Chapter 85: The Hermit's Ingenious Plan
“What? Is Lin Shuyu out of her mind?”
“She actually turned down an offer like this?”
Lin ShuqI was dumbfounded, while Lin Shufeng tried to persuade her, “Xiaoyu, are you still holding a grudge against the Lin family?”
“How about this, I offer you my sincerest apology for the things I said to you before.”
Lin Shufeng was out of options. Having just gone through a divorce, if the Lin family were to collapse now, she felt she’d be driven to despair.
She still dreamed of the Lin family’s revival, imagining herself one day pulling up in a luxury car to the Zhao family’s doorstep, honking triumphantly, making Zhao Jianwei regret his choices.
“Xiaoyu, if there’s anything you’re unhappy about, just say it!”
“I really think the position of general manager at the new factory should be yours, Xiaoyu, don’t turn it down.”
“You’re just a supervisor at that trading company, making barely twenty or thirty thousand a month—what good is that in today’s world?”
“People strive for better, water flows downward, Xiaoyu, you need to think carefully about this!”
Lin Shuyu didn’t take any of their words to heart. After letting them talk for two minutes, she finally spoke, “There’s no need to go on. My mind is made up.”
“Just make sure you pay the loan interest on time every year. Miss Xia agreed to the lowest rate for Hong Yu’s sake. If you can’t even pay the interest, I really won’t know how to face her generosity.”
Lin Jiahao frowned. “Xiaoyu, I know we should be grateful, but isn’t the so-called lowest interest rate a bit much?”
“I just looked at the contract; the interest rate is 8.521% per year—just the standard bank rate!”
“Is that so? Impossible.” Lin Shuyu quickly picked up the contract and glanced at it, then smiled. “Uncle, you made a mistake. The annual rate is 0.8521%, a tenth of the usual rate.”
“What!” Lin Jiahao hurriedly took the contract. After looking it over, he realized he’d indeed read it wrong.
“How can this be? An annual rate of just 0.8521%? We could borrow the money and lend it out elsewhere and make a fortune!” Lin Jiahao was stunned.
The Lin family were all businesspeople—they understood loans better than anyone. Hearing such a low rate left them all gaping in shock.
“Damn! I’ve never heard of such a low interest rate!”
“If this is real, we should borrow as much as possible—who knows how much we could make just lending it out.”
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“Xiaoyu, since you’re so close with Xia Yurong, can you get us a few more hundred million? Then we’d have nothing to worry about, funding-wise.”
Lin Shuyu looked at the greedy faces of her relatives and sneered inwardly.
She said, “Getting a stroke of luck like this once is already rare enough. If we’re this greedy, what will Miss Xia think?”
“Let me be clear: this rate was only possible because Miss Xia used her personal connections. Don’t even think about a next time.”
The Lin family members gave awkward, sheepish smiles.
The old patriarch had been silently observing the whole time. Suddenly, he spoke, “Xiaoyu, I’ve decided.”
“You’re not really suited for the new factory’s general manager position.”
“How about this: from now on, you’ll be the general manager of Lin Group. Your salary will be five times higher—half a million a year—with a personal assistant and car. You’ll be fully in charge of Morgan Bank and Happy More Group affairs.”
This time, Lin Shuyu hesitated. Originally, because of Hong Yu’s advice, she’d wanted to refuse, but thinking of how unpredictable Hong Yu was, she decided she’d better earn as much as possible, just in case.
She gave a slight bow. “Thank you, Grandfather, for this opportunity. I promise I won’t let you down.”
Though she’d initially felt some resentment, Lin Shuyu now found the air suddenly fresher, her mood improving as well.
It was past one in the morning.
The excited Lin family had long dispersed, but Lin Jiarong’s branch of the family returned home in gloomy silence.
Lin ShuqI, recalling the scene of Lin Shuyu being showered with praise and attention, was furious.
She’d felt relieved when Lin Shuyu initially refused the new factory position.
But she never expected that Lin Shuyu’s ambitions went much further. In the end, she’d actually helped her by making a scene and hurling insults.
“Damn it! Why is that wretched Lin Shuyu so lucky?”
“How is it possible? How does a useless woman like her manage to get a loan contract, and at such a low interest rate?”
“Is she crazy? If she just took that three hundred million and lent it out, that’d be a hundred times better than being Lin Group’s general manager!”
Lin Jiarong and his wife were both anxious. His wife was especially shocked and angry.
Soon, she spat out viciously, “Shuqi, this can’t go on. We need to come up with a plan.”
“We bullied and ostracized them so much before—once she’s in charge, she’ll surely retaliate.”
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“Your father struggled for so many years just to become deputy general manager. What makes Lin Shuyu so special?”
“So she got a loan contract? Jiarong has risked everything for this family—doesn’t that count for anything? The old man must be losing his mind!”
Lin Jiarong sighed. “Now the situation is beyond our control.”
“The eldest is at the helm, so of course he’s not worried—the better the Lin family does, the better for him.”
“But we’re different: the third branch will surely compete with us for influence. If Xiaoyu secures the general manager position and the third branch rises with her, our family will be left with nothing.”
For years, Lin Jiarong had kept a wary eye on the third branch.
Several times, he and his wife had embezzled funds from the company and had been caught—Lin Jiahua likely possessed evidence of their crimes.
But since Jiarong lacked real power, Lin Jiahua hadn’t exposed them.
If Jiahua ever gained status, that evidence could become the very noose around their necks.
“Wait!”
“I have an idea!”
His wife suddenly exclaimed, “Come on, let’s go see the old man right now!”
“What idea?” Lin Jiahua and Lin ShuqI immediately looked to her.
Perhaps stung by tonight’s scolding, Lin ShuqI was not excited, but worried. “Mom, if you’re not sure, don’t do anything rash!”
“I only said a few words to Lin Shuyu today, and Uncle was ready to kick me out of the family. Now that Lin Shuyu’s side is in the ascendant, as long as that loan contract is solid, we can’t touch them.”
“I know. I’ve thought this through even more than you.” Her mother smiled coldly. “But who says the loan contract is flawless?”
Lin ShuqI gasped, “Impossible! Uncle and Grandfather both checked it repeatedly, and there’s an uncle in the family who’s a lawyer—he found nothing wrong either.”
“The only issue is that the interest rate is too low, but it’s clearly written in the contract. If there’s any responsibility for that, it would be Xia Yurong’s.”
Her mother gave a chilling laugh. “The wise always have their ways. Let’s go—right now.”
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