Chapter 1417 Original Sin

Society is constantly moving forward. It seems that our minds are becoming more developed, but in fact, it's just that our methods of doing things have improved.

Time is very important because with time, we have the opportunity to continuously improve the life around us.

Zhao Fusheng understood the thoughts of Yu Feihong and Jiang Wen, but he did not intend to become a martyr. One can be kind, but must never become a pushover.

"By the way, I heard that Future Group is planning to integrate its projects?" Jiang Wen suddenly said to Zhao Fusheng while eating. "Is it because of the company's financial situation?"

The sale of Facebook shares had not been announced yet, and coupled with Future Group's previous loan of one billion yuan from the Construction Bank, many outsiders speculated whether the group's financial situation was in trouble.

After all, Future Group had been developing too rapidly recently, which in the eyes of outsiders, inevitably seemed unstable.

Zhao Fusheng smiled and shook his head: "It's not as exaggerated as you think. I just felt that the company had been involved in too many industries before, so I plan to reorganize. Some things need to be abandoned, and some need more investment."

He also knew that Yu Feihong and Jiang Wen were not businesspeople; faced with such rumors, they naturally couldn't distinguish truth from falsehood, and were simply worried about him.

"Are you sure there's no problem?" Yu Feihong looked at Zhao Fusheng and hesitated, "If you need money, we can still scrape some together."

Zhao Fusheng laughed. Although he knew she had misunderstood, he still felt warm inside. After all, having someone care about you was far more pleasant than being surrounded by cold faces.

"Sister, you don't understand. For companies like ours, from the very beginning, we are burdened with inherent paradoxes and dilemmas. At the start, there were significant flaws and deficiencies in some arrangements, systems, and methods of doing things. Part of the deficiency came from our own limitations, and the other part was determined by our country's national conditions."

Zhao Fusheng spoke to Yu Feihong in a gentle, unhurried manner, patiently explaining, "I call this flaw 'original sin.'"

Original sin?

Yu Feihong was taken aback. She was not the kind of woman who was all beauty and no brains, so she naturally understood that the term "original sin" was not one to be used casually.

The term "original sin," as Augustine put it, is explained thus: it is the sin that entered the world through one man and was passed on to all, the sin that even requires infants to be baptized. Though it is one sin, when analyzed, many different sins can be seen within it.

Now Zhao Fusheng was saying outright that the Future Group had the flaw of original sin, which immediately confused Yu Feihong, and even Jiang Wen looked astonished.

Facing their strange looks, Zhao Fusheng shrugged and said, "I'm not speaking casually. Most enterprises in China have this problem. For example, in China, people start companies only when they have no money, and invest only when they have no capital. This is completely impossible in the West, where only wealthy people invest and are professional. At the very least, the startup funds can be borrowed through normal channels. But in China, most people's startup funds come from only three sources. Either it's their own or their family's savings over many years. Or it's through deception and robbery—deception can be repeated three to five times, while robbery can be done once or twice but not repeatedly, and the entrepreneurial process will be interrupted. Finally, there's borrowing: the creditor gives time, the debtor pays interest, and later they try to turn their assets and liabilities positive."

Yu Feihong and Jiang Wen looked at each other in bewilderment. Clearly, they didn't quite understand Zhao Fusheng's words.

After all, this was far too distant from the circles they were in.

In fact, Zhao Fusheng had more to say. The vast majority of Chinese entrepreneurs, in the earliest stages of starting a business, face a situation of no money and no support. The only reliable option is constant borrowing, so most people's capital structure is very unhealthy—starting from negative numbers. In other words, if you can't make money, you can't pay the interest, and you can't continue to profit.

That is where the original sin of private enterprises lies.

When self-owned capital comes from usury, it creates a tendency toward profiteering. Coupled with the drive of human risk-taking and environmental uncertainty, people often resort to gambling in their operations. The more they gamble, the bigger the stakes, until eventually they collapse.

The most obvious examples before were the companies Delong and Vantone.

The former fell largely because Tang Wanxin and others had a strong gambling mentality, always hoping to recoup their losses. As for why Vantone managed to survive, in the end, it was because Feng Lun and others made a decisive move to cut their losses at the critical moment, like a warrior cutting off his own arm to save his life.

Zhao Fusheng did not want the Future Group to face such a situation one day. So he had always worked hard to keep the company's financial status healthy.

But the problem was that, under the current circumstances, some developments had exceeded his expectations.

The most troublesome part of this matter was that the reason for this situation was not due to decision-making errors by Zheng Yao, Dong Chenxi, or others, but because of Zhao Fusheng's foresight.

It was like a child picking up things in a field; Zhao Fusheng picked up both watermelons and sesame seeds, only to find that his ability was limited and he couldn't carry so many things.

He might even be crushed by these things.

To put it bluntly, because of his rebirth and foresight, Zhao Fusheng felt there were too many profitable projects, so he dabbled in each one. Now the problem was that the Future Group seemed to be involved in several industries, but each required substantial investment. Zhao Fusheng had to admit that he was stretched thin.

This was one of the reasons he sold his Facebook shares.

Of course, he couldn't tell anyone this, so he had to answer Yu Feihong and Jiang Wen's questions from a different perspective.

……

……

The dinner party ended quickly. Zhao Fusheng and Jiang Wen sent Yu Feihong home, then went home together.

"So, how's the filming going?"

Zhao Fusheng asked Jiang Wen while sitting in the car.

Old Jiang nodded: "I got some investment in Hong Kong. You were right, they really like investing in me."

He paused, hesitating: "Yang Shoucheng's Emperor Entertainment invested fifteen million. You won't mind, will you?"

He actually didn't want to accept investment from Emperor Entertainment, but the producer from Huayi had privately contacted them and agreed. By the time Jiang Wen found out, the contract was already signed.

Thinking about the恩怨 between Zhao Fusheng and Yang Shoucheng, Jiang Wen felt very uneasy, so he planned to explain to Zhao Fusheng.

Unexpectedly, a smile appeared on Zhao Fusheng's face. He shook his head and said, "It's fine, one thing is one thing. Our friendship is friendship, and their investment is business. Let's not mix the two."

Are you kidding? He wished Yang Shoucheng would invest in Jiang Wen.

Where else could he find such a chance to screw someone over?

Old Jiang, that troublemaker, was definitely a good card in Zhao Fusheng's hand. In his view, if he had a bad relationship with some film industry boss, he would send Old Jiang to get investment from them, and then they'd cry over their losses.

Thinking of this, Zhao Fusheng wondered if he should win over Peter Chan from Hong Kong. After all, he was also a notorious master at causing losses, a super tough guy who nearly bankrupted Stellar Megamedia.

The more he acted like this, the more embarrassed Jiang Wen felt. In Old Jiang's view, accepting investment from Zhao Fusheng's enemy was practically betraying a friend.

"How about this: when the company has a new project, I'll direct it." Jiang Wen winked at Zhao Fusheng. "You know, although I make movies, I can also direct TV series."

Zhao Fusheng was stunned for a moment, then laughed, feeling quite pleased inside.

After all, Jiang Wen was a prestigious Best Actor and a well-known director in the industry. For a film director to direct a TV series, in the end, it was because he felt sorry for Zhao Fusheng and wanted to do something for the company.