My absurd experiences in North America over the years

Ivanka stood by the window in silence for a long time, rainwater sliding down the glass, blurring the streetlights outside into a hazy play of light and shadow.

Li Fu didn't know what to say for a moment, so he just leaned against the edge of the table and looked at her profile.

He knew this day would come sooner or later.

"My father went to Washington last week," Ivanka finally began, her voice lower than before, "He said he was going to have dinner with a senator, and since he came back, he's been rant and rave about the senators and the president's cabinet every day..."

The saying "where you sit determines where you think" isn't always true, but it's true in most cases.

The CCP may indeed really like the great Eastern power, to the point that he almost always mentions "CHINA" in interviews. Later, his grandson and granddaughter were even arranged to learn Chinese. However, the public needs to portray the great power as a competitor that will make America great again, and he will do so resolutely for the sake of votes.

This was determined by his status; he had no choice.

Now, his business empire and family plans are deeply intertwined with Li Fu, and his position dictates that he will take actions completely opposite to those of his counterpart in another dimension.

His extreme dissatisfaction with members of Congress and the government fueled his desire to enter politics, which he saw as the only way to stop those "idiots."

It is at least the most direct and effective way.

"Was his decision so sudden?" Li Fu's feelings were complicated. He wondered if entering politics too early would change the established facts.

"This isn't a recent thing. He had the idea of ​​running for public office many years ago. Last year and in the first half of this year, we promoted the recovery of New York, which gave my father hope of rapidly expanding his business empire. That's why he temporarily put those ideas aside."

Ivanka recalls that the CP ran for president in 2000 as the Reform Party candidate, but withdrew quickly.

This seed has never truly died out in CP's heart, and now that Congress and the President's cabinet are "acting recklessly" and blocking his business empire, he is furious and his desire to enter politics is burning ever brighter.

The walls of the CP's offices are no longer adorned with architectural renderings of New York and Chicago, nor with site plans for real estate projects; instead, they display election maps of all fifty states of the United States.

He never intended to start as a senator or mayor, and he wasn't even interested in being a governor.

If you're going to run for president, just lock in the title.

After hearing these words, Li Fu felt a mix of emotions.

The fact that they even put up election maps suggests that they've already made their decision.

He also understood why Ivanka was feeling down.

"My dad told me yesterday," Ivanka turned around, her gaze falling on him, "that if those who make the rules don't understand business, don't grasp the basic logic of win-win cooperation, and just keep promoting some kind of threat theory, then they don't deserve to be in that position."

When Li Fu heard these words, he suddenly felt like laughing for some reason. Humans are such strange creatures.

When one's position changes, everything else remains the same, but one's stance changes directly, and can even be completely opposite.

The rain was still falling outside the window, the sound of raindrops tapping on the glass was even and lingering, and the night was already deep.

Li Fu looked at Ivanka. The light from the table lamp cast a soft outline on her profile, making her look so perfect, yet so...melancholy.

He couldn't help but reach out and gently stroke Ivanka's blonde hair, but he didn't know how to comfort her.

He was so calm at this moment because he had been prepared.

The other party was clearly at a loss, after all, the CP had promised at the beginning of the year that he could marry his daughter to him, which was obviously not realistic now.

"Li," Ivanka tilted her head slightly, "there's some very bad news, and Dad told me I absolutely have to tell you."

"What news?" Li Fu gently put his arm around her shoulder to comfort her.

Could there be any worse news?

"Dad said that the discussions about Forrest Capital on Capitol Hill have increased exponentially recently. They all suspect that you are trying to build a huge business empire and control the lifeline of the country's real estate, technology and media..." Ivanka looked at Li Fu with some concern.

This is an overstatement; it's so overstated that it could be used as a pretext to kill him.

However, this cannot be entirely unfounded. Those congressmen had their own reasons, the biggest of which was that Li Fu actually owned 70% of Forrest Capital's shares, which was an absolute majority and gave him indisputable control.

Forrest Capital's investment portfolio includes real estate, technology, traditional media, social media platforms, the entertainment industry, and even municipal engineering projects...

Yes, a series of reopening measures, originally intended to promote urban development and pull New York and Nashville out of the winter of the financial crisis, can also be used as a pretext for attack by some politicians.

Forrest Capital’s extensive and successful investments have long attracted extra attention.

If it weren't for the Forrest family, Li Fu's investment company wouldn't have survived to this day; it might have been wiped out by capital from the very beginning.

Even now, with the Forrest family backing him and the CP family tied to him, he is still a piece of fat meat in the eyes of some big shots. It's just that it's a bit tricky to eat him, and he needs to appease the Forrest family and the CP family.

The solution was simple: the interests of the Forrest family and the CP family remained unchanged, while Li Fu's share was completely divided up.

"Let them discuss it! Let them discuss it as they please," Li Fu sighed.

He had considered that as Forrest Capital grew rapidly, its assets even surpassed those of the Forrest family's main business—a private hospital group—in a very short period of time, his 70% stake would become extremely conspicuous.

Thomas, Cole, and even Lucy never imagined this day would come.

Whether viewed from the outside or within the Forrest family, this was a clear case of "the guest overpowering the host."

There are no problems when there are no external threats and the scale is not large enough, as this is very common in early-stage startups.

Founders contribute intellectual capital, technology, vision, and execution capabilities, while investors contribute cash.

The two are not on the same valuation dimension.

Silicon Valley and Wall Street have a large number of companies with this structure, where the founders' equity is gradually diluted through continuous financing.

Forrest Capital did not conduct a second round of financing. Its joint fund with CP Group has nothing to do with its own equity structure, and the 500 million external funds raised are only related to the fund itself.

From any perspective, Li Fu's 70% stake is in line with business logic.

However, no matter how commercially sound it may seem, the number is still too glaring, and if not handled properly, it will not only make the country a target of attack.

The Forrest family may also be shaken.

The "guest overpowering the host" situation was extremely detrimental to the reputation of the Lao Qian family.

Unless he is the son-in-law of the Forrest family.

But this... has led to an unbreakable vicious cycle, preventing him from becoming the son-in-law of the Forrest family!