Chapter 1668: Bad News

Zhao Fusheng's premonition was correct; something had indeed happened!

“Grandpa is gone?”

Holding the phone, Zhao Fusheng nearly threw it away. It had been his father who called.

“What happened?”

“It was acute myocardial infarction. No pain at all. The old man said he was going to take a nap, and then…” Father Zhao sighed. “I just called your mother. You and Baobao pack up and come back.”

“Okay, I’ll arrange it right away.”

Zhao Fusheng quickly nodded.

He could tell that his father was in a very bad mood.

After all, Grandpa had suffered all his life. Now that the family was finally well-off, they had planned to let him enjoy his twilight years, but instead, he had left the world like this.

Even more so, compared to Zhao Fusheng’s memory of his previous life, he had lived even shorter.

At this moment, a shadow fell over Zhao Fusheng’s heart.

“Turn around!”

Putting down the phone, Zhao Fusheng dialed Fan Baobao’s number while speaking to Chen Zhen.

Although Chen Zhen couldn’t hear clearly, he vaguely sensed something was wrong from Zhao Fusheng’s tone and demeanor. Hearing Zhao Fusheng’s order, he naturally dared not delay and quickly turned the car around, speeding toward home.

“What’s wrong?”

Fan Baobao answered Zhao Fusheng’s call, somewhat puzzled. “What happened?”

“Grandpa is gone…”

Zhao Fusheng recounted the whole story and finally said, “I’m going home now. Pack up your things, have Yang Panpan go with you, bring our daughter, and we’ll pick up Mom.”

“Okay!”

Fan Baobao was shocked and quickly agreed.

Zhao Fusheng then called Wu Sijie, telling him to meet at the airport. At a time like this, no matter what, it was better to have his assistant by his side.

Soon, Zhao Fusheng arrived home, picked up Fan Baobao and Yang Panpan, took the child, and they headed to the airport by car.

Someone had already gone to pick up Zhao’s mother.

Not long after they arrived at the airport, Wu Sijie arrived with Zhao’s mother and Li Yuan.

“Fusheng…”

Zhao’s mother’s eyes were slightly red; clearly, she had been crying on the way.

She had a good relationship with the old man. He was a respectable and lovable elder, willing to endure hardship himself rather than trouble his children. Even though she was a daughter-in-law and an outsider, the old man still treated her like his own daughter.

“It’s okay, Mom. We’re going back now.” Zhao Fusheng comforted his mother, then asked Wu Sijie, “How’s it going?”

“I temporarily arranged a plane through connections.”

Wu Sijie said in a low voice, “If we charter a flight back, the cost…”

“It’s fine.”

Zhao Fusheng shook his head. “That’s not a problem.”

Wu Sijie nodded. “Don’t worry, I’ll contact them now.”

Looking at his family around him, Zhao Fusheng’s heart suddenly felt heavy. Grandpa’s departure made him realize that the people around him would not live forever; one day, they would leave him.

Birth, aging, sickness, and death—these are the ways of the world.

“Sigh…”

Seeming to sense Zhao Fusheng’s heavy mood, Fan Baobao silently hugged him, a look of sadness on her face.

Zhao Fusheng patted Fan Baobao’s shoulder but said nothing.

Wu Sijie quickly arranged things with the airport. Xue Yuanfang helped coordinate a plane, and after paying for the charter, the group took off from the Capital Airport, flying directly to Ninghai.

Meanwhile, Zheng Yao and the others, upon learning of Zhao Fusheng’s family troubles, decided not to bother him with company matters.

…

…

Half a month later, Zhao Fusheng returned to the capital, accompanied by Wu Sijie.

Fan Baobao and their daughter stayed in Ninghai. Father Zhao had been in a bad mood lately, and Zhao Fusheng thought that having his precious daughter stay in Ninghai could keep his father company.

Seeing his granddaughter would surely make his father happy.

As it turned out, his idea was right. With his granddaughter around, Father Zhao always had a smile on his face when he came home each day.

They say that grandparents dote on grandchildren; that saying holds true.

Sitting in the soft sleeper compartment of the train, Zhao Fusheng stared at the scenery outside the window, silent.

“Chairman, would you like some water?”

Wu Sijie said softly to Zhao Fusheng.

Recently, Zhao Fusheng had been busy handling his grandfather's funeral arrangements, running around nonstop while also keeping an eye on matters in the capital. It was truly exhausting, so much so that he now looked utterly worn out.

Hearing Wu Sijie's words, Zhao Fusheng shook his head. "It's nothing."

As he spoke, he asked Wu Sijie, "Any news from the capital? Has the date for Alibaba's IPO been set?"

Wu Sijie quickly replied, "Miss Dong called. She said it's confirmed—Alibaba will officially go public at the end of this year."

"That's good."

Zhao Fusheng let out a long breath. This was a plan he had started laying out long ago, and now that he was finally about to reap the rewards, his mood was naturally different.

More importantly, for Zhao Fusheng, this was a step toward officially entering the international market for Future Investments.

If Alibaba's IPO succeeded, the scale of Future Investments would grow rapidly, making the outside world realize just how massive the Future Group would become.

Even more importantly, Zhao Fusheng's personal wealth would accumulate to a terrifying figure.

After all, he held the majority of shares in several subsidiaries of the Future Group. In other words, the Future Group was his private enterprise, naturally including Future Investments.

"Director Jiang Wen has basically selected the candidates for the Olympic promotional song," Wu Sijie said, seeing that Zhao Fusheng was in decent spirits, and quickly added, "They mostly meet your initial requirements."

"Mm, that's good."

Zhao Fusheng nodded. He trusted Old Jiang's judgment.

He had already set the standards for him, so Old Jiang naturally knew what kind of people to choose to meet the requirements.

To be honest, Zhao Fusheng had no particular aversion to the Olympic promotional song from his previous life. Both the melody and lyrics were quite good.

But the problem was that the singers were really uneven in quality.

The so-called hundred celebrities, while most had some status, were by no means top-tier.

That was why Zhao Fusheng had instructed Zheng Yao to make a big splash this time, even going so far as to put his own name on the planning. His goal was to turn this song into a classic among classics!

At the very least, no matter when—even ten or twenty years later—when people mentioned this song again, they would have to sigh in admiration.

Just like the movie *Seen the Master*, where any random actor pulled out was a household name.

That was what a true classic was!

"Director Jiang Wen asked when we'll arrive. Do you want to go see for yourself?"

Wu Sijie inquired of Zhao Fusheng.

Zhao Fusheng thought for a moment. "In a few days. I'll go back and rest first, then go see it myself."

This was a major matter concerning the company's future development, so he naturally had to oversee it personally.

More importantly, in Zhao Fusheng's view, since he had already let it be known that he would handle this planning, he had to show up. He couldn't just stand people up.

No matter who it was, in Zhao Fusheng's eyes, credibility was the most important thing.

He didn't want to give people the impression of being untrustworthy.

As the boss of a multinational corporation and a new-generation super-rich man, Zhao Fusheng preferred a low profile, but that didn't mean he didn't care about his image and persona.

"Okay, I'll notify them over there." Wu Sijie nodded, took out a notebook, and jotted down everything Zhao Fusheng had just said.

As a qualified assistant, he knew very well that his purpose lay here.

Watching Wu Sijie's earnest demeanor, Zhao Fusheng suddenly smiled.

To be honest, he was fairly satisfied with this assistant. He was smart and sensible. Frankly, Zhao Fusheng was somewhat reluctant to let him go.

"Have you ever thought about trying your hand at one of the subsidiaries?"

Zhao Fusheng suddenly asked Wu Sijie.

"Huh?"

Wu Sijie was startled and asked reflexively, "What did you say, Chairman?"

Zhao Fusheng smiled. "I said, have you considered getting some experience at a subsidiary? You've been by my side for quite a while now, and you have enough seniority."

Hearing this, Wu Sijie's heart suddenly trembled. He knew that the opportunity he had been waiting for so long might finally be at hand.

Everyone has ambition, hoping to achieve success and reach the peak of life.

Wu Sijie knew very well that he might never reach Zhao Fusheng's heights in his lifetime, but if he seized the opportunity, he could very well start his own career with Zhao Fusheng's help.

So, was this the time?

Searching his heart, after hesitating for perhaps less than thirty seconds, Wu Sijie slowly raised his head, looked at Zhao Fusheng, and said seriously, "Chairman, I think I still have many shortcomings. I should stay by your side and learn a bit more."

"Hmm?"

Zhao Fusheng was taken aback, then smiled, looking at Wu Sijie with some surprise. Clearly, he hadn't expected Wu Sijie to refuse him.

Or rather, he hadn't expected that under such temptation, Wu Sijie could remain steady and not choose to leave his side like many others would.

"Are you sure?" Zhao Fusheng looked at Wu Sijie with a half-smile and said slowly, "With your seniority and your status as my assistant, going to a subsidiary would at least land you a deputy general manager position. If you can produce results within a few years, you could become the head of a subsidiary. You should know that our Future Group is most lacking in professional talent."

This was the truth. Although the Future Group had developed rapidly, everyone in the company knew they lacked the depth of those large conglomerates and had a shortage of talent reserves. So in recent years, all subsidiaries had been vigorously recruiting talent in various fields.

As Zhao Fusheng said, if Wu Sijie was willing to go down, he would most likely have a chance.

But now, Wu Sijie had chosen to give up. Was this guy crazy?