Morax is dead, Liyue will fall into my hands.

Completely bewildered, Xingqiu was pulled into the conference room and was astonished to find that almost all the major and minor shareholders of the "Feiyun Chamber of Commerce" were present, including his own father.

Since preparing to have his eldest brother take over, his father has not paid much attention to the "Feiyun Chamber of Commerce". Could it be that something serious has really happened?

But what major event could happen in Liyue Harbor? It can't be that the Geo Archon has been resurrected, can it?

Xingxia patted his younger brother on the shoulder: "Sit down in your seat and finish reading the headlines in the newspaper."

Then Xingxia sat in the second seat, looked around and said, "Everyone here should have seen today's headline of the 'Wanmin Daily', right?"

To summarize briefly, there are two main points.

First, the "Northern Bank" hopes to donate 10 million Mora to charity in an attempt to restore Liyue Harbor's reputation.

Secondly, Li Ye, the owner of Jiaxuan Teahouse, wanted to establish a public welfare and charity foundation to help teenagers go to school and ensure that the elderly and children have food to eat.

Everyone here is a shareholder of the "Feiyun Chamber of Commerce." What are your thoughts on this?

A thin man in his forties spoke first: "Is the sun rising in the west? 'Northern Bank' doing charity? Since they monopolized the banking industry, when have they ever cared about their reputation?"

"That's true, but once the newspaper is published, regardless of what the 'Northern Bank' thinks, whether or not they do this charity work is probably no longer up to them."

"Li Ye is trying to put the 'Northern Bank' on the hot seat and deep-fry it. I think the 'Northern Bank' probably wanted to scheme against them, but they ended up being outmaneuvered and are now in a difficult situation."

In the past, not caring about reputation didn't affect their business, but if they dare to back out this time, it's not just a matter of a tarnished reputation; they might have to be careful not to stumble and fall in the dark.

Most of these shareholders are shrewd people. A quick glance at the newspaper tells them that Li Ye, who seems kind-hearted and speaking up for "Northern Bank," actually has ulterior motives.

Even if the charity project is successfully completed, Li Ye will take the lion's share, while "Northern Bank" will contribute money and take a smaller share. This deal, while not a huge loss, will certainly be quite frustrating.

After discussing "Northern Bank," everyone paused for a long time before someone spoke up: "Actually, it's not just 'Northern Bank' that's being put on the spot. If this charitable foundation really succeeds, can our 'Feiyun Chamber of Commerce' just stay out of it?"

This is the key.

If a charitable foundation is really established, shouldn't your "Flying Cloud Merchant Guild" do something to show how much money you make from the people of Liyue every year?

No way, no way! Even the "Northern Bank" has contributed money, but the "Flying Cloud Merchant Guild" hasn't given a single penny? Have they no shame? Are they even still a merchant guild of Liyue?

Now that things have progressed this far, anyone with a modicum of common sense knows what's going to happen next. While there's a hint of coercion involved, the question is, are you going to donate Mora or not?

"We must donate. Before newspapers existed, even if we donated money and did a good deed, no one would know. The money would basically be wasted. Now that we have newspapers, we can take this opportunity to promote ourselves."

Our "Flying Cloud Merchant Guild" is different from the "Northern Bank." The "Northern Bank" may not care about its reputation in Liyue, but we can't. We rely on the land and water, and we depend on Liyue; we absolutely cannot lose this foundation.

"Donating is not out of the question. If you can gain a good reputation, it would be a good deal. But the frustrating thing is that after the charity foundation is set up, the one who makes the most money is Li Ye, who contributes the least. That doesn't make sense."

As soon as he finished speaking, an elderly man next to him opened his eyes, sat up straight, and bluntly pointed out the key point: "That's the truth, but everyone here is a veteran in the business world. When has the business world ever stipulated that whoever puts in the most effort gets the most reward?"

Li Ye held the only newspaper in Liyue Harbor, which was also the only newspaper that could communicate with the common people of Liyue.

Until we get rid of him, anyone who wants a piece of this pie has to pay him taxes first. Wasn't that how it always was when we were doing business?

It's no surprise that the guy collecting taxes this time is a greenhorn, with no connections or powerful backers.

It was like a little kid in open-crotch pants, carrying a powerful weapon, trying to rob someone on the road.

This not only makes people unwilling to pay the toll, but they also want to seize the divine weapon in his hands.

"That's right, I wanted to take it. A common man is innocent, but possessing a treasure is a crime."

"It's difficult, difficult, difficult. I'm afraid I won't find an opportunity, at least not in the short term."

"I don't think so. We're not the only ones who want to get our hands on this piece of meat."

Listening to the shareholders arguing heatedly, Xingqiu, having finally finished reading the newspaper, quietly raised his head: "Um, actually, I own 20% of the shares in 'Wanmin Daily'."

Chapter 63: The Flood Washed Away the Dragon King's Temple (2/5)

Quiet!

As soon as Xingqiu spoke, the entire conference room fell silent.

Everyone's eyes were fixed on Xingqiu, even his father.

They knew that although Xingqiu had no interest in business, he possessed an extraordinary talent for it, but...

The shares of "Wanmin Daily"? Or just 20% of the shares?

No, where did it come from?

Xingqiu was also a little dizzy. When Li Ye approached him to discuss opening a newspaper, he gave him two conditions to choose from.

The first thing was that the printing workshop was leased to Li Ye indefinitely for 500,000 Mora per year, with Li Ye paying for all the materials, equipment replacements, and staff salaries out of his own pocket.

In other words, Xingqiu can earn 500,000 Mora every year without doing anything.

The second suggestion was for Xingqiu to invest in the printing workshop, acquiring a 20% stake. However, Li Ye also told Xingqiu that the printing workshop wouldn't make money in the initial stages and might even continue to lose money, so he should be prepared to lose it all.

Xingqiu simply liked Li Ye's martial arts novels and didn't care whether the newspaper earned a few hundred thousand more or less Mora, so he chose to take 20% of the shares.

After Xingqiu finished explaining the origin of the shares, Xingxia slammed his hand on the table and complained, "Why did you have to keep this from your elder brother?!"

Hearing his older brother's question, Xingqiu felt very wronged.

I wanted to say it too, but you nag me all day long, even reading the newspaper can get me nagged for half an hour, how could I dare to talk to you?

"So, the Second Young Master's joke back then resulted in him directly acquiring one-fifth of the 'Wanmin Newspaper'?"

This is actually allowed?

Xingqiu used to run a printing shop to print his own novels, which was often the subject of jokes. Who would have thought that just two years later, he would unexpectedly strike out such a great deal.

No wonder Young Master Xingqiu is a business genius. Even if he has no interest in business, he can't resist Prince Yan's constant feeding. He truly deserves to be rich.

Just then, someone suddenly suggested, "Since the printing shop belongs to the second young master, why don't we kick Li Ye out and run it ourselves?"

Before Xingqiu could speak, Xingxia's icy gaze, as cold as the sweltering heat of midsummer, immediately silenced him.

Xingxia: "Li Ye started from scratch and achieved what he has today in just over a year. You don't really think he's someone who knows nothing and made his fortune entirely through luck, do you?"

Xingqiu was happy to see that his elder brother had helped him maintain his position, and what he said was true; his success today was all due to his talent in business.

"Before starting the newspaper, I had already signed a contract with Mr. Li, and he would make all the decisions regarding the operation of the newspaper."

In addition, he can withdraw his shares, but if he wants to take back the printing workshop, he needs to give him a year's notice. These are Mr. Li's bottom lines.

"If anyone insists on breaking the contract, that's fine too. I'll transfer the shares to them, and they can break the contract and suffer the consequences of the 'Eating Rock' punishment."

Seeing that the atmosphere was a bit awkward, the old man quickly tried to smooth things over, saying, "What are you saying? Breach of contract? Does the 'Flying Cloud Chamber of Commerce' have no shame?"

Besides, if Li Ye loses the printing press, he can simply find another place to continue running the newspaper; but without the printing press, Li Ye is nothing! It's important to distinguish between what's primary and what's secondary!

Furthermore, since the second young master owns shares in this newspaper, he's no longer an outsider. I think this charitable foundation might actually have a lot of potential.

Second Young Master, if our "Feiyun Chamber of Commerce" is willing to donate some money, could we also ask Boss Li to help with some publicity?

"Yes, yes, we should also do a full report or something. It's not like our 'Feiyun Chamber of Commerce' is unwilling to pay for it."

"It's like the flood washed away the Dragon King's temple; even family members don't recognize each other."

In just a few minutes, the wind direction changed immediately.

Since this relationship already exists, why make things tense? In the end, no one might benefit. It's better to cooperate for now, and deal with things like poaching talent later when things have calmed down.

The "Feiyun Chamber of Commerce" will definitely want to start its own newspaper. Whether it can succeed or not is another matter, but at least they should give it a try.

Upon hearing about the cooperation, Xingqiu finally smiled.

He was extremely disgusted by the short-sighted shareholders in the meeting room, but since some of them had inherited their shares from their fathers or even grandfathers, there was no possibility of kicking them out, so he could only endure it.

"As long as our 'Feiyun Chamber of Commerce' cooperates sincerely, Boss Li will certainly not hesitate to praise us. I am confident in that."

Xingqiu had dealt with Li Ye a few times after that, and in his impression, Li Ye was very easy to talk to as long as it didn't involve matters of principle.

After much deliberation, Xingxia made a decision: "It seems we should invite this young Mr. Li to visit our Feiyun Chamber of Commerce when he has some free time."

Xingqiu, find some time to deliver the invitation to Boss Li for me. Tell him that our "Feiyun Chamber of Commerce" is very interested in the charity foundation and hopes to contribute.

"No problem." Xingqiu readily agreed. He had originally planned to go to Jiaxuan Teahouse, but he was caught red-handed before he even left the mansion. There was no one else like him.

Xingqiu was about to ask if there was anything else, and if not, he would take his leave.

Suddenly, I remembered when I first met Li Ye, he said there was a kind of ghost called the Poor Ghost, and he wanted to get rid of all the Poor Ghosts in Liyue.

When Xingqiu first heard this, he scoffed at it.

Li Ye has long since escaped poverty. Would he really turn back to help other poor people become wealthy? What would be the point of doing so for him?

Looking down at the newspaper in his hand, Xingqiu began to waver.

He may never achieve this dream, but he does seem to be working towards it.

Charitable foundations cannot help all teenagers who cannot afford to go to school to attend school, nor can they ensure that all widows, or orphans are well-fed and clothed.

However, if we can help a teenager go to school and learn to read, then Liyue will have one less illiterate person; if we can help a widow or orphan have enough to eat, then Liyue will have one less person who starves to death.

Xingqiu shifted his gaze from the newspaper in his hand, looked around at the people around him, and asked the question that had been bothering him: "Do you really think there are people who don't ask for anything in return, who simply want to help all the people of Liyue escape poverty and live a life where they have enough to eat, wear, and read books?"

"What nonsense are you spouting, Second Young Master? How could such a person exist?" A core shareholder had barely finished speaking when his mood suddenly plummeted again. He sighed and said with deep reminiscence, "Of course, there is no such person. But if we don't limit ourselves to people, there is one: our Prince Yan."

Hearing this, the others also sighed.

Xingqiu recalled Li Ye's youthful yet resolute face.

Lord Yan?

Chapter 64: But I don't care (3/5)

Unlike the major merchant guilds, the thoughts of the lower-class Liyue people are much simpler.

It all boils down to whether this thing is reliable or not, and whether we should really take the Mora from "Northern Bank".

At Liyue Harbor, during lunchtime, everyone gathered together and started chatting about the things that had been on everyone's minds that day.

"Do you guys think that 'Rooster-Level Association' is reliable?"

The young man next to him couldn't stand it anymore: "It's a public welfare and charity foundation. No wonder you, Old Man Li, are uneducated. You can only carry sacks at the dock. You can't even remember a name."

Mr. Li didn't care about any of that; all he was thinking about was whether this thing was reliable.

“My youngest child is just thirteen this year. He’s very clever, and the village teachers all praise him as a promising student. It’s just that we’re poor and can’t afford to send him to a private school or anything like that. I wonder if this kind of school can help. If it really can, I’d like to bring my child here to try it out.”

Reading is something many families wouldn't even dare to dream of.

Now that people are hearing that Li Ye plans to start a free public school, almost everyone in Liyue's lower classes is on high alert. This is a major event that concerns the future of their children.

“If it were someone else who did it, we wouldn’t believe it anyway, but if it’s Master Li who said he would do it, there might actually be a chance. The question is, can we get the Mora from the ‘Northern Bank’?”

I heard that the "Northern Bank" only takes in money and doesn't give it out. This sudden announcement of giving money away for charity—could it be a scam targeting Mr. Li?