(Please read the synopsis before reading the book. I wish all readers a pleasant reading experience.)
In 2065, in Jiuan City, Qin Province, Hanxia Nation.
This ancient city, with a history of a thousand years, was shrouded in a storm, with silver lightning flashing and thunder rumbling in the sky.
Inside a dimly lit villa in the city center, Ling Chen knelt on a futon, facing the two portraits of the deceased on the offering table, his eyes blurred with tears.
Behind him stood a mixed group of male and female servants. Occasional feigned whimpers from them made the grief-stricken Ling Chen feel incredibly angry.
Fake crying was one thing, but their fake crying wasn't even done properly; it was a cacophony of wailing, like vengeful spirits from the eighteenth layer of hell mocking the Ling Corporation's absurd fate!
If it were normal times, he probably would have turned around and slapped a servant across the face, firing him the next day or on the spot, and kicking him out of the Ling Corporation's gates.
But now, his anger could only fester and grow within him, without the slightest outward display.
Because the Ling Corporation, that colossal entity that once held absolute power in Jiuan City, was about to fall!
His parents, the president and vice president of Ling Pharmaceutical Group, had been in a plane crash a day earlier.
The raging inferno of the plane's wreckage caused a chain reaction, igniting a forest fire, and they, like ordinary people, were reduced to ashes.
Heh, such is the fragility of life. Even if you are worth tens of billions, you cannot withstand natural disasters and man-made calamities.
Ling Chen smiled bitterly to himself. He was just a high school student in his second semester of senior year. His paternal grandfather and paternal grandmother, before their deaths, had built the Ling Corporation into an impenetrable fortress, clearing out countless troublemakers on the board, yet they could still only pave the way for others.
In less than a day, before the cenotaph was even erected and the deceased, now one with the ashes, had found peace, the market value of Ling Pharmaceutical Group had evaporated by over a billion!
Resignation letters and termination contracts, like snowflakes, fluttered down and crashed upon Ling Chen. Now, he couldn't even pay the company's employees. His parents' savings and investments had long been used to cover the losses.
“Sigh, you all go out first and let me be alone.”
Thinking of this, Ling Chen felt an immense headache. He waved his hand, signaling the servants to go about their usual business.
But unexpectedly, the servants behind him did not move a step.
“Hmm? What's wrong? Hurry up.”
Ling Chen turned his head in confusion, looking at the servants standing motionless.
“Qin Butler, what's going on?”
Among the servants, a middle-aged man with temples slightly gray exchanged glances with the others and slowly stepped forward.
“Young Master, can this year's wages be settled?”
Hearing this, Ling Chen was slightly stunned, then gave a bleak smile.
So quickly, even the servants were abandoning him.
But he still agreed.
“Yes, haha, yes. I'll personally get the money for you.”
He was Ling Chen's parents' most trusted head butler, the Qin Butler Ling Chen referred to. No matter how much money was spent on the household's daily operations, Ling Chen's parents never questioned it.
And now, before his parents' funeral was even over, he was asking for his wages to run away.
The servants who heard this were clearly very surprised. They had originally thought Ling Chen would make grand promises and delay paying wages.
But clearly, they had overthought it. A young man who wasn't even 18 yet, how much cunning could he possess?
“Wait, Young Master, there's one more thing.”
Just as Ling Chen was about to turn back and continue mourning his parents, Qin Butler called out to him again, his eyes glinting with greed.
“Could you also settle next year's wages? In case the Ling Corporation pulls through, we would still need to serve you here.”
Ling Chen was stunned again, then understood something, and became furious.
He was a man of integrity, not a fool!
The Ling Corporation definitely wouldn't survive this time. He was only 18, and had no professional business or management experience. How could an 18-year-old prop up a corporation worth tens of billions!
Qin Butler, this middle-aged man who was usually meticulous in front of Ling Chen's parents, was now trying to take advantage of his misfortune, right in front of his parents' memorial tablets and his own face as the Ling Corporation's young master!
Words like “in case the Ling Corporation pulls through” were nothing more than an excuse to extort double the money before leaving!
“Yes, Young Master, the Ling Corporation is blessed by the heavens; it can dominate the entire pharmaceutical industry in Jiuan City. Under your brilliant leadership, it will surely rise again!”
“I have an eight-year-old child below and an eighty-year-old mother above.”
“Yes, Young Master, you are brilliant and mighty, learned and talented, with lofty ambitions… you will surely lead the Ling Corporation back to glory!”
“Young Master, our daughter is getting married, and the groom's side gave too little in betrothal money. It's not enough for the young couple to live on after they go back. Please be merciful and help us out a little!”
The other servants initially didn't react, but after hearing Qin Butler speak, they quickly followed suit!
Their faces wore false smiles, like a pack of dirty hyenas on the African savanna, encountering a badly wounded lion, all swarming forward to get a share!
When the king of beasts can no longer awe the forest, and is covered in wounds, what threat can he pose?
“You! All of you!”
Ling Chen's lips trembled, feeling a rush of blood to his head, an unprecedented fury!
From childhood, he had always been gentle and refined, and others had always been obedient to him. How could he have encountered such ruffian-like behavior?
These servants earned at least 100,000 a year. If he really gave it to them, he would be completely ruined.
A heavy wave of sorrow surged in his heart.
Forget it, there's no point in living. The Ling Corporation has already collapsed. He couldn't even imagine how miserable his latter half of life would be.
He looked at those sycophantic opportunists one last time.
“Alas, heaven wants to destroy me!”
With a long sigh, Ling Chen slammed his head against the hard corner of the sandalwood table.