Chapter 1862: One Cannot Be Too Clever

In the end, what people truly understand and appreciate are merely things that are essentially the same as themselves.

Zhao Fusheng was truly exhausted. In his position, though he could see far and high, the price he paid was beyond what ordinary people could imagine.

Ordinary people have their worries, and successful people have their own sorrows.

It is said that if one has no long-term concerns, they will have immediate worries. Zhao Fusheng was no different. With such a vast business empire, the livelihoods of tens of millions, even tens of thousands, rested in his hands. It was impossible to say he felt no pressure.

“Don’t push yourself too hard.”

When Zhang Guorong bid farewell to Zhao Fusheng, he said to him earnestly.

He could see that Zhao Fusheng seemed very tired, even more so than when he had last seen him.

Zhao Fusheng gave a bitter smile: “At this point, some things are truly beyond my control.”

Zhang Guorong fell silent.

He could understand Zhao Fusheng’s words. Sometimes, when one reaches a certain position, they really are not their own master.

It was like the rivalry between him and Principal Tan back then. The two of them might not have actually been hostile to each other, but the fans and management companies behind them forced them into that position. Even if you didn’t want to compete, you had to.

After seeing Zhang Guorong off, Zhao Fusheng received a call from Ye Jing.

“Disney has officially made an acquisition offer to Marvel.”

Ye Jing said in a deep voice.

“What did Kevin Feige say?” Zhao Fusheng asked back.

“What could he say? He accepted, of course.” Ye Jing sneered. “As you know, ‘Iron Man’ is a huge box office hit now. He’s riding high.”

“Let him be happy for a while.” Zhao Fusheng chuckled.

He naturally understood Ye Jing’s meaning. They had already guessed the vague relationship between Kevin Feige and Disney. It would be strange if there were no private connections between them.

But regardless, in Hollywood today, Zhao Fusheng still needed Kevin Feige, or rather, he needed Marvel to continue developing.

Since that was the case, he might as well pretend not to know about it.

Of course, Zhao Fusheng also knew that even for the sake of making money, he couldn’t pretend to know nothing and let people treat him like a fool. He needed to find an opportunity to knock Kevin Feige down a peg.

“Find time to go to the US and meet Kevin Feige. Tell him that before the release of the second Iron Man movie, I don’t agree to the cooperation with Disney,” Zhao Fusheng said to Ye Jing.

He would certainly fight for his interests, but before that, Zhao Fusheng also needed to strike the mountain to shake the tiger, letting Kevin Feige know who truly called the shots.

The foundation of maintaining cooperation is mutual benefit, and also that everyone should be honest and know their place.

Otherwise, you’ll either be taken advantage of and forced out, or you’ll have to rely on others’ goodwill to get any benefits.

Those not of our race are bound to be of a different mind.

Zhao Fusheng never believed that those foreigners would have any damn good intentions toward him.

To put it bluntly, it wasn’t impossible that Kevin Feige might team up with Disney and secretly stab him in the back.

Zhao Fusheng wouldn’t find that surprising at all.

For him, investing in Marvel was because he knew from his past life that Marvel would become a behemoth and help him make a lot of money.

He had done such things many times, and this time was no different—it was for the future.

“Alright, I understand.”

Ye Jing nodded and didn’t waste any more words. He knew Zhao Fusheng’s intentions well and understood that Zhao Fusheng was very optimistic about Marvel’s future development.

In fact, the success of the first “Iron Man” movie had made it clear to everyone that if the superhero copyrights in Marvel’s hands could be monetized, it would be an enormous goldmine.

Otherwise, why would Disney take the initiative to make an acquisition offer? Did they think Disney people were idiots?

…

…

Putting down the phone, Zhao Fusheng let out a long breath and wore a helpless smile.

Just moments ago, when seeing off Zhang Guorong, he had talked about being unable to control his own fate, and now it was exactly that.

Sometimes people are like that, always pushed forward by fate.

Take Zhao Fusheng himself, Ma Xiaoyun, and Ono Masao—all the same.

The day before Alibaba’s shareholder meeting, Zhao Fusheng met with Ono Masao.

“I heard you met with Ma Xiaoyun and James?”

While eating steak, Ono Masao looked at Zhao Fusheng and asked with a smile.

Zhao Fusheng nodded: “Yes, Mr. Ono, you’re very well-informed.”

Although their net worths differed, Zhao Fusheng did not act superior or aggressive toward Ono Masao.

Such an attitude would be meaningless with a man like him and would only invite ridicule.

Zhao Fusheng didn’t want to become an object of Ono Masao’s mockery.

“Heh, after all, Chairman Zhao is a major shareholder of Alibaba, so of course I pay attention,” Ono Masao said with a faint smile, admitting it frankly.

In fact, he knew well that not only was he watching Zhao Fusheng, but Zhao Fusheng was also watching him.

“Is that so? Then Mr. Ono should pay closer attention.”

Zhao Fusheng looked at Ono Masao and said with a half-smile: “I’m a restless person. I don’t like staying in one place too long. Tonight I’m leaving Hong Kong and returning to China.”

“Huh?”

Ono Masao was taken aback at these words, staring at Zhao Fusheng in surprise. Clearly, he had not expected Zhao Fusheng to leave.

And on the eve of the shareholder meeting, no less.

What was going on?

Did Zhao Fusheng no longer care about this shareholder meeting?

Or had he received some kind of promise from James?

That was the habit of clever people: when something happened, many honest folks wouldn’t overthink it; they would simply use the simplest logic to judge.

But clever people were different. They thought too much and worried too much. They even tended to fabricate all sorts of things in their minds.

Even knowing that such thinking might be wrong, a case of crying wolf, they couldn’t control themselves.

What if?

What if their concerns turned out to be true? What then?

This situation had both advantages and disadvantages.

The advantage was that because clever people thought and worried a lot, they could be fully prepared to avoid panic in unexpected situations.

But the disadvantage was that the more they thought, the more likely they were to make mistakes.

Right now, for instance, Ono Masao could simply call James and learn that Zhao Fusheng hadn’t actually reached any real agreement with James—he had only asked James to wait and see.

But with Zhao Fusheng saying this, Ono Masao instinctively felt that Zhao Fusheng must have made some deal with James, perhaps joining forces with Ma Xiaoyun and his team to oppose SoftBank Asia.

“Damn American!”

Ono Masao cursed inwardly, but his face remained impassive as he looked at Zhao Fusheng with a bright smile: “Is that so? Is Chairman Zhao in a hurry to return to China for something?”

“Nothing much. I’ve been away for days and miss my wife and daughter. You know, my wife is pregnant. At a time like this, I should be by her side.”

Zhao Fusheng chuckled and said to Ono Masao.

Liar!

Ono Masao didn’t believe a word. The guy was definitely talking nonsense. A pregnant wife wasn’t such a big deal—he must be brewing some scheme!

To be honest, if Zhao Fusheng knew what Ono Masao was thinking, he would cry out in injustice!

He really hadn’t thought that far. In his view, he had already told Ma Xiaoyun his idea. Whether the problem could be solved was up to Ma Xiaoyun.

If, under these circumstances, Ma Xiaoyun still needed him to step in and fix everything, then he didn’t deserve to become one of China’s two future “daddies.”

Since that was the case, what use was there in staying in Hong Kong?

Zhao Fusheng was always practical. In his view, now that things had reached this point, there was no need to remain in Hong Kong. With modern communications, he could learn the results of the shareholder meeting via his phone. Why wait around?

Wouldn’t it be better to spend that time with his wife and child?

Was staring at Ono Masao’s face more important than being with his precious daughter?

“Chairman Zhao is truly a family man.”

Ono Masao said insincerely to Zhao Fusheng.

The Japanese are quite chauvinistic. In their view, women are appendages of men, inherently inferior.

Whether in movies or TV dramas, there is always a detail in Korean and Japanese shows: when a man leaves the house, the woman sees him off at the door and hands him his slippers.

This is not just a dramatic device but a mainstream mindset in both countries.

Male superiority and female inferiority.

Thus, Ono Masao didn’t believe Zhao Fusheng’s excuse at all.

In his eyes, a billionaire like Zhao Fusheng must have a certain family status, and he probably had many mistresses outside. At Zhao Fusheng’s age, it would be strange if there were no scandals.

But because he was so wealthy, such news would surely be suppressed by the Future Group before it could surface.

The so-called going home to family was just an excuse!

That guy must have some scheme!

With this suspicion, Ono Masao continued the conversation with Zhao Fusheng. Throughout the entire meal, he carefully parsed every word and expression of Zhao Fusheng.

As for Zhao Fusheng—well, he was just there to eat.

After the meal, Zhao Fusheng left cheerfully, leaving the gloomy-faced Ono Masao to think whatever he wanted.

Clever people—how exasperating they are!