Chapter 761: Yan Zhusheng

After confirming Li Luo's true intentions, Xu Rongsheng finally took it seriously and recounted what he had done last week.

"Last Friday, I met with the Secretary-General of the Secretariat of the Qianjiang Education Foundation for a meal and got a general sense of the process for establishing a new scholarship fund."

Xu Rongsheng took another sip of milk tea, thinking the drink the young man consumed was surprisingly tasty, so he couldn't help but take another sip before continuing.

"You might wonder why we can't just donate the money directly to the College of Literature and set up a separate scholarship fund?"

"On one hand, this is to combat corruption and prevent school leaders from accepting bribes through such means."

"On the other hand, it's also more beneficial for you—or rather, for Chongran Culture."

Here, Xu Rongsheng paused, then asked Li Luo: "How much tax does your Chongran Culture pay each year?"

"Uh… last year we paid around three million yuan," Li Luo recalled, "this year it might be even more."

Chongran Culture was a peculiar company, largely due to Li Luo's income sources.

In plain terms, the company's entire revenue came almost entirely from Li Luo himself.

This included normal royalty income, music copyright income, subsequent revenue shares, and income from novel copyright sales.

In the first year Li Luo started writing, things were fine, since I Am Really Not a Star was just beginning and the total tax paid was minimal.

But as his performance kept rising, especially from the second year onward, channel income exploded, and the main platform's subscriptions surged again due to Yuan Wanqing's breakout popularity, Li Luo's income crossed the ten-million-yuan mark.

In the third year, the copyright for Little Joy was sold; in the fourth year's summer, it was adapted into a hit drama; Great Patrol of the Xunye Bureau surpassed eighty thousand average subscriptions; the copyright for The Beginning was pre-ordered…

All these factors combined, plus Yuan Wanqing's music copyrights and the continuous album revenue shares, had pushed Chongran Culture's cash flow to an astonishing figure.

Any normal company would be envious.

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

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

Higher profit margins are typically only achievable by light-asset tech firms, luxury brands, or certain financial companies.

But for Chongran Culture, the company had almost no additional costs.

The company's address was set up at the original site of Li Luo's family breakfast shop—the storefront was their own home, so no rent was needed.

The company's staff, in theory, consisted only of Li Guohong and Lin Xiuhong, both nominal positions.

Now there was also Ying Chanxi.

Beyond that, there was only the regular legal consultant, Lawyer Tian, which was the company's largest single expense.

Yet all of this combined amounted to less than a drop in the ocean compared to Li Luo's income.

The profit margin was at least 90% or higher.

Strictly speaking, Chongran Culture was more like a shell company.

It had been established at Li Guoru's suggestion, solely as a legal means to help Li Luo reduce taxes.

But after recently signing Yan Zhusheng and Ruan Lin as artists, Chongran Culture had truly transformed from a shell company into a legitimate entertainment and cultural enterprise.

"The Qianjiang University Education Foundation is a state-certified public welfare organization," Xu Rongsheng explained to Li Luo. "Donations from individuals or companies to the foundation are converted into a certain tax deduction amount."

"The exact percentage depends on details like the donation amount, but having it is better than not having it."

"So you can choose to donate under the name of Chongran Culture to the Qianjiang University Education Foundation."

"This not only gives you tax deduction benefits but also greatly helps build your company's image."

After hearing Xu Rongsheng's explanation, Li Luo nodded in understanding—he now had a clear plan.

"Uncle Xu, how exactly do we proceed?" Li Luo asked. "I'll follow your guidance on the entire process."

"Alright, I'll email you an application form this afternoon," Xu Rongsheng said. "You can have your company's legal team review it, then fill it out according to the instructions."

"Once you've completed the donation application form, forward it to me."

"I'll draft a scholarship fund establishment application form, then submit both your donation form and mine to the university party committee."

"After the university party committee reviews and approves it in a meeting, the donation will be finalized."

"The donation funds will first pass through the Qianjiang Education Foundation's account, then be re-approved by the university party committee before being transferred to the newly established scholarship fund in the College of Literature."

"Only then will the scholarship fund be officially established and operational."

"The entire process will likely take several months; even under the fastest scenario, the fund won't begin operating until next semester."

After delivering this long explanation, Xu Rongsheng finished his milk tea, still reluctant to let go of the taste.

After carefully noting everything, Li Luo nodded in agreement, then asked: "Will the university party committee have any issues?"

"Don't worry," Xu Rongsheng said calmly. "Youyu's grandfather holds a position on the university party committee. A scholarship fund like this doesn't cost the school a cent—no one will refuse."

Hearing this, Li Luo couldn't help but mentally exclaim—so Youyu's family had this kind of background?

He'd never heard of it in his previous life; he only knew the Youyu family was scholarly, but never imagined they were this well-connected.

Qianjiang University was the top-tier institution in Qianjiang Province, and below it, the gap in prestige was enormous.

For Youyu's grandfather to hold a position on Qianjiang University's party committee was no small feat.

Li Luo had once joked that the Youyu family was an academic clique… turns out he'd hit the nail on the head.

That also explained why, in his previous life, Cui Suling had been frustrated by Youyu writing online novels—she'd likely hoped her daughter would pursue academia instead.

Who could have imagined she'd go off-track like this?

Li Luo and Xu Rongsheng chatted for a long time at the milk tea shop's booth, confirming the application process and discussing many details until nearly lunchtime.

Since lunch was approaching, the two decided to go together for hot pot nearby.

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

As he got out of the car, Xu Rongsheng reminded him: "I'll email you as soon as I get back—don't forget to fill it out and send it to me early."

"OK, no problem," Li Luo gave a thumbs-up from the driver's seat, watched Xu Rongsheng enter the building, then turned the car around and headed toward Bihai Lanting.

On the way, Li Luo called Lawyer Tian to brief him on the matter.

Although Lawyer Tian's main work involved copyright contracts, setting up a foundation didn't involve major interests—just checking for legal loopholes was sufficient.

For Lawyer Tian, this was routine work—no trouble at all.

So after returning home, Li Luo opened his email, reviewed Xu Rongsheng's donation application form himself, then sent a copy to Lawyer Tian.

Soon, before evening, Lawyer Tian finalized the application, handed it to Li Luo for confirmation, and after verifying it was correct, sent it to Xu Rongsheng's email. Now they just had to wait for Xu Rongsheng to act.

Li Luo wasn't sure how much benefit setting up this scholarship fund would bring Xu Rongsheng.

But having it was better than nothing.

Moreover, this scholarship fund was only the beginning.

After being inspired by Xu Yinghuan's Douyin account, Li Luo had already conceived a much grander plan in his mind.

But there was no rush now—wait until this scholarship fund showed clear progress first.

Thinking this, Li Luo returned to his daily university life.

That evening, Niu Qingling called him to the club, where they rehearsed the music festival performance with Yan Zhusheng and the others.

The university student union organizing the festival, upon learning that Shengsheng Buxi Band would participate, allocated them an entire prime time slot for a dedicated performance showcase.

The festival would be held on the east playground of Qianjiang University, divided into four stages: east, south, west, and north.

The east and south stages were reserved for internal Qianjiang University groups, while the other two stages were set aside for other universities co-hosting the festival.

Shengsheng Buxi Band occupied the prime evening time slot from seven to eight p. m. on the eastern main stage.

It might as well be called a concert.

After all, it was a joint performance by Yan Zhusheng and Chongran—people of their caliber were overqualified for a small university music festival.

Receiving such treatment was only natural.

Even the festival's promotional poster placed their portraits in the most prominent position, as if afraid no one would notice.

When Li Luo saw the poster at the club, he nearly broke his composure.

Yan Zhusheng dominated the central largest panel; Li Luo occupied a still noticeable spot beside him.

Shao Youpeng and Xie Shuchen were reduced to tiny figures no bigger than Yan Zhusheng's foot, utterly lacking presence.

But the worst off was Niu Qingling—she and her drum kit were reduced to a shadowy silhouette in the background, with no face shown at all.

The entire poster composition was strikingly dynamic; the creator behind it clearly had skill.

But the intent was too obvious.

"Anyone who didn't know would think this was Yan Zhusheng's solo concert," Shao Youpeng complained beside him. "Shuichen and I feel like extras."

"Stop whining," Niu Qingling chuckled indifferently. "Didn't we get the prime slot thanks to Zhusheng's fame? Otherwise we'd barely get one song—how could we possibly play so many?"

"Instead of complaining here, better get extra practice."

"Otherwise after an hour, you'll be too weak to stand."

Under Niu Qingling's urging, the five band members resumed rehearsal.

As for Li Luo and Yan Zhusheng, they had no issues—they'd trained extensively and could easily handle an hour-long performance.

Even if Xie Shuchen and Shao Youpeng truly collapsed, the two of them could still form a duo and rock the entire crowd.

"Are you going home to sleep tonight?" During a break, Yan Zhusheng sat beside Li Luo, sipping water slowly to moisten her throat, and asked him.

"If you want to, we'll go."

"Then let's go," Yan Zhusheng said without hesitation, then added, "Don't tell Xi Xi."

Li Luo: "... Not even a message?"

"Last Saturday, who was it that didn't say anything ahead of time?" Yan Zhusheng narrowed her eyes slightly. "And when I called you, wasn't Xi Xi up to something sneaky?"

Li Luo: "..."

Hearing Yan Zhusheng's suspicion, Li Luo broke into cold sweat—he hadn't expected this girl's intuition was sharper than Ying Chanxi's.

Could she deduce so much just from a single phone call?

"Hmph." Yan Zhusheng, seeing his silent expression, already knew the answer. She didn't press further, only hugged his arm and whispered, "Tonight, I'm waiting for Xi Xi to call you."

Great... these two sisters really were vengeful—how big were their grudges?

Why couldn't they learn from Youyu Sister?

Li Luo felt helpless, his face full of happy frustration.

After the band rehearsal ended that night, Li Luo and Yan Zhusheng drove home separately, arriving at Bihai Lanting one after the other.

Since it was Monday, Xu Youyu and Ying Chanxi hadn't returned—they were staying in their dorms.

When Li Luo held Yan Zhusheng's small hand and entered the house, only the two of them were inside.

He carried Yan Zhusheng into the bathroom for a nice bath, changed into his pajamas, then sat at his desk to write.

Yan Zhusheng didn't rush to disturb him.

She lay on the nearby bed scrolling through her phone, but the moment Li Luo's phone vibrated, she sprang up like an alert kitten and rushed to his side.

If it wasn't a message from Ying Chanxi, she'd shake her head and return to bed.

She kept waiting until past ten p. m., when Li Luo's phone vibrated again.

Yan Zhusheng shot over instantly, watching as Li Luo picked up his phone and opened it.

【Ying Chanxi】: What are you doing? I'm getting ready to sleep~

Seeing Li Luo still reach for the keyboard to reply, Yan Zhusheng immediately stopped him with her hand and shook her head.

⊙CO

Li Luo was puzzled, then watched Yan Zhusheng extend her tiny hand and press the WeChat call button for him.

A ringtone sounded.

Ying Chanxi answered immediately, her voice faintly murmuring from the other end: "What are you doing? I'm in the dorm—why are you calling?"

"Um... this way is easier to talk," Li Luo replied, slightly guilty, because Yan Zhusheng had already scrambled under the desk.

"Hmph~ Missed me?" Ying Chanxi lay on her dorm bed, wiggling her delicate white feet, smiling smugly. "So eager to hear my voice?"

"Yes." Li Luo forced a smile, feeling a warmth and dampness, "I missed you."

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