158: Chapter 158 A Reprimand

Ultimately,

following a unanimous decision by several ministers,

they chose to summon Bai Jingqing.

Of course,

before summoning him,

they didn't say it was to discuss matters like monopolies;

they simply said they wanted Bai Jingqing to come to the Capital to report on his work.

Bai Jingqing had always been on good terms with these ministers,

so he truly thought it was just a work report,

and he eagerly headed to the Capital to deliver his debriefing.

However,

as Bai Jingqing chatted with the ministers,

the conversation quickly reached the core of the issue.

Hearing the ministers' concerns regarding the matter,

he immediately patted his chest and guaranteed, "Ministers,

I, Bai Jingqing, give you my word of honor,

I will never betray the motherland."

Zhan Ruijie, the Minister of Industry and Information Technology, nodded. "I believe you.

I know you're not a bad kid by nature;

you are very kind-hearted.

And I also believe

that you would never betray the motherland.

But you must understand,

Huayao's current scale is a bit too large,

and it has caused dissatisfaction among many people.

If it continues to develop like this,

we fear Huayao will slip beyond your control."

Bai Jingqing nodded

and continued, "Ministers,

please rest assured,

Huayao Communications will always remain in my hands.

Of course,

I also know

you must be worried,

thinking that since I control such a massive conglomerate,

I might have other ideas.

But I want to say,

if the country ever needs it,

Huayao can be reclaimed at any time

to become a state-owned enterprise.

The same applies even now;

if you truly feel that my influence has become too great,

or that Huayao's reach is too broad,

then you can take Huayao back

and turn it into a state-owned enterprise.

Of course,

I have no other requests,

only that when the time comes, I be given a sum of money

so I can live out my days as a carefree, wealthy man.

Of course,

that is the worst-case scenario.

If you feel right now that Huayao is truly out of control,

you can do this.

But if you feel that Huayao is still manageable,

then I believe

it is better for Huayao to remain in my hands for now.

I'm not bragging,

but if Huayao lost me right now,

it simply wouldn't be able to function.

Other than me,

no one can keep the employees under me in line.

Of course,

when the country needs it in the future,

I can also choose to spin off all of Huayao's sub-brands into independent entities.

In that case,

our massive Huayao brand would be dispersed into various small brands,

and it wouldn't constitute a monopoly anymore.

If the ministers require me to do this,

I can issue the order immediately,

and it would be easily accomplished.

In short,

I guarantee to all of you

that I will never monopolize the entire Dragon Kingdom."

Bai Jingqing spoke these words with genuine emotion,

and his pure heart moved the ministers,

who expressed their trust in him.

"With this guarantee of yours, we can rest easy.

If the higher-ups ask,

we will relay your words to them.

However,

now that Huayao has developed to this point

and reached such a scale,

you still need to be careful.

Caution is the parent of safety."

Now that everything was out in the open,

there was no longer any need for secrecy.

Only now did Bai Jingqing realize

why he had been sleeping poorly lately.

It turned out that in the Capital—

and not just in the Capital—

many high-ranking officials were eyeing his Huayao,

feeling that the Huayao pig had grown too fat

and it was time for the slaughter.

Bai Jingqing truly didn't have much of a pursuit for power,

nor for money,

as long as he had enough.

Therefore,

his use of the system to develop Huayao

was entirely to drive the development of the Dragon Kingdom's high-tech industry.

He felt that after transmigrating to this world,

there weren't many people more patriotic than him,

and even those who lived off the state

might not be as patriotic as he was.

The matter was eventually dropped,

while Xue Haixin had been waiting,

hoping to see the state take action against Huayao Communications.

However,

he waited for a long time

without ever seeing a result.

He requested to see the ministers again,

but this time,

the ministers chose to avoid him,

simply saying they were busy

and did not grant him an audience.

Xue Haixin knew

that this plan had completely fallen through.

As of now,

Huayao Communications had received official recognition

and could no longer be shaken.

Xue Haixin truly couldn't fathom

how Bai Jingqing had defended himself.

...

After occupying overseas markets,

basically all new phones came with a pre-installed software

called TikTok,

which was the overseas version of Douyin.

Douyin's widespread global expansion

was also flourishing.

As Douyin developed many new ways to generate profit,

Zhang Yiming's income skyrocketed,

at one point even making him the richest man in the country.

On the new year's Rich List,

he ranked first.

However,

after seeing this ranking,

many people raised doubts: "Wait,

Zhang Yiming's Douyin is indeed incredible,

and Douyin has a lot of users,

so Zhang Yiming should definitely have a lot of money,

but isn't the biggest boss of Douyin Bai Jingqing?

Isn't Bai Jingqing Zhang Yiming's boss?

How come he's not on the list?"

This matter caused a stir online,

with many people curious

and even questioning the authenticity of the Rich List.

In the end,

the official Rich List issued a clarification stating

that Bai Jingqing was unwilling to participate in such meaningless rankings,

and thus had refused all requests from the Rich List.

However, in the speculation of many,

Bai Jingqing was likely already wealthy enough to rival a nation.

This time,

people truly gained a deeper understanding of the phrase "wealthy enough to rival a nation."

In fact, in the Dragon Kingdom,

there were many invisible billionaires,

not necessarily because they were all indifferent to fame and fortune,

but because many people's money was actually not very clean,

so they were unwilling to participate in such lists,

fearing they would expose themselves.

But Bai Jingqing was definitely not that kind of person;

he truly had no further pursuit of fame and fortune.

Afterward, people noticed even more

that Bai Jingqing didn't look like a top billionaire at all in his daily life.

He lived a simple life,

dressed very ordinarily,

and never bought luxury goods.

On his wrist, he wore Huayao Communications' latest smart wearable device,

which wasn't worth much.

Even for travel,

he relied on an old Audi A6.

Every time they saw him,

people couldn't help but be reminded of an ancient saying: "Wealth and rank cannot corrupt him,

poverty and humble condition cannot swerve him,

and power and force cannot bend him."

In the minds of many,

Bai Jingqing could even be considered a modern saint.

People often said

that the Dragon Kingdom hadn't seen a true master in many years,

but this time,

almost all netizens agreed

that Bai Jingqing was a modern master.

He attracted many fans with his powerful personal charisma.

To this,

Bai Jingqing did not offer any response.

Aside from occasionally attending company meetings

and some launch events for Huayao sub-brands,

on a daily basis,

he simply did not appear in the public eye.