The Retired High-Ranking Official

[Officialdom Novel + Shadow Corruption + Retired Officials + Power Plays Between Business and Government] Originally titled The Old Man.

In official circles, there is a group of people respectfully known as “old men.” These are retired leading officials, and they can be found at every administrative level, from townships and counties to cities, provinces, and ministries.

With a broad network of former subordinates and deep connections, their influence is like a towering tree with roots too deep to shake.

Some “old men” retain enormous influence even after retirement. Some continue issuing orders as behind-the-scenes advisers, while others use their special status to engage in more covert forms of corruption. This phenomenon is known as “shadow corruption,” and these people are also called retired high-ranking officials.

Niu Zhihua is a real estate developer and a self-made billionaire who built his fortune by using beautiful women as “human bombs.”

To expand his wealth quickly, he hires Gao Chongshan, the former director of the Provincial Department of Land and Resources, as a company adviser.

Gao Chongshan’s son, Gao Shaoye, happens to return from the United States because of the financial crisis and join Niu Zhihua’s company, where he gradually begins to siphon off Niu Zhihua’s assets. To get what he wants, Gao Shaoye teams up with his biological brother Gao Dameng, a deputy chief of the Public Security Bureau, to intimidate, attack, and persecute Niu Zhihua.

From then on, Niu Zhihua finds himself caught in one carefully orchestrated frame-up after another.

The novel follows the evolution of Niu Zhihua’s relationship with the Gao family, from their initial cooperation to the suspicion and conflict that follow, and finally to their complete break. The intricate plot features vivid characters and a steady stream of twists and surprises. The story delves into the interplay between officialdom, business, the workplace, and personal relationships. Against the backdrop of real estate development, it exposes how retired officials exploit the resources and connections they built while in office to seek rents from their former power, as well as the corruption in the real estate industry behind collusion between business and government. It reveals the complexity and brutality of their power struggles.

An ambitious property developer, four glamorous public relations experts, a self-important returnee from overseas, and a group of retired officials who still wield enormous behind-the-scenes influence each pursue their own agendas, putting on one complex drama after another involving officialdom, business, and romance in a bustling metropolis.