Chapter 1776 Money and Fame

Zhao Fusheng felt grateful to the Chen father and son.

Although they were not the most successful Chinese entrepreneurs, they were definitely among the most conscientious.

You might think they were conservative and unenterprising, but if you were a Chinese businessman facing difficulties in business and sought help from the Chen family, they would absolutely do their utmost to assist you.

Zhao Fusheng was a previous example; when he encountered financial difficulties, he chose to ask the Chen family for help.

Without any collateral, three hundred million US dollars successfully arrived in his account.

Zhao Fusheng had to acknowledge this favor.

So this time, he planned to repay the favor to the Chen family.

“Mr. Chen, do you know about Alibaba in China?”

Zhao Fusheng asked Chen Guohan with a smile.

“Of course I do. You seem to own shares in that company, and you’re a major shareholder,” Chen Guohan said to Zhao Fusheng.

As a major client of the bank, they were quite familiar with Zhao Fusheng’s capital movements.

“Yes.”

Zhao Fusheng smiled and nodded. “I think there’s no need to elaborate on the prospects of this company; Mr. Chen, you should be very clear about them.”

“Of course.”

Chen Guohan nodded. “To be honest, I never expected China’s e-commerce industry to develop so rapidly. It’s truly beyond everyone’s expectations.”

“If there’s an opportunity, what would you think about making Pangu Bank a shareholder of Alibaba?”

Zhao Fusheng said to Chen Guohan.

Ah?

Chen Guohan was stunned on the spot, staring at Zhao Fusheng with his mouth agape. Clearly, he had never expected that this guy was harboring such an idea.

Or rather, before Zhao Fusheng brought it up, Chen Guohan had never even considered it.

As an e-commerce company valued at over ten billion US dollars and with an excellent reputation among investors, Alibaba was hailed as the Amazon of China.

Now Zhao Fusheng was asking him if he was interested in becoming a shareholder of such a company. Chen Guohan felt his heartbeat accelerate at that moment.

Of course, not from fear, but from surprise.

This was no joke!

Having weathered many ups and downs in the business world, Boss Chen could certainly see Alibaba’s prospects. He sometimes lamented why he never encountered such good opportunities.

For instance, if he had invested twenty or thirty million in Alibaba back then, he would now be sitting at home counting money.

After all, Alibaba, on the verge of going public, was destined to take off.

At this moment, Zhao Fusheng chose to approach him, clearly offering him a favor.

“Thank you.”

Chen Guohan looked at Zhao Fusheng, not being pretentious, and said frankly, “But that should require a large sum of money, right?”

Pangu Bank had limited funds; he naturally couldn’t invest all its liquidity into this.

Zhao Fusheng smiled faintly and said calmly, “How much can you offer?”

“What?”

Chen Guohan was taken aback, then understood Zhao Fusheng’s meaning and shook his head. “That’s not appropriate.”

Zhao Fusheng waved his hand. “How about this: five hundred million US dollars for three percent of the shares. I can only give you this price; any lower is impossible.”

“How can this be?”

Chen Guohan quickly shook his head. “You’re losing too much.”

His subordinates had already analyzed Alibaba’s prospects; it was bound to become a company with a market value of over a hundred billion US dollars. Three percent of the shares for only five hundred million US dollars was undoubtedly a gain for Pangu Bank.

Zhao Fusheng shook his head and smiled. “I don’t think I’m losing out. To gain the recognition of Pangu Bank, I believe any Chinese businessman would be willing, wouldn’t they?”

Chen Guohan was silent.

From a numerical perspective, Zhao Fusheng was indeed losing money, but from a business standpoint, he wasn’t losing at all.

As he himself said, gaining the recognition of the Chen family of Pangu Bank was an honor for any businessman in Southeast Asia and the Chinese business community.

Simply put, it proved that you were an honest, trustworthy, and reliable partner.

In the business world, what is the most difficult thing?

Simple: finding a qualified partner.

After all, business is about money; you can’t guarantee that every partner is trustworthy, but most partners of Pangu Bank are people of integrity.

Under such circumstances, Zhao Fusheng gaining the friendship of the Chen family meant that his reputation was excellent.

In a sense, this was a benefit that money couldn’t buy.

And it was precisely for this reason that Zhao Fusheng had come specifically to see Chen Guohan.

This was an open strategy, or rather, a decision Zhao Fusheng made after careful consideration.

He needed to let people know that he was an honest and reliable young man.

Although this was like boasting, he felt he should do it.

After a long while, Chen Guohan laughed and nodded to Zhao Fusheng. “Alright, I agree to this matter.”

It was a win-win situation; he had no reason to refuse.

Moreover, the other party had said they were here to repay a favor. If he kept refusing, it would be too inconsiderate.

The other party had given him both face and substance; Chen Guohan could find no reason to refuse.

He was a good man and a businessman; that was undeniable.

Having convinced Chen Guohan, Zhao Fusheng smiled and said no more. The two turned to other topics.

Speaking of which, there had been many major business events in Asia recently. The most famous was naturally the rumor of cooperation between CJ and Samsung. Chen Guohan was also very concerned about this and asked Zhao Fusheng in detail.

Zhao Fusheng did not conceal anything and directly admitted that it was indeed true.

Upon hearing this news, Chen Guohan was greatly startled. When he learned that Zhao Fusheng was the driving force behind it, he was even more astonished.

He truly hadn’t expected that the young man from before now had such significant influence.

Zhao Fusheng did not accept all of Chen Guohan’s praise but instead said that he had merely gone with the flow; the truly impressive one was the old fox Lee Kun-hee.

“After realizing the situation was irreversible, he decisively chose the most favorable plan for himself. Truly remarkable.”

Zhao Fusheng said to Chen Guohan with sincere admiration.

Chen Guohan nodded. “After all, he is the leader of a Fortune Global 500 company. Such decisiveness is naturally unmatched.”

Zhao Fusheng deeply agreed. From this matter, he truly felt Lee Kun-hee’s decisiveness. No wonder he was called the economic czar of South Korea; at critical moments, the decisions he made were indeed the most beneficial to himself.

Even if it meant accepting a brother who had once been cast out, that was fine. As long as it benefited Samsung and himself, anything was possible.

Zhao Fusheng felt that he himself could never achieve such a level.

Without lingering too long at the Chen family’s, Zhao Fusheng soon returned to China. As for the subsequent matters, Future Investment would handle them; his task was essentially complete.

“Chairman, did you really do this just to repay a favor?”

Sitting on the plane, Wu Sijie cautiously glanced at Zhao Fusheng’s expression and, finding him in a good mood, finally asked.

Zhao Fusheng chuckled. “What, do you find it a bit inexplicable?”

He could understand, after all, his behavior probably seemed inexplicable to many.

Don’t forget, he held nearly forty percent of Alibaba’s shares, and now, just before the IPO, he was transferring three percent at a price far below market value. To put it bluntly, this was a losing deal.

“It’s not exactly inexplicable,”

Wu Sijie said. “I just don’t quite understand your thinking.”

Zhao Fusheng laughed heartily. “The reason I did this is simple: on one hand, I truly owe them a favor; on the other hand, I hope to make Alibaba’s board of directors a bit more chaotic.”

“Seize victory from chaos?”

Wu Sijie said subconsciously.

Zhao Fusheng nodded. “Yes, seize victory from chaos. Only by doing so can we live more smoothly, understand?”

Pondering Zhao Fusheng’s words, Wu Sijie fell into deep thought.

Clearly, he didn’t fully grasp Zhao Fusheng’s meaning, but for him, since the chairman had said so, he would just slowly figure it out.

After all, the chairman had never been wrong.