Chapter 217: Who Could Ever Have Too Much Money?
“Who could have imagined that even the higher-ups would go to such lengths to praise an internet celebrity?” Xu Fang sighed.
Xu Youyou nodded. The country has always paid special attention to online public opinion, and in recent years, there has been a strong focus on protecting traditional culture. They’ve been eager to present the country’s culture to the world.
Xu Youyou was also quite surprised that Qing Yatou’s video had caught the attention of the higher-ups so quickly.
“The Beauty of Intangible Heritage, Crafted with Care” – these eight characters were the headline on the newspaper Xu Youyou was holding, accompanied by a picture of Qing Yatou in Hanfu, making ink sticks.
What surprised Xu Youyou even more was Xie Ran.
“Boss, do you remember our little business? The one where we sold electric bikes and pressure cookers? Before you shot the video, I had people stock up on a lot of Huizhou ink. Now, it’s selling like crazy overseas.”
Xu Youyou was stunned. She had almost forgotten about that “arms dealer” side business, but it seemed that Xie Ran was still thinking about it. He could have started his own business, but he still worked diligently with Xu Youyou in charge.
“How much have we made?” Xu Youyou asked.
Xie Ran casually replied, “Boss, are you asking how much we made from the ink business? We’ve made 50 million in just a few days.”
“How much? How much inventory did you stock up on?” Xu Youyou thought she had misheard.
Even though Qing Yatou’s video had gone viral abroad, with such widespread reach, it still didn’t seem like it would make that much money.
Xie Ran answered nonchalantly, “Foreigners are superstitious. As soon as they heard that Huizhou ink could bring good luck, they rushed to buy it.”
Xu Youyou: …
She hadn’t expected superstition to be a global issue.
“Moreover, our pricing is also on the high side.”
Xu Youyou listened to Xie Ran’s words and cautiously asked, “How high did you price it?”
“The listed price is directly ten times the domestic price.”
Foreign trade is a high-profit industry, so Xu Youyou didn’t find the price that outrageous.
But Xie Ran added, “And then we converted the price into U.S. dollars.”
Xu Youyou immediately calculated: Seventy times the price!
She suddenly realized that being a shrewd businessman required solid mental strength. Selling something worth 100 yuan for 7,000 yuan made her feel uneasy inside.
Xie Ran, however, showed no shame at all. He said, “Boss, don’t worry. Even though we’ve priced it high, the product quality is good, and the packaging looks great. The foreigners love it, and they even thank us!”
Xu Youyou couldn’t help but feel fortunate to have Xie Ran. She felt she had really struck gold. She then brought up the business again. “Hmm, are other products selling well?”
Xie Ran, knowing the business well, explained, “Boss, although we’re not professional foreign traders and we’ve been in the game for a short time, we have plenty of capital and a wide variety of products. Our reputation is growing overseas, and we already have stable clients. Each month, we’re making at least 100 million in profit.”
Xu Youyou’s breath caught. For a moment, she didn’t know what to say to praise Xie Ran. She could only think that he truly was a future top tycoon – his mind was just brilliant.
“Boss, Peter’s game has finally completed its year-end settlement. He called me yesterday and said the funds should be transferred to our domestic account in the next few days.”
Xu Youyou felt like the good news was never-ending today. “How much?”
“You are the major shareholder of the game company, with the largest stake. After deducting the reserved funds for this year’s operations and taxes, 2 billion U.S. dollars will be transferred into your domestic account.”
Xu Youyou suddenly felt that 50 million or 100 million was nothing compared to this. 2 billion U.S. dollars, that’s equivalent to 14 billion RMB!
And the game had only been online for less than half a year, it hadn’t even reached its peak yet!
No wonder the big game companies are called cash cows. She had just happened to invest in a hit game, and the money she had put in was being returned tenfold, a hundredfold. There would be continuous funds flowing into her account in the future.
Xie Ran said, “Boss, we should’ve set up a few companies overseas last year.”
Xu Youyou curiously asked, “Why establish companies abroad?”
“To avoid taxes. You received this bonus as an individual, so you’ve paid nearly half of it in taxes. If we set up a few charitable foundations, I’m confident we could save at least 20% on taxes,” Xie Ran explained.
Xu Youyou suddenly felt a pang of regret. If she had known earlier, she wouldn’t have lost so many millions of dollars in taxes.
“Xie Ran, now that you’ve said that, I’m feeling uneasy. Hurry up and give me some more good news to cheer me up!” Xu Youyou eagerly said.
On the other end of the line, Xie Ran couldn’t help but laugh. “Other news is just small stuff. Mr. Song Zhihai has just been nominated for Best Actor at the Golden Deer Awards. He’s still too young, and it’s his first TV show, so he probably won’t win.”
Xu Youyou casually nodded. After doing the math, she realized that she had invested a few million in Song Zhihai, but now that he had become a top-tier star, the profits he had brought her were already in the hundreds of millions.
“Mr. Song’s new TV drama has also been sold. It’s a 20-episode show, with each episode priced at 30 million. That broke the domestic TV drama price record,” Xie Ran said.
Xu Youyou immediately did the math: 600 million! She remembered that Song Zhihai’s drama was a modern romance, and the script had been written by Su Wanyi.
Song Zhihai was their own artist, so his pay wasn’t high, and the overall production cost was just a little over 50 million.
Selling it for 600 million meant that the company had already earned ten times the return before it even aired.
Historically, period dramas have always been priced higher than modern romances because period dramas have a higher potential to go viral.
It was clear that the buyers were optimistic about the drama, given the high price.
“Boss, Aunt Li’s account is also profitable now, making a few hundred thousand a month.”
Xu Youyou was even happier to hear this than the 600 million from Song Zhihai: “Be sure to tell Aunt Li.”
Aunt Li, who had been raising cats and dogs in her villa in the capital, always felt that she was taking advantage of Xu Youyou. Now that the account was generating profit, she could feed her cats and dogs with a clear conscience.
In the past month, Xu Youyou had received several reports from Xie Ran about the profits, and she never tired of hearing them. After all, who could refuse the good news of making more money?
“Boss, Miss He didn’t want to disturb your vacation, but she asked me to check with you. Since you’re staying in Huangshan, do you have any old items from Mr. Cheng Dawei? Someone has approached the He family, hoping to buy a couple of his things.”
Xu Youyou raised an eyebrow when she heard this. It seemed like a perfect coincidence. She had been wondering how to handle Cheng Dawei’s golden jade abacus, and now the He family was asking to buy it.
