Chapter 76 The Question of Faith

According to statistics from 2015, the Hearst Family directly controlled net assets totaling 35 billion US dollars.

Other assets indirectly held through charitable foundations, family offices, and wholly-owned subsidiaries could not be effectively quantified, making them a top-tier family with both wealth and power.

Wang Xiuyuan's knowledge of the Hearst Family came about in a very interesting way. The infamous Hilton sisters are known to everyone.

However, those who are fond of gossip, after a brief understanding of the Hilton sisters, will discover an even more prominent pair of sisters: the cousins Amanda Hearst and Lydia Hearst.

The Hearst sisters completely overshadowed the Hilton sisters in terms of looks, figure, career achievements, status, and family wealth; it's just that the Hearst sisters weren't as ostentatious as the Hilton sisters.

But in reality, the mothers of Amanda Hearst and Lydia Hearst were even more legendary than they were.

Lydia Hearst's biological mother is Patty Hearst. Patty Hearst was kidnapped by an extremist organization in 1974 and mysteriously developed Stockholm Syndrome during her captivity.

Patty Hearst subsequently joined the extremist organization under an alias, and later participated in a bank robbery with the organization, eventually being sentenced to seven years in prison.

She was later pardoned twice, first by president Carter and then by president Clinton, truly a legendary woman.

And Amanda Hearst's biological mother is Annie Hurst, a renowned figure in the global publishing industry, with personal assets reaching 8.7 billion US dollars.

Here's the most crucial point: Annie Hurst's father is the current patriarch of the Hearst Family. Annie Hurst has four sisters and no brothers.

No matter who marries any of the five Hurst sisters, their personal wealth will increase significantly, provided they 'marry' in and not 'marry into' the family.

One must have a sufficiently strong family background or extraordinary personal ability; otherwise, 'marrying in' would turn into 'marrying into' the family.

The issue can be seen from the surnames of the sisters Amanda Hearst and Lydia Hearst.

Wang Xiuyuan didn't expect to meet a young lady from a top-tier family today. Although somewhat surprised, he didn't lose his composure, as he already knew quite a few scions from top families like Rockefeller, Morgan, Roosevelt, DuPont, and Vanderbilt.

Meeting a young lady from the Hearst Family was also within reason.

Wang Xiuyuan is a person with little resistance to beauty and money. If there ever comes a moment when he shows extraordinary self-control over money and beauty, it can only mean that more money and even more top-tier beauties are awaiting him.

"She is indeed incredibly beautiful. Annie's temperament is very unique; at least among her peers, I've never seen it in anyone else."

After praising Annie Hurst, Wang Xiuyuan turned to Mars and said, "You're emphasizing that Annie is currently single. Are you trying to set us up?

Let me state beforehand, I would be very willing; I can find no reason to refuse."

Wang Xiuyuan's words once again successfully amused Mars and Annie Hurst. They had almost no prior interactions with Asians and had many stereotypes about Asians before meeting Wang Xiuyuan.

For example, being taciturn, not good with words, overly modest, disliking social activities, lacking humor, being excellent students, and so on...

But after spending time with Wang Xiuyuan, their stereotypes about Asians were completely overturned.

Mars happily said, "Since you're smitten with Annie, you should pursue her quickly, lest someone else gets ahead of you."

Annie Hurst also had a lively and outgoing personality. She playfully retorted, following Mars's words:

"I'm very happy that someone likes me, and if Wang Xiuyuan were to pursue me, I would be even happier, but the probability of him succeeding is not high."

"Why? Am I that lacking in charm?" Wang Xiuyuan asked, puzzled.

"Because you are Chinese. It's well-known that most Chinese are atheists; you don't believe in religion.

But my family and I are all devout Protestants, and my future husband must also be a devout Protestant. Different faiths make it impossible to be together."

Wang Xiuyuan had initially thought Annie Hurst was prejudiced against yellow skin, but it turned out to be an issue of faith.

Whether this reason was true or not, it was at least a very respectable reason for refusal, which gave Wang Xiuyuan a way to gracefully back down.

Since Annie Hurst wasn't interested in him, Wang Xiuyuan simply took that graceful exit and left.

"It seems we truly cannot be partners, because I am indeed a staunch atheist, and it's impossible for me to ever believe in christianity in this lifetime.

Not just christianity, I don't believe in other denominations either."

Mars asked curiously, "That steadfast? What about Taoism and Buddhism in your China? Don't you believe in those either?"

Not only was Mars very curious about this question, but Annie Hurst opposite her also watched Wang Xiuyuan with wide eyes, eager to hear his reason.

"When I was eleven, I really wanted a mountain bike. I went to church and prayed devoutly to God, hoping to receive a mountain bike as a Christmas gift.

For this, I went to church every day after school to pray to God, for over a month.

But when Christmas came, the gift I received was a whole set of exercise books for various subjects.

Since then, I have never believed in God again, and the same goes for other religions.

Because God not only didn't give me a mountain bike, he also punished me with a pile of exercise books. He inflicted this miserable life upon me, so why should I believe in religion?

We Chinese have always been a very pragmatic people. We don't care where the deity of a religion comes from, nor do we care if the deity's true form is human or some animal.

It's fine if you want us to pray to this deity, and it's fine if you want us to believe in this deity, but this deity must be efficacious.

If he can fulfill our wishes, we will believe in him. If he cannot fulfill our wishes, then he can just go away and stay there.

We will not give an inefficacious deity a second chance."

After hearing Wang Xiuyuan's reason, Mars burst out laughing.

"Hahahaha, I completely understand how you feel. If that happened to me, I wouldn't believe in him either."

Although Annie Hurst was also laughing very happily, her demeanor remained very graceful, showing at a glance that she had been strictly trained by her family.

"Wang Xiuyuan, praying to God like that is useless. Your method, approach, and process are completely wrong."

Annie Hurst seemed to have a different opinion on Wang Xiuyuan's way of seeking a mountain bike.

"Oh? Is that so?"