Richest Rag-picker

Chapter 314: Chapter 310: A Shocking Calculation (Part 2)

"Alright, wait for me a second. I’m going to put this treasure in my car first."

With that, before Wei Yilong could say anything, he slung the woven bag over his shoulder and headed for his Hongqi.

After neatly folding the woven bag and placing it in his satchel, he returned backstage.

At this point, a host whom Fang Chenyi found quite familiar had already walked onto the stage and begun to emcee the opening ceremony.

Following the host’s instructions, the audience quickly quieted down, and everyone found their seats.

Fang Chenyi had also returned backstage, where he saw Wei Yilong looking his way repeatedly.

Beside Wei Yilong were several middle-aged men in sharp suits. Seeing Fang Chenyi arrive, Wei Yilong quickly made the introductions:

"Come, come, let me introduce you all. This is my boss, and the actual owner of this industrial park, Chairman Fang Chenyi."

Hearing Wei Yilong’s words, some of the leaders who weren’t familiar with Fang Chenyi showed surprised expressions.

They all knew Wei Yilong wasn’t the man behind the curtain, but they never imagined the real boss would be so young. Director Sun, on the other hand, familiarly escorted a middle-aged man to Fang Chenyi’s side and began the introduction with a smile:

"Chairman Fang, this is our Li Province. He came specially today to cut the ribbon for our opening ceremony."

Hearing this, Fang Chenyi smiled warmly and extended his hand to Li Province, offering a greeting.

Li Province also smiled and shook Fang Chenyi’s hand, continuously remarking on how young and promising he was.

It had to be said that all parties placed great importance on this project. Not just the city, but even the highest levels of government had heard about it.

If it weren’t inappropriate, many bigwigs would have wanted to come and show their support!

After all, this concerned Huaxia’s next commercial hub!

Everyone introduced themselves and quickly became acquainted. At that moment, the host on stage announced the start of the event.

Hearing this, Wei Yilong greeted the group and then walked onto the stage.

After a few simple opening remarks, Wei Yilong chuckled and addressed the audience:

"As I just said, I am the person in charge of this project, but I am not its owner. So now, let’s give a round of thunderous applause to welcome my boss, the initiator and owner of this super-commercial district project, Chairman Fang Chenyi! Please come to the stage to give a speech!"

CLAP CLAP CLAP...

As Wei Yilong’s voice fell, thunderous applause erupted from the audience. At the same time, everyone was curious about what kind of person the owner of this mega-project was.

Backstage, hearing Wei Yilong’s words, Fang Chenyi smiled and greeted everyone before stepping onto the stage.

But the moment he appeared, the crowd below froze. They stared at Fang Chenyi on the stage, confused, thinking to themselves:

’How did that young man who was picking up trash get up there? There’s no trash to clean on stage, is there?’

However, just as everyone’s minds were running wild, they saw the handsome young trash-picker walk to the center of the stage. He reached out, took the microphone from Wei Yilong, and a very approachable smile spread across his face:

"Thank you all for taking time out of your busy schedules to attend the opening ceremony for our commercial district..."

After he delivered some opening pleasantries, everyone finally understood one thing: this young trash-picker was actually the boss of the commercial district.

’I heard the total investment in this commercial district is in the range of two to three hundred billion!’

’But looking at him, he can’t be more than twenty-something. How can he be so rich?’

’And if he’s that rich, why is he still picking up trash?!’

’Sigh! A guy that rich is still out there picking up trash. What excuse do I have for not working hard?’

For a moment, various thoughts ran through the minds of the audience, but the general consensus was that Fang Chenyi and "trash-picking" were two things that should never be connected.

Fang Chenyi didn’t give a long-winded speech. After a few simple words, he began the day’s ribbon-cutting ceremony.

Soon, Wei Yilong took over the host’s role. As he spoke, leaders from various industries were invited onto the stage one by one.

Finally, after the hostesses brought up trays covered with red silk, everyone picked up scissors and cut the red ribbons before them.

In the time that followed, a succession of leaders came on stage to give speeches, followed by many other elaborate activities. For good luck, a large number of firecrackers were also prepared on-site.

At Fang Chenyi’s command, the scene erupted—gongs and drums resounded, firecrackers popped, and the crowd was a sea of people...

And just like that, in a lively atmosphere, the ribbon-cutting ceremony came to an end.

After it was over, the reporters at the scene quickly sent their stories back to their television stations.

Meanwhile, a news story titled ’Billionaire Picks Up Trash’ shot up on Weibo. Within a few hours, it had climbed to the number one spot on the trending list, even pushing down news about celebrities.

The Weibo post featured several photos of Fang Chenyi holding a woven bag and picking up bottles.

However, regarding this news, the netizens below were split into two camps.

One camp believed that Fang Chenyi, dressed so sharply in a suit, was obviously just putting on a show. Of course, this camp was mostly comprised of men.

The other camp, mainly consisting of women, believed that not only was Fang Chenyi handsome, but he was also a frugal and good man.

The power of netizens is truly formidable. As the debate over whether Fang Chenyi was putting on a show raged on, his personal information was dug up layer by layer.

Soon, a topic created by an enthusiastic netizen who had compiled all the information was pushed to the number two spot on the trending list.

Its title was ’Huaxia’s True, Unknown Richest Man!’

Everyone who clicked on this Weibo post was left completely stunned. They had originally thought the title of ’richest man’ would surely belong to one of the Mas or Wangs, but after reading the post, they were astonished to discover that a young man in his twenties named Fang Chenyi had a net worth so high it was almost incalculable.

100% owner of Southern Airlines, 100% owner of Xuanji Animation Technology Development Co., Ltd., 100% owner of Lu Chao Technology, 100% owner of Tokyo Entertainment, 100% owner of Qinhuang Island Yuejian Company, 100% owner of Jingcheng Celestial Paradise Golf Course, 100% owner of Qinhuang Sunlight Private Middle School, and 100% owner of Er Guotou Distillery.

And these were just the companies he fully controlled. Beyond these, he also held: a 51% stake in Louis Vuitton China, a 49% stake in Apple Inc., a 91% stake in Big Stick Animation Entertainment Company, a 71% stake in Baida Film and Television, a 71% stake in Toyota Company, a 71% stake in Tencent Games, a 71% stake in AW Company, a 10% stake in Baida Group, and a 96% stake in Red Bull Group.

It was a shocking revelation. Some bored netizens with nothing better to do made an estimate based on publicly available information, and the total assets from all these companies added up to an incalculable figure!

Putting other things aside, just look at the few major international corporations in his portfolio.

For example, Apple Inc.’s latest market cap is 1.97 trillion US Dollars. His 49% stake is worth 965.3 billion US Dollars! And his 51% stake in Louis Vuitton is worth another 23.6 billion US Dollars!

His domestic holdings were just as impressive. Never mind his stake in Southern Airlines, with a market cap approaching 90 billion RMB. Just look at Tencent Games, with a market cap of 493.9 billion US Dollars; his 71% controlling stake was worth 350.6 billion US Dollars!

The numbers were truly mind-boggling once you did the math! Just these few holdings alone added up to over 1.4 trillion US Dollars, and that didn’t even include the value of his stakes in companies like Toyota and Baida!

By this calculation, it was no exaggeration to say that Fang Chenyi’s net worth made him not just the richest man in Huaxia, but the richest man in the world. Of course, he probably still couldn’t compare to the wealth of certain hidden families who never reveal themselves...

Like the legendary Rothschild Clan, for example~

PS: Continuing with two Chapters combined into one!