The literary era since 1979

Chapter 276 Charity is a business
"Father, I booked a flight to New York."

"Yes, the invitation says the venue is New York, and I plan to stay in the house in New York."

"What! You're in New York now?"

After Mike received the invitation letter from Random House, he rushed back to the United States without a moment's delay.

Take a boat from eastern Guangdong to Hong Kong, spend a night at this transit point, and then you can take a flight tomorrow.

Before leaving, I strolled around the streets of Hong Kong for a while until I came across a bookstore.

Suddenly, I had the urge to read some martial arts novels.

When the boss saw that it was a foreigner, and a Mandarin-speaking foreigner, he did not dare to neglect him at all.

Even now, the 83 version of "The Legend of the Condor Heroes" is being broadcast on TV and the theme song is echoing in the store.

"Ahhhhh~"

"It seems as if I have seen it in my dreams before, and the waves in my heart are now there."

"Let go of worldly affairs and stop worrying about your life."

"To the end of the world..."

The boss brought Mike to the martial arts novel column.

On the bookshelf, rows of martial arts novels are neatly arranged, including those by Jin Yong, Liang Yusheng, Gu Long, Wen Ruian, etc.

"You've come to the right place."

The boss boasted that his bookstore not only had a large number of martial arts novels, but also a complete range, covering almost all martial arts writers.

Mike asked, "Whose novel is the most popular?"

"Of course it's Jin Yong!"

The boss pointed to The Legend of the Condor Heroes and said that TVB was broadcasting a TV series of the same name, which instantly made the novel popular.

Mike glanced around and asked, "Is there a version of The Grandmaster Huang Feihong in dialect?"

The boss was stunned, surprised that he actually knew there was such a martial arts novel.

Seeing him skillfully pull it out from a shelf, Mike asked curiously, "How is the book selling?"

The boss said in Cantonese: "It's just so-so."

Mike couldn't help but ask, "It's not selling well?"

"That depends on who you compare it with. If you compare it with Jin Yong, Liang Yusheng, Gu Long and others, it will definitely not sell well."

The boss said, "But compared to the average martial arts novel writer, it is definitely much better, especially in the past few weeks, I have been able to sell more than a dozen copies."

Mike asked, “Why is this happening?”

"It seems that it's because the author of this novel is very famous in the United States and it has been published in many newspapers."

The boss said, "Some people come to buy it because of its reputation. Originally, only some readers who like to read martial arts novels and those who call themselves disciples of Hongmen were willing to buy it."

After chatting for a while, Mike truly felt that the sales of "The Grandmaster Wong Fei Hung" were not high and it was not well accepted in Hong Kong.

"People are too impetuous nowadays. Although the book is good, few people will read traditional martial arts style books like this one."

The boss shook his head and couldn't help complaining.

Hong Kong is a tense and orderly place. Everyone is rushing to make money. They queue up expressionlessly for minibuses, queue up to enter companies, queue up to eat, and queue up to drink tea. With such tight time and space, how can any kind of art without money be produced locally?

Although the Hong Kong Book Fair attracts tens of thousands of visitors every year, books by Hong Kong's local pure literature writers are still not selling well.

When Hong Kong writers hold lectures on weekdays, there are usually only three or four kittens in the audience, and sometimes no more than a few dozen people.

In Hong Kong, if a novel can sell 3000 copies, it is considered very successful and a best-seller.

"So, that means, The Grandmaster Huang Feihong actually sold quite well?"

Mike looked at the first and second parts of the novel.

"How should I put it? It's already remarkable that a mainland writer can achieve this."

The boss added, "Luckily it became famous in the United States, otherwise this good book would have been buried."

"Don't worry, his book will never be buried!"

Mike vowed and was sure that "Saving Private Ryan" would win the award.

With this expectation in mind, I flew to New York excitedly.

Three days later, he personally opened the door of his own mansion to welcome Fang Yan and Bai Ruoxue who had come from afar.

"Teacher Fang! Ruoxue!"

"Mike! Long time no see!"

Fangyan was given a tight bear hug by him.

Bai Ruoxue smiled and looked around as she walked, and found that the entire mansion was worthy of the word "luxury".

It collects a large number of antiques from various countries, including Indian, Chinese, and large oil paintings, and Persian carpets can be seen everywhere.

From a few pages of the world's first Bible to a rosewood chair from the early Qing Dynasty, they are all collected. "This house is an old house. After the previous owner passed away, his son couldn't afford the inheritance tax, so he had to sell the house and all the artworks." Mike laughed, "My father spent a lot of money to buy it."

Fangyan raised an eyebrow and estimated Old Mike's wealth.

In the United States these days, there are nominally 130 million millionaires, but in reality there are less than 40.

Judging from the situation, even if Mike's family is not at the level of multi-millionaires, they are at least millionaires in the true sense.

Of course, compared with Fang Xiaojiang, the future billionaire, he is still a little short of that.

"Dad, the person you've always wanted to see is here!"

Mike reminded Fang Yan and Bai Ruoxue to just call him "Johnson".

When Fangyan came to the living room, he saw an old man who looked to be in his 60s. He was slightly plump, had blond hair, a ruddy face and was well-maintained. He was sitting in front of a grand piano and casually playing "God Bless America".

The next second, the piano sound stopped abruptly.

Old Mike stood up suddenly and, with the introduction of his son, he and Fangyan got to know each other.

"Sit down, sit down. I have someone prepare dinner for you. Let's eat and talk at the same time."

So, everyone came to the restaurant, and in addition to lettuce and a soup, the main course was the most exquisite tender steak in the United States.

A piece of beef about half an inch thick and the size of two palms would bleed when cut with a knife.

Bai Ruoxue ordered a well-done steak. While cutting the steak, she asked softly, "Mike, didn't you say you have a sister?"

"You mean Luo Diane? She took a case temporarily and flew directly back to Chicago."

Without waiting for his son to speak, Mike Sr. answered with a smile.

Fang Yan asked curiously: "Your daughter is..."

"Lawyer. Civil rights lawyer."

There was a hint of helplessness in Old Mike's proud tone.

“This is incredible!”

Fangyan sighed from the bottom of his heart.

During my time at the University of Iowa, I learned a little about the situation of women in the 80s through speeches on the equal rights movement. For example, banks required women to provide their husbands' co-signature when applying for loans.

In the American judicial community, although there are law firms willing to hire women, most of them treat them as mascots of the equal rights movement.

Civil rights lawyers who serve black people, women, the disabled, etc. are even rarer, after all, their salaries are low and their work is busy.

"Haha, that's what I thought too. I originally wanted her to be my legal advisor, but I didn't expect her to flatly refuse."

Old Mike smiled from ear to ear and said, "But sometimes she is still willing to help me take another look at taxes."

When he heard the word "tax", Fangyan asked about the feasibility of registering a company in the Cayman Islands and then transferring the copyright to the company.

"If you still want to invest in the United States, my advice is that it would be best to set up a charitable foundation," Old Mike advised.

“Isn’t it difficult to set up a charitable foundation like this?”

Fangyan raised his eyebrows.

The purpose of setting up charitable foundations in the United States is to avoid taxes. The money in the foundation is largely tax-free while one is alive, and there is no estate tax after death. The only restriction is that at least 5% of the total assets must be spent each year.

For example, if 100 billion is injected, 5 million will have to be taken out, but it does not necessarily have to be donated, it can also be used for investment.

For example, biomedicine.

As long as you persist for 20 years, the 5% limit will be gone. Once the rich man dies, his children can control the charitable foundation and avoid high inheritance taxes. Isn't this what Buffett did?

"No, it's not difficult at all."

Old Mike smiled and said, "It is very easy to register a foundation in New York. As long as you attach a $10 check as a fee in the registration letter, you will soon get a registration reservation certificate. Then submit the application form to the New York State Department, along with the previously received registration reservation certificate and a $75 application fee..."

He talked incessantly and then took a sip of water.

"The reason why I recommend you to register a foundation is that in order to encourage funds from overseas and other states, New York State does not require registered foundations to have a contact person in New York State. You only need to hire a secretary to register."

"It's that simple?"

The dialect was a big surprise.

Bai Ruoxue was stunned. It was an eye-opener. She didn't expect that charity could also be a business.

“So what should I donate with my 5%?”

Fangyan pondered for a moment.

"I know some Chinese friends whose families have set up a scholarship fund specifically to support Chinese international students."

Old Mike had a big smile on his face.

“Student aid fund.”

Fangyan suddenly thought of Nie Hualing and his wife's international writing plan, and also thought of the Mao Dun Literature Prize.

Is it possible to sponsor the winners of the Mao Dun Literature Prize to participate in this international writing program?
Thinking about it, he even thought of bringing Shen Shuang's family into this foundation.

(End of this chapter)