Inspecting the Guangming Peak Project

Monday morning, at the Guangming Peak Project Headquarters.

The conference room was filled with the project's working teams and heads of relevant municipal and district departments. Lin Yanzhou sat at the head of the table, looking through the project progress schedule before him.

As the project's chief commander, Ding Yizhen sat to his left, his customary smile on his face, though a barely perceptible trace of unease lurked deep in his eyes.

"Let's begin," Lin Yanzhou said without looking up. "Start with a report on demolition in the core area and construction progress."

The deputy team leader in charge of demolition had just picked up his documents and was about to speak when Lin Yanzhou suddenly raised his head and fixed Ding Yizhen with a sharp gaze.

"Comrade Yizhen, you're the project's chief commander. You should know the basic situation by heart. You go first. How many households in the core area have yet to sign agreements? Where is the main bottleneck?"

The smile on Ding Yizhen's face froze. How could he remember those specific figures? When he came to the project headquarters, he usually just listened to summary reports or brought a television crew to shoot a few clips before leaving. He had long since left the details to his subordinates.

"Well, Mayor Lin," Ding Yizhen gave two dry chuckles, struggling to maintain his composure.

"As for the specific figures, I have a rough idea, but it would be more professional to let the comrades on the demolition team report the exact data. The main difficulty is simply that some residents have excessively high expectations for compensation, and there have been instances of people demanding the moon."

Lin Yanzhou neither agreed nor disagreed. He turned to the planning drawings and pointed to an area marked "ecological corridor." "Here. The original plan was to build a green ecological corridor running through the project area, connecting a tributary of the Qingshui River to the urban forest park. How far have the building clearance and terrain preparation within the corridor progressed? Has the volume of work been calculated clearly?"

A light sweat appeared at Ding Yizhen's temples. He even had to lower his head and search the drawing for a good while to find exactly which tract of land this "ecological corridor" referred to.

"Mayor Lin, this tract... involves some unresolved historical issues. We're actively coordinating with the planning and land resources departments. The volume of work needs to be calculated specifically by the engineering department."

Next, Lin Yanzhou asked several more questions in succession about infrastructure construction standards, the integrated layout of utility lines, and the timetable for key companies that had already signed agreements to establish their industrial operations.

Ding Yizhen's answers were either "It's being advanced," or "The people below are still studying it," or he simply passed the question to the department specifically responsible. Almost every question drew a blank.

The atmosphere in the conference room grew increasingly heavy. The other attendees all kept their heads lowered, afraid to look at Lin Yanzhou's increasingly dark expression or Ding Yizhen's increasingly embarrassed face.

Lin Yanzhou closed the folder in his hands with a soft snap, yet the sound brought the entire conference room to silence.

He looked at Ding Yizhen. "Comrade Yizhen, you are the project's chief commander, appointed by the municipal Party committee. Judging by the report just now, you don't seem familiar with the project's basic situation, core data, or key milestones."

Ding Yizhen hurried to defend himself. "Mayor Lin, please let me explain. As vice mayor, I oversee a great deal of work, with a thousand threads to untangle. I can't possibly handle everything personally. The specific work is all delegated to..."

"Busy with work? Too many responsibilities?" Lin Yanzhou cut him off directly, his authority brooking no challenge.

"That is no excuse! Let me ask you: according to headquarters attendance records, how many times this year have you come to work on-site at the project headquarters or gone down to the construction front lines to conduct inspections?"

Ding Yizhen was lost for words, his face instantly turning deathly pale. How could he remember how many times? In any case, he could count them on his fingers.

Seeing that no one answered, Lin Yanzhou swept his gaze over everyone in the conference room again.

"I'll ask once more. How many times has Vice Mayor Ding come to the project headquarters this year? If no one answers, everyone here at the project headquarters today will submit a resignation letter to the municipal government."

Under Lin Yanzhou's piercing gaze, the director of the headquarters office beside him had no choice but to steel himself and answer quietly. "R-reporting to Mayor Lin, Mayor Ding has come to headquarters a total of twice this year, not counting today. The first time was for an inspection when work resumed after the Spring Festival. He brought comrades from the television station. The last time was when Li Secretary Dakang came for an inspection."

Twice! Only twice since the beginning of the year!

A wave of stifled gasps rose in the conference room.

Ding Yizhen's face alternated between red and white. "Mayor Lin, although I haven't come often, I've made arrangements for all the work and listened to reports."

"Made arrangements? Listened to reports?" Lin Yanzhou stared at Ding Yizhen.

"You mean these superficial arrangements that leave you unable to answer a single question? You mean this listening to reports where you bring a camera, pose for a few shots, and call it an inspection? The Guangming Peak Project is Jingzhou's number-one undertaking, not your personal stage!"

He picked up the documents on the table, his tone as decisive as cutting nails and slicing iron. "Today's inspection ends here. Send out the notice: at three this afternoon, we will convene an executive meeting of the municipal government specifically to discuss adjustments to the division of responsibilities among the leadership."

"A major project like this, one that concerns the city's long-term development, must be led by a comrade who can settle down to the work, take responsibility, and shoulder the burden!"

With that, Lin Yanzhou stopped looking at Ding Yizhen, whose face was ashen as death. He picked up his notebook and strode out of the conference room.

He left behind a roomful of officials as silent as cicadas in the cold, along with Ding Yizhen, who slumped in his chair with cold sweat streaming down him.

He knew Lin Yanzhou was getting serious now. He intended to use Ding Yizhen's public humiliation today as an opportunity to strip him, with full justification, of the most essential power in his hands: control over the Guangming Peak Project.