Chapter 1624: The King of Samsung

As the eldest son of Samsung, Lee Jae-yong was, in a sense, like a crown prince.

And now, he felt that something beyond his control was happening.

Under their father's orders, his eldest sister had contacted a wealthy man from China. What exactly was he planning?

Thinking this, Lee Jae-yong looked at Lee Kun-hee: "Father, what is going on?"

Lee Kun-hee glanced at his son indifferently and said calmly, "Are you curious?"

Hearing his father's words, Lee Jae-yong nodded: "Yes. That Zhao Fusheng my sister met—are we going to cooperate with him?"

"Boo-jin, explain the situation."

Lee Kun-hee said slowly.

Lee Boo-jin nodded and, without hiding anything, detailed the process of her acquaintance with Zhao Fusheng and the results of their negotiations.

Lee Jae-yong graduated from Seoul National University with a degree in East Asian History, earned an MBA from Keio University in Japan, and a PhD from Harvard Business School. In 2001, he became an assistant to the president of Samsung Electronics and later a managing director in the Corporate Strategy Office.

In the original timeline, Lee Jae-yong was to be Lee Kun-hee's successor.

In other words, this man would be the heir to the Samsung empire.

Lee Boo-jin had never thought she could compete with her younger brother; she only hoped to gain more praise from her father and thus more power.

Whether man or woman, deep down everyone has a desire to control or obtain more.

Lee Boo-jin was no different.

After Lee Boo-jin finished explaining everything, Lee Jae-yong frowned and looked at his sister: "Elder sister, do you mean to say that this guy intends to sell Alibaba's shares to us?"

Li Fujin nodded: "Clearly, in his eyes, Alibaba's shares are more important than Facebook's."

This was the reasoning she had figured out on her way to the villa.

In her view, if Zhao Fusheng cared about Facebook's shares, he wouldn't have chosen to let her buy them in her own name; it was precisely because he didn't care that he made that decision.

In Li Fujin's mind, what Zhao Fusheng truly cared about should be that Chinese internet company called Alibaba.

"Big sister, I think you might be wrong."

After a long silence, Li Zairong suddenly spoke.

Hearing her brother's words, Li Fujin's delicate brows furrowed slightly as she glanced at Li Zairong, but she said nothing.

She didn't think she was wrong; in Li Fujin's view, her brother was clearly being unreasonable, unwilling to see her shine in front of their father.

But regardless, in front of their father, she couldn't say much.

From childhood to adulthood, Li Fujin had long been accustomed to her father's preference for sons over daughters.

Or rather, in most Korean families, it was the same.

The status of Korean men in the family was outrageously high; often boys did nothing at home while girls were ordered around, and parents usually considered this perfectly natural.

In their eyes, sons were the ones to carry on the family line, while daughters would eventually marry outsiders.

As the saying goes, a married daughter is like spilled water; in Korea, such things were all too common, even among movie stars.

Seeing Li Fujin silent, Li Zairong felt smug and opened his mouth to speak, but then he saw his father Li Jianxi's expression and froze.

Because at that moment, Li Jianxi's brows were tightly knit, as if he was pondering something.

"Zairong, tell me, why is your big sister wrong?"

Lee Kun-hee slowly spoke, looking at Lee Jae-yong, and asked.

Lee Jae-yong thought for a moment, then said in a deep voice: "I think he might just want to cooperate with us, Samsung, to break into the Korean market. Didn't big sister say that this person has his own business in Korea? Doing business in Korea, if you can establish a relationship with Samsung, it's undoubtedly very important."

As he said this, Lee Jae-yong wore a calm expression, as if it were only natural.

As the crown prince of the Samsung empire, he had the capital and reason to say so.

After all, over the years, Samsung had truly been the economic emperor of Korea.

"Boo-keun, what do you think?"

After hearing his son's words, Lee Kun-hee nodded noncommittally, then looked at Lee Boo-keun: "Boo-keun, what do you think?"

Lee Boo-keun pondered for about a minute before speaking: "Father, I think he cares more about that Alibaba stake. After all, if he didn't care, he wouldn't have mentioned cooperating with Samsung."

After all, compared to the power of the entire Samsung Group, she, as the eldest princess of Samsung, was nothing more than a title.

After saying this, she saw that Lee Kun-hee's brow did not relax.

"Father..."

Lee Boo-keun, who knew Lee Kun-hee's temperament well, asked curiously.

She could tell that her father did not agree with her words. Could it be that she had said something wrong?

Lee Jae-yong was also curious, not understanding why his father looked displeased.

"You two."

Looking at his two children, Lee Kun-hee's wrinkled face showed a helpless expression.

"Father..."

The siblings exchanged a glance, completely unaware of where they had gone wrong.

"You two, what's the use of studying abroad? All that stuff you learned is worse than learning nothing!" Lee Kun-hee slapped the armrest of the sofa heavily and said in a deep voice.

Both siblings were startled.

As children of a wealthy family, they had received elite education from childhood, attending the best schools, then studying abroad for master's and doctoral degrees.

American sociologist Turner divided elite training models into two types: the American model, which postpones the selection process as much as possible, allowing everyone to participate in open competition, ultimately producing a few elites, called the contest mobility model.

The other type, referencing British education in the 1950s, implements an early elimination mechanism in grammar schools, where the winners receive specialized elite education, called the sponsored mobility model.

The characteristics of French elite education lie between the American and British models; only those who excel in the baccalaureate exam, after undergoing preparatory classes, can enter university, the smooth path to elite status.

Elite education in traditional Chinese society was constrained by Confucian culture and imperial rule; those who excelled in learning could become officials, and common elites could enter the upper class through the imperial examination system. Aspiring to future success, the quasi-elites could not help but see themselves differently.

They admonished themselves to be prepared in all aspects, to enjoy more in life than ordinary people, to have eaten more and seen more, so that when they eventually joined the ranks of the wealthy, they would not reveal their true origins through ignorance of the rules.

At the same time, the quasi-elites had to draw a clear line with those they considered ordinary, showing their specialness in every way.

How do real elite families educate their children?

Contrary to the situation in China, the idea that 'wealth should not spoil children' is an educational philosophy in many elite families. I remember an education researcher once wrote that in the United States, many elite families send their children to public schools, because private schools easily give children a sense of privilege. Some families even pay out of their own pockets to send their children to relatively poor areas like Africa, Latin America, and South Asia as volunteers, because these parents believe that true leaders must understand the lower classes.

That's all nonsense. 'A son of a wealthy family does not sit under the eaves.' For families like Samsung's Lees, with heirs worth billions of dollars, sending them to volunteer in poor areas is something only a madman would do.

Originally, Lee Kun-hee thought his elite education for his children had been very successful, but today he realized that he had only focused on cultivating their competitive awareness, forgetting that they had always been under his shadow in terms of corporate management and had never truly stood on their own.

In other words, except within Korea's small sphere, they had never faced the real capital tycoons.

"Father, I'm sorry!"

It was clear that Lee Kun-hee was very disappointed, so both Lee Boo-keun and Lee Jae-yong bowed their heads in apology.

For them, their father's approval was more important than anything.