Nominal: Hou Liangping blocking the door? He was slapped away!

The report shows that Li Ming's promotion fully complied with organizational procedures, undergoing democratic recommendation, organizational review, and collective discussion by the Standing Committee. Even more problematic is that Li Ming had been marginalized for two years during Qian Shouyi's tenure for refusing to sign documents in violation of regulations. He Xia's promotion of him was precisely an appointment of a clean-cut cadre who had been suppressed by Qian Shouyi.

All 34 personnel appointment and removal decisions made by He Xia since taking office have withstood the most rigorous scrutiny.

There were no violations, no transfer of benefits, and no nepotism.

Tian Guofu locked the report in the drawer, picked up the red secure phone on the table, and dialed Sha Ruijin.

It rang three times before being answered.

Tian Guofu took a deep breath and hesitated for three seconds before pressing the speakerphone button.

"Secretary Sha, the investigation results from Luzhou are in." Tian Guofu's voice was a little hoarse.

"explain."

Tian Guofu closed his eyes and said something that completely silenced the other end of the phone.

"We couldn't find anything. He Xia is incredibly clean."

Luzhou Airport.

A Gulfstream G550 business jet taxied across the runway and came to a stop at the end of the apron.

When the cabin door opened, a level 6 gale was blowing in Lüzhou. He Xia stood below the corridor bridge, her dark business suit pressed into a straight line by the wind, her hair held tightly back with a black hair clip.

The first person to step out of the cabin was wearing a navy blue windbreaker, followed by seven young men carrying briefcases.

Lin Zhiyuan, founder of Tianhe Group.

The undisputed leader in China's private new energy sector. Last year, its revenue exceeded 100 billion yuan, ranking third globally in power battery installations.

He Xia went up to her and extended her hand.

"Mr. Lin, welcome to Luzhou."

Lin Zhiyuan took her hand and looked her up and down. She was younger than he had imagined. And more composed than he had expected.

"Secretary He, General Shen asked me to come and take a look. So here I am."

This is quite blunt. They weren't after Luzhou; they were after Shen Zhong.

He Xia showed no discomfort and nodded slightly.

"Whatever your reason for coming, it's good that you're here. Please."

Three minivans headed straight for the Luzhou Economic Development Zone.

The convoy bypassed the overgrown vacant lot and turned into the reserved industrial land in the eastern district. Excavators had already arrived to level the ground, and the loess was being compacted by road rollers.

Lin Zhiyuan walked around the ground. He squatted down, grabbed a handful of soil, and rubbed it in his palm.

"The foundation conditions are good. The soil compaction meets the standards."

He Xia opened her tablet and brought up the planning map.

"This plot of land in the eastern area covers a total of 3,200 mu, of which 1,800 mu are available for industrial use in the first phase. To the west is a dedicated railway freight line that connects to the Beijing-Shanghai main line, and the road distance to the port is 47 kilometers. In terms of electricity, the power supply bureau has already made a capacity expansion plan to ensure that the average daily power supply is no less than 200,000 kilowatt-hours."

Lin Zhiyuan shifted his gaze from the planning map to He Xia.

"Secretary He, I have no problem with the hardware. But the soft environment of Luzhou—" He paused. "Frankly speaking, the story of Qian Shouyi is widely known. Our group's investment committee has concerns about the business environment in Handong."

He Xia didn't beat around the bush. She took a document from her accompanying secretary.

"These are the twenty measures for attracting investment that were just approved by the Luzhou Municipal Party Committee last week."

She turned to the first page.

"Article 3: The local share of value-added tax for enterprises entering the park will be fully refunded for the first three years; Article 7: Approval of major projects will be processed in parallel, with a commitment to complete all procedures within 20 working days; Article 11: The municipal party committee and government will establish a dedicated enterprise service specialist system, and enterprises can directly complain to the municipal discipline inspection commission if any administrative approval is stalled."

She raised her head and looked directly at Lin Zhiyuan.

"President Lin, Qian Shouyi is the past. I, He Xia, am the present."

Lin Zhiyuan flipped through a few pages and didn't ask about the soft environment anymore.

But he asked another question.

"Battery material production is heavily reliant on the upstream raw material supply chain. Are there local suppliers in Lüzhou for cathode materials, electrolytes, and separators?"

He Xia's finger hovered over the tablet screen.

No.

Luzhou currently lacks a well-established new energy materials supply chain. This is its Achilles' heel.

"Mr. Lin, I cannot give you an irresponsible answer to this question today. Please give me a day."

Lin Zhiyuan looked at her for three seconds.

"Okay. Before 10 a.m. tomorrow."

The delegation checked into the Luzhou International Hotel.

He Xia did not return to the municipal party committee. She sat in her car, took out her phone, and dialed a number.

Sun Liancheng.

The phone rang twice.

"Secretary He." Sun Liancheng's voice carried the noise of the construction site.

"Lian Cheng, is it convenient for you to talk now?"

"Convenient. Just got back from the construction site."

He Xia explained Tianhe Group's upstream supply chain needs in detail.

There was a five-second silence on the other end of the phone.

"Secretary He, there's a materials processing segment in the Guangmingfeng project's industrial chain," Sun Liancheng suddenly said, his voice quickening. "Our second-phase plan includes production lines for cathode material pretreatment and electrolyte intermediates—if we relocate these two areas to Luzhou to build supporting industrial parks, it will not only solve Trina Solar's supply chain problems but also create at least 8,000 new jobs in Luzhou."

He Xia gripped her phone tightly.

Is it feasible?

"There are no technical obstacles. Guangmingfeng's core is final assembly and high-end manufacturing, while downstream material processing is not suitable to stay in Jingzhou, where land is extremely valuable. Downstream industrial relocation is a reasonable strategy."

"Over with Li Dakang—"

"Ignore him. I have the authority to plan the downstream industry layout of Guangming Peak. He signed the authorization letter."

He Xia closed her eyes and took a deep breath.

"Liancheng, can you produce a framework document tonight?"

Give me four hours.

Two o'clock in the morning.

Sun Liancheng's email arrived on He Xia's office computer.

"Framework Plan for Industrial Collaborative Development between Guangmingfeng and Lüzhou (Draft)"

Seventeen pages. Richly illustrated. Data accurate to two decimal places.

He Xia read through it page by page.

At 9:58 a.m. the next day, she walked into the business conference room of the Luzhou International Hotel.

Lin Zhiyuan was already sitting inside.

He Xia pushed the printed plan over.

"President Lin, this is the industrial collaboration plan between the Guangmingfeng project and Lüzhou. The supporting production lines for cathode material pretreatment and electrolyte intermediates will be built in the Lüzhou Economic Development Zone. The transportation distance from raw materials to your battery production line will not exceed thirty kilometers."

Lin Zhiyuan opened the plan.

He raised an eyebrow on the third page. By the seventh page, he had closed the document.

"Secretary He," Lin Zhiyuan stood up and extended his hand. "Fifteen billion, for Luzhou. I'll have the legal team start drafting the contract today."

He Xia took his hand.

My palms were sweaty.

But there was no change in his facial expression.

The news reached the provincial party committee that afternoon.

Sha Ruijin was reviewing documents. His secretary placed a briefing on the corner of the desk. He glanced at the title—"Tianhe Group's 1.5 Billion Yuan New Energy Project Intended to Land in Luzhou."

The hand holding the teacup froze in mid-air.

three seconds.

The teacup was put down. No tea was drunk.

He pressed the internal phone button.

"Jie Tian Guofu."

After the call was connected, Sha Ruijin only said one sentence.

"The expanded investigation by the inspection team is temporarily suspended."

At the entrance of the Luzhou Municipal Party Committee compound.

The Tianhe Group's inspection convoy slowly drove out of the gate. He Xia stood on the steps and watched them go.

There was no smile.

She turned and walked back to the office building. She paused as she passed the secretary's office.

"One isn't enough; we need at least three. Notify the National Development and Reform Commission to prepare for the second group of guests."