Chapter 347 Chain Reaction (Two in One)

"What? Son, you are one of the top ten richest people in the country?"

"Mom, Hurun's ranking is all nonsense."

"What? You have a net worth of 450 million US dollars?"

"Mom, Hurun didn't even call me, it's really nonsense."

"What? The Internet says you are the richest person in Shanghai?"

"...Mom, are you listening to me?"

On the morning of New Year's Eve, Fang Zhuo sat cross-legged on the sofa, watching TV with relish, and then saw his mother coming out with a notebook.

Zhao Shumei didn't know how to use a notebook at first, but later, in order to find out what economic activities her son was doing, she learned to use a notebook to surf the Internet.

She pointed at the screen with one hand and asked, "How can such a big ranking be nonsense?"

Fang Zhuo nodded and said seriously, "Of course, how can I be 450 million US dollars? It's too little."

Sina's stock price has been rising all the way, Yike's products are outstanding in both countries, and Yike can also make efforts because of the development of its software business, and this is not counting the profit of the fund.

In terms of wealth alone, 450 million US dollars is not enough. Of course, most of it will not be converted into cash.

Zhao Shumei was choked and was stunned for a while before saying: "So I wrote you less?"

"That's right, so I said he was talking nonsense." Fang Zhuo said seriously.

Zhao Shumei stared at her son in a daze, turned around and called her husband, brother, sister-in-law, and niece to inform them of the news of the rich ranking.

For the next half day, Fang Zhuo's rare time to watch TV was sacrificed.

Several people waved their notebooks in front of them, and they didn't look at other websites, but contributed clicks to Sina's news.

He was ranked ninth in the country on the list, but Sina.com was the first to call out the title of "Shencheng's richest man" for his boss.

How can the ninth be as impressive as the richest man? What's more, Shencheng is also a very prestigious city.

"You are not only the richest man in Shencheng, but also the richest man in our county." Zhao Shumei sighed.

"Yes, damn, I'm clearly the richest man in the county." Fang Zhuo nodded repeatedly and pretended to sigh.

Zhao Shumei stared at her son and said in amazement: "You don't look like the richest man, do you?"

Fang Zhuo took a handful of beans and asked while pulling them: "What should the richest man look like?"

His sister Zhao Suqi next to him said seriously: "Surrounded by stars, toasting, hugged by women, and busy with all kinds of affairs."

"Is there something wrong with your thinking? Aunt, aunt, don't you educate Qiqi?" Fang Zhuo turned around and called for help.

Zhao Suqi quickly sought the support of her aunt: "Aunt, don't you think so?"

Zhao Shumei pondered for two seconds and nodded.

Isn't the real richest man supposed to look like that?

Unlike her son, the way he sat on the sofa and pulled beans really doesn't seem to be associated with the title of "richest man".

"Qiqi, go to my bedroom and get my cell phone and notebook, turn them on." Fang Zhuo was helpless. He could not see her with all the girls around him, but he could always let his mother see her busy schedule.

Soon, the cell phone that was turned on and the notebook that was logged into QQ were placed on the table.

Almost without any gaps, the cell phone kept vibrating, and the notebook was emitting chat messages.

Fang Zhuo turned off his cell phone when he got up in the morning, but he also knew that the messages at this moment must contain both New Year greetings and congratulations.

The rich list has a strange magic for the current era. Those who are on the list may not want to be on the list, and those who are not selected may feel lost. Those who are ranked high may be afraid or proud, and those who are ranked low may feel resentful or disdainful.

As for the onlookers, some sneered, some envied, some invited guests to banquets according to the name, and some checked taxes according to the list.

But it is undeniable that it can focus the media and has a huge influence in China.

Hurun chose a very thoughtful release time this year, which gave people who paid attention to this list a lot of topics to talk about during the Chinese New Year.

There are 100 people on the Forbes China Rich List. The richest man in the country is Rong Zhijian, with assets of US$850 million, and the 100th is Sun Shenlin, with assets of US$84 million.

Coincidentally, the core businesses of the first and last are real estate, which is also the microcosm of this list - most of them are real estate developers.

Fang Zhuo saw familiar faces on it, such as Wu Zheng, a member of the board of directors of Sina, who made the list with Sunshine Culture, which was listed in Hong Kong. There are also people whose names he knows but has never met, such as Cao Dewang, who is ranked 95th, and Li Shufu, who is ranked 54th.

In addition, Ding Lei and Zhang Chaoyang, who he thinks should be on the list, are not on the list.

Looking through the list, he is the only head of a Chinese portal website, and the IT industry has no performance at all.

This is a bit dazzling.

As expected, Fang Zhuo received a text message on his mobile phone with an interview invitation from the media. Some of them even listed a small interview outline to show their sincerity, and there were questions about why the IT industry was so rarely on the list.

This is not a small media, but they have such a reaction to the current Forbes rankings.

Fang Zhuo also understands that this is related to his two appearances on CCTV programs and his firm optimism about the Internet industry, but what can he say?

Blame Ma Huateng for not working hard and not making your money properly?

He thought so and really saw Pony Ma's congratulations in the New Year's greetings text message.

"The spring of the Internet has come, and the IT industry will bring more and more wealth. I am a little surprised that my name appears on this list, but I am more happy because I am almost certain that it will be a signal for the IT industry to make great plans. Good luck in the Year of the Sheep, and I will teach you how to make money when I have time."

Fang Zhuo edited a short message to reply to Pony Ma, then threw the phone to his sister and said, "Qi Qi, change the last sentence of my text message to a blessing, and then reply to those Internet people who sent text messages."

This was not the first time Zhao Suqi did this job. She was familiar with replying the New Year's message from the president of Sina to the domestic Internet bosses or executives.

"You didn't reply yourself? Did you copy it?" Mother Zhao Shumei watched this scene. She now racked her brains to avoid repeating words when receiving text messages.

Fang Zhuo calmly replied, "The richest man is just perfunctory."

Zhao Shumei: "..."

Soon, she felt more special about the richest man in her family.

"The richest man is just like this, not making dumplings, but tasting them."

"The richest man is just sitting and watching TV with his head tilted."

Only by the evening, Zhao Shumei's patience with the richest man in Shanghai was exhausted. She had the naturalness to reprimand him again, and she had the confidence to say "You are the richest man, I am the richest man's mother."

On New Year's Eve, the family watched the Spring Festival Gala in the living room. Fang Zhuo's phone gradually became quiet after being bombarded with calls and text messages, and he replied to the blessings intermittently.

A little later, Zheng Danrui, who had just finished watching Zhao Benshan's skit "Heart Disease" and had already wished the New Year, called in.

"Mr. Fang, Happy New Year." Zheng Danrui only said a few words of greeting and asked directly, "I just saw Mr. Fang on Forbes today, congratulations."

Fang Zhuo also said Happy New Year, but he felt strange to hear such congratulations from a dignified deputy mayor. His mind turned quickly and he smiled:

"I didn't expect that this Forbes list would list me, but it's true. The companies under my name either have listed numbers or have disclosed valuations through the media. It's clear and easy to calculate."

Zheng Danrui had to sigh that Fang Zhuo on the other end of the phone was a smart man. He reacted too quickly to a sentence. The four words "clear and innocent" are very important.

He said "hmm" and asked more directly: "What about your company's financial and tax situation?"

"Absolutely normal." Fang Zhuo assured, "There is no tax evasion at all, and the tax refund for Yike's export products is also completely normal. Our company has no intention of tampering with this aspect."

Zheng Danrui was slightly relieved and warned: "You should pay more attention. This list may not be all good things."

"Yes, thank you for your concern, brother Zheng, my company is absolutely fine." Fang Zhuo wondered if this person had any rumors, but even if not, it was well-intentioned.

The current Forbes list is also jokingly called the "pig-killing list" or "prisoner list", a bit like the "bid king" of CCTV advertisements a few years ago. The media's focus has brought rich people such as Yang Rong and Yang Bin to judicial trials.

The call ended.

Fang Zhuo carefully thought about his actions and confirmed that there was generally no problem. Yike and Yike were not afraid of investigation. The fund's operating scope so far is abroad. Even if it comes to Anliang Chamber of Commerce, people have to be allowed to have financial management concepts.

There was no other movement on New Year's Eve. The family said goodbye to the old year with the sound of firecrackers, and the family was arranged to have a physical examination after the New Year.

According to the richest man Fang, his medical group has a preferential cooperation with the hospital, and not having a physical examination will waste the quota...

Anyway, he firmly stated that the physical examination of the whole family will be a reserved item every year in the future, and they must pay attention to their health, so that they can enjoy the wealth of the "richest man".

The parents complained a little, but they agreed because their son was firm in his attitude.

"After all, you will make a living under the richest man in the future." Mother Zhao Shumei learned to use the word "richest man" to tease.

"Mom, you can still take a driver's license when you have time. My dad gave you a jade bracelet during the New Year, and I can give you a car." Fang Zhuo said so.

"Let your dad drive. He always brags about how good his truck driving skills are." Zhao Shumei smiled, "Now you have a chance to show it."

Fang Zhuo glanced at his father and considered adding another family car. Audi A6 is a good choice.

Or, since his parents are willing to come to Shanghai, can they buy a property instead of renting it?

He talked about this topic with his mother, and also talked about the domestic housing price trend. After his uncle and father joined the discussion, he talked about the prosperity of the US real estate market.

When the meal started, the topic had changed to the current international situation, whether the United States would use force against Iraq, and how the situation in the Gulf would develop.

My father and uncle each had their own views, and the debate was very intense.

Fang Zhuo watched from the sidelines. When asked, he just said that he didn't understand these things. Listening to the discussion was really "listen to your words, just listen to your words".

The end of the year was gradually spent in adapting to and teasing the richest man, planning for the future of the family, and discussing national affairs.

...

In comparison, another rich man, Xu Mingchang, did not spend a comfortable New Year.

The old city renovation of Shanghai JA District has been won, but the demolition work has not been smooth, and it has also caused some dissatisfaction from the administrative department.

This dissatisfaction became deeper after some residents persisted in complaining before the New Year.

As it happened, on the 29th day of the lunar year, Xu Mingchang saw the 2002 Forbes Rich List. His assets had improved, but he was still behind Fang Zhuo, who was ranked ninth.

Xu Mingchang was very upset.

Then, something even more upset happened. Fang Zhuo's Sina.com publicly announced that "Shanghai's richest man has changed hands."

Xu Mingchang thought this action was shameless. He got the title of "Shanghai's richest man" by buying a mansion in Hong Kong that was comparable to that of the wealthy Liu Luanxiong, operating and controlling listed companies, and spending lavishly on different occasions.

Why can a website change ownership by shouting a few words?

Is it just based on Hurun's messy list?

Xu Mingchang had an unhappy New Year, and even wondered whether Fang Zhuo, who had a strong presence recently, was related to the reconstruction of the old city.

It may not be an immediate conflict of interest. Others may want to get something from him.

Xu Mingchang had such actions against others, so it was natural for him to have such doubts.

This mood continued until he participated in a mahjong game. His tablemates talked about the Forbes rankings and jokingly asked Xu Mingchang to try to catch up. He suddenly changed his face and expressed his real dissatisfaction.

Although others could not match Xu Mingchang's assets, they were also well-known local figures. They said a few words and did not humble themselves.

The game ended unhappily.

Xu Mingchang was even more angry about this.

He turned to be more angry about the name, and remembered that he was dissatisfied with the list last time, and he revealed through the media that he had assets close to 15 billion Chinese yuan.

This time, Hurun obviously calculated the ranking according to the last self-exposure. It was really a fake list.

Xu Mingchang was very dissatisfied and decided to do it this way.

However, the rich man did not have a media company under him. If he wanted to speak out, he had to take the initiative to contact the media. He simply did not let his subordinates do it, and directly found the number of the editor-in-chief of the Shanghai media and called him.

"I'm Xu Mingchang."

"Hello, I want to expose something."

"No, not expose something, it should be a correction. There is something wrong with the estimation of the Forbes ranking list by Hurun. Please give me the whole interview later."

"I want to talk about the significance of our Shanghai old city renovation to urban development, and by the way, the absurdity of the Forbes list."

Xu Mingchang also had his own considerations under his emotions. The old city renovation of the JA district is highly valued by the higher authorities, and now it is stricter than the previous two years. We can consider changing another way to exert influence.

As a native of Shanghai, Xu Mingchang can grasp the local people's views on the city and wealth. The shaping of public image has always been his strength. He has gained a lot of practical benefits and convenience by using the title of "Shanghai's richest man".

So, Xu Mingchang, who is suspected to be the former richest man in Shanghai, made an appointment with a media for an exclusive interview on February 28, focusing on the development of his own company, and also talking about how a local of Shanghai can make waves in Hong Kong and how to chat and laugh with those Hong Kong tycoons.