A New Official's First Three Fires

Two days later, Longcheng Biology held a press conference.

Lin Yumo publicly exposed how Lin Zhengdong and Lin Zhengbei had conspired with Wang Qiu to murder her father.

The news caused an uproar. The reporters had thought this press conference would be Longcheng Biology's attempt to clear its name, but instead, it dropped a bombshell of this magnitude.

The former chairman had conspired with outsiders to murder the chairman before him in order to take control of the company—and they had been blood brothers!

Wasn't that far more thrilling than Longcheng Biology's drug issues?

Like sharks that had smelled blood, the reporters rushed forward and surrounded Lin Yumo with endless questions.

Less than half an hour after the press conference ended, Weibo's trending searches were filled with this listed company's "rich family feud."

Lin Yumo had successfully drawn all the fire onto herself. Online discussions were now all about her family's affairs, and no one was talking about Longcheng Biology's drug quality issues anymore.

Longcheng Biology was a biopharmaceutical company. As long as there were no problems with the quality of its drugs, its stock price would not fluctuate too drastically.

Thus, Longcheng Biology's steadily falling stock price finally stopped, and even showed a slow upward trend.

The grudges and entanglements of Lin Yumo's family remained on Weibo's trending searches for an entire week. If rumors had not spread that the Queen of the Never-Setting Empire was on her last legs, who knew how long it would have stayed trending?

After a week of turmoil, Longcheng Biology's stock price ultimately stabilized at around 52 yuan. Its previous peak had been over 64 yuan, so the losses this time were far from small.

But now that Lin Yumo held Bai Xinshu and Ma Shuhua's leverage in her hands, her position in the company could be said to be as solid as a mountain. No matter how dissatisfied the shareholders were, they would not step forward to say anything at a time like this.

However, as the saying went, it was easy to deal with the King of Hell, but hard to deal with his underlings. Many of Lin Zhengdong and Lin Zhengbei's trusted subordinates still held important positions in Longcheng Biology, and those people had to be dealt with.

Over the past few days, Lin Yumo had focused all her energy on the press conference and resolved the company's most pressing crisis first. Naturally, her next step was to deal with its internal issues.

Afterward, Lin Yumo deliberately took Guo Yuan around the company twice, and Guo Yuan gave her several suggestions that same evening.

After reading what Guo Yuan had given her, Lin Yumo immediately contacted Ma Shuhua and told her to gather all the company's mid- and senior-level managers for a meeting the next day.

As for Ma Shuhua, Lin Yumo had not the slightest bit of trust in her. But Ma Shuhua's weakness was in Lin Yumo's hands, and Lin Yumo had her firmly under control. As long as that leverage remained, Ma Shuhua would not dare harbor any disloyal thoughts.

Moreover, Lin Yumo remembered that her father had once told her that although Ma Shuhua was sharp-tongued and harsh toward others, she was highly capable at her job. As long as the company accounts passed through her hands, there had never been any errors or omissions.

But it was precisely because she was so capable that Ma Shuhua had believed no one would notice if she used company money to earn a little extra on the side.

In the end, that was what allowed Guo Yuan and Lin Yumo to catch her weakness.

Strong work ability plus leverage in her hands—that was why Lin Yumo had kept Ma Shuhua on and allowed her to remain Longcheng Biology's CFO.

As for Bai Xinshu, Lin Yumo had already removed him from all his positions in the company and kicked him out.

Early the next morning, Longcheng Biology's mid- and senior-level managers all arrived in the conference room.

Accompanied by Ma Shuhua, Lin Yumo entered the conference room.

The moment the two entered, Longcheng Biology's senior executives rose as one to greet Lin Yumo, and the mid-level managers followed suit.

"Hello, General Manager Lin!"

"Hello, Chairwoman!"

Most of Longcheng Biology's senior executives had known Lin Yumo before. Senior management could interact with shareholders, so how could they possibly not know her?

The mid-level managers were the opposite. At first, apart from those who worked with the swine fever research team, few of them knew Lin Yumo. It was only after the company released its announcement and held the press conference that they came to know the company's new chairwoman.

To be honest, most of the mid- and senior-level managers present were extremely surprised that Lin Yumo had risen to the position.

No matter how they looked at it, the company chairmanship should not have fallen to a "young person" born in 1994. Lin Yumo's only advantage was probably that she held relatively more shares.

Yet she had taken the position anyway, which made Longcheng Biology's mid- and senior-level managers very curious about her.

Standing at the head of the conference table, Lin Yumo looked at the company executives below her, whose gazes held reverence, curiosity, or something more inscrutable, and a strange glint flashed through her eyes.

Several of these people had once been her superiors. She had even approached them for research funding for the swine fever research team.

This reversal of status made Lin Yumo instantly understand why so many people wanted to climb higher.

So this is what it feels like to hold power! It feels incredible! Lin Yumo marveled inwardly.

"Ahem! General Manager Lin, shouldn't we get down to business?" Ma Shuhua reminded her from the side.

Lin Yumo nodded at that, cleared her throat, and said, "Hello, everyone! I'm Lin Yumo, the new chairwoman of Longcheng Biology. I believe everyone should already know who I am.

"But I'm still relatively unfamiliar with all of you, so I came here today for three reasons. First, to meet everyone and familiarize myself with you. Second, to hear your views on the company. Third, to go through the company's books and assess the state of our own assets."

The moment Lin Yumo said this, the conference room fell utterly silent. One could have heard a pin drop, and everyone exchanged glances.

Go through the books? She was clearly planning to audit the accounts!

An audit itself was perfectly normal. A new official always lit three fires upon taking office; checking one's own assets was nothing unreasonable.

But Longcheng Biology had just gone through such a major incident. The former chairman had murdered the chairman before him, and quite a few of them had been promoted by that former chairman...

No one present was stupid. Lin Yumo was obviously after more than just the books.

An audit? This was plainly pressure—a move to purge the former chairman's people from the company!

For a moment, everyone felt a chill of killing intent run straight down their spines.

No one had expected this young person born in 1994, in everyone's eyes, to be so direct—to fire on them on the very first day she met the mid- and senior-level managers!

The expressions of several executives with guilty consciences immediately changed.

Longcheng Biology's Deputy General Manager Chen Qilong's face darkened outright.

Chen Qilong was an old hand who had started the business alongside Lin Yumo's parents. Back then, he had only been a mid-level manager in the company.

He had been promoted to Deputy General Manager through the personal backing of Lin Zhengdong and Lin Zhengbei.

Although Lin Zhengdong was the chairman and Lin Zhengbei the general manager, neither of them was particularly involved in the company's management. It was Chen Qilong, the Deputy General Manager, who handled everything.

Naturally, Chen Qilong would not just sit there and wait for disaster. With a cold expression, he asked Lin Yumo, "General Manager Lin! Are you saying you don't trust us?"

"General Manager Chen, we're all adults. Trust isn't something that comes from mere words. The only people I can truly trust are those who still have no issues after being investigated! As the saying goes, real gold fears no fire. What do you all think?" As she finished speaking, Lin Yumo's gaze slowly swept across the crowd. Everyone it passed over felt the hairs on their backs stand on end.