Chapter 2295: The Great Deception!

Ye Jing never expected that Jiang Wen would make such a choice.

But upon reflection, it was quite in line with Jiang Wen's character.

He was that kind of temperament.

Many times, Jiang Wen didn't fail to understand; he just couldn't be bothered to think.

Just like now, he saw through Ye Jing's intentions at a glance and ultimately made his choice.

Watching Jiang Wen's retreating figure, Ye Jing's face grew even darker.

He understood exactly what this meant.

It seemed Zhao Fusheng was waiting for him to come.

Shaking his head with a helpless bitter smile, Ye Jing knew he had no choice but to go see Zhao Fusheng.

…

…

Soon, Zhao Fusheng received Ye Jing at home.

“Have a seat.”

Pointing to the sofa in front of him, Zhao Fusheng said to Ye Jing with a smile.

Ye Jing nodded, said nothing, and sat down directly across from Zhao Fusheng.

This wasn't their first private meeting here; after years of cooperation, their relationship was deeply rooted.

“I'm sorry.”

Ye Jing said to Zhao Fusheng earnestly.

No matter what, from the very beginning, he had been wrong.

Or rather, he had betrayed Zhao Fusheng's trust.

Zhao Fusheng waved his hand: “No need for that. You haven't wronged me; the company is still profitable.”

That was true. Despite investing in those messy films and TV dramas, Ye Jing had indeed worked hard to keep Future Films profitable.

Otherwise, the stock price would have dropped long ago.

In that regard, Ye Jing was a qualified professional manager.

But he had his own ideas and thoughts, which was what Zhao Fusheng couldn't accept.

Those with different paths cannot work together.

That was the real rift between Zhao Fusheng and Ye Jing.

Zhao Fusheng couldn't tolerate his company becoming a tool for expressing certain ideologies.

“So, what are your plans?”

Zhao Fusheng looked at Ye Jing and asked with a smile.

Plans?

Ye Jing was taken aback.

Before coming today, he had thought Zhao Fusheng was going to kick him out.

But now it seemed that wasn't the case.

Zhao Fusheng didn't seem to have that intention.

What exactly did he want?

Looking at Ye Jing, Zhao Fusheng could guess what he was thinking.

“I'll sell part of my shares to Wang Changtian and Ma Huateng. As for the rest, you can consider buying them with some partners.”

Zhao Fusheng said calmly: “We've been friends; I'd still prefer you to lead Future Films.”

“This…”

Ye Jing was stunned. He never expected Zhao Fusheng to have such an idea.

“Don't worry, I won't sell at a loss.”

Zhao Fusheng said flatly: “The price will follow the Hong Kong stock market, and the voting rights will be transferred accordingly.”

He paused, revealing a meaningful smile: “Of course, I have my conditions. If any artists at Future Films want to terminate their contracts, I'll take them with me.”

“Take them?”

Hearing this, Ye Jing was stunned.

Zhao Fusheng nodded: “Yes, I'll integrate the resources of Future Advertising, including the live-streaming site under Future Technology, to form a new entertainment group.”

He didn't tell Ye Jing that he would also acquire several literature websites to form a comprehensive company.

“You mean to start from scratch?”

Ye Jing was surprised.

He hadn't expected Zhao Fusheng to be so decisive, directly giving up Future Films.

But he quickly understood Zhao Fusheng's intention; clearly, Zhao Fusheng had made up his mind.

“Not starting from scratch.”

Zhao Fusheng said to Ye Jing: “You know, I have many people I must take with me. Neither they nor I would want to stay here, right?”

That was the truth. Not to mention others, at least Wang Qiang definitely wouldn't want to stay in the new company.

And Ning Hao would most likely choose to leave as well.

Under these circumstances, Zhao Fusheng certainly wouldn't abandon them easily.

That was his nature; he never casually abandoned those who followed him.

But similarly, if someone chose to give up on him, they shouldn't expect Zhao Fusheng to show them any kindness.

Like Ye Jing.

If not for what happened before, if Ye Jing wanted to acquire Future Films' shares, he wouldn't have needed to pay market price.

But now, Zhao Fusheng was adopting a businesslike attitude.

After all, Future Films' market cap on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange was nearly forty billion Hong Kong dollars.

As a major shareholder holding over forty percent, Zhao Fusheng's shares were worth nearly twenty-four billion Hong Kong dollars.

Under these circumstances, acquiring Future Films wouldn't be easy.

Fortunately, Zhao Fusheng planned to sell the shares to several companies—both Wang Changtian and Tencent would take a portion.

Ye Jing and his backers would also buy in.

That was no small sum of money.

“I'm sorry.”

Thinking of this, Ye Jing said to Zhao Fusheng with a bitter smile.

He felt somewhat guilty.

After all, Zhao Fusheng had always treated him well.

Yet things had turned out like this.

“Let's leave it at that.”

Zhao Fusheng didn't want to say more; he picked up his tea with a smile.

That was a signal to see the guest out.

Ye Jing wasn't stupid; he understood Zhao Fusheng's meaning and had to take his leave.

Watching his back, Zhao Fusheng chuckled inwardly.

Indeed, the ancient tradition of raising the teacup to dismiss a guest was quite effective.

In ancient times, when a guest visited, a servant would serve tea. When the host felt the conversation was over, he would raise his teacup to invite the guest to drink. As the guest's lips touched the tea, the servant would announce, “See the guest out!”

The host would then stand to see the guest off, and the guest would take the hint to leave.

This custom avoided the awkwardness of the host wanting to end the conversation but not knowing how to say it, and the guest wanting to leave but not daring to. Today, this tradition of raising the teacup to dismiss a guest is rarely seen except in films and TV.

But when faced with guests who talk endlessly without regard for whether the host has time, interest, or patience to listen, people often wish for such a convention to allow both parties to part gracefully.

Though Zhao Fusheng and Ye Jing parted gracefully, both knew they could no longer be friends.

Often, once a choice is made, there's no turning back.

…

…

A week later, Future Films officially announced that major shareholder Zhao Fusheng would sell his shares to Tencent (twenty-five percent) and Guanghua Media would acquire ten percent of Future Films' shares.

The news caused Future Films' stock price to soar!

No one was a fool.

Although Zhao Fusheng gave up his shares, the new holders were Ma Huateng and Wang Changtian.

Compared to Zhao Fusheng, they were more interested in the film industry.

Everyone knew Zhao Fusheng had too many businesses; among all Future Group companies, Future Films was probably the least valuable.

Under these circumstances, as Zhao Fusheng himself said, everyone knew Future Films' value.

Now, Ye Jing faced an even more troublesome issue.

According to Zhao Fusheng's intention, if Ye Jing and his backers wanted to acquire Future Films' shares, they would have to pay a higher price.

Because Zhao Fusheng insisted the purchase price match the market price.

“You really…”

Looking at Zhao Fusheng, Dong Chenxi gave him a thumbs-up.

“Did you know all along that Ye Jing had ties with Huayi?”

Dong Chenxi asked Zhao Fusheng.

Zhao Fusheng smiled: “I didn't know.”

“Really?”

Dong Chenxi hadn't expected Zhao Fusheng to say that. She thought he was doing this to trap Huayi.

But now he claimed he didn't know about Ye Jing's connection with the Wang brothers—she didn't believe it.

“Really.”

Zhao Fusheng smiled and nodded: “I never thought about it before; how could I have known?”

“Alright.”

Dong Chenxi gave him a skeptical look.

Clearly, she didn't quite believe him.

Zhao Fusheng shrugged and didn't bother to explain further.

“Let's not talk about him. Let's discuss Jingdong Mall.”

Dong Chenxi said to Zhao Fusheng.

“What's up?”

Zhao Fusheng asked curiously.

“Any new ideas?”

“Not really.”

Dong Chenxi shook her head: “Recently, Alibaba's shares have changed; Ma Yun clearly plans to delist. Setting that aside, regarding Jingdong, do you really not intend to keep their shares?”

She continued: “Also, our shares in SF Express have been diluted. What are your plans?”

Zhao Fusheng then remembered he still held some SF Express shares.

So now he owned shares in a bunch of companies.

Thinking this, Zhao Fusheng waved his hand: “Let's do this: evaluate all the companies we hold shares in. Sell those with low value or no hope of listing. For companies like Jingdong, since we've seen returns, we can sell gradually.”

“Of course, don't sell all at once; sell gradually at a steady pace.”

“Publicly, say we're cashing out.”

“Okay.”

Dong Chenxi thought for a moment, understood his meaning, and nodded.

“What do you think—if, hypothetically, we took a company public, how much profit could we make?”

Zhao Fusheng suddenly thought of something and casually asked Dong Chenxi.

“Huh?”

Dong Chenxi was confused, clearly not understanding what he meant.

Zhao Fusheng smiled and told her a story he'd heard in his previous life.

First, as an angel investor, invest one million in a company for fifty percent equity, valuing the company at two million.

Then, in Series A, invest ten million for ten percent, valuing the company at one hundred million.

In Series B, invest one hundred million for ten percent, valuing the company at one billion.

Before listing, you can continue investing to increase the valuation.

Normally, by the third round, the company's valuation is already decent.

The initial investment has multiplied many times over.

Then it's time to prepare for listing.

Once listed, the company's value becomes unimaginable.

Investors can then pledge or sell their shares to realize profits.

This process isn't complicated; as long as the company's performance is decent, returns are very high.

As for the retail investors who get burned…

Heh.

What did that have to do with him?

No one cared about their fate anyway.

After hearing Zhao Fusheng's words, Dong Chenxi was dumbfounded.

“This… can you really do that?”

Dong Chenxi stared at Zhao Fusheng, speechless.

Zhao Fusheng nodded: “Yeah, I think it's not bad. What do you think?”

“Boss, that's performance fraud.”

Dong Chenxi was exasperated, pursed her lips, and said: “For a company to grow and even list, you need a real project. What do you think would happen if you got caught?”

Zhao Fusheng frowned, about to say something, but stopped.

He wanted to tell her that many Chinese companies listed in the US had played such tricks.

By falsifying performance, they boosted investor confidence, got listed, and then cashed out by pledging shares.

The most famous example was the Shenzhou Car Rental group.

Wait! Shenzhou Car Rental?

Zhao Fusheng was stunned.

Damn it, if he remembered correctly!

Dong Chenxi had reported that Future Investment had invested five hundred million in Shenzhou Car Rental for a ten percent stake.

Holy shit!

Zhao Fusheng felt terrible.

If his memory was right, didn't that mean he was about to be trapped?

Thinking of this, Zhao Fusheng immediately said to Dong Chenxi: “Do you remember Shenzhou Car Rental?”

“Huh? What's wrong?”

Dong Chenxi was puzzled, clearly not catching on.

After all, the company had been doing well.