Chapter 1770 The Old Fox's Choice

Bang!

A cup shattered on the carpet!

Lee Kun-hee stared coldly at Lee Jae-yong and the others before him, his face dark.

"Can someone tell me why Zhao Fusheng showed up there? Why didn't we know beforehand that Jae-hyun was in contact with Zhao Fusheng?"

Lee Kun-hee said heavily, "If we had known he was in contact with Zhao Fusheng, wouldn't we have held off on moving against Hanxing Investment?"

The crowd fell silent, not daring to breathe.

Whether it was Lee Jae-yong or Lee Boo-jin, or Lee Seo-hyun who had just learned of this, none of them dared to speak.

There was no help for it; Lee Kun-hee was now a powder keg ready to explode.

If he was truly provoked, he would not hesitate to throw a punch!

"Father, this is all my fault. If I hadn't been so impatient..."

Lee Jae-yong stepped forward and said to Lee Kun-hee.

Regardless, as the heir, he had to give his father a way to save face.

Exactly!

A way to save face.

Because this matter was actually caused by Lee Kun-hee's own misjudgment.

To put it bluntly, if he hadn't made that self-righteous move to apply pressure, even if Zhao Fusheng wanted to cooperate with CJ Group, he would have thought it over carefully, rather than directly reaching an agreement with CJ as he did now.

But the problem was that Lee Kun-hee was the controller of Samsung; he could not admit fault before a group of subordinates and juniors, so the one at fault had to be Lee Jae-yong.

Sharing his father's embarrassment was undoubtedly what a son and heir should do.

Lee Jae-yong's approach pleased Lee Kun-hee. He glanced at his clever son and said no more.

"Let's all speak up. How should we handle this?"

Lee Kun-hee looked around at everyone and slowly asked.

"We must strike back, of course!"

Someone immediately spoke up: "These Chinese dare to oppose us? In my opinion, we should call right now and completely crush that Hanxing Investment."

Clearly, this was a proponent of retaliation.

"I think we should wait a bit and first understand the specific situation."

This was a cautious faction, not wanting to offend anyone.

"I think maybe we can communicate with Future Group. If we can win them over and get them to cooperate with us, wouldn't that be even better?"

This one was even more extreme, indulging in wishful thinking.

Lee Kun-hee frowned. Clearly, he was not satisfied with these remarks.

His gaze fell on Lee Boo-jin, who had remained silent. Lee Kun-hee asked gently, "Boo-jin, what are your thoughts?"

To be honest, he valued his eldest daughter's abilities greatly. If not for her being a woman, she would have been the most suitable heir.

Decisive, courageous, and steady in her actions, Lee Boo-jin possessed all the qualities an entrepreneur should have. Lee Kun-hee even felt that his eldest daughter was the one most like him.

"Father, I think you could actually meet with Zhao Fusheng," Lee Boo-jin said after a moment's deliberation.

"Oh?"

Hearing Lee Boo-jin's words, Lee Kun-hee's eyes lit up: "What, do you think he might cooperate with us?"

Lee Boo-jin smiled and gently shook her head: "Father, you don't understand Zhao Fusheng. I've studied his character. He is someone who values promises. Since he has agreed to cooperate with Uncle, I can be sure that no matter how good the terms we offer, he will not cooperate with us."

"Then why do you want me to meet him?"

Lee Kun-hee asked his daughter, somewhat puzzled.

Clearly, he really didn't understand his eldest daughter's meaning.

After all, logically, since Zhao Fusheng chose to cooperate with CJ Group, he was effectively their enemy.

Was it necessary to meet with an enemy?

"Because I think we can still negotiate with him."

Lee Boo-jin didn't beat around the bush and spoke frankly to her father.

Still negotiate?

Lee Kun-hee was taken aback, then laughed.

Lee Boo-jin's words truly pleased him.

It had to be said that his eldest daughter's vision was broader than anyone else's.

She saw clearly that Samsung could no longer afford to create powerful enemies at this point.

Or, to be more precise, Samsung had no need and should not push Future Group to the enemy's side.

Doing business is not like children fighting; if you hit me, I must hit you back—that's the kind of boring thing a three-year-old would do.

A truly shrewd businessman only considers how to maximize his own interests.

Behaving like a child, vowing to do this or that just because the other party cooperated with CJ, is something only an idiot would do.

Even if retaliation or counterattack were necessary, now was not the time.

The earlier pressure was only for better cooperation.

Lee Boo-jin understood this reasoning, but clearly, no one else besides her did.

Even her heir, Lee Jae-yong, was completely in the dark.

Sighing inwardly, Lee Kun-hee looked at his daughter: "What a pity you weren't born a boy."

Lee Boo-jin was startled, then also laughed.

"Whether I'm a boy or not, I am still your child, and I will help Jae-yong," Lee Boo-jin said to her father.

Hearing this, Lee Kun-hee was greatly comforted. He nodded and looked at Lee Seo-hyun and the others: "You must assist Jae-yong well, just like Boo-jin, understand?"

He was not one to express his emotions freely, and this was the first time he had publicly affirmed Lee Jae-yong's position as heir in front of everyone.

Lee Jae-yong was extremely excited and kept looking at his elder sister Lee Boo-jin.

He knew that this time, it was Lee Boo-jin's words that made their father take this stance before everyone.

Lee Boo-jin, however, was very calm. She saw more clearly than anyone that their father had long chosen Lee Jae-yong as his heir, and no matter how others performed, it was useless.

That being the case, it was better to pick a side early.

This was something Zhao Fusheng had inadvertently mentioned to her. In Zhao Fusheng's words, since no amount of effort could change the outcome, why bother with futile struggle?

Whether in marriage or career, it was the same.

Lee Boo-jin was a smart woman; she knew well how to choose what was most beneficial for herself.

……

……

It was three days later when Zhao Fusheng received the news.

"What did you say?"

Staring at Dong Chenxi in disbelief, Zhao Fusheng said, "Lee Kun-hee is inviting me to South Korea?"

"Yes."

Dong Chenxi's expression was serious, as if she too was suppressing a laugh.

There was no help for it; this matter was just too interesting.

Zhao Fusheng was now like a hot commodity, a giant panda—everyone wanted to meet him and have a chat.

"So, are you going to meet them?"

Dong Chenxi smiled and continued to ask Zhao Fusheng.

Zhao Fusheng sat there, thought for a long time, then suddenly laughed: "Guess what Lee Kun-hee and I will talk about when we meet?"

Hearing this, Dong Chenxi shrugged: "What else could it be? The usual coaxing and intimidating."

"I don't think so."

Zhao Fusheng shook his head with a smile, not quite agreeing with Dong Chenxi.

Dong Chenxi could only guess about Lee Kun-hee from her fixed impressions, but for Zhao Fusheng, Lee Kun-hee was not just a name; he also represented the history of South Korea's chaebols.

Lee Jae-yong, as a chaebol heir, would be sentenced by the Moon Jae-in government, but Lee Kun-hee was not brought down by Roh Moo-hyun.

The reason was simple: Lee Kun-hee was smarter than Lee Jae-yong.

A smart man like him, at such a critical moment, inviting him to South Korea for a meeting—Zhao Fusheng didn't think it was just to threaten or win him over.

Of course, this was only his speculation. All answers would be revealed after he met Lee Kun-hee.

"Reply to them. I agree to the meeting."

Zhao Fusheng took a deep breath and said to Dong Chenxi: "I want to see what kind of trick Samsung is playing."

"Okay."

Dong Chenxi nodded, not opposing Zhao Fusheng's decision.

In her view, this was not a big deal. Whether it was the Samsung Lee family or the CJ Lee family, in their eyes, they were just business partners.

Profitable business, as long as it didn't involve major principles like national enmity, could be done with anyone.

Just like how Zhao Fusheng had no qualms about taking advantage of SoftBank.

But what Dong Chenxi and Zhao Fusheng didn't expect was that shortly after they sent their reply, Samsung responded.

Lee Boo-jin, eldest daughter of Samsung Group Chairman Lee Kun-hee and Vice President of Samsung's Shilla Hotel, officially announced a visit to China.

"Really?"

"Are you kidding?"

"Have they gone mad?"

Everyone who learned of this news was dumbfounded.

Not only those at Future Group, but also Lee Jae-hyun and others in the capital were completely bewildered, unable to figure out what Lee Kun-hee was up to.

What about the chaebol's pride?

What about Samsung Group's pride?

Was it just going to be let go?

Shouldn't Samsung have launched a massive counterattack and condemned Zhao Fusheng's Future Group?

But after all that, not only did they not attack, but Lee Boo-jin, the eldest princess of Samsung, actually came to South Korea to personally escort him.

Wasn't this a joke!

Zhao Fusheng, on the other hand, aside from being a little surprised at first, remained quite calm and composed.

"Aren't you even a little curious?"

Fan Baobao looked at Zhao Fusheng and asked in confusion.

Although she rarely involved herself in Zhao Fusheng's business affairs, recently Dong Chenxi and others had been appearing around her often, coming to the house to discuss matters with Zhao Fusheng, so she had naturally learned a few things.

"What's there to be curious about?"

Hearing Fan Baobao's question, Zhao Fusheng smiled and waved his hand: "You all always like to overcomplicate things. It's actually not that complicated."

"What do you mean?" Fan Baobao didn't quite understand the meaning behind Zhao Fusheng's words.

Zhao Fusheng chuckled lightly and said calmly: "No matter what grievances Lee Meng-hee and Lee Kun-hee have, Lee Kun-hee is now a businessman. Since he's a businessman, he naturally has to think from a business perspective. So, meeting with me is the most correct choice. Understand?"

Fan Baobao was stunned, but had to admit that Zhao Fusheng's words made a lot of sense.