Chapter 589: Lin Chu’s Birthday Gift

Besides the thousand recent graduates from the Martial Arts School…

Gao Haitao was also continuously recruiting people back home. New hires arrived every day, and over the past few days, their numbers had accumulated to nearly a thousand.

They were basically all veterans.

The Security Group he had acquired already had various channels for this sort of recruitment.

With word spreading about high salaries and a strong employee referral program, recruiting wasn’t difficult.

Yuan Fang had also called him about this, though he didn’t say anything of value, merely expressing his concern.

He was already retired and no longer involved himself in business matters, just calling as an “old friend” to check in.

Lin Chu hadn’t expected to bother him anyway.

In addition to these recruits, plus people from various other channels and his hometown, the number of employees on his payroll in Dubai was now approaching five thousand.

Frankly, this was a force to be reckoned with.

And… they didn’t even have any “real work” yet.

He was just keeping them on the payroll, ready for any contingency.

Sometimes, when Lin Chu thought about it, he felt a little dazed. ‘My ambition is getting a bit out of hand.’

But after some hesitation, he suppressed those restless stirrings for the time being.

Defense and offense were two completely different things.

Working for a paycheck and fighting for you with their lives were also two entirely different mindsets.

Of course, there was at least one thing he was sure of—’My foundation is finally beginning to take shape.’

LC Security’s future was aimed at becoming the world’s largest private security company.

The gap, however, was still quite large.

A simple comparison…

G4S, currently the world’s top-ranked security group, had over 650,000 employees in more than 120 countries.

650,000!

What an insane number!

That was enough to sustain a campaign-level war.

The employee counts of other top-ranked security companies were also mostly in the six-figure range.

‘From that perspective, I don’t have enough people.’

‘Not nearly enough.’

‘The right strategy for now is to keep recruiting. Don’t stop!’

…

Everything was developing smoothly.

Maintaining a rhythm of welcoming new arrivals, holding meetings, and giving speeches, time moved on to December 12th, when Lin Chu finally celebrated his twenty-fifth birthday.

It wasn’t a particularly special milestone age.

But for him, it was a time to summarize the past year.

Lin Chu deliberately spent a few hours sorting through the events of his past, then gave himself a fitting self-assessment, which could be summarized in four words: reckless abandon, meteoric rise.

The exponential growth of wealth was just that terrifying.

From the gym to the live-streaming company, to buying a factory, wanting to film short dramas, then acquiring a golf club, then developing luxury goods, various investments, the Security Group, and now, this complex conglomerate that he didn’t even know how to describe…

‘What a thrilling shopping spree!’

‘Sometimes, I feel like a nouveau riche. The pace of my wealth growth is faster than my ability to even manage it.’

He was like the bear in the cornfield, breaking off one cob, taking a few bites, then getting distracted by a new one, breaking that one off, taking a few more bites, and repeating the cycle over and over…

It wasn’t just his career; it was the same with women.

‘Looking back, I have no regrets or shame. What’s done is done. When it comes to romance, I’ve always been a player, and I’m open about it.’

The most satisfying thing about the past year was probably how he had completely solidified his resolve.

No more hesitation.

No more wavering.

The problems that needed solving were solved.

The paths that needed to be considered were clear.

At this moment, Lin Chu even felt that his youth was completely over.

‘Now, I’m already a mature and seasoned “middle-aged man.”‘

The thought made him sigh with a mix of emotions.

‘In just over half a year, money has completely remade me.’

…

「At midnight on the 12th.」

Every single employee of the LC Group, regardless of department or gender, who was registered in the company’s internal system, received a mass email.

The gist of the email was that it was the boss’s birthday, and the entire company would be receiving a gift package.

The gift package contained:

A 1-kilogram gold bar engraved with the words “Happy Birthday.”

A new phone.

A set of Xiangyun Sha clothing from the luxury retail store.

A premium insurance package covering both the employee and their parents, with coverage in the millions.

A permanent voucher for free access to company-affiliated nursing homes for the employee’s parents and kindergartens for their children.

Lin Chu had, of course, prepared all these things long in advance, and each one had been carefully considered.

The gold bar was mainly for the spending rebate.

As for the rest, it was about truly building a company with a human touch. ‘I can’t claim it covers every aspect, but it’s part of my long-term vision.’

Just two days ago, he had specifically asked: since the group’s founding, had anyone voluntarily resigned?

HR’s answer was a turnover rate of less than one percent.

For any company, that was nothing short of a miracle.

Right now, throughout Peng City and even in job-seeking circles nationwide, the LC Group’s reputation was plain to see and universally acclaimed.

“A god-tier company.”

“A god-tier boss.”

“A true entrepreneur.”

Lin Chu was naturally quite proud of these comments. His company now had nearly ten thousand employees, which meant it supported several thousand families. Though he couldn’t change the world on his own, he had at least set a new standard.

All of this was incredibly attractive to top-tier talent.

The group’s headquarters had been established for less than half a year and, to be honest, had no particularly core or well-known business operations. Even so, it was now receiving résumés from recent graduates of Qingbei-level universities.

It was safe to say that, in terms of reputation at least, it was already approaching the level of a first-class, or even top-tier, domestic company.

After the email went out, the company’s various group chats and internal forums exploded with activity. A waterfall of “Happy Birthday, President Lin!” messages flooded the screen.

It was like a massive firework lighting up Lin Chu’s eyes.

In comparison…

The birthday wishes and gifts from the various women in his life, while not insignificant, certainly paled in comparison.

However, he did put on the peace amulet his father had sent from home, which had supposedly been consecrated by a “master.”

Amidst wave after wave of good wishes…

Before going to bed, Lin Chu opened his secure email and took a casual look.

He found an email sent by Li Jingxian at the stroke of midnight.

“Mr. Lin, Mr. Liszt asked me to wish you a happy birthday on his behalf.”

“Mr. Li has heard about everything you’ve been doing in Dubai recently, and he offers his congratulations.”

“He has a birthday gift for you: a chip-embedded wristband that grants access to the Solomon Islands with the second-highest level of clearance… He hopes you might have time to go and take a look.”

Hmm?

Lin Chu’s expression flickered as he read the email.

‘Go to… the Solomon Islands?’

Frankly, the proposal was quite tempting. ‘What on earth has that old fox Liszt been up to? Does he have some black technology I might be interested in, or some other mysterious stuff?’ The idea intrigued Lin Chu.

But an email like this, at a time like this… Although it seemed like an olive branch, it made Lin Chu feel like he was being played—as if the big fish was struggling so hard that the line was about to snap, so the fisherman decided to give it some slack.

‘And I’m the fish, of course.’

“Thank you for Mr. Li’s well wishes, but I’m very busy lately and probably won’t have the time.”

“As for when I might be able to visit, I’m not sure. You may have heard about what I’m doing here in Dubai… I’m busy. Very busy.”

“If Mr. Li has the time, however, I would be delighted to host him for a dinner at my home in Dubai. Consider it a return invitation for his last one. And don’t worry, I’m not so stingy that I’d serve him KFC.”

“Please pass that along, and I wish him well.”

Lin Chu’s fingers flew across the keyboard, his thoughts flowing freely into the reply, a faint smile playing on his lips.

‘Come and get me.’