The next morning, after washing up, Lin BaoCheng came downstairs and found Isabella already there, sitting on the sofa in the living room watching television.
"Morning, Isabella!"
"Good morning, Boss!"
"Have you had breakfast? If not, join me."
"Thank you, Boss, but I've already eaten."
Naturally, Isabella had eaten before coming over.
"Good morning, sir!" Dolci, the butler, walked over.
"Morning," Lin BaoCheng nodded, heading toward the dining room. "Where's YaoXian and the others?"
"Mr. Chen and the others have already eaten. They're outside exercising," Dolci replied, following closely.
"As long as they've eaten, that's fine."
In the dining room, Lin BaoCheng found that breakfast was porridge — something he was very pleased with.
"Isabella, sit down too," he said, gesturing for her to join him. As he ate, he asked: "How's the search for bodyguards going?"
Originally, Lin BaoCheng had tasked Eric with finding suitable bodyguards — preferably white, blacks acceptable, but not Chinese, since in certain American settings Chinese bodyguards weren't appropriate. Later, the responsibility had fallen to Isabella.
Isabella sat and replied: "Boss, because you require bodyguards who not only fight well but are also familiar with firearms, know how to protect people, and are family‑oriented — with wives and children — the search isn't easy. I've shortlisted a few candidates and hired professional investigation firms to check whether their real lives match their profiles."
"In fact, we had found suitable candidates earlier, but they didn't want to be bodyguards, so we had to keep looking. Finding qualified people is hard enough; they also have to be willing to take the job."
"Keep looking. Don't relax the standards," Lin BaoCheng said firmly. He wanted bodyguards to protect him, not liabilities. Men with families and responsibilities were less likely to cause trouble.
"Yes, Boss!" Isabella nodded.
Lin BaoCheng asked no further, but Isabella volunteered another update: "Boss, regarding taxes, I contacted the accounting firm yesterday. They said if you want absolutely no issues, the safest amount is about 3% of revenue, assuming the company is profitable. If not profitable, the tax can be less."
"Then report 3% of revenue," Lin BaoCheng nodded. That would be about 3 million USD — 2 million more than the minimum 1 million. But as a foreigner, he couldn't risk trouble. To earn safely in America, taxes had to be flawless.
Isabella continued: "Boss, without any tax avoidance, we'd owe 8.5 million USD. The villa cost 5.3 million, so there's 200,000 USD left to spend. This must be used on major purchases, not daily expenses."
"Then buy me a car," Lin BaoCheng said after thinking. If he didn't spend it, it would go to the IRS anyway. Better to use it himself.
"Do you have any requirements for brand or performance?" Isabella asked.
Lin BaoCheng shook his head: "No requirements. You choose. Just don't pick a women's model."
"Yes, Boss!" Isabella nodded. She wouldn't have chosen a women's car anyway, unless he specifically asked.
After breakfast, Lin BaoCheng took Isabella and his bodyguards to Galaxy Games' branch office.
As they walked inside, he asked: "Is New Century Software far from here?"
"Not far," Isabella replied. "It's in an office building just a few dozen meters away."
"Good. We'll visit later."
Their arrival drew attention from employees — after all, Lin BaoCheng came with bodyguards, several burly Asian men.
"Boss!" Some of the earlier employees recognized him and hurried over to greet him.
Lin BaoCheng noticed most faces were unfamiliar, only a few he had seen before at the Los Angeles trade fair.
"Boss!" Eric quickly emerged from his office.
The group went into Eric's office.
"Eric, tell me how many stores the company has now."
"Forty stores in total, all already renovated," Eric answered promptly. He added: "Five stores are in New York. The rest are in California. Los Angeles has ten. San Diego, San Jose, and Long Beach each have three. San Francisco, with a stronger economy, has five. The remaining stores are spread across other California cities and counties, each larger population center having one."
New York and Los Angeles stores were naturally more expensive, which explained why the earlier 5 million USD investment had only opened this many.
"I've brought more money this time. I'll transfer 10 million USD into the company account. Use it to continue expanding the channel network," Lin BaoCheng said.
Building channels was costly, especially since he insisted on buying stores rather than renting. Renting was cheaper upfront but riskier long‑term. Eventually, renting was never as cost‑effective as owning.
As for relying on other companies' channels, Lin BaoCheng never considered it. Big companies must own their distribution; otherwise, they hand their lifeline to others — a huge risk.
"Yes, Boss!" Eric said, visibly energized. The more assets he managed, the more value he demonstrated.
"Oh, right. Isabella mentioned the stores are already operating, mainly selling toys. How are sales?" Lin BaoCheng asked suddenly.
He remembered that since they had no in‑house products yet, the stores had initially remained closed after renovation, sitting idle. About a month ago, Isabella had reported that she and Eric thought it wasteful to leave them empty, so they began selling other toy companies' products. Lin BaoCheng had agreed, but hadn't followed up since. Now he wanted to know how it was going.