Chapter 2: Sworn to Follow, Unwavering Loyalty

Huafeng Cement Factory naturally had its own stable clients. For instance, Wan'an Real Estate, a subsidiary of the Wan'an Group, was supplied by Huafeng Cement Factory. Supplying one's own needs was a way to keep the profits within the family, after all.

But currently, Wan'an Real Estate did not have many projects under construction, so the demand for cement was low. If this continued, let alone competing with his eldest brother, Lin Haoning, it would be a question of whether the factory could even survive by the end of the one-year agreement.

At this moment, Lin Haoran truly realized the cruelty of wealthy families. Even biological brothers could not avoid plotting against each other for the sake of interests and power. Needless to say, the loss of these old clients was definitely related to Lin Haoning. After all, the status of the heir to a listed conglomerate carried immense weight. Lin Haoning had many advantages, such as more business experience and a broader network of connections. Yet, to deny Lin Haoran even the slightest chance of a comeback, he had chosen to be utterly ruthless.

Lin Haoran walked through the factory grounds with the four men. In his memory, when he first took over, Huafeng Cement Factory was bustling throughout the day. But now, only two months later, the number of busy workers had visibly dwindled.

As Lin Haoran absorbed his newly acquired memories, he inspected the factory that now fully belonged to him.

"Boss, Boss! There are two people floating in the water about a hundred meters off our pier," an employee ran over to report.

Huafeng Cement Factory was located near Lau Fau Shan in Yuen Long, directly across from the Shekou area of Shenzhen. In recent years, countless people had attempted to sneak over from the mainland. Floating corpses were a common sight in the waters near the factory, and the workers had long since grown accustomed to it. In fact, the cement factory even employed some illegal immigrants.

At this time, Hong Kong implemented the "touch-base policy." If illegal immigrants from the mainland successfully reached the urban areas, they could obtain legal residency. However, if they were intercepted by law enforcement in the border area, they would be repatriated. Relatively speaking, the policy was quite lenient.

Having merged the memories of his two lives, Lin Haoran recalled seeing floating corpses before. Normally, such matters were handled by calling the police.

"Are they alive or dead?" Lin Haoran asked as he walked toward the pier.

"Boss, they are clinging to a log. They might still be alive. To have evaded the marine police patrols, they must be incredibly lucky," the employee replied.

Everyone knew that crossing the sea illegally was a life-or-death gamble with extremely low odds of survival.

Soon, they arrived at the pier, where a small crowd had already gathered. Lin Haoran could now see the situation on the water. About a hundred meters away, two burly men were clinging to a log, floating motionlessly with the current. It was evening, right during the border patrol shift change, so not a single police patrol boat was in sight.

"Lin One, Lin Two, take some men and check them out. If they're dead, call the police. If they're alive, pull them out," Lin Haoran ordered. Although these men weren't particularly loyal to him, it didn't stop him from ordering them around.

"Yes, Young Master."

There was a speedboat at the pier. Lin One led a few men onto it and sped toward the two floaters. Soon, Lin Haoran saw them pulling the two men aboard. Clearly, they were not dead, or they wouldn't have brought them onto the boat.

A few minutes later, the speedboat returned.

"Young Master, they're alive and breathing. But they've fainted from exhaustion. They were holding onto the log purely by instinct. If they had let go, they would have drowned for sure," Lin One reported.

"Mmh. Carry them to the dormitory, find an empty room for them to rest, and let me know when they wake up," Lin Haoran nodded.

"Yes, Young Master."

Standing by the pier, Lin Haoran gazed silently at the sun slowly sinking beneath the horizon. He remained quiet for a long time. These illegal immigrants dreamed of a beautiful life in Hong Kong, unaware that during this era, Hong Kong was a chaotic place rife with gang wars and social unrest, making life for ordinary citizens incredibly hard. Of course, if they could survive the crossing, they indeed had a good chance of escaping poverty.

For the next two or three days, Lin Haoran barely left his room. He spent his time absorbing the memories of this world while reading newspapers to understand Hong Kong during this period. Furthermore, although his fever had subsided, his body was still weak, and he needed the rest.

Even his meals were brought up to him by Lin Four and the others. Although these backstabbers were working for Lin Haoning, they wouldn't dare poison his food. If anything happened to him, even without proof, Lin Wan'an would never forgive them. Therefore, Lin Haoran felt safe eating the food.

However, once he had his own loyal subordinates, he would definitely get rid of them. For now, with no one else to do his bidding, he had to make do.

"Young Master, here is your lunch. I specially ordered the kitchen to get your favorite roast goose from the nearby Yuen Long Market. The best cuts are all here," Lin Four said, placing the food on the table with his usual obsequious smile.

"Thanks for the trouble. By the way, how are the two illegal immigrants?" Lin Haoran asked casually as he washed his hands at the sink.

"Young Master, they woke up yesterday. They looked weak then, but today they seem very energetic and are recovering quickly," Lin Four replied.

"Good. Take me to see them in a bit," Lin Haoran nodded.

"Yes, Young Master. Call me to clean up when you're done. I'll wait outside."

No matter how much Lin Four tried to flatter him, Lin Haoran already knew they were traitors. Fawning over him would change nothing.

Lin Haoran finished his meal quickly, taking barely ten minutes. Today, he felt his body had mostly recovered, and the weakness was gone.

"Lin Four, come in."

"Young Master, you finished so quickly?"

"Clear the table. I'm going to see the two immigrants."

"Right away, Young Master. Don't rush."

Lin Four quickly cleared the table and followed Lin Haoran out.

The dormitory of Huafeng Cement Factory consisted of two three-story buildings. Over a hundred employees lived there. Lin Haoran, on the other hand, lived in the factory's office building, which offered slightly better conditions.

Entering the dormitory room, he saw two bunk beds.

"Our Young Master was the one who ordered your rescue. Why aren't you standing up to show your respect? If not for him, you'd be dead at sea," Lin Four barked, stepping into the room ahead of Lin Haoran.

The two burly men, who had been resting on the beds, scrambled to get up.

"Don't. You haven't fully recovered yet. Just lie down," Lin Haoran said as he walked in, not caring about the formalities. He took a closer look at the two men.

"Benefactor, we owe you our lives," the two men insisted on standing up and bowing deeply to him. A man's knees are worth their weight in gold, but since Lin Haoran was their savior, this gesture was the most sincere expression of their gratitude and respect.

Lin Haoran tried to use his special ability to check their status, but no progress bar appeared. This was likely because they were not yet his subordinates.

"Stand up. No need for such formalities. Let's sit and talk. Lin Four, leave us."

"Young Master, for your safety, I should stay."

"Get out. I won't say it a third time."

"Understood, I'll leave right away."

As it turned out, the two men were from Guangdong Province. Born into poverty, they had served in the military together for a few years. After being discharged, they heard that Hong Kong was full of opportunities, which sparked their decision to sneak over. In this era, the reasons for illegal immigration were simple: life in the mainland was too harsh, and they had to risk their lives to feed themselves and their families.

There were three main routes for illegal entry at the time:
The Western Route: Entering the water around Shekou or the Mangrove Forest, swimming across Shenzhen Bay to reach Yuen Long or Tuen Mun.
The Middle Route: Waiting for nightfall to cross the Shenzhen River near Lo Wu, climbing over the barbed-wire fences to enter Hong Kong.
The Eastern Route: Climbing over Mount Wutong from the Lo Wu or Huidong areas to enter Hong Kong.

These two had chosen the more difficult Western Route because border patrols there were less strict. They were bold enough to try swimming across using only a single log. It was a stroke of luck that the cement factory workers spotted them; otherwise, drifting unconsciously at sea would have eventually cost them their lives.

"What are your plans now?" Lin Haoran asked.

The taller one was named Li Weiguo, twenty-six years old. The shorter one was Li Weidong, twenty-five. They were cousins from the same village who had grown up together, and both were highly skilled in martial arts.

"We don't know yet. We don't have any relatives in Hong Kong, so we'll just have to take it one step at a time," Li Weiguo said with a bitter smile. Their crossing had been an impulsive decision, and they had no concrete plans for their future in Hong Kong.

"In that case, why don't you work for me? I happen to be short on hands," Lin Haoran smiled.

Upon learning they were former soldiers with good martial arts skills, Lin Haoran had formulated this plan. He was their savior, so their loyalty to him would surely be high—far better than relying on double-crossers like Lin One and the others.

As soon as Lin Haoran finished speaking, Li Weiguo and Li Weidong grew excited.

"Boss, from now on, our lives belong to you. Wherever you point, we will go. We will follow you to the death, with absolute loyalty!" Li Weiguo said firmly.

"My brother's words go for me too," Li Weidong added.

At that moment, Lin Haoran's special ability automatically activated, and the familiar loyalty progress bars appeared above their heads.

Li Weiguo: [Loyalty: 82/100]
Li Weidong: [Loyalty: 88/100]