Chapter 0981: Having Eyes but Not Seeing

Many things in this world often exceed our imagination.

For instance, if someone comes at you with a knife, your best choice is not to grab the knife and fight back, but to turn around and run, exhausting them to death. For instance, if you had a second child thirty years ago, you'd be fined; thirty years later, if you don't have a second child, you might have to pay taxes.

Life is more absurd than drama, and that's just how it is.

And at this moment, Zhao Fusheng stared wide-eyed at the person before him, asking in surprise, "What did you say?"

"Um, sorry, sir, but there's now a distinguished guest. If you don't mind, could you please move to a seat in the back?"

The man, who claimed to be a staff member of Shengda Technology's planning department, wore an apologetic expression, but his words made one frown.

Looking around, Zhao Fusheng blinked and pointed at himself. "You mean I have to give up my seat for someone else?"

The man nodded, though inwardly he was already growing impatient.

He was originally in charge of arranging seats at the venue, but just now a senior executive from Sequoia Capital had approached him, saying a friend wanted to sit next to the beautiful general manager of Future Investment.

Men all like beautiful women, and this man was no exception. Although he was somewhat surprised by the appearance of Miss Dong from Future Investment, Sequoia Capital's reputation preceded it, and he didn't feel it was his place to comment on matters between such important figures.

Coincidentally, he had glanced at the seating chart and noticed that the young man sitting next to Dong Chenxi wasn't a big shot on the guest list—just an attendant of hers. So he simply walked over and made his request.

In his view, this was no big deal—just a seat swap—and the other party probably wouldn't refuse.

"Sorry, but I think this spot is fine," Zhao Fusheng said, glancing at the man before shaking his head indifferently.

"Sir, our guest is from Sequoia Capital and very important to Shengda Technology. If you could do us this favor, I'll make sure to send you a gift on my own authority. How about it?" Seeing that Zhao Fusheng didn't want to leave, the man quickly said.

Clearly, he was trying to bribe Zhao Fusheng with a reward.

Dong Chenxi, listening nearby, furrowed her brows slightly and was about to speak when, unexpectedly, Zhao Fusheng chuckled lightly, stood up, and nodded. "Alright then, I'll swap with him."

With that, he shook his head at Dong Chenxi and walked off on his own.

Unaware of this, Luo Qianqian and Chen Danian, who had noticed the scene, suddenly looked grim.

After all, although Zhao Fusheng wasn't well-known to the public, in the eyes of many senior executives at Shengda Technology, this major shareholder second only to Chen Tianqiao, though he had little say in the company, was not someone to be trifled with.

In other words, if Chen Tianqiao wanted to push his plans forward, he needed Zhao Fusheng's support, which was precisely why he had specially invited Zhao Fusheng.

Everyone knew that Dong Chenxi was merely Zhao Fusheng's proxy.

And now the main man had left—what was going on?

Chen Tianqiao naturally noticed this too. He nearly bit his tongue, staring in surprise at Zhao Fusheng's retreating figure, completely baffled as to what was happening.

Zhao Fusheng, of course, didn't know what happened after he left. Following the staff member's instructions, he was led to a seat in the back row. The man kept his word and actually gave Zhao Fusheng a gift.

"Thanks."

Politely thanking the other party, Zhao Fusheng sat down and continued listening to Chen Tianqiao's speech.

To him, it didn't matter where he sat, because whatever Chen Tianqiao wanted to do, he couldn't bypass Zhao Fusheng.

Meanwhile, in the front row, a man in a white suit sat down in the seat that had originally belonged to Zhao Fusheng.

"Miss Dong, hello," the man said politely, pulling out a business card and introducing himself. "I'm James, an investment manager for Sequoia Capital Asia. Pleased to meet you."

"Hello." Dong Chenxi nodded coolly but didn't reach out to take his card.

It was clear that the man before her was of Chinese descent. Normally, Dong Chenxi might have exchanged pleasantries out of politeness. But this guy had just had Zhao Fusheng kicked out just to sit next to her—Dong Chenxi would be crazy to entertain him.

Seeing the lady's cold attitude, James wasn't offended. He smiled and sat down to listen to Chen Tianqiao's speech, evidently feeling he had achieved his goal. Besides, the reception still had a long way to go, so he wasn't in a hurry.

James's mother was of Chinese descent, and he had studied Chinese culture deeply. In his view, as long as anything got off to a good start, the rest would be less difficult than imagined.

The hardest part is always the beginning—that's probably what it means.

Since he had already sat next to Dong Chenxi, it meant Sequoia Capital had a good start in China. He believed that any rational investor wouldn't refuse to cooperate with Sequoia.

As it turned out, he was overthinking.

As soon as Chen Tianqiao's speech ended, Dong Chenxi stood up without a word.

"Miss Dong..." James opened his mouth to speak, but before he could finish, Dong Chenxi had already walked away.

James was dumbfounded.

He felt his self-introduction just now had been very clear. Could it be that this woman didn't know what the name Sequoia Capital meant?

"Oh, it seems our ever-victorious Mr. James has run into trouble."

At that moment, a slightly flippant voice sounded behind James. He turned around and saw a figure he didn't like.

"Kondo, why are you here?" James's face darkened as he coldly stared at the man before him.

Clearly, the two knew each other.

"Dear James, your words puzzle me. As a shareholder and executive director of Shengda Technology, I think I don't need to report to you for being here, do I?"

Having said that, the man named Kondo added with a smile, "As an old friend, I advise you: sometimes you need to keep your eyes open and not do foolish things. That would not only embarrass yourself but also Sequoia Capital."

With that, he turned and walked away without another word, leaving a bewildered James standing there.

"Just a dog of SoftBank Asia, what right does he have to act arrogant in front of me?"

James muttered under his breath, watching the retreating figure, frowning slightly, a thoughtful expression crossing his face.

Having reached the position of investment manager for Sequoia Capital Asia, James was no fool. Although his erroneous decision had caused Sequoia to miss out on Shengda Technology's previous funding round, he knew that as long as the company hadn't gone public, everything was still possible.

Sequoia Capital was founded in 1972. In the original timeline, this Silicon Valley-based investment firm invested in over five hundred companies, of which more than two hundred went public and over a hundred were successfully acquired or merged, with a total market value of $1.4 trillion, equivalent to one-fifth of NASDAQ.

Venture capitalists are often too harsh when companies face difficulties and too quick to cash out when things go smoothly, but Sequoia Capital does the opposite—perhaps that's why it's so sought after by entrepreneurs.

As one of the world's most successful venture capital firms, Sequoia Capital is highly sought after by entrepreneurs, partly because they act quickly on the most promising companies. A pitch to Sequoia partners on Monday morning, if all goes well, can result in a verbal investment agreement by afternoon. If you want to see the term sheet, the key points are listed on a single sheet of paper, not a lengthy memo drafted by lawyers.

Of course, Sequoia Capital wasn't as powerful then as it would become later. They had just begun expanding their Asian operations, mainly focusing on India and Southeast Asia. They had previously tried to enter the Japanese market but with little success. As SoftBank Group's home base, Japanese entrepreneurs tended to trust that old fox Masayoshi Son.

Despite the fact that, compared to Sequoia Capital, Masayoshi Son's SoftBank was actually greedier. After all, his modus operandi was always: if you don't agree to let me invest in your company, I'll invest in your competitors.

One had to admit that sometimes money really could make the world go round.

And at this moment, James had set his sights on Shengda Technology. In his view, the company had enormous potential. Although he had failed to outbid SoftBank Asia in the previous funding round, he didn't want to miss out this time.

So James had originally planned to negotiate with Dong Chenxi. He was very interested in the Shengda Technology shares held by Future Investment, which Dong Chenxi represented.

But unfortunately, it seemed Miss Dong didn't like him.

"Why is that?" James wondered.

...

...

"Is this guy crazy?" At the same time, Dong Chenxi complained to Zhao Fusheng in frustration.

Zhao Fusheng was standing by the window, looking at the stars outside. He looked up and smiled. "What's wrong?"

"A guy claiming to be a manager from Sequoia Capital said he wanted to get to know me," Dong Chenxi replied with a strange expression. "But he didn't seem to recognize you, so he had someone kick you out."

Zhao Fusheng couldn't help but burst out laughing.

Then he shrugged, touched his face, and muttered to himself, "Do I really look that ordinary?"

As he said this, he looked at Dong Chenxi.

Dong Chenxi paused for about ten seconds before replying, "Well, it's not that bad..."

Zhao Fusheng fell silent.