Chapter One: My Trusted Aides Are All Double Agents! (New Novel—Please Follow)
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“Hong Kong, Hui Feng Bank, Jardine Matheson, the Governor…”
“I’ve actually traveled back to Hong Kong in 1978.”
“My name is Lin Haoran, a direct descendant of the Lin family!”
After the memories had completely merged, Lin Haoran opened his eyes.
This was a very ordinary bedroom. On the desk opposite the bed sat a boxy color television, and the wall was adorned with a poster of ‘Way of the Dragon,’ lending the room a distinctly nostalgic atmosphere.
Lin Haoran struggled to sit up and went to the desk, picking up a mirror.
In the reflection, he saw a delicate face, features sharp and deep, his brows exuding a natural heroism. Yet the pallor upon his face betrayed his current weakness and fatigue.
Setting the mirror down, Lin Haoran turned to the window, surveying the surroundings from above.
He was in Yuen Long, Hong Kong, at a cement factory—Wah Fung Cement Plant. And now, the full ownership of this factory belonged to him.
The factory was built by the sea, complete with its own dock for convenient transport.
Yet at the moment, few people were working here.
Who would have thought that this massive cement plant, covering tens of thousands of square meters, would be entangled in the inheritance dispute of a wealthy family?
Lin Haoran’s identity was that of the youngest son of Lin Wanan, chairman of the publicly listed Hong Kong company, Man On Group.
Sixty-three-year-old Lin Wanan had felt his health deteriorating in recent years, and thus began considering selecting an heir for his group.
Man On Group was a large, diversified, publicly listed company in Hong Kong, with a market value in the hundreds of millions and robust strength. Its main businesses spanned real estate, hotels, building materials, manufacturing, and more.
Naturally, the choice of successor for such a company was of utmost importance.
Lin Wanan had two daughters and two sons.
Both daughters were already married, and, as was common among Hong Kong’s wealthy, the idea of male preference prevailed; thus, the choice would be made between the two sons.
The elder son, Lin Haoning, was thirty-five and already had extensive experience in business management.
The younger son, Lin Haoran, was twenty-four, and had graduated from the London Business School just a year before.
Logically, choosing the elder son Lin Haoning would be best, as he had abundant management experience.
The second son, though a graduate of a prestigious university, lacked business experience. Handing Man On Group to Lin Haoran would be unwise.
Yet Lin Wanan felt that, with only two sons, both were precious to him. If he simply named Lin Haoning his successor, it would be unfair to his younger son.
To ease his conscience, he devised a plan: each son would be given a subsidiary, with full ownership in their hands, free to manage as they saw fit.
After one year, whichever son earned more would become the heir of Man On Group.
Thus, Lin Haoning received a fan manufacturing factory.
Lin Haoran, on the other hand, was given Wah Fung Cement Plant.
Their values were roughly equivalent, and their monthly revenues were not far apart.
In truth, Lin Wanan already knew the likely outcome—Lin Haoran had little chance of winning. He was merely appeasing his own conscience.
As expected, two months into the year-long contest, the fan factory under Lin Haoning was doing better and better, with orders reportedly increasing steadily.
In contrast, Wah Fung Cement Plant, which had once enjoyed stable orders and respectable profits, had lost many of its long-term clients in just two months since Lin Haoran took over.
To manage the plant well, Lin Haoran had forsaken the comfort of a luxurious villa and moved into the harsh factory environment, determined to turn things around.
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Unexpectedly, business at the cement plant did not improve, and instead, orders continued to dwindle.
Just yesterday, feeling agitated, Lin Haoran took a few men out to sea for fishing. Who could have foreseen a sudden gale? The surging waves swept him overboard before he could steady himself.
Fortunately, the men accompanying him were good swimmers, and after much effort, managed to rescue him. However, the shock and the cold left him feverish and unconscious.
No one knew that when he awoke, Lin Haoran’s body had already changed hands.
A knock sounded at the door.
“Come in,” Lin Haoran called, snapping back to reality.
“Young master, I’ve brought your medicine.”
The door opened and a young man in his twenties entered. He was one of his father’s trusted aides, named Lin Si, assigned to assist Lin Haoran with managing the cement plant, handling various affairs, and ensuring his safety.
“Young master, I’ll leave the medicine on the table. Please remember to take it. If anything happens to you, the old master won’t forgive us,” Lin Si said obsequiously.
Lin Haoran, however, was not paying attention to his words.
For at that moment, above Lin Si’s head, a strange black bracket appeared, inside which was a progress bar.
[Loyalty: 11/100]
Lin Haoran thought he was seeing things. He rubbed his eyes and looked again, but the progress bar remained.
This bizarre phenomenon startled him, but he quickly realized that this must be the “golden finger” brought by his transmigration.
Out of a total loyalty value of 100, Lin Si had only 11—pitifully low for someone considered a trusted aide!
Lin Haoran stared speechlessly at the man who had always shown him the utmost respect, unable to believe what he was seeing.
Who would have thought that this man, who bowed and scraped before him daily, apparently loyal and devoted, was in fact a hidden traitor!
If not for the sudden appearance of this loyalty meter, Lin Haoran would never have believed that the man before him was so disloyal.
Judging by his usual behavior, a loyalty of 100 would have seemed more fitting!
“Young master? Young master?”
Seeing Lin Haoran silent and staring, Lin Si felt a chill run down his spine and, mustering his courage, called out twice.
“Leave the medicine. Go and fetch Lin Yi, Lin Er, and Lin San,” Lin Haoran finally said, withdrawing his gaze.
“Yes, young master. I’ll go right away.” Lin Si breathed a sigh of relief and hurried out.
The way his young master had just looked at him had truly frightened him.
Once Lin Si was gone, Lin Haoran began to consider what sort of help this sudden “golden finger” might offer for his future.
He realized that this seemingly simple meter could provide immense help as he strove to make his mark in Hong Kong.
A loyalty of 11 was like that of a new hire with no sense of belonging to the company.
But Lin Si was no new hire! He was a trusted aide sent by his father, raised by the Lin family from a young age—not some outsider brought in off the street!
Given his father’s fondness for him, there was no reason for sabotage from that quarter, so only one possibility remained.
Still, he needed confirmation. That’s why he wanted to see how the other three measured up.
About five minutes later, the four—Lin Yi, Lin Er, Lin San, and Lin Si—arrived in his room.
“Young master, do you need something from us?”
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They all addressed him with apparent respect.
Yet now, Lin Haoran could see each of their loyalty meters before him.
Lin Yi: [Loyalty: 15/100]
Lin Er: [Loyalty: 9/100]
Lin San: [Loyalty: 12/100]
He had harbored some hope that perhaps only Lin Si was a traitor.
But who could have guessed that all four of his “trusted aides” were nothing but turncoats!
Lin Yi had the highest loyalty, yet even that was only 15. How could such people be called loyal subordinates?
“Lin Yi, did you all work for the elder master before?” Lin Haoran suddenly asked.
“Young master, four years ago the old master had us start working for the eldest young master,” Lin Yi replied honestly, not knowing why he was being asked.
They knew there was no point in hiding it; if the young master wanted to check, a single call would reveal the truth.
No wonder, despite all his efforts to manage the cement plant, Lin Haoran’s predecessor had still lost old clients in just two months, even with his education—insufficient experience alone couldn’t explain such a rapid decline.
Now he understood exactly what was happening.
Four years ago, he had still been studying in England, and these four must have already become loyal to Lin Haoning by then.
Moreover, anyone could see that the odds of Lin Haoran winning the succession were vanishingly small.
Thus, their allegiance to Lin Haoning was only natural; everyone believed his future was brighter.
If these four were sabotaging Lin Haoran’s efforts while feeding information to Lin Haoning, who could then use outside influence to interfere, it was no wonder the plant’s business had suffered.
My dear big brother, what a clever move!
If this had been a fair contest, Lin Haoran would not have minded handing over Man On Group.
With his knowledge decades ahead of the times and the golden finger from his transmigration, carving out a career would have been child’s play.
But since Lin Haoning had resorted to such underhanded tactics, Lin Haoran would not hold back.
“The succession of Man On Group—I, Lin Haoran, am determined to win it!”
Lin Haoran made up his mind.
“Young master? Young master?”
Having been summoned but seeing Lin Haoran say nothing more, Lin Yi couldn’t help but speak up again.
“It’s nothing. I called you here mainly to have you accompany me around the factory. Lin Yi, you’re in charge of orders, aren’t you? Have the numbers dropped again these last few days?” Lin Haoran asked as he walked out the door.
“Yes, young master. Last month was alright, but this month we’ve been scaling back production. Old clients keep leaving and new clients are scarce. Just yesterday, one of our long-time real estate customers in Kwai Chung stopped ordering from us and switched to a cement plant in Tuen Mun,” Lin Yi replied, fully aware of the real reason, though he would never admit it.
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