Chapter 0692: Clash

As the saying goes, with a sharp blade in hand, murderous intent arises. Though Zhao Fusheng was reluctant to admit it, the truth was indeed that once a person had capital and conditions, it was hard to control certain thoughts.

For instance, people like Hou Liangping and others, and himself—they were all the same.

“President Zhao, President Chen, hello.” Ma Qianli greeted Zhao’s father and Chen Hai politely, with an air of authority, completely oblivious that the place he was sitting in was the meeting room of Wanda Commercial Building, and the true owners should have been Zhao’s father and Chen Hai.

“Chairman Ma, what do you mean by coming today?” Chen Hai frowned and asked in a deep voice.

Ma Qianli laughed heartily, unhurried and unflustered, looking quite casual as he said lightly, “Nothing much, just came to have a look. What, President Chen, you don’t welcome me?”

Chen Hai frowned, glanced at Hou Liangping sitting beside Ma Qianli, but said nothing.

Zhao’s father opened his mouth to speak, but Zhao Fusheng smiled slightly and reached out to stop his father.

In his view, things had reached this point; it would be strange if Ma Qianli didn’t step forward as the front-runner. Just as a serial killer always likes to linger at the scene of the crime, as a victor, Ma Qianli probably considered it a failure not to come around.

“This must be President Zhao’s son, right?”

At that moment, Ma Qianli rubbed his chin and suddenly asked Zhao’s father.

And as he asked this, his gaze naturally fell on Zhao Fusheng.

Zhao’s father was startled, but Zhao Fusheng gave a meaningful glance at Hou Liangping, whose face was slightly flushed. Clearly, Ma Qianli couldn’t have known about him on his own; there was only one possibility: this Uncle Hou, who usually called him “big nephew,” had taken the initiative to tip off Ma Qianli after learning he had returned to Ninghai.

“Well, Chairman Ma is well-informed. This is my son, Zhao Fusheng.” Zhao’s father, with considerable poise, smiled and said, “Fusheng, this is Chairman Ma. You know the Qianli Group, right? It was founded by Chairman Ma himself.”

“Of course I know, as you say.” Zhao Fusheng stood up, beaming, and looked sincerely at Ma Qianli: “Chairman Ma, your name thunders in my ears. In high school, I had a classmate whose father was said to have followed you back in the day—he was incredibly impressive.”

He spoke earnestly, but Ma Qianli’s face darkened. Though Zhao Fusheng didn’t say it outright, Ma knew exactly what he meant: the little bastard was mocking him for starting out in the underworld.

But the difference in their status was too great. Zhao Fusheng could taunt Ma Qianli, but if Ma Qianli took it seriously, he would lose face.

After all, the reputation of bullying the young wouldn’t sound good if it got out.

Thinking this, Ma Qianli finally understood a bit of what Hou Liangping had meant earlier. This kid was no pushover.

“President Zhao, your son is quite interesting.” Ma Qianli took a deep breath to calm himself, turned to Zhao’s father, and smiled.

Zhao’s father didn’t react much to that remark; he just smiled and said nothing.

To him, since Ma Qianli had come, it meant the man no longer intended to hide anything and was ready to step into the spotlight.

Since everyone was prepared to burn bridges, there was no need to pretend and play nice.

“Chairman Ma, you flatter me. I’m just a student.” Zhao Fusheng said calmly.

His father didn’t want to talk, and Chen Hai wasn’t eloquent. Zhao Fusheng didn’t expect them to say much, so he might as well take the lead himself.

Moreover, in Zhao Fusheng’s view, an opponent like Ma Qianli was worth confronting head-on.

“Student?” Ma Qianli was taken aback, then shook his head: “My son is also a student, but he doesn’t have your ability to advise your father and plan advertisements on your own. Young man, there aren’t many like you.”

He seemed completely indifferent to the praise, instead looking at Hou Liangping, his smile fading as he said seriously, “Uncle Hou, it seems you know quite a lot…”

Hou Liangping’s face reddened, but he still took a deep breath and said to Zhao Fusheng, “Fusheng, don’t blame your uncle. I’ve talked to your father about this. We don’t have the same ambitions as Old Chen and your father; we just want to live a stable, comfortable life…”

Before he could finish, Zhao Fusheng sneered: “Is that so? Then why didn’t you say that a year and a half ago? Why didn’t you bring it up when the mall first started? Why didn’t you object when my dad and Uncle Chen were developing the Qiulin Company plaza?”

“People shouldn’t be too hypocritical, because if you keep pretending, you’ll forget your true nature.” Zhao Fusheng sighed, looking coldly at Hou Liangping: “Greed is greed; there’s no shame in it, because business is about making money, and I understand that. But don’t act like a whore and still want a monument—that’s just disgusting.”

After this speech, not only Hou Liangping but even Ma Qianli’s face flushed. He hadn’t expected Zhao Fusheng to be so blunt and confrontational right in front of him.

“President Zhao, aren’t you going to control your son?” Ma Qianli looked at Zhao’s father and asked word by word.

Zhao’s father glanced indifferently at Hou Liangping and said casually, “Some people have no shame left. My son’s words aren’t wrong.”

Nostalgia, in many cases, isn’t about remembering others’ kindness but about indulging in one’s own past. In other words, for Zhao’s father, what he cherished wasn’t the greedy people like Hou Liangping, but the youthful days when a group of them, bare-chested and sweating, drank heavily and ate meat together.

Now, Hou Liangping’s eagerness and Ma Qianli’s attitude made Zhao’s father unwilling to recall even the last bit of that bond.

Hearing Zhao’s father’s words, Hou Liangping and a few others exchanged glances, a hint of gloom flashing in their eyes. They knew well that this time, they were indeed the betrayers.

Ma Qianli, on the other hand, looked calm. In his view, these people were simply muddle-headed, mixing business with personal feelings. Business was business, and personal feelings were personal feelings. If they couldn’t even distinguish that, how could they talk about commerce? They might as well sit in a circle and share candy.

Seeing his allies silent, Ma Qianli smiled, looked at the Zhao father and son, and said lightly, “President Zhao, to be frank, regarding this matter, I think it’s a normal business practice. For a company to develop, establishing a board of directors is inevitable. Of course, as a major shareholder, I will definitely respect your thoughts and opinions.”

His meaning was simple: under the current circumstances, neither Zhao Fusheng nor his father, in Ma Qianli’s view, had any good way to turn the tables. After all, most key departments of the company were under his control, and the majority of shareholders had been bought off. Even if Zhao’s father and Chen Hai held a majority of shares combined, they were only two people.

If a shareholders’ meeting were called, a simple show of hands would be enough to oust them.

Ma Qianli was curious how the Zhao father and son would turn things around.

Zhao’s father’s face was ashen, his eyes blazing with anger at Ma Qianli, but he had to admit the man was right.

Just then, Zhao Fusheng suddenly smiled, looked at Ma Qianli, and asked mockingly, “Chairman Ma, may I ask you a question?”

“What?” Ma Qianli looked puzzled, clearly not understanding why Zhao Fusheng was interrupting now. Could this young man have another trick?

Zhao Fusheng smiled slightly: “Well, I’m curious: how much is the Qianli Group planning to spend to buy Uncle Hou and the others’ shares, and how did you appraise them?”

“Huh?”

The question caught Ma Qianli off guard, and even Hou Liangping and the others looked bewildered, not knowing what Zhao Fusheng meant by asking this now.

In fact, even Zhao’s father and Chen Hai were utterly confused at that moment, wondering what Zhao Fusheng was up to.