Chapter 1864: Retirement

Zhao Fusheng's conversation with his father was, of course, serious.

The saddest thing in the world is undoubtedly when the tree desires stillness but the wind keeps blowing, and when the child wants to care for their parents but they are no longer there. For Zhao Fusheng, having his parents and family happily together was far more gratifying than making a few hundred million more a year.

This was his true feeling, because Zhao Fusheng knew very well what he wanted.

So he urged his father to retire.

And clearly, Zhao Fusheng's last few words moved Old Zhao.

It is often said that grandparents dote on grandchildren. For Old Zhao, Zhao Fusheng had already achieved success and fame, and no longer needed his care or supervision.

But Zhao Fusheng still had children.

He had grandchildren.

The thought that if he continued to be as busy as he was now, he would hardly have any time to spend with his grandchildren throughout the year, immediately made Old Zhao's heart ache.

"Alright, I'll look into it when I get back."

Old Zhao looked at Zhao Fusheng: "I'll try to get it done before the end of the year."

His idea was simple: even if he was going to retire, he had to do it step by step.

Zhao Fusheng nodded: "Fine, I'll talk to Lao Tan, Xue Yuanfang, and Han Bin."

After all, the retirement of a major shareholder was no small matter; if not handled carefully, it could have a huge impact on the entire company.

Fortunately, the company was not listed; otherwise, even the stock price might be affected.

This was no joke. The announcement of retirement by a company's founder, especially a major shareholder, had an impact on the entire company that could not be summed up in a few words. To put it bluntly, when Ma Xiaoyun announced his retirement in later years, Alibaba's stock price fell sharply—that was the best evidence.

Because it concerned investor confidence.

Old Zhao smiled: "You arrange it yourself; I'll also make sure everything is properly handed over at the company."

After the father and son settled the matter, they returned to the room. Zhao Fusheng told his mother about Old Zhao's plan to retire. Zhao's mother was naturally delighted; in her view, her husband should have retired long ago.

"It's better to rest early, spend time with the kids. You're always busy, busy, busy—can you make as much in a year as our son makes in two months?" Zhao's mother said to Old Zhao with a triumphant look.

Clearly, she had been holding back those words for a long time.

Old Zhao was speechless, unable to think of a rebuttal, because what she said was true: his hard work all year might not even earn as much as Zhao Fusheng made in a few months.

After all, his son was not only more capable but also unimaginably wealthy.

Seeing his father a bit embarrassed, Zhao Fusheng decisively chose to leave. No way—if he stayed any longer, his father, now humiliated and angry, might take it out on him.

"You little brat!"

Old Zhao watched Zhao Fusheng leave, muttering at his back, but said nothing more.

Back in the room.

Fan Baobao had already started experiencing morning sickness, and her belly was getting bigger. Zhao Fusheng stroked his wife's belly and said with a smile, "I wonder if it's a girl or a boy."

"Do you prefer a son?"

Fan Baobao asked Zhao Fusheng.

"Either is fine."

Zhao Fusheng was indifferent, smiling: "Whether it's a daughter or a son, I'll love them."

"I hope it's a son." Fan Baobao said seriously: "That way you can teach him business, and he can help you in the future."

"Haha."

Zhao Fusheng laughed and waved his hand: "It doesn't matter. Our family isn't some feudal clan; sons and daughters are the same. Let the child do what they like. Parents shouldn't interfere in their children's lives."

This was his true feeling. In Zhao Fusheng's view, everyone has the right to choose their own life path. Even parents have no right to interfere in their children's choices about the future.

The most terrible thing in the world is to force someone to do something they don't like under the banner of 'for your own good.'

Though the reason seems valid, in fact, it is the cruelest.

Because it amounts to manipulating someone else's life.

Does anyone like having their life controlled by others?

Even by their own parents.

The answer is probably obvious.

So Zhao Fusheng had long decided not to interfere in his children's future choices. Whatever they wanted to do, as long as they liked it, that was fine.

Of course, if they made a choice, they would naturally have to be responsible for it.

In life, one must always take responsibility for oneself. Since you are unwilling to listen to others' opinions and don't want others to decide your life, you must be responsible for every choice you make in every moment of your life and bear the consequences.

Whether the result is failure or success.

Even if one day you have to suffer the bitter fruit of your own choices, that is only right.

"You, that child is your own flesh and blood."

Fan Baobao, however, was not as open-minded as Zhao Fusheng. She glared at him and said, "Besides, are you really comfortable leaving such a huge business to others?"

"You, what if our child isn't suited for business and squanders the company?" Zhao Fusheng tapped Fan Baobao on the head and said with exasperation, "Then I'd have to keep an eye on it myself, wouldn't I?"

Fan Baobao was stunned, but upon reflection, Zhao Fusheng's words did make some sense.

Although she didn't understand business matters, she had picked up a little through osmosis.

Especially after giving birth to a daughter, when it came to inheritance issues, she had even secretly looked up information online. Not for her own sake, but for the child's.

She naturally understood that what Zhao Fusheng said was indeed correct.

"How worrying..."

Fan Baobao sighed helplessly, clearly not in a good mood.

Zhao Fusheng smiled: "You, stop overthinking. This isn't something you need to worry about now. Besides, the child still has many years to grow up. Worrying about this now is completely pointless."

That was true. It would be at least twenty years before their child grew up, and anything could happen in those twenty years.

Moreover, Zhao Fusheng had already made his own plans. As Tan Kaixuan put it, this guy was too shrewd; of course he would consider his descendants.

Of course, Zhao Fusheng wouldn't tell Fan Baobao about this now, because it would be meaningless and only add to her worries.

"Alright, alright."

Since Zhao Fusheng said so, Fan Baobao naturally didn't press further. She smiled and nodded: "I've noticed you always manage to convince me. You're always coaxing me..."

Zhao Fusheng looked innocent. Coaxing his wife had somehow become one of his crimes.

A woman's heart is indeed like a needle at the bottom of the sea—impossible to fathom.

...

...

Since he was back in the capital, it was natural to visit the company. The next day, Zhao Fusheng went to the headquarters of Future Group.

"You really did outsmart Masao Ono."

Zheng Yao said to Zhao Fusheng with emotion. She hadn't expected Zhao Fusheng's plan to succeed; Masao Ono had completely failed to guess that Future Investment had not actually reached a cooperation agreement with Sequoia Capital.

"Heh, Ono is just too clever."

Zhao Fusheng said indifferently, not finding it surprising.

People like Masao Ono are too shrewd, and the more shrewd they are, the more they tend to overthink things.

Normally, this habit might be a good one, but at this moment, it was not a good thing.

"But by now, he should have figured it out, right?" Zheng Yao nodded and said.

"Of course."

Zhao Fusheng smiled: "But it's too late."

That was true. With the dual-class share structure approved, Alibaba would delist from Hong Kong in a few years. By then, even if Masao Ono had any ideas, he would be powerless.

More importantly, as Alibaba's market value continued to grow, even Masao Ono himself knew that SoftBank could not become an obstacle to Alibaba's development.

The purpose of investment is to make money—that is the most important thing.

If Masao Ono hindered this process, even the former world's richest man, whom he had followed for years, would not hesitate to kick him out.

Both Zhao Fusheng and Masao Ono himself were well aware of this.

"Don't worry about Alibaba anymore. I think in the next few years, we should focus on Future Technology and Future Investment."

Zhao Fusheng looked at Zheng Yao and said slowly.

"Ah?"

Zheng Yao was startled, somewhat surprised: "You mean the internet..."

Clearly, Zhao Fusheng had set his sights on the internet industry again.

"Yes, Future Advertising's development has hit a bottleneck. Let's give it a try. If it can go public on the Growth Enterprise Market next year, I wouldn't mind reducing my stake."

Zhao Fusheng smiled and said to Zheng Yao.

After all, each subsidiary was now self-financing, so even if his equity was diluted, it wouldn't matter.

In fact, Zhao Fusheng even looked forward to this happening, as it would allow him to cash out.

"..." Zheng Yao was speechless: "You're not planning to retire, are you?"

To be honest, Zhao Fusheng had mentioned reducing his stake many times before, and this time he clearly wasn't joking.

"Haha, it's nothing new that I'm going to retire."

Zhao Fusheng waved his hand: "My father will retire this year. As for me, I'll definitely retire before I'm forty. Besides, even if I reduce my stake, I'm only selling shares, not voting rights. If you're interested, I can hand the company over to you."

Zheng Yao already held shares in Future Advertising, so Zhao Fusheng felt comfortable entrusting it to her.

"We'll talk about it then."

Zheng Yao thought for a moment but remained noncommittal about Zhao Fusheng's suggestion.