Chapter 1356: Father's Change

Listening to your mother's advice is usually beneficial, most of the time.

Zhao Fusheng firmly believed this; at the very least, his own mother wouldn't harm him. Although she might occasionally do good with bad intentions, most of the time, family wouldn't hurt you.

Of course, there were occasionally eccentric parents, but most of the time, a parent's love for their children was still trustworthy.

Leaving Fan Baobao to chat with the mothers, Zhao Fusheng and his father Zhao went out for a stroll around the neighborhood.

"Married now, you're the head of the household."

Looking at his son, Father Zhao suddenly felt emotional. Sometimes he still felt as if his son was that child clinging to his leg, demanding to be held. But in the blink of an eye, he had already started a family and established a career.

In fact, this kid's business had grown even bigger than his own.

Other parents worried that their children weren't doing well out in the world, but he and his wife had to worry that their son was doing too well.

After all, he was only twenty-six and already worth over a billion. Sometimes Father Zhao felt like he was dreaming.

Is this really my son?

This unreal thought would occasionally pop into Father Zhao's mind.

There was no help for it; Zhao Fusheng was simply too outstanding, to the point of feeling unreal.

"Don't worry, I won't let Baobao down," Zhao Fusheng said with a smile, thinking his father was going to say the same thing his mother had.

Unexpectedly, Father Zhao shook his head: "I'm not as prone to wild thoughts as your mother. You're a good kid; I don't need to worry about that. I know."

It was said that a father knows his son. Father Zhao knew Zhao Fusheng's temperament all too well. This kid had never been the fickle or promiscuous type; he took after him in that regard—stubborn.

"Hehe..." Zhao Fusheng rubbed his head and broke into a smile.

No matter how commanding he was out in the world, in front of his father, he was just a son.

Often, life is like this. The storms outside might make us feel weary, but in front of family, all problems cease to be problems.

In truth, the meaning of people's struggles is probably just that.

"Is Tan Kaixuan's business doing very well now?" Father Zhao found a pavilion in the neighborhood and sat down with Zhao Fusheng. He glanced seemingly casually at Hu Donghai and the others nearby but didn't say anything, instead asking about Tan Kaixuan.

Zhao Fusheng didn't hide anything from his father and nodded: "He's investing in the US, and his business is doing very well. But the US market might soon run into trouble, so I suggested he move his funds back to the mainland."

"The US market, in trouble?" Father Zhao clearly couldn't grasp what Zhao Fusheng meant. His business was confined to the three northeastern provinces, so understanding the subprime mortgage crisis in the US market was a bit much for him. Thus, Zhao Fusheng didn't explain in too much detail, just gave a general overview.

After a long while, Father Zhao looked up and said to Zhao Fusheng: "You mean, the Americans are spending money like water now, but in reality, they're robbing Peter to pay Paul?"

Zhao Fusheng smiled and nodded: "Something like that."

Rubbing his chin, Father Zhao pondered for a long time before finally saying: "According to what you're saying, the Americans are basically asking for trouble."

Although he didn't understand political economy, Father Zhao knew very well that this practice of robbing Peter to pay Paul was essentially killing the goose that laid the golden egg. If something went wrong, it would inevitably be earth-shattering.

Zhao Fusheng nodded: "Definitely. Just wait and see; it won't be long before something happens."

No one knew better than him how enormous the losses from the subprime mortgage crisis would be for the US economy, and how terrifying its impact on the global economy would be.

In today's globalized economy, a crisis in the US economy would undoubtedly have a very frightening impact on the entire world.

Of course, no one realized this yet.

"According to what you're saying, should we slow down our family business?" Father Zhao looked at Zhao Fusheng and hesitated before asking.

Zhao Fusheng was taken aback, then smiled and shook his head: "No need. You should expand as you see fit. With me around, Wanda's development won't have any problems."

He paused and continued: "Besides, Han Bin and Tan Kaixuan are wealthy investors. If problems arise, you can just have them inject more capital."

Originally, he had brought Tan Kaixuan and Han Bin into his father's company precisely to ensure his father had sufficient funding.

"No matter how rich they are, it's still their money." Father Zhao shook his head, disagreeing with his son's words. He said seriously: "I've been thinking lately; with the company's current pace of development, maybe we should slow down the expansion and focus on the northern market."

The northern market?

Zhao Fusheng was startled and looked at his father in surprise. He hadn't expected his dad to have such an idea.

For a company to develop rapidly, fast expansion and a solid foundation go hand in hand. To borrow an old saying, if you take too big a step, you're likely to hurt yourself.

The same goes for running a business.

If you blindly expand the scale of the company without considering long-term development, the only outcome will be that the company, having grown too fast and neglected its foundation, will have to close its doors in disappointment.

This was no joke. Later on, many internet companies rose like comets, as if nothing could stop them from becoming Global 500 companies. And then?

Often, within a year or two, the company would have to declare bankruptcy.

At the root of it, the company's foundation wasn't solid enough. Rapid short-term development might bring gratifying results, but over time, it would face the dilemma of being unable to monetize its projects.

At that point, the company's head would probably stop shouting about becoming a Global 500 company in a few years and instead hope for a sucker to come along and save his company.

Zhao Fusheng had previously considered that his father might encounter such a problem, but he thought that with him around, there was no way his dad would end up in an unsustainable situation.

Unexpectedly, his father had started to plan ahead and think about this matter.

People really do grow, whether it's himself or his father.

It's often said that environment changes people, and that saying holds true. The environment a person is in determines, to some extent, their development.

Take the Zhao father and son, for example. In their previous lives, both could be said to have been failures in life. But in this life, the environment they were in determined that both father and son had the opportunity to control their own destiny.