Chapter 127: The 100-Meter Preliminaries

This was the second day since Lu Wang had taken out a full-page spot-color advertisement in the newspaper.

Today, Lu Wang stubbornly continued to predict winning the gold medal in the 100-meter dash and breaking the National Games record, even though it was the 16th and only the preliminary heats for the 100 meters were being held.

If this were a provincial or daily newspaper—official mouthpieces for the party and government—they would have to consider the social impact before publishing such an ad. But the metropolitan paper was different. Operating under market economics, it reported on social phenomena that the public found entertaining. This ad was precisely that: very well received. Over the past two days, the newspaper office had been inundated with calls, everyone asking, “What exactly is Lu Wang?”

Ruan Mei, who was orchestrating this marketing campaign, had received countless inquiry calls throughout the previous day. Not only the dealers who had already been contacted were asking about the promotional plan and launch date, but even those dealers she had visited before and who had shown little interest were now hesitating and growing intrigued.

Merchants pursue profit and are highly vigilant. Though the wave stirred by Lu Wang was still small, it was already beginning to spread across the province, even nationwide, just waiting for a spark to ignite it.

And at this very moment, Ruan Mei faced that spark.

Could she not be nervous?

This was no longer a matter of millions spent on advertising; it was like buying a lottery ticket and watching it about to be drawn. Though she was confident the numbers were correct, what if something went wrong?

“I... I’m not nervous,” Ruan Mei forced herself to say.

“Your eyes are dark underneath.” Lusso gently patted the hand that Ruan Mei had grasped on his arm. “Relax. Today is just the preliminaries.”

“Mm... yes!” Ruan Mei quickly nodded and released her grip on Lusso’s arm, adding, “Lusso, that contract will definitely be valid!”

“Mm.” Lusso nodded too. He believed in Ruan Mei.

The so-called contract referred to a supplementary agreement Lusso and Lu Wang had signed before the National Games began, building on their previous contract.

The original contract had stipulated that if Lusso’s public results changed, the contract amount would be adjusted. This supplementary agreement specified the scale of that adjustment.

The terms were as follows: if Lusso won the 100-meter gold medal, his endorsement fee would increase by 500,000 yuan; winning the 200-meter gold would add another 300,000 yuan; the 400-meter and 4x100-meter relay golds would each add 300,000 yuan; and if he broke the National Games record, the reward would double.

In other words, if Lusso secured all four gold medals, Lu Wang would present him with a new contract worth 1.58 million yuan. And if he broke the record on top of that, the amount would climb even higher.

Although this was certainly less than the endorsement fee given to Pan Kai by A·F, it was the maximum Lu Wang could offer at present. Beyond this, they would have to consider equity shares.

Lusso was not interested in business operations and did not want shares in Lu Wang.

...

“Lusso, it’s your turn,” Lu Jinrong called from behind the competition area.

Lusso had noticed Ruan Mei in the audience and was looking for her to chat briefly.

Apart from Ruan Mei, Lusso had not invited other relatives or friends, such as Lu Xiaoyu or the landlord, to watch this race. It was only the preliminaries and semifinals; the finals were the real spectacle.

...

Before stepping onto the track, Lusso spotted a few familiar faces in the 100-meter waiting area.

This time, the number of 100-meter participants was especially large, so they were divided into four groups.

Lusso saw national team members Zhao Liren, Wang Wei, and Chen Tianfu.

But Lusso did not see Zhang Zhen.

Zhang Zhen was also a strong 100-meter runner. If his progress at 60 meters was so rapid, he probably had the potential to break 10.20 seconds in the 100 meters. So why wasn’t he competing?

Now, Lu Jinrong introduced Lusso to several other well-known short-distance runners from other provinces.

These runners were over 18 years old, so they would not appear on the national team list for the East Qing Games. They were not adept at indoor competition, or rather, they had given up the indoor invitational meet, so Lusso had not seen them last December.

There were quite a few of them.

But very few boasted outstanding results.

When introducing them, Lu Jinrong also mentioned their latest public 100-meter times. Currently, the best domestic sprinters’ times hovered around 10.30 seconds, with the top being Gong Wei from Gan Province at about 10.22 seconds. That was why Pan Kai’s 10.15 seconds stood out as earth-shattering.

Pan Kai.

This was Lusso’s first time meeting Pan Kai.

He was about the same height as Lusso.

According to the data, Pan Kai was also 1.82 meters tall.

Their builds were similar, though Lusso appeared more solid, probably because his ‘strength’ attribute had improved significantly recently.

At this moment, among all the 100-meter runners in the competition area, Lusso was also among the most muscular, which perhaps proved the effectiveness of his recent efforts to boost his ‘strength.’

Physically, Lusso was no weaker than any other competitor present.

Noticing Lusso’s gaze, Pan Kai turned and looked back at him.

His eyes behind his glasses revealed interest.

He walked over toward Lusso.

The first to notice this were the nearby athletes, who instinctively parted to give way, as if showing respect to the leader of a wolf pack.

Pan Kai reached Lusso.

The two sized each other up.

This scene became an unspoken focal point; other athletes and coaches couldn’t help but watch. Though they knew no fight would break out, there was always a chance...

“Pan Kai,” Pan Kai extended his hand.

“Lusso,” Lusso replied, also extending his hand.

As their hands met, a reporter quickly snapped a photo.

After the race, this photo became iconic: Pan Kai, glasses on, looked cultured and refined, while Lusso appeared more aggressive. Their locked gaze and handshake resembled two swordsmen revealing their blades before battle, the tension in the air palpable.

“Let me tell you something. Before the race, someone was afraid I’d run into you and suggested I withdraw,” Pan Kai whispered, “Of course, I refused.”

“Good thing you did,” Lusso whispered back, “Otherwise, my victory wouldn’t mean much.”

“But he might try to deal with you. I think you should watch out for what you eat here,” Pan Kai warned.

“Is that so?” Lusso raised an eyebrow.

...

“What were you two talking about?” Tian Shiwei asked curiously.

He was in the third group, not Lusso’s.

“He said Li Yan might try to mess with me,” Lusso replied.

Lusso didn’t need to guess who Pan Kai meant by ‘he.’

As for what Li Yan might do, it was hard to say. If Lusso was a normal person, Li Yan would be a terror on the field; any tactic used by Li Yan would seem perfectly ordinary.

“Does he dare?” Tian Shiwei frowned immediately. “If he dares play dirty in Yangcheng, I’ll make sure he never leaves Nanyue Province!”

That was true—better to strike first...

Lusso began considering the possibility of tying Li Yan up in a sack tonight.

...

Pan Kai was in the first heat of the 100-meter preliminaries.

Lusso was in the second.

Other runners were assigned to the four groups accordingly.

There were no familiar faces in Lusso’s group.

...

At 7:05 p.m. on the 16th, the 100-meter preliminaries for Nanyue Province at the National Games concluded.

The winning times for each group were:

First group: Pan Kai, 10.30 seconds.

Second group: Lusso, 10.28 seconds.

Third group: Chen Tianfu, 10.35 seconds.

Fourth group: Gong Wei, 10.31 seconds.

It was clear that everyone was running conservatively.

But Chen Tianfu’s top finish in the third group surprised Lusso. Chen Tianfu was primarily a 200-meter runner. Running 10.35 seconds was a full-throttle effort. Why go all out in the preliminaries?

Meanwhile, Tian Shiwei, who was in Chen Tianfu’s group, was even more upset. He had hoped to take first in the group, but Chen Tianfu snatched it from him.