Chapter 1769: Going Public

In truth, Li Mengxi had never been very good at controlling his emotions.

He would laugh when he wanted to laugh, rage when he wanted to rage, and when he wanted to cry, it was even more troublesome—tears were a cheap commodity to him.

This was probably a common ailment among many Koreans.

Koreans are truly a fascinating people; their emotions are intensely outward, and they often express their feelings in the most extreme ways at the slightest provocation.

Few Chinese people would harm themselves during protests, but Koreans—during the comfort women protests back then, many people chopped off their fingers in front of the Japanese embassy!

This wasn't fake news; it was real.

When Zhao Fusheng saw this news, he was also taken aback.

But upon closer inspection, he found it was normal in Korea—they often did such impulsive things.

And now, upon hearing that the cooperation agreement was basically reached, Li Mengxi actually cried in front of Zhao Fusheng.

So awkward.

The father of my cooperation partner cried right in front of me. What should I do?

Waiting online, quite urgent.

Zhao Fusheng, slightly embarrassed, waved at Zheng Yao and the others, signaling them to leave first.

Then, he looked at Li Zaixian: "Chairman Li, since your father is a bit emotional, I think we can discuss the specific cooperation agreement later. What do you think?"

"Okay."

Li Zaixian naturally knew that Zhao Fusheng was giving him an out, so he nodded and agreed to Zhao Fusheng's proposal.

To be honest, not only his father Li Mengxi, but Li Zaixian himself was also quite emotional at this moment.

After all, this was their family's decades-long dream, and now it was about to come true. To say that their hearts were as calm as an ancient well would be nonsense.

Looking at the expressions of Li Zaihuan and the others around, one could tell that they were also very excited.

That was Samsung, after all!

This was probably the difference in national conditions. As a Chinese, Zhao Fusheng could not understand the significance of the word Samsung to Koreans. In his eyes, Samsung was just a Fortune 500 company, similar to China's Lenovo or PetroChina.

But in the eyes of Koreans, Samsung is a sentiment, a kind of worship.

Leaving the tea room, Zhao Fusheng and Zheng Yao and the others got into their cars, and the convoy slowly departed.

Returning to the group headquarters, they immediately convened a senior management meeting.

This time, more than half of the group's senior executives appeared here, including even Xue Yuanfang, who had been called over.

"What's going on? What happened?"

"Yeah, even the chairman has come."

"My god! Why are they all here?"

Those managers were all very surprised as they watched the group's top executives, the heads of various subsidiaries, file into the meeting room one by one, each with a serious expression.

Especially those known as Zhao Fusheng's right-hand men, their expressions were so serious as to be frightening.

"Alright, is everyone here?"

Zheng Yao sat in the middle seat, looked around, and finally said, "I am now announcing something."

"Based on our agreement with the CJ Group, it has been preliminarily decided that a portion of the Samsung Group shares we currently hold will be swapped with CJ Group shares in the future. Now, President Dong will explain this matter."

Zheng Yao looked at everyone and said slowly.

The reason for announcing this before the agreement was signed was Zhao Fusheng's idea.

His intention was simple: you, Lee Kun-hee, want to teach me a lesson? Then I'll make the matter public and let you watch Lee Jae-hyun enter Samsung's board of directors.

If you have the guts, come and bite me!

That was Zhao Fusheng's meaning.

As for Lee Kun-hee's reaction, it was not within Zhao Fusheng's consideration. If Lee Kun-hee dared to go crazy, Zhao Fusheng would just go crazy with him and see who could afford the loss.

Moreover, with Lee Jae-hyun and his son in front, Zhao Fusheng doubted whether Lee Kun-hee, who was about to face a lengthy lawsuit, would still have the energy to deal with him.

Don't forget, Roh Moo-hyun, who was about to step down, was closely watching Lee Kun-hee.

Zhao Fusheng was very much looking forward to this grand drama in South Korea.

And in the conference room, as Zheng Yao finished speaking, the entire atmosphere changed.

The executives looked at each other, all with bewildered expressions.

Who am I?

Where am I?

Why is this happening?

They weren't fools. For such a big matter to be announced at the group headquarters meant the deal was essentially done. In other words, Samsung had been shown up?

No!

Those with quick minds and good connections soon recalled news from South Korea and realized it wasn't just about Samsung being shown up.

To be precise, Samsung had provoked their hot-tempered boss.

No one who had reached this position was a fool. If they truly understood nothing, they wouldn't have become senior leaders of the future group.

Under these circumstances, everyone understood that Samsung's actions had made the boss lose patience, and he had directly fallen out with them.

Thinking this, they looked at the boss, who had been sitting silently, and silently added a bit more awe in their hearts.

This guy really was hot-tempered!

But being smart, they also knew this must involve a power struggle at the group level, not just the suppression of Hanxing Investment.

In all likelihood, the chairman intended to stir up more chaos in South Korea.

Actually, they were overthinking it.

Zhao Fusheng didn't have that intention at all.

It was just that Lee Kun-hee's actions made Zhao Fusheng very unhappy, so he chose to cooperate with CJ Group instead.

To him, this was all very normal, because in Zhao Fusheng's view, whether it was CJ or Samsung, they were just cooperation partners.

Samsung was indeed powerful, but CJ was the partner Zhao Fusheng needed.

Because Zhao Fusheng's definition of Hanxing Investment had always been the cultural industry.

"For this cooperation, we have decided..."

Dong Chenxi spoke slowly, introducing the cooperation to everyone.

Zhao Fusheng sat there, calmly watching the expressions around him, his face quite composed.

Soon, the meeting ended, and everyone began their respective tasks as arranged by Zheng Yao and Dong Chenxi.

...

...

"Have you really decided?"

In Zhao Fusheng's chairman's office, Zheng Yao looked at him with some concern: "After doing this, Lee Kun-hee will definitely retaliate."

The decision she referred to was Zhao Fusheng's demand to make public the upcoming cooperation between CJ Group and Future Group.

"If we don't make it public, won't he find out?"

Zhao Fusheng took a sip of the coffee in front of him, shook his head, and looked somewhat helpless: "I've said I don't like this stuff—bitter and tasteless. I really don't know how you all enjoy it so much."

Zheng Yao looked helpless: "Can you at least give me some reaction?"

Zhao Fusheng laughed heartily, waved his hand, and said to Zheng Yao: "Think about it—so many senior executives from CJ Group appeared in the capital. Could Samsung not know? If they knew, would they not send people to follow?"

"That's true."

Zheng Yao nodded. She had thought of this too. As Zhao Fusheng said, today's meeting would likely be known to Lee Kun-hee, and Samsung would definitely react.

So, even if not made public, it was essentially the same as being public.

"Tell Dong Chenxi to make our cooperation with CJ public. Samsung's stock price will definitely drop. Have her secretly buy up shares." Zhao Fusheng suddenly remembered something and said to Zheng Yao.

Since they had plenty of cash on hand, Zhao Fusheng thought it was worth a try.

Although he agreed to exchange shares with CJ Group, Zhao Fusheng didn't think Samsung's development would stagnate. At least for the next ten years, investing in Samsung was a sure profit.

That was just how he was—business was business, and he would never give it up because of personal preferences.

"I understand. I'll arrange it right away."

Zheng Yao nodded, indicating her agreement with Zhao Fusheng's opinion.

"Actually, you don't need to overthink it."

Zhao Fusheng smiled and said to Zheng Yao: "You have to understand, Lee Kun-hee is a smart man. He should know how to handle this."

Ah?

Zheng Yao was startled and looked at Zhao Fusheng in surprise. Clearly, she hadn't expected him to say that.