Chapter 1768: A War of Words

As for Zhao Fusheng, Li Meijing's impression of him mostly came from the accounts of those around him.

In others' narratives, especially from Li Zaixian's mouth, Zhao Fusheng was a difficult person to deal with.

Astute and calculating.

This was what Li Meijing had learned before meeting Zhao Fusheng.

But now, she felt those rumors were all wrong.

At the very least, when facing her, Zhao Fusheng was very polite, without a trace of condescension or superiority.

Chairman Zhao is far too courteous.

Li Meijing looked at Zhao Fusheng with a smile.

Zhao Fusheng shrugged: "A guest from afar is a welcome visitor. Since Ms. Li has come to China, this is only proper."

Her brows slightly furrowed, Li Meijing sensed Zhao Fusheng's difficult nature from this remark.

This guy was unwilling to give up even an ounce of initiative!

Between the lines, he was warning her that this was China, his territory.

"Chairman Zhao, I think we should be more candid, shouldn't we?"

Li Meijing looked at Zhao Fusheng and said slowly.

Zhao Fusheng nodded, looking deeply convinced: "Of course. I've always believed that since both sides intend to cooperate, we must naturally adhere to the principle of candor."

Li Meijing was speechless, thinking that even a ghost wouldn't believe his words.

But seeing how seriously Zhao Fusheng spoke, she couldn't refute him.

After all, he made it sound so high-sounding.

Li Zaixian, who was standing by, couldn't stand it any longer and interjected: "Chairman Zhao, I suppose the past few days haven't been very pleasant for Hanxing Investment, have they?"

"Hmm?"

Zhao Fusheng was taken aback, then frowned slightly, his gaze towards Li Zaixian turning somewhat sharp.

Li Zaixian quickly waved his hands: "Chairman Zhao, please don't misunderstand. This matter has nothing to do with me."

He didn't want to be mistaken by Zhao Fusheng as the one who had secretly schemed to put Hanxing Investment in a difficult position.

After all, although this was indeed beneficial to their cooperation, Li Zaixian also knew that it would make Zhao Fusheng resent him.

Doing business is for profit, but there must be a bottom line.

A successful entrepreneur who lacks even a basic bottom line is certainly not acceptable.

Because no one would dare to cooperate with you, fearing they would become a sacrifice in your hands.

One can be cunning in life and sly in business.

But abandoning the most fundamental morality is absolutely inadvisable.

Upon hearing Li Zaixian's words, Zhao Fusheng gave a slight smile but made no comment on them.

Zhao Fusheng undoubtedly did not believe Li Zaixian's claim of ignorance.

CJ was one of South Korea's top conglomerates; for him to say he didn't know about such a big matter was as good as lying to a ghost.

However, since this matter did facilitate the cooperation between CJ and himself, to a large extent, CJ had chosen to stand by after learning the news, or even to fan the flames in some respects.

"Ms. Li, I think we should be able to reach a conclusion today, shouldn't we?"

Zhao Fusheng looked at Li Meijing, smiled, and asked.

To be honest, his patience was nearly exhausted. Whether it was Lee Kun-hee's repeated prodding and testing, or the Li Meijing and Li Zaixian siblings' double act, it all bored Zhao Fusheng.

Koreans always liked to play these two-faced games, hypocritical to the point of exasperation.

Li Meijing shuddered, her expression turning serious.

The others around her also looked sternly at Zhao Fusheng's side.

Everyone knew that today was crucial for the cooperation between CJ Group and Future Group. If they couldn't reach an agreement, then naturally there would be no cooperation.

But if they could succeed, then what followed would undoubtedly be a grand spectacle!

"Regarding the swap of CJ Group shares for Samsung Group shares, we are generally in agreement." Li Meijing spoke first, looking at Zhao Fusheng and enunciating each word: "However, I would like to know which specific companies' Samsung Group shares your company holds."

Samsung Group is a collective term that includes many of Samsung's subsidiaries.

Important subsidiaries like Samsung Electro-Mechanics, Samsung Electronics, and Samsung Everland were significant, while unimportant ones like the Shilla Hotel didn't count for much.

What Lee Mi-jung asked was naturally about this matter.

Zhao Fusheng smiled faintly and looked at Dong Chenxi beside him.

Dong Chenxi said calmly, "What we hold are naturally shares in Samsung's core companies. For specifics, here's a document you can look at."

With that, Dong Chenxi continued, "You should all know about the cooperation agreement between Future Investment and the Samsung Group. The Twitter company we sold is now regarded as one of the most promising unicorn companies. So, Samsung at that time paid something of equal value to obtain shares in that company."

A unicorn enterprise generally refers to a company valued at over one billion US dollars with a short founding history in the investment world.

What Dong Chenxi was most proud of was that Twitter was founded even earlier than Facebook, yet it was now on the verge of becoming a super unicorn surpassing Facebook.

Lee Mi-jung and the others exchanged glances but none could refute her words.

Zhao Fusheng had introduced Dong Chenxi's identity upon entering, so everyone naturally knew that this woman, who looked as beautiful as a TV star, was the actual controller of Future Investment under Zhao Fusheng.

According to data, she was Zhao Fusheng's college classmate, and they had a close relationship, supporting each other all the way to the present.

It was said that Zhao Fusheng had once saved her life, so she was utterly loyal to him.

In the documents, investigators from CJ Group indicated that this woman could not be bought off.

Exactly!

For any competing enterprise, a large group like CJ would have public profiles of the other company's executives and would make every effort to investigate detailed information and provide assessments.

As for Future Group, CJ's investigation agency assessed that the company's top management seemed highly unconventional but possessed an unbelievable unity.

Because among the several subsidiaries of Future Group, the top leaders, except for Liang Jingyu of Hanxing Investment, were all people who had followed Zhao Fusheng from the very beginning of his entrepreneurial journey.

Moreover, they had originally been friends and classmates privately. While this situation gave the company a complex web of relationships, it also made their bonds even tighter.

Teacher-student, classmates, partners.

With such relationships, you couldn't attempt to buy them off, because once you did, it would be easy for the other side to expose you.

You see, bribery, especially bribing executives of another company, is undoubtedly a violation of the bottom line of economic cooperation. If exposed, no one could bear the consequences.

According to the data, Dong Chenxi was extremely capable. Future Investment controlled assets worth over ten billion RMB, yet she lived a reclusive life. Apart from necessary interviews, she was rarely seen.

"Miss Dong, do you mean that if we exchange shares with you, we also need to pay equivalent value, right?"

Lee Jae-hwan then spoke, asking Dong Chenxi with interest.

Dong Chenxi smiled and nodded: "Naturally. Equivalent exchange is the foundation of cooperation, isn't it?"

The few of them agreed deeply and found nothing strange about her words.

All were veterans in business and naturally understood that Dong Chenxi was right; such cooperation was about equivalent exchange. As for future development, that depended on each party's ability.

Take Twitter for example. It seemed Samsung had gained now, but that was Samsung's luck. Since Future Investment had voluntarily given it up, even if Twitter's market value rose to fifty billion in the future, it would have nothing to do with Future Investment.

Venture capital, as the name implies, if you can't bear the risk, don't invest.

"In principle, we agree to cooperate."

Lee Mi-jung spoke slowly, looking at Zhao Fusheng: "But our intention is to ask your company not to interfere in CJ Group's operations. Is that acceptable?"

"Hmm?"

Zhao Fusheng frowned and looked at Lee Jae-hyun.

Clearly, Lee Jae-hyun hadn't mentioned this before. What was going on?

Seeing this, Lee Jae-hyun explained: "It's like this: we can exchange CJ Group shares with your company, and your company can appoint directors to our CJ Group. However, I hope to continue serving as the group's chairman."

Zhao Fusheng was taken aback, then understood Lee Jae-hyun's meaning.

In simple terms, they could give shares and let him collect dividends, but they didn't intend to give him voting rights, fearing he would interfere in their management.

Smiling, Zhao Fusheng looked at Zheng Yao, as this required her decision.

Zheng Yao was very calm and nodded: "That's acceptable. But I have one request: CJ Group must cooperate with Hanxing Investment, especially in the cultural industry. No problem?"

"Of course, no problem."

Lee Mi-jung nodded.

As the head of the group's entertainment division, she naturally had the authority to say so.

In fact, CJ Group had always misunderstood. Zhao Fusheng, Zheng Yao, and the others had long discussed that while Future Group had developed well in Korea and Hanxing Investment had made significant progress, they were not a local Korean enterprise and had no intention of interfering in CJ's management rights.

Using these shares to contribute to Hanxing Investment's development in Korea was the decision Zhao Fusheng, Zheng Yao, Dong Chenxi, and others had made after discussion.

Of course, this was on the premise that Lee Kun-hee hadn't played any intimidation tricks. If he hadn't decided to shake down Hanxing Investment, Zhao Fusheng probably wouldn't have made up his mind to cooperate with CJ.

Many things in this world often start by chance.