Chapter 79: Impossible Not to Make a Fortune
Stepping out of Aimco's small workshop, Lin Haoran happened to find his uncle, who had just finished collecting the rents, looking cheerful.
"Haoran, let's go. This sun is brutal. Wouldn't it be wonderful to get back home with the fan spinning?" his uncle joked playfully.
Lin Haoran agreed readily. They returned to the Mercedes-Benz and slowly drove back to his grandfather's house.
Originally, this trip was just a casual stroll during some free time. Unexpectedly, he had encountered Liu Luanzhong — the future tycoon — in this obscure corner of Hong Kong. Even Lin Haoran himself was surprised.
Back at his grandfather's house, Lin Haoran spent the afternoon laughing and chatting with the family, time seeming to slow down around them.
It wasn't until around three o'clock, when the sun had lost some of its intensity, that Lin Haoran and his mother said goodbye and drove back to Deep Water Bay.
Although the two locations were not far apart, Lin Haoran's mother had deliberately brought him along this time, hoping he would grow closer to her side of the family.
That evening, Lin Haoran received a call from Liu Luanzhong.
On the other end, Liu's voice was sincere and expectant. He explained that although his partner was not particularly interested in the financing project, he personally was very keen and hoped to find a good time to discuss it with Lin Haoran.
After some discussion, they agreed to meet next Monday at 8:00 p.m. at the 19th floor of Hengfeng Building in Central — the same floor where Huanyu Investment Company was located.
The choice of Monday was deliberate. Liu explained that it was a relatively light day for his company — one shipment had just gone out, and materials for the next batch hadn't yet arrived. It would be one of the few windows when he could spare the time for an important meeting.
Compared to their usual daily grind of working over a dozen hours, today would be an unusual break in the heavy routine.
After spending two days at home, Lin Haoran returned to Huanyu Investment Company in Central.
On Monday morning, Lin Haoran went to Qingzhou Cement again.
He had made up his mind: if he couldn't find direct evidence of Halier Centurion embezzling company funds, he would wait until he held 40% of the shares and then call a board meeting to force himself into full control.
At that point, he would remove the CFO and start digging through the accounting records. If he could uncover any criminal behavior, he could then force Halier out completely.
Without solid proof, given Halier's 12.6% shareholding, it would be very hard to expel him from the board.
Regarding how to handle the company's finances after removing the CFO, Lin Haoran had a plan.
Over the weekend, he had already confessed everything to his father, Lin Wanan. Meaning, his father now knew about his Qingzhou Cement operations.
Thus, if needed, he could simply borrow some of Wanan Group's financial staff to temporarily assist at Qingzhou Cement — not a problem at all.
Wanan Group was a listed company, but Lin Wanan personally controlled over 50% of its shares, giving him absolute control.
Given Lin Wanan's cautious character, there was no chance of someone secretly buying out Wanan Group.
Back at Qingzhou Cement's Vice Chairman's office, Lin Haoran sat down, but still felt frustrated.
As he had no loyal insiders at the company yet, it was hard to gather real information.
Since the finance department wasn't letting him access important data, he decided to pay a visit to the HR department instead.
From HR, Lin Haoran obtained personnel files for Qingzhou Cement's mid-to-senior managers, officially under the pretext of "getting familiar with the company's key staff."
Li Weidong carried the stack of documents back to Lin Haoran's office.
Lin Haoran quickly skimmed through them.
As expected, most of the senior management were Westerners. Only among the mid-level managers did a few Chinese names appear.
But this was understandable — Qingzhou Cement had always been a British-controlled company.
Lin Haoran made a mental note that once he fully took over, he would gradually replace the management team with Chinese talent.
He focused particularly on the top executives.
"Deputy General Manager Burton, Australian, joined Qingzhou Cement in 1976, responsible for sales and after-sales service departments."
A deputy general manager not on the board?
Lin Haoran caught this detail immediately.
He knew Qingzhou Cement had four non-shareholding board members — the General Manager Ziegler and three department heads: CFO, Marketing Director, and PR Director.
Previously, at the board meetings, he had assumed there was no deputy GM at all — but now it was clear: Burton existed, but had been kept outside the board.
Perhaps he had been sidelined?
Very possible.
After all, even if you were a senior executive, if you weren't allowed onto the board, it meant you weren't truly part of the core leadership.
Lin Haoran had an idea — maybe Burton could be his entry point to investigate the internal workings of Qingzhou Cement.
Setting aside Burton's file, Lin Haoran picked up the files for the mid-level Chinese managers.
He singled out one with the longest tenure:
"Liu Zhenxing, 48 years old, 25 years at Qingzhou Cement. Joined after graduating from university, started as an engineer, now a quality control supervisor."
Perfect.
If he had no direct evidence yet, he would start by chatting with old veterans like Liu Zhenxing.
Halier Centurion likely hadn't bothered to bribe or fully control the mid-level managers — there was no need.
After memorizing Liu Zhenxing's and Burton's contact information, Lin Haoran returned all the personnel files to HR.
His objective achieved, he didn't need to keep the files.
Slowly but surely, he would uncover Qingzhou Cement's secrets.
In the afternoon, Lin Haoran left Qingzhou Cement to prepare for his meeting with Liu Luanzhong.
Returning to Huanyu Investment, he checked the day's trading report.
The pace of stock acquisition wasn't as fast as last Friday, but it was still solid — another 867,000 shares of Qingzhou Cement acquired today.
Evening came quickly.
Around 7:50 p.m., Liu Luanzhong hurried up to the 19th floor of Hengfeng Building.
He soon found Huanyu Investment.
Working long hours in a workshop, it was his first time visiting such an upscale office, and he couldn't help but feel envious.
"When will I have an office like this?" Liu wondered to himself.
Over the weekend, he had found a copy of Friday's Hong Kong Business Daily.
Sure enough, there it was — the official announcement: Lin Haoran appointed Vice Chairman of Qingzhou Cement.
With that confirmation, Liu felt even more determined to cooperate with Lin Haoran.
Although Liu's family was wealthy, they had never helped him financially. Not even his father.
Thus, Liu was truly short on funds — most of his startup capital was borrowed.
"Mr. Liu, please have a seat," Lin Haoran said, smiling as he pointed to a sofa near the floor-to-ceiling windows.
This corner had become a rest area for employees, offering a stunning view of Victoria Harbour and Hong Kong's glittering city center.
Liu admired the view, feeling an even stronger desire to succeed.
Today, he had deliberately changed into a suit to show his respect for the meeting.
"Hello, Mr. Lin," Liu said, steady and composed.
"Mr. Liu, did your partner change his mind?" Lin Haoran asked directly.
"Mr. Lin, over the weekend, I tried many times to persuade him. But he believes that bringing in another shareholder would dilute our equity and profits. No matter how I argued, he wouldn't budge," Liu said, a little helpless.
Lin Haoran nodded. He cared about Liu, not his partner.
The fact that Liu was here tonight, despite his partner's objections, showed where his real intentions lay.
"Let's not rush into discussing the investment yet," Lin Haoran said with a smile. "First, Mr. Liu, how do you see the future of the fan industry?"
Liu's expression grew serious.
"Mr. Lin, to be honest, my family's business was built on fan manufacturing. My father's company, United Wing Yue Kee, is one of the top fan manufacturers in Hong Kong. Their annual sales exceed hundreds of millions.
I studied in Canada for four years and worked in my family's company for another four.
I had many ideas, but as a junior member, I had no real influence.
That's why I left and started Aimco Limited on my own.
Everyone knows the Middle East is hot and has huge demand for fans. Most Hong Kong and Japanese fan companies export there.
But the market is too competitive — profits are very slim.
Our family business makes hundreds of millions in sales but only nets a few million in profit each year.
In Canada, I realized the North American market is vast and underdeveloped for fans.
Few dare to expand there — but where others fear to tread, there's often gold buried.
I argued with my father and left to create my own path.
Since founding Aimco at the start of this year, I've already proven my idea works.
Orders are flooding in — if I had the funds, I could double or triple my production easily.
If you want to invest, Mr. Lin, you must accept my vision. Otherwise, even though I need money, we won't be able to cooperate."
Hearing this, Lin Haoran nodded seriously.
He already knew that the fan market in North America over the next few years would be incredibly profitable.
He had the money. Liu had the industry expertise and sharp market sense.
Together, it would be almost impossible not to get rich.