Chapter 0921: What Is Investment?

When Zhao Fusheng put down the phone, he felt quite relaxed inside.

Although he was somewhat worried, what concerned him wasn't that Zhou Feifei would take any direct action against Fan Baobao, but rather that Fan Baobao might be tricked into revealing information without realizing it.

After all, as long as Zhou Feifei wasn't stupid, she should know that there was someone behind Fan Baobao.

Or perhaps Wang Jinghua had already told Zhou Feifei about the relationship between Zhao Fusheng and Fan Baobao, since Zhao Fusheng and Zhou Feifei were old acquaintances.

In any case, Zhou Feifei wouldn't risk offending Zhao Fusheng and Future Advertising for no reason by targeting Fan Baobao.

This reasoning was very simple, because it would be a losing proposition.

A person's value can often be determined by the reactions of those around them.

For example, if Zhao Fusheng wanted to borrow money, even without mentioning large sums, tens of millions would be no problem. Whether it was Boss Ma or Chen Tianqiao, they would certainly be willing to be Zhao Fusheng's creditors, and even the advertisers he had worked with would probably be willing to do him this favor.

As long as Zhao Fusheng was willing to ask, many people would not hesitate to lend a helping hand.

In the end, it was because everyone understood that Zhao Fusheng's value exceeded the price of this money. So if a person's value could be placed before everyone, then obtaining money not exceeding that value would be effortless.

This might sound like a fantasy, but the example of Li Ka-shing borrowing fifty billion with just his word might be more intuitive.

The reason was simple: people felt that lending money to him would not result in a fruitless endeavor, but rather yield more in return.

Although Zhao Fusheng had not reached Li Ka-shing's level, the principle was the same.

After resolving this issue, Zhao Fusheng washed up, then took a car to Future Capital.

Dong Chenxi was just getting started with everything, and as the boss, Zhao Fusheng couldn't afford to neglect it.

"Oh, you're here quite diligently." Dong Chenxi was clearly surprised to see Zhao Fusheng at the company. After all, this guy usually had to be called to go to Future Advertising or Future Film, and rarely showed up on his own. Today, the sun must have risen from the west for him to be so diligent.

"I'm concerned about my own business, afraid you'll squander it all." Zhao Fusheng said irritably.

Dong Chenxi laughed heartily and walked into the office on her own.

Behind her, Zhao Fusheng naturally followed.

"By the way, don't you think our company's funds are a bit low?" Dong Chenxi sat in the office, looking helplessly at Zhao Fusheng: "Dong Guoxiang has transferred the money, and the account now has just over seven million in funds, which also has to support Dong Guoxiang's team for game development. Tell me, how do we make investments?"

She was speaking from the heart. Originally, in her view, an investment company should have at least tens of millions in capital. But Zhao Fusheng, despite holding shares in several companies and acquiring NetEase stock, had left this investment company with no funds except the money from selling cheats.

In other words, Dong Chenxi discovered that she was, damn it, a commander without an army.

That was awkward.

"Ahem, you don't need to worry about that." Zhao Fusheng blinked: "The original purpose of this company wasn't to engage in financial business, but to control the shares of my various companies." Zhao Fusheng smiled a bit awkwardly and explained to Dong Chenxi: "But don't worry, I'll inject funds soon."

He felt a bit embarrassed himself. After all, he had called Dong Chenxi over to get things done, and now she was a commander without an army, which was indeed unfair to her.

Dong Chenxi nodded: "I'm just reminding you. I'm still learning myself, so no rush."

She meant it. The company was currently just an empty shell, having hired a group of people to monitor the four companies in which Zhao Fusheng held shares. As for Dong Chenxi herself, she was still studying hard.

Then there was the browser game project that Dong Guoxiang and his team were about to launch. This project didn't require much investment, as the team was already mature—they had even developed cheats. Rebuilding a website and enriching its content wouldn't take much effort.

What she had just said to Zhao Fusheng was mainly to remind him.

"Good. Focus on learning about angel investment; we need to strive in that direction in the future." Zhao Fusheng thought for a moment and said to Dong Chenxi.

Dong Chenxi nodded, then glanced at Zhao Fusheng: "Speaking of which, how did you choose back then? Among these companies, Future Advertising doesn't count. Huayi Brothers is in the film industry with good prospects, but we just took over, so let's not talk about profits. Just Tencent and Shanda have already earned far more than when you initially invested."

She truly admired him. Looking at these two investments now, with less than ten million invested, they had multiplied dozens of times, practically textbook investments.

Even as an outsider, Dong Chenxi had to admit that Zhao Fusheng's two investments were incredibly prescient.

Hearing this, Zhao Fusheng laughed: "It's not about how I chose. In my view, any project that needs investment falls into only two categories: one that makes money and one that doesn't."

Dong Chenxi frowned, thinking that was obvious—business was either profitable or not; breaking even was already a loss for a businessman.

"Look, we're investors. For us, what does a profitable project look like? First, the project has a founder and their team. They work hard on the project, making a profit, but not much. They need funds to expand scale, expand channels, and upgrade their products. As for unprofitable projects, they're basically burning money. How do you burn money? You know that once the money is invested, it might take five or even ten years or longer to see returns. So, do you invest or not?"

Zhao Fusheng's voice was calm, as if telling a very ordinary story, but Dong Chenxi looked thoughtful.

She didn't understand investment, but the principle Zhao Fusheng explained was so clear and simple that Dong Chenxi instantly grasped what investment meant.

"Do you mean that the two stocks you chose are both profitable projects?" Dong Chenxi asked after a moment of silence.

Zhao Fusheng shook his head: "To be honest, at the time I only saw the development prospects of these two companies. I didn't consider how much money they would make. Because even if such companies aren't profitable now, they will be in the future."

"Like NetEase?"

A flash of insight struck Dong Chenxi, recalling the two million shares of NetEase stock she had specifically acquired during her trip to the US.

"Sort of." Zhao Fusheng smiled. Since Dong Chenxi brought it up, he naturally had to reassure her, given how dire NetEase's situation was at the moment.

Calling it precarious was an understatement.

The bursting of the internet bubble squeezed the living space of small and medium-sized internet companies. For example, small tech companies like Shanda could still revive if they found the right project.

But for large enterprises like NetEase, the bursting of the internet bubble dealt a severe blow. Such companies were usually already listed, and after the bubble burst, it affected not only the ongoing projects but also investors' confidence in the company.

NetEase's stock plummeting to one dollar was proof enough.

Yet, just two years later, that price would multiply over seventy times.

Clearly, the market was extremely pessimistic about NetEase at this moment.

And Zhao Fusheng chose to enter at this time. In fact, no one but himself was optimistic about this investment. Even Dong Chenxi, who was actually executing it, had no confidence in her heart.