Chapter 2080: Shifting the Battlefield

Dong Guoxiang naturally had no objections to Zhao Fusheng's decision, but Dong Chenxi and Zheng Yao were quite puzzled.

"Weibo is so popular now; shouldn't we do something?"

Zheng Yao and Dong Chenxi raised this question in Zhao Fusheng's office.

"Exactly. Several companies have approached me, hoping to collaborate with us on Weibo-like projects." Dong Chenxi even handed Zhao Fusheng several investment proposals.

After all, Future Investment had gained a formidable reputation; its series of successful investments made everyone realize it was an investment firm with strong financial resources and a keen eye.

More importantly, behind Future Investment stood Zhao Fusheng, whose wealth and influence were self-evident.

Although Zhao Fusheng kept a low profile, he was a legend in the financial and economic circles.

"Heh, ignore them."

Zhao Fusheng said casually upon hearing Zheng Yao and Dong Chenxi's words.

As for the proposals Dong Chenxi handed him, he didn't even bother to look at them and tossed them aside.

Dong Chenxi and Zheng Yao exchanged glances, both somewhat surprised.

It was rare to see Zhao Fusheng like this.

Usually, Zhao Fusheng would carefully consider such money-making opportunities, not dismiss them outright as he did now.

Clearly, there was more to this than met the eye.

"Curious?"

Seeing their reactions, Zhao Fusheng asked casually.

"Mm."

"Very curious."

Zheng Yao and Dong Chenxi spoke almost simultaneously.

"It's simple. We don't need these pointless proposals." Zhao Fusheng shrugged. "If we want to do it, we can have Dong Guoxiang handle it and invest ourselves."

Dong Chenxi and Zheng Yao looked at each other; upon reflection, what Zhao Fusheng said made sense.

Future Group had Future Technology for programmers, Future Investment for capital, Future Advertising for promotional channels, and Future Entertainment had plenty of talent for celebrity endorsements.

Under these circumstances, as Zhao Fusheng said, why collaborate with others?

If a problem could be solved internally, collaborating with others would be madness.

But why didn't Zhao Fusheng do it?

"This thing is essentially a platform for personal opinions." Zhao Fusheng said calmly. "The biggest problem with social platforms is their uncontrollability. If you restrict people's right to speak, they'll think you've become a government tool. But if you don't restrict them, the government will think your company's ideology is dangerous..."

He paused and said helplessly, "Do you think Facebook has always failed to enter China?"

Dong Chenxi and Zheng Yao fell silent.

Both were smart and understood Zhao Fusheng's meaning.

Facebook couldn't enter China, simply put, because its so-called freedom conflicted with Chinese laws.

Under such circumstances, even if Zhao Fusheng was a Facebook shareholder, he couldn't solve this problem.

In fact, they themselves knew that Future Group couldn't side with Facebook, because their roots were in China.

"Do you mean Weibo will become the next Facebook?" Dong Chenxi keenly grasped the key point and asked Zhao Fusheng.

"It has that potential."

Zhao Fusheng smiled and didn't deny it.

The emergence of Weibo had indeed changed many people's lives.

Or rather, in China, without a platform like Twitter, many people who owned smartphones or were used to surfing the internet didn't have a clear concept of Weibo.

Why were blogs so popular? Why did services like Qzone and Renren become trendy? It was all due to the rise of social platforms.

People craved a stage to showcase themselves.

And this time, Weibo's emergence perfectly met that need.

The rise of Weibo was inevitable.

It just appeared a bit earlier than in Zhao Fusheng's memory, that's all.

"So what do we do? Just watch?" Zheng Yao was still reluctant.

After all, knowing a project would be profitable and having the ability to execute it, yet giving it up due to risks, was an agonizing process for a businessperson.

Zhao Fusheng chuckled. "Money can't be made all at once. Our development is going well now. I think you should focus more on the IPO issue, don't you?"

That was his honest opinion. For one thing, all the subsidiaries under Future Group were qualified to list on the Growth Enterprise Market.

Except for Future Entertainment, which planned to list in Hong Kong, and Future Investment, which had no intention of listing, companies like Future Technology and Future Advertising would be highly profitable if they went public.

This was something Zheng Yao needed to consider.

That's why Zhao Fusheng said so.

Moreover, in Zhao Fusheng's view, he didn't need to take risks now. By following the plan, the shares he currently held in these companies would ensure he became a super-rich man in a few years.

So why struggle and take risks?

Wasn't it better to stay safe?

...

...

In the end, Zhao Fusheng wasn't convinced by Zheng Yao and Dong Chenxi; instead, they were convinced by him.

As Zhao Fusheng said, Future Group was no longer a startup that needed to take risks on projects.

Now that the company itself was an aircraft carrier, steady development was paramount.

Risky ventures were neither necessary nor needed.

After seeing off the still reluctant Dong Chenxi, Zhao Fusheng shook his head helplessly.

Weibo's market value was indeed impressive; in his memory, it was worth tens of billions of RMB, similar to Jingdong Mall.

So the question was: if he didn't even want Jingdong Mall, why would he want Weibo?

This was a crucial question.

For Zhao Fusheng, it involved a choice.

And in fact, he had made that choice long ago.

"Have our company's artists open Weibo accounts?"

Ye Jing was quite surprised when he received Zhao Fusheng's call.

"What's the matter? Isn't it similar to blogging?" Ye Jing asked curiously. "Everyone already has blogs; why open Weibo?"

In his view, Weibo and blogs were essentially the same—both social platforms for sharing feelings—so why bother with the hassle of using Weibo?

Besides, it only allowed 140 characters, not as much as a blog post.

"You don't understand."

Zhao Fusheng smiled and said to Ye Jing, "Dong Chenxi and Dong Guoxiang are very optimistic about Weibo. They think blogs might be replaced by Weibo!"

"What?"

Ye Jing was stunned.

He really hadn't expected Dong Chenxi and the others to think that way.

After all, as the head of Future Entertainment, he knew how many users blogs had. Many celebrities posted their thoughts and updates there. Now Zhao Fusheng was telling him that Weibo would replace blogs—what did that mean?

It meant that most artists and celebrities would have to rethink their positioning and image, and find new ways to gather fans on Weibo.

If someone else had said it, Ye Jing might have hesitated, but even that bookworm Dong Guoxiang thought so, so it couldn't be false.

Although Ye Jing didn't have much contact with Dong Guoxiang, he knew him well enough. Dong Guoxiang wasn't one to talk nonsense; even within Future Group, he was known for being taciturn.

Like Zhang Qian, he rarely spoke, but when he expressed an opinion, even Zhao Fusheng had to consider it carefully.

And now, it was he who said Weibo had great potential.

Ye Jing immediately took it seriously.

"What should we do?"

Ye Jing asked Zhao Fusheng.

"Have our company's artists join Weibo. Take advantage of the fact that it hasn't attracted much attention yet and bring their followers over."

Zhao Fusheng said in a deep voice.

"Okay."

Ye Jing nodded without any hesitation.

When it came to matters concerning the company's development, he never hesitated.

This was also what Zhao Fusheng admired most about Ye Jing—he always prioritized Future Entertainment's interests.

Hanging up, a smile appeared on Zhao Fusheng's lips. He was looking forward to seeing who would become the Weibo Queen this time.

Of course, whoever it was, it didn't matter to him.

Zhao Fusheng was simply curious.