Chapter 1032 Sorry, Your Friend Is a Drama Queen

Zhao Fusheng had once heard a saying: 'A lifetime ruined by caring too much about face, loving money not obviously enough.' Though a bit vulgar, it made a lot of sense.

Sometimes people really shouldn't be too secretive, because the more they hide, the more they lose.

"Mr. Ono, if that's how you put it, I don't think we have anything more to discuss." After hearing Ono's words, Zhao Fusheng stood up and looked coldly at Ono Masao. "You and I both know the prospects of Xiaonei.com. I built this website from scratch to where it is now, and I can certainly continue to run it. If you think that no one but SoftBank can do this well, then I believe there's no need for further discussion between us."

With that, Zhao Fusheng turned and left the meeting room, storming off as if shaking his sleeves.

Ono Masao was stunned!

What was this? Wasn't negotiation supposed to be a back-and-forth, a battle of words, using momentum and language to overwhelm the other side?

But when had there ever been a negotiating partner who got up and left just because the other person's words made him uncomfortable?

Staring wide-eyed at Dong Chenxi, Ono Masao said, "This..."

Dong Chenxi blinked, looking troubled. "Mr. Ono, you probably don't know, but the concept of Xiaonei.com was proposed by our boss. You've been belittling it just now, so he might have felt a bit uncomfortable."

Hearing this, Ono Masao suddenly understood.

In his view, Zhao Fusheng's reaction was probably the normal stance of most company founders—they wouldn't allow anyone to disparage their brainchild.

In other words, in every founder's heart, the company they built is like their own child; they can't stand anyone speaking ill of it.

"Miss Dong, please convey my apologies. I had no intention of belittling Xiaonei.com," Ono Masao said to Dong Chenxi with a smile.

Dong Chenxi nodded but said nothing. At that moment, she knew it was best to keep quiet.

"Miss Dong, SoftBank is very sincere about Xiaonei.com," Ono Masao said slowly, looking at Dong Chenxi. "I hope you can feel our sincerity and seriously consider my proposal."

Dong Chenxi nodded. "Please rest assured, we will consider it seriously."

At this point, the negotiation naturally came to a pause.

After personally seeing Ono Masao and his party to the door, Dong Chenxi turned and went back to her office.

"Gone?"

Seeing Dong Chenxi return, Zhao Fusheng put down his teacup and asked.

"Yeah, I explained that you were angry because you couldn't tolerate his words," Dong Chenxi nodded, looking helplessly at Zhao Fusheng. "Why did you have to leave so abruptly? If you hadn't nudged me, I wouldn't have known how to play along."

That's right, Zhao Fusheng's departure just now was entirely intentional!

In fact, even Dong Chenxi hadn't caught on to Zhao Fusheng's intention. If he hadn't deliberately nudged her as he stood up, she wouldn't have realized that Zhao Fusheng would end the negotiation in such a way.

"I had no choice but to leave," Zhao Fusheng said with a bitter smile. "Neither of us is a match for him. If we kept talking, we'd definitely be taken advantage of. Rather than that, it's better for me to just flip the table and walk away."

It was a last resort. After all, compared to a wily old fox like Ono Masao, both Zhao Fusheng and Dong Chenxi were too inexperienced in business negotiations.

"Yeah, that guy is really too experienced," Dong Chenxi agreed with Zhao Fusheng's view.

It had to be admitted that Ono Masao was a true old fox. He controlled the entire negotiation rhythm very well. Neither she nor Zhao Fusheng could gain any advantage; instead, they were led by the nose.

"But it doesn't matter. He probably never imagined that we never intended to keep Xiaonei.com from the start," Zhao Fusheng laughed. This was his biggest trump card, something Ono Masao would never guess even if he racked his brains.

No one would have thought that Zhao Fusheng had never planned to keep Xiaonei.com in his own hands from the very beginning.

"What's your target price?" After a moment of silence, Dong Chenxi asked Zhao Fusheng.

This was a crucial question. Negotiation, in the end, was about the game of interests between both parties. Whether it was Zhao Fusheng or Ono Masao, they were constantly probing each other's bottom lines. Once the other's bottom line was found, based on their own interests, they would offer a suitable price—that was the ultimate goal of negotiation.

Of course, it was also possible that after probing, both sides would find that their interests couldn't be reconciled, leading to a split and a search for new partners.

"At least one hundred million," Zhao Fusheng said slowly, looking at Dong Chenxi. "If we can get more, that would be even better."

Dong Chenxi was taken aback. "That much?"

Smiling lightly, Zhao Fusheng tapped the table with his hand. "Do you believe that if we offered eighty million, Ono Masao might sign with us today?"

Dong Chenxi fell silent. Previously, Han Bin had paid nearly thirty million for twenty-five percent of the shares. Based on that valuation, the price Zhao Fusheng was proposing now wasn't actually high.

"Don't worry, now it's him who's anxious, not us." Zhao Fusheng smiled and said to Dong Chenxi.

Dong Chenxi smiled bitterly and nodded, understanding what Zhao Fusheng meant.

In fact, the biggest advantage of this matter lay here: Masao Ono thought that Future Investment would not easily let go of Xiaonei.com, but he didn't know that Zhao Fusheng's original plan was just to wait for the right price.

This difference in perception was destined to make Masao Ono suffer.

...

...

While Zhao Fusheng and Dong Chenxi were discussing the acquisition, Fan Baobao was having lunch.

Of course, not alone, but with several people.

"Aunt Zhou, thank you!" Several young people sat together, and Fan Baobao said to a woman in her early fifties.

"You girl, you're the sweet-talker." Aunt Zhou, whose name was Zhou Qing, was an old actress from the People's Art Theatre. She had played supporting roles in many films and TV dramas before, never achieving great fame, but her acting skills were excellent, and with her good nature, she got along particularly well with Fan Baobao and the other young girls.

Fan Baobao had previously played Sifeng in "Thunderstorm" and had learned from Zhou Qing; the two were both teacher and friend.

Today, Zhou Qing was treating them, taking Fan Baobao and a few other girls out to eat.

"Oh, isn't this Sister Zhou?"

As they were eating, a surprised voice suddenly sounded in their ears...

Looking up, Fan Baobao saw a woman dripping with jewelry standing not far away, with a young man and woman beside her.

And Zhou Qing's face turned ugly the moment she saw this person.

Before Zhou Qing could speak, the person had already walked over quickly: "Sister Zhou, it really is you. We haven't seen each other for a long time."

The newcomer was quite enthusiastic, but for some reason, Fan Baobao felt that Zhou Qing seemed very unhappy to see her.

"Huizhen, long time no see." Zhou Qing smiled awkwardly but politely, yet the sense of distance was palpable to anyone.

The woman called Huizhen, about the same age as Zhou Qing, smiled and nodded upon hearing this: "Indeed, it's been four or five years since we last met."

As she spoke, she beckoned to the young couple standing not far away: "Come, Qiaoqiao, Zijun, come and meet your Aunt Zhou."

The young couple walked over; the woman's expression was somewhat awkward, while the man looked completely bewildered.

"Sister Zhou, this is Qiaoqiao's fiancé Zijun. They met in the US and are back this time to get engaged. Let me tell you, Zijun is a top talent on Wall Street, working at Citibank. He's much better than your Zhijie and his comics. Zhijie is a good kid, but he doesn't have a proper job. A grown man, staying home drawing all day, and those comics—what use are they? What girl would be willing to marry him..."

With every word the woman named Huizhen spoke, Zhou Qing's expression grew more pained.

"What's going on?" Fan Baobao was utterly confused, finding it strange.

At that moment, a colleague beside her muttered quietly: "Is it this girl?"

"That's right, I heard she used to be a neighbor of Sister Zhou's. Sister Zhou's son grew up with her, they were together for seven years, and in the end, this girl secretly got together with another man."

"Really?"

"Of course it's true. Sister Zhou's husband was seriously ill because of this. This girl's family was not well off, and Sister Zhou helped them a lot back then. Now it seems she's come into money..."

Fan Baobao was stunned, not expecting there to be so much behind it.

Looking at Zhou Qing's reaction, no wonder she was so intense; anyone would feel that the other party was showing off in front of them.

"Sister Zhou, you helped our family a lot before. If anything comes up, be sure to call. Qiaoqiao is getting her green card now, and Zijun is a real American." Huiling kept chattering on, clearly showing off in front of Zhou Qing.

Her son-in-law seemed fine, looking bewildered, not knowing what was happening.

As for her daughter, she appeared clingy, nestling close to her boyfriend.

A flicker of disgust passed through Zhou Qing's eyes, and she interrupted: "Huiling, I think there's nothing more to say between us. No matter how useless Zhijie is, he's still my son, and as his mother, I'm very satisfied with him. As for your Qiaoqiao, I'm happy for her too. No matter how many detours she takes, as long as she feels happy herself, it doesn't really matter who is by her side, don't you think?"

As soon as these words were spoken, the faces of Qiaoqiao and her mother both turned ugly.

But Fan Baobao's eyes lit up; Sister Zhou wasn't entirely harmless after all.