Chapter 74

The day after the award ceremony, Zhang Guan took a leave of absence and then headed to the headquarters of OPAP. For an athlete who no longer had any competition events, taking a leave was not difficult.

For Zhang Guan, the top priority was to get the more than ten million euros in prize money, and OPAP had even sent a special car to pick him up from the Olympics.

Was Zhang Guan really short of money? Of course! Some might say, "Are you kidding? World record holders can earn a fortune with just a couple of advertisements. How could they be short of money? How could they be short of a mere few million?"

The actual figures tell the story best. Take the most representative example: in 2003, Liu Fei's total earnings from all advertisements and endorsements were 1.6 million yuan. After his breakout performance at the 2004 Athens Olympics, he signed several endorsements, bringing his income to 23 million yuan. In 2005, it was 26 million yuan, in 2006, 58 million yuan, and in 2007, it peaked at 170 million yuan. According to statistics, Liu Fei earned a total of 535 million yuan over his 11-year career.

Five hundred million, a lot! But this figure is pre-tax income, not what actually goes into his pocket. According to the Individual Income Tax Law, 535 million yuan would require about 171 million yuan in personal income tax, leaving approximately 363 million yuan.

So, does this 363 million yuan belong to Liu Fei?

Of course not! According to the "Provisional Measures for the Management of Bonuses for National Team Athletes" and the "Provisional Measures for the Management of Donations (Sponsorships) to Athletes and Coaches," at least half of the 363 million yuan must be turned over to the state. For bonuses, 40% must be turned over, and the remaining 60% is then split with the coach, leaving the athlete with less than half of the total bonus. For advertising endorsements, 15% is turned over to the Chinese Athletics Association as a development fund, 20% to the athlete's unit, and 15% to the coach and other contributors, leaving the athlete with 50% of the total.

So, Liu Fei's actual earnings over his career were about 180 million yuan, averaging 16 million yuan per year over 11 years, or about 1.6 million euros. This is equivalent to just one and a half months' salary for Messi or Cristiano Ronaldo. Not to mention that it was only 2004, and Liu Fei was not even earning 16 million yuan a year. Even for Liu Fei five years later, tens of millions or even hundreds of millions were not a small amount.

This is track and field, not football with a weekly salary of 200,000 euros, or basketball with an annual salary of 20 million dollars. In commercialized sports, athletes have substantial salaries from their clubs, but in track and field, even national team athletes earn only a little over a thousand yuan per month, and athletes in local teams might earn only a few hundred yuan.

So, Zhang Guan felt he was very short of money. He did not want to work hard for years like Liu Fei. He chose the fastest legal way to make money. For this, he was willing to bear some consequences, such as media exposure or penalties. Then he earned more than 15 million euros, which was equivalent to Liu Fei's earnings over ten years. Considering inflation, 15 million euros would definitely be more than 150 million yuan in the future. This means that Zhang Guan had already earned more than Liu Fei's entire career.

15 million euros was not just Zhang Guan's confidence but also his fallback. With this amount of money, he would not have to worry about being at the mercy of others in certain aspects. With this money, he could do more things, such as investing.

Actually, this was a simple arithmetic problem. For Zhang Guan, taking one risk to earn the equivalent of ten years' career income was absolutely worth it. With 15 million euros, what did it matter if he was exposed by the media or penalized?

...

At the OPAP headquarters, Zhang Guan saw Ose Doris and Flax克斯, as well as an elderly man with white hair, who was the chairman of the OPAP board. If an ordinary person won a million-euro prize, it would not require the OPAP chairman to present the award personally, but Zhang Guan was the new Olympic champion and world record holder, so the OPAP chairman personally presented the prize.

There were many media reporters present, all invited by OPAP. OPAP would not miss this opportunity for publicity, though most of the publicity would be in the form of news reports, not direct advertisements.

"Take as many photos as you want, as long as the money is paid promptly, take as many as you can! So many euros, I've never seen so much money in my life. If converted to the national currency, it could kill someone, no, even in euros, it could kill someone!" Zhang Guan thought to himself.

Accountant Flax克斯 accompanied Zhang Guan out of the OPAP headquarters. As they walked, Flax克斯 said, "Mr. Zhang, I have a more comprehensive plan for your prize money. I hope to explain it to you in detail, and some parts will require your authorization."

"Sure." Zhang Guan looked at the sky; it was already lunchtime. He said, "Why don't we go for lunch first, and then we can talk in detail."

"Of course." Flax克斯 invited Zhang Guan into his car and asked, "What would you like to eat?"

"I would like to try some Greek specialties. You know, I've been staying in the Olympic Village, where the variety of dishes is limited, and I haven't had the chance to taste Greek cuisine. However, as an athlete, I probably can't eat meat." Zhang Guan said.

"That's not a problem. I know a restaurant with a great chef, and they also have excellent desserts and pastries. I'll take you there now." Flax克斯 started the car.

Athens has many narrow alleys, but hidden in these alleys are some excellent restaurants. Flax克斯 drove Zhang Guan through several turns, and the car finally stopped in a not-so-wide street.

"Mr. Zhang, please get out and wait for a moment. Parking is not allowed on this street, so I need to park the car further ahead." Flax克斯 said. Zhang Guan got out of the car and waited by the roadside.

This area had a purely Athenian architectural style and looked to have been built some time ago. The buildings on both sides of the street appeared somewhat retro, and some shops still had traditional revolving doors from the last century.

Zhang Guan was admiring the foreign architecture when he suddenly heard a woman's voice shouting, "Robbery!"

"It's in Chinese!" Zhang Guan was startled. Hearing Chinese in a foreign country was not easy. He immediately looked in the direction of the voice and saw a middle-aged couple, with black hair and yellow skin, which were obvious characteristics of Chinese people. The man was chasing the robber, but his slightly overweight body made it impossible for him to catch up.

"Since they are compatriots, I should help them!" Zhang Guan suddenly accelerated and chased after the robber.

The robber's face showed a look of disdain, clearly knowing that the middle-aged man's physique would not allow him to catch up. He turned back and shouted, "Pig, you can't catch me."

The next moment, a figure flew past the middle-aged man, and the robber saw that it was another Chinese person with black hair and yellow skin.

"Damn yellow-skinned people! You're actually chasing me. I was the sprint champion in my school team." The robber immediately sped up.

"With my speed, that yellow-skinned person must have been left behind!" The robber was about to turn back to look, but he felt a hand grab his shoulder. The hand then pulled him backward, causing him to fall to the ground.

The robber was not usually so clumsy, but at high speed, it is easy to lose balance, so he was pulled to the ground by Zhang Guan, and the fall was quite severe.

"What's going on? How did he run so fast!" The robber was shocked. A few seconds ago, the other person was still tens of meters away, but in just a few seconds, he had caught up.

At this moment, the sound of a siren was heard, and a motorcycle carrying two police officers was approaching. The robber hurriedly got up and stumbled in another direction, dropping the bag he had stolen. The two police officers ignored Zhang Guan and chased after the robber.

At this point, the middle-aged man caught up.

"Thank you..." The middle-aged man stopped speaking when he saw Zhang Guan's face clearly and then said in Chinese, "Zhang Guan! You're Zhang Guan!"

This time, it was Zhang Guan's turn to be surprised. He didn't expect to be so well-known that the man recognized him.

"Really, it's Zhang Guan! I didn't expect to see you in person!" The middle-aged man was very excited and continued, "I didn't get a ticket yesterday, or I would have gone to watch you receive the award. But I watched the live broadcast on TV!"

In the subsequent conversation, Zhang Guan learned that the couple was in Athens for a vacation and had come to this area for the good food. They encountered the robber, and Zhang Guan happened to be there.

"Thank you so much!" The middle-aged man hesitated for a moment, thinking of no way to repay Zhang Guan. He then took out a gold-edged business card from his pocket, handed it to Zhang Guan with both hands, and said, "This is my business card. I run a small company, and most of my business is in China. If you need anything when you return, you can call me. I can't do much here in Athens, but I have many connections in China."

Zhang Guan politely took the business card and put it away. He then took a photo with the couple at their request, and they left.

At this moment, Flax克斯 had parked the car and walked over, asking, "Mr. Zhang, did you meet someone you know? A compatriot?"

"A compatriot." Zhang Guan recounted what had happened and then took out the business card to look at it.

"General Manager of Yiming Consulting: He Yiming. So, he's the boss of a consulting company." Zhang Guan looked down and saw that Yiming Consulting had three addresses, one in each of the three major cities, and there were three contact numbers.

"Looks like this company is quite large, with branches in the three largest cities." Zhang Guan thought to himself.

Flax克斯 suddenly pointed to the company logo on the business card and said, "Mr. Zhang, I have to interrupt you, but I think I've seen this logo somewhere before."

---

Chapter 2 is delivered. I hope you enjoy it. I originally wanted to gloss over the part about athletes' income, as I mentioned in the first volume that athletes have to turn over half of their bonuses. I thought everyone would understand, but many readers said that after becoming famous, athletes can easily earn tens of millions, so they don't need to worry about money. So, I had to break down the numbers. Even with a lot of money, it doesn't last long after taxes and splitting the earnings. I hope you see the logic in this. Thank you to the readers who supported me: i余生请多指教, 鑫唯雪, _脩書暴徒_, 月之疯恨, 于非子568, 钟子发财, 柯江雄, 读书人－YES, 叵懂祢Ｄē芯, 朱洛颜, 诸神永远得承诺, 九安欧阳, 帅死的糑, zjfkka, freehire, 9922392, 蓝月风舞, C938516, 星雪柔, 泉18, 大1成, gigiliu5277, 冯小生, fenkuang, 我就个鸟, 帝&独步, 凶猛ss, 二逼xiao青年. Thanks!