Chapter 370: Chapter 370: A Devastating Blow
The night deepened.
Past midnight, Lin Qi was suddenly startled awake by footsteps outside her door.
She had not been sleeping deeply, and upon hearing the steps, she immediately woke up.
Lin Qi lifted the quilt, ready to turn over and get out of bed.
The next second, Huo Tingdong pushed open the door.
Upon seeing Lin Qi awake, his eyes showed a hint of surprise: “Did I wake you?”
Lin Qi shook her head: “I can’t sleep well when you’re not here.”
After saying this, her face turned slightly red.
She suddenly remembered how she had been slightly resistant to sharing a bed initially but had now grown accustomed to it. When she slept alone, the emptiness beside her made her feel inexplicably uneasy. She tossed and turned and often woke up for no reason.
Lin Qi sat on the edge of the bed, extending her arms towards him: “Husband, hug me…”
Having just woken up, she felt inexplicably insecure.
Huo Tingdong chuckled, rarely seeing her act so coquettishly. Just as he was about to walk over, he suddenly realized he had just come back from outside and hadn’t taken off his coat, which was still cold.
It was getting cooler now.
He said: “I’m cold.”
Lin Qi said: “It’s okay, I’m not afraid of cold.”
Huo Tingdong took off his jacket and gently hugged her.
His large palm stroked her hair, and he asked softly with a slightly raised eyebrow: “Did you have a nightmare?”
Lin Qi replied: “No, just didn’t sleep well.”
Huo Tingdong said: “I returned late, I’ll take a shower before getting into bed.”
Lin Qi lifted her head and gazed at his handsome and tender face, suddenly asking: “Did you visit the Lin Family?”
Huo Tingdong: “Yes.”
Lin Qi: “Did you see Lin Cheng?”
Huo Tingdong: “I did.”
Lin Qi became tense for a moment: “My mother’s ashes… did you get them back?”
Huo Tingdong held her in his arms and sat on the edge of the bed. He had planned to wait until she woke up the next day to tell her since it was so late, but seeing her eagerness to know exactly what had happened, he patiently explained everything to her in detail.
“I got it clear, your mother indeed committed suicide by jumping off a building. At the time, Lin Cheng was pressuring her to divorce. Your mother was willing to take a step back. She was willing to divorce and to sign the papers, but she had two conditions—one was to have your custody, and the other was five million. But Lin Cheng wanted her to leave without a penny.”
Lin Qi was momentarily stunned: “Leave without a penny?”
Huo Tingdong: “She had just been ill, and due to being out of touch with society for too long, it was not possible for her to find a job immediately after the divorce. Even if she did find a job, she could only start working after recovering. The five million was her own plan; the money was to buy a house and pay for your education after the divorce. Even if you wanted to study abroad in the future, it wouldn’t delay you.”
Lin Qi: “And then?”
Huo Tingdong: “But Lin Cheng disagreed; he only agreed to a monthly alimony of 3,000. Your mother had just had an operation, and the post-op care cost much more than that. Desperate, she made that choice.”
Lin Qi gritted her teeth in hatred.
Huo Tingdong: “After your mother died, Lin Cheng’s career started to falter. He became superstitious, thinking it was your mother’s restless spirit causing misfortune. So, he hired a Feng Shui Master, who said that your mother’s destiny was prosperous for the Lin Family, but because she died a wrongful death, she would bring misfortune to the family. Therefore, he set up a Feng Shui arrangement on the outskirts of the city and sunk your mother’s ashes into a dry well, believing that this would allow your mother’s soul to bless the prosperity of the Lin Family for generations but also meant she could never be reincarnated.”
Lin Qi’s mouth gaped open as her heart shattered into pieces.
Though she neither cried nor made a fuss, rings of redness had formed around her eyes.
She felt so heartbroken.
Even though her mother had passed away early, since she could remember, all the warmth she received came from her mom.
After her mom’s death, there was no one left to love and care for her.
The only person in this world who had once loved her was now suffering such torment, unable to find peace even in death, and she clenched her fists in hatred: “He went too far…”
Huo Tingdong embraced her with compassion: “Wife, don’t be sad, he will get his retribution, and it’s coming soon.”
Lin Qi said: “I didn’t want you to get involved in the Lin Family’s affairs before because… I didn’t want to drag you into this, I thought I could handle it on my own. But now, I don’t think that way…”
She lifted her head, her teeth clenched in anger: “He made my mom suffer so miserably, I can’t wait to see the Lin Family go bankrupt tomorrow! To see him lose his wife and children, and have his family destroyed!”
Huo Tingdong said: “I promise you, I will make it happen.”
Lin Qi pursed her lips: “What about my mom’s ashes? Have they been retrieved?”
Huo Tingdong said: “The urn was damaged, I had Mo Ke take it away. Once he has dealt with it, I will bury her ashes in the Huo Family’s ancestral mausoleum.”
Lin Qi was slightly shocked: “You’re going to bury my mom in the Huo Family’s ancestral mausoleum?”
She knew.
For a family as vast as the Huo Family, they had their own private mausoleum, but her mother was not a member of the Huo Family, and yet he decided to bury her mother’s ashes in the Huo Family’s mausoleum.
Huo Tingdong said: “I will handle it as quickly as possible, to let your mother rest in peace soon.”
“Mm, thank you…”
She embraced his shoulders, kissing him on the cheek.
…
Huo Tingdong acted swiftly.
Although the Lin Family was not a small enterprise and had a large public listing, under the massive pressure from the Huo Family, they had no room to breathe.
Early in the morning, in just half a day, Huace made a move, acquiring 30% of Lin Family’s shares.
The Lin Family was thrown into complete disarray.
The Lin Family originated as a family-owned enterprise and, after mergers and acquisitions, the board of directors consisted of over twenty shareholders, big and small. Aside from the 20% of the original shares held by Lin Cheng, the remaining 80% of the shares were dispersed among the other shareholders.
Huace was famously affluent and powerful.
By the afternoon, Huace had progressively acquired 58% of the Lin Family’s shares, nearing the last threshold of life and death in terms of shareholding.
In shareholding, there are three life and death thresholds.
In the board of directors, shareholders with higher percentages of shares have more say.
For instance, shareholders with over 34% of shares possess veto power. The operation and management of a company cannot do without the decisive vote of the upper management.
And a veto right means the ability to reject any proposal.
When the shares reach over 51%, having more than half of the company’s shares equates to having relative controlling power and being the absolute largest shareholder, which means indirectly having control of the company.
And the final life and death threshold is when the shareholding reaches 67%!
Once the shareholding reaches this percentage, it signifies absolute control over the company.
In the final second before the stock market closed in the afternoon, Huace made an additional acquisition of 10% of Lin Family’s shares. Until the market closed, Huace had in total acquired 68% of Lin Family’s shares.
That very night, Huace’s special committee directly arrived at the Lin Family’s office building, restructured all the Lin Family’s senior management, and laid off a large number of employees.