Chapter 676: Treat Fellow Countrymen Well

Applause mixed with laughter came from below the stage; Fang Hong spoke with perfect seriousness, while the other three exchanged glances, their expressions subtly enigmatic.

They looked like they wanted to laugh but held it back, unable to let it out—sometimes even great masters can be quite endearing.

Of course, Cao Telei's expression was no different from having not laughed at all.

"You might laugh at me, but what I'm saying is true—I no longer have many material needs; I have a house, I have a car, anything money can buy, I can afford."

"So I have no strong material desire for money; my happiest days were when I was extremely poor—back then, earning enough to buy a pair of sneakers or a graphics card to play games would fill me with immense satisfaction."

"Now I no longer need to worry about these material things, so money to me is merely a resource—a means to realize value. Of course, I'm deeply interested in how to make money."

Fang Hong deliberately explained the reasoning behind this.

These words would surely make many Wangyi laugh at his Vanity, but he truly had developed the mindset that money was just a number, merely a resource.

On the material level, he had everything he wanted.

The audience fell silent, their smiles fading, feeling his words made sense.

Liu Tianxian's previously rosy cheeks lost their color; her bright eyes fixed on the man onstage, and the earlier sense of shame within her lessened somewhat.

"I think, since you claim to be merely a steward of wealth, you should donate your money back to society—if you don't donate to social charity, you're just a profit-driven merchant, not a true entrepreneur," Cao Telei pointed at him.

"How do you know I haven't donated?" Fang Hong asked, genuinely curious.

Chang'e Technology donates tens of millions annually to major universities, totaling hundreds of millions—though aimed at talent acquisition, it's been consistently done and isn't less than anyone else's donations.

Yutu has also donated to corresponding film and education initiatives.

"How much have you donated? Dare you say it? So far, I've donated over five billion, and I plan to donate 60% of my shares—worth eight billion," Cao Telei said, speaking of his donations with an air of lofty pride, as if deeply accomplished.

By revealing his donation figures, Cao made Fang Hong reluctant to state his own, since he couldn't possibly exceed it—he'd inevitably be outdone.

Lao Wang watched him with a faint smile;

Jack Ma remained calm and composed—he was already famous enough, yet this man loved the spotlight even more.

But his current goal was Principal, so he wouldn't target this man.

Yet Fang Hong asked again: "Have you donated your shares yet?"

"Not approved yet—it's tied up in issues regarding tax law revisions," Cao Telei meant that he intended to donate, but the authorities wouldn't approve it.

It was indeed true—China currently lacked a clear tax law for charitable donations, and the matter was still under discussion.

This legislation won't be finalized until this September!

That means Cao hasn't donated much yet, but once the law passes, tax exemptions will expand—but Fang Hong didn't know whether he'd actually donated.

"I truly can't match you in this regard; Chang'e and Yutu haven't been around as long as your enterprise," Fang Hong dodged the topic, revealing that Chang'e and Yutu were still emerging companies.

"On this occasion, I'll set an example for everyone here and establish a benchmark for entrepreneurs—you should all learn from me."

Cao Telei meant everyone should learn from him how to do charity, speaking with generous self-satisfaction.

This man had a habit of urging others to donate to charity—whether it stemmed from Vanity or genuine patriotism was unclear.

Sparse, scattered applause rose from the audience, a response to Cao Telei.

Cao Telei turned to Fang Hong and added: "So, young Fang, you're still young—follow my example. Do exactly as I do. If anyone calls you a rich man who lacks benevolence, then I'm the truly unkind one, not you."

Fang Hong smiled, unwilling to argue with him—he could pretend even better.

Some billionaires are no different from ordinary people—they all have a desire to show off.

"Young Fang, remember: for a business, prioritizing social return is essential. Charity benefits society, while employee salaries are operational costs that must be allocated according to market rules—don't act blindly, or your company will collapse," Cao Telei lectured Fang Hong on running a business.

This was the same viewpoint he had repeatedly expressed regarding Fang Hong's previous raises for employees and extras.

But Fang Hong had always ignored him—and now he brought it up again, clearly still holding onto that grievance.

He had just scolded Fang Hong for not donating, calling him a profit-driven merchant rather than a true entrepreneur, and now demanded he learn from him how to donate.

Learn from him? Fang Hong would have been dead long ago—they weren't even in the same field; their development timelines differed entirely.

When Fuyao was in its third or fifth year, it was probably still struggling.

"I do agree with some of your views, Lao Cao: entrepreneurs must have responsibility, and charity is unquestionably commendable—I strongly agree with this, and I've been doing it. But I don't agree with some of your other views."

Fang Hong was done tolerating him—every time he tolerated him, the man grew bolder: "Why can't you raise employee wages before doing charity? I'm in content—I won't set up factories in the United States, nor will I pay domestic workers three or four thousand yuan while paying overseas workers three or four thousand dollars—two wage standards. I see this as exploitation of our workers' labor."

"You must consider whether other companies can afford wage increases—if you act recklessly while others can't, you're not contributing to society, you're harming it," Cao Telei said.

"You've told me this many times before, Lao Cao. Since you've brought it up again today, I'll properly refute you," Fang Hong adjusted his posture.

The audience below perked up, ready for a show.

Jack Ma and Lao Wang Zong remained silent, watching the two argue like spectators at a spectacle.

"A good company must first raise employee welfare, promote more employment, ensure everyone has a job—and only then should it turn to charity. Isn't that responsibility?"

"And why did you build your factory in the United States? Lower energy costs, slightly lower taxes—which you can ignore since you donate often and get incentives; lower tariffs; and high glass transportation costs—aren't these the reasons?"

Natural gas costs in the United States really are lower than ours!

"But we have advantages too: our workers are diligent and efficient, working longer hours. Meanwhile, American workers earn three to five times our wages, demand more benefits and rest time, and organize unions to protect their rights."

Isn't this our workers' greatest advantage—low cost, high efficiency? This is precisely the advantage you've always promoted—long working hours. This advantage alone is enough to offset all your cost considerations for building factories in the United States."

"Even small commodities can be marketed globally for profit. Your enterprise possesses core competitiveness—why can't you build more factories here, create more jobs, and raise wages?" Fang Hong was referring to his factory construction in the United States.

This matter had stirred up a huge uproar.

"If wages rise too quickly, corporate costs increase, product prices rise, and competitiveness in the international market is lost. China's advantage is its complete industrial chain—but wages can't rise to American levels, or manufacturing will shift to Southeast Asia, lose competitiveness, and face collapse," Cao Telei countered.

"The international environment is an objective problem that always exists, and so is the problem of our workers being unemployed and underpaid."

"If you truly have patriotism, now that your enterprise is successful, possesses core competitiveness, and has ample profits, you should prioritize raising workers' wages, shortening working hours, and letting them live and work better—this wouldn't significantly impact your company, since you've already donated so much, rather than being a saint to the world and a tyrant to your own people," Fang Hong said loudly.

You've donated so much—why won't you raise workers' wages even a little? Who could understand that?

If your company was just starting out, and you needed to preserve competitiveness and profit, squeezing workers might be understandable—you must survive first.

But Fuyao isn't in that situation—it's a company with core competitiveness, one no one else can defeat in its field, already qualified to compete with international giants.

Raising wages and improving benefits won't harm them—if it did, all international giants would have gone bankrupt long ago; wages in Europe and America are very high.

In short, it's all for fame—workers can't bring him fame, society can, so he'd rather donate money to gain reputation than raise wages.

Actually, Lao Cao lives a very extravagant life, extremely extravagant—even his own son can't stand watching it.

"Today's young people are unwilling to endure hardship. If wages are too high, it isn't good for their striving." Cao Telei said.

These words made the audience's expressions involuntarily stiffen—can this even be said out loud? One can only say this man is brave, daring to say anything.

Fortunately it's not being livestreamed right now, so it can't spread out for the moment; there's a certain time limit. But it can't be hidden either—after all, with so many people and so many reporters, it was a public occasion to begin with.

"Sigh, entrepreneurs, please treat our fellow countrymen well!" Fang Hong didn't want to say more to him. Having said all that, what else is there to say?

This person is just an old stubborn fool, impossible to get through to; his thinking is already set. Dong Dama is the same way—she once said: "Work can't only be about making money!"

If you don't want to make money, why work a job? Can't figure it out.

Actually, many bosses in China don't deserve to be called capitalists—they just have a landlord's mentality.

The Principal's words left the people present silent for a moment.

"I won't donate to charity like Elder Cao. I think the money should be put into more meaningful places—for example, letting more people earn money.

Bilibili has nearly 300,000 creators on it who, by recording bits of life, editing some videos, or using their own special skills and knowledge, earn money beyond their main jobs.

In other words, money you can make as a side gig, and this number is still constantly growing!

Today's Headlines also has 800,000 people who, through their own efforts, edit some material and articles to earn money.

Including novel writers—there are tens of thousands of them too!

They don't need to master particularly good skills, nor do they need capital—a phone or computer is enough to operate. Chang'e Technology will keep simplifying the tools. As long as they're willing to spend a little time learning, they'll master the techniques, making it easier for more ordinary people to take part.

Although income levels vary—some earn more, some less, some high, some low—and even 80% of people have rather unstable incomes, we have been working to decentralize, letting more ordinary people share in the traffic, and going forward we will further improve their revenue share performance.

And behind the Chang'e Video Platform are tens of thousands of small and mid-sized film and video producers, who support tens of thousands of film and video industry workers, and countless film studios."

Over a million ordinary people with side gigs—this group is extremely large. And this data made the people present exchange glances involuntarily; some of them really hadn't looked into what kind of company and situation Chang'e Technology is.

And this data clearly exceeded their imagination—they hadn't expected the waters beneath Chang'e Technology to run so deep.

(End of chapter)