Chapter 1313: The Richest Man?

People can endure suffering but not excessive comfort. In later generations, Bear Grylls roamed wilderness, jungles, and deserts, seemingly invincible, but if he returned to the city and tried various Chinese dishes, he might not be able to stomach them.

After all, not everyone, like the Cantonese, eats everything.

Although Zhao Fusheng now lived a happy life, he occasionally still thought of his previous life, when he and his roommates would gather, no matter how well or poorly they were doing, sitting on the roadside, drinking beer and eating skewers, sharing interesting stories from their lives, and everyone would burst into laughter.

There is a saying in the teachings of the Ming Cult: 'Life is sorrow, death is bitterness.' Perhaps this is true, because life and death are the great obstacles for people, hard to see through and hard to comprehend.

That's why ancient kings desperately sought immortality, though it's unknown if they regretted it at the moment of death.

Because this is truly the way of those who cherish their lives when doing great deeds but forget their lives for petty gains.

'I have been young, down-and-out, and happy; I am deeply devoted to life.'

That was Zhao Fusheng's current QQ signature.

He would not become the kind of Buddhist-style youth who only escapes reality. In Zhao Fusheng's eyes, life is always beautiful and must go on.

…

…

People are like this: when idle, they get into trouble; when busy, they have nothing else but work.

Zhao Fusheng had only rested for a few days when something happened.

"What are you doing?"

Zhao Fusheng sat in his office, facing Dong Chenxi, who wore a wry smile.

Just now, a document was placed before Zhao Fusheng, and Dong Chenxi told him that she had previously taken a liking to the home appliance retail industry and invested in a home appliance retail company.

Now, that company seemed about to go public.

"Why didn't I know about this?" Zhao Fusheng asked Dong Chenxi.

Dong Chenxi looked aggrieved: "You said it yourself, let me choose projects domestically. When I went to Mingzhu on business, I saw the company's development prospects were good, so I invested some money. Who knew they introduced strategic investment from Morgan Stanley at the end of last year, developed rapidly, and now they're about to go public."

After a pause, she added, "It seems they plan to list on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange."

Taking a deep breath, Zhao Fusheng felt like crying but had no tears.

In his memory, before the duopoly of Suning and Jingdong in home appliance retail, the most powerful was Huang Guangyu, who was about to become China's richest man.

He was a very legendary figure.

"We welcome you to China. But after you arrive, you have only two choices: either cooperate with me or be my opponent! Although you have advantages in management and technology, they may not suit China's national conditions. Gome knows this well, so you may not surpass me!"

This was from a conversation between Huang Guangyu and an international home appliance chain giant in the United States.

Being able to speak arrogantly, besides his innate 'domineering' personality, another support was clearly the wealth behind him.

In Zhao Fusheng's impression, this year's richest man was still Boss Huang, and he had earned 3.5 billion RMB in just one year.

Although this richest man title had considerable water, the exposure was not low. Coupled with this person's flamboyant and domineering personality, Zhao Fusheng knew clearly that if the Future Group entered the home appliance retail industry, a battle with Boss Huang was inevitable.

Picking up Dong Chenxi's document and glancing at it, Zhao Fusheng's expression grew more conflicted.

Yongle.

That was the name of the home appliance company.

If Zhao Fusheng remembered correctly, this company evolved from an old home appliance company in Mingzhu, and the driving force behind it was the company's founder and chairman, Chen Xiao.

Well, his life story need not be elaborated—starting as a grassroots salesman, he turned a state-owned enterprise into a private company, listed it in Hong Kong, and was eventually acquired by Huang Guangyu, who entrusted him with important responsibilities.

Then, when Huang Guangyu was imprisoned, this man raised the banner of rebellion, attempting to force a coup.

This drama attracted countless eyeballs at the time; both the victor Huang Guangyu and the loser Chen Xiao garnered immense public attention.

Of course, that was many years later.

"Do you know who Yongle's opponent is?" Zhao Fusheng had no interest in observing Chen Xiao's character; he was more concerned about Yongle's opponent, Huang Guangyu.

For Huang Guangyu, 2005 was a busy and challenging year. In April, Gome, holding the chain banner, took another step in its 'land-grabbing' campaign. At the negotiating table to acquire Binzhou Black Swan, Huang Guangyu took only half an hour to bring it into his fold.

Then came Shenzhen Yihaojia, Wucheng Zhongshang, Changhai Golden Sun—Huang Guangyu's acquisition pace accelerated. Meanwhile, Gome's first-tier market layout was completed with the opening of its first store in Jinling, personally overseen by Huang Guangyu.

There was a fisherman who, every time he caught a fish, would measure it with a ruler and throw back any fish larger than the ruler. People were puzzled and asked why. He said, 'My pot is only this big; a larger fish won't fit.'

As for Gome, Huang Guangyu's business empire, it already shone brightly due to his personal wealth. As a family business, Huang Guangyu's personality and talent were the most important factors in creating Gome's glory. At the same time, this naturally explained another important question: how long could the 'Gome red flag' fly? How big could Gome grow? Because from a certain perspective, Huang Guangyu's character was the 'pot' that held the 'fish' of Gome.

No one understood this better than Zhao Fusheng.

Because in the original timeline, within a few years, Huang Guangyu would be imprisoned, and with the sovereignty dispute with Chen Xiao, Gome would begin to decline. Suning and Jingdong would rise rapidly, capturing the home appliance retail market. Coupled with the booming internet industry and the rise of e-commerce, Gome's once-dominant position would become like yesterday's flower, hard to revive.

But now, Boss Huang's momentum was strong. Zhao Fusheng really wanted to know where Dong Chenxi got the confidence to invest in Yongle.

Unexpectedly, facing Zhao Fusheng's doubt, Dong Chenxi remained calm and explained, "I know, logically, we should invest in Gome. But the problem now is that Gome is on a strong momentum. Do you think Huang Guangyu would accept our investment?"

Zhao Fusheng was taken aback; he hadn't thought of that. But on reflection, what Dong Chenxi said made a lot of sense. For one thing, Gome was a family business founded by Huang Guangyu and his brother. In other words, not to mention future investment, even for others, Boss Huang would largely not easily accept capital injection.

From this perspective, Dong Chenxi's words were very reasonable.

"Yongle is different. Chen Xiao has ability, but he lacks financial support. So I thought, why not support him? After the listing, we can just cash out our shares and leave," Dong Chenxi said to Zhao Fusheng.

In her view, Future Investment actually didn't need to engage in financial investment at all. The financial market changes rapidly; whether stocks or futures, they are games for smart people. Capital tycoons are always waiting to devour the small fish and shrimp in the market. Although Future Investment's scale was considerable, compared to the real giants, the gap was still large.

She had already confirmed this through exchanges with Tan Kaixuan.

So now, she was no longer so concerned about news in the financial market. Dong Chenxi was more interested in angel investment.

For example, she had invested ten million in Yongle before. In just over a year, with Yongle's listing, that ten million was conservatively estimated to become two hundred million.

Why not do such a deal?

After listening to Dong Chenxi, Zhao Fusheng was silent for a long time. Finally, he looked up and carefully examined Dong Chenxi.

"What, is there a flower on my face?" Dong Chenxi was a bit puzzled.

Zhao Fusheng chuckled and shook his head: "No, I just didn't expect you to have grown to this level."

To be honest, Dong Chenxi's words really surprised him, because Zhao Fusheng truly hadn't anticipated that Dong Chenxi had now become a fully qualified investor.