Chapter 94: An Opportunity
"President Lin, if you don't have any other instructions for the moment, I'll excuse myself."
Su Zhixue carefully observed Lin Haoran's expression. Seeing his boss sitting in silence with his brows furrowed from time to time, he quietly asked for permission to leave.
Lin Haoran waved his hand lightly, signaling that he could go.
After Su Zhixue quietly closed the door behind him, Lin Haoran sank into even deeper thought.
"The crude oil futures route won't work, and directly stockpiling crude oil is obviously impossible as well. This really is a difficult problem..."
he murmured to himself, pondering how to break out of his current predicament.
Just as he found himself trapped in an endless cycle of thought, the shrill ringing of the office telephone shattered the silence, abruptly pulling him back to reality.
He quickly composed himself and picked up the receiver.
"Hello, this is Lin Haoran speaking."
Although he was curious about the caller's identity, he politely introduced himself first.
"Haoran, it's me—Pao Yue-kong. You certainly made quite a move yesterday. Without making a sound, you managed to take over Qingzhou Yingni. The entire Hong Kong business community has been shaken by it!"
Pao's hearty laughter came through the receiver, catching Lin Haoran by surprise.
"Uncle Pao, I didn't expect it to be you. Thank you for your praise, but compared to your upcoming acquisition of Wharf Holdings, my takeover of Qingzhou Yingni is hardly worth mentioning."
Lin Haoran answered modestly.
"No matter what, it's still a British-owned listed company. What you've accomplished is an enormous encouragement for all Chinese entrepreneurs. The significance is extraordinary."
Pao Yue-kong laughed again.
"Uncle Pao, I've been wanting to find an opportunity to personally thank you for all your support and assistance."
"If you're available tonight, I'd like to pay you a visit at your home."
Lin Haoran took the opportunity to make the request.
During their first meeting, Pao had already invited him to his residence.
However, Lin Haoran had never found the time to go.
Now, the time had finally come.
The moment he received Pao Yue-kong's call, an idea suddenly flashed through his mind.
Pao's Worldwide Shipping Group was one of the world's leading ocean shipping companies.
A substantial portion of its business involved transporting crude oil.
Perhaps...
The answer to creating a tradable crude oil investment opportunity could be found through Pao Yue-kong.
It was an excellent opportunity.
"Of course I'm free."
"My worthy young nephew, I've been looking forward to having you visit my home."
"Don't eat dinner beforehand."
"Come to my house this evening."
"I'll have the kitchen prepare an authentic Zhejiang-style dinner for you."
Pao Yue-kong said with a warm laugh.
Being a native of Ningbo, Zhejiang Province, Pao usually preferred eating his hometown cuisine whenever he was at home.
Lin Haoran hadn't expected the famous Shipping King to be so hospitable.
It genuinely surprised him.
Although acquiring Qingzhou Yingni was certainly an impressive achievement, it shouldn't have been enough to attract someone of Pao Yue-kong's stature.
To tycoons at his level, Qingzhou Yingni was merely a moderately sized listed company.
Still...
Since Pao was being so welcoming, Lin Haoran naturally wasn't going to decline.
"Very well, Uncle Pao."
"I'll arrive punctually at seven o'clock this evening."
"I hope I won't inconvenience you."
"No problem."
"I'll personally welcome you at seven."
"But don't stand me up."
Pao laughed loudly.
"Rest assured, Uncle Pao."
"When I give my word, I keep it."
"I certainly won't keep you waiting."
Lin Haoran replied seriously.
"Excellent."
"Then it's settled."
"I still have some matters to attend to, so let's stop here."
"I look forward to seeing you tonight."
"Goodbye."
"Goodbye."
After hanging up, Lin Haoran found himself genuinely looking forward to the evening's visit.
As the world-renowned Shipping King, Pao Yue-kong's shipping empire stretched across the globe.
His influence in Middle Eastern crude oil transportation was particularly significant, and his relationships with governments throughout the Middle East were exceptionally close.
Perhaps...
He really could obtain some valuable information from Pao.
To Lin Haoran's surprise, it wasn't long before the telephone rang again.
This time, the caller was Li Ka-shing.
Like Pao Yue-kong, Li sincerely congratulated him on successfully acquiring Qingzhou Yingni.
His words carried both admiration for Lin Haoran's abilities and hope for future cooperation.
Afterward, several more congratulatory calls came in.
Among them were his uncle, Yang Changdao, and Lau Luen-hung.
During the call, Lau excitedly informed him that Aimeigao Company's new factory in Kwun Tong had completed its basic renovations.
The production lines were currently being installed and were expected to be fully operational within another two days.
Once completed, the company would officially relocate from its old Aberdeen site to the new factory.
Regarding staffing, Lau revealed that he had already hired two hundred employees.
He planned to recruit additional workers according to future order volume.
"Haoran, I'm planning to hold a simple relocation ceremony at the new Kwun Tong factory at nine o'clock the morning after tomorrow."
"Would you be able to attend?"
Lau asked somewhat cautiously near the end of the call.
Although they were already business partners, he still felt a certain amount of pressure speaking with Lin Haoran, who had now become the chairman of a listed company.
"The morning after tomorrow?"
"No problem."
"I'll be there on time."
Lin Haoran readily agreed while mentally arranging his schedule.
He would almost certainly still be in Hong Kong the day after tomorrow.
A few days later, however, that might no longer be the case.
At noon, Lin Haoran visited Qingzhou Yingni's factory.
Although the company had undergone a complete change in leadership, its daily operations remained orderly.
Employees continued performing their duties just as before.
Lin Haoran deliberately conducted another comprehensive inspection of the factory.
During the tour, he happened to encounter Burton, who was personally supervising work throughout the plant.
Ever since becoming General Manager, Burton seemed like a completely different person.
He threw himself into his work with boundless enthusiasm, hoping to demonstrate his abilities to Lin Haoran through tangible results.
He understood that the most direct way to prove himself was to improve company performance, increase production efficiency, raise employee morale, and steadily grow profits.
After completing the inspection, Lin Haoran returned to Qingzhou Building and headed first to the Finance Department.
The areas previously blackened by the fire had already been repainted.
The walls were spotless once again, and the finance staff had resumed normal operations.
The company's new Finance Director was the former Deputy Director.
Like his predecessor, he was British.
Lin Haoran checked his loyalty.
Loyalty: 65.
Not especially high.
But acceptable enough to keep him in the position for now.
Eventually, however, Lin Haoran intended to replace him.
Critical positions like Finance Director were better entrusted to people with genuinely high loyalty.
Ever since officially becoming Chairman the previous day, he had finally gained the ability to see every Qingzhou Yingni employee's loyalty level.
During last night's management meeting, he had noticed an obvious pattern.
The foreign managers generally possessed relatively low loyalty.
Most fell somewhere between 50 and 65, with only a handful exceeding 70.
The Chinese management staff, on the other hand, displayed much stronger loyalty.
Liu Zhenxing, whose promotion had come directly from Lin Haoran, had seen his loyalty soar to 89.
The remaining Chinese middle managers generally ranged between 75 and 85.
Among the frontline supervisors were also many employees who possessed deep affection for Qingzhou Yingni.
Most had loyalty ratings above 70, while a few even exceeded 80.
The most notable among all of them was the new General Manager, Burton.
Perhaps because he deeply appreciated Lin Haoran's trust and promotion, Burton had firmly aligned himself with the new chairman.
His loyalty had reached 85—
The highest among all the foreign managers.
That was also one of the primary reasons Lin Haoran had promoted him without hesitation.
A loyalty rating like that was already remarkably high.
Strictly speaking, what the system called "loyalty" was actually the employee's sense of belonging and commitment toward Qingzhou Yingni.
The higher the loyalty...
The stronger their identification with the company.
And since Lin Haoran was now the company's owner, loyalty to Qingzhou Yingni naturally translated into loyalty toward him.
Ever since completing the handover with Harold Centurion, the former chairman had never set foot inside Qingzhou Yingni again.
As a result, the chairman's office had now become entirely Lin Haoran's domain.
Compared with the vice chairman's office he had previously occupied, this office was significantly larger and much more luxuriously decorated.
There was no trace of the cramped simplicity of his former workspace.
Lin Haoran had specifically instructed Burton to replace the chairman's chair with a brand-new one.
He had no interest in using furniture left behind by his predecessor.
Besides...
The lingering body odor left by the previous British chairman had made him thoroughly unwilling to sit in the old chair.
Now seated comfortably in his spacious new executive chair, his attention was naturally drawn toward the floor-to-ceiling windows beside him.
Made from high-transparency glass, they overlooked the entire Qingzhou Yingni factory complex as well as the distant waters of Victoria Harbour.
Compared with the small sliding window in the neighboring vice chairman's office, the view here was vastly more magnificent.
It almost felt like stepping into an entirely different world.
Looking around at the luxurious furnishings, Lin Haoran couldn't help sighing.
Harold Centurion certainly knew how to enjoy life.
The desk was piled high with important company documents.
Some had been left behind by Harold.
Others consisted of new proposals Burton urgently needed approved.
They covered major company projects and critical business decisions, many of which required the chairman's personal review and signature.
After carefully reading through the paperwork for over an hour, Lin Haoran finally finished.
Stretching lazily, he loosened his stiff shoulders and neck.
At that moment...
He truly understood that being chairman wasn't nearly as easy as it looked.
Qingzhou Yingni was a large publicly listed corporation.
Its operational complexity far exceeded anything he had imagined.
Although Burton and the senior executives handled the majority of daily affairs, many important matters still required the chairman's personal attention.
It seemed...
He needed to recruit more highly capable executives with strong loyalty as soon as possible.
(End of Chapter)
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