Lin Xiaoguai had a bit of a headache. The Charitable Foundation was just a spontaneous idea she had, but she hadn’t expected so many complications to follow.
However... she thought of something—
"You should keep your own properties, you can join as a corporate member of the Charitable Foundation," Lin Xiaoguai actually only had a superficial understanding of the Charitable Foundation. She hadn’t thought of it at first, only now realizing sluggishly that the Charitable Foundation couldn’t own properties. In her past life, she had only heard of certain groups setting up their own charitable foundations, never heard of one that ventured into a specific business area.
Hearing this, Shen Chi was confused, "Corporate member?"
Lin Xiaoguai nodded, "Members who join with their own businesses are corporate members, aside from that, individuals who join are individual members. The Charitable Foundation itself doesn’t own any properties, it mainly operates by relying on such corporate members and donations collected from society."
"This system isn’t bad at all," Shen Chi expressed his approval.
He had originally been concerned that if he merged his properties into the Charitable Foundation, it would be troublesome to split them among his children in the future. After all, he had long planned to leave the network and wealth he accumulated over his lifetime to his eldest son, the properties his birth mother left along with the Han Family’s connections would naturally be inherited by his second son, the youngest son would inherit the entire Gu Family, and the assets in Wanwan’s possession would serve as dowries for his daughters.
Thus, although it wasn’t absolutely fair, he wasn’t biased toward any one child.
"In that case, let me recommend a few more corporate members," Shen Chi said.
"You mean Wei Qiang and Brother Ming?" Lin Xiaoguai understood.
Over the years, Wei Qiang’s Yupin Xuan’s business had been flourishing, its storefronts expanding considerably. Although still no match for some of the older establishments, due to Lin Xiaoguai’s occasional support, Yupin Xuan’s reputation for its jade supplies had always been solid within the industry, now comparable to those of the older shops. He was quite a sizable boss now, reportedly contemplating opening a branch in Shanghai.
"Not just them," Shen Chi shook his head: "I have quite a few comrades who left the military and found the typical nine-to-five unsatisfactory, so they ventured into business, and many have been successful."
"Let’s wait on that," Lin Xiaoguai considered and said, "The foundation has just started, and its scale will be limited to the capital at first. Let it develop gradually before involving your comrades."
She paused, then asked, "But would they be willing?" She knew that nowadays, in a time unlike the future, people from military and political families still cared about their reputation and those in business might not understand the benefits of doing charity. Wouldn’t they think you were just swinging by for handouts if you approached them about this?
"Don’t worry, I’ll talk to them, and they will agree," Shen Chi first assured her and then added, "If others are not possible, we can start by getting Wei Qiang and Brother Ming to join."
"Forget about Wei Qiang; his store is already in the capital, but isn’t Brother Ming’s business all in the south?" Lin Xiaoguai asked, puzzled.
"He just called me," Shen Chi chuckled, "saying he plans to move some business up north for Tongtong’s sake, and asked me to keep an eye out for properties in the capital."
Lin Xiaoguai was taken aback for a moment before realizing that it was because the treatment for Tongtong was available in the capital that the other family wanted to "be near the water to get their moon" faster.
She was somewhat amused yet bemused, "Speaking of which, we’ve been married for so many years now, how come I only found out about Brother Ming just now?" Shen Chi and Brother Ming seemed to have a good relationship.
"At first, we were all busy; his grandparents and parents passed away one after another, and his uncles were keenly eyeing his properties. After coming to the capital, we ended up even further apart. We usually don’t phone much, just occasionally write letters to check on each other. The reason I didn’t tell you is also because I felt that we’d meet eventually anyway, so there was no point talking about him before meeting," Shen Chi said gently, stroking her hair.
Speaking of which, he had quite a few comrades, with close ones numbering in the hundreds, not to mention those he was less close with, scattered all across the country. He himself couldn’t meet many of them in a year, let alone Wanwan. Thus, he wasn’t in the habit of specifically mentioning them to her, after all, there would eventually be a chance to meet each one in person.
In this era, comrades were different from those in the future. Having served in the military together cemented ironclad bonds, unlike in the future where veterans often lost touch after discharge, and even if they maintained contact, the connections would fade if the distance was great.
In this time, comrades could go more than a decade without seeing each other, yet their friendship remained undiminished.