Chapter 124: Partnering Up to Do Business

After dinner, Chen Taohua personally brewed tea for Lin Jian and Fan Jingqiang. Her movements were so fluid and graceful that she seemed professionally trained, making the process a visual delight.

She offered the first cup to Lin Jian, who quickly took it and took a sip. He didn’t know much about tea, but the clear liquid washed over his palate with a crisp, refreshing sensation. It was as if every taste bud on his tongue had awakened to a rich, mellow flavor that left a lingering aftertaste.

"Good tea," Lin Jian couldn’t help but praise.

Chen Taohua smiled. "If you like it, I’ll pack some up for you to take home later."

"Yes, yes, yes, let him take that other box!" Fan Jingqiang laughed.

Lin Jian chuckled. "All right, I won’t be overly polite then."

"That’s the way!" Fan Jingqiang took a sip of his own tea, then looked at Lin Jian. "Lin Jian, are you currently working at Fuxing?"

"I quit. I just resigned today!" Lin Jian replied with a smile.

"Oh?" Fan Jingqiang and Chen Taohua’s eyes lit up simultaneously, and they even exchanged a quick glance.

"So, what do you plan to do now that you’ve resigned?" Chen Taohua asked, her expression unreadable.

Lin Jian smiled. "A few friends and I partnered up to take over a small company."

"You started a company?" The couple was extremely surprised, wondering how he had managed to quit his job and start a company. This kid was quite something.

"You took over a small company? What kind of business is it? What’s the name?" Chen Taohua asked calmly.

Lin Jian had no intention of hiding it. "It’s called Ruyi Business Consulting LLC. Its previous scope of business was debt collection!"

"I know this company. Ruyi, right?" Chen Taohua frowned.

Fan Jingqiang looked at her. "You know it?"

"It’s one of Chen Zhiyuan’s," she replied in a neutral tone.

"Absolutely not!" Fan Jingqiang slammed his cup down and stared at Lin Jian. "The company you took over belongs to Chen Zhiyuan? Regardless of your relationship with him, you need to get rid of it as soon as possible. Let Taohua handle it for you!"

"Do you even know who Chen Zhiyuan is?" Chen Taohua asked.

Lin Jian scratched his head. "I heard he’s part of the underworld?"

"You knew he was in the underworld, yet you still dared to take over his company? That’s absurd!" Chen Taohua said angrily.

"Exactly, it’s completely absurd. Taohua, go to that company with Lin Jian tomorrow and transfer the ownership immediately, or just cancel its registration!" Fan Jingqiang ordered. "Let me tell you, these debt collection agencies were very popular a few years ago, but now they’re becoming increasingly rare. Do you know why?

"The wind has shifted. To put it bluntly, these companies all possess a certain Black Society nature. It won’t be long before they’re cracked down upon. Otherwise, why would a profitable company be transferred to you?"

Lin Jian smiled awkwardly. "I didn’t think that far ahead, nor did I plan on collecting debts for others. I just wanted to start a business with a few friends I get along well with. But we already discussed it—we absolutely won’t do anything illegal!"

"Lin Jian, listen to me," Chen Taohua urged. "Tomorrow, hand everything over to my legal team and let them handle the company, okay? You don’t need to worry about it anymore.

"You saved Fan’s life; we would never harm you. Furthermore, Chen Zhiyuan is far more than just a simple underworld boss. His nickname in the underworld is ’Three Old Yin Coins.’ He’s a ruthless man who can scheme someone to death, so you shouldn’t have any involvement with him whatsoever."

"But..." Lin Jian wanted to argue that the company was highly profitable, and if he didn’t run it, what else was he supposed to do?

"Come work at my company!" Fan Jingqiang said with a smile. "Have you ever heard of Longfu Industrial?"

"Longfu Industrial? The Longfu that deals in food and medicine?" Lin Jian actually knew of it. Longfu Industrial was incredibly famous in the Jiangnan region!

"Food and medicine are merely a fraction of our business. We also do deep processing of feed, shipping, steel, minerals, timber, and more!" Chen Taohua laughed. "Fan and I have been discussing how to repay you these past few days. After much thought, we realized that giving you money wouldn’t be as beneficial as broadening your horizons. It would be better to have you learn how to do business with us!"

"No need, no need, Fan, Taohua. I never expected any repayment from you," Lin Jian quickly declined. "This dinner and a box of tea are more than enough. If you bring up repaying me again, I’m leaving!"

"All right, all right, we won’t mention it!" Fan Jingqiang chuckled softly. "Then surely you can come over and help me out, right? By the way, I’ve been a little short on cash recently. If you transfer your company and inject your funds into my company as capital, you could become a shareholder!"

"You’re short on cash?" Lin Jian was momentarily stunned.

Fan Jingqiang coughed twice!

Chen Taohua, however, nodded. "What enterprise isn’t short on cash? So, how about you transfer your company and either lend us the money or merge it into our company?"

"How big is the shortfall?" Lin Jian furrowed his brows.

Chen Taohua was speechless. The lack of funds was just an excuse; they simply wanted Lin Jian to invest a little money in Longfu so that when they gave him shares, it would seem perfectly logical and justified! But now, Lin Jian was actually taking it seriously.

"About a few hundred million, maybe two or three hundred million. It’s not that much."

Lin Jian was speechless. Did Chen Taohua know he had just made three hundred million today?

"Fan, Taohua, I do have some spare cash on hand, but I need to keep a little for myself. So... I can lend it to you first, but just as a loan, not an investment."

"Spare cash?" Fan Jingqiang and Chen Taohua blanked for a moment, wondering exactly how much spare cash he could possibly have.

"Yeah, a portion of the spare cash just came in today. It’s three hundred million, but I have to keep fifty million for myself, so I can only lend you two hundred and fifty million!"

PFFT!

PFFT!

The couple spat out their tea in unison!

They couldn’t believe he was casually offering to lend them two hundred and fifty million. They wondered if he was the God of Wealth descended from the Heavenly Court, and if he had truly just been a driver and a security guard before. Could he actually be the heir to some massive corporation or a wealthy second-generation heir?

Chen Taohua and Fan Jingqiang suddenly realized that this wasn’t following their script at all. How were they supposed to respond? Should they accept the two hundred and fifty million or not?

"Lin Jian, it’s actually not that urgent," Chen Taohua said. "When we’re short on funds, we generally secure bank loans. It’s also a form of capital operation. You should just keep your money!"

She had no intention of taking his money. It wouldn’t feel right. Although they wanted to give Lin Jian shares, it was meant to be a free gift, not an exchange for his money. Accepting his funds would contradict their original intentions.

"That’s right, just keep your money. We might have a shortfall, but we aren’t hurting for two or three hundred million!" Fan Jingqiang waved his hand dismissively, but then found himself at a loss for words.

The man sitting across from them was a multi-millionaire. Were they really going to recruit a multi-millionaire to work at their company? That was obviously impossible!

However, Lin Jian suddenly asked, "Fan, you mentioned earlier that you wanted me to help out at your company. What exactly did you have in mind?"

"Hmm." Fan Jingqiang thought for a moment. "We have some overseas mining properties, as well as a shipping business. I originally wanted you to accompany a few of our ships as our fully authorized representative, escorting the cargo back and forth.

"But forget it. It carries a certain degree of danger, as some of those waters aren’t peaceful."

"Lin Jian, if you trust Fan and me, let’s partner up and start a new investment company," Chen Taohua suggested. "We’ll handle the capital operations. All you have to do is invest your money and wait for the dividends. Are you interested?"

"Taohua, are you serious?" Lin Jian’s eyes lit up. He had been pondering what to do these past few days. Since he didn’t have any specialized skills, his goal of going overseas to swallow up the Ye Family within three years seemed like a pipe dream.

But if Chen Taohua was willing to guide him, and as long as they had sufficient capital, the company would only grow larger and larger.

"Of course I’m serious! Then it’s settled. I’ll handle all the paperwork tomorrow. It’ll be a powerful alliance!"