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

3:00 AM, Municipal Party Committee Building.

Li Dakang slumped on the sofa, his mud-covered trench coat lying in the corner, emitting a foul stench of sewer.

His eyes were bloodshot as he stared at a tablet computer on his desk.

The screen displays a jigsaw puzzle.

On the left, Li Dakang was half-submerged in the black water, his hair plastered to his scalp, his head tilted back with a ferocious expression.

On the right, He Xia, wearing a clean raincoat, stands on the dry asphalt road, with the orderly streets of Hexi District in the background.

The title has only eight characters: "The folding of Jingzhou, a world apart."

"Smack."

Li Dakang slammed the tablet face down on the table with such force that the water in the teacup sloshed around.

Secretary Xiao Jin stood to one side, not daring to breathe.

"Have you found out? Who took this photo?" Li Dakang's voice was hoarse.

"There were too many people at the scene, maybe they were just passing by, or maybe..." Xiao Jin swallowed hard. "The speed of information dissemination on social media these days is too fast. It was already in the top three trending topics half an hour ago."

"The Cyberspace Administration of China is already working overtime to process it."

"A bunch of idle people who have nothing better to do than eat!" Li Dakang slammed his fist on the table.

Xiao Jin cautiously handed over the phone: "Secretary, the comments online... aren't very nice."

Li Dakang snatched it away.

"Who is Secretary Li trying to impress with all this mud?"

"Look at Hexi District, that's real governance. Sun Liancheng used to be criticized as a lazy official, but now I think he's the one who's lazy and derelict in his duty!"

The further Li Dakang slid down, the uglier his face became.

Li Dakang stood up and paced back and forth in the office, his leather shoes making a rapid clattering sound on the floor.

"Write the report!"

He stopped and pointed at Xiao Jin.

"Notify the publicity department that tomorrow's press release must use the same message. This rainstorm is a once-in-a-century extreme weather event, an act of God. The flooding in Guangming District is a natural disaster, not man-made! Focus on publicizing our efforts in the rescue, especially that... that person who rushed into the underground shopping mall to save people!"

"Yes, I'll contact them right away." Xiao Jin felt like she had been granted a pardon, grabbed her phone, and ran outside.

Li Dakang sat back down on the sofa, rubbing his throbbing temples.

……

At the same time, in the provincial military district's operations duty room.

Shen Zhong held an unlit cigarette in his hand as he listened to Zhou Weiguo's report.

"Boss, the data has been compiled."

Zhou Weiguo handed over a document.

"In the first phase of the Guangmingfeng project, the underground shopping mall was completely flooded, with the direct economic loss initially estimated at 200 million yuan. 2,300 vehicles were totaled, and more than 400 shops were damaged."

"What about Hexi District?" Shen Zhong asked without looking up, flipping through the documents.

"zero."

Zhou Weiguo paused, then added, "Apart from some backflow in the sewer pipes of a few older residential areas, there was no water accumulation on the main roads and in the core commercial area. The deep tunnel that Deputy District Chief Sun built was only using 70% of its capacity."

Shen closed the file and gave a slight twitch at the corner of his mouth.

He picked up another thick report on the table, the cover of which read "Summary of Flood Control and Drought Relief Technology in Hexi District and Hydrological Analysis of Jingzhou".

This was written by Sun Liancheng overnight.

There were no fancy words inside, just hard data and drawings.

From rainfall analysis to runoff coefficient, from pipeline outlets to pump station power.

"Send this to the provincial party committee compound."

"to whom?"

"Zhao Lichun".

Shen Zhong paused on the table with his cigarette. "At this time, our Secretary Zhao probably can't sleep either. Just say this is a tactical review of the provincial military district's assistance to local flood control efforts, and ask the provincial party committee leaders to review it."

Zhou Weiguo took the report and grinned, "This isn't a debriefing, it's handing you a knife."

"I've handed you the knife. Whether you dare to take it or not is up to Zhao Lichun."

……

Office of the Provincial Party Secretary.

Zhao Lichun took a sip of strong tea, holding the report from the military region in his hand, his face gloomy.

The last line of the report was circled in red by Shen Zhong:

[Calculations show that if Guangming District had adopted a drainage system of the same specifications, the floodwater depth during this rainstorm would not have exceeded five centimeters.]

Five centimeters.

The water depth at Guangming Peak is currently 1.5 meters.

Zhao Lichun tossed the report onto the coffee table, took off his glasses, and wiped them.

This is not just a technical report; it's Shen Zhong's attempt to force a change of heart.

He forced himself to deal with Li Dakang.

"Ding-dong."

A news notification popped up on the computer on my desk.

Zhao Lichun glanced at it, his brows furrowing even more.

The new media account under the Handong Daily published an in-depth article titled "Who is swimming naked? Two worlds under the Jingzhou rainstorm."

The article begins by quoting Warren Buffett: "Only when the tide goes out do you discover who's been swimming naked."

The article then presents detailed data, making a comprehensive comparison between the "Great Leap Forward" style development of filling in the lake to create land at Guangmingfeng and the "laborious" underground digging in Hexi District.

Even the planning document that Sun Liancheng rejected ten years ago has been unearthed.

Every word is piercing to the heart.

Zhao Lichun picked up the phone and dialed Li Dakang's number.

The phone rang once and was answered; clearly, the other end was also on standby.

"Dakang," Zhao Lichun said calmly, his tone revealing neither joy nor anger.

"Secretary, you haven't rested yet? I'm preparing to report to you on the progress of this flood control effort..." Li Dakang's voice was filled with fatigue and anxiety.

"No need to prepare," Zhao Lichun interrupted him. "Have you read the articles online?"

"That's someone deliberately stirring up trouble! Manipulating public opinion, I've already had it deleted..."

"Can you even finish deleting them all?" Zhao Lichun's voice suddenly turned cold. "Even the provincial military region has sent me their technical analysis report. You still think you can cover it up?"

There was a deathly silence on the other end of the phone.

"We'll organize a special report tomorrow, inviting all the Standing Committee members in Jingzhou and the Jingzhou leadership team. You'll be the one to give the presentation," Zhao Lichun said, and then hung up the phone.

……

Sun Liancheng's office at the Hexi District Government.

Sun Liancheng was fast asleep, drooling all over the floor.

"Wake up, Old Sun."

Someone nudged his shoulder.

Sun Liancheng groggily raised his head and saw Shen Zhongzheng standing in front of him, holding two servings of soy milk and fried dough sticks.

"Secretary Shen...?" Sun Liancheng hurriedly wiped his mouth and tried to stand up.

Shen Zhong pressed down on his shoulder and placed the breakfast on the table.

"Eat something and wash your face."

Shen Zhong pulled up a chair and sat down, looking at Sun Liancheng, whose eyes were bloodshot.

"The report is well-written; I've read it."

Sun Liancheng grabbed a fried dough stick, took a bite, and mumbled, "The report is all just static data; I'm just writing it down as it is. But what about Secretary Dakang... won't he think I'm deliberately sabotaging him?"

Shen Zhong looked out the window at the sky, which was gradually clearing up.

"The weather in Jingzhou has cleared up, but Li Dakang's troubles have only just begun."

"Let's see how Li Dakang handles the special report this afternoon."