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

A few minutes later, he led Liu Xinjian in.

At this moment, Liu Xinjian was nowhere to be seen as the chairman of Handong Oil and Gas.

His suit was wrinkled, his hair was messy, his eyes were bloodshot, and he exuded an aura of desperation.

Upon entering the study and seeing the steady, mountain-like figure behind the desk, Liu Xinjian's tense nerves snapped completely.

His legs buckled, and with a thud, he knelt straight down on the cold floor.

"Secretary! Secretary Zhao! You have to save me!"

Liu Xinjian's voice was hoarse and tearful, and he lay on the ground, his body trembling violently.

Zhao Lichun's brows furrowed into a knot.

He had an instinctive aversion to this out-of-control scene.

"Stand up and speak! What kind of behavior is this, crying and sobbing like this!"

Liu Xinjian was startled by the rebuke, but he couldn't stand up. He could only support himself and kneel there, crying incoherently.

"Secretary...it's all over...it's all over..."

"The site at Baima River... was leveled by the army! Bulldozers drove right in, and there's nothing left!"

"My men... have guns pointed at their heads... and the ship has sailed away..."

Zhao Lichun's face darkened.

He had heard of the sand quarry in Baima River; it was Liu Xinjian's money bag and an important tool for him to maintain his network of relationships.

But if it's settled, it's just a matter of money.

Problems that money can solve are not problems for him.

"Just for this little thing?" Zhao Lichun's voice turned cold.

"No...no, Secretary!"

Liu Xinjian looked up abruptly, like a cat whose tail had been stepped on, his face full of tears and despair.

"It's an account book!"

"They took all my account books!"

"Those crucial ledgers... were all confiscated by that guy surnamed Shen... by the military on the grounds of 'evidence of obstructing military operations'!"

The word "ledger" was like a steel needle piercing Zhao Lichun's ear.

He flicked his wrist.

The thick ink from the tip of the pen dripped down next to the nearly completed character "静" (quiet), spreading out as a glaring ink dot.

The entire character is ruined.

The air in the study felt thick and sticky at that moment.

Zhao Lichun slowly placed the calligraphy brush in his hand on the brush holder.

He didn't look at the ruined letter, nor did he look at Liu Xinjian kneeling on the ground.

He listened to Liu Xinjian's rambling and incoherent sobs, his face gradually darkening, becoming so gloomy it seemed as if water could drip from it.

Anger burned within him.

But this anger wasn't directed at the audacious Shen Zhong, but at the good-for-nothing beneath his feet who was more trouble than he was worth!

A sand quarry still has its original ledgers?

How incredibly foolish!

With such dirty hands and feet, how dare you make such a big fuss!

Zhao Lichun finally understood that Shen Zhong wasn't after a sand quarry at all.

He was after this ledger.

This ledger is a super bomb that could detonate in the officialdom of Handong!

Liu Xinjian will certainly be blown to pieces, but how many people will be affected by the aftershocks of the bomb?

Even... could it affect him?

"Get out!"

Zhao Lichun's voice wasn't loud, but it carried an intense, suppressed rage.

Liu Xinjian was so frightened that he scrambled to his feet and staggered out of the study.

Only Zhao Lichun and Qian Guodong remained in the study.

"Secretary, this..." Qian Guodong said cautiously.

"waste!"

Zhao Lichun slammed his hand on the table, making the wolf-hair brush on the brush holder jump.

"After raising him for so many years, he's nothing but a pig!"

He paced back and forth in his study, his refined and scholarly air completely gone, replaced by an air of authority and tyranny born of long-standing power.

Heavy!

How heavy!

He had previously thought it was just an ordinary military operation, unaware that he was behind it all.

Now that the account books have been taken away, and Shen Zhong did not report it to him, this is clearly a political coercion!

This is a protest!

It was that young man who was blatantly flexing his muscles and challenging his authority as the number one figure in Handong!

Zhao Lichun stopped in his tracks.

He turned around, his eyes filled with cold light.

"Secretary-General Qian."

"exist."

"Call the provincial military command!"

Zhao Lichun spoke slowly and deliberately, his voice icy cold.

"Send that Shen Zhong to me personally! I need to talk to him!"

Qian Guodong walked to his desk, picked up the red telephone, and, steeling himself, dialed the provincial military district's switchboard.

The call was transferred several times before finally connecting to the military region headquarters office.

Qian Guodong cleared his throat and conveyed Zhao Lichun's "invitation" in a calm tone.

"I am Qian Guodong from the Provincial Party Committee. Please tell Standing Committee Member Shen Zhong that Secretary Zhao Lichun requests him to come to the Provincial Party Committee Building No. 1 immediately to discuss important matters."

There was a few seconds of silence on the other end of the phone.

Then, a young yet composed voice replied, "Please wait a moment, I need to report to my superiors."

Waiting again.

The study was eerily quiet.

Zhao Lichun stood by the window, hands behind his back, gazing at the scenery outside, motionless.

Qian Guodong held the receiver, his palms sweaty.

About five minutes later, a voice finally came from the other end of the phone again.

"Secretary-General Qian, Secretary Shen's instructions have arrived."

Qian Guodong immediately focused his attention.

"Secretary Shen said that he is currently studying and deploying the military region's next combat readiness training plan, and is too busy with military affairs to leave for the time being."

The voice on the other end of the phone paused for a moment, then continued repeating in a completely emotionless tone.

"In addition, Secretary Shen suggested that if the Provincial Party Committee has any matters concerning coordination between the military and local authorities, it can submit a formal letter to the Military Region according to the normal procedures, and the Military Region will arrange for relevant departments to coordinate in accordance with regulations."

Qian Guodong's mind went blank for a moment.

This...this is...

This is a complete and utter rejection!

Moreover, they rejected the summons from the top official of Handong Province in the most official, coldest, and most unforgiving way!

He struggled to put down the phone, turned around, and stared at Zhao Lichun's retreating figure, his face pale.

"Secretary... Standing Committee Member Shen... he said he's too busy with military affairs to come..."

Zhao Lichun slowly turned around.

His face was expressionless, revealing neither joy nor anger.

He just stared at Qian Guodong quietly, but his eyes seemed to be brewing a storm.

Suddenly, he raised his hand and grabbed the Duan inkstone, his most beloved and priceless treasure, from the desk.

"Bang--!"

He smashed the inkstone to the ground, and it shattered with a crash!

Ink splattered everywhere, staining the expensive carpet and also tarnishing the reputation that the head of Handong had built up over many years.

"Good! Very heavy indeed!"

Zhao Lichun's chest heaved violently, and he laughed in extreme anger.

"He dares not to come?!"

Just as this suppressed anger reached its peak, a cell phone rang abruptly.

It wasn't the red telephone on the desk, nor was it Qian Guodong's work cell phone.

It was his private phone.

Qian Guodong took out his phone, saw the caller ID, and paused for a moment.

It's an encrypted, unknown number.

He glanced at Zhao Lichun, but still answered the phone.

"Feed?"

On the other end of the phone, only a young man's calm and clear voice came through. He said only one sentence and then hung up.

Qian Guodong stood frozen in place, holding his phone.

He raised his head, looked at the furious Zhao Lichun, his lips moved, and his voice was dry.

"secretary……"

"It's a call from Shen Zhong's side."

He said... that negotiations were possible...

"Let Secretary Zhao...call me personally."