Lin Zhiyuan is twenty-seven years old and sits in an inconspicuous corner of the county government office.
He doesn't talk much and always has a gentle but vague smile on his face.
No one knew that this young man with an ordinary background, whose mother died young and his father was laid off, had a pair of eyes that could read meeting minutes from the chessboard.
He can hear the news of personnel transfers from the position of the leader's tea cup; he can find out the traces of the confrontation behind the scenes from the change of a punctuation mark on the document.
He does not take sides, does not harm others, and will never take the blame for anyone.
Here, one wrong step will lead to disaster.
The only bargaining chip in his hand is what he has silently remembered over the years - every word, every person, every subtle transfer of power.
The chess game has begun, and the moves are silent.
Every step he takes has a price already marked on it.
