Chapter 1039: Chief Executive Officer

Zhang Qian sent Li Zhijie to the manga studio. According to his report upon returning, the guy went crazy the moment he saw the first draft of One Piece and practically wanted to live there.

Zhao Fusheng was quite satisfied with that. A person only takes a job seriously if they are passionate about it.

“I heard Zhijie started work?”

Fan Baobao, who had returned home in the evening, asked Zhao Fusheng with a smile.

Zhao Fusheng nodded: “Not bad. He’s a sensible person, and I think he’s suited for this line of work.”

“Really?” Fan Baobao raised an eyebrow in surprise. “You’re not just trying to cheer me up, are you?”

Clearly, she hadn’t thought highly of Li Zhijie before, and had only asked for a chance for him out of courtesy.

She hadn’t expected him to pass Zhao Fusheng’s interview.

Fan Baobao knew all too well how picky her boyfriend could be.

Zhao Fusheng seemed like the kind of person who got along with everyone and treated everyone amiably, but in truth, he was quite particular inside.

It was no easy feat to earn his approval.

At least in Fan Baobao’s view, Zhao Fusheng wasn’t the type to praise someone lightly.

“Why would I be teasing you? Li Zhijie is well-suited for the manga industry.” Zhao Fusheng said with a smile. “Don’t think that just because the domestic manga industry is underdeveloped, there’s no future in it. In places like Hong Kong, Japan, and even the US, the manga industry is quite developed, and it supports more people than you can imagine.”

Fan Baobao blinked, deciding to memorize everything Zhao Fusheng had just said and repeat it to Zhou Qing later.

She didn’t quite understand what he meant, but somehow she felt these words sounded impressive and would likely intimidate others if repeated.

Patting Fan Baobao on the head, Zhao Fusheng said nothing more. He knew she was never interested in his business affairs.

That was just how she was. It wasn’t that she didn’t like money—if he told her how much he’d earned, she’d clap happily and start planning what to buy. But her desire for money wasn’t as exaggerated as most people’s. In her own words, even if Zhao Fusheng stopped making money one day, she could go out and act in films or shoot ads to support him.

Zhao Fusheng found that quite stressful.

“By the way, Soldiers’ Sortie is about to premiere. Aren’t you going to see it?” Fan Baobao suddenly remembered something and asked Zhao Fusheng.

Zhao Fusheng was taken aback: “So soon?”

He had only helped make the initial connections and hadn’t really followed up on it; Bai Jie had sent people to handle the rest.

To be fair, it wasn’t that Zhao Fusheng didn’t care about the project—he was simply too confident about it to pay much attention.

After all, in his memory, this drama had made many people famous and sparked a ratings frenzy on screen.

But that was for the TV series.

As for the stage play, Zhao Fusheng didn’t know much, but he vaguely remembered reading an interview that mentioned high attendance rates, and it had even been covered in newspapers.

After all, it was a mainstream work that needed promotion from top to bottom.

That was the advantage of mainstream works. In contrast, works with questionable values or those focused on romance rarely received strong support from the authorities.

But mainstream works were different. They promoted positive energy and correct ideology, so they naturally found favor with the government.

Even the State Administration of Radio, Film, and Television would give them the green light.

“You really don’t care at all.” Fan Baobao shot Zhao Fusheng a glance. “Teacher Yang told me the TV series has already been approved and is just waiting to cast actors.”

“No issues with the administration?” Zhao Fusheng asked in surprise.

“Of course not. Teacher Yang said the project was approved as soon as it was submitted.” Fan Baobao explained.

Zhao Fusheng was a bit surprised, but on second thought, it made sense. It was a good thing, and with the People’s Art Theatre backing it, there were naturally no problems.

“Alright, I’m going to take a shower. You should get some rest too.” Fan Baobao tossed her head and left Zhao Fusheng with her back.

Zhao Fusheng shook his head helplessly, sat down at the computer, and continued planning the next steps for all his businesses.

By now, Zhao Fusheng’s businesses were clearly divided.

Future Advertising and Future Film & Television were on par with each other, backed by the Future Investment Fund.

Future Investment held shares in Tencent Technology and Shengda Technology, as well as two million shares of NetEase. It also managed all of Zhao Fusheng’s shares in Future Advertising.

In a sense, Future Investment was the core of all Zhao Fusheng’s assets.

Then there was Dong Guoxiang’s website development team and the manga studio, which was still a makeshift operation.

These were all of Zhao Fusheng’s current businesses.

This time, Zhao Fusheng planned to consolidate all the companies into a formal group to utilize resources efficiently.

Though reluctant to admit it, a large group company was the inevitable path to scaling and modernizing a business.

For example, if Future Film & Television and Future Advertising were formally integrated into the group, certain matters could be discussed collectively rather than handled independently as they were now.

After drafting a rough plan, Zhao Fusheng looked it over and found it unsatisfactory. He thought for a moment, then wrote down his requirements in a document.

Then he sent an email to Zheng Yao.

Half an hour later, Zheng Yao called directly.

“Are you really going to set up a group company?” Zheng Yao asked bluntly over the phone. “Chenxi told me you want to merge all your companies into a group. Is that true?”

Zhao Fusheng nodded: “Yes, integrating resources is imperative. I’ve sent you my requirements. You’re in charge of having the strategic research team come up with a complete merger plan.”

Zheng Yao was stunned, then a bit exasperated: “Hey, is that fair?”

“Of course it is.” Zhao Fusheng said matter-of-factly. “I may be the chairman of the group, but you’re the CEO, so this is your responsibility.”

“CEO? Me?” Zheng Yao was stunned again. Before she could ask further, Zhao Fusheng had already hung up.

How clever!

Zhao Fusheng grinned smugly to himself.