Chapter 0977: A Blow to the Head

As the boss, since Zhao Fusheng had made the decision, Dong Chenxi naturally would not oppose it.

Thus, the matter was settled.

"By the way, will you participate in the negotiations?" Dong Chenxi asked as Zhao Fusheng was about to leave the company.

Zhao Fusheng shook his head: "I won't be involved. You negotiate with them. On price, we only accept cash, no less than sixty million."

Hearing this, Dong Chenxi was stunned, never expecting Zhao Fusheng to dare set such a high price. After all, the navigation webpage was different from Xiaonei.com; the latter had already proven its development prospects through user numbers, but for the former, Dong Chenxi really didn't think Zhao Fusheng's asking price was reasonable.

But there was no help for it; Zhao Fusheng was the boss. Since he said so, Dong Chenxi had to comply.

She just hoped that Baidu's negotiation representatives wouldn't be scared off by her.

Zhao Fusheng didn't know what Dong Chenxi was thinking, and even if he did, he wouldn't change his mind. He knew that this navigation webpage might not mean much to other portal sites, but for Baidu, even if they knew it was a bitter pill, they would grit their teeth and swallow it.

After all, no one knew Baidu's character better than Zhao Fusheng.

Insatiable greed?

For those who truly understood Baidu, they would surely smile knowingly.

"Tell Dong Guoxiang to set up the framework for Kaixin.com as soon as possible," Zhao Fusheng said to Zhang Qian as he got into the car after going downstairs.

"Mm," Zhang Qian nodded, without asking too many questions.

He was always like that; Zhang Qian basically never questioned Zhao Fusheng's decisions unless Zhao Fusheng intended to explain them to him.

"By the way, what do you think about us developing our own search engine?" Zhao Fusheng suddenly asked Zhang Qian from the back seat.

Zhang Qian was taken aback, silent for a long while, then shook his head: "I don't know much about this, but from what Dong Guoxiang and the others say, it doesn't seem easy to do."

He was honest by nature, always speaking plainly; if he said he didn't understand, he truly didn't.

Sighing, Zhao Fusheng said nothing more.

The reason this thought occurred to him was that he recalled the unsavory things surrounding Baidu. Not to mention anything else, just the misdeeds of the Putian hospital system alone were enough to make one sigh in regret.

If he could independently develop a search engine, would it change some things?

Zhao Fusheng didn't know the answer.

But the only thing he was certain of was that, given the current research capabilities of his team, independently developing a search engine and bringing it to market would be nothing short of a pipe dream.

Not to mention the technical difficulties, the funding issue alone would be enough to drag down his fledgling career.

Zhao Fusheng couldn't afford that risk, nor could he bear the consequences of taking it.

Being a hero wasn't easy, and Zhao Fusheng certainly wouldn't be the kind of hero who got himself into trouble.

……

……

The negotiation process between Baidu and Future Investment was quite arduous. To be precise, both sides had their own agendas, which made things difficult.

Especially when Dong Chenxi, on behalf of Zhao Fusheng, proposed that the transaction would only accept cash and no shares—the Baidu negotiators almost popped their eyes out.

Anyone with a bit of internet common sense knew that Baidu was on a strong development trajectory and would surely become a leading internet company in China once it went public.

More importantly, savvy people knew that Baidu was a ship with a bright future. Given the chance to board such a ship, what was Future Investment thinking?

If it weren't for Dong Chenxi speaking to him in all seriousness, the negotiator might have thought the woman had gone mad.

"Miss Dong, are you sure your company only accepts cash and is not willing to accept equity?" the negotiator asked Dong Chenxi.

"President Feng, I think I've made it very clear," Dong Chenxi said calmly, sitting there without wavering in the face of his stern expression. "This is our boss's decision. Although your company's development prospects are quite good, we are sorry, but we need cash now, so we cannot accept this equity transaction plan."

President Feng was utterly dismayed. He really wanted to grab Future Investment's boss and ask: Do you have a screw loose? You're turning down pre-IPO shares that are about to list in the US, and you want cash instead!

Taking a deep breath, Feng Zhijie knew that this was a business negotiation. The other side had its considerations, and he had to consider the company's interests. So this matter was a deadlock.

"Miss Dong, you should know that from a commercial perspective, your company's choice is quite uneconomical. I still suggest you carefully report the situation to your boss and seriously consider our cooperation."

Dong Chenxi naturally understood what he meant, but the problem was that this was something Zhao Fusheng had decided beforehand. Even she couldn't do anything about it, although in her view, Zhao Fusheng might be wrong.

"I'm sorry, President Feng, there's nothing I can do about this either," Dong Chenxi said to Feng Zhijie with a wry smile.

Both of them were following orders from their respective bosses, each with their own bottom lines, and could only negotiate within a certain framework. This in itself was a frustrating situation.

The negotiations thus reached an impasse.

Feng Zhijie went back to report to Baidu headquarters, while Dong Chenxi called Zhao Fusheng, and the two met again.

"I don't quite understand why you're unwilling to take Baidu's pre-IPO shares," Dong Chenxi said bluntly, looking at Zhao Fusheng helplessly. "I've looked into it; Baidu's performance is very good. Barring any surprises, it will surely go public in the next two or three years. If we hold their pre-IPO shares, it will undoubtedly be beneficial for us."

Zhao Fusheng smiled bitterly. He naturally understood Dong Chenxi's meaning and knew she was acting for the company's good, but the problem was that there were things he couldn't explain to her so directly. He couldn't exactly tell Dong Chenxi that Baidu would one day become a pest that everyone would despise.

Seeing Zhao Fusheng's troubled expression, Dong Chenxi frowned slightly: "Could it be that you have some grudge against Baidu?"

That was the only answer she could think of; otherwise, she really couldn't figure out why Zhao Fusheng would refuse to hold Baidu's pre-IPO shares.

After all, this was not the attitude a mature businessman should have.

With that thought, Dong Chenxi looked at Zhao Fusheng, clearly waiting for him to give her an answer.

Sighing, Zhao Fusheng, who knew Dong Chenxi's character well, understood that if he didn't give her an answer today, she wouldn't let it go. Having known her for so long, he was well aware of her temperament.

"I have no grudge against Baidu. I just think Baidu is not a good company," Zhao Fusheng said honestly, looking at Dong Chenxi.

"What do you mean?" Dong Chenxi asked, puzzled.

"Think about it: what is the essence of Baidu's so-called free search? It's making other people's information freely available to everyone. Not only that, I've noticed that some of the ads on Baidu search are outright fake, yet Baidu continues to promote them heavily," Zhao Fusheng said slowly.

"What does that have to do with us?" Dong Chenxi looked at Zhao Fusheng with a strange expression. "We're in business, not charity. Besides, if you think Baidu's business practices don't align with your principles, we can just sell off our shares after the company goes public. Why worry about so much?"

Ah?

Zhao Fusheng stared at Dong Chenxi in astonishment, suddenly feeling that his own thinking might be a bit inadequate.

But upon reflection, what Dong Chenxi said actually made some sense. His previous logic had indeed been a bit narrow-minded.

With that in mind, he looked at Dong Chenxi and said with a smile: "I didn't expect you to see things more clearly than I do."

Dong Chenxi shook her head: "It's not that you can't see clearly; you think too much."

Zhao Fusheng fell silent. He had to admit that Dong Chenxi's words hit the nail on the head, vividly describing his current state.