Chapter 124: Refusal

"Ah..."

Ruan Mei, her hair in a disarray, answered Lu Suo's call while still in bed. She had been busy until the small hours of the morning finalizing the advertisement. Everything was ready; they were just waiting for Lu Suo to win the championship. Being jolted awake by Lu Suo’s call pulled her out of a nightmare—yes, all she had been having were nightmares. In them, Lu Suo failed to win, everyone mocked her with newspapers in hand, distributors returned all their stock, Luwang was buried under mountains of inventory, and the three of them—her father and siblings—were left with massive debts and no way out... The scene had just reached the point where they were ready to jump into the sea when Lu Suo’s call came through.

"There's no race today, so why are you congratulating me on winning the 100-meter gold?" Lu Suo asked.

"Ah..." Ruan Mei was now fully awake. "I remembered the 100-meter race was on the first day, I just didn't realize it meant the first day of the official competition. The contract was signed in such a rush yesterday..."

Ruan Mei had made a blunder. She had published the celebration of Lu Suo's victory one day early. A full-page red-ink advertisement in the *Nanyue Metropolitan Daily* cost over 100,000 yuan. For someone as frugal as Ruan Mei, this was enough to make her want to cry.

"Don't cry. It's fine. This is what you call a surprise attack—so surprising that it even caught us off guard. I’m sure the entire Nanyue Province is guessing what 'Luwang' is now. The promotional goal has been achieved, right, Little White Horse?"

"Hmm..." Ruan Mei laughed through her tears. "You're right."

"I made a blunder," Lu Suo said after hanging up the phone, turning to Tian Shiwei and Juno.

"But this is a daring idea. The point of an advertisement is to make people recognize you. This ad has all the suspense: Who is Luwang? Can Lu Suo win? By leveraging the momentum of the National Games, it has instantly ignited the conversation," Juno remarked.

"The key point is that no one else would dare do this. Aside from Ruan Mei, what other silly girl would have such a sure-fire championship prospect like Lu Suo?" Tian Shiwei added.

"That's not necessarily true. Even if Luwang ran ads for two weeks, the investment would be at most two million, and since the sprinting events are concentrated in the first week, it’s really only one million," Juno noted. "Using one million to create such a massive explosion of interest—if it truly succeeds, the returns will be ten or a hundred times that."

"If I’d known, I would have had my dad sign Lu Suo. The profits are going to an outsider, tsk tsk," Tian Shiwei lamented.

The bus came to a halt. They had arrived at the Galaxy Stadium. Colorful flags were fluttering everywhere. The dawn light on the horizon cast an orange glow over the stadium, as if it were a sign that glory was about to rise from within.

The opening ceremony of the Nanyue Provincial National Games was held on the morning of January 15, 2005. The official competition, however, would not begin until January 16. On the afternoon of January 15, the Nanyue Sports Summit Forum was held, where officials, coaches, and athlete representatives from various provinces engaged in discussions. After the forum, the coaches and athletes headed to their respective competition venues. Because the National Games were fully aligned with the Olympic standards—featuring 32 major events and 357 minor events—it was impossible to hold all competitions in a single city. Outside of Yangcheng and Pengcheng, other cities in Nanyue Province hosted events like the marathon, baseball, badminton, kayaking, cycling, equestrianism, and football. It was, in every sense, a sporting extravaganza for the entire province.

At the summit, leaders from the General Administration of Sport and the Nanyue provincial government delivered speeches. Li Yan, coach of the national sprinting team, spoke as an expert. Pan Kai, the nation’s top sprinter, spoke as an athlete representative. During the forum, Dong Zijian quietly handed a newspaper to Li Yan. Li Yan glanced at the *Nanyue Metropolitan Daily* and the full-page red advertisement on the second page. He frowned, looked at Dong Zijian, and then the two of them quietly slipped out of the venue. Pan Kai watched their retreating figures with a look of confusion.

At the tea break area outside the hall, Li Yan asked, "What... is Luwang?"

So, the Luwang advertisement, despite the timing error, had a miraculous effect. If it had been moved to tomorrow, it might not have garnered this much attention.

"It should be a sports brand, the athletic shoe brand that Lu Suo endorses," Dong Zijian replied.

"This kind of promotion...?" Li Yan was slightly puzzled. "Is it because Lu Suo is so convinced he can beat Pan Kai?"

Dong Zijian remained silent; clearly, this level of confidence was no small matter to justify such an ad.

"Does Pan Kai know?" Li Yan asked.

"He probably doesn't yet," Dong Zijian said.

"Hmm..." Li Yan continued to ponder, clearly having encountered a dilemma.

"Do you believe in Lu Suo?" Dong Zijian asked. "I just checked the news online; someone uploaded the ad, and now there are attacks against Lu Suo and the brand everywhere."

Monitoring the internet was one of the tasks Li Yan had assigned to Dong Zijian. Having returned from the United States, Li Yan understood the power of public opinion very well.

"Those voices will be worthless in the face of victory," Li Yan shook his head. "The second Lu Suo beats Pan Kai, everyone will be worshipping him."

"You really do believe in Lu Suo," Dong Zijian couldn't help but remark.

"We need to come up with a strategy," Li Yan said. "Pan Kai’s commercial value cannot be sacrificed here."

"Commercial value..." Dong Zijian found the term grating. Are we only talking about commercial value?

"Liu Yu currently has 300 million USD in endorsements. I estimate his ceiling is around 600 to 700 million. Even if Pan Kai is one-seventh of that, he’s still worth 100 million USD," Li Yan emphasized the word 'USD.' "I stand to gain seven percent of that. Coach Dong, your share is three percent."

Three percent of 100 million USD was 3 million USD—24 million RMB—enough to secure financial freedom for any ordinary person.

"Zhang Zhen has an excellent image, and his commercial value is even greater, but he still needs results to prove himself," Li Yan said. "The Helsinki World Championships will be his stage."

"So, what are you planning to do?" Dong Zijian asked.

"Well, I'm wondering if I can persuade Pan Kai to withdraw from the race," Li Yan said.

"Withdraw..." Dong Zijian was stunned. "Because of an advertisement from Lu Suo, you want to persuade Pan Kai to withdraw?"

That wasn't being cautious; that was being afraid.

"If he withdraws, Pan Kai remains number one. Even if Lu Suo surpasses Pan Kai in terms of results, as long as they haven't competed head-to-head, Pan Kai will always be the best," Li Yan stated.

"But what would be the reason?" Dong Zijian asked.

"Withdraw due to injury," Li Yan mused. "Injured during training."

That evening, in a hotel room:

"I refuse," Pan Kai said.

"If you lose this race, you might lose your A.F. endorsement," Dong Zijian warned.

"As long as the performance gap isn't too large and I don't lose by cheating, it won't be a problem at all," Pan Kai said with a smile. "I've personally read every contract. Don't forget, my minor in college was law."

Very well, he was a top student... Dong Zijian felt a sense of defeat.