In the last two days of 2025, Hua Shan, chairman of Hua & Hua Consulting Company (hereinafter referred to as "Hua & Hua"), once again fell into the whirlpool of public opinion. On the one hand, he posted a video of himself cleaning toilets, declaring that "sweeping toilets is the company's highest authority," causing netizens to question his motive for the show; on the other hand, the planned change of control of Reader Culture, a listed company he controlled, was terminated less than a week after the announcement.
At the same time, the "recording scandal" dispute between Hua Shan and Luo Yonghao is still unresolved. Luo Yonghao has called out many times but Hua Shan has not responded publicly. The "BUG" column found that Huashan has blocked many netizens in the past month. His Weibo only allows fans to follow comments for more than 100 days, and the content is intensively focused on customer marketing such as Mixue Bingcheng.
As for the change in the controlling stake of Duke Culture, the stock price rose abnormally before the company was suspended, raising questions in the market about the early leakage of inside information. Relevant staff from the Securities Department of Reader Culture stated that the change of controlling stake will not be promoted in the near future and has been terminated.
Hua Shan cleans toilets and calls himself the "supreme authority". Netizens: It's too much of a show.
On December 29, Hua Shan posted a video of cleaning the company bathroom on Weibo. The video shows that Hua Shan and Xiao Zheng, general manager of Hua Yuhua, participated in cleaning the bathroom together. Hua Shan leaned over to wipe the sink and other areas, while Xiao Zheng used a floor mop to clean the floor.
In addition to posting the video, Hua Shan also wrote in the text, "Cleaning the toilet is the highest authority of Hua and Hua." Hua Shan said, "Cleaning the toilet every Monday morning is a corporate cultural ritual of Hua and Hua's three principles and thoroughness in everything. It is the basis of 5S management and the foundation of the company's sustainable development and profitability."
The video quickly attracted widespread attention and heated discussion. Some netizens bluntly said that this move was suspected of being a show and a hype, while others believed that Huashan took the opportunity to promote the product Lao Guanjia Cleaner.
In fact, this is not the first time Huashan has posted content about cleaning toilets. The "BUG" column searched Huashan's Weibo and found that as early as June 2022, he had posted about "cleaning toilets in government universities." In a video released in December of the same year, Huashan explained, "We only focus on serving customers who give you money. Advertising companies make plans every day, and only one of 10 customers pays the bill. 99% of the time is wasted, and it is not as valuable as cleaning."
It is worth noting that it has been one month since Luo Yonghao announced the "release of the recording", but the incident still remains suspenseful.
On November 29, Luo Yonghao explained in a live broadcast that due to the need to prioritize the official announcement of major company events, he had no time to deal with the release of the recording. He said that the content of the recording "does not contain violent information, mainly because Hua Shan apologized and repeated it after swearing". He also mentioned that because the recording contains swear words, it is necessary to choose an appropriate channel to release it, and the operation is more cumbersome. On December 24, Luo Yonghao mentioned Hua Shan again, calling him the "brother of two big heads", implying that the dispute would still be dealt with in the future, but did not specify the specific time for the recording to be released.
In the process of Luo Yonghao's repeated remarks, Hua Shan never made a public apology or formal response. The "BUG" column found that Huashan Weibo currently only allows fans to follow comments for more than 100 days, and has blocked many users who made malicious comments in the past 30 days.
During this period, the content published by Huashan on Weibo was more focused on strengthening his personal and company’s professional image and cultural concepts. In late December, Huashan intensively released a number of related marketing contents such as Mixue Bingcheng’s US store opening. In response to comments from netizens who complained about the "low" design of Mixue Bingcheng's red flagship store, Hua Shan retorted that this was a "terminal disease of thought."
According to the official website information, Huahehua’s cooperative customers cover sub-sectors such as the Internet, catering, tea drinks, and condiments, including brands such as Haidilao, Wallace, Mixue Bingcheng, and Dongpeng Special Drinks.
The change of control of a listed company failed within a week
While Hua Shan was deeply involved in the whirlpool of public opinion, another core company controlled by him and his brother Hua Nan, Reader Culture, was quietly brewing major changes.
On December 22, Duke Culture issued an announcement, disclosing that the company received notices from its controlling shareholders and actual controllers Hua Nan and Hua Shan on December 19, and was planning matters related to the change of control, and would suspend trading from the 22nd.
However, the planning for the transfer of controlling shares did not proceed smoothly. Only four days after the announcement, on December 26, the company issued another announcement stating that the change of control matter was finally terminated because the relevant parties failed to reach a consensus on the transaction plan.
The "BUG" column called the Securities Department of Reader Culture as an investor. The relevant staff said that feedback from shareholders was that the change of controlling stake would not be promoted in the near future and has been terminated. "The promotion of the transaction was completed by them personally. We are only responsible for the announcement process, and the specific details are not very clear."
The main business of Duke Culture includes paper books, digital content, copyright operations and new media. Behind the planning of the transfer of control is Duke Culture’s unsatisfactory financial performance in recent years. Public financial data shows that Duke Culture’s performance has been declining year by year since its listing in 2021.
In the first three quarters of 2025, Duke Culture’s revenue was 257 million yuan, a year-on-year decrease of 12.19%, and the net profit attributable to the parent company was 6.521 million yuan, a year-on-year decrease of 56.72%. Cash flow from operating activities also deteriorated significantly. The net cash flow generated from operating activities in the first three quarters was -7.9438 million yuan, a year-on-year decrease of 108.06%.
In fact, before planning the transfer of controlling rights, Huashan Brothers' concerted action and employee stock ownership platform Ningbo Duke Enterprise Management Partnership (Limited Partnership) (hereinafter referred to as "Duke Enterprise") had made significant reductions in holdings.
Announcement data shows that in the first half of this year, Duke Enterprises reduced its holdings of approximately 11.19 million shares of Duke Culture through centralized bidding and block transactions, accounting for 2.8% of the total share capital. In November, Duke Enterprise also transferred 4.1082 million shares it held through inquiry transfer at a price of 8.37 yuan per share, accounting for 1.03% of the total share capital, and cashed out approximately 34.3855 million yuan. The transferees were 8 institutional investors.
In addition, on December 19, the day when the company received the notice from the actual controller, Duke Culture’s stock price had experienced abnormal fluctuations. It increased in volume after midday, with an increase of 6.03% on that day, and the trading volume was 2.5 times that of the previous trading day, which raised the market’s doubts about the early leakage of inside information.
Regarding the reduction of holdings in Duke Enterprises, the staff of the aforementioned Duke Culture Securities Department said: "The subjects of the reduction are different, and it is not the actual controller who is reducing the holdings." As for the question of early leakage of inside information, the staff did not respond directly.
It is worth noting that there is an important intersection between Duke Culture and Huayuhua’s business. The prospectus when Duke Culture went public disclosed that Huahehua's total assets in 2020 were 130 million yuan, revenue was 168 million yuan, and net profit was 47.739 million yuan. It is the most profitable core asset of Huashan Brothers.
In addition, Duke Culture will pay royalties for its creative works to Hua Nan and Huashan, and has related transactions such as book royalties and book sales with Hua and Hua affiliated companies. Financial report data shows that in the first half of 2025, the total amount of related transactions between Duke Culture, Huashan Brothers and Hua & Hua's subsidiaries was 851,600 yuan, of which Huashan received a royalty of 722,800 yuan.