Chapter 1386 Ambitious Liu Qiangdong

In fact, Zhao Fusheng's understanding of Liu Qiangdong was even deeper than Liu's own understanding of himself.

He was a typical Chinese phoenix man—capable but from a humble background. With the help of his girlfriend and his own efforts, he achieved great success, but ultimately parted ways with her.

As for Sister Milk Tea, that came later.

It wasn't a case of being a Chen Shimei; rather, two people who were inherently unequal simply couldn't live together long-term.

Therefore, Zhao Fusheng knew clearly that Liu Qiangdong was not someone who could share wealth.

That said, this guy was definitely a very ambitious person.

Simply put, he craved success, longed to stand at the pinnacle of this city and look down upon those he once had to look up to.

This was not just Liu Qiangdong's ambition alone; it was also the desire held in the hearts of those young people struggling hard in the capital city.

Only, before achieving success, no one would easily reveal it.

In Zhao Fusheng's impression, Jingdong was supposed to officially enter the e-commerce field in recent years, rapidly developing into one of the country's leading e-commerce companies.

Zhao Fusheng knew nothing about the process, because in his previous life he rarely paid attention to such matters.

But he could be sure that Jingdong was definitely not a physical retail enterprise, but a thorough e-commerce company.

That being the case, he would inevitably support Liu Qiangdong's idea today.

Of course, he wouldn't show it too obviously; after all, the advantage of foreknowledge could not be exposed.

"Chairman Zhao, what do you mean?"

Liu Qiangdong looked at Zhao Fusheng, remaining silent for a long time. Clearly, he was somewhat puzzled by Zhao Fusheng's meaning.

Zhao Fusheng smiled and said directly to Liu Qiangdong: "I've said it before—I trust you and your team regarding Jingdong's development. So whatever decision you make, as long as it benefits the company, go ahead and do it."

Looking at Zhao Fusheng's smile, Liu Qiangdong was stunned.

He really hadn't expected Zhao Fusheng to agree so easily.

Before coming, Liu Qiangdong had prepared for the worst. After all, closing all physical retail stores and shifting to internet e-commerce meant a complete transformation of the company. Just convincing the company's management had already cost him a great deal.

The reason he came to Zhao Fusheng now was that Future Investment was a major shareholder in Jingdong, and Liu Qiangdong needed Zhao Fusheng's support.

But he hadn't expected that Chairman Zhao, who usually didn't even bother attending shareholder meetings, would agree directly without even listening carefully to the reasons he had pondered for so long.

Yes, agreed.

Go ahead and do it; I believe in you!

Just these eight words suddenly made Liu Qiangdong feel that a true friend was hard to find. He felt that this person truly appreciated him; otherwise, he would never have said such a thing.

If Zhao Fusheng knew what Liu Qiangdong was thinking at that moment, he would definitely laugh out loud. But he didn't know, so seeing Liu Qiangdong silent for a long time, Zhao Fusheng smiled and repeated: "I'll say it again: whatever you want to do, I'll support you. But one thing I hope you'll remember: if Jingdong goes into e-commerce, you must ensure product quality. I don't want to see some scandal break out one day."

He paused and gave Liu Qiangdong a deep look: "And you yourself, the same."

Liu Qiangdong was somewhat puzzled but still nodded. After all, what Zhao Fusheng said made sense. Whether it was a company or its leader, a scandal would have a huge impact on the company.

"Rest assured, Chairman Zhao, I will definitely pay attention to this issue," Liu Qiangdong nodded vigorously.

At this time, he had not yet reached the level of fame and success he would later achieve, so naturally he didn't have all those messy thoughts. Ten years later, he probably wouldn't say that.

People always change due to changes in their environment, status, and circumstances.

Zhao Fusheng smiled and didn't take Liu Qiangdong's promise to heart. In this world, the most unreliable thing was the oath of such a person. If he actually believed him, he would be a real fool.

…

…

Until he left, Liu Qiangdong couldn't figure out what Zhao Fusheng's words really meant.

He was even less clear about why Zhao Fusheng trusted him so much.

But regardless, convincing Zhao Fusheng was a good thing in itself, and Liu Qiangdong was in a very cheerful mood.

Meanwhile, Zhao Fusheng, sitting in the car on his way home, felt a bit anxious again.

Jingdong Mall was about to officially launch. If nothing unexpected happened, the company's development would accelerate. Under Liu Qiangdong's leadership, Jingdong had maintained rapid growth, with growth rates exceeding 200% for seven consecutive years. By then, Jingdong Mall would have over 60 million registered users nationwide, nearly ten thousand suppliers, and sell millions of high-quality products from hundreds of thousands of brands across twelve major categories, including home appliances, digital communications, computers, home furnishings, clothing, maternal and child products, books, and food.

In 2010, it would become the first domestic online retail enterprise with sales exceeding 10 billion RMB.

Under such circumstances, Zhao Fusheng knew he needed to invest more capital to maintain his position as a major shareholder.

"It seems I really have to cooperate with the banks," Zhao Fusheng sighed silently in the car, having made a decision in his mind.

Now, if he wanted to continue expanding his business, he had to consider balancing both physical assets and investments.

The $300 million loan he had obtained from Bangkok Bank was clearly no longer enough.

Since that was the case, he might as well consider domestic banks.

"Hmm, if possible, the U.S. stock market..." Zhao Fusheng thought, but then shook his head and abandoned the idea.

To engage in financial business, insufficient capital would never do; leveraged financing was necessary. And leveraged financing would have to be done through investment banks or securities companies. Simply put, it meant using smaller capital to leverage larger funds.

This had both advantages and disadvantages, greatly increasing risk. For example, with futures, if you bet on a rise and it indeed rises, then a leverage of several times means several times the profit.

But conversely, if you bet on a rise but it falls, then sorry—according to the agreement, when the decline reaches a certain percentage, the financing institution, to protect its own interests, will forcibly liquidate the position.

In other words, for those investment institutions, they were sure to make a profit without loss, while the clients had to bear huge risks.

What Zhao Fusheng needed now was time and money; there was no need to take risks.

With that thought, Zhao Fusheng abandoned the idea.

Money can never be fully earned. Obsessively focusing on money would cause him to lose many things. This was a truth Zhao Fusheng only understood in his previous life when he was nearly fifty.

"Help me set up a meeting with the head of a domestic bank."

Zhao Fusheng thought for a moment, took out his phone, dialed Zheng Yao's number, and said directly.

Zheng Yao was startled, then understood, and asked with some surprise: "You're planning to take out a loan?"

All along, Future Group had maintained a debt-free operating model—no loans, no financing, no IPO. That was the rule Zhao Fusheng had set for Zheng Yao before. But now, it seemed Zhao Fusheng was about to break this rule.

Zhao Fusheng nodded: "A loan is definitely needed, but we'll try to pay it back as soon as possible."

Only when he truly started doing business did he realize his thinking was somewhat naive. After all, unlike Laoganma, which was a physical industry with massive cash flow, Future Group was involved in too many investment projects, and all were major companies and enterprises he had participated in based on his foreknowledge.

In other words, investing one billion could yield ten billion, but it would take five or even ten years. Should this deal be done?

The answer was obvious: of course it should.

Since that was the case, besides increasing revenue and reducing expenditure, Zhao Fusheng could only choose to borrow from banks. This was the most helpless but inevitable outcome.