Chapter 0961: Killing the Familiar

"Why is it you?"

Looking at the person standing before him, Zhao Fusheng was astonished. He never expected that the first person to come knocking, seeking to invest in Xiaonei.com, would be him.

Han Bin, the general manager of Aipu Mobile in the domestic market.

Well, that fat guy who loved to eat.

"Why can't it be me?" Han Bin said with a grin, looking at Zhao Fusheng. "I didn't expect you to be the one behind this website."

The fact that the company behind Xiaonei.com was Future Investment couldn't be hidden, and Zhao Fusheng had no intention of concealing it. A simple check of Dong Chenxi's identity would reveal it.

So Han Bin directly approached Dong Chenxi. Although he was surprised by her beauty, he didn't let lust cloud his judgment and still insisted on meeting the boss.

Simple enough: Dong Chenxi couldn't be the real big boss of Future Investment; she must be a professional manager.

Han Bin could stake his own head on that.

Dong Chenxi was smart enough to know that she couldn't make a decision about something as big as bringing in venture capital on her own, so she directly notified Zhao Fusheng.

That was why both Zhao Fusheng and Han Bin were surprised when they met.

Neither of them had expected to meet under such circumstances.

"It was just a flash of inspiration," Zhao Fusheng said with a light laugh, looking at Han Bin. "What, is your family planning to enter the internet business?"

The sales of Aipu phones were quite good. If he remembered correctly, they had already secured the top spot in domestic mobile phone sales. Now they were thinking of investing in the internet—this clearly meant they intended to take root in the mainland market.

"As you said, the internet sector has good development prospects now. The old man wants to test the waters," Han Bin replied, squinting his small eyes and smiling as he answered Zhao Fusheng's question.

Test the waters?

Zhao Fusheng was taken aback, then silently scoffed in his mind.

He really couldn't fathom the thinking of such wealthy people. Testing the waters by investing in a website—if that was testing, then the water must be awfully deep.

"What's the matter? Doesn't feel quite right?" Han Bin glanced at Zhao Fusheng's expression and guessed what he was thinking.

"It's not that it's not right, it's just that I didn't expect your old man to be so confident in the mainland side," Zhao Fusheng said with a smile.

He truly admired Han Bin's father. If Han Bin was a loach that looked harmless but was actually slippery and hard to catch, then his father was definitely an old fox who devoured people without spitting out bones.

And clearly, that Old Man Han was now optimistic about the domestic internet industry, with his first target being Xiaonei.com.

One had to admit that some people succeeded because they indeed had exceptional qualities—being able to foresee the future prospects of something at its very beginning and choosing to get involved was itself a kind of ability.

"The old man said, 'Leaves fall back to their roots.' Our family can't stay abroad forever," Han Bin said, glancing at Zhao Fusheng impassively with a smile.

Zhao Fusheng chuckled but didn't respond. In his view, Han Bin's words were far from sincere.

In business, he always scoffed at merchants' so-called patriotic fervor and the idea of leaves returning to their roots. Although there had been no shortage of patriotic businessmen over the years, most merchants did business for one purpose: to make money.

To put it bluntly, merchants were the most selfish group of people; only interests could move them.

"Alright, enough small talk. Let's get down to business."

Seeing Zhao Fusheng's noncommittal expression, Han Bin understood that the man didn't believe his words at all, so he cut straight to the point.

Zhao Fusheng found his approach perfectly normal and nodded: "Okay, you can discuss it with Miss Dong. How about that?"

"Ha, you're joking. Do you think anyone else besides you can make the call on this?" Han Bin said with a sardonic look at Zhao Fusheng, completely unmoved.

Before contacting Dong Chenxi, he had already done his research. Although Xiaonei.com was developed by a research team led by Dong Guoxiang, the person in charge of investment was Dong Chenxi and Future Capital.

But the one who ultimately decided everything was definitely not Dong Chenxi.

Especially after meeting Zhao Fusheng, Han Bin was one hundred percent certain that Zhao Fusheng was the real decision-maker.

After all, this wasn't his first time dealing with Zhao Fusheng. Whether it was the earlier advertising planning or the later commercial shooting, Zhao Fusheng might seem amiable and easy to talk to, but in reality, he was not easy to get along with.

His desire for control was extremely strong!

It was no exaggeration to say that, in Han Bin's view, although Dong Chenxi appeared to hold great power, if her opinion ever contradicted Zhao Fusheng's, that guy would surely make her leave in no time.

But ordinarily, Zhao Fusheng must have concealed it well, never letting anyone detect his domineering nature.

If Zhao Fusheng knew what Han Bin was thinking at that moment, he would surely feel that this guy understood him a bit too well.

To be fair, Han Bin's thinking was not wrong.

Zhao Fusheng was exactly that kind of person. Although he seemed to trust everyone, except for Tan Kaixuan, he mostly appeared to delegate authority to others, but in reality, he always held onto the most crucial parts.

"Alright, let's talk." Zhao Fusheng glanced at Han Bin and said to Dong Chenxi, "Miss Dong, please step out first. I need to chat with President Han."

Dong Chenxi nodded at this and got up to leave the office.

Only Zhao Fusheng and Han Bin remained in the room.

Picking up the tea in front of him, Zhao Fusheng took a sip, let out a long breath, and then looked at Han Bin: "President Han, my bottom line might be different from what you think."

"Haha, is that so? I haven't even stated my terms yet. How do you know they won't align with your thoughts?" Han Bin smiled slightly and asked Zhao Fusheng.

Shrugging, Zhao Fusheng said nothing, but the expression on his face already conveyed his meaning.

Neither of them was stupid; both knew full well why Han Bin had come knocking at this time.

Seeing Zhao Fusheng's expression, Han Bin silently sighed to himself. He had long guessed that trying to gain an advantage over this guy would not be easy.

But compelled by his father's orders and the assessment from his team of advisors, Han Bin had no choice but to come before Zhao Fusheng this time, hoping to reach a cooperation agreement.

The logic was simple: the Han family needed a quality project to invest in and thereby enter the internet market. Meanwhile, Zhao Fusheng's Xiaonei Network needed funds, on one hand to continue developing, and on the other hand, since he was building this site, Zhao Fusheng's goal was never about some ideal but about making money.

He had a plethora of ideas in his head that could be monetized; there was no need to wait for Xiaonei Network to grow and expand further.

One person couldn't possibly complete all the profitable projects in the world—Zhao Fusheng firmly believed that.

"Fusheng, we're old friends, so I won't beat around the bush. Our family is very interested in the Xiaonei Network project. Consider it: how much investment do we need to make to gain controlling shares of Xiaonei Network?" Han Bin paused for a moment, then said sincerely to Zhao Fusheng.

He knew Zhao Fusheng's temperament well; if he went around in circles, Zhao Fusheng would be displeased. Being straightforward might bring some hope.

Sure enough, Zhao Fusheng laughed upon hearing this: "Don't even think about absolute controlling shares. To be honest, the future prospects of this site might be better than you imagine, so I won't sell the controlling stake."

As he spoke, Zhao Fusheng raised three fingers and said word by word: "Forty million, and I'll give you twenty-five percent of the shares. Don't even think about going beyond that number."

He paused, then added meaningfully: "Of course, I can guarantee that if one day I decide to sell my shares, your family will be my first choice."

"Hmm, can that be written into the contract?" Han Bin was startled, then asked.

Zhao Fusheng nodded: "Of course."

But before he finished speaking, Han Bin clapped his hands: "Great, then let's sign the contract."

Huh?

This time it was Zhao Fusheng's turn to be dumbfounded. He stared at Han Bin in shock: "Wait, don't you need to think it over, or at least consult your father?"

Han Bin shook his head like a rattle-drum: "No need. For investments under fifty million, I have the authority to make decisions on the spot."

At that moment, Zhao Fusheng felt that perhaps poverty had limited his imagination; he might have had some misunderstanding about how wealthy families educate their children.

More importantly, he felt that he might have been played by that bastard Han Bin.

It was obvious now that Han Bin had deliberately created the situation. From the moment he walked in until now, Han Bin had given Zhao Fusheng the impression that he wanted absolute controlling shares of Xiaonei Network, which was why Zhao Fusheng had said he would give him at most twenty-five percent.

But now it seemed that this guy might have already concluded from the start that Zhao Fusheng would never give up absolute control of Xiaonei Network. So all his previous behavior was just a bluff.

In simple terms, it was a strategy of 'pretending to advance along one path while secretly going along another.'

"Hahaha, I never thought I'd see the day," Han Bin said, seeing Zhao Fusheng's expression and knowing he had guessed his plan. He burst into laughter, clearly very pleased with himself.

Zhao Fusheng rolled his eyes and said helplessly: "You bastard, aren't you afraid I'll go back on my word?"

Han Bin smiled: "You're not that kind of person."

Sighing, Zhao Fusheng said nothing.

Han Bin was right; he really wasn't the type to break a promise. This time, he could only blame himself for underestimating the heroes of the world, never expecting that this fat guy could play mind games.

This loss was not undeserved.