Chapter 1410: Business Sense

There were not many people who knew Zhao Fusheng's private number, but there were also not few.

But Zhao Fusheng had not expected Ma Xiaoyun to call him.

“Mr. Ma, is there something?”

Zhao Fusheng, holding Fan Beibei with one hand and the phone with the other, walked over to the sofa and sat down before asking Ma Xiaoyun on the other end of the line.

“Chairman Zhao, it's like this. There's something I'd like to discuss with you.” Ma Xiaoyun said with a smile.

“Go ahead.”

Zhao Fusheng said flatly.

“It's like this. We're preparing to formally take over Yahoo China. Do you have any suggestions, Chairman Zhao?” Ma Xiaoyun said to Zhao Fusheng.

Frowning slightly, Zhao Fusheng then understood—this guy was trying to curry favor with him.

After all, he was now a major shareholder of Alibaba, and if Ma Xiaoyun, as CEO, didn't get along with him, he could be kicked out at any moment.

But in Zhao Fusheng's view, he had no interest whatsoever in such infighting.

Infighting was normal. The Great Ancestor once said: “To fight with heaven is endless joy, to fight with earth is endless joy, to fight with man is endless joy.” For thousands of years, what humans have been best at is not construction, but infighting.

But if one looks back at the fate of a Chinese company's infighting from a God's-eye view, one always finds that success or failure often depends on luck. When luck is good, the faction that wins the infighting has strong business capabilities; when luck is bad, the winning faction is only good at tearing each other apart.

Of course, that's just one way of putting it. In fact, while factional struggles contribute to a company's demise, the root cause is still external factors: an immature business model and a narrowing market. In an almost ossified space, if one cannot focus on the product, every party involved bears an inescapable responsibility. Those who remain are not necessarily guardians; they could also be accomplices.

“President Ma, I think you might have misunderstood something.” Zhao Fusheng cleared his throat, patted Fan Beibei's head, and gestured for her to watch TV on her own. Then he walked aside and said to Ma Xiaoyun: “I have no interest whatsoever in the operational rights of Alibaba. In fact, in a sense, I believe you, President Ma, are the most suitable leader for Alibaba right now.”

Hearing this, Ma Xiaoyun was momentarily stunned.

He hadn't expected that!

Yes, from start to finish, Ma Xiaoyun had never expected that Zhao Fusheng would trust and value him so much.

Originally, Ma Xiaoyun thought that since Future Investment, together with Yahoo, Sequoia Capital, and SoftBank Asia, had acquired Alibaba's shares and become the company's major shareholder, their next step would be to dilute his influence over the company and eventually drive him, the founder, out.

But now it seemed that his thinking was clearly wrong.

Zhao Fusheng had never even considered driving him away!

Looking at it this way, he had been measuring the gentleman's heart with his own mean measure.

With that thought, Ma Xiaoyun blushed slightly and became even more curious. Why did Zhao Fusheng have such intentions? Did he really trust him that much?

Of course, being smart, he naturally wouldn't voice his doubts. Some things, if said aloud, would be too awkward.

He politely thanked Zhao Fusheng, chatted about a few other things, and then hung up.

Zhao Fusheng didn't mind. In his view, Ma Xiaoyun's approach was really just borrowing trouble. If he really wanted to drive him away, he wouldn't have waited until now. Why would he have cooperated with him to set up Alipay?

Perhaps this is the flaw of smart people: they always think too much and tend to complicate simple issues.

Actually, it's easy to understand. Smart people always consider maximizing benefits when doing things, often judging others by themselves and thinking others are as bad as they are.

When playing games, many people often joke that those who like to use their brains and play tactics have particularly dirty hearts. This saying is actually quite reasonable, because most smart people are like that—they have particularly rich mental activities.

Putting down the phone, Zhao Fusheng thought for a moment, then called Zheng Yao and told her what Ma Xiaoyun had said. Finally, he laughed: “Since President Ma has asked for our opinion, if you have any suitable candidates, just send them in.”

Zheng Yao was taken aback, then understood Zhao Fusheng's intention. He was planning to openly insert his own people into Alibaba.

Laughing, Zheng Yao said: “My opinion is that we shouldn't get involved in Alibaba's personnel arrangements. But Alibaba's advertising design needs to be handed over to us. What do you think?”

Simple. Zheng Yao wasn't considering inserting people, but rather an exchange of interests.

Zhao Fusheng thought about it and realized he had indeed been a bit simplistic. Even if Future Group sent a few people over, they would probably have a hard time gaining a foothold under Ma Xiaoyun. After all, Ma was the company's founder, and the entire company, from top to bottom, were his confidants. Unless he was determined to drive Ma Xiaoyun out of the company, there was really nothing he could do about him.

Inserting people might even create rifts between them.

It would be better to do as Zheng Yao suggested—openly lay out the distribution of interests on the table and be aboveboard about it.

"All right, let's do it your way." Zhao Fusheng readily followed the advice.

He wasn't stupid. According to Zheng Yao's approach, the Future Group would support Ma Xiaoyun's work, and in return, Ma Xiaoyun would certainly not refuse to entrust all of Alibaba's advertising design to Future Advertising.

After all, he had to give the work to someone.

By doing so, he could both win over a major shareholder as an ally and expand his own interests—why not?

Ma Xiaoyun was a businessman, not a soldier; he had no strong principles. That guy could even cooperate with the Japanese, let alone the Future Group.

But Zhao Fusheng also knew that this fellow was extremely shrewd. In his previous life, Sun Zhengyi was toyed with by Ma Xiaoyun until he was driven to doubt life itself. Boss Ma pulled off one slick move after another, making Sun Zhengyi's SoftBank serve as a stepping stone for Ma Xiaoyun. In this life, Zhao Fusheng naturally had to guard against that.

...

...

It's often said that blessings never come in pairs and misfortunes never come singly, but Zhao Fusheng didn't expect good news to come one after another.

Dong Chenxi was sent on vacation by Zhao Fusheng, so he had to pay some attention to Future Investment's affairs. Then, at the end of October, he received another piece of good news.

"Chairman, we've received an offer. Someone wants to buy Blog.com."

At Future Group's headquarters, Zhao Fusheng sat in his office, listening to Wu Sijie's report.

"Blog.com?"

Zhao Fusheng was startled, then recalled that he had asked Dong Chenxi to handle this matter earlier. They had spent ten million RMB to buy the entire Blog.com.

The website's operational rights were now in the hands of Future Technology, but the shares belonged to Future Investment.

"Yes, the offer comes from an investment company." Wu Sijie handed Zhao Fusheng a document containing information about that investment company.

Zhao Fusheng smiled, waved his hand, and didn't look at the document. Instead, he said directly, "Tell Future Investment that if they're willing to pay ten million US dollars, sell it to them."

Huh?

Wu Sijie was taken aback and looked at Zhao Fusheng in surprise.

Clearly, he hadn't expected his chairman to make such a decision.

Sir, aren't you even going to look at that document?

Wu Sijie silently screamed in his heart!

Although he hadn't spent much effort reviewing the document, Wu Sijie still couldn't understand how Zhao Fusheng could make such a simple and rash decision on an investment worth at least over a hundred million. Wasn't that too hasty?

Zhao Fusheng smiled and glanced at Wu Sijie. "What, don't you understand?"

Wu Sijie didn't deny it. He nodded and said seriously, "Chairman, maybe you should reconsider."

Clearly, Wu Sijie had some understanding of the current development of Blog.com and similar domestic websites from his earlier research. He felt that blogging had great potential and shouldn't be sold off entirely.

Zhao Fusheng shook his head. "Originally, it was just a casual move. Now that there's profit to be made, let's sell it."

He paused and said earnestly to Wu Sijie, "You need to understand that our purpose in investing is to make money, not to develop a particular project. Do you understand?"

Wu Sijie was stunned and nodded with a vague understanding. Clearly, Zhao Fusheng's words surprised him.

Watching Wu Sijie leave, Zhao Fusheng smiled. Some things could only be sensed, not explained. Wu Sijie was a smart man; if he could grasp his meaning, then he would naturally understand. If not, he would remain an assistant for life.

If you want others to help you, you must first show the strength that makes them want to help you. No one will be a Bole for no reason.

The same went for Wu Sijie. Although he had talent and ability, Zhao Fusheng needed a subordinate and confidant who could stand on his own, not an assistant who only knew how to say yes and understood nothing.

If he couldn't figure out why Zhao Fusheng directly sold Blog.com, then Wu Sijie's ability would naturally be greatly diminished in Zhao Fusheng's eyes.

Why is talent rare? The reason is simple: because talented people are truly capable.

Zhao Fusheng himself knew that he wasn't a business genius or someone with exceptional ability. The reason he succeeded was that he had a cheat sheet that allowed him to stay one step ahead.

It was for this reason that Zhao Fusheng paid great attention to attracting talented people around him, because he knew they would become the driving force for Future Group's further development.

For a modern enterprise to develop rapidly, talents in all aspects are indispensable. Zhao Fusheng had great ambitions; he hoped that one day in the future, his Future Group could stand shoulder to shoulder with those international giants.

That way, his rebirth would not be in vain.