Chapter 94: Opportunity
"Mr. Lin, if there's nothing else for now, I'll leave you to your work," Su Zhixue said quietly after observing Lin Haoran's contemplative expression, his furrowed brows indicating he was deep in thought.
Lin Haoran waved his hand lightly, signaling that Su Zhixue could go.
Once Su Zhixue carefully closed the door behind him, Lin Haoran was left alone in even deeper contemplation.
"Crude oil futures are not an option.
Stockpiling crude oil directly isn't feasible either.
This is indeed tricky," Lin Haoran muttered to himself, calculating how to find a breakthrough in this dilemma.
Just as he was about to spiral into an unsolvable loop, the sharp ringing of the telephone broke the silence of the office, snapping him out of his heavy thoughts.
He quickly composed himself and picked up the receiver.
"Hello, this is Lin Haoran," he said politely, curious about who was calling.
"Haoran, it's me, Bao Yugang.
You made quite a move yesterday — taking over Qingzhou Cement without a sound.
The entire Hong Kong business world is talking about it!"
On the other end, the booming laughter of the famous shipping tycoon surprised Lin Haoran.
"Uncle Bao, what a surprise! Thank you for your kind words.
But compared to your upcoming acquisition of Wharf Holdings, my small Qingzhou Cement achievement is nothing," Lin Haoran replied modestly.
"No matter what, you've still taken over a British-listed company.
That's a huge encouragement for us Chinese entrepreneurs — it's incredibly meaningful," Bao Yugang laughed.
"Uncle Bao, I've always wanted to find an opportunity to thank you personally for your support.
Would you be free this evening? I'd like to visit and thank you properly," Lin Haoran said, seizing the chance.
During their first conversation, Bao Yugang had invited him to visit, but Lin Haoran had never found the time.
Now, the moment had arrived.
As he was speaking to Bao, a thought flashed through Lin Haoran's mind.
Bao Yugang's World-Wide Shipping Group specialized in deep-sea shipping — and part of its business involved crude oil transport.
Perhaps, just perhaps, Lin Haoran could find a way to create oil-related trading opportunities through Bao Yugang.
It was the perfect opportunity.
"Of course, I'm free.
I've been looking forward to having you over.
Don't eat dinner tonight — come to my house instead.
I'll have the kitchen prepare authentic Zhejiang dishes for you," Bao Yugang said warmly.
Bao was originally from Ningbo, Zhejiang Province, and loved his hometown cuisine.
Lin Haoran hadn't expected the legendary shipping tycoon to be so hospitable —
After all, even though acquiring Qingzhou Cement was a big deal, it wasn't particularly earth-shattering in the eyes of true giants like Bao Yugang.
Still, since Bao was being so generous, Lin Haoran would not decline.
"Thank you, Uncle Bao.
I'll be there by seven tonight. I hope it won't be too much trouble," Lin Haoran said.
"No trouble at all.
I'll be waiting for you at seven sharp — don't stand me up!" Bao laughed heartily.
"Don't worry, Uncle Bao. I always keep my word," Lin Haoran promised.
"Good, it's settled then.
I've got some things to handle, so I'll let you go.
See you tonight," Bao said cheerfully.
"See you later."
After hanging up, Lin Haoran began looking forward to the visit even more.
Bao Yugang's shipping empire spanned the globe, particularly dominating oil transportation routes in the Middle East.
If anyone could help Lin Haoran find a way to profit from the looming oil crisis, it would be Bao.
To Lin Haoran's surprise, shortly after Bao's call, the phone rang again.
This time it was Li Jiacheng, calling to congratulate him.
Like Bao, Li Jiacheng sincerely praised Lin Haoran's successful takeover of Qingzhou Cement, expressing admiration for his abilities and anticipation for future collaborations.
Afterward, he received more calls —
from his uncle, from Yang Changdao, from Liu Luanzhong, and others.
During his call, Liu Luanzhong excitedly informed Lin Haoran that Aimco's new factory in Kwun Tong had finished its basic renovations.
The assembly lines were being installed, and in two days, they could officially move from their old location in Heung Kong Tsai.
Regarding staff recruitment, Liu said he had already hired 200 workers, with plans to scale up based on future order volumes.
"Haoran, we're planning to hold a simple opening ceremony at 9 a.m. the day after tomorrow.
Would you be able to attend?"
Liu asked cautiously.
Although they were business partners, Liu still felt a bit nervous inviting the Chairman of a listed company.
"No problem. I'll definitely be there," Lin Haoran readily agreed, already mentally adjusting his schedule.
In two days, he would still be in Hong Kong — but soon after, he might not.
At noon, Lin Haoran visited the Qingzhou Cement factory.
Despite the recent change in leadership, daily operations were running smoothly.
Employees continued performing their duties with their usual efficiency.
Lin Haoran conducted a thorough inspection.
During the walkthrough, he bumped into Burton, now the new General Manager.
Burton, energized by his new position, was working tirelessly to improve production efficiency and employee morale —
all to showcase his capability to Lin Haoran.
He knew that the best way to prove his worth was through performance: higher profits, greater efficiency, and a happier workforce.
After the inspection, Lin Haoran returned to Qingzhou Tower, heading straight to the finance department.
The walls that had been scorched by the recent fire had been repainted, and operations had resumed normally.
The new CFO was the former Deputy CFO — still a Brit.
Lin Haoran checked his loyalty rating: 65.
Not particularly high, but good enough for now.
Still, Lin Haoran made a mental note:
when things settled down, he would replace him with someone more trustworthy.
Now that he was officially Qingzhou Cement's Chairman, he could see employees' loyalty stats clearly.
During last night's meeting, Lin Haoran had observed a pattern:
foreign managers generally had lower loyalty — most between 50 and 65.
Only a few surpassed 70.
In contrast, the Chinese managers showed much higher loyalty, especially Liu Zhenxing, whose loyalty soared to 89 after his promotion.
Other Chinese mid-level managers were mostly between 75 and 85.
Among the lower-tier supervisors, many also had loyalty ratings above 70, with a few exceeding 80.
Most notable was General Manager Burton:
perhaps out of gratitude for Lin Haoran's trust and promotion, his loyalty had surged to 85 —
the highest among all foreign managers.
This was a major reason why Lin Haoran had been willing to promote him without hesitation.
The loyalty ratings reflected not just loyalty to Lin Haoran personally, but also their sense of belonging to Qingzhou Cement.
Higher loyalty meant stronger commitment to the company — and by extension, to Lin Haoran.
Since the transition, Halier Centurion had not set foot in Qingzhou Cement again.
The Chairman's office was now entirely Lin Haoran's domain.
Compared to his former cramped Vice Chairman's office, this space was much larger and more luxuriously decorated.
A massive upgrade.
Lin Haoran even had Burton replace the old executive chair with a brand-new one —
he couldn't stand the idea of using a chair reeking of the previous occupant.
Now, seated in the spacious new chair, Lin Haoran found his eyes drawn to the floor-to-ceiling windows.
The view was breathtaking:
the entire Qingzhou Cement factory laid out below, with Victoria Harbour glittering in the distance.
Compared to the tiny window of his old office, this was like stepping into an entirely new world.
Admiring the lavish furnishings, Lin Haoran couldn't help but marvel at how much Halier had enjoyed his privileges.
The desk was piled high with important company documents —
some leftover from Halier, others requiring Lin Haoran's direct approval.
These documents covered major projects and key decisions.
Many needed the Chairman's signature to proceed.
After more than an hour of reviewing papers, Lin Haoran finally leaned back, stretching to ease the tension in his neck and shoulders.
In that moment, he truly felt how challenging it was to be Chairman.
Running a large publicly listed company like Qingzhou Cement was far more complex and exhausting than he had ever imagined.
Even with capable executives like Burton sharing the load, many critical matters still required his personal attention.
Clearly, he would need to bring in more high-loyalty, high-talent executives as soon as possible.
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