Chapter 1538: A True Man Is Ruthless

"I plan to push SoftBank out."

Dong Chenxi's words left Zhao Fusheng stunned. He looked at her in surprise: "You're not joking, are you? You want to screw Masao Ono?"

He was genuinely startled by Dong Chenxi. He had thought she would accept Ono's cooperation proposal, but instead, this woman was thinking of driving out SoftBank, represented by Masao Ono.

In other words, she actually wanted to scheme against SoftBank.

"How can you say I'm screwing Masao Ono?" Dong Chenxi smiled slightly, completely composed. "He doesn't like sharing the position of Alibaba's major shareholder, and neither do I."

Zhao Fusheng was speechless. What she said was true.

Since they were all businessmen, their thoughts were essentially the same: no one wanted others to share their interests, not even the closest partners.

But Zhao Fusheng still hadn't expected that Dong Chenxi's target would be SoftBank.

"Masao Ono was the first to seek cooperation with you. If you do this, will the other two be willing to cooperate with us?"

Zhao Fusheng frowned slightly and asked Dong Chenxi.

"Why would they be unwilling?"

Dong Chenxi smiled: "We're all in business, all aiming for profit. SoftBank's goal is to make money, so is Yahoo's, and so is Sequoia Capital's. As long as the benefits are big enough, I believe they will make the choice most favorable to themselves."

Zhao Fusheng remained silent. Though Dong Chenxi's words were blunt, they were indeed solid reasoning.

A businessman's goal is to make money. Any businessman, when faced with a choice of interests, will definitely choose what benefits them most.

But someone as ruthless as Dong Chenxi was rare.

"My plan is simple: we join forces with Sequoia Capital and Yahoo to dilute SoftBank's shares. What do you think?"

Dong Chenxi looked at Zhao Fusheng and asked.

Zhao Fusheng didn't answer immediately but sat there thinking seriously.

After a long while, he looked up at Dong Chenxi.

"There's one biggest problem with your plan. Do you know what it is?" Zhao Fusheng asked Dong Chenxi.

Dong Chenxi was taken aback: "Tell me."

She knew that if there wasn't really a problem, Zhao Fusheng wouldn't have brought it up so directly.

"How can you be sure that Masao Ono hasn't proposed this idea to Yahoo and Sequoia Capital? How can you be certain they will accept our proposal? If the other three join forces, what do you think our chances of winning are? Don't forget, although we are the major shareholder, among the four companies, we are actually the weakest."

Zhao Fusheng looked at Dong Chenxi and calmly listed a series of questions.

Dong Chenxi fell silent.

Zhao Fusheng's words were indeed reasonable, because in business, the least trustworthy people are your competitors.

To put it bluntly, you could trust Ma Xiaoyun, but you couldn't trust the other three led by SoftBank.

So her plan, as Zhao Fusheng said, had a huge flaw.

If the other three united, Future Investment would be the one with no power to resist.

Thinking of this, Dong Chenxi hesitated and said to Zhao Fusheng, "In that case, should we reject Masao Ono?"

After all, according to Zhao Fusheng, doing nothing and keeping the status quo seemed to be the most favorable option for Future Investment.

"Why reject?"

Zhao Fusheng smiled and waved his hand: "If Ono wants to play, we'll play along."

"What do you mean?"

Dong Chenxi frowned slightly, clearly not understanding Zhao Fusheng's words.

Zhao Fusheng blinked: "Since he's set up the stage, you can't deny him the chance to perform, can you?"

Hearing this, Dong Chenxi suddenly understood.

On second thought, it was just as Zhao Fusheng said: since Masao Ono wanted to play, they might as well play along.

Doing business, from a certain perspective, is like acting.

The only difference is that everyone competes in acting skills; whoever acts better makes more money.

"I understand."

Dong Chenxi smiled at Zhao Fusheng: "I'll cooperate with Masao Ono."

Over the years, her acting skills had been honed. Maybe she couldn't act in a TV drama, but it was enough to fool Ono and his group.

Zhao Fusheng nodded and didn't say anything more.

…

…

After finishing the matter with Masao Ono, Zhao Fusheng and Dong Chenxi chatted casually.

"How are Tan Kaixuan and his little girlfriend doing?"

Dong Chenxi made herself a cup of tea and asked Zhao Fusheng offhandedly.

After all, they were old friends, so she was quite concerned about Tan Kaixuan's affairs.

Of course, whether there was any gossipy intent was anyone's guess.

Friends, aren't they meant to entertain oneself and amuse others?

"Not bad. He said earlier..." Zhao Fusheng naturally had no intention of hiding anything about Tan Kaixuan and cheerfully told everything he knew.

"Is this guy crazy?"

Dong Chenxi asked in surprise. When she heard that Tan Kaixuan intended to go after Wang Jie's company, she was genuinely shocked.

That was a billionaire with assets worth billions, a listed company worth at least tens of billions. Going up against such a behemoth just to vent for his girlfriend—this guy was truly beyond words.

Zhao Fusheng smiled: "You can say that again."

"But that's not bad."

Dong Chenxi smiled: "At least that guy has found someone to settle down with."

Having been friends for so many years, having struggled together from Ninghai, they naturally hoped Tan Kaixuan would stabilize.

"He's got someone he likes now. What about you?"

Zhao Fusheng glanced at Dong Chenxi and suddenly spoke.

Dong Chenxi was startled, then smiled and waved her hand: "Forget about me. I'm at this age."

"The way you say that, one would think you're eighty years old."

Zhao Fusheng rolled his eyes at Dong Chenxi in exasperation.

She was only one year older than him, but you'd think she was seventy or eighty.

At the end of the day, it was because of what happened back then.

Compared to men, women can sometimes be more stubborn.

Take Dong Chenxi, for example. When she was with Wang Zhen, though it wasn't a long time, she was completely invested. To this day, although she no longer misses Wang Zhen, she always holds a distrustful attitude toward relationships.

As her friend, Zhao Fusheng naturally didn't want to see this.

But unexpectedly, as soon as he tested the waters, Dong Chenxi immediately shut down the topic.

Shaking his head helplessly, Zhao Fusheng didn't say anything more.

…

…

In the blink of an eye, it was November 2000. Zhao Fusheng suddenly felt a bit emotional—unconsciously, he had been in this reborn world for so many years.

Fan Baobao was due to give birth in less than a month. For some reason, Zhao Fusheng's mood had become different from usual.

At times like this, people often become more tolerant.

Perhaps it was due to his state of mind.

Of course, not everyone could earn Zhao Fusheng's favor.

For instance, Masao Ono, who now appeared before Zhao Fusheng, was not to his liking.

"Mr. Ono, my wife is about to give birth. As a husband and father, I don't want to give my time to anyone but them."

Zhao Fusheng looked at Masao Ono coldly.

Yesterday, through Dong Chenxi, Ono had requested a meeting with him.

Though reluctant, Zhao Fusheng agreed.

Hearing Zhao Fusheng's words, Masao Ono smiled bitterly: "Mr. Zhao, if it weren't a matter of great importance, I wouldn't disturb you at this time."

"So, what is it?"

Zhao Fusheng interrupted Masao Ono bluntly.

In his eyes, nothing was more important than Fan Baobao giving birth. This was his first child, the continuation of his bloodline in this world.

Zhao Fusheng could guarantee that if Masao Ono didn't give a reasonable explanation, he would make this man understand what regret meant.