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

The first meeting room of the Hexi District Committee.

"Snapped!"

A loud bang.

A thick document was slammed heavily onto the mahogany conference table.

The papers weren't bound very securely; upon impact, the clips popped open, scattering across the table with a clatter, and a few fluttered to the ground.

The air in the meeting room felt a bit sticky.

Li Dakang stood in front of the main seat, his hands supporting him on the edge of the table, leaning forward.

His eyes were fixed on He Xia, who was standing to his right at the lower end of the table. His chest heaved, clearly indicating that he was very angry.

"Is this your plan?"

Li Dakang's fingers tapped heavily on the pile of scattered papers, the sound of his knuckles striking the table crisp and clear, each tap seeming to strike the hearts of everyone present.

He Xia stood there, her hands pressed against the seams of her trousers, her face a little pale, but her back was very straight.

"Secretary Dakang, this is the plan for Hexi District for the next three years..."

"Don't talk to me about the future!"

Li Dakang rudely interrupted her with a wave of his hand.

"I want it now! This year! This quarter!"

He casually grabbed a piece of paper floating on the table and read the title without even looking at it.

"Renovation of sewer systems in old residential areas... thirty-five million."

He grabbed another card.

"Street lighting project... twelve million."

"And this, community-based elderly meal assistance points... 20 million."

Li Dakang crumpled the paper into a ball and slammed it into the wastepaper basket.

"Comrade He Xia, have you lost your mind?"

Li Dakang walked around the conference table and stood in front of He Xia, the two of them less than a meter apart.

This sense of oppression is extremely strong.

"I've brought you here to be the district party secretary, not a philanthropist, and certainly not a nanny!"

"Are you aware of Jingzhou's current financial situation?"

"Are you aware that the entire city is tightening its belt to attract investment?"

Li Dakang's voice rose, echoing in the conference room.

"Look at all these projects of yours, is any of them profitable? They're all just begging for money!"

He Xia took a deep breath and met Li Dakang's murderous gaze.

"Secretary Dakang, the infrastructure in Hexi District hasn't been touched in twenty years."

He Xia's voice wasn't loud, but it was very steady.

"The sewers flood every rainy season, causing backflow in people's homes, with sewage and urine flowing everywhere. Half of the streetlights are broken, and female factory workers are afraid to walk home at night."

"If these problems aren't solved, what kind of development environment are we talking about? If investors come and see sewage everywhere, will they dare to invest?"

"An excuse!"

Li Dakang wasn't buying it at all.

He turned around twice with his hands behind his back, his leather shoes creaking on the floor.

"A healthy environment is created through hard work, not through restoration!"

"You say there's no money to fix the streetlights? Then let's attract investment! Let businesses do the fixing! Let capital do the fixing!"

"If you just get the Guangming Peak project off the ground and develop the CBD, I'll make sure you pave the Hexi District with gold bricks, let alone streetlights!"

Li Dakang suddenly stopped and turned to point at the huge map of Hexi District on the wall.

"Take a look at this piece of land."

"Such a prime location, and what are you doing—building a pocket park? Or a food service point?"

"That's a waste!"

"This is a crime against the people of Jingzhou!"

Behind the conference room, there were more than a dozen cameras set up.

The sound of camera shutters clicking filled the air.

Flashes of light illuminated Li Dakang's angry face and He Xia's somewhat helpless figure.

This was arranged by Li Dakang.

He wanted to show all the officials in the city that this is what happens if you don't focus on the economy.

He Xia was so blinded by the flashing lights that she could barely open her eyes; she felt like a prisoner being publicly executed.

"Secretary Li, projects that improve people's lives are also a form of political achievement..."

"Without GDP, how can we improve people's livelihoods?"

Li Dakang interrupted her again, his tone turning icy cold.

"Does money just fall from the sky? Does the Finance Bureau's money come from nowhere?"

He turned his head and looked at the director of the municipal finance bureau, who was sitting in the back row wiping his sweat.

"Old Liu."

The director of the finance bureau stood up abruptly, like a primary school student being called on.

"Here...I am, Secretary Li."

Li Dakang pointed at He Xia, then at the messy pile of documents on the table.

"Pass on my message: starting today, freeze all municipal-level fiscal transfer payments to Hexi District."

This sentence was like a heavy hammer, directly shattering the livelihood of Hexi District.

He Xia looked up abruptly, her eyes filled with disbelief.

"Secretary Dakang! You can't do this! There are wages and subsidies for sanitation workers in there..."

"I can."

Li Dakang looked at her coldly.

"Unless you can come up with a decent, feasible industrial project worth over 100 million yuan, the municipal finance will not give you a single penny."

"Hexi District wants to improve people's livelihoods, right? Fine, go and make money to improve it yourself."

"If you can't have children, don't blame the municipal party committee for being ruthless."

After saying this, Li Dakang didn't even glance at He Xia, and turned to walk towards the door.

The director of the Finance Bureau glanced at He Xia, then at Li Dakang's retreating figure, and could only sigh helplessly. He picked up his briefcase and jogged after him.

The group from the China Merchants Group and the National Development and Reform Commission also left in a flash.

As Li Dakang reached the door, he suddenly stopped.

He didn't turn around; he simply threw a sentence into the air.

"Comrade He Xia, if you feel that this responsibility is too heavy for you to shoulder, you can submit a report to resign."

"Jingzhou doesn't support idlers, and it certainly doesn't need nannies who only know how to spend money."

"Clang!"

The meeting room door was closed.

The footsteps faded into the distance.

The once packed meeting room suddenly became empty.

Only a few members of the district committee remained, looking at each other with extremely grim expressions.

The freezing of public funds means that the Hexi District government will soon be shut down.

Forget about fixing streetlights, even getting paid next month is a problem.

He Xia stood there, her body swaying slightly.

She managed to stand by holding onto the edge of the table.

The table was covered with scattered documents, as were the floor.

The "People's Livelihood Improvement Plan" that she worked on for several sleepless nights has now been trampled on with a large footprint.

The district head opened his mouth, as if to say something, but no sound came out.

Everyone knows that Li Dakang is serious this time.

This is a coup attempt.

He Xia bit her lip until it turned a little white.

She slowly squatted down, reached out, and picked up the dirty cover from the ground.

My fingers trembled slightly when they touched the paper.

Her eyes were burning, but she desperately held back her tears.

Can't cry.

Even if you lose, you can't cry at this moment.

……

Provincial Military Command, Operations Command Center.

On the huge screen, the surveillance footage of the Hexi District Committee meeting room is being played in real time.

Although there was no sound, the picture quality was extremely clear.

Shen Zhong sat in the chair, toying with a brass bullet casing in his hand.

He looked at the woman squatting on the ground in the picture.

Watching her pick up the documents one by one.

Looking at her unusually thin figure from behind.

The spent cartridge in Shen Zhong's hand stopped spinning.

His expression was calm.

It wasn't the kind of stillness that comes with a calm mind, but rather the deathly stillness of the sea before a storm.

The oppressive atmosphere was so intense that even Zhou Weiguo, who was standing next to him, felt a chill run down his spine.

"What a Li Dakang!"

Shen Zhong said softly.

The sound wasn't loud, but it was like shards of ice squeezed out from between teeth.

"What a fine example of not supporting idlers."

Shen Zhong took out his phone and dialed He Xia's number.

On the screen, He Xia's phone lit up.

She rubbed her eyes in a flustered manner and answered the phone.

"Feed..."

His voice was somewhat hoarse and had a noticeable nasal tone.

Shen Zhong looked at his wife on the screen, his eyes softening.

"Honey, don't pick it up anymore."

He Xia, on the other end of the phone, paused for a moment and subconsciously looked around.

"Since he's not paying, that's his loss."

Shen Zhong stood up and placed the brass cartridge case on the table.

"Let's go home for dinner."

Get a good night's sleep tonight.

"I will let him know that there are things in this world that are more important than money."