The plan was actually very simple. It mainly relied on timing, a little like a joke from his previous life.
A father wanted to find his son a wife. He told a tycoon he could introduce a bank's general manager as his son-in-law, then told the bank that the tycoon's son-in-law was willing to become its manager.
With Lin Chao Ci's status, the bosses of the four companies naturally wouldn't think he was a fraud.
All he needed to do was sign contracts with the four companies, receive the shares first, and pay later. That would give his company assets.
Then he could pledge those shares as collateral for a bank loan and use the money to pay the companies, getting something for nothing.
A business requiring no capital! With a little financial maneuvering, Lin Chao Ci would get shares in all four companies without spending a penny of his own.
Of course, there was a prerequisite.
He needed extremely powerful backing, so that both the bank and the companies trusted him and were willing to provide the money.
Otherwise, even the slickest sales pitch would be useless.
To Lin Chao Ci, business was child's play, like a university student doing elementary-school addition and subtraction. There was no difficulty whatsoever.
It simply didn't require much of his attention.
The only people really worth Lin Chao Ci's time and thought were his family and those girls.
I've changed history now and gotten involved with the girls ahead of time.
Originally, Fang Miaoke would have graduated from Political Science and Law University, taken the civil service exam, and been assigned to Huoshan County in Haikou City. That was when Lin Chao Ci would have met her.
But now he had brought her to his side early.
The same went for Liu Shuang'er and Li Si Han. He wasn't supposed to have gotten involved with them so early, nor should they have become so close so soon.
Yet Lin Chao Ci had pulled the threads of fate forward by several years.
That meant the romantic showdown that originally wouldn't erupt for several more years might happen ahead of schedule.
What girl didn't get jealous? If she didn't, it usually meant she wasn't deeply enough in love.
Fortunately, Qin Chi Chi, the most jealous of them all, attended Imperial Capital University and wasn't free to come to Haikou City every weekend.
As long as he staggered their visits, he should avoid giving the girls any chance to meet.
The longer I can put it off, the better!
When thinking about business, he generally used only fifty percent of his brain, with forty to fifty percent of his attention.
When thinking about the girls, his brain ran at a hundred and twenty percent capacity, with two hundred percent focus.
To avoid ending up like the protagonist of a certain manga, Lin Chao Ci racked his brains.
As he kept thinking, he drifted off to sleep.
In his dream, Lin Chao Ci saw five stunningly beautiful girls holding knives, laughing maniacally as they stabbed him over and over.
He wanted to run, but countless ropes bound him, leaving him unable to move.
The sharp blades pierced his body. The pain felt far too real.
"Ah! No!"
Lin Chao Ci shuddered in terror and jolted awake.
He looked around in confusion. The five girls had vanished. Had he just been dreaming?
He looked down at his body again. There were no wounds and no blood. He was merely drenched in sweat.
"Phew... Even though I know it wasn't real, it still scared the hell out of me!"
Lin Chao Ci took a deep breath to calm his wildly pounding heart.
He knew a romantic showdown awaited him, but all five girls had given him their hearts. How could he bear to let them down?
Before dying in his previous life, he had vowed that he wouldn't let any of the five girls suffer in this life.
"Even if I get stabbed ten thousand times, I, Lin Chao Ci, will still be that scumbag! I want all five of them!"
Lin Chao Ci knew the road ahead was uncertain, rough, and riddled with thorns, but he wouldn't give up. Not even in death.
He composed himself and wiped the cold sweat from his forehead.
Lin Chao Ci took a quick shower, changed his clothes, and went downstairs to exercise.
He casually ate a lavish breakfast.
Checking his schedule, Lin Chao Ci saw that President Ma of Penguin would arrive that afternoon.
Fang Miaoke would report to the company that morning.
The investigation team from the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection would also arrive sometime after nine that morning.
Looking at it that way, he had quite a lot to do today.
Without further thought, Lin Chao Ci decided to skip school. Important business came first. He could relax once he finished.
He got into his driver's car and soon arrived at the company.
After entering his chairman's office, Lin Chao Ci began working through the documents he hadn't finished revising the day before.
He worked until sometime after ten, when the phone in his pocket chimed.
He checked it. The message was from Qiangzi.
It read, "The people from the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection are staying at the Green Mountain Hotel for now. I've already put the brown paper envelope in the team leader's room!"
After confirming that the task was complete, Lin Chao Ci deleted the message without replying.
Meanwhile, the investigation team from the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection had just arrived at the Green Mountain Hotel in Haikou City. They had rushed out that morning without breakfast and spent several hours on a plane, leaving them ravenous.
The investigation team left one person behind to keep watch while the others went to eat.
The team leader, Gao Hua, rubbed his stomach and picked his teeth as he lazily pushed open the door to his room.
He was just about to sit on the bed and lie down for a rest when he suddenly noticed something extra on the table.
"Huh? Am I seeing things, or remembering wrong? Since when was there a brown paper envelope on my table? Is that mine?"
Gao Hua rubbed his eyes and scratched his head, unsure what was going on.
After a moment's thought, he decided not to touch it directly, worried that something dangerous might be inside.
He went out and called several teammates over. They put on gloves and carefully opened the brown paper envelope.
They had expected a bomb, poison, or something of the sort... Instead, it contained several sheets of paper, several photographs, and a few USB drives.
"Phew! Thank goodness it wasn't anything dangerous! That scared me to death!"
"This is ridiculous. We've only just arrived in Haikou City, and someone's already found us. Is the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection really that amateurish?"
"You're complaining? They've delivered the evidence right to us. That's practically free credit! We'll all get commendations when we return!"
The team members breathed sighs of relief.
Once they saw that it was evidence of crimes, they relaxed, then began joking about how someone had voluntarily delivered evidence before they had even started working.
"All right, enough talking. Let's examine the evidence first!"
Gao Hua interrupted their banter. Wearing gloves, he picked out a few photographs at random. After only a few glances, he sucked in a sharp breath.
"Whoa... Isn't this our target? And these people here are suspects too..."
The photographs had been taken from exceptionally effective angles, capturing everyone's faces clearly.
Gao Hua felt that even he, a professional, might not have achieved results like these.
He looked through the other photographs and the remaining evidence.
"Uh... This evidence is incredibly thorough. Seeing such a large criminal organization, I thought we were in for a tough fight. But now... We haven't even investigated, and it looks like the job is already done!"
After reviewing everything, Gao Hua fell silent.
Some of the evidence behind the earlier allegations Lin Jianguo had arranged for people to report against Ding Qiushan had been incomplete. Parts were mere speculation, without videos, photographs, or irrefutable proof.
But the evidence inside the brown paper envelope Lin Chao Ci had prepared this time was conclusive and comprehensive. Every piece was ironclad, enough to put Ding Qiushan behind bars for good.
Before you continue