Chapter 2361: Decision

"Reputation."

Zhao Fusheng sat on the sofa, muttering to himself.

To be honest, he had no prejudice against certain emerging industries on the internet.

He wasn't the kind of traditional literary writer who wished all writers in the world were as poor as they were.

Zhao Fusheng would not and could not suppress newcomers.

He was just worried.

After all, he knew the problems in this industry, and he knew even better that once these problems were exposed, Future Technology, as the parent company, would have to bear immense pressure.

Not to mention Future Technology, even he himself would find it hard to bear if forced into such a storm.

This was no joke; it was the truth.

In his previous life, the unlucky Baidu, due to its gradually collapsing reputation, was eventually overtaken by the other two companies of the internet troika.

Moreover, they couldn't even defeat the upstart Toutiao.

The older generation liked to say that spittle could drown a person.

It might sound absurd, but for an internet company or any product, marketing could certainly bring good returns for the product and image.

But the problem was, no matter how you marketed, once truly wrong things were exposed, there were no secrets in this internet age.

You would need to spend a huge amount of manpower, material resources, and money to smooth over the impact of this scandal.

This was a matter of leverage.

Archimedes once said that with a lever long enough and strong enough, and a fulcrum, he could move the earth.

For corporate management and sales, product quality was the lever, consumers were the earth, and marketing methods were the fulcrum.

Zhao Fusheng always believed that a company with a good reputation and image had a natural advantage over a notorious company, no matter what product it launched.

With this in mind, he dialed Dong Guoxiang's number.

"How is that voice platform doing now?"

Zhao Fusheng asked directly.

"It's already quite profitable."

Although somewhat surprised, Dong Guoxiang still reported the specifics to Zhao Fusheng in detail, and finally said, "Mr. Zhou's team estimated that, barring accidents, we can start financing this year, and go public next year."

Even Zhao Fusheng was a bit surprised this time, not expecting things to progress so quickly.

"Interesting."

Zhao Fusheng muttered to himself.

Then he said to Dong Guoxiang, "You handle the technical side. Also, thoroughly check for any borderline behavior on the website. If anyone on the publishing platform does anything irregular, deal with it as soon as possible."

Dong Guoxiang was taken aback: "Is that necessary?"

He really hadn't expected Zhao Fusheng to be so cautious.

Zhao Fusheng shook his head and said firmly, "You don't understand. This is very important to us. Once our reputation is compromised, our image will inevitably suffer..."

Soon, Dong Guoxiang understood his meaning.

After all, he was a homebody and knew about these things.

After thinking for a moment, Dong Guoxiang said, "You mean, after we grow the software big, we gradually withdraw?"

"Yes."

Zhao Fusheng nodded: "Just make money."

Dong Guoxiang fell silent.

Clearly, he was a bit puzzled.

Zhao Fusheng chuckled and explained to him, "We are a software development company, not one that specializes in running this kind of live streaming software, understand?"

Although he didn't say it explicitly, Dong Guoxiang immediately understood Zhao Fusheng's meaning.

That's right, from start to finish, this software was actually just a byproduct they created while developing the game software.

In other words, if they kept running this live streaming platform, would Future Technology's software development still be able to continue?

Thinking of this, Dong Guoxiang said, "I understand. What about President Zhou?"

"I'll communicate with him."

Zhao Fusheng thought for a moment and said to Dong Guoxiang.

After all, it was better for him to handle this matter with Zhou Shijie himself.

Regardless, he was the chairman, and Dong Guoxiang was on equal footing with the other party.

This involved a matter of respect.

Putting down the phone, Zhao Fusheng rubbed his chin but didn't call again immediately.

He felt that perhaps this matter could be handled indirectly, letting Dong Chenxi take care of it.

After all, Future Investment, represented by Dong Chenxi, held a portion of the shares.

With this in mind, he sent Dong Chenxi a text message, asking her to come see him tomorrow morning.

But not long after he sent it, the phone rang.

"Hey, you, I told you to come tomorrow morning, why are you calling?"

Zhao Fusheng complained helplessly to Dong Chenxi.

Couldn't this guy distinguish between work and leisure time?

Dong Chenxi was even more arrogant, snorting coldly, "I at least have to ask you first, what exactly is the matter?"

"..."

Zhao Fusheng felt his heart was so tired.

But he understood that Dong Chenxi was doing it for work.

He patiently explained the matter and finally said, "I think it might be more appropriate for you to take charge of this."

"No problem."

Dong Chenxi pondered for about ten seconds, as if considering something, but in the end, she agreed.

Clearly, in her view, this was the best course for the company's interests.

"Aren't you going to question it?"

Zhao Fusheng was somewhat surprised and asked Dong Chenxi in confusion.

"Why would I ask that?"

Dong Chenxi said calmly, "You're the boss, so it's naturally your decision. Even if we lose money, it'll be your loss."

"Goodbye."

Zhao Fusheng felt hurt. Why did he always get angry when talking to this woman?

He would be driven to death by her sharp tongue sooner or later!

But after hanging up, Zhao Fusheng understood Dong Chenxi's intention: she took over the matter to avoid damaging his image.

After all, if he personally negotiated with Zhou Shijie, it could easily be misunderstood.

Her, as the head of Future Investments, stepping in would be more acceptable, since Future Technology and Future Investments were nominally two subsidiaries without a subordinate relationship.

But the problem was that Future Investments held a majority stake in Future Technology.

Under these circumstances, as the CEO of Future Technology, if Dong Chenxi analyzed it from an investment perspective and advised Zhou Shijie, he would likely be more receptive.

After all, when no orders were involved, people always felt better.

Thinking of this, Zhao Fusheng silently sighed to himself.

After all, as a longtime friend, Dong Chenxi was still on his side, thinking of him.