Chapter 2070: Refusal

Zhao Fusheng had no intention of scheming against Ma Xiaoyun or Liu Qiangdong; he simply didn't want to get involved in unnecessary troubles.

Reasonable tax avoidance was also a manifestation of his aversion to trouble.

"If Liu Qiangdong comes back to me, how should I handle it?"

Dong Chenxi thought for a moment and asked Zhao Fusheng.

Waving his hand, Zhao Fusheng said, "Don't bother with him. I've given him so much support before and after, and he still went to Tencent. If the company doesn't do well, I don't think Jingdong has much future either."

"Okay."

Although somewhat surprised, Dong Chenxi nodded in agreement.

In her eyes, Zhao Fusheng's reaction now was indeed a bit strange.

After all, before this, Zhao Fusheng had been quite trusting of Jingdong Mall or Liu Qiangdong, but now he was saying such things directly.

It seemed that Liu Qiangdong's move toward Tencent Technology had made Zhao Fusheng very unhappy.

Thinking carefully, if it were her, she might also be very displeased, after all, the company she had been supporting all along wanted to approach other investors.

Most crucially, it was done behind her back.

"Ungrateful."

Dong Chenxi silently labeled Liu Qiangdong in her heart.

...

...

Zhao Fusheng naturally didn't know what Dong Chenxi was thinking; even if he did, he would just laugh it off.

To him, whether Liu Qiangdong was ungrateful or not didn't really matter; what mattered was whether he could bring him benefits.

Otherwise, Zhao Fusheng's investment in Jingdong Mall would be a losing deal.

"I'm heading back."

After chatting a bit more with Zhao Fusheng, Dong Chenxi took her leave.

Zhao Fusheng saw her to the door and then returned to his office.

Sitting in his office, Zhao Fusheng tapped his fingers lightly on the desk, thinking. He tried to put himself in Ma Xiaoyun's shoes and guess how Ma Xiaoyun would handle this matter.

Then he put himself in the shoes of Liu Qiangdong and Ma Huateng, guessing how they would face this matter.

"Smart people really do think too much."

Zhao Fusheng thought for a moment and said self-deprecatingly.

After putting himself in the minds of these people, he found that he could actually understand Liu Qiangdong's thoughts.

After all, taking advantage of Gome's chaos, he had risen abruptly in the home appliance sales sector, and Jingdong Mall's development speed was astonishing.

Under such circumstances, to achieve faster development, one had to find another way.

And Tencent Technology, with its huge user base, was undoubtedly a very good choice.

It had money and a user base.

Ma Huateng seemed to be a more suitable partner than Zhao Fusheng.

Shaking his head, Zhao Fusheng didn't bother to say anything more. Those who follow different paths cannot make plans together. Since Liu Qiangdong thought Tencent Technology was more suitable for Jingdong, he couldn't blame him.

...

...

He left work early, picked up Fan Beibei from school, took the little girl home, and told her to do her homework first.

"You go tutor her."

After thinking for a moment, Zhao Fusheng said to Liu Yiming.

After all, Liu Yiming was a top student; tutoring Fan Beibei in her studies was no problem.

Sitting alone on the sofa, Zhao Fusheng casually turned on the TV.

He had just watched for a while when the phone rang. Glancing at the caller ID, Zhao Fusheng was a bit surprised but still answered.

"Why did you think to call me?"

Zhao Fusheng smiled and asked Wu Sijie on the other end.

"Chairman, there's something I'm not sure about and I'd like to consult with you." Wu Sijie said to Zhao Fusheng.

"Go ahead."

Zhao Fusheng nodded.

"It's like this: Samsung recently acquired an oil field in Central Asia and plans to recruit some laborers from South Korea to work there..." Wu Sijie recounted the whole story.

After a while, the expression on Zhao Fusheng's face became somewhat interesting.

Working abroad is common all over the world.

South Korea is no exception.

Back when South Korea was short on foreign exchange, large numbers of laborers were dispatched to the Central and West Asia regions to work and earn foreign exchange for the country.

And obviously, this time, Samsung intended to make money through this.

There was a lot of nuance involved: the laborers earned foreign exchange abroad, but the wages paid to them were in South Korean won, while the foreign exchange was kept by the company.

"What do we need to do?" Zhao Fusheng thought for a moment and asked Wu Sijie.

He felt no psychological pressure when it came to Koreans. If it were just that, he wouldn't mind playing the role of a heartless capitalist.

After all, the ones who would suffer were Koreans, not his own compatriots.

"Well, they also want us to recruit a batch of laborers domestically," Wu Sijie said cautiously.

"Tell them to get lost!"

Zhao Fusheng said bluntly without a second thought.

In Zhao Fusheng's view, doing business by harming one's own countrymen was essentially taking a crooked path.

A crooked path, being crooked, might yield great profits, but in the end, it was not the right way. It was like a person swimming: even if they swam well in a small river, once they entered the vast ocean, they wouldn't know what the outcome would be.

In business, without an open and magnanimous mind, one could never achieve great things.

With that in mind, Zhao Fusheng continued to Wu Sijie: "Tell them, he may be willing to harm his own people, but I am not willing to tarnish the reputation of the Future Group."

Wu Sijie quickly nodded, inwardly relieved that he had been cautious enough to seek instructions in advance. If he and Liang Jingyu had gone ahead and then reported to Zhao Fusheng later, they would have been in real trouble.

Having served as Zhao Fusheng's secretary for so long, Wu Sijie knew his boss's temper all too well. On the surface, Zhao Fusheng seemed amiable and indifferent to everything, but if his bottom line was touched, he would turn ruthless without giving any face.

Not to mention himself, even the old-timers who had followed him for years were no exception.

After hanging up, Wu Sijie immediately called Liang Jingyu.

"What's up?"

Liang Jingyu was a bit surprised to receive Wu Sijie's call.

"I reported the labor issue to the chairman," Wu Sijie said to Liang Jingyu.

Liang Jingyu nodded, not finding it unexpected. He knew well that Zhao Fusheng had sent Wu Sijie to Korea to serve as an ear and an eye.

With such a large cooperation at stake, if Wu Sijie didn't report to Zhao Fusheng, Liang Jingyu would have worried that he was trying to set him up.

"What did the chairman say?" Liang Jingyu asked quickly.

This was crucial; Zhao Fusheng's attitude would determine whether the matter could proceed.

"Don't do it."

Wu Sijie repeated Zhao Fusheng's words, then said to Liang Jingyu: "Old Liang, I also think we should drop this. The situation in Korea is different from our country. If we go back to China to recruit workers and word gets out..."

He didn't finish his sentence, but the implication was clear.

Obviously, he wasn't in favor of it either.

Liang Jingyu was silent for a long time, then finally nodded: "Alright, since the chairman says so, we'll refuse Samsung."

In his view, others' opinions didn't matter much, including Wu Sijie's. If Liang Jingyu wanted to do it himself, he could decide on his own.

But Zhao Fusheng's attitude was what Liang Jingyu cared about most.

He had a deep understanding of the boss who had promoted him: decisive and resolute, that was Zhao Fusheng's true hidden character.

If he was really pushed too far, Zhao Fusheng would easily cut through the knot and deal with both him and Wu Sijie.

...

...

In fact, Liang Jingyu wasn't wrong.

Zhao Fusheng was indeed that kind of person.

If Wu Sijie hadn't called to seek instructions, once Zhao Fusheng learned the truth, given his temper, he would have dealt with them without mercy.

In Zhao Fusheng's view, if one did business without principles, they must accept punishment.

Money can never be fully earned—this principle seemed simple, but few truly understood it.

Everyone thought that since business was for making money, why give up profits that were within easy reach?

But in fact, in Zhao Fusheng's eyes, some money really couldn't be earned. Earning it would be equivalent to betraying one's conscience and principles.

The ancients said: 'Do not fail to do good even if it's small; do not engage in evil even if it's small.' That was exactly the principle.

Principles and bottom lines were not negotiable.

Because once there was a first time, there would be a second, then a third, a fourth.

In the end, one would completely lose oneself.

Thinking of this, Zhao Fusheng suddenly remembered that he still had a real estate company, Future Real Estate, which had acquired a lot of land. Although he had instructed Zheng Yao to be careful during development and not become a heartless developer, he didn't know if Zheng Yao's words had been passed down.

Taking out his phone, Zhao Fusheng dialed Zhang Qian's number.

"What's up?"

Zhang Qian was reviewing documents and was a bit surprised to receive Zhao Fusheng's call.

"Get ready. We'll take a trip around in the next few days," Zhao Fusheng said to Zhang Qian.

"A trip?"

Zhang Qian frowned: "Where to?"

As the head of the supervision department, he had a lot on his plate, so he needed to ask clearly.

Zhao Fusheng explained his idea and finally said seriously: "I plan to visit the places where the real estate company has acquired land and take a look."

In other words, he intended to go on an incognito inspection.

Zhang Qian thought for a moment and nodded: "I think that's fine. Actually, I have something I wanted to discuss with you too."

Zhao Fusheng was taken aback, surprised that Zhang Qian had something to report.

With that in mind, he nodded and said: "Then come over tomorrow, and we'll talk."