Chapter 1215 I Come with Sincerity

Li Ruhai had many questions about the young man Zhao Fusheng. He found it hard to understand how this youth had risen like a comet in just a few years, amassing assets that others might never earn in a lifetime.

Zhao Fusheng's business experience had never been a secret, and the Future Group had never concealed it. In fact, aside from refusing interviews, the Future Group's PR department basically ignored news about their boss.

Originally, Li Ruhai's impression of Zhao Fusheng was that the young man was quite deep, otherwise he couldn't have gotten this far. So no matter how arrogant Zhao Fusheng acted before Sun Qian and the others, in Li Ruhai's eyes, he was just biding his time.

As an old fox, Li Ruhai knew well that despite Zhao Fusheng's outward silence, he must be fully aware that the money in his hands was dirty.

Yet even so, Zhao Fusheng agreed to cooperate. Li Ruhai felt that Zhao Fusheng, as he himself said, was a man who loved money.

No matter who it was, as long as they had a weakness, they could be controlled.

Li Ruhai never considered using violent means to control Zhao Fusheng or the Future Investment Fund; he had long made up his mind about that. After all, the Future Group's scale was evident. In other words, Zhao Fusheng was richer than him. If pushed too far, a fight to the death would completely derail his original goal.

Although he detested Tong Zhenbang for betraying him, Li Ruhai admitted that Tong Zhenbang had said one thing right: in business, the most important thing is harmony brings wealth.

What does harmony brings wealth mean?

Everyone happy, seeking common ground while reserving differences—your good and my good—that's true harmony brings wealth.

"Chairman Zhao, my idea is simple. I hope to reduce the dividend from an annual interest rate of thirty percent to fifteen percent." Looking at Zhao Fusheng, Li Ruhai spoke slowly, a smile on his lips, but inwardly he was quite pleased.

Sure enough, hearing Li Ruhai's words, Zhao Fusheng was momentarily stunned, looking at him in surprise.

After a long while, Zhao Fusheng finally spoke: "Mr. Li, what do you mean by this?"

He was genuinely puzzled. Why would Li Ruhai suddenly ask to lower the dividend rate? What was this guy up to?

After all, according to normal investment logic, the higher the return rate, the happier the investor should be. That is, Li Ruhai's correct move would be to demand a higher return rate. Yet this guy actually proposed lowering it, and even by half.

What did this old fox want?

Zhao Fusheng immediately became wary, suspecting Li Ruhai was testing him.

Li Ruhai looked at Zhao Fusheng and smiled slightly: "If Chairman Zhao is not satisfied, I can lower it by another ten percent."

What the hell?

The expression on Zhao Fusheng's face turned quite interesting. What exactly did this old fox want?

If what Li Ruhai said was true, lowering the return rate by another ten percent would mean that for an investment of one hundred million, he would only need to pay five million in interest at the end of the year—that was even more favorable than a bank loan.

And the more this was the case, the more worried Zhao Fusheng became. He didn't understand what Li Ruhai really wanted.

When a person's goal is unknown, it is often the hardest to fathom. It's like a murderer holding a gun, standing before four people. Even if you know the gun has only one bullet, you can't be sure he won't fire that bullet at you.

"Curious, aren't you?" Li Ruhai looked at Zhao Fusheng and smiled slowly.

Zhao Fusheng didn't stand on ceremony and nodded: "Mr. Li, to be honest, I don't understand why you're doing this."

Hearing Zhao Fusheng's question, Li Ruhai smiled and said lightly: "Actually, it's simple. I hope to become a partner of your company, if possible."

"Partner?" Zhao Fusheng frowned: "Are you trying to buy my shares?"

Then he shook his head: "Sorry, Mr. Li, I have no intention of selling my shares for now. I don't plan to take either Future Investment or Future Group public."

This was the truth. If he wanted to go public to raise money, Zhao Fusheng would have done it long ago without all this trouble. He wouldn't even have taken loans from the Bangkok Bank if not for the need to develop the company's scale and industry. So if Li Ruhai was eyeing his shares, Zhao Fusheng had no intention of giving him that chance.

Zhao Fusheng didn't want to end up in prison still fighting lawsuits with this old guy.

"No, no, no, Chairman Zhao, you misunderstand." Li Ruhai waved his hand repeatedly, his smile unchanged, and said to Zhao Fusheng: "I'm not after your company's shares. I also understand that Future Group must be your private property."

Then, looking at Zhao Fusheng meaningfully, he smiled and said: "What I mean is, I hope to become a collaborator with you."

Collaborator?

Zhao Fusheng looked at Li Ruhai in confusion.

Li Ruhai nodded: "Yes, collaborator. I can provide 350 million US dollars to Future Investment and promise not to withdraw the investment within three years. I can also accept a return rate of only five percent. But my condition is that no matter what project Future Group invests in, you must include me, or allow me to send someone to join the new company."

So that's it. A smile appeared on Zhao Fusheng's face. No wonder Li Ruhai was acting so abnormally.

Only now did Zhao Fusheng understand: after all this, the old fox's goal was to completely launder his money.

With Future Investment involved, his dirty money would certainly be cleaned. What he needed next was an identity that could walk in the light. Clearly, if he could become a partner with Future Group and invest nationwide, Li Ruhai could transform into a patriotic businessman.

In other words, he and his descendants could shed their previous identity and become legitimate businessmen.

What a clever scheme!

Silently giving the old fox a thumbs-up, Zhao Fusheng had to admit that Li Ruhai's plan was really good. Although on the surface he lost some money, remember, this money itself needed to be laundered; at most, the return rate was just a bit lower.

In a sense, Li Ruhai was playing a masterful game of feigning one thing while doing another.

Even if Zhao Fusheng knew he was using this to wash his hands and come clean, if not cooperating with the police, Zhao Fusheng felt he would most likely agree. After all, the terms were so favorable that anyone would be tempted.

After pondering for a moment, Zhao Fusheng looked up at Li Ruhai and said: "Mr. Li, if that's the case, why bother with that five percent?"

"Huh?" This time it was Li Ruhai's turn to be surprised. He looked at Zhao Fusheng in confusion: "Chairman Zhao, you mean..."

Zhao Fusheng chuckled: "350 million US dollars invested in our Future Investment Fund. I guarantee that for all projects Future Investment undertakes in the next three years, your company will have the same share as I do. As for the person in charge, you can send a representative to be a vice president of Future Investment, with advisory rights but no decision-making power. Because the decision-making power of Future Investment can only be in my hands."

After saying this, Zhao Fusheng looked at Li Ruhai and said calmly: "Mr. Li, I know what you need. You should also know what I need. So I hope our cooperation can be open and honest. After all, I don't want to end up like someone else one day."

"Misunderstanding, misunderstanding, it's definitely a misunderstanding." Li Ruhai quickly waved his hand upon hearing this and smiled at Zhao Fusheng: "Chairman Zhao, rest assured, I sincerely hope to cooperate with your company. But I think I need to consider your proposal."

Clearly, this old fox wasn't easily fooled; he was probably weighing the pros and cons.

Zhao Fusheng wasn't in a hurry. He understood the principle that haste makes waste, and he was confident that Li Ruhai would inevitably take the bait.