Who would still start a business seriously after being reborn?

Chapter 541 Ceding Territory and Paying Indemnities

Seoul, Lee Jae-young's office.

Outside the window, the cold winter rain pattered against the glass, making a monotonous and oppressive sound.

My father's disappointed roar over the satellite phone still rings in my ears.

Immediately following was a busy signal.

That meant that the last shred of father-son affection was completely severed by this cold command.

"Beep...beep...beep..."

Lee Jae-yong slumped like a lump of mud in his CEO chair, a symbol of supreme power, his face ashen and his eyes vacant.

The arrogance and sense of superiority that followed have now turned into fear.

Stock price crash! Network outage! Reputation ruined! Father furious! Future destroyed!
Everything is thanks to one person.

"Cheng, Yi." He murmured the name, as if in a dream.

He suddenly seemed to remember something and snapped out of his daze.

He quickly took out his phone and made a call, saying, "Mr. Yang, I agree to the mediation proposal put forward by Momo Group."

The snow in Jingzhou City has stopped, and the sunlight pierces through the clouds, reflecting a cold light on the glass curtain wall of the Momo Group headquarters building.

In the president's office, the heating was on full blast. Cheng Yi stood in front of the floor-to-ceiling window, looking down at the cars moving like ants on the street below, pondering this year's group annual meeting.

Momo Group has been established for more than three years, and everyone is rushing forward. We have never held an annual meeting.

"It's time to hold an annual meeting. We can't stop having annual meetings from now on," Cheng Yi said with emotion.

Annual meetings have always been the best stage for companies to showcase their strength.

Just then, his cell phone rang.

Cheng Yi glanced down and saw it was Yang Yuanqing's number.

Cheng Yi's lips curled into a playful smile as he pressed the answer button.

"President Cheng!" Yang Yuanqing said with excitement, as if he had done something great: "Li Zairong has agreed to your conditions: the transfer of Actoz Group, its withdrawal from the game market, and the $20 billion deposit. He has agreed to them all."

Judging from Yang Yuanqing's tone, he was just one sentence away from saying: "Praise me, praise me now!"

Because he practically shouted his words, as if doing so would salvage the last bit of face he had as the middleman and prove that his efforts had not been in vain.

Cheng Yi's voice was quite calm as he chuckled, "Oh? You agree now?"

“It’s absolutely true, he told me himself.” Yang Yuanqing hurriedly said, “President Cheng, this is great news. It’s better to resolve conflicts than to let them fester. Li Zairong made it very clear on the phone that he wants you to send a delegation to sign the contract. He will send Park Jung-hwan, the president of the Southeast Asia region, to receive you. Let this matter begin and end in Southeast Asia.”

"Too late." Cheng Yi's voice clearly penetrated the receiver, carrying an undeniable determination: "President Yang, the kind of person I hate most is when people put on airs when I give them a chance. Before, I offered 20 billion, but he refused, feeling that his so-called dignity was hurt. Now that his dignity has been crushed by reality, he finally thinks of bowing his head?"

He paused, then his tone suddenly turned cold: "Just tell him the conditions have changed."

Yang Yuanqing, on the other end of the phone, felt a tightness in her chest.

"First, the margin has been increased to US$30 billion, not a penny less."

"Secondly, the transfer of Actoz Group will proceed as planned, and Samsung will withdraw from the gaming market."

"Third, an additional $100 million in compensation as reimbursement for the time and effort he wasted on us."

"Fourth," Cheng Yi said, enunciating each word clearly, "have Li Zairong come to Jingzhou in person, to my office, and to sign this ceasefire agreement in my presence."

"What?" Yang Yuanqing exclaimed in shock, "President Cheng, you, you're going too far..."

Yang Yuanqing wanted to say that ceding territory and paying reparations was simply too humiliating.

"Too what?" Cheng Yi interrupted him, laughing, "Too humiliating? President Yang, it was Samsung that struck first, it was Lee Jae-yong who put on airs first. Now, he's begging me! When you beg someone, you have to have the right attitude! My conditions are right here. If he accepts, I'll give him a chance to end this gracefully. If he doesn't accept..."

“Then let’s keep playing. I have plenty of time. I can play with him for a year. Consider it practice.”

All that could be heard on the other end of the phone was Yang Yuanqing's heavy breathing. After a long while, he managed to squeeze out a few words: "I...I'll tell him."

"Okay, and let me add one more thing to him," Cheng Yi said casually, "If you can't get dignity on the battlefield, don't expect to get it in negotiations."

The phone hangs up.

Cheng Yi casually tossed his phone onto the large mahogany desk, making a soft click.

He turned around, his gaze falling on the bustling street scene outside the window.

He knew that, given Lee Jae-yong's spoiled nature as a second-generation chaebol, this condition was tantamount to slapping him dozens of times in the face and then expecting him to kneel down and say thank you.

However, he was not in a hurry; the longer it dragged on, the greater the damage to Samsung would be.

It would be even better if Samsung really went all out.

Since he already has the first-mover advantage, if he can take the opportunity to hurt Samsung, Microsoft will lose a powerful ally next year.

It's like brewing tea.

You need to soak it slowly to bring out the flavor.

Since taking over the national internet cafe market, Momo Group is no longer what it used to be.

A stable national internet cafe market brings more than just revenue.

Its greatest function is to enable Momo Group to form an ecosystem.

Multiple industries are intertwined, forming an unbreakable circular network.

Once a corporate group has formed an ecosystem, it becomes very difficult to bring it down.

Just like the Samsung Group, at most you can only hurt them for a while, but to destroy Samsung...

Only God could do that.

Samsung also has a complete ecosystem, from physical hotels to banking to semiconductors to mobile phones.

Samsung's influence can be seen in almost every aspect of life.

Group companies that form an ecosystem are like cancer; they spread rapidly to all industries and are impossible to eradicate.

Take Momo Group as an example. Even if its main business of internet cafes is wiped out, its Moc-os system will spread to the personal PC market like a virus and take root and multiply again.

As long as Moc-OS's user base remains unchanged, it will be impossible to completely eliminate the Momo Group.

Unless, of course, a massive amount of money is used to simultaneously destroy all of Momo Group's industries through repeated radiotherapy and chemotherapy.

Globally, only a handful of giants have the capability to achieve this level of success.

But Samsung is definitely not among them.

Momo Group is not publicly listed, so its market capitalization cannot be compared to Samsung's. As of November 2004, Samsung's net profit was US$97 billion, while Momo Group's net profit was US$11 billion.

The difference is only nine times.

This gap is similar to the gap between JD.com and Alibaba in 2024.

At this moment, inside the Samsung Group headquarters.

There was a deathly silence in Lee Jae-yong's office.

Yang Yuanqing's voice came through the hands-free phone, each word like a red-hot branding iron, burning Li Zairong's sensitive nerves.

A $3 billion deposit, a $100 million payout, and he's required to go to Jingzhou in person...

Then, like a stray dog, he signed the document in front of that young man named Cheng Yi.
"Damn it!" Lee Jae-yong grabbed the landline phone on the table and slammed it against the wall.

The expensive custom phone instantly shattered into pieces, with parts flying everywhere.

This is a hobby of their family.

I like watching parabolas.

His eyes were bloodshot, like a dying beast; his chest heaved violently, and the veins on his forehead throbbed.

"Who does he think he is? Just a nouveau riche from China, a peasant who made his fortune through internet cafes and pirated operating systems, how dare he humiliate me like this!" The immense sense of humiliation overwhelmed him like a tsunami.

To make him bow his head in Jingzhou? That's worse than killing him!
Once this news gets out, he will completely lose face within Samsung and become a laughing stock.

Li Zairong angrily said to his secretary, who stood silently with his hands at his sides, "Tell Yang Yuanqing to keep that bastard surnamed Cheng dreaming."

The secretary said in a trembling voice, "President, please calm down. The most important thing right now is to complete the task assigned by the chairman. We just received news that Miss has secretly gone to China."

"???" Lee Jae-yong's eyes suddenly turned fierce, and he asked, "Really?"

"Yes, I've checked it carefully," the secretary said. "President, you must calm down and think of a solution."

Lee Jae-yong staggered into a chair, his fists clenching tightly.

Meanwhile, at Gyeongju International Airport.

A private Gulfstream business jet from Seoul landed smoothly.

The hatch opened, and a tall, graceful woman stepped out.

She wore a perfectly tailored ivory Chanel suit that hugged her shapely figure, and a simple yet priceless diamond necklace around her neck reflected a cool, elegant light in the sunlight.

Wearing a fine camel-colored cashmere coat over her outfit made her skin look even whiter and her temperament even more outstanding.

She is Lee Boo-jin, the eldest princess of the Samsung Empire, and Lee Jae-young's half-sister.

In stark contrast to Lee Jae-young's outburst of rage, Lee Boo-jin wore a perfectly timed and impeccably elegant smile.

She slightly raised her chin, revealing a graceful, swan-like neck. Behind her gold-rimmed glasses, her eyes were deep and sharp, silently scanning the unfamiliar city before her.

Her beauty is an aggressive kind of beauty.

Mature, aloof, and possessing the arrogance and detachment unique to those who have long held positions of power, yet with a fleeting glance, she inadvertently reveals a captivating charm that is enough to steal one's soul.

She is like a meticulously crafted weapon; every glance, every curve of her smile, contains a deadly allure.

"President, the car has been arranged." A smartly dressed assistant respectfully handed over his phone and said, "President Dou of CITIC Group just asked if we need them to send someone to accompany you."

“No need.” Li Fuzhen took the phone, but did not get into the car immediately. Instead, she stood by the gangway, a meaningful smile playing on her lips.

"That idiot Lee Jae-yong is probably smashing things in his office right now, isn't he?" Her voice carried a lazy, magnetic quality, like fine red wine gliding over velvet: "Heh, he's completely disgraced Samsung and is causing the group to suffer huge losses. Father must be utterly disappointed in him now, right?"

The assistant lowered his eyes, not daring to respond.

“Alright.” Li Fuzhen chuckled, her smile both alluring and dangerous. “Since he’s useless, the opportunity will naturally fall into my hands. That young man named Cheng Yi seems more interesting than I imagined, judging from the information.”

She adjusted her coat and walked gracefully toward the waiting black Rolls-Royce Phantom, her posture as elegant as if she were walking a red carpet.

"Let's go, let's meet this internet cafe tycoon who made Samsung suffer a huge loss." Her voice was full of ambition and a hint of barely perceptible excitement.

She was very good at dealing with men, especially young, ambitious men who held power.

Inside the president's office of Momo Group, Cheng Yi had just finished a video conference about the progress of the promotion of Global Vision in Asia when there was a gentle knock on the office door.

"Go in." He didn't even look up.

Assistant Li Weiwei pushed open the door and came in, her expression strangely solemn: "President Cheng, there is a visitor who did not make an appointment, but she said that you will definitely see her."

"Who?" Cheng Yi looked up.

“She said her name was Li Fuzhen.” Li Weiwei paused, then added, “She’s Li Zairong’s sister.”

Cheng Yi's eyebrows twitched almost imperceptibly.

Li Fuzhen? Of course he knew that name.

Another key figure in the power struggle within Samsung is a woman known for her tough tactics and shrewd business acumen. She is a powerful figure in the global hotel industry, owning three global hotel chains and possessing personal assets worth tens of billions. She is also an independent director of CITIC Bank in China.

"Let her in." Cheng Yi put down the documents in his hand, leaned back slightly, and his eyes became more serious.

He could roughly guess the purpose of the princess's uninvited visit.

It seems that Samsung is not a monolithic entity, and finally someone has started to feel uneasy.

The office door was pushed open again.

A delicate yet aggressive top-tier perfume scent wafts in first.

Immediately afterwards, a dazzling figure appeared at the doorway.

Li Fuzhen walked in gracefully, her high heels clicking crisply and rhythmically on the polished marble floor.

She took off her expensive cashmere coat and draped it over her arm, revealing a white suit underneath that perfectly accentuated her curves.

Sunlight streamed through the huge floor-to-ceiling windows, bathing her in an almost holy glow. However, the captivating smile on her face instantly shattered this sanctity, exuding a breathtaking allure.

She walked straight to Cheng Yi's large desk, without the slightest restraint, but rather with the composure of a queen surveying her territory.

She leaned slightly forward and gently placed an exquisitely designed business card on the mahogany table in front of Cheng Yi.

This movement caused the diamond pendant on her chest to sway slightly, reflecting a dazzling light and perfectly showcasing her impressive cleavage.

"Mr. Cheng Yi, I've long admired your name." Her voice carried a lazy magnetism, her Mandarin pronunciation was clear and accurate, yet she deliberately slowed her speech, each word seemingly carrying a small hook: "I've come uninvited, I hope I haven't disturbed you."

She tilted her head slightly, her beautiful eyes behind her gold-rimmed glasses staring directly at Cheng Yi. Her gaze held both the scrutiny of a superior and an undisguised admiration and allure.

(End of this chapter)