Chapter 1056: Different Paths, No Common Ground

What many people call maturity is nothing more than having their edges worn away by worldly affairs, becoming sophisticated and pragmatic. That is not maturity, but a premature withering of the spirit and the death of individuality. True maturity should be the formation of a unique personality, the discovery of one's true self, and a spiritual harvest.

In Zhao Fusheng's view, maturity is not just talk; it comes from truly experiencing things and growing up.

Life is a person's best teacher.

At the very least, Zhao Fusheng did not think he had done anything wrong this time. Since some people dared to scheme against him, they should be prepared to be schemed against in return.

"President Chen, congratulations. Shengda Technology is about to go public." Hanging up Dong Chenxi's call, Zhao Fusheng answered another number.

"Zhao Fusheng, look what you've done!"

On the other end of the line, Chen Tianqiao said aggressively, clearly full of pent-up anger.

Zhao Fusheng chuckled: "President Chen, you can't say that. The shares are mine; who I sell them to—do I need to report to you? When you brought in SoftBank, did you consult me?"

He wasn't joking. When Chen Tianqiao introduced SoftBank's investment, he seemed to give Zhao Fusheng several options, but in reality, Zhao Fusheng later learned that he had been fooled by Chen Tianqiao, who had already colluded with SoftBank.

Not only that, according to the latest news Dong Chenxi received, Chen Tianqiao planned to issue new shares to raise funds after Shengda Technology went public.

This meant that if Zhao Fusheng couldn't come up with enough funds to subscribe to the shares, his equity would be further diluted.

This move was a ruthless strategy of cutting the ground from under someone's feet.

In other words, if Zhao Fusheng hadn't known about this, he would have been caught off guard.

Moreover, the truth of this news was beyond doubt. Dong Chenxi had obtained it from James, who, in order to persuade Future Investment to sell its shares to him, stopped at nothing and informed Dong Chenxi as soon as he learned of it.

That was why Zhao Fusheng later agreed to James's offer.

Of course, Chen Tianqiao didn't know that Zhao Fusheng was already aware of all this.

"That's not how it works. The company is about to go public, and now you sell your shares to Hongshan Capital. What are you trying to do?" Chen Tianqiao's tone faltered slightly, but he still said sternly.

"This is just a business deal," Zhao Fusheng said calmly. "Just like when we cooperated before—it was just business."

Chen Tianqiao was stunned. He wasn't stupid; he could hear the meaning behind Zhao Fusheng's words.

Since it was business, there was naturally no such thing as personal favor.

"President Chen, you're a businessman, and so am I," Zhao Fusheng said calmly. "So no matter what little tricks you pull behind the scenes or what plans you have, it doesn't really matter to me. I'm optimistic about Shengda Technology's development, but that doesn't mean I have to hang myself from this tree. To be honest, for me, this is an investment. I put in money before, and now I can get a high return. Why shouldn't I cooperate with Hongshan Capital? You can choose SoftBank as your partner, and I can let James join the game."

These words pierced Chen Tianqiao's heart like a needle.

For a moment, Chen Tianqiao even felt suffocated.

He finally realized that Zhao Fusheng had seen through all his secret attempts to push him out.

What was even more frightening was that this guy, knowing full well his calculations, had remained calm and, just before the listing, sold all his shares to Hongshan Capital without leaving a single one, thwarting his plans.

Chen Tianqiao could scheme against Zhao Fusheng because he knew that once additional shares were issued, Zhao Fusheng would most likely not be able to come up with that much money.

But for Hongshan Capital, money was just a number.

Zhao Fusheng couldn't be bothered to say more and hung up the phone on his own.

Chen Tianqiao might have been a genius when starting his business, but after success, his actions became increasingly arrogant and self-willed. In Zhao Fusheng's view, this man, who was about to become China's richest man, had moved too fast, leaving him without opponents and also without a path.

This was no joke. Zhao Fusheng had read a report that analyzed Chen Tianqiao in detail.

"The Legend of Mir 2" made him, but after a series of negative incidents—players dying from playing the game, attempts to self-immolate at Shengda—public opinion turned, and "The Legend of Mir 2" became a nightmare that woke Chen Tianqiao in the middle of the night.

He ignored the opposition of his company's executives and turned the wheel. He began poaching talent from Huawei, Microsoft, and other companies at double salaries, hiring nearly a thousand engineers in one go, and spent nearly two billion RMB to become the largest shareholder of Sina, with only one goal: to create the Shengda set-top box.

In his view, games could be given up, but entertainment could not. At that time, there were few computer users but many TV users. He saw the potential of the TV as the family's entertainment center.

In 2005, the Shengda Box IPTV was born, stumbling along. According to his vision, in the form of a set-top box, the Shengda Box would become a comprehensive supplier of large-scale games, movies, music, and other interactive content—equivalent to the later Xiaomi Box and Tmall Magic Box.

Looking back later, this was a deployment with great strategic vision. Chen Tianqiao was like a prophet who could depict the future, seeing the next entertainment landscape, but he ignored the limitations of the times.

At that time, large video sites like Youku, Tudou, and iQiyi were still in gestation, content resources were scarce, and the most basic broadband internet was not yet widespread. Chen Tianqiao's overly advanced vision was destined to be nothing but a beautiful bubble. His strategy was ahead of its time, but he lost to the era. In 2006, the State Administration of Radio, Film, and Television issued a document halting the project, and the Shengda Box came to an abrupt end.

This was not his only premature deployment. At that time, Shengda had dabbled in most areas that later internet giants would enter. Because it was too advanced, many people couldn't understand Shengda and Chen Tianqiao.

For example, as early as 2003, Shengda tried to do electronic payments. In 2004, Chen Tianqiao saw the value of online reading and integrated Shengda Literature with Qidian Chinese Network as its core. That same year, before Changba and YY, he created the online karaoke game "Superstar." In 2005, Shengda set a global precedent by announcing that all its games were free to play with in-game purchases, which was strongly resisted by the industry at the time but later became the profit model for almost all online games.

To some extent, Shengda could be considered the mentor of the later three major internet companies, as they were following Chen Tianqiao's old path. But Chen Tianqiao ran too fast, so fast that there were no enemies around him, nor any path.

And ultimately, it was because this man was too greedy.

When a person wants everything, the final result is that they get nothing.

Of course, there were other aspects involved, which Zhao Fusheng understood well and dared not touch.

Regardless, for Zhao Fusheng, Shengda Technology had fulfilled its historical mission. The income of nearly 100 million US dollars was enough for Zhao Fusheng to do many things next.

...

...

In the following days, Dong Chenxi really did as Zhao Fusheng said and went to Hong Kong to attend Tencent Technology's listing ceremony. And for some reason, Shengda Technology and Tencent Technology chose to go public on the same day.

On May 16, 2004, Tencent Technology was officially listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.

At the same time, on the Nasdaq in the United States, Shengda Technology also officially announced its successful listing.

In the following days, Shengda Technology's stock price rose from an issue price of $11 to $18 per share within a week, riding a wave of momentum. Even Tan Kaixuan called to ask Zhao Fusheng if he should get involved.

"Don't mess with this," Zhao Fusheng said irritably. "What about the idea I mentioned to you earlier? Have you considered it?"

"I don't have any objections, but that Evan Williams you mentioned—I asked around. He's currently working at Google. He's a technical talent, but is he really as important as you say?" Tan Kaixuan hesitated and lowered his voice. "How about this: if you need money, I'll invest for you."

Clearly, he thought Zhao Fusheng was just trying to get him to invest in a new project.

"Idiot!"

Zhao Fusheng was too tired to criticize Tan Kaixuan anymore. This guy only had his eyes on the stock market and futures; he had little interest in investment projects outside of finance.

"Forget it, I'll do it myself." Zhao Fusheng sighed helplessly and said to Tan Kaixuan.

He couldn't tell Tan Kaixuan that Evan Williams was a guy who often gave up halfway and frequently sold the companies he founded to others. But this guy was indeed very talented.

After all, a man who single-handedly created one of the top ten most visited websites in the world was no ordinary person.

For that alone, he could become a legend in the internet world, just like Mark Zuckerberg.

But Zhao Fusheng couldn't explain these things to Tan Kaixuan, and in Tan Kaixuan's view, Zhao Fusheng's ideas were sometimes a bit too fanciful.

Even though they were friends, he found it hard to understand.

The hardest thing in the world to guess is the human heart; no one can guarantee that they can always figure out another person's thoughts.

So Zhao Fusheng wasn't angry. After all, Tan Kaixuan had his own considerations.

Turning around, Zhao Fusheng felt that he really needed to go to the United States once. After all, this was probably the last quiet period before the era of internet warlords. Once video network technologies matured, countless websites would quickly explode onto this previously unnoticed market.

At that time, an era of rapid development would be coming.

Intelligence would no longer be a castle in the air or an armchair strategy.

And in this wave, Zhao Fusheng naturally wanted to get a piece of the pie.