Beijing — It has been reported that a voice recording of Chinese actor Li Yapeng allegedly “begging for mercy” from his debtors was leaked online. Since then, netizens have been watching to see how the 49-year-old repays his S$10 million debt. The actor retired from showbiz in 2014 and focused on the business world in an attempt to find his “true purpose in life”. Unfortunately for Yapeng, the cutthroat world of business and investing may not be suited for him and his assets are reportedly frozen by Chinese authorities because of his continued refusal to pay up.
The latest news is that Yapeng might be selling off the children’s hospital he established with his former wife, Chinese singer Faye Wong, in an attempt to repay his debt. In 2012, the Beijing Smile Angel Children’s Hospital was set up by Yapeng and Wong’s charity, Smile Angel Foundation. Both the charity and the hospital are named after their 14-year-old daughter Li Yan, who was born with a cleft lip.
As reported by 8days.sg, the Beijing Smile Angel Children’s Hospital has around 200 doctors and nurses and offers free surgeries to 600 children with cleft lips every year. As the hospital was borne out of his love for Li Yan, it is reported that Yapeng is not exactly willing to sell it off. The good thing is that there are other options for the actor.
Fellow Chinese entrepreneur Luo Yonghao, who was once 600 million yuan (S$123.6 million) in debt, offered up a word of advice to Yapeng in an online article.
“Can’t you repay [your debt] by simply appearing in a few television dramas? You could even start selling products on live streams.” he wrote. An anonymous industry insider later shared that it’s likely that the actor will be able to stage a successful comeback.
“However, if he were to make his comeback, he might have to face the reality of being viewed as having no commercial value,” the insider went on to say, adding that Yapeng’s only “value” to producers is how he’s always featured in gossip columns./TISG