Chapter 75: His Identity Is Exposed
With Lin Haoran officially elected as Vice Chairman of Qingzhou Yingni, the company quickly announced the appointment to the public.
The following day, Hong Kong Business Daily published the news of Qingzhou Yingni's change of vice chairman.
However, the announcement itself did not attract much attention.
Although Qingzhou Yingni was a long-established British-owned enterprise with a respectable position in the industry, it was still far less influential and well-known than major British conglomerates such as Jardine Matheson, Hutchison, and Hongkong Land.
Wan'an Group — Chairman's Office
After finishing his work as usual, Lin Wan'an picked up a copy of Hong Kong Business Daily.
Reading newspapers had been one of his daily habits for many years. Through them, he kept himself informed of the latest developments and trends in the business world.
His sharp awareness of information was undoubtedly one of the reasons behind his entrepreneurial success.
Besides Hong Kong Business Daily, he also regularly read Oriental Daily and Sing Tao Daily, among other major Hong Kong newspapers.
His eyes soon landed on a relatively inconspicuous headline.
"Announcement Regarding the Re-election of Qingzhou Yingni's Vice Chairman."
Unexpectedly, the article immediately caught his interest.
After all, Qingzhou Yingni had once been one of Wan'an Group's business partners.
Only after he founded Huafeng Cement Factory had the cooperation between the two companies come to an end.
The announcement clearly stated:
"Mr. Ziegler has officially stepped down as Vice Chairman of the Board of Qingzhou Yingni while remaining as the company's General Manager."
Immediately below that was another line:
"Mr. Lin Haoran has officially joined the Board of Directors of Qingzhou Yingni and has been appointed Vice Chairman of the Board."
The accompanying biography was rather vague.
Still...
Lin Wan'an froze.
"Lin Haoran... Isn't that my son?"
"How could he possibly become the Vice Chairman of Qingzhou Yingni?"
Although the biography contained very few details, he was already certain it referred to his son.
He carefully checked every detail again.
Twenty-four years old.
Graduate of the University of London's Business School.
And, of course, that familiar name.
Everything matched perfectly.
But...
How could his own son possibly possess the ability to become Vice Chairman of Qingzhou Yingni?
Lin Wan'an's emotions became indescribably complicated.
Everything had gone far beyond anything he had imagined.
Of course, he had always hoped his son would one day surpass him.
But this...
This had happened far too suddenly.
Qingzhou Yingni was a company with greater assets and stronger overall strength than Wan'an Group itself.
And now...
His own son had somehow become the second-highest-ranking executive of a company stronger than his own.
Although it was "only" the position of Vice Chairman, Lin Wan'an clearly understood what that title represented.
At this moment, his heart was filled with questions.
More than anything else, he wanted to hear the truth directly from his son.
As the chairman of a listed company who had weathered countless storms in the business world, Lin Wan'an was usually calm no matter how difficult the situation became.
But today...
The moment he saw the name in the newspaper—a name he could almost certainly identify as his son's—he could no longer remain composed.
The news was like a massive stone crashing into the still waters of his heart, sending ripples in every direction.
He was both astonished and puzzled by his son's sudden meteoric rise.
At the same time, he worried that some hidden secret or unseen danger lay behind it all.
His emotions were a tangled mixture of pride, confusion, and concern.
Unable to wait any longer, he immediately took a deep breath to calm himself before dialing Lin Haoran's pager.
In this era, when communications were still underdeveloped, pagers were among the most advanced mobile communication devices available.
Since he had no idea where Lin Haoran was—and the boy hadn't returned home for quite some time—this was the only way he could try to reach him.
Qingzhou Yingni Headquarters
In his newly assigned office, Lin Haoran sat behind his desk, gazing through the window at the busy factory complex below.
Today was already his second day as Vice Chairman, so he had deliberately come to work here.
As for Universal Investment, he hardly needed to concern himself with it anymore.
Su Zhixue was more than capable of managing everything.
Besides, there were only a handful of employees, so there wasn't much to supervise.
At the moment, he also had no major investment targets requiring his attention.
Harold Centurion had at least shown him some respect by assigning him an office right next to the chairman's.
Located on the eighth floor, the office offered an expansive view.
From its windows, he could overlook the entire Qingzhou Yingni factory.
Across Victoria Harbour, even Causeway Bay, Wan Chai, and Central on Hong Kong Island were clearly visible.
The building's panoramic view was truly exceptional.
The office itself was rather simple.
Aside from a desk and chair, there was only a bookshelf behind the chair and a telephone on the desk.
Nothing more.
Earlier, Lin Haoran had gone to the Finance Department hoping to obtain financial records from the company's Chief Financial Officer.
Instead, the foreign CFO had refused him outright.
"Without authorization from the Chairman, I cannot provide those documents."
As a result, Lin Haoran could only examine the company's publicly available financial reports.
Unfortunately...
Those reports had been prepared flawlessly.
He couldn't find the slightest flaw in them.
Just then, his pager suddenly emitted a rapid series of beeps, pulling him away from the financial statements.
He glanced at the displayed number before immediately returning the call.
"Haoran, where are you?"
His father's familiar voice came through the receiver, carrying a trace of urgency.
Lin Haoran paused for a moment before replying,
"I'm in Kowloon, Dad. Is something the matter?"
"Oh... nothing particularly important."
Lin Wan'an hesitated slightly.
"It's just... are you free tonight? Could you come home? There are a few things I'd like to ask you."
Lin Haoran thought for a moment before nodding.
"Sure. I'll come home tonight."
After hanging up, waves of emotion stirred within Lin Haoran.
He could already guess why his father had called.
Perhaps Lin Wan'an had begun noticing some of his secrets.
After all...
There was no such thing as an airtight wall in Hong Kong's business circles.
Fortunately, Lin Haoran had long been mentally prepared for this day.
Ever since deciding to walk a different path, he had known the truth would eventually come out.
Whether it was his dealings with Pao Yue-kong, Li Ka-shing, Michael Sandberg, Ho Sin Hang, and other business leaders...
Or the recent public announcement of his appointment as Vice Chairman of Qingzhou Yingni...
Any one of those events could have led his father to uncover the truth.
It seemed...
The time had finally come to reveal part of what had already been exposed.
And to let his father witness some of his true capabilities.
Previously, he had deliberately kept everything hidden because he didn't want Lin Wan'an to learn about the massive bank loans he had taken.
But now...
He was already Vice Chairman of Qingzhou Yingni and was preparing to seize full control of the company.
Even if his father learned everything now, there was little reason to worry.
The current Lin Haoran already possessed enough strength and confidence to stand on his own.
His growth over the past months had been obvious.
Even his father could no longer interfere with his decisions as easily as before.
Of course...
He still had no intention of revealing all of his cards.
In the unpredictable world of business, maintaining a certain level of mystery and caution remained essential.
Unable to find a suitable opening within Qingzhou Yingni for the time being, Lin Haoran decisively chose to leave the company instead of wasting any more time.
Today was Friday, October 20th.
Not long after returning to Universal Investment, the stock market closed for the day.
During the past three trading days—from October 18th to October 20th—Su Zhixue once again demonstrated the team's impressive trading skills and execution.
Under his leadership, Universal Investment successfully acquired another 2.486 million shares of Qingzhou Yingni.
The average purchase price was kept at HK$5.43 per share.
This achievement was made possible largely because Li Ka-shing's team had completely withdrawn from the competition, allowing Universal Investment to purchase shares much more aggressively.
More importantly...
Including the shares previously purchased directly from Li Ka-shing, Lin Haoran now owned a total of 17.86 million shares of Qingzhou Yingni.
That represented 35.7% of the company's total shares.
He was now only one step away from taking complete control of Qingzhou Yingni.
At this pace, Lin Haoran was confident that sometime next week, his holdings would exceed 40%.
Once that happened...
He would become Qingzhou Yingni's unquestionable controlling shareholder.
His influence would surpass every other shareholder on the board.
Even if they all united against him, they would be unable to shake his position.
"This week's been tough on everyone."
"Thank you all for your hard work."
"Have a wonderful weekend!"
As the clock struck 6:00 p.m., the relaxed atmosphere of the end of the workday spread throughout Universal Investment.
Standing at the entrance to his office, Lin Haoran smiled and nodded to every employee who passed by.
"Goodbye, Mr. Lin!"
Each employee took the initiative to bid him farewell.
Only after the last employee had left did Lin Haoran slowly turn around and leave Hengfeng Building with his two bodyguards.
"Weiguo, take us back to the villa at Deep Water Bay."
Sitting inside the car, Lin Haoran gave the instruction.
"Yes, Boss."
Li Weiguo skillfully started the engine and smoothly merged into traffic.
Over twenty minutes later, they arrived safely at the Deep Water Bay villa.
Stepping out of the car and standing outside the open-air garage, Lin Haoran looked up at the elegant villa before him.
Come to think of it...
Ever since Li Ka-shing's team had begun targeting Qingzhou Yingni, he hadn't returned home.
Without realizing it...
Half a month had already passed.
"Haoran, you're back!"
The moment she heard the sound of the car, Lin's mother hurried out of the villa.
Seeing that it was indeed her son, her face immediately lit up with delight.
"Mm."
"Mom, I'm back to see you."
Lin Haoran walked over, gently took his mother's hand, and smiled warmly.
(End of Chapter)
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