A new day dawns, and the sun shines brightly.

The conference room at Hongxing Steel Rolling Mill was filled with smoke, like a fairyland, and all the cadres at the division level and above sat upright.

As one of the few female comrades, Lin Wencui could only frown and endure the unpleasant smell in such an environment.

Li Huaide, sitting in the center of the stage, had a cigarette between his fingers and looked very unhappy.

"Comrades! In recent years, our factory's output value has declined continuously, resulting in a sharp decrease in factory revenue. Yesterday, the newly appointed Minister Bai held a meeting and gave our factory a severe criticism."

Therefore, the reason I've gathered everyone here today is to brainstorm and find a way out for the future of our factory. Please feel free to share your thoughts.

Buzz~~~!

As soon as Li Huaide finished speaking, the cadres in the conference room began to whisper among themselves.

People had all sorts of opinions. Some suggested bringing Director Yang back to the helm, while others suggested increasing revenue and cutting costs, and so on.

Of course, the noise from these people wasn't too loud or too soft, but Li Huaide could just hear it, which is rather intriguing.

You know, if this had happened before last year, these fence-sitters probably wouldn't have dared to utter a single word.

But now the situation is different; he is powerless to reverse the situation and cannot even control his own destiny.

When he went to the meeting yesterday, he could clearly feel the atmosphere of impending doom. Some people who used to be on good terms with him had started to avoid him.

Even his father-in-law, Vice Minister Qian, couldn't avoid early retirement this time, let alone himself.

Thinking about this, Li Huaide became agitated and angrily slammed his fingers on the table.

"Comrades! This isn't a vegetable market. If you want to speak, stand up and say it. What kind of behavior is this, chattering away like this?"

Sure enough, although Li Huaide is now a sick cat, he still retains his former fierce power, and the conference room immediately fell silent.

Seeing that no one spoke, Li Huaide gestured to Deputy Director Nie, who was sitting on his right.

"Deputy Director Nie, since no one has spoken, why don't you start by throwing out a suggestion?"

Deputy Director Nie didn't take it seriously at all when the fire spread to him.

After all, he wasn't afraid of a villain like Li Huaide before, and he's even less afraid now. Since you want to hear it, I'll say a few words.

Then Deputy Director Nie adjusted the microphone and began his performance.

"Comrades! Regarding the issue of declining output, we need to analyze it from the following points."

First, this situation has been gradually occurring over the past decade. Have you all considered why this is happening?

Secondly, I just heard some comrades talking about increasing revenue and reducing expenditure. Well then, I'd like to ask, where exactly are we increasing revenue and reducing expenditure? Does spending public funds on meals every day count?

Buzz~~~!

Deputy Director Nie's two topics once again ignited the meeting room.

No one expected Deputy Director Nie to be so assertive.

The former almost named Li Huaide as incompetent, saying that he had driven away Director Yang but was also incapable of doing his own thing.

The latter case is similar; the issue of using public funds for meals and drinks once again points to Li Huaide.

"No, Deputy Director Nie, what do you mean by that? Are you saying I'm not good enough?"

Li Huaide regretted it somewhat; he shouldn't have let him speak in the first place, now he was in a difficult situation.

To everyone's surprise, Deputy Director Nie was not afraid at all and retorted in the face of Li Huaide's gaze.

"Yeah! You're only now realizing you're no good? Actually, you've always been no good. To put it bluntly, you're just an opportunist who's good for nothing but eating, drinking, and networking."

“You…?” Li Huaide was somewhat exasperated.

He never expected that Deputy Director Nie would actually break off relations with him today.

He hasn't even stepped down yet, and this guy is already so impatient?

Just as Li Huaide was still considering how to save face, the conference room door was suddenly pushed open.

Several people walked in from outside. They all had stern faces and looked very serious, the kind of look that made people feel uneasy just by looking at them.

The meeting room fell silent instantly.

At this moment, one of the men who appeared to be the leader walked directly up to Li Huaide.

"You are Li Huaide. I am Zhang Tianhe, the head of the disciplinary committee's investigation team. Someone has reported that during your tenure, you abused your position to suppress dissidents, used public funds for lavish meals, and have other serious issues with your conduct. Please cooperate with the investigation and come with us!"

Faced with this sudden turn of events, Li Huaide remained calm and showed no unusual reaction, simply replying with a faint remark.

"I'll go with you."

After saying this, Li Huaide felt relieved, faced everything calmly, and walked towards the door.

Seeing that he was relatively cooperative, the members of the disciplinary committee investigation team did not resort to any special methods, which was considered a final act of decency for him.

After Li Huaide was taken away, Zhang Tianhe did not leave, but continued to relay orders from his superiors.

"Don't panic, everyone. Because this happened so suddenly, the ministry has decided that Comrade Nie Yuan will temporarily manage all affairs of the steel rolling mill until he is formally appointed by the higher authorities."

Upon hearing this appointment, those opportunists immediately began to waver again, preparing to quickly curry favor with the powerful.

But Deputy Director Nie knew in his heart that it was all an illusion.

Because he had already heard the news that the original factory director, Yang, was being exonerated and would soon return to power, while he remained stagnant.

However, he was not discouraged, because Director Yang was getting on in years and he would be in charge of the steel rolling mill again in a few years.

Having completed his task, Zhang Tianhe nodded to Deputy Director Nie before leaving the office.

Seeing that the drama had come to an end and there was no need to continue the meeting, Deputy Director Nie adjourned it.

However, the matter was not over yet. In the afternoon, several more people were taken away.

Even Liu Haizhong and Xu Damao were taken away for investigation, and later even Sha Zhu was not spared.

Because Liu Haizhong had once served as the captain of the disciplinary team, and Xu Damao had served as the group leader of the disciplinary team, they had both done a little bit of those shady things.

Therefore, it's not unreasonable for them to be taken away for investigation.

The reason why Sha Zhu took him away is quite simple.

Because after his master Liu Dachuan retired, he was in charge of the kitchen's small stoves.

Therefore, taking him there was to cooperate with the investigation into Li Huaide's misuse of public funds for meals over the years.

For a time, the entire steel rolling mill was in a state of panic and fear.