A multimillionaire in China kept his enormous wealth a secret from his son until he graduated from university. According to South China Morning Post, Zhang Zilong is the son of Zhang Yudong, founder and president of the Hunan spicy gluten latiao brand Mala Prince, which produces 600 million yuan (Rs 6,92,66,54,358) worth of goods a year.
Zhang Zilong told Jiupai News that his father lied to him about his real financial status for the first 20 years of his life, so he would work hard to achieve success.
Though he was aware of his father's famous brand, he was told that his family had gone into debt to keep the company running.
Mr Zilong said he grew up living in an ''ordinary flat'' in Pingjiang county and secured admission into a good school without his family using their connections. After graduating from university, he wanted to secure a steady job that paid about 6,000 yuan (US$800) a month so he could slowly help his family repay their debt. However, his father revealed the secret during his graduation, telling his son that the family was, in fact, very wealthy.
They even moved to a newly built villa that cost 10 million yuan (US$1.4 million). Zilong has now started working in the e-commerce department of his father's company and wants to help the company go public and sell to international markets.
Meanwhile, his father said he would only consider giving him the company if his performance justifies it.
The fascinating story has stunned mainland social media in the country, with some refusing to believe it, while others called it a ''fairy tale.''
One user wrote, ''What a fairy tale. The ordinary frog turns into the Mala prince.''
Another said, ''I believe the story. The brand only started advertising itself in recent years. It must be because the prince graduated and there was no need to hide any more,''
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