As usual, Yao Jing got up early, prepared breakfast, and then freshened up.
By the time Yao Jing finished washing up and changed into a suit dress to leave her room, Lin Zhiming was already sitting in the dining room.
“Good morning,” Lin Zhiming greeted Yao Jing.
“Good morning,” Yao Jing nodded and sat down opposite him.
“After breakfast, I’ll go to the company with you,” Yao Jing said.
Lin Zhiming glanced at Yao Jing and eventually nodded.
Since he didn't plan to get a divorce, the Lin Group, which belonged to him, would inevitably belong to Yao Jing in the future. Letting her see it first wouldn’t hurt.
After finishing breakfast, Yao Jing went to the door to grab a newspaper and sat in the living room to read, while Lin Zhiming cleaned up the dishes and took them to the kitchen.
Five minutes later, the two of them left the house together.
“Drive my car,” Yao Jing said as she handed her car keys to Lin Zhiming.
Yao Jing's car was an Audi A4—not high-end, but better than Lin Zhiming's Hyundai Elantra.
They arrived at the Lin Group at eight-thirty in the morning.
As Yao Jing and Lin Zhiming walked into the Lin Group building together, many people were taken aback.
Yao Jing, dressed in a suit dress, exuded the unique domineering aura of a CEO, making it hard for people to look her in the eye. The sharp sound of her black high heels on the floor struck everyone’s hearts like a heavy punch, making their hearts race inexplicably.
“Every three floors counts as one department, and there are a total of eleven departments. My office is on the top floor,” Lin Zhiming said while walking toward the elevator.
“After you go to your office, I’ll visit each of your departments,” Yao Jing said.
“Okay!” Lin Zhiming nodded with a smile.
“Don’t tell anyone that I’m your wife,” Yao Jing said.
“Incognito visit? That’s a good idea. Feel free to take a look, and if you discover anything, come tell me in my office later,” Lin Zhiming replied.
Yao Jing nodded, and then the two of them entered the elevator together.
Yao Jing got off on the third floor of the office area, while Lin Zhiming went straight up to the top floor.
This day was quite extraordinary for the Lin Group.
Early in the morning, a stunning beauty from an unknown department was wandering through the various office areas. This beauty looked like a seasoned professional, walking confidently in each area and occasionally stopping to chat with someone.
Every man who chatted with her was captivated, almost defenselessly revealing the situation in their departments to her.
On the top floor, in the chairman's office.
“Boss, your wife is causing quite a stir in our company! Every male employee seems distracted,” Wang Hai said with a wry smile.
“Jingjing is the future mistress of this place. It’s good for her to adapt in advance,” Lin Zhiming said with a smile.
“Are you really planning to hand over the Lin Group to your wife?” Wang Hai asked.
“She’s someone who enjoys battling in the workplace. Because of my relationship, she was driven out by the Yao family. Since she doesn’t mention it, we shouldn’t pretend it never happened. Her abilities are enough. Handing the Lin Group over to her will not only make the Yao family regret it but also enhance her status within the Yao family. Most importantly, she can help me make money—it's a win-win situation,” Lin Zhiming smiled and explained.
“Only you, boss, truly know how to make the most of people’s talents,” Wang Hai replied with a smile.
“Has the fine come down yet?” Lin Zhiming asked.
“It should come down before noon,” Wang Hai said.
“Then we’ll just wait patiently... So many people are looking forward to that fine,” Lin Zhiming said, the corners of his mouth curving up into a playful smile.
Time passed slowly.
Yao Jing visited all eleven departments of the Lin Group.
When she reached the top floor, her brow furrowed tightly.
She had thought that the Lin Group, which was waiting for a sky-high fine, would be as anxious as a criminal awaiting judgment. However, the reality was quite the opposite.
The entire Lin Group, all eleven departments, was operating in an orderly fashion!
Previously, Yao Jing had heard that Lin Zhiming had promoted a group of lower-level employees to management positions, and she thought he was being reckless. Now it seemed that Lin Zhiming had done it intentionally.
There was no sign of an impending storm in the entire Lin Group.
Such a situation made Yao Jing even more certain that there must be someone behind Lin Zhiming.
The multi-million dollar necklace from last night, along with the private jet, did not change Yao Jing's view at all.
According to Zhou Wenwei, that necklace was related to the treasure of the Goddess Luo, and it was possible that someone behind Lin Zhiming had bought it in preparation for unlocking the treasure, but Lin Zhiming just happened to have a use for it. Thus, the person behind Lin Zhiming gave it to him, and he returned the favor by gifting it to himself.
As for the private jet, it could completely belong to that person behind Lin Zhiming.
So despite what had happened yesterday, Yao Jing still believed there was a powerful figure behind Lin Zhiming, and the current performance of the Lin Group only confirmed this.
Clearly, those who had been promoted to management positions must have been strategically placed in the Lin Group in advance; otherwise, it would be hard to explain how they adapted to management work so quickly after being promoted.
Such a large-scale infiltration of personnel into the Lin Group could not simply be resolved with money. It required winning enough hearts, making those elites willing to work in lower-level positions!
Yao Jing had seen the personnel files, and some of the promoted individuals had been working in the company’s lower levels for several years!
To keep an elite in a subordinate position for several years required exceptionally strong means and strategy. It was clear that Lin Zhiming was not that kind of person, and he didn’t have the time to win over so many people to work for him!
The conclusion drawn from all this was that there had to be someone behind Lin Zhiming, and that person had likely plotted this for several years.
Lin Zhiming, like those lower-level employees lurking in the company, was also captured by that person and followed their orders. The only difference was that Lin Zhiming might have been placed in the chairman’s position due to being the second young master of the Lin family.
“Thank you for helping Zhiming regain his confidence and for making him behave like an ordinary person. However, Zhiming is my husband, and I won’t let him be just a puppet so easily!” Yao Jing clenched her fists, her eyes flashing with intense fighting spirit.
No woman wants her husband to become worse; Yao Jing was no exception. She didn’t love Lin Zhiming, but she still hoped he could completely break free from his former cowardly self. If Lin Zhiming was simply being used by someone, there was no guarantee he wouldn’t be discarded after losing his usefulness. At that point, the sharp drop could completely destroy the confidence Lin Zhiming had just built, thus utterly annihilating him.
Yao Jing didn’t want to see such a situation arise, so she had to help Lin Zhiming gain more initiative!
Yao Jing walked to the door of the chairman’s office and knocked.
Even though her husband was behind the door, Lin Zhiming was the chairman in the company, and as his wife, Yao Jing should maintain his dignity within the company.
“Come in,” Lin Zhiming’s voice came from behind the door.
Yao Jing pushed the door open and was surprised to find a large group of people standing in the office.
“Are you having a meeting?” Yao Jing asked.
“Mm-hmm!” Lin Zhiming nodded.
At that moment, Wang Hai pulled out a chair and placed it beside Lin Zhiming, smiling as he said, “Madam, please take a seat.”
Yao Jing walked to Lin Zhiming’s side, thanked Wang Hai, and then sat down.
“The fine has just come down,” Lin Zhiming said.
Upon hearing this, Yao Jing’s heart, which had been relatively steady, suddenly tightened.
“How much?” Yao Jing asked.
“Fifty billion,” Lin Zhiming said.
“What?!” Yao Jing looked at Lin Zhiming in shock and asked, “A fifty billion fine?!”
“Yeah!” Lin Zhiming nodded with a smile.
“How can it be that high?!” Yao Jing asked in disbelief. After the Lin Group’s incident, she had instructed the legal department to estimate the fine according to relevant industrial and commercial laws, and the estimated fine was around thirty billion, with fluctuations not exceeding two billion. She never expected that the fine would be set at fifty billion, which could be considered one of the top ten fines in the history of Long Country since its founding.
Perhaps for those in the Fortune Global 500, a fifty billion fine wouldn’t mean much, but for the Lin Group, which had a market value of fifty billion, this fine equated to the entire company's market value!
This did not even include compensation payments!
Once the fine was issued, the Lin Group would have to sell off relevant assets, which everyone understood. In the process of selling these assets, it was inevitable that some original partners' interests would be harmed, leading the Lin Group to have to pay compensation.
Previously, Yao Jing estimated that with a thirty billion fine and around ten billion in compensation payments, the Lin Group should still have about ten billion left in assets.
But now, it seemed that a single fine could be enough to bankrupt the Lin Group. After that, the compensation payments would directly become Lin Zhiming’s debt! Moreover, the even more terrifying aspect was that if the Lin Group went bankrupt, the compensation could exceed ten billion; it might even reach fifteen billion or twenty billion!
“Due to all of the Lin Group’s previous unscrupulous business practices, the industrial and commercial bureau calculated the maximum penalty multiplier for illegal gains. Additionally, someone submitted some damaging information about the Lin Group to the industrial and commercial bureau yesterday. All things considered, a fifty billion fine is actually quite normal,” Lin Zhiming nodded.
“Normal? No, this is not normal at all! The highest penalty multiplier can only be applied to the most severe violations! But I checked, and the Lin Group’s previous unscrupulous practices could only be classified as moderate at most! No, we must appeal!” Yao Jing said excitedly. Normally, she was quite composed, but this fine threw her off balance.
“Regardless of whether it’s moderate or the highest level, the Lin Group has made mistakes. Now that I’ve taken over this mess, I must be prepared to deal with it. We won’t appeal; we will accept the fine as a way to pay for the Lin Group’s actions over the years,” Lin Zhiming said seriously.
“But if it’s this amount of fine, the entire Lin Group will have to go through bankruptcy liquidation!” Yao Jing exclaimed.
“If that’s really the only way, then there’s nothing to be done,” Lin Zhiming replied with a smile.
“How can you still smile at a time like this?” Yao Jing found it hard to understand.
“Since the situation has come to this, laughing or crying won’t change the outcome, so it’s better to smile. At least dying this way looks better,” Lin Zhiming said.
Yao Jing was taken aback, feeling an indescribable sense of carefree attitude from Lin Zhiming.
Just then, the phone on the table rang.
Lin Zhiming answered the phone, and a voice from the other end, which belonged to Shen Hongyue, came through.
“What?!” Yao Jing looked at Lin Zhiming in shock and asked, “A fifty billion fine?!”
“Yeah!” Lin Zhiming nodded with a smile.
“How can it be that high?!” Yao Jing asked in disbelief. After the Lin Group’s incident, she had instructed the legal department to estimate the fine according to relevant industrial and commercial laws, and the estimated fine was around thirty billion, with fluctuations not exceeding two billion. She never expected that the fine would be set at fifty billion, which could be considered one of the top ten fines in the history of Long Country since its founding.
Perhaps for those in the Fortune Global 500, a fifty billion fine wouldn’t mean much, but for the Lin Group, which had a market value of fifty billion, this fine equated to the entire company's market value!
This did not even include compensation payments!
Once the fine was issued, the Lin Group would have to sell off relevant assets, which everyone understood. In the process of selling these assets, it was inevitable that some original partners' interests would be harmed, leading the Lin Group to have to pay compensation.
Previously, Yao Jing estimated that with a thirty billion fine and around ten billion in compensation payments, the Lin Group should still have about ten billion left in assets.
But now, it seemed that a single fine could be enough to bankrupt the Lin Group. After that, the compensation payments would directly become Lin Zhiming’s debt! Moreover, the even more terrifying aspect was that if the Lin Group went bankrupt, the compensation could exceed ten billion; it might even reach fifteen billion or twenty billion!
“Due to all of the Lin Group’s previous unscrupulous business practices, the industrial and commercial bureau calculated the maximum penalty multiplier for illegal gains. Additionally, someone submitted some damaging information about the Lin Group to the industrial and commercial bureau yesterday. All things considered, a fifty billion fine is actually quite normal,” Lin Zhiming nodded.
“Normal? No, this is not normal at all! The highest penalty multiplier can only be applied to the most severe violations! But I checked, and the Lin Group’s previous unscrupulous practices could only be classified as moderate at most! No, we must appeal!” Yao Jing said excitedly. Normally, she was quite composed, but this fine threw her off balance.
“Regardless of whether it’s moderate or the highest level, the Lin Group has made mistakes. Now that I’ve taken over this mess, I must be prepared to deal with it. We won’t appeal; we will accept the fine as a way to pay for the Lin Group’s actions over the years,” Lin Zhiming said seriously.
“But if it’s this amount of fine, the entire Lin Group will have to go through bankruptcy liquidation!” Yao Jing exclaimed.
“If that’s really the only way, then there’s nothing to be done,” Lin Zhiming replied with a smile.
“How can you still smile at a time like this?” Yao Jing found it hard to understand.
“Since the situation has come to this, laughing or crying won’t change the outcome, so it’s better to smile. At least dying this way looks better,” Lin Zhiming said.
Yao Jing was taken aback, feeling an indescribable sense of carefree attitude from Lin Zhiming.
Just then, the phone on the table rang.
Lin Zhiming answered the phone, and a voice from the other end, which belonged to Shen Hongyue, came through.
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