Chapter 1539: Scheming and Arguing Over Right and Wrong

"I hope you can do me a favor."

Masao Ono looked at Zhao Fusheng seriously and said, "This time, I am here to talk with you on behalf of Mr. Sun Zhengyi."

Sun Zhengyi?

Zhao Fusheng was startled, looking at Masao Ono with considerable surprise.

A man's reputation is like a tree's shadow. If Masao Ono was a wily old fox to be wary of, then Sun Zhengyi, the founder of SoftBank Group, was someone Zhao Fusheng currently looked up to.

After all, Sun had once been the world's richest man, and Zhao Fusheng was striving toward that goal.

With a faint, ambiguous smile at Masao Ono, Zhao Fusheng said lightly, "Mr. Ono, you're not joking with me, are you?"

He didn't think Sun Zhengyi would be interested in him.

Although he himself was now quite wealthy, that depended on who he compared himself to.

In front of a true titan like Sun Zhengyi, Zhao Fusheng was well aware that his wealth meant nothing.

A businessman worth one hundred million US dollars and one worth one billion US dollars are not the same.

By the same token, a businessman worth one billion US dollars naturally cannot be compared to one worth ten billion.

The gap between Zhao Fusheng and Sun Zhengyi was roughly that.

Perhaps after Facebook and Twitter, along with JD.com and Alibaba, went public, Zhao Fusheng's net worth might surpass Sun Zhengyi's. Otherwise, based solely on Future Group and its subsidiaries, Zhao Fusheng knew the gap between him and Sun was far too great.

And bridging that gap was not so simple.

Of course, the process of going from a net worth of one hundred million to one billion is much easier than going from poverty to being a millionaire, because society is not accustomed to providing ample resources for the poor; instead, it continues to exploit them.

In fact, for thousands of years, it has always been that one must first have a financial foundation before gaining access to more opportunities.

"Mr. Zhao, Mr. Sun Zhengyi has always thought highly of your talent. He once said you are a genius investor."

Masao Ono looked at Zhao Fusheng and said sincerely.

Zhao Fusheng was slightly taken aback, not expecting Sun Zhengyi to hold him in such high regard.

He had originally thought that in Sun's eyes, he was merely a lucky upstart.

This was not self-deprecation; it was simply that Zhao Fusheng felt the gap between himself and Sun was indeed very large.

After all, not everyone had the boldness to spend two hundred million US dollars in one go.

And that was not the present day, but a time when the internet had just started not long ago, and many people were even pessimistic about it.

"Alright, for Mr. Sun's sake, go ahead, Mr. Ono. What help do you need from me?"

Zhao Fusheng looked at Masao Ono and said slowly.

Though in fact, he had already guessed why Masao Ono had come to him.

Masao Ono let out a long breath and said to Zhao Fusheng, "I hope you can persuade Miss Dong Chenxi to agree to cooperate with me."

"Cooperate?"

Zhao Fusheng frowned.

"Yes, cooperate. Cooperate with me, cooperate with SoftBank Group."

Masao Ono spoke slowly: "I hope Future Investment and SoftBank Asia can join forces to firmly control Alibaba!"

"Are you joking?"

Zhao Fusheng was dumbfounded. He looked at Masao Ono and suddenly laughed: "Mr. Ono, I think you've got one thing wrong. Regardless of whether Mr. Sun Zhengyi thinks highly of me, this matter isn't really important to me. As chairman, I have no reason to interfere with Miss Dong's decisions regarding whether Future Investment can cooperate, do I?"

Masao Ono smiled bitterly: "Mr. Zhao, to be frank, you and I both know that you are the actual controller of Future Group. Whether it's Future Investment or Future Advertising, your influence is paramount in all your subsidiaries. That's also why you have never hired professional managers to run the companies, but instead have always had Miss Dong Chenxi, Miss Zheng Yao, and others manage them."

"Because it's simple: you don't trust anyone but them."

Looking at Zhao Fusheng, Masao Ono said word by word.

They say the one who knows you best is not yourself, nor your friends, but often your opponents.

There is some truth to that.

At the very least, Masao Ono's words struck a chord with Zhao Fusheng.

With a slight smile, Zhao Fusheng nodded, not denying it, and admitted straightforwardly: "That's right, Mr. Ono is very perceptive. I am that kind of person—rather cautious and only trust my friends."

"I genuinely want to cooperate with you," said Masao Ono.

"I know."

Zhao Fusheng chuckled lightly: "I understand what you mean, but you must understand, Mr. Ono, I can't trust you, just as you wouldn't trust me completely, would you?"

Masao Ono fell silent. Zhao Fusheng's words were like a knife, laying bare the true feelings of both men.

Trust is a problem that often has no solution.

"Then what do I have to do to make you believe me?"

Ono Masao thought for a moment and asked Zhao Fusheng.

By now, he had figured out that this guy was not easy to fool. No matter how he brought up Sun Zhengyi or analyzed various reasons, in the end, he had no credibility whatsoever with Zhao Fusheng.

This meant that no matter what he said, it would always come back to the same question.

How to win trust?

Ono Masao didn't know the answer, so he had to ask Zhao Fusheng.

Zhao Fusheng tilted his head, thought for a moment, and finally said, "I can't answer that question. You can discuss it with Miss Dong. I'll say it again: if SoftBank Asia shows enough sincerity, I think she won't refuse to cooperate with you, will she?"

So tired!

That was the only thought in Ono Masao's mind right now.

He had known all along that Zhao Fusheng was a sly fox, not easy to deal with, but now facing him and being rejected, he still felt quite annoyed.

But he couldn't show any dissatisfaction on his face. Ono Masao nodded to Zhao Fusheng and said, "Alright, I'll take it as you agreeing in principle to cooperate with us."

Zhao Fusheng smiled: "Mr. Ono, I'm a businessman. As long as there's enough profit, I won't refuse to cooperate with your company."

He paused and said meaningfully, "Miss Dong is the same. She's my friend and the controller of future investments. As long as it's for the company's benefit, I think she should be willing to negotiate with you, shouldn't she?"

Ono Masao nodded, said nothing more, stood up, and took his leave.

Watching Ono Masao's retreating figure, a meaningful smile curled at the corner of Zhao Fusheng's mouth.

……

……

"Ono Masao came to see you?"

Before Zhao Fusheng could inform Dong Chenxi of the news, her call came through to his phone.

Zhao Fusheng chuckled lightly: "You're quite well-informed."

Dong Chenxi retorted helplessly: "He just left your place and called me to set up a meeting. How else would I know?"

"Alright."

Zhao Fusheng was also quite speechless at the Japanese man's strong执行力.

But he had to admit, though the Japanese weren't great, they were indeed more serious about work than companies here in China.

At the very least, both the Japanese and the Koreans deserved respect in that regard.

"It seems Ono is really anxious."

Dong Chenxi said to Zhao Fusheng.

"Yeah, that guy came to me, brought up Sun Zhengyi, fed me sweet talk—he was very sincere." Zhao Fusheng said with a smile.

After all, Dong Chenxi was the one negotiating with Ono Masao, so he needed to tell her all this.

Dong Chenxi didn't seem surprised: "When he met with me before, I basically turned him down, so he went to you."

She paused, hesitating: "Do you think Ono Masao's intention to cooperate is real or fake?"

Clearly, even now, she didn't quite trust Ono Masao.

"Real or fake doesn't matter. What matters is whether it can bring us enough profit."

Zhao Fusheng smiled: "I told you, if he wants to convince you, he'd better offer enough chips."

Dong Chenxi was taken aback, then laughed: "I think I get it now."

Zhao Fusheng hummed in agreement: "Yeah, the rest is up to you. I need to spend time with my wife."

"Okay."

Dong Chenxi nodded: "Don't worry, I know what to do."

Zhao Fusheng's words were clear enough, so she naturally understood what to do.

Admittedly, Zhao Fusheng was quite a negotiation expert, having pushed Ono Masao to this point.

Hanging up, Zhao Fusheng let out a long breath. He had paved the way; how far it would go now depended on the negotiations between Dong Chenxi and Ono Masao.

Of course, Zhao Fusheng didn't know what SoftBank Asia really intended or what price they were willing to pay, because the decision-maker might not even be Ono Masao, but Sun Zhengyi, who had been lurking behind the scenes all along.

He dared not underestimate that legendary figure, full of mystery.

Although the other party's recent focus on the US market seemed mistaken, in reality, if the subprime crisis hadn't erupted, SoftBank's choice would have been correct.

Even now, their losses hadn't been crippling.

At a certain level, as long as they didn't court disaster, companies with market capitalizations of tens of billions of dollars wouldn't easily collapse.

And what Zhao Fusheng wanted was to get a piece of the pie from SoftBank, that fat chunk of meat.