Chapter 1048: Premiere Imminent

In fact, for any matter, if both sides approach negotiations with sincerity, the probability of success is very high. The root cause of many failed business negotiations is actually very simple: from the very beginning, neither side intended to negotiate.

Just like Zhao Fusheng and Masao Ono back then, most of the time they were sparring out of spite rather than engaging in serious negotiations.

It was like a fighting emperor riding a horse—just looking at it was full of comic relief.

And now, when the two of them sat down seriously at the negotiating table, it was the real beginning of the confrontation.

"Mr. Ono, I believe your valuation of Xiaonei.com is completely unreasonable." Zhao Fusheng closed the document containing SoftBank's valuation of Xiaonei.com and said word by word.

It was simply ridiculous; the valuation of Xiaonei.com in this document was only sixty million, clearly an intentional lowball.

Hearing Zhao Fusheng's words, Masao Ono was not angry either, and smiled slightly: "Mr. Zhao, do you think your company's offer of three hundred million is reasonable?"

Zhao Fusheng touched his nose, glanced at Dong Chenxi, and gave an embarrassed laugh.

This offer was made by Dong Chenxi at his request. At the time, Dong Chenxi had pointed out that the price was too outrageous, but Zhao Fusheng insisted on his own way. Dong Chenxi couldn't talk him out of it, so she had to follow the boss's wishes, and now it had become an excuse for others to mock him.

Seeing Zhao Fusheng a bit embarrassed, Dong Chenxi shrugged and took over the conversation: "Mr. Ono, I think these things are not important. After all, we are discussing business, and both sides will collect information in a direction favorable to themselves. What do you think?"

After all, she was a woman, and a beautiful one at that. After Dong Chenxi said this, Ono simply stopped dwelling on the matter.

In fact, what Dong Chenxi said was not wrong. Isn't that how business negotiations go? Everyone haggles over every penny for their own interests.

If they bargained like Wang Duoyu booking a hotel, that wouldn't be negotiating business; that would be a prodigal son.

"Mr. Ono, I think it would be more appropriate to leave the next steps to the negotiation representatives from both companies," Dong Chenxi said to Ono after some thought.

In terms of individual negotiation skills, neither she nor Zhao Fusheng was a match for Masao Ono, so Dong Chenxi decided to involve the company's management.

Moreover, there was the stake of Aipu Group involved; they couldn't negotiate with Masao Ono alone, leaving out the Han father and son.

Masao Ono naturally knew this as well. After hearing Dong Chenxi's words, he considered for a moment and finally nodded: "Alright, then let's officially enter the negotiation phase."

In fact, their communication was more like a preliminary discussion.

Just like before two countries establish diplomatic relations, they will certainly make some preparations in advance and set the tone for negotiations. That was what Zhao Fusheng and Masao Ono were doing now.

First, confirm that both sides truly want to cooperate, and then discuss the transaction price and method in detail.

"Mr. Ono, I won't participate in the next steps." Zhao Fusheng smiled at Masao Ono: "I have entrusted all matters to Miss Dong; she can fully represent me personally."

Masao Ono frowned slightly: "Then you..."

"I'm sorry, but I have more than just this one business, and I have other things to attend to." Zhao Fusheng shook his head apologetically, not giving Masao Ono a chance to continue speaking.

Ono had no choice but to watch helplessly as Zhao Fusheng got up and left. What he said was true; Dong Chenxi was the main person in charge of future investments.

In other words, his real opponent was Dong Chenxi.

……

……

"So, you're just going to wash your hands of it?"

When he got home, Zhao Fusheng told Fan Baobao about the matter. Fan Baobao stared at him in astonishment and asked in surprise.

Zhao Fusheng nodded and smiled: "Of course. Actually, I didn't need to personally negotiate this in the first place. I was just setting the tone earlier, since I'm the boss after all."

Fan Baobao half-understood, thought it over carefully for a long time, but still couldn't grasp all the intricacies.

However, she had never been very concerned about Zhao Fusheng's business affairs. If there were difficulties, she would certainly do her best to help, but obviously this was good news, so Fan Baobao didn't mind either way.

It didn't matter if she didn't understand; as long as someone else did, that was fine.

"By the way, is the stage play 'Soldiers' Sortie' about to have its official premiere?" Zhao Fusheng suddenly remembered something and asked Fan Baobao.

Fan Baobao rolled her eyes and looked at Zhao Fusheng helplessly: "Yes, I thought you had forgotten about this."

Slightly embarrassed, Zhao Fusheng smiled and changed the subject: "I have great confidence in this play. To be honest, if there weren't no female roles, I would have wanted you to perform in it."

"Heh..."

Fan Baobao gave Zhao Fusheng a nearly sarcastic smile, not believing his words at all.

She actually knew that Zhao Fusheng couldn't possibly focus on one thing all day like others. Although he didn't say it, as his career grew, more and more people depended on him for a living. In other words, any decision Zhao Fusheng made now could affect the livelihoods of hundreds or even thousands of people.

But the problem was, he clearly didn't care, yet he stubbornly insisted otherwise, which made Fan Baobao quite unhappy.

Zhao Fusheng also noticed that Fan Baobao was upset and said to her with a smile, "How about this: for Stephen Chow's film, we replace the female lead?"

"You!"

Fan Baobao immediately became agitated. She had already heard from Bai Jie that Stephen Chow had recently started preparing the crew, inviting big-name actors from Hong Kong.

This was a rare opportunity. Although the so-called female lead didn't have that many scenes—most of the film centered on Stephen Chow—being able to act opposite him was a rare chance, and Fan Baobao certainly didn't want to miss it.

Clearly, this guy Zhao Fusheng was threatening her.

Between being the lead actress and continuing to play the aloof role, Fan Baobao knew she had to make a choice.

Well, the answer was obvious.

"Um, would you like to come with me to the premiere?" After about ten seconds of silence, Miss Fan decisively changed the subject.

She wasn't crazy; she had just been teasing Zhao Fusheng earlier. How could she give up her leading role for something like that?

Zhao Fusheng was speechless, then nodded: "Sure, I'll call Old Jiang and the others later, and we'll go together."

Jiang Wen and his wife had just finished their honeymoon and were about to return to the capital, so it was perfect to invite them along to show support.

As for that middle-aged man who had stood him up, Zhao Fusheng had absolutely no qualms about using him.