“Gentleman, would you like to join us?”
Just as Kang Wanxin was silently criticizing.
Experience new stories with empire
Yang Hao suddenly looked at him and asked.
“Uh, me?”
Kang Wanxin was a bit startled, then a brilliant smile appeared on his face.
He thought to himself that this Yang was quite discerning! He had asked two beauties out and still remembered to include him.
He understood that good things should be shared!!
Just as Kang Wanxin was about to accept, he heard Yang Hao say, “By the way, you wanted to eat hotpot!”
“Then forget it, what a pity!”
“No, I…”
Kang Wanxin opened his mouth to object when a noisy clamor of footsteps came from the meeting room entrance, followed by a man dressed in a Zhongshan suit entering the room, surrounded by a group of people.
“Mayor Gao is here…”
“Good day, Mayor Gao!”
People began to greet him; this man, Gao Jiande, was the Deputy Mayor in charge of health and education.
The charity foundation had been organized under the banner: Caring for Orphans!
After its establishment, all the funds raised would be used for the living and educational support of orphans.
Gao Jiande politely greeted everyone, scanning the crowd before striding over to Yang Hao.
“You must be Mr. Yang from Tianmei Media?”
He asked with a smile.
“That’s me, hello, Mayor Gao.”
Yang Hao had not expected the other party to proactively greet him and was somewhat flattered.
Although he was already a billionaire, this was his first time interacting with such a high-ranking official.
Director Hu, who had asked him to attend the meeting, was now lost in the crowd. When Yang Hao was announced as the president of Jiangcheng Newspaper Group, the imposing Director Hu seemed to have not taken President Yang seriously.
And his position among the group here wouldn’t even rank in the top five.
Yang Hao, personally received by Gao Jiande, suddenly became the focus of everyone’s attention, with many becoming curious about his identity.
Kang Wanxin, who had wanted to flare up, was utterly confused!
What’s your status?
You’re actually being personally received by Mayor Gao?
I’m the one being overlooked here!!
Didn’t Mayor Gao just say he seemed to be the president of Tianmei Media?
But that’s wrong; wasn’t he said to be the president of Jiangcheng Newspaper Group?
Even if he were the president of Tianmei Media, he wouldn’t be receiving such special treatment, right??
Kang Wanxin was baffled.
Not just him, even Yang Hao himself was confused. He also didn’t understand why Mayor Gao had singled him out for conversation!
“Mr. Yang, your education fund is doing very well!”
“It has addressed the living issues of impoverished university students and also inspired the enthusiasm for learning among excellent students. I actually wanted to talk to you in person about the foundation, but I’ve been quite busy lately. Today, it seems we have met!”
Said Gao Jiande with a beaming smile.
Only then did Yang Hao understand why, among so many entrepreneurs, he was the one singled out for conversation—he was the Deputy Mayor in charge of education.
He certainly knew about the establishment of an education fund at Jiangcheng University of Finance and Economics, which had received an injection of two hundred million yuan.
After all, education funds of this scale were very rare nationwide, and within the entire Jiangcheng education system, it was unique.
Not even Jiangcheng University’s education fund had received a one-time injection of two hundred million yuan!
As a wealthy entrepreneur willing to donate to charity, Gao Jiande naturally wanted to foster good relations with Yang Hao, which would benefit the establishment of this foundation, as well as his own career.
“Mayor Gao flatters me.”
“I’m a graduate of Jiangcheng University of Finance and Economics. As the saying goes, ‘Don’t forget the well-digger when drinking water.’ The university nurtured me, and it is only right that I give back to the school!”
“Of course, as businessmen like us develop, we can’t do without the help of the government and the support of the people; we should give back to society too!”
Yang Hao found such platitudes to roll off his tongue with ease.
Gao Jiande nodded with a smile and remarked, “If all entrepreneurs had Mr. Yang’s awareness, that would be wonderful!”
Although he was expressing a wish, he was also subtly addressing everyone present, as the more initial funding the foundation could collect, the better.
All the leaders had arrived, and everyone took their seats.
Gao Jiande sat in the center.
Yang Hao was arranged to sit at the first position to the far left of the conference table, a spot that, of course, couldn’t just be taken by anyone.
Being seated at the foremost left position signified that he was the entrepreneur whom the leaders most valued, even to the point of wanting him to set an example!
Kang Wanxin, on the other hand, was placed at the sixth position on the left, a whole five seats away from Yang Hao.
Though aware that Yang Hao was still the president of Tianmei Media, he couldn’t help feeling indignant. In his view, the market capitalization bubble of the entertainment industry was far too severe.
Take Tianmei Media, for instance, its current valuation was around seven billion, but in Kang Wanxin’s opinion, it was worth only ten or twenty billion at most!
Just like the song says: It’s all a bubble!
I don’t believe it—how much money can a president of an entertainment company really donate to charity??
The meeting officially began.
Though termed as a preparatory meeting for the charitable foundation, it was in fact a mobilization session to encourage the gathering of entrepreneurs to donate more money.
Gao Jiande first delivered an eloquent speech, mainly detailing the current living environment of orphans, and the orphans referred to here were not only those in orphanages.
Some orphans did not meet the criteria for orphanage admission or were unable to enter orphanages for various reasons.
Initially, Yang Hao wasn’t too interested in Gao Jiande’s remarks, but when he mentioned the “quasi-orphans” living with grandparents or with a disabled parent, Yang Hao couldn’t help thinking of the little girl selling flowers he met in Binjiang Park.
At the time, to see if she was a fraudster, Yang Hao had enabled his “Listening to Heartbeats” skill and learned that the little girl lived with her grandmother and barely managed from meal to meal.
So, situations like this did still exist in society, and their lives were far more difficult than you could imagine.
Ding!
Trigger welfare task: Love Charity.
As a wealthy man, one should have a compassionate heart and practice philanthropy.
Task reward: Charity donations doubled cashback
(Note 1: This welfare task is long-term valid)
(Note 2: Malicious donations are invalid)
While Gao Jiande was speaking, the System’s voice just happened to ring in Yang Hao’s mind.
Nice!
I love doing charity!!
Yang Hao couldn’t help but slightly lift the corners of his mouth.
He was very willing to do something that allowed him to help others, make money, and show off all at once!
“This time, we plan to raise an initial fund of fifty million, and any entrepreneur that participates in the foundation’s donation will be awarded the title of [Charitable Entrepreneur] by Jiangcheng City government…”
Gao Jiande continued to talk about the benefits of participating in donations, which were essentially just honorifics with no practical use, a standard practice seen everywhere.
“We encourage everyone to actively participate in support of our work!”
When Gao Jiande finished speaking, the room erupted in warm applause. Everyone present was a seasoned player—face had to be given, whether they actually donated money was another matter.
Actually, what most people thought was that they could clap until their hands swelled but hoped not to spare a dime.
After the applause died down, Gao Jiande surveyed the venue and finally rested his eyes on Yang Hao, naturally hoping that he would lead the way!
However, this was no easy task. If Yang Hao stood up to lead the way, he would indeed please Gao Jiande but offend the others present, many of whom were just going through the motions. They couldn’t decline the invitation but also didn’t wish to donate.
If you take the lead in donating, then you’re going against everyone, especially if the donation amount was huge—that’s just rubbing it in their faces!
So, Yang Hao didn’t immediately stand up but glanced at his phone as if he had received a message.
“Mayor Gao, may I say a few words?”
At this point, Kang Wanxin, eager to stand out, got to his feet and passionately said, “To take from the people is to use it for the people. We, as entrepreneurs, must not be heedless of our wealth; we should be healers of the world!”
“The Wanxin Group has decided to donate five million!”
This sum had been decided by his father before he came. After all, it was a charitable foundation led by the city. It wouldn’t do to not contribute at all; he had to support the leaders’ work!
Five million was not insignificant. The annual profits of some of the entrepreneurs’ companies present might just be around ten to eighteen million, and they couldn’t possibly spare five million for donations.
This amount was also too high for most people, many of whom came with the attitude of just giving token support. So, after Kang Wanxin announced his five million, the conference room fell into an eerie silence.
Kang Wanxin thought he was making an impression, but the lack of response left him embarrassed.
MD, what’s going on?
Applaud, for goodness sake!!
He cursed inwardly, and that’s when applause actually started…
Ah, there are still some who understand!
Kang Wanxin looked towards the direction of the applause and then saw the face he loathed. He saw Yang Hao clapping while saying, “Magnificent, Mr. Kang!”
“You are truly a role model for us all to learn from!”
While Yang Hao wore a smile on his face, his thoughts were sarcastic: Ah, still know about being a healer of the world!
