public servants has improved, you want your retirement benefits to be raised as well? Do you feel that not raising them would be a loss for you?