Chapter 597: Five-Year Plan, Advancing One Pawn a Day, Year-End Summary

When Lin Chu woke up the next day, he saw a message from Misha. She had already asked her parents, and they had agreed.

Their attitude seemed a bit too eager.

He casually replied to congratulate her on joining and thought no more of it.

Then he went back to his routine, doing his own thing.

Working out, reading, cultivating his mind, and maintaining his self-discipline.

All his current projects had already been set in motion.

The project’s foundational infrastructure required time.

Hiring people also required time.

Cultivating suppliers and developing the supply chain would take even more time.

As things stood, what he needed most was to wait patiently, build up his strength, and while he was at it… make a baby.

Just as gestating a new life requires patience, almost everything in this world demands it.

This was one of the “make-up lessons” he was giving himself.

After all, even back in school, he had been the type to cram just before final exams.

Patience?

What a joke!

For a man who had once lacked both emotional and material wealth, his former impatience for quick success was inevitable.

Now, however, he could afford to play the long game.

Strategic resolve was something he had to learn, learn thoroughly, and learn from the Great Helmsman.

To plan things in five-year increments.

He who does not plan for the whole cannot plan for a part.

Of course, on top of this, he also had to ensure he made steady, daily progress—one small step at a time.

Lin Chu set a “small goal” for himself: make one new friend each month. No more, just one was enough.

That was twelve a year.

And in ten years, one hundred and twenty.

That would be more than enough.

And when it came to choosing these friends, Lin Chu naturally had his own criteria.

…

“Hello, Wu Hao. Please, have a seat.”

On a bright, sunny afternoon, Lin Chu had specially summoned the young man to his private island.

Wu Hao was a top graduate from a Martial Arts School. A child from the Northwest Mountains, he had been sent to the school at eight years old and was now nineteen. He wasn’t tall, standing just under five-foot-nine, but he was as lean and powerful as a leopard. His eyes were sharp and bright, and his steps were silent.

Throughout history, there have been many ways to cultivate a core group of loyal followers.

Emperors relied on officials, Confucian doctrine, privileged classes, and the imperial examination system.

Merchants relied on profit, phantom stock, dividends, and long-term contracts.

The heroes of Liang Mountain… well, they usually started by slaughtering a person’s entire family to force them into joining their ranks.

For a modern person, absolute loyalty is a difficult concept to discuss, let alone define or quantify, outside of one’s closest blood relatives.

But with his panel, he could do just that.

Lin Chu used to think the most incredible thing about the panel was the rebate function.

Now, his opinion had changed. The most incredible thing about the panel was its ability to help him choose the right people.

Of course, that was also because he had already had his fill.

Wu Hao was quite surprised by the big boss’s sudden summons. His every move revealed a slight stiffness, but he didn’t seem subservient.

Those who practice martial arts have a certain spirit about them.

“President Lin, you wanted to see me about something?”

he asked in a low voice.

While maintaining a stoic expression, he scanned his surroundings, inwardly marveling at the scene. It was extravagantly luxurious. He had arrived by helicopter, and the castle before him… it was like the fortress of a local king, something he could barely have imagined.

“Yes, there is. I asked around. I asked who the best fighter from your graduating class was, and a lot of people recommended you.”

Lin Chu said with a relaxed smile, his legs crossed.

Hearing this, Wu Hao gave a slight nod, not denying it. His fists clenched subtly as he offered an explanation, “I can endure more hardship than anyone else.”

Then he saw the look of appreciation in Lin Chu’s eyes.

A sudden feeling of being acknowledged bloomed in his chest.

“I need one or two personal bodyguards, and I’m in the process of selecting them. Are you interested?”

Lin Chu asked, his tone almost polite.

Wu Hao wasn’t used to such courtesy. He pressed his lips together, thought for a moment, then nodded. “Of course. If I’m paid a salary, I’m expected to work for you. I’ll accept the arrangement.”

“Good. Then you’ll start today.”

“You and I will eat together, live together, and sleep together.”

Wu Hao was taken aback again, unable to make heads or tails of the request. ‘Surely,’ he thought, ‘that’s not necessary?’

But since the boss had said it, he couldn’t refuse. So, he just nodded silently.

“Take a look at this first. If there are no issues, this will be your contract.”

Lin Chu handed him an employment contract.

Wu Hao reached out and took it, his expression grave and serious as he began to read.

When he saw the term, his brow furrowed. Twenty years! The service period for this contract was a full twenty years!

But when he saw the annual salary, his eyes froze.

One million for the first year!

With a 30% increase every year thereafter!

After the twenty-year contract expired, it would convert to an open-ended employment contract, with the salary continuing to increase annually.

Looking at these terms, an indescribable feeling welled up inside Wu Hao.

It felt a bit like an indenture contract.

However, the price was simply too tempting.

“This isn’t fair to you.”

“My body will be at its peak only until I’m around thirty-five. As the saying goes, ‘boxing is a young man’s game.’ When I’m old, I won’t be of much use.”

He looked up at Lin Chu, his tone somber.

He lacked the brashness and restlessness typical of a young man. He was steady—rock-steady, even—but it wasn’t the calmness that comes from worldly experience. It was more like an innate, unbending stubbornness, a core set of fixed principles he used to face everything the world threw at him.

His parents had died when he was a child, and the grandfather who raised him had passed away two years ago. Now, he was utterly and completely alone in the world.