Chapter 996: 991. Each to Their Own Duties (Seeking Subscriptions and Monthly Tickets)

"Pleasure doing business with you."

Zhang Ran shook hands with Aili; while this actually counted as Zhang Ran coming to ask for help, in reality, Zhang Ran was not at any disadvantage in the negotiations.

Both sides had achieved their desired goals.

Early the next morning, news of Zhang Ran and Aili spread across most countries; many people were quite interested in these two.

After all, this era is one that looks toward money, and everyone wants to be a rich person, with Zhang Ran and Aili being the representatives of that.

Especially Zhang Ran; his story was even more legendary compared to Aili's.

Coupled with this publicity, Zhang Ran's reputation became increasingly resounding.

For a time, Zhang Ran almost became a world-famous figure, overshadowing those celebrities, only Zhang Ran rarely made public appearances.

Moreover, whenever he was outside, Zhang Ran was always disguised, so these things did not affect him.

Even their residential compound had calmed down by now.

Everyone understood one principle: if Zhang Ran really moved away, the housing prices in their compound would plummet immediately.

This was not just talk; they knew their own situation best.

Their compound was just an ordinary one; perhaps the landscaping was a bit better? But it definitely couldn't be that much better.

The school district and such were all just normal primary schools; the surge in housing prices during this period was definitely because of Zhang Ran.

Now, if they caused Zhang Ran's family to move away due to their own actions, that was something they were unwilling to see.

Now when Liu Lu returned home, at most people were a bit more enthusiastic, occasionally bringing over some vegetables or fruits as gifts.

But everyone understood, so they did not disturb them too much.

It is worth mentioning that Fuyuan Primary School was now considered famous, though Zhang Xiaotao and Susu were not yet known to the public.

However, many families knew that the grandson of the world's richest man seemed to be attending Fuyuan Primary School.

Because Zhang Ran never wore a disguise whenever he went to pick up the children, no one recognized him.

Plus, with the school's confidentiality, no one knew the identities of the two little ones.

Those who did know would not go around blabbing about it.

Especially within Fuyuan Primary School, whether it was the teachers or the principal, they had given strict orders regarding this matter.

Some children might know a little, but they didn't care about these things anyway; they were just children.

Children the same age as Susu and the others were only seven or eight years old; children this age didn't care about whether someone was the grandson of the world's richest man.

If you dare to provoke me, I'll beat you up all the same.

Don't say otherwise, Zhang Xiaotao had been beaten up too; it was just a small conflict between classmates, and they made up quickly.

At the time, it had scared their head teacher to death, and even the principal had been startled.

But when they told Zhang Ran and his family the news, Zhang Ran only had one attitude: as long as it wasn't intentional malice or school bullying, then it was fine.

This made the principal breathe a sigh of relief.

Now the school received quite a few donations from the Yuanran Charity Foundation every year, as well as scholarships and financial aid for the poor specifically set up by them.

It would seem that those who could attend school here shouldn't be poor students?

In reality, that was not the case; Fuyuan Primary School recruited some children without household registration through extra quotas every year.

Although these children certainly had higher requirements for their studies compared to other children, this was still a great benefit.

This was something the principal had strongly demanded; for this point, she hadn't just argued with the higher-ups once or twice.

Fortunately, her reputation was high enough that no one would really fall out with her over this small matter.

With the publicity, Zhang Ran and those around him were slowly being affected, which was inevitable.

Once Zhang Ran truly stepped down, the intensity of the publicity would decrease, and many things would slowly fade away.

Just like Aili.

He had been publicized for so long; in fact, if it weren't for this stir caused by Zhang Ran, people wouldn't be paying much attention to him anymore.

There was no help for it; being hung up there all the time, there was no meaning in paying attention.

So Zhang Ran only needed to wait a few more years, after which things would slowly calm down, and in the end, even if Zhang Ran still held the title of the world's richest man, people's attention toward him would decrease significantly.

Zhang Ran had considered these things; it just required time to slowly complete.

For the next period of time, Zhang Ran attended various meetings; these meetings were also a way to build connections.

Especially since the things Zhang Ran needed to do next required building some connections.

Although Zhang Ran had his own connections, some people were not used for this, or to put it bluntly, they couldn't exert effort in this matter.

But the ones he was building connections with now were all people who could be used later.

However, as Zhang Ran became increasingly valued domestically, the things he did also needed to be more cautious.

For example, in the past, Zhang Ran could generously and directly provide political contributions, and everything could be laid out in the open.

Even if it wasn't laid out in the open, Zhang Ran could still do it quietly.

In any case, things would be much easier to handle, but it was different now; he could no longer do these things.

Although he had always styled himself as a pure businessman, in reality, where in the world is there such a thing as a pure businessman?

There simply isn't.

Perhaps there are, but that's only because they haven't reached a certain level.

Once one reaches Zhang Ran's level—no, one doesn't even need to reach his level—one is already inseparable from many things.

It was just that Zhang Ran had always avoided getting himself involved in the past.

Now that Zhang Ran had reached this point, he was also subject to some restrictions.

However, Zhang Ran naturally had his own ways of dealing with these things; he didn't even use his own money, and he wouldn't even accumulate connections for himself.

He had Aili come forward directly; ever since the two reached an agreement last time, the subsequent matters were all left to the people below to negotiate.

In any case, they had generally reached a cooperation.

Therefore, at this time, Aili needed to step forward; as a citizen of the United States, he naturally had his own connections.

Coupled with his network of contacts, he was the most suitable candidate for this matter.

Moreover, taking his money was fine for everyone, and the other side could accept it easily; if Zhang Ran gave it to them, they might not dare to accept it so openly.

These things were understood without being said, and Zhang Ran also mentioned it briefly during a private conversation with the person leading the team this time.

The other side indeed did not mind; after all, Zhang Ran doing it this way was for the best, and no one could say anything against it.

Furthermore, if they were to truly restrict Zhang Ran completely, that was not the original intention of the higher-ups.

Everything needs to be focused on the future; there is no turning back.

After staying in the United States for about half a month, Zhang Ran finally returned to the country.