Chapter 1658: Little Schemes

Most of the time, the driving force for a man's progress is a woman.

This is beyond doubt.

Some say that in the world of emotions, the extent to which a person is willing to spend money on you equals the extent to which they love you.

Although we often say that money can't buy true love, in the end, the reason we work so hard every day is simply to create a better life for the ones we love.

So, for a woman, it's not about how much money a man earns, but whether he is willing to spend the money he earns on her.

For Fan Baobao, she was undoubtedly lucky, because from the very beginning, Zhao Fusheng's goal in striving was to give her a happy life.

And he indeed kept his promise.

To this day, Fan Baobao can do whatever she wants—act if she feels like it, or stay home and take care of her husband and children if she doesn't.

As for material things, there's no need to even mention them. Probably, apart from her, no one in the film and television circle has the concept of unlimited spending.

Everyone says that in the entertainment industry, showing your temper is instinct, but suppressing it is skill.

But for Fan Baobao, no matter which film crew she joined, no one was arrogant enough to give her a hard time. Even if someone blind enough wanted to cause trouble, someone nearby would immediately stop them and tell them that Fan Baobao was someone they couldn't afford to offend.

Drift with the current but not follow the tide.

That was Fan Baobao's mindset when filming now.

Capital, Huairou Film Base.

Zhou Yun watched Fan Baobao giggling foolishly, shook her head helplessly, walked over to Fan Baobao and said, "What are you grinning about?"

Summer was almost here, and the set was as hot as a steamer, but she was fine, not feeling the heat at all.

"Nothing."

Fan Baobao heard Zhou Yun's words and shook her head: "Are you hot? If you are, get in the car and rest for a while."

"Thank you very much."

Zhou Yun didn't stand on ceremony with her either, getting into Fan Baobao's car without waiting for an invitation, then looking around: "Only your husband would spoil you like this—someone who only shoots a film once a year or so, yet he still bought you a motorhome."

That was true. Although Fan Baobao didn't act much, Zhao Fusheng had specially bought her a motorhome to use as a dressing room on set.

Usually, the vehicle was kept at Future Film Studio, and only brought out for her use when Fan Baobao was filming.

"What can I do? My husband just loves me that much."

Hearing Zhou Yun's words, Fan Baobao giggled, looking very pleased, clearly delighted.

Zhou Yun rolled her eyes, too lazy to bother with this woman. Ever since college, she had been like this, flaunting her love life—hopeless.

"By the way, Old Jiang said your husband plans to invest in a film and wants us to star in it. Is that true?" Zhou Yun picked up a can of iced cola, took a sip, and looked at Fan Baobao.

Fan Baobao nodded: "He did mention it to me, but I didn't agree."

"Huh?"

Zhou Yun was taken aback: "Why not?"

"It's not like I have to act."

Fan Baobao shook her head, her expression calm: "In my heart, him and the child are more important than acting. My daughter is still so young. I can do a cameo now and then, but if I had to spend months on set, I couldn't bear to leave her."

This was her true feeling. No matter how much she loved acting, Fan Baobao was first a mother and a wife.

Zhou Yun was stunned by Fan Baobao's words, then sighed.

She knew Fan Baobao was right.

Only after becoming a mother does a woman understand what that feeling is like.

Watching that little life that came from your own body grow up slowly, watching it grow, learning to walk, learning to talk.

That feeling is hard to describe in words or language.

Even Zhou Yun herself, in the past two years, had been less willing to go out and act. She preferred to spend her time and energy on her child.

"Let's wait a bit."

Fan Baobao cheerfully took Zhou Yun's arm: "When the kids are a little older, let's make a movie about best friends, okay?"

Zhou Yun was startled for a moment, then her eyes lit up: "Great!"

To be honest, being able to act alongside her good sister was definitely a very interesting feeling.

…

…

While Fan Baobao and Zhou Yun were bonding as sisters, Zhao Fusheng was unaware of this. At that moment, he was sitting helplessly in the office of Future Investment, facing a guest who was not unexpected.

"Chairman Zhao, long time no see."

Ma Xiaoyun sat on the sofa opposite Zhao Fusheng, a smile on his face.

Clearly, this gentleman had been in a very good mood lately.

After all, Alibaba had been developing well over the past two years, and with plans for an IPO underway, Ma Xiaoyun's mood was undoubtedly quite cheerful.

"Mr. Ma seems to be in a good mood."

Zhao Fusheng looked at Ma Xiaoyun with a half-smile and spoke with a chuckle.

"Well, not bad, not bad." Hearing Zhao Fusheng's question, Ma Xiaoyun first looked slightly embarrassed, then smiled.

Zhao Fusheng waved his hand: "It's fine. When life is good, enjoy it. If you're happy, be happy. There's no need to hide your emotions. We're all ordinary people."

This was his honest opinion. Although he didn't know much about the Ma Xiaoyun he remembered from his past life, just from the posts online and his interactions with him in this life, Zhao Fusheng didn't hold that much reverence for Boss Ma.

"Thank you for your understanding."

Ma Xiaoyun looked at Zhao Fusheng and said slowly.

There was no help for it. The young man before him had once been just one of the investors in his company, but now, after the cooperation agreement between Samsung and Future Investment, Zhao Fusheng had become a powerful investor.

"How are the preparations for the company's IPO going?"

Zhao Fusheng asked Ma Xiaoyun.

Barring any surprises, Alibaba would officially list on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange by the end of this year. In other words, the time for harvest had finally arrived.

"Basically, there are no more issues."

Boss Ma, with an excited expression, explained to Zhao Fusheng: "The situation is like this now..."

With that, he laid out a whole bunch of information about Alibaba. It was clear that he was in a good mood, or rather, he had made thorough preparations.

"No problem."

After listening to Ma Xiaoyun, Zhao Fusheng nodded with satisfaction: "I am quite optimistic about your management strategy."

This was his honest opinion. To be honest, the fact that Alibaba had risen in his past life proved that Ma Xiaoyun's skill was considerable; otherwise, it couldn't have developed into a super-enterprise on par with Samsung in market value.

"Thank you, Chairman Zhao."

Ma Xiaoyun said sincerely to Zhao Fusheng.

To be honest, he didn't know why Zhao Fusheng trusted him so much, but he had to admit that Zhao Fusheng's trust made him very happy.

No one dislikes being valued by others. No matter how great a figure one might become later, before truly succeeding, Ma Xiaoyun was just an entrepreneur.

Seeing the company he founded about to go public and himself about to reach the pinnacle of his career, that kind of joy was hard for ordinary people to imagine.

"You're welcome."

Zhao Fusheng shook his head: "To be honest, I haven't done much. I have high hopes for Alibaba's management team. I hope you won't let me down."

Ma Xiaoyun nodded emphatically.

To be honest, he was actually very grateful to Zhao Fusheng.

At the very least, after becoming Alibaba's largest shareholder, Zhao Fusheng didn't think about driving away the founding team; instead, he used various methods to balance the board's power.

For Ma Xiaoyun, this was undoubtedly very important.

As an entrepreneur, being forced out after bringing in investment was common in the entrepreneurial process. Not every entrepreneur could stay with their project until the end.

Even Steve Jobs had his moment of being ousted from Apple and suffering defeat.

It's just that Old Man Jobs was quite formidable; when Apple faced difficulties, he fought his way back and took the reins again.

And now, Ma Xiaoyun felt that he might also be able to do what Jobs had done.

Of course, the prerequisite was to get the help of the person in front of him.