Chapter 4
The Lin family started cultivating freshwater pearls with the generation of Lin Langyi's grandfather. Initially, they simply relied on the mountains and rivers for their livelihood. By the time of her father, Lin Liaoyuan, the family had three listed companies, and the Lin family was involved in most of the well-established aquaculture areas in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River.
Unlike the Cheng family and other more prominent families that are involved in multiple industries, Lin Langyi's family has been doing this for generations. Specializing in one thing can indeed lead to expertise, but at the same time, putting all your eggs in one basket also reduces your ability to withstand risks.
Cultivating freshwater mussels requires very high levels of fertility in the water and abundance of food organisms. Ideally, the water transparency should be around 30 centimeters, which means that the water in the cultivation ponds will never appear very clear.
A few years ago, the country began to promote the slogan of "green mountains and clear waters". Last year, water management forced the industry to transform and upgrade. Environmental protection requirements are getting higher and higher. Almost 60% of freshwater pearl farming bases were forced to shut down and rectify. Many peers who could cut their losses and survive have left. However, Lin's is not willing to just cut its losses and leave.
What's more complicated is that, because his grandfather's last wish before he passed away was to return to his roots, to his grandmother's village, Lin Liaoyuan decided to return to his hometown as a respected local figure and bring together several nearby underdeveloped villages to jointly raise freshwater pearls and help the village get rich.
The initial investments were all made by the Lin family, but when they suddenly encountered a policy freeze, even the strongest foundation was severely damaged.
Originally, the Lin family's freshwater pearls didn't need to be sold to individual customers; commercial orders were enough to make the Lin family thrive. But this blow has forced them to put live streaming and events like opening oysters for tourists on-site into the schedule.
Lin Langyi sat in front of the equipment in the live broadcast room, dressed up in a flamboyant manner, acting as a model for finished pearl jewelry.
Selling loose beads for DIY and selling finished products are completely different in terms of pricing. One focuses on volume, while the other aims to create a blockbuster product. Comparatively speaking, loose beads currently have better overall sales performance.
Therefore, Lin Langyi did not appear in the live broadcast room as a display stand for finished jewelry very often.
She obediently raised her hand when told to and turned around when told to, thinking to herself that the new anchor she had signed two weeks ago would be starting work soon, and that tonight would probably be her last show.
Thinking that she could finally be free, Lin Langyi couldn't help but smile with joy. She could even calmly deal with the two troublesome IDs that suddenly appeared in the live broadcast room.
Du Jing had already warned me earlier that tonight there were a few losers, I don’t know if they were colleagues or just looking for attention online, who kept spamming the chat asking where the Lin family’s eldest daughter was and why she wasn’t streaming. When they got banned, they immediately switched accounts and kept spamming.
As soon as Lin Langyi went online, those accounts started asking maliciously why the streamers in other live streams could call her "brother," make heart gestures, and dance, but here she was just a mute bride, wiping down other normal comments asking about styles and prices.
Lin Langyi took off the No. 11 necklace from her neck and, with her sharp eyes, caught the comments that were about to be scrolled down to the top, asking to see the No. 7 necklace. While putting it on, she replied, "You can go to the dance live stream and send gifts to support me."
As soon as he finished speaking, the two accounts started sending gifts one after another, and their loyalty points immediately soared.
Unexpectedly, Lin Langyi was now completely baffled.
I roughly counted, and in less than ten minutes, each person spent 12,000 yuan. Her live stream room is small and she doesn't have many fans. I've never seen such a display of generosity before. She's really going all out.
She waited for a while, until the frequency of the gifts sent by the other party slowed down, until finally the other party started to greet her impatiently. Only then did she reluctantly nod.
"I'm not very good at it, and I don't really understand it, but I can give it a try."
With an extraordinary respect for money, Lin Langyi played a borderline erotic song that had recently become a viral sensation online. As soon as he raised his hand to make the first gesture of resting his chin on his hand, the live stream screen went black.
The comments were still being posted, and she followed suit with two fake comments:
[Host]: Oh, sorry, I forgot that this song is banned on the platform due to the crackdown on pornography and illegal publications, so I can't play it.
[Host]: I didn't expect the moderators to arrive so quickly TT.
[Host]: I'll never do it again QAQ
Putting down her phone, Lin Langyi calmly gave the stunned Du Jing an OK sign, her tone sincere: "Five-second prelude, take 40,000 Meimei and end the broadcast."
Du Jing whispered, "But the live stream will be shut down for 24 hours."
Lin Langyi: "Didn't you guys work overtime today? You can take a day off tomorrow."
The live stream room immediately filled with a joyful atmosphere.
Lin Langyi smiled and lowered her head to feel around the back of her neck. She paused when she touched the clasp, and looked up as if she sensed something.
Lin Liaoyuan and a group of people were standing outside the transparent glass, pointing inside and enthusiastically introducing something.
In the middle of the crowd stood a tall and slender man. He casually draped a black suit with a dark pattern over his arm, and wore a white shirt with a wide Windsor collar that exuded a restrained and noble air. He also wore a silk satin tie with excellent luster. Among the group of men who were inevitably a bit sloppy after socializing, he stood out with his outstanding temperament.
Lin Langyi's gaze finally fell on the man's face as she looked up. As she recognized him, the clasp at the back of her neck unknowingly came undone, and the entire pearl necklace fell limply to her lap with a "whoosh."
She paused, slowly sat up straight, picked up the necklace and placed it on the table, then openly and confidently examined the man's face once more.
His face was incredibly handsome, a perfect blend of skin, bone structure, and physique. The impeccable attire of his suit softened the impact of his almost aloof and unapproachable good looks, but in some ways amplified the sense of absolute distance.
The lighting in the live-streaming room was much brighter than outside. He stood in the shadows facing the light, his fair skin giving off a translucent quality. There was a hint of coldness between his brows, and his dark eyes, when observing people, gave the feeling of tiny thorns piercing the veins after being slowly bound by vines.
Lin Langyi was certain that when they first met, he was looking down at her with a scrutinizing gaze that seemed to penetrate to the very core of her being, a gaze that seemed to judge, ponder, and speculate.
But the next second, he suddenly withdrew the sharp probing in his gaze, smiled slightly at her, and his eyes were so gentle that anyone who saw him would think he was an elegant gentleman.
Lin Liaoyuan waved to her through the glass door of the live broadcast room, signaling her to come out and meet people.
Lin Langyi handed the items to the others, got up and went out. Lin Liaoyuan was already excitedly introducing, "Zhuzhu, the young master of Yingyuan Group is here to visit and exchange ideas with us today."
Lin Langyi looked up at the man.
She has always believed that there is a difference between aristocratic families and the children of the wealthy. Their low-key demeanor, discipline, upbringing, quality, and vision give them an innate sense of superiority without any conflict of interest, as well as a way of life that aligns with the Confucian principles of aristocratic families—a life of quiet seclusion amidst the bustling city.
Just as she knows many anecdotes about wealthy businessmen, she knows nothing about the people behind the Yingyuan Group.
For example, the person in front of you.
The man reached out his hand: "Yuan Chuyu."
He barely touched half of Lin Langyi's hand, giving her fingers a brief squeeze before letting go.
Lin Langyi noticed that he had two band-aids on the fingers of his right hand.
"Just now, there was a child running around in the corridor outside the private room with a cup. He accidentally broke it, and his mother just picked him up and left."
"When Mr. Yuan passed by, he picked up all the glass shards, wrapped them in paper, and then secured them with tape. He even wrote 'Sharp Object' on them with a marker to prevent the cleaner from getting hurt..." Lin Langyi's older brother, Lin Xiangshuo, spoke eloquently from the side, his tone full of admiration.
“We didn’t know about this. He carried the fragments with him all the way and only threw them away at the recycling bins outside just now.”
"After asking him, I quickly put a band-aid on his wound."
"Mr. Yuan is really...so cultured. It is no wonder that he was raised in such a family with a broad and elegant family tradition."
Lin Langyi glanced at Yuan Chuyu, receiving a humble and kind smile in return.
She had encountered an arrogant and willful Cheng Yanjin at dinner, and now she met a well-mannered Yuan Chuyu. The difference was like night and day, and she was momentarily dazed.
The group continued upstairs. Since Chu Yu had arrived late, it wasn't appropriate for him to visit the outdoor breeding ponds, so they could only show him around the company grounds.
Lin Lang noticed that Lin Liaoyuan was leading people towards the core area of the research lab, so he quickly pulled Lin Xiangshuo aside.
Lin Xiangshuo, who had clearly been drinking, turned his head and looked at her with a puzzled expression.
"How could you bring people there?" Lin Langyi glanced at Yuan Chuyu's broad shoulders and narrow waist, and questioned in a low voice, "You can bring people in to visit any place? Aren't you afraid of leaking secrets?"
Lin Xiangshuo didn't think it was a problem: "Dad just bragged about it to someone at the dinner table, and even specifically praised it as your idea, so Yuan Chuyu said he wanted to come and see."
He also glanced at Yuan Chuyu: "Ying Yuan may be interested in making an investment."
Lin Langyi hesitated.
The research lab upstairs mainly focuses on automated clean-water aquaculture, and this technology has already reached the stage of practical application.
The reason why the Lin family can continue to move forward despite the heavy burden instead of having all breeding sites closed and suspended is that they have piloted and implemented their exclusive new technology ahead of schedule. Time is tight, so they can only use and modify the initial version as they go.
This is the lifeline, the life-saving medicine, and the key technology that will allow Lin's Pearl to survive and become an industry leader again.
Lin Langyi could understand Lin Liaoyuan's motivation for introducing it to Yuan Chuyu. The reason was simple: the initial investment would be too expensive if it were to be promoted and applied to the whole country.
If Yuan Chuyu were to consider investing, that would be exactly what we wanted.
During their hushed conversation, Yuan Chuyu suddenly glanced back and saw Lin Langyi following a group of people at a distance. He deliberately slowed down and waited for her for a few seconds.
Unbeknownst to Lin Langyi, she entered the core area of the fifth floor alongside him.
The first thing you see is a row of microscopic simulated aquaculture systems, three types of water quality samples for disease prevention, a series of tailwater transport and purification facilities such as anaerobic, aeration, sedimentation, and secondary ecological pond filtration, as well as a culture room used to cultivate algae and microorganisms as essential nutrients for pearl mussels.
Yuan Chuyu stood in front of each water tank for a long time to observe it.
The core laboratory didn't smell good, but he, who had grown up in a pampered environment, showed no sign of disgust or avoidance in this space. He listened attentively to the introduction and maintained eye contact with the other party, encouraging them to talk more and in more detail.
We walked up to a tank with a particularly strong sour and rotten smell. It was the feed currently used for irrigating pearl mussels in designated breeding areas, and it contained anti-disease agents.
Unlike the others, Yuan Chuyu was not deterred by the smell. Instead, he approached the water tank, leaned slightly forward, and looked down to observe it.
His silk tie draped gracefully down his chest.
Suddenly, a hand abruptly cut in front of him, swiftly grabbing the end of his tie.
It was too late; the expensive fabric had been soaked in the culture medium, and immediately a large, irregular yellow-green stain appeared.
"Ah..." Yuan Chuyu then realized and let out a soft sigh of regret.
"I'm so sorry it got dirty." Lin Langyi was still holding his tie, and suggested, "Mr. Yuan, please take it off. We'll dry clean it here and return it to you."
"It's alright, it was my own carelessness." He turned his face and smiled gently at her. "There's no need to trouble yourself, I'll handle it myself."
After he refused, he tried to straighten up and pull his tie back, but the hand gripping his tie tightened instead of loosening. Lin Langyi used her wrist force, forcing him to lean back slightly and move closer to her.
This gesture is somewhat impolite.
She held him captive, his hands in his pockets, his back slightly bent in a smooth arc, as if she had pulled a rope from around his neck, and he was forced to offer his neck for execution.
Lin Langyi smiled at him with her eyes crinkling, persisting, "Let's take it off."
Her gaze remained fixed on his face, but she spoke to the person behind her: "Xiaoyu, Mr. Yuan needs a tie. Bring a new one over."
Yuan Chuyu stared at her in that position for a long time, and that probing aura silently wrapped around her again, like the long, tight coils of a cold-blooded snake, slowly depriving its prey of the thin oxygen, thus enjoying the taste of strangulation.
A moment later, he suddenly curled his lips into a gentle smile, his long eyelashes drooping down, and even the curve of his eyes extended slightly downwards without any aggression, making him look extremely innocent.
He apologized very politely, saying, "It was my oversight."
Yuan Chuyu obediently raised his chin, loosened his tie with one hand, his Adam's apple bobbed, and as he straightened up, he also unbuttoned two buttons on his shirt.
He folded the tie neatly, concealing any dirt on the inside, making sure the person handling it wouldn't get their hands dirty, before handing it to Lin Langyi, apologizing again: "Thank you for your trouble."
Lin Langyi handed the tie to Xiaoyu and gave her a wink. Xiaoyu understood and left.
The incident was insignificant, and soon the group moved on to the next water tank.
Lin Langyi followed closely behind Yuan Chuyu, staring intently at his back.
Last year, a winery's brewing secrets were leaked, and the source of the suspicion was a "commercial spy" among the visitors who accidentally got wine stains on their clothes.
The final conclusion is unknown, but given the lessons learned from past bloodshed, Lin Langyi did not hesitate to speculate with the worst possible malice.
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