Chapter 149: Longfu’s Shareholders

Only a dozen or so people knew the phone number Chen Taohua had given Lin Jian, and he was one of them. Under normal circumstances, she never received calls from unknown numbers on this private line. Yet, right at this moment, while she was chatting with Fan Jingqiang in her office, the phone started ringing off the hook! And the caller ID showed an unknown number.

"Why aren’t you answering it?" Fan Jingqiang asked, gesturing for her to pick up.

Chen Taohua had a very eccentric temper. Despite her somewhat tacky name and her origins as a village girl from the countryside, she was exceptionally proud to her core. Even if an unknown number rang a hundred times, she wouldn’t answer it. It was a matter of principle. If just anyone could reach her on this line, what was the point of having a private number in the first place?

"I’m not answering. Just ignore it and keep trying Lin Jian!" Chen Taohua gestured for Fan Jingqiang to call him again.

"I just tried him five minutes ago. His phone is turned off," Fan Jingqiang said, shaking his head.

Right then, Chen Taohua’s phone finally stopped ringing after more than a dozen rings.

Back in the car with Lin Jian, Shen Ke was glaring at him with murderous intent. She wondered if this little scoundrel was really going to embarrass her all the way here in the Ancient Capital of Anxi. But soon, Lin Jian gave the two of them a reassuring look and dialed Fan Jingqiang’s number. Since Chen Taohua wasn’t answering, she was obviously busy. He had no choice but to try Fan Jingqiang instead.

In Fan Jingqiang’s office, his phone suddenly started ringing on the desk. He picked it up and saw it was also an unknown number.

"Don’t answer it!" Chen Taohua urged anxiously. "What if Lin Jian tries to call while you’re on the line?"

Fan Jingqiang was left speechless. However, reaching Lin Jian really was too important to them right now. After a moment’s thought, he actually ignored the call, too!

Meanwhile, when neither of the couple answered their phones, Lin Jian started breaking out in a cold sweat. He wondered if these two were messing with him. He had just finished boasting about being a Longfu shareholder, and now they weren’t answering? Wasn’t this going to make him lose face in front of his girlfriend? And wouldn’t it completely embarrass her, too? He was on the verge of tears as he ended the call with a bitter expression.

"Ahem, there’s no need to rush, Mr. Lin," Wang Suo said, merely offering polite words to smooth things over. In reality, he no longer believed Lin Jian. Now that he had a moment to think calmly, how could someone as young as Lin Jian possibly be a shareholder of Longfu?

Shen Ke wished the ground would open up and swallow her whole. She thought Lin Jian had truly humiliated her all the way here in Anxi!

Gritting his teeth, Lin Jian opened WeChat and started a video call with Chen Taohua.

Back in the Jiang City office, Chen Taohua’s WeChat rang. She quickly glanced at the screen. "It’s Lin Jian! He’s calling me on WeChat!"

"Answer it, quick!" Fan Jingqiang was thrilled. Lin Jian’s phone might be off, but he could still make WeChat calls.

Chen Taohua quickly accepted the call. Without giving Lin Jian a chance to speak, she blurted out, "Lin Jian, why is your phone off? Jingqiang and I have been trying to reach you since yesterday!"

"You’ve got to be kidding me, Taohua," Lin Jian said, caught between laughter and tears. "I just called both you and Jingqiang. Both phones rang over a dozen times. Why didn’t either of you pick up?"

"Ah? That call from Anxi just now was you?" Chen Taohua asked, taken aback.

"Yeah. I changed my number because people kept harassing me these past few days," Lin Jian replied.

"My bad, my bad. That’s my private line, so I never answer unknown numbers. Anyway, Jingqiang is right here with me!" Saying that, Chen Taohua turned the camera to show Fan Jingqiang.

Old Fan waved at the camera. "Where are you, Lin Jian? Are you in a car? How did you end up with an Anxi number?"

"I’m in Anxi right now," Lin Jian said. "Jingqiang, Taohua, I have a favor to ask. A colleague of my girlfriend is a frontline anti-smuggling officer who’s completely devoted to public service and covered in old injuries. His daughter is about to graduate from university and wants to intern at Longfu Pharmaceutical in Anxi. Is Longfu Pharmaceutical ours?"

Fan Jingqiang paused for a moment. "Every business under Longfu Industrial is ours. What’s the name of the girl you’re talking about? Tell me."

Lin Jian smiled. "Let me ask." He turned and got the answer from his passengers. "Wang Weiwei, Anxi University."

He then relayed the information back to the phone. "Her name is Wang Weiwei. She goes to Anxi University."

"No problem. Ask this Wang Weiwei if she wants to stay at Longfu Pharmaceutical long-term. If so, she doesn’t even need to do an internship. She can go straight into the R&D department. I’ll notify the people over there to take good care of her."

"So she can just show up and tell them that?" Lin Jian asked.

"That probably won’t work." Fan Jingqiang chuckled. "Just have her leave a contact number. I’ll have the person in charge over there reach out to her directly."

"Sounds good. I’ll send the number to Taohua’s WeChat in a bit."

"Lin Jian, when... when are you coming back?" Chen Taohua asked at that moment.

"I’m not sure. Sometime in the next few days. Is something wrong, Taohua?"

"It’s like this..." Chen Taohua thought for a second before continuing. "Someone pulled their shares from the overseas mining operation, so there’s about thirty-four percent of the equity available. Are you interested?"

"Thirty-four percent? How much would that cost? I don’t think I have that kind of money anymore!"

"We can cover it for you first. If you agree, I’ll go ahead and update the shareholder agreement."

"How much is it? Just give me a number."

"It’s still the original price: 340 million."

"That’s definitely not enough. I don’t have that much on hand."

"That’s why Jingqiang and I will front the money for you. This way, the mining operation will just be you and us. You’ll hold forty-nine percent, and we’ll hold fifty-one. It’s decided. We can talk about the details when you get back!"

Without waiting for Lin Jian to respond, Chen Taohua ended the video call.

Lin Jian let out a wry smile. What had gotten into Chen Taohua and Fan Jingqiang? Why were they trying to give him more shares out of the blue?

Naturally, what he didn’t know was that Fan Jingqiang also had Ancient Martial Innate experts by his side. Thus, the couple already knew everything that Lin Jian had done in the Capital City! Upon hearing the news, the couple’s initial shock had quickly turned into pure excitement.

After all, Chen Zhiyuan’s enterprise had practically sailed smoothly entirely because of Xu Fengbin. That old schemer Chen Zhiyuan likely avoided arrest for his underworld dealings solely because he had Xu Fengbin backing him! Therefore, if Longfu also had a Grandmaster in their ranks, the potential benefits would be astronomical. The two of them felt incredibly fortunate that they had already hitched Lin Jian to their wagon. Now, to forge an even more unbreakable bond between them, they needed to offer him more shares to thoroughly anchor him to their side.

However, Lin Jian was completely oblivious to Fan Jingqiang and Chen Taohua’s underlying motives. Meanwhile, inside the car, the long-legged beauty and Wang Suo were reeling in shock!

The amount of information dropped during Lin Jian’s video call was simply massive! First of all, it proved that the man and woman Lin Jian had been talking to were the heads of Longfu! Secondly, Lin Jian was genuinely in business with them, involved in projects worth hundreds of millions.

Shen Ke had only known Lin Jian as a kid from an ordinary family. Her only other knowledge of his career was that he used to be a driver for Fuxing’s boss! How did he suddenly transform into a shareholder of Longfu as if by magic?

Furthermore, Lin Jian had just received some friends from Modu right in front of her. Those friends had an extraordinary aura and even drove a Maybach.

So, just what other hidden identities did Lin Jian have!?