Yokohama Athletics All-Star Game

Mid-September by the Huangpu River still carries the atmosphere of summer. Although it's not peak summer, the temperature nearing 30 degrees Celsius and intense sunlight pose quite a challenge for many.

Zhang Guan went alone to report at the university, but soon all the school leaders hurried over. The enrollment procedures were specifically arranged for Zhang Guan, and he was exempted from military training. At this moment, the school leaders were focused on taking photos with Zhang Guan – photos of just the two of them, three, four, group photos, and photos during the school tour. These photos were quickly uploaded to the school's website, and the publicity team started drafting announcements at lightning speed. The school photographers spared no effort, capturing every move of Zhang Guan with their cameras, preparing to catch the prime-time news of the day.

Competition among top universities in China is fierce in various aspects such as academic disciplines, achievements, talents, scientific research outcomes, and patent projects. Fudan University is certainly at the top tier, but when it comes to the top universities in China, people still think first of those hundred-year-old institutions in the capital. However, this does not mean Fudan is willing to fall behind. Although Zhang Guan's arrival may not directly elevate the academic standards, his Olympic champion status and title of 'World's Fastest Man' are undoubtedly significant boosts to the school's brand.

Later, Zhang Guan immediately rushed to report at the Xinzhuang training base. However, to his surprise, Liu Feiren and Coach Sun had not yet returned; they were probably still busy with commercial activities. Zhang Guan was quite occupied too; in the next two or three days, he had to shoot an advertisement. Fortunately, Yiming Consultancy and Heroic Advertising had offices in Huangpu, saving Zhang Guan the trouble of running around.

That day, after a short session of adaptation training, Zhang Guan changed clothes and noticed several missed calls on his phone. The first few were from Coach Yu, and the last one was from Zhuge Wenbo.

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

"I heard you've already reported at the Xinzhuang base? How is it? Are you adapting well? I've made all the arrangements beforehand. If there's anything you're not used to, just inform the logistics at the base directly," Coach Yu said.

"It's alright, I'm adapting well. The facilities here are really good, but the temperature is still quite high. I already had an adaptation training session this afternoon, just finished training," Zhang Guan replied.

"Good to hear. I bought a ticket for the day after tomorrow to come to you. If the plane is not delayed, I'll arrive at the Xinzhuang base before noon," Coach Yu said.

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

"Yes. Going abroad, to Yokohama, Japan. We leave next week," Coach Yu continued, "Liu Feiren is also going, but they should still be returning to the Xinzhuang base tomorrow."

"That's tight. What competition is it?" Zhang Guan asked.

"The Yokohama International Athletics All-Star Meet," Coach Yu said, adding, "It's an invitation event featuring strong competitors. Allen Johnson will be in the 110-meter hurdles event, and the American team's Gatlin and Greene will be in your 100-meter sprint event."

"An invitation event, huh!" Zhang Guan whispered, "The Japanese must have spent quite a bit of money!"

Coach Yu awkwardly chuckled on the other end of the line and continued, "Originally, considering that the Olympic Games had just ended and athletes were tired, the central authorities were not planning to let you participate. However, considering that this is your first overseas competition as an Olympic champion and Japan is a good destination, being close to Asia and not too far away, the organizers in Japan were very sincere. Eventually, the center agreed to let you compete."

"This is about going to Japan to show off the championship!" Zhang Guan continued, "How much is the sincerity of the Japanese?"

"The appearance fee is one hundred thousand US dollars. The organizers said that as long as you show up, they will pay a hundred thousand US dollars as appearance fee, reimburse your round-trip ticket, and also arrange a fan meeting with a twenty thousand dollar appearance fee," Coach Yu thought for a moment, then said, "There's also a high prize money, twenty thousand US dollars for the winner of the 100 meters."

"That's quite a lot. The Japanese are really willing to spend money. I'm definitely going," Zhang Guan said, "But are the Japanese going to get a facelift? Spend money to invite us?"

"In sports competitions, appearance fees are generally lower than in commercial activities. Four years ago, after the American athlete Maurice Greene won the Olympic gold medal, his appearance fee for competitions was as high as twenty thousand US dollars. And two years ago, after Montgomery broke the world record, his competition fee was probably twenty-five thousand US dollars. Considering factors such as inflation, today, a reasonable price for Zhang Guan's appearance fee in competitions is probably around thirty thousand US dollars. Therefore, the Japanese have paid a price for Zhang Guan that is more than three times the normal price," Coach Yu continued.

"In fact, sending you to participate in the competition has other more important reasons. In the past week, there has been a very bad trend in international sports public opinion. They say that you and Liu Feiren won the Olympic gold medal just because you were lucky. They think that in the 110-meter hurdles event, Liu Feiren only won the gold medal because Alan Johnson withdrew, and in the 100-meter sprint, you won the gold medal because the Americans were in poor condition," Coach Yu said.

"Liu Feiren set a new world record, I broke the world record to win the championship, and they couldn't stop their mouths? When the Americans were in good condition, I didn't see them break a world record for me to see," Zhang Guan said disdainfully.

"European and American countries can't see our rise. This is not only the case economically and militarily, but also in sports. So this time, you have to run well. Even if you don't steam buns, you have to fight for this breath!" Coach Yu paused for a moment, then continued, "After this All-Star Meet, you will immediately return and go to Luzhou to participate in the National Athletics Grand Prize Finals. So next week's schedule will be quite tight, you should be mentally prepared."

Zhang Guan calculated the time and said, "So after coming back from Japan, I have to go straight to Luzhou? The time seems a bit tight!"

"Yes. You must go to the National Athletics Grand Prize Finals. The audience in Luzhou is very enthusiastic. I heard that once they heard you were coming, they bought more than ten thousand tickets. Moreover, at the finals, major sponsors will also participate. Therefore, the center hopes to make the competition lively. If you participate, it will be very helpful for next year's international athletics sponsorship contract signing session," Coach Yu said.

After saying this, Coach Yu seemed to remember something else and said, "The competition is next week. You should pay attention to your diet recently. Have all three meals at the base. Don't eat outside."

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

"The endorsement by Nike has been negotiated. Two years, twenty million, including the cost of an advertisement. Two million is in cash, and five million is for sports equipment sponsorship. What do you think? If it's okay, I can sign tomorrow morning," Zhuge Wenbo continued on the phone.

"Wenbo, you're amazing! I thought it would be good to get five or six million a year. So, if you count the cash, it's seven and a half million a year, plus two and a half million sponsorship. That's a lot of money, definitely sign!" Zhang Guan said.

Zhang Guan knew that objectively speaking, the price offered by Nike was quite high. Among other athletes, after Liu Feiren won the Olympic gold medal, his endorsement price with Nike was 4 million RMB; the endorsement fee for diving prince with the Sharp endorsement was 3 million RMB; among domestic football players, the endorsement fee for the Everton's big iron was 2 million RMB a year; while the endorsement fee for Xie Liang was 1.5 million RMB. So from this comparison, Nike put a big price on Zhang Guan, who is considered the first in the country.

....

United States.

Zach returned to his residence with a weary face, then lay down on the sofa and didn't want to get up again.

He had just visited several angel investors and technology-focused investment firms in Silicon Valley, hoping to obtain their investment. However, the conditions proposed by those greedy angel investors and investment firms were unacceptable to him. They not only demanded shares but also management and control rights of the company.

"If I agree to those investors, then FB will no longer be my company, no, absolutely not! I can't let anyone take away my company!" Zach thought of the faces of those investors and couldn't help but start to feel angry.

But then Zach thought again, if he didn't have financial support, the FB he founded definitely couldn't continue. Maybe next month, he wouldn't even be able to afford the server rental fees!

Since founding FB in February, the user base has continued to expand. But just recently, another social networking site, CONNECTU, sued FB, accusing Zach of illegally using their development source code. In the United States, lawsuits involving intellectual property rights are very costly—hiring lawyers, presenting evidence, and finding expert endorsements—all require money, which Zach currently doesn't have.

So these days, Zach began looking for investments—from Boston to Silicon Valley. He approached many investors, and many showed interest in Zach's FB. However, all investors demanded one thing: voting rights on the board, with some even requiring over 50% ownership. Zach absolutely couldn't accept such conditions.

"What should I do? What should I do? No, I can't give up. If things don't work out, I'll go to New York tomorrow and try my luck on Wall Street." Although Zach knew that the businessmen on Wall Street were all ruthless, he was already at his wits' end and had to give it a shot.

Just then, Zach's phone rang. He picked up and saw an unfamiliar number.

"It must be a telemarketing call again, those mundane telemarketing calls!" Zach hung up directly. But unexpectedly, three minutes later, the same number called again, and this time Zach answered the phone.

"Hello, may I ask if you are Mr. Zach, the founder of FB?" the voice on the other end said.

"You're not American, this isn't an American accent, could you be British or Australian?" Zach tried to discern the caller's origin from their accent. Then he said, "Hello, I'm Zach, who am I speaking to?"

"Please forgive me for intruding, my name is Alan Chen, I'm a representative from Hong Kong Fuda Investment Company. We believe FB is a very promising project, and we would like to invest in it," the person said.

"Investment!" Zach suddenly sat up straight on the sofa, then immediately said, "Mr. Chen, sorry, did you just say you want to invest?"

"Yes, investment. I wonder when Mr. Zach will be available. We can meet and discuss in detail," Chen said.

"I'm available right now!" Zach instantly became alert. "If possible, we can meet right away!"