73: I have no habit of forgiving people
The auction hall's floodlights were still on, glaringly bright.
Lin Chuan stood up from his chair and lightly clapped his hands.
"Clap, clap, clap."
Each crisp sound of applause felt like a slap across Huang Xingguo's face.
Lin Chuan walked over to Huang Xingguo. At this moment, the CEO was like a mangy dog with its spine ripped out, slumped in his chair, drenched in cold sweat.
Lin Chuan looked down at him from above, his gaze as if he were looking at a pile of trash on the side of the road.
"Factory Director Huang."
"Do you remember what I said back at your factory?"
"Three days."
Lin Chuan held up three fingers and waved them in front of Huang Xingguo's eyes.
"I said I'd make you come and beg me on your knees within three days."
"It seems I overestimated you; you couldn't even last a single day!"
As soon as these words were spoken, the surrounding bosses, who had been watching the drama unfold, didn't dare to make a sound.
Ruthless.
Utterly ruthless.
This wasn't just driving someone to a dead end in business; it was grinding their dignity into the dirt!
Huang Xingguo's entire body shuddered, his lips turning pale.
He understood the current situation all too well.
A Glass Factory was a high-energy-consuming beast. That furnace of molten glass had to be kept at over a thousand degrees Celsius, relying entirely on electricity and gas to keep it going.
Now the Thermal Power Plant belonged to Lin Chuan.
This was the equivalent of squeezing his windpipe!
Moreover, in winter here in the Northeast, it reached thirty degrees below zero. Without heating, even a half-day shutdown would cause all the equipment to freeze and crack!
Huang Xingguo had no money left!
Because of that damn Parts Factory, his cash flow had snapped!
He needed to get the factory running and earning money immediately.
If Lin Chuan cut his power and gas now... in less than half a month, he'd be buried under a mountain of bad debt and would never recover for the rest of his life!
As for seeking help from the authorities?
Don't be ridiculous!
That Hong Kong Businessman named Chen was now the city's 'God of Wealth.' He had just coughed up over ten million to buy two massive, burdensome factories. The officials couldn't wait to pamper him; who would offend the current titan to help a washed-up local bully like him?
"Old Huang! What are you thinking?!"
At that moment, the shareholders behind him couldn't sit still anymore.
They swarmed forward with anxious, angry faces, their spit flying onto Huang Xingguo's face.
"You caused this mess! You fix it!"
"If the factory goes under, you'll have to compensate us for all our losses!"
"Hurry up! Apologize to Mr. Lin! What are you acting tough for!"
"Exactly! As long as the factory is saved, how much is that old face of yours worth anyway?!"
The shareholders' pressure became the final straw that broke the camel's back.
Huang Xingguo gritted his teeth, his fleshy face twisting into a hideous contortion.
He suddenly whipped his head around, looking at Zhang Yaoyao, who was still dazed and confused about what had happened.
"It's all because of you, you jinx!!"
Huang Xingguo let out a roar, venting all his pent-up fury on this woman.
"If it weren't for you, would I have ever offended Mr. Lin?!"
Slap—!!
A full-swing backhand slap landed squarely on Zhang Yaoyao's meticulously made-up face.
"Ah!!"
Zhang Yaoyao screamed. The blow sent stars dancing before her eyes as she collapsed to the ground, half her face instantly swelling up like a steamed bun.
"Give me back my necklace! You think you're worthy of wearing this?!"
Like a mad dog, Huang Xingguo grabbed the thick gold chain around Zhang Yaoyao's neck.
He yanked it violently!
Snap!
A bloody welt was instantly torn into Zhang Yaoyao's fair neck.
The gold necklace was forcibly ripped apart!
Huang Xingguo stuffed the necklace into his pocket, not even sparing a glance at the wailing Zhang Yaoyao on the floor.
He turned around to face Lin Chuan.
His knees buckled.
Thud!!
The sound of him kneeling was incredibly loud; the sound of kneecaps hitting the solid wood floor was painful just to hear.
Huang Xingguo lay prostrate, his head pressed hard against the floor, his body trembling as his voice filled with tears and despair.
"Master Lin!!!"
"I was blind not to recognize your greatness! I was blinded by my own greed!"
"I was wrong! I was truly wrong!"
"Please, be the bigger man and let a nobody like me go!"
"I beg you to show mercy! Please don't cut my power!!"
The entire hall fell into a deathly silence.
Huang Bancheng, who had just been boasting about becoming the Glass King.
Factory Director Huang, who had just been threatening to make others kneel.
He was now like a stray dog with a broken back, kneeling at a young man's feet and kowtowing for mercy.
This was the business world.
This was reality.
Lin Chuan looked down at Huang Xingguo.
He showed no pity, nor did he display the wild ecstasy of a long-awaited revenge.
There was only indifference.
The indifference of someone who had lived two lives and held high positions for a long time.
"Heh."
Lin Chuan chuckled softly, as if he had heard a joke that wasn't particularly funny.
"Factory Director Huang."
"Knowing when to yield... you're quite the character."
"Fine, I'm not an unreasonable person either."
Huang Xingguo was overjoyed at these words. He snapped his head up, his eyes filled with a glimmer of hope.
"Thank you, Master Lin!"
"Thank you for what? I never said I was going to forgive you."
Lin Chuan's tone shifted, and his smile instantly became ice-cold.
"It's good that you know you were wrong."
"However..."
Lin Chuan adjusted his sleeves and said nonchalantly:
"I don't have the habit of forgiving people."
"Since you've done wrong, you must pay the price."
Lin Chuan leaned down, staring into Huang Xingguo's despairing eyes, and pronounced his sentence word by word:
"Hurry back and buy some candles."
"Or, while you're not yet bankrupt, sell that Parts Factory to pay off your debts."
Having said that,
Lin Chuan didn't look at him again. He turned and offered his arm for Chu Yueli, who had been looking at him with stars in her eyes, to take.
"Let's go, Miss Chu."
"Mr. Lin, you have to give my Meat Processing Plant electricity."
"I'll give you full power. The portion that originally belonged to the Glass Factory will all go to you guys, hahaha."
"Mm-hmm! Mr. Lin, you're so good!" Chu Yueli replied sweetly, snuggling close to Lin Chuan like a proud little swan.
The two turned to walk out.
"No! Mr. Lin! You can't leave!!"
Seeing this, the shareholders completely lost their heads.
If Lin Chuan left now, it would be a total dead end!
Several people instinctively rushed forward to block Lin Chuan's path.
"Mr. Lin! Let's talk some more! The price is negotiable!"
"Don't go, Mr. Lin!"
"Mr. Lin, cutting off someone's livelihood is like killing their parents. Are you sure you want to be this extreme?"
"We have some influence in the Northeast too. Let's not make this a fight to the death."
A few of the more influential shareholders couldn't help but voice threats.
Once the factory stopped, everything they had invested would be as good as flushed down the toilet.
Who could bear that!
Since the soft approach didn't work, they would try the hard way.
But at that moment,
"Hmph!"
A cold snort, like a sudden clap of thunder, made their eardrums throb with pain.
Long Wu, who had been silent all this time, suddenly took a step forward.
That tower-like physique instantly stood behind Lin Chuan.
His dead-fish eyes opened slightly, his gaze fierce, like a savage primordial beast.
No movement was necessary.
Just a single look.
The violence and murderous aura radiating from his very bones felt like a bucket of ice water poured over the shareholders.
The group instantly froze in place.
Their legs were trembling uncontrollably.
They had an intuition.
If anyone dared to take half a step further,
this giant would truly crush their heads like watermelons!
"Beat it."
A single word escaped Long Wu's lips.
Those bosses worth millions were actually scared by that one word into retreating repeatedly; one even had his legs give out and sat right down on the floor.
They could only watch helplessly as Lin Chuan and his group,
under everyone's gaze, walked away.
Meanwhile, Lin Chuan received a new system notification.