Although they were loyal, efficient, and capable, the person they truly served was not him, so relying on them still felt a little awkward.
For now, though, it made little difference. The company was just getting started and had barely earned anything, so there were no competing interests yet.
But once the company grew and gained influence, he would have to put his own trusted people in all the key positions.
Seeing that it was time to leave work, Lin Chao Ci stretched and decided to leave some of the less important documents until tomorrow.
When he returned home, the house was quiet and empty, with only a housekeeper cleaning.
As for his father, the provincial disciplinary commission had taken Ding Qiushan away that morning, leaving quite a few provincial officials sensing that something was amiss. Although his father had not filed the report himself, everyone knew he had sent the person who did.
The provincial officials used work as an excuse to summon his father to the provincial offices to deliver a report.
On the surface, he was reporting on his work. In reality, they wanted to sound out his motives. Did he really intend to take Ding Qiushan down, or was this merely a warning? Everyone wanted to know how far he planned to go.
After all, quite a few provincial officials had ties to Ding Qiushan. If Ding Qiushan really went down, many of them would go down with him.
That was why so many officials were looking for a chance to sound his father out.
His father had gone to the provincial offices at noon, but he was still tied up there that evening and had yet to return!
That showed just how panicked and frightened those people were!
Lin Chao Ci could only smile helplessly at the thought. They were all being far too obvious. Weren't they practically telling everyone they were corrupt and afraid of being implicated?
Lin Chao Ci despised these corrupt officials too, but for the sake of stability, he could only spare them for now.
After dinner, a few more messages arrived on his phone.
His subordinates had completed the tasks he had assigned them.
Normally, at this hour, the Copyright Bureau would have been about to close. Quite a few of its seasoned slackers had already shut down their computers and were leisurely sipping tea with their legs crossed, ready to leave at any moment.
When the people Lin Chao Ci had sent first arrived at the Copyright Bureau, those old hands all made excuses and pretended to be unavailable, hiding either in the toilets or in other offices.
But the moment they heard that this was for the son of the municipal Party secretary, their attitudes made an immediate about-face.
Every one of them scrambled to help.
Registering the copyrights for a hundred or so songs would normally have taken at least several hours. If they slacked off and dawdled, they might not even have finished in a full day.
This time, however, they showed an entirely different level of enthusiasm. Seven or eight people competed to register those hundred or so songs, finishing a day's work in just a few hours.
When Lin Chao Ci heard the news, he could only smile helplessly again.
This was exactly why so many company managers had tried to curry favor with him at Tencent's funding reception.
They had even been willing to give the foreign businessman Smith the cold shoulder. In those days, foreign businessmen still enjoyed very high status in China, and most Chinese people who met them would...
But compared with political power, money still carried rather little weight.
Meanwhile, the subordinates who had gone to contact Wangzhu, Qiandu, and Soumao also sent back good news.
All three companies needed funding and were interested in raising it.
But when they first learned that Lin Chao Ci's company was merely a startup, they all turned it down.
There were two reasons to seek funding: money and connections.
For the same thirty-million investment, one company was unknown and had no backing, while another was an overseas giant with contacts in every industry and rock-solid connections!
Anyone in their right mind would know which to choose.
Although the three companies lacked money, what they lacked even more was backing. Without it, no matter how big their companies became or how much they earned, they would only be fattened prey waiting for slaughter.
Given a choice, all three companies hoped to secure funding from a large company.
But then Lin Chao Ci's representatives explained their boss's background.
All three companies immediately changed their attitudes, becoming almost deferential to the point of nervousness. Even their bosses, who had not shown themselves before, appeared to give Lin Chao Ci's representatives an exceptionally warm welcome.
The bosses of all three companies understood that if they wanted to keep operating in this territory, they would be better off with some official backing.
All three expressed a strong desire to cooperate. They were even willing to lower their prices and offer Lin Chao Ci shares at practically giveaway rates.
Without any backing, they had suffered plenty during their early days, with all sorts of people putting obstacles in their way and squeezing them...
They wanted that backing desperately. If they could shelter under Lin Chao Ci's authority, who would dare make trouble for them afterward? Who would dare hold up their paperwork or project approvals?
They might not be able to do whatever they pleased, but they could at least make sure no one dared mess with them.
The three companies eagerly quoted their terms for investment, offering prices at least twenty or thirty percent lower than those offered to others.
After looking them over, Lin Chao Ci nodded in satisfaction. The prices were indeed lower than he remembered. All three companies had made a real effort.
Lin Chao Ci messaged the three representatives back. "I'm very happy with the prices. You can sign preliminary agreements with them. For the final contracts, have them come to Haikou City to see me..."
Visiting each company himself would be too much trouble. It would be easier to have all three bosses come directly to Haikou City.
The representatives immediately relayed Lin Chao Ci's request. After some consideration, the bosses of all three companies agreed.
With Lin Chao Ci's powerful backing, they simply could not stand against him. Even if the three refused, if he truly wanted them there, he had countless ways to make them come.
The meeting to sign the contracts was scheduled for two days later.
The subordinate who had gone to the Political Science and Law University to find Fang Miaoke also sent back good news.
He had found Fang Miaoke and paid her father's medical bills outright. He had also arranged for several top doctors to consult on his case and treat him together.
There was no longer any need to worry about Fang Miaoke's father's condition.
Fang Miaoke had agreed to work for Lin Chao Ci. She would fly to Haikou City that night and was expected to arrive around ten the next morning.
Lin Chao Ci assigned a subordinate to pick her up at the airport at ten the next morning.
He could not help looking forward to it. Soon, he would meet that endearingly dim, goofy girl who was like a clueless little deer.
Although all of this was good news, there was also one piece of bad news.
Lin Chao Ci was out of money.
All the money he had saved since childhood amounted to only a few hundred thousand. The only truly valuable things he owned were some property deeds and the antique paintings and calligraphy his family had given him... but he certainly could not sell those.
Setting up the company, renting premises, hiring staff... those were minor expenses, costing only a little over a hundred thousand.
But acquiring the Tencent shares cost over two million US dollars, which came to more than sixteen million yuan. Lin Chao Ci simply did not have that kind of money on hand.
And he had even less chance of coming up with the money for the other three companies!
Although their quotes were lower, they still added up to over ten million.
Add Tencent's sixteen million, and that meant Lin Chao Ci would need at least thirty million if he truly wanted to fund them.
Yet Lin Chao Ci did not seem particularly worried. His bank account was empty, but he was still full of confidence.
Before you continue