Chapter 2323: Predicament

For Zhao Fusheng, what kind of person Zuckerberg was didn't matter at all.

What he valued was the profit that Facebook could bring him.

As long as Zuckerberg didn't harm his interests, no matter what little tricks he played, what kind of person he was, or even how much of his words and actions were performative.

None of that mattered.

Zhao Fusheng knew this very well.

The only thing he couldn't quite see through was that he didn't really understand how that guy Zuckerberg viewed the Chinese market.

Did he plan to ride the wave to make money, or did he intend to follow in the footsteps of certain people and stand against China?

If that were the case, Zhao Fusheng honestly said, he couldn't continue cooperating with Facebook.

After all, he was Chinese.

Business may have no borders, but businessmen have a homeland.

Zhao Fusheng understood this too clearly.

"Don't pay him any attention."

Zhao Fusheng thought for a moment and said to Dong Chenxi, "No matter what tricks he plays, just do your thing."

After thinking it over, this was the only most suitable approach.

To be honest, once wealth had accumulated to a certain level, he didn't really care about many things anymore.

In Dong Chenxi's words, this was called losing one's drive.

But in Zhao Fusheng's view, losing drive wasn't a big deal.

Now he was already financially free, and he would be even richer in the future.

Under such circumstances, shouldn't he enjoy life and figure out how to spend money?

"As you wish."

Dong Chenxi said helplessly, "I really don't understand why you don't consider getting involved in Facebook's management."

Zhao Fusheng smiled, "Well, that's because I'm not interested."

After hanging up the phone, the smile on his face suddenly disappeared.

To be honest, how could Zhao Fusheng not be tempted by a company of Facebook's caliber?

But the problem was, it was an American company.

And it was a social networking site with enormous influence.

If he actively intervened in management, the Wall Street tycoons in America would immediately unite and find a way to kick him out.

If that happened, it would be a loss outweighing the gain.

Zhao Fusheng was just an ordinary person; he had no interest in meddling in all sorts of messy affairs.

"What's wrong?"

Seeing Zhao Fusheng's serious expression after his call with Dong Chenxi, Fan Baobao asked puzzledly.

Zhao Fusheng smiled bitterly, "Nothing, she always tries to persuade me to get involved in Facebook's affairs."

"Yeah, I'm actually curious too. Why aren't you interested?"

Fan Baobao asked Zhao Fusheng curiously, "I thought you'd be interested in this kind of social networking site."

Zhao Fusheng smiled but didn't explain further.

It wasn't that he didn't want Fan Baobao to know.

It was just that some things couldn't be made convincing with just a few words.

"By the way, how long are you planning to stay here?"

Fan Baobao asked Zhao Fusheng.

"What's up?"

Zhao Fusheng was a bit puzzled.

Fan Baobao rolled her eyes at him, "Feihong and I plan to take a trip to Milan and Paris. If you have nothing to do, stay home and help with the kids."

"Huh?"

Zhao Fusheng was taken aback, then smiled and nodded, "No problem, don't worry."

In his view, taking care of the kids was a piece of cake, not difficult at all.

Fan Baobao chuckled a few times, noncommittal about Zhao Fusheng's words.

You little rascal!

Naive!

You have no idea what your son and daughter are like now!

After they left.

Zhao Fusheng finally realized how terribly wrong he had been!

"Dad, why are you taller than me?"

"Because Dad is an adult."

"Then why are adults so tall?"

"Because Dad has grown up."

"Dad, can you become small?"

"Huh?"

Conversations like this often took place between the one adult and two children.

Zhao Fusheng had to repeatedly call his parents for help.

There was no help for it; the two kids had too many questions. Being ridden like a horse by them was actually a minor issue. Zhao Fusheng, driven nearly to a nervous breakdown by his son and daughter, finally understood why Fan Baobao had smiled so weirdly before she left.

"So, now you know how hard it is for Baobao to take care of the kids?"

Zhao's father said to Zhao Fusheng.

Zhao Fusheng nodded, "Indeed."

He naturally understood his wife.

"By the way, what do you think about buying a football team here in Italy to play with?"

Zhao's father suddenly said to his son.

A football team?

Zhao Fusheng was startled, somewhat surprised that his father was interested in this.

"I was planning to buy one in China, but then I thought better of it. Given the environment there, if I said I wanted to buy a team, I'd probably be ripped off."

Zhao's father said frankly.

Zhao Fusheng nodded in agreement, finding his father's words quite reasonable.

Anyone with a bit of common sense knows how bad the football environment in China is.

Some people always use excuses like poor grassroots foundation, few registered players nationwide, and lack of attention.

But the problem is, you have to admit that the entire Chinese football market is inherently unhealthy.

The Football Association has too much power and constantly interferes with clubs.

As for the clubs, most operate at a loss, relying entirely on group subsidies.

As for the players, there's no need to even mention them.

Chinese men's football, ha, is purely a joke.

If those celebrities with high salaries at least know to put up a front when acting like hypocrites, the national football team has long since stopped bothering to even put up a front.

Moreover, they even justify some of their actions with plausible arguments.

Overseas is better; although there are some scandals, the higher degree of professionalization makes it somewhat acceptable.

"Alright."

Zhao Fusheng thought for a moment and said to his father, "Which team are you planning to buy?"

"Just an Italian one."

Zhao's father smiled, "I don't plan to go far to watch games. What do you think of Roma?"

"Sure."

Zhao Fusheng nodded, "I have no objections, but one thing: you must be the major shareholder with absolute control over the club, so you won't get kicked out later."

This was something he remembered.

China wasn't without Chinese enterprises investing in Italian football clubs, but Zhao Fusheng recalled that due to some inexplicable clauses, they seemed to have been cheated.

Of course, he might be exaggerating.

But regardless, it's never a bad thing to be prepared.

Hearing Zhao Fusheng's words, Zhao's father naturally kept them in mind.

As he got older, he tended to value his son's advice more and more.

After all, having such a successful son was something any parent would be very proud of.

Since he planned to buy a team, he naturally needed to understand the team's condition.

But since Zhao's father had already told Zhao Fusheng the name Roma, it was clear he had done some research beforehand.

Although the old man was not young, he wasn't a clueless novice.

No one who has done serious business is an idiot.

Buying a team was really nothing for Zhao Fusheng's family.

He was already one of the owners of the Golden State Warriors.

But for Zhao Fusheng, since his father liked watching football, buying a team to make him happy was fine.

The father and son agreed that for the purchase of the team, the father would pay half and Zhao Fusheng the other half.

When the children grew up, the team would be given to the son as an adult gift.

Zhao Fusheng naturally had no objection to this.

It was better for the daughter not to get involved with football.

After all, this sport was not very friendly to girls.

Zhao Fusheng didn't want his daughter to be surrounded by a bunch of strange players in the future.

"You two are really making a fuss."

Zhao's mother was quite helpless about the decision of Zhao's father and Zhao Fusheng.

In her view, buying a team was purely a case of having too much money to spend.

Although the family was indeed in a state of having too much money to spend, this was too wasteful.

Zhao Fusheng felt it was better to keep his mouth shut and let his father convince his mother.

It wasn't that he was cowardly; he simply didn't want to make his mother angry.

Yes, that's it.

Zhao Fusheng silently gave himself a thumbs-up for his cleverness.

…

…

A week later, Fan Baobao and Yu Feihong returned to the island.

She had no objection to Zhao Fusheng's decision.

In Fan Baobao's view, their family wealth was already abundant enough. What Zhao Fusheng should do most was enjoy life, not work like an ox without rest day and night.

Soon, financial personnel and lawyers began appearing on the island.

They were brought in by Zhao's father, mainly to introduce the current specific situation of Roma to Zhao Fusheng and his father.

As it turned out, the club's financial situation was indeed very poor.

Of course, the reason wasn't just poor management; more importantly, the overall economic situation in Italy was particularly bad. Under these circumstances, the club had no money to buy players, so it was naturally hard to achieve results.

And without results, there was naturally no viewership or market, which in turn made the club even poorer.

This was a vicious cycle.

The entire Italian football world was facing such a predicament.

Without sufficient investment in the club, it was undoubtedly very difficult to run a team well.

In fact, it could be described as stretched to the limit.

"So poor?"

Looking at the financial statements, Zhao Fusheng sighed helplessly.

According to the estimates on these financial statements, if he wanted to buy Roma, he could do so with an investment of a few hundred million US dollars, even less than the amount spent on buying the Golden State Warriors before.

Not only that, but he would also get a lot of land.

Wasn't that too exaggerated?

Zhao Fusheng even thought he might have encountered a scam.

Of course, that was a joke.

But he really hadn't expected Italy's economic situation to have reached such a state.

"So, any objections?"

Zhao's father asked Zhao Fusheng.

Zhao Fusheng nodded, "Of course not. As long as you're happy."

This was his true feeling.

Buying this team was only to make his father happy.

Leaving the matter to his father, Zhao Fusheng decisively chose to leave.

He went to the United States.

Of course, not to avoid work, but to meet Dong Chenxi.

…

…

"Let me tell you, Twitter is developing better and better."

Dong Chenxi picked up Zhao Fusheng at the airport and said to him seriously.

"So what?"

Zhao Fusheng shook his head, "Samsung's development isn't bad either. Don't dwell on this kind of thing."

In his view, dwelling on this was a very boring behavior.

Whether it was Twitter or Samsung.

Since the transaction had already happened, he had to accept it.

Even if Twitter's development now seemed promising to outsiders.

In Zhao Fusheng's eyes, since it hadn't surpassed Facebook in his previous life, under the same general environment, Twitter still couldn't be a match for Facebook.

This was beyond doubt.

It was called historical inertia.

"Alright."

Dong Chenxi glanced at Zhao Fusheng, nodded, and said helplessly.

She knew Zhao Fusheng's character well; once he decided something, it wasn't easy to change.

"By the way, any movement from Zuckerberg?"

Zhao Fusheng asked Dong Chenxi.

Dong Chenxi shook her head, "Nothing for now. He seems to be preparing for the IPO as well."

The IPO of Facebook was now the most eye-catching event in the entire American financial circle.

Everyone knew very well what Facebook's IPO meant.

The impact of this event would be a major milestone in the history of internet development.

To put it bluntly, even if Zuckerberg said anything casually now, it could trigger huge speculation on Wall Street.

People would wonder what he was trying to do.

"Him? He's been fairly quiet."

Dong Chenxi sneered and said to Zhao Fusheng, "I really don't understand why you trust him so much."

Zhao Fusheng smiled, "Because he can develop the company well."

"That counts as a reason?"

Dong Chenxi was speechless.

But she also knew that Zhao Fusheng couldn't be convinced by her; she was just habitually complaining.

"Don't overthink it."

Zhao Fusheng said seriously to Dong Chenxi, "Regardless, do you think that even if you got management control of Facebook, anyone could guarantee they'd do better than Zuckerberg? If it affects the IPO plan, do you think there's any way to salvage the whole thing?"

Dong Chenxi remained silent.

She had to admit that Zhao Fusheng was right.

It was just that she felt a bit unwilling.

"Also, I can tell you clearly, I have no interest whatsoever in Facebook's management."

Zhao Fusheng said to Dong Chenxi, "I'm planning to retire now. Do you understand what that means?"

With things put this way, Dong Chenxi naturally understood what Zhao Fusheng meant.

She looked at Zhao Fusheng with some surprise; she really hadn't expected this.

Zhao Fusheng was so determined to retire.