Chapter 63: The Father and Son of the Lin Clan

Chapter 63: Chapter 63: The Father and Son of the Lin Clan

Gao Yuan was instantly reminded of a popular short video he’d seen online about the art of waffling.

Lin Wanyu wanted a compliment, but he couldn’t just come right out and say she was beautiful, had a sweet voice, and long legs. That would be too boring.

He had to praise her in a way that would turn her mood around. Otherwise, if she started the day in a sour mood, it would be a slog to get through.

"Regarding your good qualities, since you’re so eager to know, I’ll say a few things."

"So, let’s talk about your good qualities. As for the matter of your good qualities, what we’re saying is, it’s basically, you know..."

"..."

Hearing Gao Yuan rattle on, Lin Wanyu was dumbfounded.

He’d been talking for ages, but not a single word was a compliment. There wasn’t even the word "beautiful."

And yet, she felt like he was on the verge of showering her with praise.

This anticipation made Lin Wanyu involuntarily perk up, waiting for Gao Yuan to finally get the compliment out.

She waited, and waited, and waited!

This went on for several minutes!

"What I’m saying is, your good qualities, there are definitely a lot of them. Like, for example, you know..."

Lin Wanyu’s patience gradually wore thin. She finally realized Gao Yuan was just teasing her.

"Honey!"

Seeing the angry look on Lin Wanyu’s face, Gao Yuan burst out laughing and leaned in close to her ear.

"You... you’re beautiful, with a sweet voice and long legs."

After speaking, he copied what he did when they first met, lightly touching her earlobe with the tip of his tongue.

"Oh, honey, you’re terrible."

The anger on Lin Wanyu’s face instantly melted into shyness, and she buried her face in Gao Yuan’s chest.

Gao Yuan laughed even louder, startling the Sheltie curled up nearby, who stood up and looked at the two of them, confused.

Hearing Lin Wanyu’s artfully coy tone, Gao Yuan knew the issue was resolved.

Lin Wanyu had once again turned into a lively and adorable little temptress.

The two of them hugged for a while, but it was time for Gao Yuan to start his day’s work.

A lover’s embrace was, of course, wonderful, but the business of making money couldn’t be delayed for a moment.

It was Monday, a workday, and he had to check on the progress of the trademark application again.

Furthermore, the skin tests at the factory needed Lin Wanyu to keep a close eye on them. The sooner the product was ready, the sooner he could arrange the upcoming photoshoots and design work.

Gao Yuan’s goal was to get everything done this week: store registration, design, and photoshoots, as well as getting the product listings up.

After this week, it would officially be December.

In the 71 days before the Lunar New Year, there were three major holidays: Christmas, New Year’s Day, and the New Year’s Goods Festival. If they seized the opportunity, they could make a huge profit before the year was out.

Especially in December, Gao Yuan’s goal was to sell 200,000 face masks within the month.

...

Lin Group.

Inside Lin Hongnian’s office, the air was thick with smoke.

It was surprising for such a large office, especially one with a sophisticated air circulation system, to be so shrouded in smoke.

At this time, five people were sitting in the office. Besides Lin Hongnian and his son, the rest were all high-level executives of the group—executives with stock options.

On the table in the reception area, there were no fewer than four ashtrays, each piled high with cigarette butts and ash.

"Old Lin, it’s been all night, and we haven’t reached a conclusion. You should be the one to make the call!"

The speaker was a vice president of the Lin Group, in charge of the laboratory division. He was someone who had been with Lin Hongnian since the early days of the Lin Group’s founding.

His expression was very complex: there was excitement, hesitation, and also the exhaustion of having stayed up all night.

That’s right. All five of them, including Lin Hongnian, had been up the entire night.

But for the matter they were currently discussing, it was all worth the sacrifice.

At this moment, Lin Hongnian was smoking with a blank expression. The ashtray in front of him contained the butts of at least a full pack of cigarettes.

As the helmsman of the Lin Group, he had weathered all sorts of storms over the company’s twenty-plus years of development. He had poured his heart and soul into building the Lin Group into one of the top ten skincare manufacturers in the country.

And the matter that he and the other executives had been discussing all night concerned the very survival of the Lin Group.

Lin Hongnian didn’t dare to make a rash decision. One wrong move and the whole game would be lost—he had seen such things happen far too often in the business world.

That was why, as the Lin Group grew larger over the years, he had become ever more cautious, as if treading on thin ice.

When his cigarette was half-smoked, Lin Hongnian exhaled a cloud of smoke, looked at the men before him, and said slowly, "You should all go get some rest. I need to think this over some more."

The other three men in the room got up and left. They had been up all night, and they weren’t young anymore; their bodies couldn’t take it.

The office fell silent once more, leaving only Lin Hongnian and Lin Wanyu’s younger brother, Lin Sida.

"Dad, for this matter, shouldn’t we call my sister back to talk about it?"

Lin Sida couldn’t help but speak as he watched his father continue to smoke in silence.

Lin Hongnian glanced at his son and continued to smoke.

’He wasn’t particularly satisfied with this son. In the past, he’d been too busy, so his wife had raised the children, and women tended to spoil children rotten. This had made Lin Sida’s personality a bit soft; he listened to his wife far too much. Lin Hongnian was, in fact, very satisfied with his daughter-in-law. She was highly educated, quite attractive, and exceptionally capable. But for all these years, he had insisted she remain a housewife, never allowing her to get involved in any of the company’s affairs. He worried that when the Lin Group was eventually passed down to Lin Sida, his son wouldn’t be able to handle her.’

"You should go home and rest, too."

Lin Hongnian said casually, gazing at the sunlight outside the window.

Lin Sida looked at his father, wanting to say more, but in the end, he just stood up and walked toward the door.

"This matter—you are not to speak of it to anyone in the family!"

Hearing his father’s voice, Lin Sida stopped and turned to look at Lin Hongnian.

At that moment, Lin Hongnian had already turned around, his gaze calm as he looked at his son.

But Lin Sida couldn’t help but shudder. He knew very well that the calmer his father appeared, the more absolute his words were.

"I understand."

After saying this, Lin Sida left the office. He didn’t go home but headed directly for the company guesthouse.

How could he possibly sleep when this matter was still undecided?

With no more distracting voices ringing in his ears, Lin Hongnian went and opened all the windows in the office.

The cold wind from outside instantly rushed in, making him jolt and clearing his head considerably.

He sat back down in his executive chair and picked up the report from his desk—the one that had kept the Lin Group’s top executives from sleeping all night.

On it was written:

Face Mask Ingredient Analysis Report No. 2023-019.

This was a quality inspection report for a face mask. The so-called "No. 2023-019" was the secret face mask formula provided by Gao Yuan.

Below this, the inspection report clearly indicated in red font: Active ingredient concentration reached 6%.

Having knocked around the skincare industry for so many years, Lin Hongnian knew exactly what that number meant.

Currently, the active ingredient concentration in the top face mask serums in the country was only 3-5%. It wasn’t that brands were unwilling to increase the active ingredient levels; it was that their formulas and technology couldn’t achieve it.

In all the serums formulated by skincare companies, the active ingredient levels could only be maintained at that standard. It was like a curse hanging over the entire skincare industry.

But the secret formula Gao Yuan provided was a completely new formulation concept that directly broke this curse.

This was the fundamental reason for their discussion.

’I originally thought they were just messing around with a small venture, but I never expected it to be a nuclear bomb!’

’I really misjudged this time!’

Upon receiving the lab report, Lin Hongnian’s first thought, just like the other executives, was to take it for themselves.

Visions of the Lin Group using this mask to seize an even larger share of the skincare market instantly filled his mind.

This wasn’t a matter of a few hundred million.

The temptation of tens of billions made even Lin Hongnian, who had always adhered to the principles of an ethical "Confucian businessman," feel a surge of greed.

After staring at it for a good while, Lin Hongnian picked up his phone and made a call.