Chapter 5: Easily Taking on Seven or Eight at Once

“Is there only 1.31 million Hong Kong dollars in the company account?” Lin Haoran looked up and asked.

One million of that was left to him by his father, which meant the cement factory had only earned him 310,000 Hong Kong dollars in the past two months.

“Yes, boss. When Chairman Lin handed over Huafeng Cement Factory to you at the beginning of July, there was one million Hong Kong dollars in the account, and that sum has remained in the company account ever since.”

“After deducting expenses for the whole of July, the profit was 180,000 Hong Kong dollars. Production and sales were relatively normal that month. But last month, many long-term clients stopped purchasing cement from us, causing a significant drop in turnover, and profit was only 130,000 Hong Kong dollars.”

“The financial data for the first few days of September has not yet been tallied, so the August financial report shows 1.31 million Hong Kong dollars in the company account.”

Miss Lin, the finance officer, reported this while organizing the documents in her hands.

The profit had plunged from 180,000 in a month to just 130,000. That was a steep decline.

“Given the current trend, how much profit can we expect this month?” Lin Haoran continued.

“Based on the current situation, this month’s profit definitely won’t exceed 100,000 Hong Kong dollars; it should fall between 50,000 and 100,000. Boss, if things continue like this, it won’t do. You need to come up with a plan quickly. Before you took over, our average monthly profit was around 200,000 Hong Kong dollars.”

Worry filled Miss Lin’s face, but as the finance officer, she had no authority to intervene in other matters.

Lin Haoran nodded slightly. Of course, he understood why Huafeng Cement Factory had fallen into such dire straits.

It wasn’t due to his lack of management skills but because Lin Haoning was secretly undermining things behind the scenes.

Though he didn’t yet know how Lin Haoning had managed to poach Huafeng Cement Factory’s loyal clients, sooner or later the truth would come to light.

His elder brother was truly ruthless—so determined to prevent Lin Haoran from having even the slightest chance of success in the inheritance competition that he reduced a cement factory with an annual profit of over two million Hong Kong dollars to this sorry state.

If things continued this way, it seemed Lin Haoning would stop at nothing short of ruining Huafeng Cement Factory completely.

Lin Haoran deeply felt the cold cruelty of his brother.

“Miss Lin, transfer 1.2 million Hong Kong dollars to my account as soon as possible—I have use for it. Leave the rest in the company as a contingency fund for now,” Lin Haoran said as he placed the financial report back on the desk.

“All right, boss. I’ll prepare a payment voucher for you to sign,” Miss Lin replied, not asking any questions. After all, this company now belonged entirely to Lin Haoran, and it was only natural for him to draw funds from it.

Lin Haoran glanced over the voucher, found no issues, and signed his name directly.

“I’ll be heading back to the city for a while. Miss Lin, please keep an eye on things here at Huafeng Cement Factory. Call me immediately if any problems arise,” Lin Haoran stood up, ready to leave.

He knew Miss Lin’s background—the finance elite personally trained by his father, Lin Wanan.

In this era, while mobile phones were not yet common, pagers were already popular among the upper echelons of Hong Kong society. As a wealthy heir, Lin Haoran naturally had his own pager.

So if Miss Lin needed to contact him, he could always be reached.

“Don’t worry, boss. I’ll keep watch,” Miss Lin assured him.

Out the door, Lin Haoran descended from the office building.

Downstairs, he immediately spotted Lin San directing loading at the warehouse.

He walked over.

“Good morning, boss,” Lin San and several employees greeted him.

“Where are Lin Yi and the others?”

“They’re all in the production workshop, boss.”

“Go and gather Lin Yi, Lin Er, and Lin Si at the dormitory. I have something to discuss with you all.”

“All right, boss. Please wait a moment.”

Lin Haoran didn’t linger and headed straight to the dormitory area.

Seeing a chance to make money, he no longer wished to stay here and wanted to return to the city as soon as possible.

Lingering in this remote, impoverished part of Yuen Long was a complete waste of time.

No matter how much mischief Lin Haoning caused, Huafeng Cement Factory would only lose tens of thousands.

But Lin Haoran’s return to Hong Kong city was for big earnings.

Before long, he arrived outside the dormitory where his cousins Li Weiguo and Li Weidong lived.

Yesterday, Lin Haoran had taken the two brothers on a tour around the neighborhood, which had them extremely excited.

The border patrol officers nearby all knew Lin Haoran as the Lin family heir, so even if they saw him, they wouldn’t bother checking for any stowaways with him.

The dormitory door was open, and to Lin Haoran’s surprise, Li Weiguo and Li Weidong were doing push-ups inside.

“418, 419, 420, 421…” Li Weiguo counted aloud as he exercised.

Their push-ups were rhythmic and synchronized, indicating they trained together regularly.

“Oh, young master, you’re here,” Li Weidong was the first to notice Lin Haoran and stopped exercising.

Li Weiguo, who had been counting, also paused and got up from the floor.

“Hope I’m not interrupting your workout,” Lin Haoran smiled.

Judging from their well-developed, muscular physiques, Lin Haoran knew their combat skills should be formidable.

“No, young master. We’re just doing some exercises to help with physical recovery,” Li Weiguo replied.

“Looks like you’ve mostly recovered. Perfect timing. Today, I’ll take you downtown to get your official Hong Kong IDs so you won’t have to worry about being checked,” Lin Haoran said with satisfaction.

Since they were going to the city center anyway, getting them formal IDs wouldn’t take much time.

Li Weiguo and Li Weidong’s faces lit up with excitement, and almost simultaneously, they said in unison, “Thank you, young master!”

At that moment, Lin Haoran noticed their loyalty levels had risen to varying degrees.

Li Weiguo: [Loyalty: 84/100]

Li Weidong: [Loyalty: 89/100]

Clearly, showing concern and favor to subordinates effectively boosted their loyalty.

“By the way, you said your fighting skills are pretty good. How strong are you exactly?” Lin Haoran asked.

Li Weiguo scratched his head sheepishly but answered confidently, “Young master, even if five or six strong ordinary people gang up on me, I can handle them with ease.”

“Heh, I’m even stronger than my big brother. Taking on seven or eight people at once is no problem for me,” Li Weidong boasted, patting his chest proudly.

Li Weiguo didn’t argue, tacitly admitting Li Weidong’s superior ability.

Are they really that strong?

Lin Haoran was a bit skeptical.

Just then, Lin Yi and the others arrived.

A sudden thought struck Lin Haoran—it was the perfect opportunity to let Lin Yi and the others personally test just how formidable these two brothers’ martial skills truly were.

Lin Haoran knew the strength of the four men well.

Though these men were turncoats, their fighting skills were quite impressive, easily handling three or five ordinary people; their strength was not to be underestimated.

That was also why his father had assigned them to ensure Lin Haoran’s safety.