Chapter 92

In mid-September, the Huangpu River was still enveloped in the atmosphere of summer. Although it wasn't the height of summer, the near 30-degree Celsius temperature and the intense sunlight were still a significant challenge for many people.

Zhang Guan went to the university to register alone, but soon after, all the school leaders hurried over with great enthusiasm. The enrollment procedures were specially handled for Zhang Guan, and he didn't have to participate in the subsequent military training. The school leaders were all focused on taking photos with Zhang Guan, in pairs, in threes, in fours, and in groups, as well as during a tour of the campus. These photos would be quickly posted on the school's website, and the publicity staff began to rapidly draft articles. The school's photographers were also generous with their film, capturing every move of Zhang Guan, preparing to catch the prime-time news of the day.

The competition among top universities in the country was also very intense, in terms of academic disciplines, research achievements, high-level talents, scientific research results, patent projects, and so on. Fudan University was undoubtedly one of the top-tier universities, but if people were asked about the top university in the country, they would first think of the two century-old institutions in the capital. However, this did not mean that Fudan was willing to fall behind. Although Zhang Guan's arrival could not improve the academic level, the title of Olympic champion and "World's Fastest Man" was a significant boost to the school's brand.

Zhang Guan then immediately went to the Xinzhuang Training Base to report. However, to his surprise, Liu Feiren and Coach Sun had not yet returned, probably still busy with commercial activities. In fact, Zhang Guan was also busy; he had to shoot an advertisement over the next two or three days. Fortunately, Ming Consulting and Haojie Advertising both had offices in Huangpu, so Zhang Guan didn't have to travel around.

That day, Zhang Guan underwent a short period of adaptive training. After the training, he changed his clothes and noticed several missed calls on his phone, the first few from Coach Yu, and the last one from Zhuge Wenbo.

Zhang Guan dialed Coach Yu's number first, and the familiar voice of Coach Yu came through the phone.

"I heard you've already reported to the Xinzhuang Base? How are you adapting? I've already made all the arrangements. If there's anything uncomfortable, you can tell the base's logistics department directly," Coach Yu said.

"It's pretty good, I can adapt. The facilities here are really nice, but the temperature is still quite hot. I did some adaptive training this afternoon, and I just finished," Zhang Guan replied.

"That's good. Keep training. I've booked a flight for the morning after tomorrow. If there's no delay, I'll be at the Xinzhuang Base by noon," Coach Yu said.

"You're coming here?" Zhang Guan was slightly taken aback and then asked, "Is there another competition?"

"Yes. We're going abroad, to Yokohama, Japan, and we'll leave next week," Coach Yu continued. "Liu Feiren is also going, but they probably haven't returned to the Xinzhuang Base yet. They should be back tomorrow."

"The schedule is quite tight. What kind of competition is it?" Zhang Guan asked.

"The Yokohama International Athletics All-Star Game," Coach Yu added. "It's an invitational event, and all the invitees are top-notch. In the 110-meter hurdles, Alan Johnson will be there, and in the 100-meter sprint, Americans Gatlin and Greene will also be there."

"An invitational event!" Zhang Guan whispered. "The Japanese must have spent a lot of money, right?"

Coach Yu chuckled awkwardly on the other end of the line and then said, "Originally, considering that the Olympic Games had just ended and the athletes were quite tired, the center didn't plan to have you participate. However, since this is your first trip abroad as Olympic champions, and Japan is a good destination, being in Asia and not too far away, and the Japanese organizers were very sincere, the center ultimately agreed to your participation."

"This is to show off our championship in Japan!" Zhang Guan said. "How much did the Japanese pay in sincerity?"

"Ten thousand dollars. The organizers said they would pay ten thousand dollars just for you to appear, cover your round-trip airfare, and arrange a fan meet-and-greet for you, with a two-thousand-dollar appearance fee," Coach Yu thought for a moment and then added, "The prize money is also quite high, with two hundred thousand dollars for the 100-meter sprint champion."

"That's a lot. The Japanese are really willing to spend. Their money is not to be missed, so I'll definitely go," Zhang Guan said. "But do the Japanese have a masochistic tendency? Spending money to invite us to embarrass them?"

The appearance fees for sports events are generally lower than those for commercial activities. Four years ago, after American Maurice Greene won the Olympic gold medal, his appearance fee for competitions could reach two thousand dollars. Two years ago, after Montgomery broke the world record, his appearance fee for competitions was about two thousand five hundred dollars. Considering inflation and other factors, a reasonable appearance fee for Zhang Guan now would be around three thousand dollars. So the ten thousand dollars offered by the Japanese was more than three times the normal price.

Coach Yu continued, "Actually, there are other, more important reasons for sending you to compete. In the past week, there has been a very negative trend in international sports media. They say that you and Liu Feiren won the Olympic gold medals mainly because of good luck. They believe that in the 110-meter hurdles, Liu Feiren picked up a gold medal because Alan Johnson withdrew, and in the 100-meter sprint, you won the gold medal because the Americans were in poor form."

"Liu Feiren won the gold medal with a world record, and I broke the world record. Can't they shut up? When the Americans were in good form, they didn't break any world records for me to see," Zhang Guan said disdainfully.

"The Western countries can't stand our rise. Not just in the economic and military aspects, but also in sports. So this time, you must run well, even if it's just to save face!" Coach Yu paused and then said, "After this All-Star Game, you'll have to come back immediately to participate in the National Athletics Grand Prix Final in Luzhou, so the schedule for next week will be quite tight. You need to be mentally prepared."

Zhang Guan calculated the time and said, "So, we'll go straight from Japan to Luzhou? The schedule is quite tight!"

"Yes. The National Athletics Grand Prix Final is a must-attend event for you. The audience in Luzhou is very enthusiastic. They've already sold out all the tickets, over ten thousand of them. And at the final, major sponsors will also participate, so the center hopes to make the event lively. Your participation will be very helpful for the sponsorship contracts for next year's international athletics events."

Coach Yu added, "With the competition next week, you should also be careful about what you eat. Have your meals at the base, and don't eat outside."

After ending the call with Coach Yu, Zhang Guan dialed Zhuge Wenbo's phone.

"The endorsement deal with Nike has been finalized," Zhuge Wenbo said. "Two years, twenty million dollars, including the cost of one advertisement. Of the twenty million, fifteen million is in cash, and five million is in sports equipment sponsorship. What do you think? If it's okay, I can sign it tomorrow morning."

"Brother Wenbo, you're amazing. I thought a few million a year would be good, but this works out to seven and a half million in cash alone, plus two and a half million in sponsorship. So much money, definitely sign it!" Zhang Guan said.

Zhang Guan knew that, objectively speaking, the offer from Nike was extremely high. Among other athletes, Liu Feiren's endorsement deal with Nike after winning the Olympic gold medal was four million dollars, the diving prince's deal with Reebok was three million dollars, and among domestic football players, Da Tie, who played for Everton, had a two-million-dollar endorsement deal, and Hai Dong, who played for Sheffield United, had a one-and-a-half-million-dollar deal. Compared to these, Nike had invested a lot in Zhang Guan, making him the highest-paid in the country.

...

In the United States.

Zack returned to his residence, exhausted, and lay on the sofa, not wanting to get up again.

He had just visited several angel investors and investment firms in Silicon Valley, hoping to secure their investment, but the greedy angel investors and investment firms offered conditions he could not accept. The investors not only demanded shares but also control and oversight of the company.

"If I agree to those investors' terms, then FB will no longer be my company. No, absolutely not! I can't let anyone take my company away!" Zack thought angrily, recalling the faces of the investors.

But Zack then realized that without financial support, his FB would not be able to continue. Perhaps next month, he wouldn't even be able to pay for the server rental!

Since founding FB in February, the user base had steadily grown, but recently, another social networking site, ConnectU, had sued FB, accusing Zack of illegally using their source code. In the United States, such intellectual property lawsuits are very expensive, requiring lawyers, evidence, and expert testimony, all of which cost money, and Zack had none.

So over the past few days, Zack had been seeking investment, from Boston to Silicon Valley. Many investors were interested in FB, but all of them demanded one thing: voting rights on the board, and some even demanded more than 50% ownership. These terms were absolutely unacceptable to Zack.

"What should I do? What can I do? No, I can't give up. If nothing else works, I'll go to New York tomorrow and try my luck on Wall Street." Zack knew that the businessmen on Wall Street were ruthless, but he was at his wit's end and had to try.

At that moment, Zack's phone rang. He picked it up and saw an unfamiliar number.

"It's probably another telemarketer, these human telemarketers!" Zack hung up directly, but three minutes later, the number called again, and this time, Zack answered.

"Hello, are you Mr. Zack, the founder of FB?" the voice on the other end asked.

"Not American, not an American accent, maybe British or Australian?" Zack couldn't tell from the accent. He then said, "Hello, I'm Zack. Who are you?"

"Please forgive me for the intrusion. My name is Alan Chen, and I represent Hong Kong Fidelity Investment. Our company believes that FB is a very promising project, and we hope to invest in it," the person said.

"Invest!" Zack sat up abruptly from the sofa and immediately said, "Mr. Chen, sorry, you said you want to invest?"

"Yes, invest. When would be a good time for you, Mr. Zack? We can meet and discuss it in detail," Chen said.

"I'm available now!" Zack perked up. "If possible, we can meet right now!"

————————————

Chapter 1 delivered, please give a recommendation.

Page flip AD starts

Page flip AD ends