Reborn in Hollywood

Over the next few days, Li Rui continued filming as usual, finished work as usual, and ate with Paul and other crew members as usual.

On Saturday night, he boarded a flight to Los Angeles.

The plane landed at 10 p.m.

As Li Rui walked out of the passage, he immediately saw Ali standing at the exit, holding a sign that read "Raphael Lee" in large characters.

"Why are you here?" Li Rui walked over.

Ali put away the sign and looked him up and down.

"What's wrong? You look pale."

"It's nothing, I just didn't sleep well."

Ali gave him a suspicious look, but didn't ask any further questions.

"Let's go, I'll take you home. The audition tomorrow is at Disney Studios, so make sure you get a good rest today."

Li Rui nodded and followed him outside.

Back in Malibu, Jessica was already asleep. Li Rui tiptoed into the bedroom and lay down beside her.

She turned over, mumbled a sleepy "You're back?", and then fell asleep again.

Li Rui looked at the ceiling and slowly closed his eyes.

The next morning, Li Rui pushed open the door to Philip's studio.

The office wasn't big, but it was very tidy.

A whiteboard hangs on the wall, covered with various numbers and dates.

Philip sat in front of the computer, a cup of coffee in his hand, his eyes fixed on the screen, his brow slightly furrowed.

"You're here?"

Without looking up, he said, "Sit."

Li Rui sat down on the sofa.

"What do you want?"

Philip turned around, his expression a little strange—half serious, half with some kind of barely suppressed excitement.

"I've calculated your income from last year to this year."

He picked up a document from the table and handed it to Li Rui.

4780.

Li Rui took the document and glanced at it.

"Yeah, pretty much."

Philip nodded and picked up another piece of paper.

"This is the tax you need to pay."

Li Rui looked down at the string of numbers and frowned.

"2184 million?"

He looked up. "45.7%?"

Philip shrugged.

"In California, the federal tax is 38.6% and the state tax is 9.3%, so that's the total. You're a local, so there's no escaping it."

Li Rui stared at the paper, his lips twitching.

More than 21 million.

He recalled those days when he worked tirelessly on film sets.

Half of it, just like that, gone.

"Are you kidding me?" Li Rui's voice was a little weak.

Philip looked at him and suddenly laughed.

"Feeling sorry for him?"

"nonsense!"

"It's right to feel sorry for them!"

Philip stood up, walked over to him, snatched the paper back, crumpled it into a ball, and threw it into the trash can.

Li Rui was stunned.

"What are you doing?"

Philip clapped his hands, picked up another document from the table, and handed it to him.

"This is what you should see."

Li Rui took the document and turned to the first page.

Three seconds later, he looked up.

"What do you mean—"

"Look down."

Li Rui continued flipping through the pages.

Five minutes later, he put down the file and stared at Philip.

Are you sure?

Philip nodded.

"Sure."

Li Rui lowered his head again, looked at the string of numbers, and remained silent for a few seconds.

Then he suddenly burst out laughing.

"You fucking..."

"Don't swear."

Philip smiled too. "Let me explain first."

He walked back to the computer, pulled up a spreadsheet, and projected it onto the wall.

"The first debt is your 3000 million yuan salary."

He pointed at the screen.

"Universal was unusually generous with the money for Fast & Furious 2 & 3, transferring the full amount to your account in one go. However, this money didn't go into your personal account; instead, it went into the company I just registered for you—Raphael Lee Productions."

Li Rui raised an eyebrow.

"and then?"

"Then—" Philip paused, a smile playing on his lips, "I allocated $20 million in the company's name and bought Amazon in early February."

Li Rui was stunned for a moment.

"Early February?"

"Yes, just a few days before filming for Fast & Furious 2 started, the stock price was $0.71, and I bought over 28 million shares for $20 million. By the end of April, those shares were worth $2338 million."

He pointed to the numbers on the screen.

"This money is still in the company's account and hasn't reached you yet. Therefore, it's not counted as your personal income this year."

Li Rui looked down and did some calculations.

"How much was saved?"

Philip tapped on the keyboard.

"Company operating costs, team expenses, entertainment expenses, and other miscellaneous expenses add up to about 956 million that are tax-free. Based on your tax rate, that's a saving of 442 million."

Li Rui nodded.

"The second thing is your 1500 million worth of stocks."

Philip changed to a different watch.

"The Amazon shares you bought last September for 15 million were worth 41.5 million by the end of April this year. I'm donating those shares to you."

Li Rui suddenly looked up.

"Did you donate?"

"It's been donated."

Philip remained unfazed. "Donate it to your own charitable foundation—the Raphael Lee Charitable Foundation, which was just registered last week."

Li Rui opened his mouth, but for a moment he didn't know what to say.

Philip looked at him, his expression becoming somewhat complicated.

"Raphael, there's something I need to tell you."

Li Rui looked at him.

"What is it?"

Philip took a deep breath.

"You didn't tell me when you bought those 15 million Amazons last September."

Li Rui paused for a moment, then recalled the situation at the time.

He had just returned from the Star Wars set, carrying a bellyful of memories accumulated in the dream world. He simply opened an account, threw money into it, and didn't tell anyone.

"Yes."

Philip continued.

"When I found out, I was so angry I wanted to punch you. Fifteen million, and you didn't even consult me ​​before investing it all in one stock? Are you crazy?"

Li Rui didn't say anything.

Philip paused.

"Do you remember the fight we had?"

Li Rui nodded.

That day, Philip called, and his voice was so loud it could have blown the roof off.

"I thought you were crazy back then."

Philip's voice trailed off, "But in the months that followed, I watched Amazon's stock price—"

He pointed to the screen.

"0.30, 0.35, 0.40, 0.50, 0.60, 0.70, 0.83."

He counted them one by one.

"I watched that line go up, day by day, month by month, until it reached today."

He turned his head and looked at Li Rui.

"I just realized that I'm the one who's crazy."

Li Rui stared at him.

Philip smiled, a helpless smile.

"What the hell makes you know? What makes you know that lousy company could rise like this? I don't know, and neither do those Wall Street analysts, but you do."

He stood up, walked to the window, and turned his back to Li Rui.

"So this time, when the money for Fast & Furious 2 & 3 arrived, I asked myself a question—should I continue with my own ideas, or yours?"

He turned around.

"I chose yours."

Li Rui looked at him.

"You chose Amazon."

"I chose Amazon."

Philip nodded. "20 million, all in, right in early February."

He walked back to the computer and pulled up the stock chart.

"I thought to myself, if it drops, I'll accept it. At worst, you'll yell at me. But if it goes up—"

He smiled.

"It's gone up."

Li Rui looked down at the string of numbers: 2338 million.

In two months, the increase was 338 million.

"So you're apologizing to me now?"

Philip shrugged.

"I guess so. And by the way, I'm letting you know that I won't stop you from doing this kind of thing anymore."

Li Rui stared at him for a few seconds, then smiled.

"Okay, got it."

Philip smiled too.

"Alright, let's get down to business."

He cleared his throat. "The second thing, your 1500 million in stocks—"

Li Rui chimed in.

"It's been donated."

"Yes, I donated it."

Philip continued, "Under tax law, donated stock of the same value is fully deductible from personal income tax. $4150 million, at a federal tax rate of 38.6%, saves $1600 million."

He tapped the keyboard again.

"Also, if we sell these stocks, we'll have to pay capital gains tax on the increase in value. For a gain of 2650 million, 20% would be 530 million. By donating it, we can save that money."

He looked up at Li Rui.

"The two transactions together amount to 2130 million."

Li Rui leaned back on the sofa and stared at him.

"You mean...?"

"That's not all."

Philip interrupted him, "If you donate those 2000 million dollars worth of stocks you bought in the future, you can save some money. But that's for next year."

He typed in a few more numbers.

"The third thing is the retirement account. 401(k) plus IRA, a little over ten thousand a year, saving 5000 dollars, it's a small amount, but it's still something."

He closed his laptop, walked over to Li Rui, and turned to the last page of the document.

"The three transactions combined amount to 3544 million."

Li Rui looked down at the number.

3544 million.

He recalled the tax bill of 2184 million from earlier.

"so……"

"so……"

Philip laughed, "Not only will you not have to pay a single penny in taxes, but you'll also have an extra $1360 million in deductions that you can carry over to the next few years."

He patted Li Rui on the shoulder.

"Rafael, from now on, as long as Amazon's stock price continues to rise, your taxes for the next few years can basically be reduced to zero."

Li Rui stared at the string of numbers, then suddenly stood up and hugged Philip tightly.

"You're a fucking genius."

Philip was being choked so badly he could hardly breathe.

"Let go...let go...I just found a good accountant..."

Li Rui released him, took two steps back, and looked at him.

"You didn't consult me ​​about buying 2000 million in stocks."

Philip shrugged.

"It's too late. Early February is the best time to buy. You're filming in Miami, and it's hard to explain over the phone. Besides—"

He paused for a moment, then said, "I knew you would agree."

Li Rui smiled.

"Okay, I'll let you know in advance next time."

Philip nodded.

"By the way, how much money do you have in your personal account?"

Li Rui thought about it.

"More than two million, 30 for Fast & Furious 1, 50 for Dior, 200 million for The Matrix, all of that is on the list. And now there's... 230 million left? I've been very frugal with it."

Philip nodded.

"That's enough for your allowance. The bulk of the money will go through the company and the foundation from now on."

Li Rui nodded and turned to leave.

"Wait a moment."

Philip stopped him. "When are you planning to deal with those $2000 million worth of stocks?"

Li Rui thought about it.

"Let's put it in the company account first, since this year's taxes have already been paid."

Philip smiled.

"That's what I think too."

-----------------

At nine o'clock on Monday morning, Li Rui appeared at the entrance of the Disney Studios on time.

Today he changed into a simple casual outfit—a dark gray shirt, black trousers, and his hair was neatly styled.

There was no deliberate styling, only the most natural state.