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Text | Crocodile Archives
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It is known as "China's first benevolence" and actively participates in public welfare undertakings.
However, after donating 2 billion, it suddenly disappeared and became "China's first fraud".
From "first good" to "first deceitful", what secrets are hidden behind his great changes? What was going on in his heart?
Chen Zhuo's "China's First Benevolence"
Chen was born into a poor peasant family.
As a child, he suffered from starvation, and his two older siblings died of malnutrition, which became a shadow of his life.
This made the young Chen Zhuo determined to change his fate and make money with his own hands to fill his stomach.
After school, Chen traveled several miles with two buckets of water on his back to the town to hawk.
His "grab and drink" model was so popular that he earned a few bucks a day.
Chen Zhuo also thought of selling popsicles at a stall near the school, buying them at a low price wholesale and selling them at a high price, which was also a small gain.
When he graduated from junior high school, he was the first "10,000 yuan boy" in the village.
After that, Chen was admitted to university to study medicine, and worked part-time in his spare time to accumulate start-up capital.
After graduating from university, he found that the salary of the hospital was meagre and decided to return to his hometown to start a business.
The first medical device company founded by Mr. Chen was doing dismal.
In order to keep the company running, he had to spend the night at the post office, and his wife's departure also devastated him.
However, Chen did not give up.
After continuous efforts, the company finally developed a best-selling medical device, and the company succeeded.
After his successful career, Chen is willing to give back to the society.
During the SARS epidemic in 2003, Chen Zhuo generously donated a large amount of epidemic prevention materials to the country.
During the Wenchuan earthquake in 2008, he personally led a team to the disaster relief site, rescuing more than 200 people according to incomplete statistics.
In the years that followed, he continued to do good in silence, donating a total of more than $2 billion.
Chen Zhuo is praised by the society as "China's first benevolence".
However, the overly high-profile style has also attracted criticism.
"China's first fraud"
In 2011, he held the "99 Giving Day" event in Shanghai, piling 33 million yuan in cash into a "love wall" and taking photos in front of the wall.
The photos quickly went viral, with many netizens questioning Mr. Chen's "showing off" of his kindness, speculating whether the source of the donation was suspicious.
In the face of questioning, Chen Zhuo did not make any public response, but remained silent and gradually faded out of the public eye.
After fading out of the public eye, in 2014, media accused him of selling problematic products to defraud consumers and distributing business cards with the title "China's First Benevolence" to entrepreneurs in the United States, which again attracted criticism.
As a result, more and more people began to suspect the real motives behind Chen Guangming's public welfare, and they picked up his negative news on the Internet, and overnight he went from "first good" to "first fraud".
These speculations about Chen are completely different from his own intentions.
When the epidemic broke out in Wuhan at the beginning of 2020, Chen Guangming, who had not appeared for many years, appeared on the front line of the epidemic area again for rescue, donated epidemic prevention materials worth 70 million yuan, and said that he would continue to carry out public welfare undertakings in a low-key manner, which shows that he has been silently doing good.
Chen Zhuo did not want the public opinion of the outside world to put pressure on him and affect his actual actions.
He intended to give away all his fortune when he was dying, and his ideal had always been to do good silently rather than amass wealth.
Chen's friends revealed that now he has moved back to his hometown to live with his parents, and often appears in photos of his parents cutting wheat in the fields.
However, Chen's approach has also encountered many doubts.
It is difficult to distinguish between true and false, and face doubts
There are reports that some of the money he donated cannot be traced to the source and whereabouts.
Outside views on Chen are also mixed.
Some people think that he is only hyping charity for fame and fortune, and all donations are suspected of fraud.
There is also a view that although the technique may be problematic, Chen's intentions are good, and one should not just look at the form and ignore his kindness.
In the voice of doubt, what is true and false? It's hard to fully judge.
He again gave generously when Henan flooded in 2022, and these actions seem to show that his kindness has never changed.
In fact, before becoming famous, Chen Zhuo had been silently doing good for many years.
Now, he no longer deliberately exposes his donations, but he has never stopped supporting public welfare.
His children have also inherited this kind quality and actively participate in various volunteer services.
It is difficult for the outside world to accurately judge the authenticity of good deeds, but goodwill itself is real.
Doubts may stem from something wrong, but they can also come from a misunderstanding of the act of kindness itself.
In the face of suspicion from the outside world, Chen chose to prove himself by doing good-key deeds, believing that the essence of good deeds, rather than process and exposure, is the result rather than the process.
In what way should a person with a good heart give back to society? This requires social progress and the guidance of the wisdom of the times.
epilogue
Chen's philanthropic path is full of thorns and misunderstandings.
However, the motives for good deeds should not be overshadowed by outside speculation.
We should not judge others, but act on our conscience.
Good intentions are worth spreading, but controversy is not. Many problems will be proved by time.
If we can have an open and rational mind, we may be able to resolve differences and regain consensus. The righteousness of goodness ultimately guides people's hearts.