Chapter 1870: Stock Market Crash

Zhao Fusheng had no doubt about Dong Guoxiang's words.

He who employs people does not doubt them; he who doubts people does not employ them.

Let alone Dong Guoxiang.

From the very beginning, when Zhao Fusheng put Dong Guoxiang in charge of Future Technology, he never expected immediate results.

Even now, as the company had grown, Zhao Fusheng never considered achieving success overnight.

Because he knew very well that any company, especially an internet company, needed time to develop.

Haste makes waste.

Zhao Fusheng had understood this principle early on.

Smartphones had not yet taken off, and internet technology was not mature enough.

To put it more simply, computers had not yet spread to every household.

Only when computers became widespread and video playback technology reached a certain level would Future Technology have its moment to shine.

That was also the opportunity Zhao Fusheng had been waiting for.

Of course, he would never tell anyone this; he could only encourage Dong Guoxiang, hoping he would maintain his current mindset and keep working hard.

The habit of hard work is not a bad thing.

That was Zhao Fusheng's true thought.

He remembered watching a movie starring Huang Xiaoming in his previous life, something like "American Dreams in China." There was no need to comment on Huang Xiaoming's acting; what truly left a deep impression on Zhao Fusheng was a line from the movie.

"Those who choose to give up from the start will not fail, because they have already failed from the beginning. Failure is not scary, because falling into water doesn't necessarily mean you'll drown, but staying in the water certainly will. Only those who keep swimming forward have a chance to escape!"

The same principle applied to the internet industry.

Survival of the fittest—that was the true portrayal of China's internet development.

The two chatted for a while longer. Seeing that it was getting late, Zhao Fusheng declined Dong Guoxiang's invitation to dinner, saying he wanted to go home and eat.

"You should find a girlfriend soon. Look how old you are. My kid is almost old enough to run errands, and you're still alone. If you're not worried, I am for you. You can't just end up finding someone in the company, can you?"

Zhao Fusheng said helplessly to Dong Guoxiang.

Dong Guoxiang was taken aback, then looked a bit nervous and shook his head: "That... wouldn't be appropriate, would it?"

"Not appropriate..."

Zhao Fusheng almost tripped over those words. He gave Dong Guoxiang a speechless look—was this guy stupid? Couldn't he tell he was mocking him?

"Forget it, I can't be bothered with you. Just keep it in mind."

Zhao Fusheng said helplessly to Dong Guoxiang: "Let me make it clear first—when you get married, I'll cover the wedding house and car."

"Ah, okay."

Dong Guoxiang smiled. He didn't feel much about Zhao Fusheng's words.

Having known each other for so many years, he knew Zhao Fusheng's wealth. Needless to say, buying a house or a car anywhere in the world was nothing to Zhao Fusheng.

Even without merit, there was hard work.

For a trusted follower who had always stuck with him and created considerable value, a gift of this level was normal.

Zhao Fusheng left Future Technology and arrived home around five in the evening.

Father Zhao had already returned to Ninghai, while Mother Zhao and Li Yuan naturally stayed behind to accompany Fan Baobao during her pregnancy.

Although there were still a few months until the due date, the whole family took this matter extremely seriously.

After all, this was Zhao Fusheng's second child.

"What's for dinner tonight?"

Zhao Fusheng entered the house, handed his bag to his mother, and asked casually.

"Braised pork trotters."

Mother Zhao smiled and said to her son, "Isn't that your favorite?"

Zhao Fusheng rolled his eyes, feeling that his mother was mocking him.

He didn't actually like pork trotters; it was the pregnant woman who liked them. She always had a huge batch made, and when she couldn't finish them, he had to eat the leftovers.

When he weighed himself yesterday during a shower, he found he had gained five pounds recently...

They say people only start gaining weight in middle age.

He wasn't even thirty yet—how could he be gaining weight!

"Alright, wash your hands and get ready for dinner."

Mother Zhao said to Zhao Fusheng, "We thought you'd be eating out tonight."

Zhao Fusheng smiled but didn't argue with his mother.

If he had known, he might as well have had dinner with that guy Dong Guoxiang.

...

...

By the time dinner was finished, it was almost seven o'clock.

Fan Baobao had started experiencing morning sickness and felt terrible all day. She simply kicked Zhao Fusheng out of the room and had Li Yuan sleep with her.

Although Zhao Fusheng really wanted to sleep with his wife, there was no helping it—safety first.

Banished to the study, Zhao Fusheng simply went online to browse the news for a while.

The internet at this time was actually quite similar to what Zhao Fusheng remembered from his previous life; the only difference was that, due to some of his earlier actions, certain websites had already appeared in the current development of the internet.

For example, Jiayuan.com, which would later become wildly popular, now had Future Investment as its major shareholder.

Of course, Zhao Fusheng's attitude was also very clear: under these circumstances, Future Investment would not interfere with any decisions made by the entrepreneurs, only responsible for providing funds, and if new venture capital came in, as long as the investment amount was higher, Zhao Fusheng wouldn't mind his shares being diluted.

He wasn't crazy enough to forbid anyone from meddling in the companies he invested in.

If it really came to that, Zhao Fusheng felt he might become a public enemy.

If doing business reached that point, it would indeed be difficult to move an inch.

On this point, Zhao Fusheng was undoubtedly very clear.

He certainly didn't want the Future Group to become a target of public criticism; as the saying goes, money can never be fully earned.

There is no one in this world who can monopolize all business; if that were the case, the outcome would certainly not be good.

Especially in a country like China, if the Future Group made enemies everywhere, the situation it would face would definitely not just be encirclement and suppression, but it might even be targeted by certain people with ulterior motives.

Whether it was Dong Chenxi or Zheng Yao, every senior executive of the Future Group advised Zhao Fusheng to keep a low profile and bide his time.

And Zhao Fusheng himself was also very clear about this.

Sometimes he thought that doing business was actually quite similar to being an official—both were processes of constantly climbing upward. In this process, one not only had to handle relationships with opponents but also with peers around them.

For example, with Zhao Fusheng's current financial resources, if he fully supported Future Advertising, he could indeed make it a top-tier large advertising company in China.

But the problem was that the current subsidiaries of the Future Group were all established by Zhao Fusheng very early on, had already reached a certain scale, and were involved in several industries, so even if others wanted to criticize, they couldn't say much.

However, if the Future Group continued to expand like this, not to mention whether it would face a situation of overstretching, just the fact of dipping a hand into every industry would make people wary.

"Ring, ring, ring..."

Just as Zhao Fusheng was thinking, the phone rang.

He glanced at the caller ID, was slightly surprised, but still picked up.

"What's up?"

Zhao Fusheng asked Wu Sijie on the other end of the line, somewhat bewildered.

"Chairman, U.S. stocks have plummeted! Global stock markets are all falling!"

Wu Sijie's voice was urgent, and it was clear he was a bit flustered.

"What happened?"

Zhao Fusheng was taken aback. Although they were currently in the midst of an economic crisis, a sudden global stock market crash must have had a reason.

"The U.S. stock market couldn't hold up; the Federal Reserve announced it was giving up on rescuing the market..." Wu Sijie said with a bitter smile. "Those Americans really are unreliable. Now stock markets all over the world are falling."

At this time, it happened to be the opening hours of the U.S. stock market. As soon as the news of the Federal Reserve abandoning the bailout came out, global financial markets immediately began to fluctuate.

Financial crisis!

The thought flashed through Zhao Fusheng's mind, and he said solemnly, "Has this news been received domestically?"

"It should have."

Wu Sijie said, "I contacted Miss Dong. She indicated that, according to your earlier instructions, we currently hold no stocks of other companies."

"Ah?"

Zhao Fusheng was stunned, somewhat surprised.

You see, in his memory, it seemed that Future Investment held some U.S. stocks, but he couldn't remember whether it was NetEase or some other company's U.S. stocks.

And now Dong Chenxi was saying they had none!

"It's like this. Miss Dong's meaning was that earlier, during the subprime mortgage crisis, she and the company's management, following your judgment that U.S. stocks might experience a sharp decline, liquidated all the stocks and futures they held. They originally planned to report to you in the next few days about buying back in, but you haven't been to the company..." Wu Sijie explained helplessly to Zhao Fusheng.

Zhao Fusheng laughed; he actually remembered this matter now.

Earlier, when the subprime mortgage crisis broke out, he had not only advised Tan Kaixuan to liquidate his stocks and futures but also required Dong Chenxi to do the same.

Dong Chenxi naturally complied, since he was the boss after all.

But then the U.S. stock market didn't crash; the Federal Reserve announced a bailout, and later Alibaba went public. It dragged on until now, and before Future Investment could re-enter the market, this happened.

Luck was indeed very important!

Zhao Fusheng thought to himself.

Then he remembered another matter, quickly instructed Wu Sijie to continue monitoring the changes in U.S. stocks, and hung up the phone.

After that, Zhao Fusheng dialed Tan Kaixuan's number.

"Have you heard about the U.S. stocks?"

As soon as the call connected, Zhao Fusheng asked Tan Kaixuan.

"I already know."

Surprisingly, Tan Kaixuan's voice was very calm, or rather, the guy wasn't as panicked as Zhao Fusheng had expected.

"Any losses on your end?"

Zhao Fusheng asked Tan Kaixuan.

Tan Kaixuan chuckled: "Personally, I have no losses. But as for others, it's hard to say."

Hearing this, Zhao Fusheng's eyes lit up, and he suddenly understood something.

It seemed that Tan Kaixuan had probably screwed some people over!