Rekindling the Youthful Era

Chapter 758 It's Never Too Late for Bamboo Shoots to Take Their Revenge
After confirming Li Luo's true intentions, Xu Rongsheng finally became serious and explained what he had done last week.

"Last Friday, I met with the secretary-general of the Qian Da Education Foundation for a meal and learned about the process of setting up a new grant fund."

Xu Rongsheng took another sip of milk tea and found the young man's drink quite delicious, so he couldn't help but take another sip before continuing.

"You might wonder, why not just donate the money directly to the School of Arts and establish a separate grant fund?"

"This is partly to combat corruption and prevent school leaders from accepting bribes in this way."

"On the other hand, it's also better for yourself, or for reigniting the culture."

At this point, Xu Rongsheng paused for a moment, then asked Li Luo, "How much tax does your Reign Culture pay in a year now?"

"Um... I think I paid over three million last year," Li Luo recalled. "This year I might have to pay even more."

Reign Culture is a rather peculiar company, which is largely due to Li Luo's sources of income.

To put it bluntly, almost all of the company's profits come from Li Luo alone.

This includes regular royalties, song copyright revenue and subsequent revenue sharing, as well as revenue from the sale of novel copyrights.

The year Li Luo first started writing his book was alright, because "I'm Really Not a Star" was just getting started and he didn't pay much tax in total.

However, as his performance continued to improve, especially starting in the second year, channel revenue exploded, and subscriptions on the main site also surged again due to Yuan Wanqing's popularity, bringing Li Luo's income to the tens of millions.

In the third year after that, the rights to "A Little Reunion" were sold, and it became a huge hit when it was released in the summer of the fourth year. "The Great Qian Night Patrol" broke the 80,000 average subscription mark, and the rights to "The Beginning" were reserved...

All of these factors combined, along with the song copyrights from Yuan Wanqing and the continuous revenue from album sales, have resulted in Reign Culture's cash flow reaching an astonishing figure.

Even normal companies would be envious.

After all, assets are assets, and cash flow is a different concept.

For most companies, a net profit margin of 20% is already considered very impressive.

Higher profit margins are generally only achievable by asset-light high-tech companies, luxury brands, and some financial companies.

But for Reign Culture, the company incurs almost no additional costs.

The company is located at the original site of Li Luo's family's breakfast shop. The shop is their own property, so they don't need to rent it.

Theoretically speaking, only Li Guohong and Lin Xiuhong are nominally employees of the company.

Now there's another one, Ying Chanxi.

Besides that, there's Attorney Tian, ​​who is in charge of legal counsel on a daily basis, which is arguably the largest expense within the company.

All of these combined are still a drop in the ocean compared to Li Luo's income.

The profit margin must be at least 90%.

Strictly speaking, Reign Culture is more like an empty shell company.

It was simply established at Li Guoru's suggestion as a way to help Li Luo legally and legitimately avoid taxes.

However, after recently signing two artists, Yan Zhusheng and Ruan Lin, Reign Culture has truly transformed from an empty shell company into a legitimate entertainment and culture company.

"Qianjiang University's Education Foundation is a nationally certified public welfare organization," Xu Rongsheng explained to Li Luo. "Whether it's an individual or a company, donations made to the foundation will be converted into a tax deduction at a certain percentage."

"The exact amount depends on the details of the donation amount, but it's better to have something than nothing."

"So at that time, you can choose to donate to the Qianjiang University Education Foundation in the name of the company that rekindles culture."

"This not only gives you the benefit of tax deduction, but it will also greatly help you build your company's image."

After listening to Xu Rongsheng's words, Li Luo nodded in understanding, having already made up his mind about the matter.

"Uncle Xu, how exactly do we do this?" Li Luo asked. "I'll follow your instructions regarding the procedures."

“Okay, I’ll send you an application document to your email this afternoon,” Xu Rongsheng said. “You can take it to your company’s legal department for a look, and then fill it out according to the requirements.”

"After you fill out this donation application form, forward it to me."

"I'll draft an application form for the establishment of the student aid fund first, and then submit it to the school's Party Committee along with your donation application form."

"The donation will be completed after the school's Party Committee holds a meeting and approves it."

"The donated funds will first pass through the Qian University Education Foundation's accounts, and then be reviewed and approved by the university's Party Committee before being allocated to the newly established student aid fund in the School of Humanities."

"Only in this way can this scholarship fund be considered to have been officially established and put into operation."

"The whole process is estimated to take several months. At the earliest, the scholarship fund will not be operational until the start of next school year."

After finishing his long speech, Xu Rongsheng drank his milk tea, still feeling a bit unsatisfied.

After carefully taking notes, Li Luo nodded in agreement, but then asked, "There shouldn't be any problems with the school's Party Committee, right?"

"Don't worry," Xu Rongsheng said calmly. "Youyu's maternal grandfather works in the school's Party Committee. It's just a scholarship fund; the school doesn't even need to pay for it. No one will refuse."

Upon hearing this, Li Luo couldn't help but inwardly exclaim in surprise, never expecting that Sister Yu's family had such a background.

He had never heard of them in his previous life. He only knew that Xu Youyu's family was a scholarly family, but he never expected them to have such a powerful background.

It's important to know that Qianjiang University is the top-tier university in Qianjiang Province; any university below it is significantly less prestigious.

It's quite remarkable that Xu Youyu's maternal grandfather could hold a position in the Party Committee of Qianjiang University.

Li Luo had previously joked that Xu Youyu's family was an academic clique... Little did he expect that his words would actually come true.

It's no wonder that Cui Suling in her past life felt a bit disappointed in Xu Youyu's online writing, probably hoping that her daughter would pursue an academic career.

Who would have thought this would go astray?
Li Luo and Xu Rongsheng chatted for a long time at a booth in the milk tea shop. After confirming the application process, they discussed many details until lunchtime before ending their meeting.

With lunchtime approaching, the two decided to go to a nearby restaurant for hot pot.

After dinner, Li Luo drove his father-in-law back to his office.

As they got off the bus, Xu Rongsheng reminded him, "I'll send it to your email when I get back. Remember to fill it out and send it to me as soon as possible."

“OK, no problem.” Li Luo made a gesture from the driver’s seat, watched Xu Rongsheng go upstairs, then turned the car around and drove towards Bihai Lanting.

On the way, Li Luo took a moment to call Attorney Tian and explain the relevant matters.

Although Attorney Tian's main practice is in copyright contracts, setting up a foundation does not involve any significant interests; it is only necessary to check for any legal loopholes.

For Attorney Tian, ​​it was just basic stuff, and there was no trouble at all.

So after returning home, Li Luo opened her email, first reviewing the donation application form sent by Xu Rongsheng herself, and then sending a copy to Attorney Tian.

Soon, before evening, Attorney Tian had finished the application form, handed it to Li Luo for review, and after confirming it was correct, sent it to Xu Rongsheng's email address. Now, it was just a matter of waiting for Xu Rongsheng to put in the effort.

Li Luo was also unsure how much benefit setting up a scholarship fund would bring to Xu Rongsheng.

But something is better than nothing.

Moreover, this scholarship fund is just the beginning.

Inspired by Xu Yinghuan's Douyin account, Li Luo had already conceived an even grander plan.

But there's no rush now. Let's wait until we have some progress on this scholarship fund.

With that in mind, Li Luo returned to her daily university life.

That evening, Niu Qingling called me to the club, where I rehearsed the songs I would be performing at the music festival with Yan Zhusheng and the others.

The student union, which organized this music festival, allocated a whole prime time slot for the Sheng Sheng Bu Xi band after hearing that they would also be participating, planning to create a special performance and exhibition for them.

The music festival will be held on the east playground of Qianjiang University, divided into four major exhibition areas: east, west, south, and north.

The two booths in the southeast direction belong to the performing groups from Qianjiang University, while the other two booths are reserved for teams from other universities that are co-organizing the music festival.

Their band, Sheng Sheng Bu Xi, occupied the prime time slot at the main booth in the east, from 7 pm to 8 pm.

It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that they should hold a concert.

After all, it was a joint performance by Yan Zhusheng and Chongran. For someone of their caliber to perform at a small music festival at a university was simply too much of a stretch.

It's perfectly normal to receive this treatment.

Even the promotional posters for this music festival prominently featured their portraits, as if afraid that people wouldn't notice them.

When Li Luo saw the promotional poster at the club, she almost couldn't hold back her laughter.

Yan Zhusheng occupied the largest section in the very center, while Li Luo occupied a fairly conspicuous position on the side.

Shao Youpeng and Xie Shuchen were so small that they were only the size of one of Yan Zhusheng's feet, and they seemed to have no presence at all.

But the most tragic one was Niu Qingling, who, along with her drum set, became a dark silhouette in the background, without even a human face.

The entire poster was designed to create a highly impactful image, and it must be said that the creators behind it are quite skilled.

The intention was too obvious.

"Anyone who didn't know better would think it was Yan Zhusheng's solo concert," Shao Youpeng complained from the side. "Xie Shuchen and I were just like two lackeys."

"Stop nagging." Niu Qingling smiled indifferently from the side. "We only got prime time at the music festival because of Zhu Sheng. Otherwise, we would only have time for one song at most. How could they let us sing so many songs?"

Instead of complaining here, you should hurry up and practice more.

"Otherwise, after an hour, your arms and legs might be too weak to move."

At Niu Qingling's urging, the five band members continued rehearsing.

In this respect, Li Luo and Yan Zhusheng had no problem. With their long-term training, they could easily handle an hour-long performance.

Even if Xie Shuchen and Shao Youpeng really can't hold on anymore, they can still team up and still rock the whole place.

"Are you going home to sleep tonight?" During the break, Yan Zhusheng sat down next to Li Luo, taking small sips of water to moisten her throat, and asked Li Luo.

"Go back if you want."

“Then let’s go back,” Yan Zhusheng said without hesitation, then added, “Don’t tell Xixi.”

Li Luo: "...Can't I even say something?"

"On Saturday, I don't know who it was, and they didn't even tell me beforehand." Yan Zhusheng narrowed her eyes slightly. "And when I called you, was Xixi secretly doing something naughty?"

Li Luo: "..."

Upon hearing Yan Zhusheng's suspicion, Li Luo immediately broke out in a cold sweat. He hadn't expected that this girl's sense of smell was much more sensitive than Ying Chanxi's.

How could someone guess so much just from a single phone call?
"Hmph." Seeing his silent expression, Yan Zhusheng already knew the answer in her heart, so she didn't ask any more questions. She just hugged Li Luodu's arm and whispered, "I'll wait for Xixi to call you tonight too."

Well... these two sisters are really something, how come they're both so vengeful?

Why can't we learn more from Sister Yu?
Li Luo was a little helpless, her face full of happy troubles.

……

After finishing their band practice that evening, Li Luo and Yan Zhusheng each drove back to the Bihai Lanting residential complex, one after the other.

Since it was Monday, Xu Youyu and Ying Chanxi didn't come back and stayed in their dorm room.

When Li Luo led Yan Zhusheng home, there were only the two of them in the house.

After taking Yan Zhusheng to the bathroom for a nice bath, Li Luo changed into his pajamas and sat down at his desk to start writing.

Yan Zhusheng wasn't in a hurry to disturb him.

She lay on the bed next to him scrolling through her phone, but whenever Li Luo's phone received a message and vibrated, she would immediately move closer to Li Luo like an alert kitten.

After realizing that the message wasn't from Ying Chanxi, she shook her head and went back to bed.

Li Luo's phone vibrated again around 10 p.m.

Yan Zhusheng darted to his side in a flash, watching Li Luo pick up his phone and open it.

[Ying Chanxi]: What are you doing? I'm getting ready for bed~
When Yan Zhusheng saw that Li Luo still wanted to type a reply, she immediately reached out to stop him and shook her head.

Li Luo was puzzled, then watched as Yan Zhusheng stretched out her little hand and pressed the WeChat call button for him.

A bell rang.

Ying Chanxi answered the phone, and a soft muttering voice came from the other end: "What do you want? I'm in my dorm, why are you calling?"

"Hmm... is it easier to talk like this?" Li Luo replied somewhat guiltily, because Yan Zhusheng had already impatiently crawled under the desk.

"Hmph~ Did you miss me?" Ying Chanxi lay on her bed in the dormitory, her two small, white feet crossed, and asked with a slightly smug and happy expression, "You really wanted to hear my voice?"

"Yes." Li Luo forced a smile, feeling a wave of warmth and moisture wash over her. "I missed you."

But it wasn't him who missed her; it was Ying Chanxi's dear younger sister who missed her...

(End of this chapter)