Chapter 2227: Wantong Real Estate

People always need to do something that makes them happy once in a while; otherwise, being constantly tense like a tightly stretched string is not a good thing.

Just like Zhao Fusheng now.

He increasingly felt that being rich was really a wonderful thing.

Not because the growth of wealth brought him pleasure, but because he could use the wealth in his hands to make himself happy and bring joy to those around him.

This was a very special feeling.

At the very least, in Zhao Fusheng's view, he was quite satisfied with his current life.

That guy Wang Qiang, though heartbroken, recovered in just a few days.

Actually, as Zhao Fusheng said, he was just feeling sad for a moment.

Everyone goes through this stage—when losing something or someone, they find it particularly hard to accept, heartbroken, as if the whole world has abandoned them.

But once that time passes, they quickly come to their senses and throw themselves into a new life.

However, this guy Wang Qiang, in Zhao Fusheng's words, was purely a romantic at heart. Although he wasn't good-looking, every time he liked a girl, he was especially serious, as if he had met the love of his life.

And then...

Basically, there was no 'and then.'

None of his relationships lasted more than half a year.

On this point, even though Zhao Fusheng and Fan Baobao had talked to him several times, the guy never learned his lesson.

It wasn't that he wasn't devoted enough; it was just that he was too easily attracted to people who were kind to him.

Zhao Fusheng couldn't be bothered to deal with this guy anymore. After comforting him for a few days and taking him out for several good meals, he kicked him over to Future Film. He had other things to attend to recently and had no time to waste on this fellow.

This was no joke; it was true.

Recently, Zhao Fusheng indeed had a lot of matters to handle.

Although Zhou Nianzu and Dong Guoxiang had cooperated perfectly at Future Technology and completed the work handover smoothly, many things ultimately required Zhao Fusheng, as the chairman, to give the nod.

Not only Future Technology, but also the group's other companies were like this.

Zhao Fusheng delegated authority to his subordinates, but that didn't mean he had truly become a hands-off boss, ignoring everything.

Although Dong Chenxi, Zheng Yao, and others were his friends, it didn't mean their subordinates were the same.

If something really went wrong, it would instead affect their relationships.

Therefore, Zhao Fusheng had always maintained strong control over the Future Group.

He would personally look into any use of funds exceeding thirty million yuan by the group.

After all, no matter how large the family business, Zhao Fusheng had to know how his money was being spent.

Naturally, none of the senior management of Future Group had any objections to this behavior of his.

Although Future Group was a joint-stock company, the vast majority of its shares were concentrated in Zhao Fusheng's hands. In other words, if he wished, he could fire anyone at any time.

Under such circumstances, opposing Zhao Fusheng would be equivalent to opposing one's own future.

Only a fool would do that.

The real estate company has run into some trouble lately.

Since Future Real Estate had not yet hired a suitable professional manager, most matters were handled by Zheng Yao. On this day, she came specifically to see Zhao Fusheng and brought up an issue.

Zhao Fusheng's expression changed slightly upon hearing this. Somewhat surprised, he asked in confusion, "What trouble?"

Clearly, if it weren't something particularly troublesome, Zheng Yao wouldn't have come directly to tell him.

After all, if it were a minor issue, she would have handled it herself.

Recently, during land bidding, we had some conflicts with Wanshou Real Estate. Their boss, Pan Shiyi, has declared that no matter which piece of land we set our sights on, Wantong will compete with us to the end.

Zheng Yao explained to Zhao Fusheng with a wry smile, "At first, I didn't take it seriously, but unexpectedly, they really did it. In the last few land auctions, we suffered several losses."

Clearly, for Zheng Yao to use the word 'losses,' it seemed that Pan Shiyi and his subordinates had given Zheng Yao and Future Real Estate a hard time.

In fact, Zhao Fusheng felt that what Zheng Yao called 'suffered several losses' should probably be described as being constantly suppressed.

Tell me, what exactly happened?

With that thought, Zhao Fusheng said to Zheng Yao.

Zheng Yao nodded, took out a document, and handed it to Zhao Fusheng.

Zhao Fusheng took the document and began to read.

Soon, his expression turned grim.

Wantong Real Estate was a veteran real estate company, founded in the mid-1990s. Pan Shiyi and his wife Zhang Xin were co-founders, and the latter had once worked at Goldman Sachs Capital.

In other words, when Wantong Real Estate was founded, the major shareholder was Goldman Sachs Capital, represented by Zhang Xin.

In 2007, Wantong Real Estate completed the largest commercial real estate IPO in Asia, and by now it had grown into a well-known real estate group in China.

Although Future Real Estate was developing rapidly, if Zhao Fusheng's behind-the-scenes support were not taken into account, Wantong was far stronger than Future Real Estate in terms of the real estate company's strength alone.

This is quite interesting.

After finishing the document, Zhao Fusheng laughed.

Actually, this matter isn't that complicated. The other party is, after all, an established real estate company. The reason they've been able to maintain an advantage is simple: their network of connections, coupled with their keen insight into the market.

"What should we do?"

Zheng Yao asked Zhao Fusheng.

Zhao Fusheng smiled: "No need to go through all that trouble. I'll go over myself."

"You?"

Zheng Yao was slightly surprised. She hadn't expected Zhao Fusheng to handle this personally.

Originally, she thought he would, as before, offer his advice and let her handle it.

But unexpectedly, Zhao Fusheng intended to deal with it himself.

Regardless, since Zhao Fusheng had decided, she could only follow his lead.

"Don't worry. If I go personally, it shouldn't be a big problem."

Seeing Zheng Yao's conflicted expression, Zhao Fusheng smiled and said to her, "Don't you trust my ability to get things done?"

Zheng Yao gave a helpless bitter smile.

It was precisely because she knew Zhao Fusheng's abilities too well that she reacted this way.

Others might not know, but she was fully aware that, given Zhao Fusheng's personality, since Wantong had offended him like this, there was a ninety percent chance he would find a way to screw them over.

The only question now was what method Zhao Fusheng would use.

It's often said that it's better to resolve conflicts than to keep them alive, but that principle held no weight with Zhao Fusheng. When his temper flared, he would dare to poke a hole in the sky itself.

Of this, Zheng Yao had no doubt.

...

...

In fact, Zheng Yao's guess was not wrong.

Though his face still wore a full smile, inside, Zhao Fusheng was already holding a grudge.

People are like that—when they're used to smooth sailing, suddenly encountering someone who doesn't show them respect is a very unpleasant feeling.

Zhao Fusheng wasn't quite at that level, but the problem was that, in his view, there was no real enmity between Future Real Estate and Wantong Real Estate. Yet Wantong's domineering behavior was essentially showing him no respect at all.

This made Zhao Fusheng quite dissatisfied.

A few days later, news came from Future Real Estate that there would be a land auction, and Wantong Real Estate would also be present.

After informing Zheng Yao, Zhao Fusheng drove over.

"Chairman."

When Zhao Fusheng arrived, several middle-level managers from the real estate company of Future Group were already waiting there.

He knew them all, of course; Zheng Yao had introduced them to him before.

"Old Wang, what's the situation?"

Zhao Fusheng asked the middle-aged man at the head.

The man was named Wang Kai, hired by Zheng Yao from outside. He had previously served as a deputy general manager at a real estate company and was quite capable.

Wang Kai smiled bitterly: "Chairman, it's a bit troublesome. I expect Wantong will bid up the price again. Every time, they drive the price very high. As you know, our costs are limited. If we acquire land above that cost, it's not cost-effective for us."

Zhao Fusheng frowned: "And what about them? Is it cost-effective for them to acquire land at a high price?"

"Well..."

Wang Kai smiled bitterly and said helplessly, "They don't bid under Wantong's name each time; they use the names of some small companies. When they can't come up with the money, they claim they can't pay, and the land auction fails..."

Holy shit!

Zhao Fusheng was stunned.

He had never imagined such an operation was possible.

That was utterly shameless!

Honestly, before this, Zhao Fusheng had considered many possibilities, but he really hadn't thought of this kind of maneuver.

The boss of Wantong was indeed a scoundrel.

He just didn't understand why no one had stepped in to stop it.

"Chairman, today Wantong's team is led by Pan Shiyi's eldest son, Pan Ren. Would you like to meet him?" Wang Kai hesitated and then suggested to Zhao Fusheng.

In his view, this stalemate was completely pointless. It wasn't beneficial for either company; it would be better for everyone to sit down and talk things over.

"Let's see how it goes."

Zhao Fusheng nodded to Wang Kai.

He wasn't the kind of stubborn hypocrite who refused to compromise. In this situation, sitting down to talk was actually a good option—he just didn't know what the other side was thinking.

Soon, the group headed toward the auction venue.

Just as they reached the entrance, they saw another group approaching from outside, led by a young man in his early twenties.

"That's Pan Ren."

Wang Kai whispered in Zhao Fusheng's ear, "Pan Shiyi's son, now one of Wantong's deputy general managers."

Zhao Fusheng nodded, finding it somewhat surprising. Pan Ren was clearly quite young, yet he was already a deputy general manager at Wantong. It seemed Pan Shiyi was grooming his son for succession.