Chapter 1: My trusted subordinates are actually all traitors! (New book, please follow for updates)

"Xiangjiang, HSBC, Jardine Matheson, the Governor of Hong Kong..."

"I've actually transmigrated to Xiangjiang in 1978."

"My name is Lin Haoran, a direct descendant of the Lin family!"

After his memories completely merged, Lin Haoran opened his eyes.

This was a very ordinary bedroom. On the table opposite the head of the bed sat a boxy color television, and a poster of *Fist of Fury* was pasted on the wall, giving the entire room a slightly vintage atmosphere.

Lin Haoran climbed out of bed weakly and walked to the table, picking up a mirror.

At this moment, the reflection in the mirror showed a handsome face with well-defined, deep features, and a natural air of heroism emanating from between his brows.

However, the pallor on his face inadvertently revealed his current weakness and exhaustion.

Putting down the mirror, Lin Haoran turned and walked to the window, looking down at the surroundings.

This was a cement factory in Yuen Long, Xiangjiang—Huafeng Cement Factory—and he was now the sole owner of this factory.

The factory was built by the sea and even featured a pier for convenient transport.

Yet, there were very few people working in the factory at this moment.

Who would have thought that this large cement factory, covering tens of thousands of square meters, would actually involve the succession struggle of a wealthy family?

Lin Haoran’s identity was the youngest son of Lin Wan'an, the chairman of the publicly listed Wan'an Group in Xiangjiang.

The 63-year-old Lin Wan'an had felt his health declining in recent years, so he conceived the idea of choosing a successor for the group.

Wan'an Group was a large, powerful, publicly listed enterprise in Xiangjiang with a market value of over 100 million. Its main businesses covered real estate, hotels, construction materials, manufacturing, and other fields; it was a comprehensive conglomerate.

The successor to such a large enterprise was naturally of great importance.

Lin Wan'an had two daughters and two sons.

Both daughters were already married, and given the patriarchal mindset of most wealthy families in Xiangjiang, the successor would naturally only be chosen between the two sons.

The eldest son, Lin Haoning, was 35 years old and already had extensive corporate management experience.

The second son, Lin Haoran, was 24 years old and had just graduated from the London Business School a year ago.

Logically, choosing the eldest son, Lin Haoning, as the successor would be best, as he possessed rich management experience.

While the second son was also a graduate of a prestigious school, he lacked business experience, and it would certainly be inappropriate to hand the Wan'an Group over to Lin Haoran.

However, Lin Wan'an felt that since he only had two sons, both were his flesh and blood. If he simply made Lin Haoning his successor, it would be unfair to his youngest son, Lin Haoran.

To ease his conscience, he came up with a plan: he would give each son a subsidiary, with the property rights transferred directly to them, and let them do as they pleased.

One year later, whichever son earned more money would become the successor to the Wan'an Group.

Thus, Lin Haoning received a fan manufacturing plant.

And Lin Haoran received this Huafeng Cement Factory.

The two were similar in value, and their monthly turnover was also roughly the same.

In fact, Lin Wan'an already knew the outcome in his heart; Lin Haoran had no chance of winning. He was merely doing this to put his own mind at ease.

Sure enough, two months had already passed in the year. The fan factory was being managed better and better by Lin Haoning, and it was said that orders had increased significantly.

In contrast, the Huafeng Cement Factory, which originally had stable orders and decent performance, had been quite profitable annually. But ever since Lin Haoran took over, not only had the factory's performance failed to grow, but in just two months, it had lost many old customers.

To manage the cement factory well, Lin Haoran had resolutely abandoned the luxurious lifestyle of a large villa and chose to move into the harsh environment of the cement factory.

Unexpectedly, the cement factory's business did not improve; instead, orders became fewer and fewer.

Just yesterday, a frustrated Lin Haoran took a few people out to sea on a boat to fish. Who would have thought that a strong wind would suddenly blow up at sea, and the turbulent waves threw Lin Haoran, who hadn't held on tight, directly overboard.

It was fortunate that the subordinates who went with him were good swimmers, and it took a great deal of effort to save him. Due to the shock and the cold, he developed a fever and fell into a coma.

But no one knew that when he woke up, the body of Lin Haoran had already changed owners.

"Knock, knock, knock." A series of knocks came from outside the door.

"Come in." Lin Haoran finally snapped back to reality and called out toward the door.

"Young Master, I've brought your medicine."

The door opened, and a young man in his twenties entered. This was one of the confidants sent by his father, named Lin Si, tasked with assisting Lin Haoran in managing the cement factory, handling trivial matters, and ensuring his safety.

"Young Master, I'll put the medicine on the table. Remember to take it later. If anything happens to you, the Master will definitely not spare us," Lin Si said with fawning flattery.

At this moment, Lin Haoran wasn't paying any attention to Lin Si's words.

Because above Lin Si's head, a black bracket had suddenly and inexplicably appeared, with a progress bar inside.

【Loyalty: 11/100】

Lin Haoran even thought his eyes were playing tricks on him. He couldn't help but rub his eyes with his hand and look at the top of Lin Si's head again; the progress bar was still there.

This strange scene truly shocked Lin Haoran, but he quickly realized that this must be the "golden finger" that came with his transmigration.

With a maximum loyalty of 100, Lin Si only had 11—pitifully low. And this person was supposed to be his confidant!

Lin Haoran stared silently at the confidant who had always been respectful to him, his heart filled with disbelief.

Who could have expected that this person, who was usually servile and appeared loyal, was actually a traitor hiding malicious intent!

If it weren't for the sudden appearance of the loyalty progress bar, Lin Haoran would never have believed that this guy's loyalty to him was only 11.

Based on his usual behavior, a loyalty of 100 wouldn't have been an exaggeration!

"Young Master? Young Master?"

Seeing that Lin Haoran didn't speak but instead stared straight at him, making Lin Si feel creeped out, he had no choice but to muster the courage to call out twice.

"Leave the medicine there. Go and call Lin Yi, Lin Er, and Lin San over," Lin Haoran said calmly, finally withdrawing his gaze.

"Alright, Young Master, I'm going right now." Lin Si finally breathed a sigh of relief and left the room as fast as he could.

The look the Young Master had given him just now had truly scared him.

After Lin Si left, Lin Haoran began to think about how this suddenly appeared golden finger would help his future.

He knew that this seemingly simple progress bar would definitely provide him with huge help in his journey to make a name for himself in Xiangjiang.

Someone like Lin Si, with only 11 loyalty, was almost like a new employee who had just joined a company and had no sense of belonging to it.

But Lin Si wasn't a new employee!

He was a confidant sent by his father, someone raised by the Lin family since childhood, not someone recruited randomly from the outside!

Given his father's doting on Lin Haoran, it was impossible for him to have sabotaged him, so only one other reason remained.

However, he hadn't confirmed it yet, and precisely because of that, he needed to see what the situation was with the other three.

After about five minutes, Lin Yi and the other three arrived at Lin Haoran's room.

"Young Master, do you need us for something?"

The group's attitude toward him was very respectful.

However, at this moment, the loyalty progress bars for each of them were already displayed in front of Lin Haoran.

Lin Yi: 【Loyalty: 15/100】

Lin Er: 【Loyalty: 9/100】

Lin San: 【Loyalty: 12/100】

Previously, he had held onto a glimmer of hope that perhaps only Lin Si was a double agent.

But who could have thought that all four of his confidants were double agents!

Among these people, Lin Yi had the highest loyalty, but it was only 15. With such loyalty, how could they dare to call themselves his confidants?

"Lin Yi, have you all worked for the Eldest Young Master before?" Lin Haoran asked suddenly.

"Young Master, four years ago, the Master started having us work for the Eldest Young Master."

Although Lin Yi didn't understand why this Young Master was asking, he answered truthfully.

Because they knew this matter couldn't be hidden; if the Young Master wanted to investigate, a single phone call would reveal it.

No wonder his predecessor had worked so hard to manage this cement factory. Logically, with his education, even if his experience was poor, it would be impossible to lose old customers in just two months.

Now, how could he not understand what was going on?

Four years ago, he was still studying in the UK; these four must have already become Lin Haoning's loyal subordinates by then.

Moreover, anyone could see that in the competition for succession, Lin Haoran's chances of winning were too low—so low that it was almost impossible.

Therefore, it was natural for them to lean toward Lin Haoning, as everyone felt that Lin Haoning had a more promising future.

If these four sabotaged Lin Haoran's work while constantly passing his intelligence to Lin Haoning, and Lin Haoning then used his external influence to cause trouble, it would be a miracle if the cement factory's business were good.

My dear elder brother, you really have some underhanded methods!

If he had competed openly, Lin Haoran wouldn't have minded; what if he let the Wan'an Group go to him?

With his knowledge from decades in the future and the golden finger from his transmigration, it would be easy to build a career.

But since Lin Haoning used such low-down tactics, don't blame him, Lin Haoran.

"This succession right to the Wan'an Group, I, Lin Haoran, am determined to win!"

Lin Haoran made up his mind in his heart.

"Young Master? Young Master?"

Lin Haoran had called them over but hadn't said anything, so Lin Yi couldn't help but speak up again.

"It's nothing. I called you up mainly to have you accompany me around the factory. Lin Yi, you are in charge of orders. Have the orders for these past few days dropped again?"

Lin Haoran asked as he walked out the door.

"Yes, Young Master. Last month was fine, but since this month, we have been cutting production. Old customers are constantly leaving, and not many new customers have been added. Just yesterday, an old real estate client of ours in Kwai Chung suddenly stopped taking goods from us and turned to a cement factory in Tuen Mun."

Lin Yi knew exactly what was going on, but he couldn't possibly tell the truth.