Generation Z Artists

Chapter 144 Fang Xinghe
"Hello, I need to file my taxes."

Fang Xinghe's smiling face made the young lady from the Xicheng Tax Bureau let out a loud "Aww!"

"Fang, Fang, Fang Xinghe!"

"Really? Wow! So handsome!"

"Hello, is there anything I can help you with?"

Two minutes later, Fang Xinghe was invited to the director's office, and everyone in the tax bureau learned of the big star's arrival.

"Mr. Fang, you actually came in person to handle the tax matters..."

The bureau chief was quite surprised. In this day and age, being a celebrity isn't a particularly prestigious profession, but for someone like Fang Xinghe, it's clearly different.

"Of course," the boy smiled shyly. "Paying taxes according to the law is everyone's responsibility."

"Excellent, truly a remarkable awareness! No wonder he's a cultural icon named by CCTV..." The director rubbed his hands together, unable to hide his excitement.

Fang Xinghe's arrival was a great publicity opportunity for him.

Of course, for Fang Xinghe, voluntarily filing taxes is also a great point of publicity.

These days, there are many people who resent the rich. His success overseas has made many people envious, so the first thing he did after returning to China was to pay his taxes in full.

"Mr. Fang, have you brought all the necessary documents? I'll have an expert from the tax department come and help you calculate your tax."

Wang Charlie silently pulled out a bag of documents and contracts.

Fang Xinghe's tax issues are quite complicated, divided into personal and corporate aspects, and falling into three main categories: royalties, commercial performances, and endorsements.

The domestic tax rate for royalties is 11.8%, but since local taxes must be paid abroad, there are deductions.

Income from commercial performances and other services is subject to individual tax rates on one part and goes to the company on the other, making the calculation quite complicated.

Endorsements are classified as royalties, and the tax rate is 20% - overseas tax payment certificate = amount payable.

After dealing with a whole bunch of messy things, Fang Xinghe paid 3700 million yuan in taxes, but that wasn't all. He only settled accounts for projects like endorsements; royalties and event fees would have to wait until the end of the year for a second comprehensive settlement.

However, with this tax payment certificate of 3700 million, his goal was achieved.

I spent the afternoon at the tax bureau, and when I went out again, there were two media outlets waiting at the door, both of whom were old acquaintances.

With a smile in her eyes, Zhao Chunhua raised the microphone: "Fang Xinghe, are you here to pay your taxes?"

"Yes."

"You just returned to China yesterday and went straight to the tax bureau today. Why are you in such a hurry?"

"Because I don't know anything about this, I'm a high school student and my agent is an American. We're both clueless, so it's best to consult as soon as possible to resolve the issue promptly and put my mind at ease."

A reporter from Beijing TV intervened, saying, "There are professional agencies that can handle this kind of thing. Doesn't your personal involvement seem a bit like a publicity stunt?"

"I have never cared what other people think of me."

Zhao Chunhua interrupted, "You seem to take tax issues very seriously?"

"Well, firstly, it's my duty, and secondly, my influence dictates that I must set a positive example for the industry and my fans. So the sooner I handle it, the better, and then I can move forward with a lighter burden."

"Could you tell me approximately how much tax you paid?"

"No."

"So, could you tell me about your next plans?"

"Study hard and get into a good university."

……

The director revealed what Fang Xinghe hadn't.

After the news of "Fang Xinghe paying 4000 million in taxes" was broadcast simultaneously on two channels in Taiwan, a lurking storm quietly dissipated.

In late October, the second annual Hurun Rich List was released.

The list includes 50 people, with a minimum investment of 3.5 million RMB. This is not much different from the first edition last year, except for the addition of one outlier.

It was precisely because of this outlier that this list, which had received little discussion, was reprinted by dozens of newspapers.

"Junior brother, you made the list?!"

Several senior students discovered various related news items while reading the newspaper.

What ranking?

"Rich List!"

"Bring it to me and see."

Fang Xinghe took the newspaper and saw the full-page news in the financial section.

The Rong Yiren family remains the richest, with a fortune of 158 billion yuan.

Second is Liu Yonghao and his brother, third is Mr. Ren Zhengfei, I don't recognize the fourth to ninth place, and finally, I recognize Chen Jinfei, who is tenth.

Further down, the majority of the names were still unfamiliar.

This list only includes wealthy businessmen from mainland China, and it seems that most of them did not achieve their former glory thirty years later.

However, the rise of the real estate industry has already given a signal, and the same is true for the internet industry. Ding Lei is ranked 20th, Zhang Chaoyang is 37th, and neither Pony Ma nor Jack Ma made the list.

而方星河以6亿身价排在第36名——其实36到39都是6亿，偏偏方星河排在最前面。

With the release of the list, he was once again thrust into the spotlight.

Financial media outlets have questioned the authenticity of the list, but Rupert Hoogewerf confidently stated: "Fang Xinghe's cash flow is certainly not 6 million, but his company's valuation has far exceeded 6 million. According to reliable sources, no fewer than 20 domestic and foreign companies want to invest in Xinghe Culture, with the highest offer already being 1 million RMB for 15% of the shares..."

"Really?" Xiao Wang stared at Fang Xinghe as if he were a monster. "You're worth that much?"

"fake."

Fang Xinghe gave a perfunctory reply.

Many people did want to invest in his company, Xinghe Culture, but they were all explicitly rejected before even reaching the stage of negotiating the price.

In reality, Xinghe Culture is just an empty shell. It holds his agency contract, the copyrights to two of his books, and owns an 80s magazine. That's all.

The personal official website StarNet is an independent company, and Tencent's shares are personal investments; they are unrelated.

"According to the current valuation system, Xinghe Culture is definitely not worth 6 million. Don't listen to their nonsense."

Fang Xinghe's explanation only drew skepticism from Da Shan: "The news is saying your agency contract is incredibly valuable and has immeasurable influence. If someone offered you 6 million, you could just sell it and never have to do anything else for the rest of your life. You could write books, grow flowers, travel, and live a carefree life!"

"Bullshit."

Fang Xinghe curled his lip in disdain.

His brokerage contract is indeed a special asset with high value and high potential, but with a buyout fee of 2 million, no one will dare to buy it.

Who's gone mad?

The investment was worth 20 million to buy his brokerage contract. According to the contract's 19% split, Fang Xinghe would only break even when he earned 2 billion.

Fang Xinghe would actually be willing to cooperate with anyone who had the courage—he likes to hang out with madmen.

In fact, the so-called 6 million yuan net worth is just something Hurun fabricated to gain attention.

He succeeded, and Fang Xinghe was dragged into it, contributing greatly to the popularity of the rich list.

If Fang Xinghe hadn't paid his taxes in full and on time, it's hard to imagine how many more bombardments he would have faced.

Even so, sour voices such as "An idol writer doesn't deserve to earn so much money," "Why should a banned book be published overseas?" and "It's so easy for gigolos to make money" still fill every corner.

The idea that wealth is a crime was once a theme of an era.

However, none of this could harm Fang Xinghe; he was already in an invincible position.

Fang's fans are invincible online, often able to say one thing that is worth a thousand others – "How much have you contributed to the country?"
They can basically break through defenses.

If the other party gets angry and starts swearing, even the most ardent Fang fans aren't ignorant of foul language—your whole family could sell sex and prostitution for ten thousand years and still not equal Fang Fang's tax payments in a single year!
Honestly, after several major battles, the purity and extremism of Fang's fans have reached a level that is basically unacceptable to outsiders.

But this was all forced upon them. The malice of this society is everywhere, and people like Fang Xinghe are particularly favored.

There was a lot of discussion about it, and based on the information about the "4000 million" in taxes, people were able to roughly calculate Fang Xinghe's cash flow.

250 million, with an error margin of less than 10 million.

The money he earned in Japan, South Korea, and Southeast Asia, after deducting the commissions from local brokerage firms, overseas taxes, and domestic taxes, is roughly this amount.

However, he couldn't keep the money; he planned to spend it all.

The first step, of course, is to satisfy the hungry little Ma.

This guy called him days ago: "Bro! Dear bro! Throw some more money at us brothers for keeping mistresses!"

QQ Show alone is not enough to completely fill the gap in server capacity and new business. Tencent is preparing to develop email and other miscellaneous things, and it is teetering on the edge of running out of money every day.

Fang Xinghe didn't interfere with their business in any way; he simply transferred the money silently. "How much are you short?"

"The more the merrier! If you can come up with 1.5 million, I'll let you be the major shareholder!"

"I'll provide the money, but I won't become a major shareholder; there's no need for that."

In the original timeline, next June, MIH's Vice President for China, David Wang, was to lead Tencent's most important financing round, valuing Tencent at $60 million and paying a total of $32 million to purchase 46.5% of Tencent's shares.

This was the greatest investment in the history of the Internet, and NetEase was thus recorded in the annals of Chinese Internet history.

But now, Fang Xinghe has unhesitatingly poured in 1.5 million yuan, a huge investment made more than half a year ahead of schedule, completely clearing away the financial obstacles on Tencent's development path.

In early November, Fang Xinghe signed an agreement in Huaqiangbei, Shenzhen, to acquire a 45% stake in Tencent in his personal capacity, and at the same time announced that he would become the lifetime brand ambassador for OICQ.

When the press conference was held, the internet and economic sectors were almost blown to smithereens by him.

At this time, the dot-com bubble was bursting rapidly, the Nasdaq index was falling continuously, NetEase was fighting a "war to defend its $1 stock price", all investments related to the internet had been suspended, and the industry had entered a winter.

Against this backdrop, Tencent itself has been shrouded in negative public opinion—the idea that QQ is worthless is something that Generation Z has never heard of, but in today's industry, it is a consensus among almost all internet experts.

What value does a chat app have?
Financial media outlets bombarded Fang Xinghe with questions.

"Fang Xinghe, why did you..."

"I like."

"But that's 1.5 million!"

"I like."

"Do you really believe that the internet industry can bring sufficient returns? QQ is the worst asset in this huge bubble industry!"

It wasn't until the reporter became agitated that Fang Xinghe finally answered the first question of the day with a serious expression.

"I was one of the first users of OICQ and the first user of OICQ Show. I like the feeling of being able to hide my identity and speak freely with people online. I don't know if OICQ has any value, but my liking for it is worthwhile."

How heavy is my affection? 1.5 million.

You don't understand? That's normal. My love and hate are too much for ordinary people to bear.

So stop asking those pointless questions and go report on my capriciousness!

If I fail, you are welcome to laugh at me.

If I succeed, you don't need to flatter me; I'm just doing something that makes me happy.

I'll do many more things like this in the future. Get used to my capriciousness as soon as possible. We'll have many more opportunities to interact...

First Financial Daily and China Economic News, among other leading financial media outlets, finally understood the feelings of the cultural sector and realized how much conviction was required to interview Fang Xinghe.

If one's self-awareness wavers even slightly, Fang Xinghe can easily destroy one's rationality.

Financial media and even social news outlets across the country reported on Fang Xinghe's impulsive act and criticized his crazy behavior.

But Fang's fans love him even more.

No one has ever shone so arrogantly before; even Li Bai of the Tang Dynasty could not have achieved such brilliance.

Although many of Fang's fans are worried that he will lose the money he has worked so hard to earn, the exhilarating feeling that comes from immersing himself in the character is captivating, like a unique experience.

Tencent has run into trouble, being ridiculed by almost all financial commentators.

Tencent also benefited greatly, with daily new users surging to 200 million.

Amidst the uproar, Lieyan Mountain and his ilk, including the immoral big mouth, once again found a way to quietly smear Fang Xinghe—you've made so much money, and you're willing to spend 1.5 million on such a meaningless thing, why don't you donate to the poor?
There are still hundreds of millions of people living in poverty in our country!

As soon as someone took the lead, similar voices quickly became widespread.

It wasn't until Fang Xinghe donated 5000 million yuan to the education department of Jilin Province to help impoverished children that the accusations from the moral high ground suddenly became nothing but noise.

"If it weren't for our criticism, he wouldn't have been willing to do it..."

Ignore the clown's voice.

However, the evening news program "Xinwen Lianbo" was once again alarmed by him and sent someone to interview him.

The entire province of Kyrgyzstan was overjoyed. The propaganda department never imagined such a thing, and the education department was even more surprised. The leaders praised him enthusiastically, wishing they could hang a plaque on him with the words: "A good son of the people of Kyrgyzstan."

Because he was going to be on the evening news, Fang Ge's attitude was no longer so willful, and he said a few words that could be broadcast.

The first question focused on numbers: "Fang Xinghe, you donated an astronomical sum."

"Is it much?"

"This is a lot; it's the highest figure for an individual's donation to education since the reform and opening up."

"But that's not all I am."

Fang Xinghe's nonchalant smile stunned everyone present.

What is "high-class" or "prestigious"?

Brother Fang is a prime example of someone who's all talk and no action.

The second question focuses on the rationale: "Why specifically donate to the education of impoverished children?"

“I have not forgotten my origins, nor have I forgotten the difficulties that poor children face in pursuing education. I have written several articles encouraging education, and many clowns have criticized me for just talking big and for not understanding the hardships. Now that I have the strength to do something practical, then I will do it.”

"Show them?"

“I’m doing this for everyone to see. I know I can influence a lot of people, and I hope everyone will take this issue seriously.”

The third question went deeper: "Do you feel that the country hasn't done enough in this regard?"

"It is indeed not enough, but it's not that we don't want to, it's just that we haven't developed to that stage yet."

"Do you really think so? Many young people take pride in criticizing the system."

Fang Xinghe knew the reason for this problem—Han Han had recently criticized the education system for being incompetent.

The point he made wasn't wrong, but he lacked a holistic perspective.

Fang Xinghe replied frankly, "Correct criticism is certainly valuable, and a correct understanding of contradictions is the cornerstone of correct criticism. In our country's system, many people are just going through the motions, but some are actually doing things. On every front, there are idealists who have already given their all."

However, human strength has its limits, and so does the power of a nation. In this regard, we must recognize both the shortcomings and deficiencies, as well as the progress made.

The fourth question became difficult to answer.

"You've donated so much money, you're bound to face some backlash. There are some very unfriendly voices directed at you right now. Don't you feel wronged?"

Fang Xinghe hesitated a little when he realized it was the evening news broadcast.

But then I thought, if you dare to ask, what am I afraid to answer?
So the hot-tempered Xiao Fang went online again and started ranting as soon as he opened his mouth.

"It's not that they reject me, they don't deserve it. It's that I reject them, I don't want to be in the same frame as those scheming, despicable people."

If we mingle with the light and the dust, who is the light? Who is the dust?

I can spend my money however I want, and I can curse shameless people however I want. Don't be friendly to me; it won't work. Here, there's no such thing as not hitting a smiling face.

Fang Xinghe won over the interview team, but when the episode actually aired, none of the intense parts were shown.

"This is so boring. I'm never doing an interview with CCTV's News Broadcast again."

That being said, the full praise from the news broadcast is really appealing on another level—tens of thousands of loyal fans have been converted into Level 4 fanatics, contributing nearly 100 million star points.

Then, the spendthrift son, in one fell swoop, donated another 2000 million silver dollars to the Wudang Mountain Taoist Association for the repair of various halls and the renovation of venues.

With 3000 million yuan left, 2000 million yuan was allocated to support road construction in Nong'an. A road called Xinghe Road runs north-south through the area—the name was decided before construction even began.

He gave 10 million to his alma mater, No. 3 Middle School and Experimental School. Damn it, he used to earn tens of thousands of yuan from them as pocket money, and now each of them has an experimental building. He's practically laughing his head off.

At this point, all the money earned from the East Asia trip was gone; it had all been spent, and all of his previous savings had been wiped out.

The effect... well, it's pretty exaggerated.

The entire nation witnessed Fang Xinghe's willfulness.

When the reporter chased after him for an interview, his lips trembled as he asked, "You worked so hard to earn this money, and you don't even keep a penny for yourself?"

Fang Xinghe waved his hand and left without saying a word.

I'm too lazy to answer such a boring question.

The "King of Pretending" has once again blown up the public opinion world.

His image became clearer, yet also more blurred. More people liked to talk about him, but no one dared to define him anymore.

At the end of November, some media outlets suddenly raised a concept—

This year could perhaps be called... Fang Xinghe's year.

(End of this chapter)