Chapter 64

Wang Junxia lay in bed, recalling everything that had happened in the evening. She still remembered the strange words the boy, who seemed like a half-immortal, had said to them before leaving the base: "If you ever don't want to follow Coach Ma anymore, if you're willing to run no more races just to escape from him, then come find me in Shanghai."

Although she was a girl from the countryside, Wang Junxia didn't really believe in supernatural things. However, everything she had seen today made her think otherwise. How else could she explain how a young man from the south could know so much about their team? She thought about her diary and the words written there about defeating Coach Ma. "Maybe if I ever have no other way out, I could really go to him? Could he help us continue running?"

Wang Junxia's dorm room had no TV, not even a radio, let alone a landline or mobile phone. They had no idea about the waves caused by the family that had come to the training base that afternoon. After Jia Hongjian instructed Bai Yansong to invite the local media in Changchun, almost all provincial and municipal news programs, except for the news broadcast, reported the short news that Ma Junren had sold his mysterious formula to a certain company.

In these news reports, there was a ten-second clip of Jia Gang, with a radiant face, shaking hands with the pale-faced Ma Junren. The clip only mentioned that Ma Junren had sold his mysterious physical formula to a certain mysterious company. When this news appeared on Beijing TV, He Boquan, who was in a hotel pondering when to call Jia Gang to go to Changchun together, was stunned.

Looking at the two people shaking hands on the screen, one was Ma Junren, and the other could only be Jia Gang. "What the hell!" He Boquan stared with wide eyes and finally cursed after a long pause! He Boquan, the CEO of Guangzhou Lebashi, a company with an annual profit of 20 million RMB, had been deceived by a family with only 400,000 RMB in savings? He had kindly suggested they all go together but let them talk first, and they had gone directly to the northeast without a word?

"Damn it!" He Boquan felt the blood rushing to his head! He had prepared 10 million RMB, had made a huge decision to spend half of the company's annual profit to buy Ma Junren's formula, and now it had been preempted by some unknown person? It felt like he had prepared the dowry to marry his girlfriend, but halfway there, he found out she had already entered the bridal chamber with the driver who had scouted the way! He felt his head swelling, his anger boiling, and a sense of humiliation. How could he explain this back in Guangzhou? Although he was the boss of the company, how could he face his subordinates who knew he had been deceived by some unknown person?

However, the people who were more concerned about this news were the ordinary citizens. They, of course, knew about Ma Junren's formula! Ma Junren had led his team to win the 10,000 meters, 5,000 meters, 3,000 meters, and 1,500 meters gold medals at the Stuttgart IAAF World Championships, breaking the long-standing monopoly of black and white athletes in track and field! This was a shocking breakthrough of the racialist notion that "Asians are unsuitable for track and field"! This was like removing the "Sick Man of East Asia" sign that had hung over Chinese track and field for years!

After Ma Junren returned to China, he and his team gave reports and appeared on various TV talk shows, becoming the new generation of Chen Zhen, Huo Yuanjia, and Ye Wen! In these reports and interviews, Ma Junren often mentioned his mysterious physical formula! He even claimed that he wouldn't sell it for 10 million RMB!

So, how much did this mysterious company pay for Ma Junren's formula? 15 million? 20 million? To ordinary people who earned only about 100 RMB a month, whether it was 15 million or 20 million, it represented astronomical figures, money they could never earn in a lifetime! Now, just practicing and teaching sports could earn so much money? It was said that the upcoming professional football league would be fully commercialized, so wouldn't the players' and coaches' salaries be even higher? How could the people not be curious and gossipy?

So, what was the background of this mysterious company? Was it a Chinese company or a foreign one? What was its background? What did it do before? How could it have so much money to buy Ma Junren's formula? Would it commercialize the formula? Would it make it into a health supplement? Would ordinary people be able to drink the formula that was once exclusive to world champions? When would the supplement be available? What would the price be? Could children, the elderly, and pregnant women drink it? In the first round of news reports, the curiosity and interest of the people across the country had been piqued! They even began to discuss and speculate about the company's background, funding, product release time, and price...

In addition to the people, more merchants were also interested. As merchants, they understood what Ma Junren's name represented in China—sales! Look at the gymnastics star Li Ning in the 1980s! He collaborated with a sports company, and his name became a brand, which gradually became available in every street and alley! This was the brand effect! And wasn't there news that Ma Junren wouldn't sell the formula for 10 million RMB? Such news, combined with the news of him selling the formula, would attract more ordinary people to buy it, wouldn't it? If ordinary people bought it, wouldn't merchants want to stock it?

For a time, whether it was the Asia Mall in Henan or Wangfujing in Beijing, whether it was state-owned malls or private distributors, they all began to make frantic calls to their peers, asking if they knew who the person shaking hands with Ma Junren on TV was, what company had bought Ma Junren's formula, and where to get the goods!

Even Wang Koulan and Qin Zhongguo were stunned by the scene on TV. Wang Koulan was amazed by the Jia family's ability. Jia Hongjian had gone to Harbin to expose fraud, but his father had managed to sign the deal for Ma Junren's formula in Changchun on the way? She had heard that Yanzhong Industrial had failed to buy the formula for 10 million RMB! How had Jia Gang managed to buy it? Indeed, like father, like son, like dragon, like phoenix! Seeing Jia Hongjian's strength far surpassing his peers, he must have inherited his father's genes! No wonder Jia Gang had resigned; he must have wanted to start his own business! In the future, Jia Gang might become a well-known entrepreneur in China...

Qin Zhongguo, Jia Gang's former partner, was dumbfounded as he watched the TV. Of course, he recognized who was on TV! Of course, he knew the result of Yanzhong Industrial's call to Ma Junren! But how had Jia Gang suddenly had the money to buy it? Had he embezzled from Yanzhong Industrial? No! Qin Zhongguo knew Jia Gang's character, and Yanzhong Industrial was a listed company that had to publish financial statements, so it wasn't that easy to embezzle! Had Jia Gang found a wealthy backer and become a professional manager?

While almost everyone in China was curious about who Jia Gang was and what his company was, Jia Gang himself was in a train compartment, asking his son about the meaning behind his various arrangements like a diligent student. "Hongjian, why didn't you let the media mention my name or the acquisition price?"

"Father, that's the suspense. Why tell everything to others? If you tell everything, they won't be interested anymore. We keep half and reveal half, like a lute player half hiding behind a screen, hesitating to speak. This way, we can arouse the people's curiosity, making them unable to eat or sleep, always wondering who we are. Isn't this like saving on advertising costs?" Jia Hongjian said casually while cracking sunflower seeds.

"Is that so... saving on advertising costs, huh?" Jia Gang thoughtfully wrote down his son's words in his notebook. Although he didn't want to admit it, after his son had settled the deal with Ma Junren in just 20 minutes, Jia Gang felt deep down that his son was stronger than him, even that his son seemed to have a special talent for business, able to see the key to success at a glance! Although he felt a slight reluctance to admit his son's superiority and couldn't educate him as an elder, he was incredibly happy to see his son, who was so much like him, so smart.

"Yes, not only saving on advertising costs, but also a method called 'scarcity marketing.' Scarcity marketing is like deliberately showing a delicious dish in front of you but not letting you eat it, making you crave it, and then finally giving it to you..." Jia Hongjian explained quickly while cracking sunflower seeds.

"Scarcity marketing? Good... good..." Jia Gang wrote it down in his notebook. "Is there anything else? Nothing else? What should we do next?"

"Next? After a while, we'll hold a press conference to announce our company's name and other details, and then announce that in a certain time, we will hold a secret formula handover ceremony at a large hotel in Shanghai, with police escort! Everyone will wear bulletproof vests and helmets, carry Type 81 assault rifles, and make it as exaggerated as possible. We'll have the police check the venue in advance and set up metal detectors... make it as grand as a state leader's appearance." Jia Hongjian tilted his head and thought for a moment.

"Isn't that necessary? How much will it cost?" Su Ping, who had been cracking sunflower seeds, suddenly spoke up. "Oh, my dear mother, this is like proposing to a girl with a dowry. How can you save money at such a time? Even pretending to be rich is acceptable! Do you think I'm just being idle and have too much money to burn? No! This is a show for the distributors across the country! We need to show that we are wealthy and powerful, so they will come to us for goods! If we are too frugal, people will think our company will go bankrupt soon and won't come to us for goods, right?"

After explaining to his mother, Jia Hongjian turned to his father, who was still taking notes. "At the press conference, you can announce that in three days or a week, we will hold an auction for the exclusive distribution rights in each province, autonomous region, and municipality. Each region will have only one exclusive distributor, and we will only supply the goods to the main distributors. What they do with the goods, whether they distribute them to other areas or sell to peers, is their own business... This way, I estimate that after auctioning off 15-16 provinces, autonomous regions, and municipalities, we will have 15-17 million RMB. After auctioning off the whole country, we will have 20-30 million RMB. This is not advance payment for goods, but payment for exclusive distribution rights! With this money, we can build factories and production lines..."

Jia Gang and Su Ping were completely stunned! Although Jia Hongjian's plan had briefly mentioned this part, it had never been so detailed. They had no idea about the specifics! Now, hearing it, they realized their precious son was planning to pull off a major coup! He was going to sell the distribution rights in advance, using the distributors' money to build the production lines? This was a huge risk!

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