Lin Hai quickly turned his head to the side, dodging the fierce punch.
He looked up and saw an old man in coarse clothes standing right in front of him. He had a tall, straight figure, eyes sharp as lightning, and a bit of an expert’s vibe.
“Hmph!” The old man let out a cold snort and assumed a fighting stance, ready to strike again.
“Old Wang, stop!” A voice rang out from the entrance.
Lin Hai followed the sound and saw a man around thirty years old walking in.
“It’s him?” Lin Hai’s eyes lit up.
Bai Chi had just scrambled to his feet. Seeing the man come in, he hurried over in a panic.
“President Ye, perfect timing! This guy came to stir up trouble at the company. I tried to reason with him nicely, but he hit me and even took out all the security guards. Quick, have Old Wang arrest him.”
“Are you giving me orders?” The man’s expression suddenly turned cold.
“What? No, no, President Ye, I mean…” The man didn’t even finish his sentence because Ye Ziyu was already walking straight toward Lin Hai.
“Haha, little Hai, it’s been a while since we last saw each other at the jigsaw gambling den, my friend.” Ye Ziyu directly put his arm around Lin Hai’s shoulder.
“Hey, I’m not into guys, you know.” Lin Hai quickly broke free from Ye Ziyu’s arm.
“President Ye, you, you two…” Seeing how familiar Ye Ziyu and Lin Hai were with each other, Bai Chi was completely stunned.
Ye Ziyu gave him a sideways glance, then turned his head to look at Lin Hai.
“Little Hai, what exactly happened just now?”
Lin Hai didn’t hide anything and told him the whole story from beginning to end.
The more Ye Ziyu listened, the darker his face became, with anger burning in his eyes.
He spun around and kicked Bai Chi hard in the stomach, sending him flying onto his back.
“I never would have imagined that in front of me, you act all diligent and hardworking, but behind my back, you’re this kind of garbage. From now on, you’re fired.”
“What? President Ye, no, please don’t, President Ye!” Bai Chi quickly crawled over, hugging Ye Ziyu’s leg and begging.
He had fought tooth and nail to get this manager position. Now he had money, he had women—how could he bear to lose it all?
Ye Ziyu kicked Bai Chi away like a dog.
“Throw him out!” A few security guards came over, shoving and cursing at him as they kicked Bai Chi out. They moved way faster and more eagerly than when they had dealt with Lin Hai.
“President Ye, I was wrong! Give me one more chance!” Bai Chi wailed, but unfortunately, Ye Ziyu didn’t even glance at him.
“Little Hai, although this cosmetics company is one of my businesses, I usually don’t manage it much. I’m really sorry about what happened today,” Ye Ziyu said apologetically.
“Come on, do we really need to say things like that between us?” Lin Hai waved his hand generously.
“Haha, good brother, that’s what I like about you. Oh, right, did you come here today to discuss a collaboration with the company?”
Lin Hai immediately perked up at this.
“Exactly, exactly! Isn’t your company making face masks? I want to buy in.”
“Buy in?” Ye Ziyu was taken aback. Why was he suddenly talking about buying in?
Lin Hai seemed to notice Ye Ziyu’s hesitation and gently tapped him on the shoulder.
“I didn’t know this company was yours before. Now that I do, of course I want to buy in.”
“Oh? So, how much money are you planning to invest for your stake?” Ye Ziyu asked seriously. After all, even close brothers need to settle accounts clearly.
“Who said anything about investing money?” Lin Hai looked puzzled. “What I want is equity for nothing.”
“Cough, cough, cough, cough…” Ye Ziyu nearly choked.
“Little Hai, are you here to rip me off? Come on, stop messing around.” Ye Ziyu smiled and shook his head.
“Who’s messing around? I’m serious,” Lin Hai said with a straight face.
“Haha, you rascal, you sure act convincingly…”
“Hey, I said, brother Ye, I’m telling you the truth. Please be serious, okay?” Lin Hai was feeling helpless.
“Alright, alright, I’ll be serious, I’ll be serious.” Ye Ziyu said this, but his face clearly showed that he didn’t take it seriously at all.
Oh man, if I don’t show you the real deal, you’ll think I’m just playing around with you, won’t you?
Lin Hai quickly pulled the mineral water bottle filled with Yaochi water out of his pants pocket.
“See this?” Lin Hai waved it in front of Ye Ziyu.
“I see it,” Ye Ziyu nodded. He had no idea what Lin Hai was up to.
“Use this water to make your face masks, and consider it my investment. I’m not asking for much, and I’m not trying to take your big shareholder status away. We’re good brothers, so just give me forty percent of the shares, and that’s enough.” Lin Hai said very casually.
Pfft!
“How much did you say?” Ye Ziyu thought he had misheard.
“Forty percent? Listen, don’t give me more than that, or I’ll get mad!” Lin Hai glared.
Ye Ziyu rolled his eyes hard at him. “Don’t give you more, or you’ll get mad”? Even giving you one percent would make me an idiot.
“Little Hai, you must be really bored today, just messing with your big brother Ye. Come on, let’s go to my office, have some tea, and chat.”
“No way! I’ve finally got you, a big boss, cornered. If I don’t make this deal happen, do you think I’ll let you leave? You have to give me those shares!” Lin Hai quickly blocked Ye Ziyu’s way.
“Little Hai, if you keep fooling around like this, it’s not fun anymore.” They were familiar with each other, but they had only met twice—nowhere near the point of giving away shares for free.
“Who’s fooling around? I’m telling you, brother Ye, my dear big shot, I’m being serious with you.”
“Serious? You want to trade this bottle of mineral water for forty percent of my company’s shares?”
“Yeah, that’s right.” Lin Hai nodded.
“You…” Ye Ziyu was at a loss for words. If it weren’t for what happened at the jigsaw gambling den, and knowing that Lin Hai wasn’t an ordinary person, Ye Ziyu might have lost his temper right then.
“Brother Ye, let me be honest with you. This water isn’t ordinary. Use it to replace the water content in your company’s face mask essence, and you’ll see the effect for yourself.”
“Oh?” Lin Hai’s words finally made Ye Ziyu pay attention. After all, he also felt that someone with Lin Hai’s special abilities wouldn’t mess around like this.
“Alright then, come with me to the workshop.”
“President Ye!”
“Hello, President Ye!”
As soon as they entered the workshop, the workers greeted Ye Ziyu.
“Get Chief Engineer Liu for me,” Ye Ziyu instructed someone behind him.
Before long, a middle-aged woman in a blue work uniform walked over.
“President Ye, what do you need me for?” Chief Engineer Liu seemed like someone who wasn’t good with words. Even when meeting her own boss, she didn’t bother with pleasantries.
Ye Ziyu didn’t say anything. Instead, he glanced at Lin Hai.
“Hello, you’re Chief Engineer Liu, right?” Lin Hai stepped forward, knowing that whether he succeeded today depended on her.
“Yes, what is it?” Chief Engineer Liu nodded.
“I have a type of water here. If you use it to replace the water in your essence, it can greatly improve the effectiveness of your face masks…”
“That’s impossible!” Chief Engineer Liu cut Lin Hai off before he could finish.
“Uh… let me finish.”
“No need.” Chief Engineer Liu waved her hand directly. “From what you just said, you’re clearly an amateur. The essence of the essence lies in the herbal extracts inside. Water has nothing to do with it.”
“President Ye, if there’s nothing else, I’ll be going.” Chief Engineer Liu greeted Ye Ziyu and turned to leave.
“Wait a minute!” Lin Hai quickly stopped her. Man, if she leaves now, what’s the point of me even being here?
“Chief Engineer Liu, don’t be so absolute. This water of mine…”
“Don’t say any more. I’ve got over ten years of experience. Don’t you think I know whether water is useful or not?”
“But this water of mine isn’t ordinary. It…”
“No water is useful, no matter how special!”
“Why don’t you at least try it…”
“There’s no need to try. A face mask’s effectiveness has nothing to do with water.”
Geez! Can you let me finish one sentence?
Lin Hai was getting angry.
“Alright, enough talk. If this water of mine works, dare you give it a try?”
“It’s not that I don’t dare, it’s that it’s pointless.” Chief Engineer Liu shook her head.
Man! If she weren’t a woman, Lin Hai would have wanted to stomp on her feet.
“Gosh, I can’t accept this. Use my water for a test. If it doesn’t work, I’ll eat the face mask we make right on the spot.”
“There’s really no need…”
“Just say whether you dare or not!” Lin Hai’s temper flared up as well.
“Fine, it looks like you won’t give up until you see it for yourself. Follow me.”
Chief Engineer Liu’s stubborn side also kicked in, and she led Lin Hai toward the production line.
Ye Ziyu was now intrigued as well and got up to follow.
“Pour the water in over there,” she said, pointing to a machine.
Lin Hai didn’t waste any words. He twisted off the cap and poured the water in.
“Start it up,” Chief Engineer Liu said. With that, the machine rumbled to life.
Lin Hai’s heart tightened immediately.
