Chapter 60

"Lawyer Yuan, come, let's prepare the contract first?" Jia Gang said to a young man who had come up with the CCTV production team in the car.

"Sure, tell me what you have in mind, list a few points for me, and I'll draft a contract for you. You can review it and see if it's okay. Then when we get to Changchun, we can find a print shop to print it out," the young man with glasses and a face full of acne said with a smile. His name was Yuan Yang, and he was Sun Yusheng's cousin. After Sun Yusheng learned that Jia Hongjian wanted to find a lawyer to accompany him, he recommended Yuan Yang.

At this moment, Jia Gang turned to his son and asked, "Son, what clauses do you think are necessary?"

As soon as these words were spoken, Jia Hongjian, the son, hadn't reacted much, but Yuan Yang was instantly stunned. He suddenly felt that the relationship between Jia Gang and Jia Hongjian didn't seem like that of father and son, but more like business partners on a business trip.

As Sun Yusheng's cousin, Yuan Yang naturally knew what the name Jia Hongjian meant. He knew that Jia Hongjian was a rising star in the field of exposing fraud across the country. But could a fraud-busting star discuss contracts with his father? And be treated as the mainstay? Could there be some other secret about Jia Hongjian?

At this moment, Jia Hongjian didn't know what Yuan Yang was thinking. After a brief moment of thought, he said, "First, this is a contract for the purchase of a proprietary formula, as well as a contract for image endorsement. Therefore, it must include an exclusivity clause, prohibiting the other party from participating in any promotional activities for other manufacturers of beverages, health supplements, medicines, or gifts."

Yuan Yang was taken aback. He hadn't expected the young Jia Hongjian to come up with such a well-structured and comprehensive requirement! But after recovering, he immediately wrote it down in his notebook.

"Second, this contract is for the permanent purchase of the formula's ownership and usage rights, and the usage rights can be transferred to the other party for free. However, the image endorsement period is three years. After the expiration, the other party can sign endorsement contracts with other manufacturers, but we must have the right of first refusal, meaning that if the price is the same, they must choose us..." Jia Hongjian said with a slightly furrowed brow, very seriously.

Although Yuan Yang didn't freeze this time, he was still surprised as he took notes. "Jia Hongjian is only about 15 years old, right? He's still a high school freshman, right? How can he speak so logically? And the logic of each clause is complete, and the balance is well-maintained. It feels like he's been in business for a long time."

"Third, as an image endorser, the other party must participate in no more than five photo and TV advertisements per year. No additional compensation will be given for shooting advertisements, and the other party cannot delay the shooting schedule set by us unless there are force majeure factors..."

When he heard this, not only was Yuan Yang stunned, but even Jia Gang and Su Ping were a bit taken aback. As parents, they really didn't know when their son had become so smart. Just listen to the three clauses Jia Hongjian listed! With a little modification in rhetoric, it would be a contract text! Jia Hongjian, a 15-year-old teenager, had even thought ahead about loopholes, opportunities for exploitation, and liability clauses!

"Fourth, the cost for the permanent transfer of the formula's ownership and usage rights, as well as the image endorsement, should be 10 million yuan in one version and 2 million yuan in another..." Jia Hongjian said a clause that completely surprised his parents.

"2 million? How can 2 million be enough? Hongjian, Old He is willing to pay 10 million. Even if we don't raise it to 15 million, we can't lower it to 2 million, right?" Jia Gang was a bit anxious at this point.

"It's fine, Dad," Jia Hongjian said with a playful smile, "Maybe Uncle Ma will be so moved by my good looks, cuteness, obedience, and dedication to exposing fraud that he'll agree to the 2 million clause. Don't worry, Dad. We still have the 10 million clause, right? If he doesn't accept it, we can raise the price. Isn't it like asking for the sky and settling for the earth? Okay, Lawyer Yuan, let's continue..."

Then, without paying attention to his father's suppressed desire to speak, Jia Hongjian focused on discussing the contract clauses with Yuan Yang. In the clauses Jia Hongjian mentioned, Yuan Yang was surprised to find that these clauses were different from the commercial contract clauses on the market!

Jia Hongjian's clauses... gave him the feeling of trying to get something for nothing! He actually wanted to pay all the fees in installments to Ma Junren, and even the down payment was 0 yuan! 0 yuan! If Yuan Yang were Ma Junren, he would have seen this clause and immediately kicked Jia Hongjian out without saying a word! Although the subsequent clauses stated that if the payments were not made on time, Ma Junren could reclaim the formula's ownership and re-auction it, Yuan Yang felt that no normal person would agree to this...

He thought for a moment, looked at Jia Hongjian, and finally said to Jia Gang with some urgency, "Mr. Jia, this clause is a bit... at least some down payment should be made, right? As your lawyer, I hope this contract can be signed smoothly..." His words were still somewhat tactful, ostensibly saying the down payment was too low, but actually implying that the idea of getting something for nothing was too far-fetched.

Who knew that Jia Hongjian suddenly interjected, "It's fine, just write it like this. My family doesn't have much money, only 400,000 yuan in savings. A small down payment would be the same as not paying, and a large one would leave us without startup capital. Don't worry, I can persuade him..."

Thus, under Jia Hongjian's insistence, two contract drafts with the same clauses but different amounts were finally prepared. After they were prepared, Jia Hongjian casually said a sentence that made everyone a bit nervous, "Everyone, forget what happened today. Don't remember the 2 million contract. Some secrets are better kept by fewer people..."

At that moment, Yuan Yang really felt like he was drafting a contract for a mafia boss, with a sense that if he didn't keep his mouth shut, he might end up buried in a concrete pillar. "Could it be that this seemingly crazy 2 million contract has some secret that can't be known?"

Of course, there was a secret! The secret was that Ma Junren wasn't improving his team's performance with some mysterious formula, but with "erythropoietin" (EPO), a well-known performance-enhancing drug in the future!

In the early 1990s, not just in China, but even worldwide, the sports world was dominated by athletes using performance-enhancing drugs! How many 100-meter champions in track and field were later found to have used drugs? The American track and field star "Butterfly" died suddenly at home at the age of 38. Although the autopsy said she died from spasms in her sleep, would a 38-year-old former world champion have epilepsy? Was this a way to mock other athletes who couldn't beat her?

This kind of thing was a well-kept secret in the world of sports! Because in this era, the detection of performance-enhancing drugs was still relatively backward, leading to a widespread use of such drugs! However, how could the Ma Family Army, a group that brought glory to the Chinese nation and even the Asian race, be using EPO?

It was simple! Analyze the news! In his previous life, Jia Hongjian was surprised to find that the Ma Family Army often reported being sick during competitions, as if they were always having colds and low fevers. At the time, the naive Jia Hongjian was moved by the dedication of the Ma Family Army but also puzzled by how such excellent athletes could often have colds. Later, after expanding his network and meeting veteran sports journalists, Jia Hongjian learned that using EPO could lower human defenses, leading to frequent colds and low fevers...

Furthermore, after Jia Hongjian met the author of "The Secrets of the Ma Family Army," Zhao Yu, through connections, he learned from this journalist, who had followed the Ma Family Army for years, that the original book included a chapter about the Ma Family Army using performance-enhancing drugs, but it was later deleted due to various pressures...

Finally, the last piece of evidence came from a disciple of the Ma Family Army in the 2005 National Games. The female athlete participated in a marathon in Beijing the day before and flew to Nanjing the next day to participate in the 5000-meter race, winning both. However, she was later found to have used EPO...

In addition, at the National Games, various mysterious new athletes often broke world records but couldn't qualify for the Olympics. All these things, plus the fact that the Ma Family Army was excluded from the national team for the 2000 Sydney Olympics due to high levels of red blood cells in their blood tests, which could be seen as evidence of using performance-enhancing drugs, made the reasons behind all this clear, didn't they?

Jia Hongjian himself estimated that because the Ma Family Army had brought a ray of hope to the dark Chinese sports world and given the people hope, and because their use of EPO didn't harm the Chinese people but only took medals from foreigners, they were given a relatively dignified opportunity to fade from history.

If the Ma Family Army indeed used EPO, then Jia Hongjian could understand why Ma Junren claimed to have a mysterious formula and insisted on selling it for no less than 10 million yuan. It was probably because when asked why the Ma Family Army could achieve such good results, Ma Junren, in a panic, claimed to have a secret formula. But when he learned that a company wanted to buy it, he feared that the company would test the formula and find it wasn't as effective as claimed, leading to suspicions about the Ma Family Army.

So, he set an exorbitant price to scare off all potential buyers! But when someone was willing to pay 10 million, the description of capitalists by Marx came to mind. He probably thought that with 10 million, he could live a comfortable life even if he was exposed in the future, so he boldly agreed...

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The issue of the Ma Family Army using performance-enhancing drugs is not a fabrication. If you look back at the list of 60 people who made significant contributions to Chinese sports in the 60 years since the founding of New China in 2009, you'll see that Ma Junren wasn't included. Given his