Chapter 391

The rain was too heavy, too dense, too thick.

Even though she had an umbrella in her hand, thin lines of rain still seeped through the black cloth. By the time he ran all the way back to Lushan Village, his body was already half-wet.

Somewhat surprised, Building 24 was brightly lit tonight, and there were sounds of drinking and shouting inside; clearly, the fake Daoist priest was hosting guests.

Building 25 was pitch black; was Professor Yu not there?

Building 27's piano room was lit with electric light. Li Heng looked up in the center of the alley, wondering if Mai Sui was there?

But he extinguished the thought of going to visit immediately.

The clothes on his body were bought by Huang Zhaoyi; not to mention they were half-wet and half-dry, he had also hugged her, so there might be a lingering scent of perfume.

A woman's nose is very sharp; he had to keep this in mind at all times.

He took out his key and entered the house, first taking a bath, then throwing his clothes into the washing machine, then walking through every room. Seeing that there was really no sign of Mai Sui, he entered the study and began to get busy.

He had written about 9,400 words for Chapter 38 of "White Deer Plain" during the day, and he planned to continue fighting tonight, planning to finish this chapter.

As usual, he first spent an hour or so flipping through materials and documents, and only when his emotions were in place did he spread out his notebook to write.

Writing this, his inspiration exploded; he wrote until the sky was dark and the earth was dim, forgetting the time. If it weren't for his bladder, he wouldn't have wanted to withdraw from the state; he could still write.

Coming out of the study, he found the living room lights on. At this time, Sun Manning was sitting on the sofa watching TV.

The TV volume wasn't loud, clearly for fear of disturbing him.

He subconsciously glanced at the time: 12:43.

Hearing the movement, Sun Manning turned her head to look over.

Facing each other, Li Heng asked first: "Eh, Manning, why are you here? Why aren't you sleeping so late?"

Sun Manning curled her lips: "Then who do you hope is here? Mai Sui? Or Xiao Han?"

"Don't mess around, today is Wednesday, Xiao Han doesn't have time." Li Heng's skin was thick enough to ignore her teasing.

Sun Manning giggled: "Then it's looking forward to Mai Sui, right? That's also true! Red sleeves adding fragrance, a talented scholar and a beautiful woman, how romantic; if it spreads, it will be a good story."

Li Heng didn't argue with her, first went to the bathroom, and only asked after coming out: "Where is Mai Sui? Where are they?"

Sun Manning took a pillow into her arms, "Professor Yu and Shihe are discussing the arrangement in the piano room. Sui Sui and Ye Ning returned to the dormitory today. It is said that two girls in their dormitory quarreled today and even fought, so the two went back.

Oh! By the way, congratulations to you, you actually came up with 8 more songs without a sound. When Professor Yu and Shihe were arranging the music, they couldn't put your songs down."

At this point, Sun Manning paused, squeezed her eyes, and teased: "Li Heng, if you have any thoughts about Shihe, now is a good opportunity. She is very obsessed with your songs, and her favor for you must be at its peak right now. And she doesn't know about the existence of Song Yu and Chen Zijin; she's the easiest to deceive."

Li Heng rolled his eyes, "Why did you bring up Zhou Shihe? Is your brain rusted?"

"Pah! Your brain is rusted. Do you think this girl wants to bring it up? Ye Ning and I agree that Shihe is born so beautiful that you will fall into it one day." Sun Manning rolled her eyes fiercely, returning three stabs to him, like a fighting cock.

Li Heng stretched: "We have no grudges, can you stop making empty nonsense?"

Sun Manning held up 4 fingers: "Where did I make empty nonsense? You count for yourself: Xiao Han, Song Yu, Chen Zijin, and Mai Sui. It's only been a few years, and there are already 4.

As the saying goes, it's easier to change rivers and mountains than a person's nature; a dog can never change its habit of eating shit! If you meet a great beauty like Zhou Shihe, it would be strange if you weren't moved!"

Letting his gaze wander over her, Li Heng smiled and countered: "Hehe, is that so? Then you should be glad you aren't a great beauty."

"Dizzy! If I were a great beauty, I wouldn't let you succeed, and I would still wander around you every day, just to make you crave me to death!" Sun Manning complained.

After fighting for a while, Li Heng looked at the sky outside again and said with concern: "I'm going to get busy, you rest early."

"Ah! It's this late, and you're still busy? Staying up late every day, don't you want your life?"

"It's okay, I'm almost done writing, I'll check it later and then sleep."

The next day.

When Li Heng finished breakfast and went to the classroom, he heard news that shocked the whole school: a boy named Li Cheng was beaten, and his legs were broken.

It is said that the perpetrator's methods were very ruthless; Li Cheng's legs were broken by someone using an iron rod.

He subconsciously thought of Li Guoyi.

Because he knew that this Li Cheng often walked with Liu An. And the three people who covered Li Guoyi's head with a burlap bag and broke old Li's left arm some time ago were three people.

And Liu An often hung out with this Li Cheng and another boy at school.

The number of people and the grudges happened to match.

The third class was Advanced Mathematics. Li Heng wrote a note to his desk mate Zhang Bing: I just heard the news, what do you think?

Zhang Bing scanned the surroundings and replied: You also saw the tracking incident of old Li that day; I think it's 80% likely that old Li did it. This fits his style.

Style? What style?

The boys in Dorm 325 all knew that Li Guoyi liked to stab people in the back.

Li Heng wrote: Then will old Li be in danger?

Zhang Bing replied: The school and the police station people already looked for him last night. He has been hanging out with the girls from 107 these past few days; when the incident happened, there were witnesses who could prove he wasn't there.

Li Heng wrote: Liu An is fine?

Zhang Bing replied: I'm as confused as you, but...

Li Heng wrote: But what?

Zhang Bing replied: But I heard this Li Cheng is from the rural mountainous area of Liupanshui, Guizhou Province.

With just a simple sentence, Li Heng understood in an instant.

Li Guoyi's uncle was quite famous in Hushi and had extensive social connections. In this day and age, there was no surveillance, and in the absence of any witnesses or physical evidence, it was almost impossible for a boy from a poor family to achieve anything in a big city thousands of miles away.

Li Heng and Zhang Bing looked at each other, and a word surfaced in their minds: testing.

What testing?

Of course, it was to start with the person around Liu An who had the least background, to test the reactions from all sides.

If it was really directed by old Li, then given Li Guoyi's personality, Liu An and the other person would sooner or later suffer retaliation.

Zhang Bing tore up the note and stuffed it into the trash can.

The two understood each other; there were some things they could discuss privately, but they must never mention them to others.

The reason it was the two of them was, first, their relationship was very good, and they were desk mates.

Second, Li Heng and Zhang Bing had gone to the vegetable market to look for Li Guoyi some time ago, but they didn't find him in the end, and it ended without a problem.

But for them, old Li's matter wasn't a big secret.

Thursday had 6 classes. After the 8th class, Li Heng just left the classroom and met Li Wang in the corridor.

"You're here."

"I have something to find you for."

The two returned to Lushan Village. Entering the house, Li Wang got straight to the point: "Li Heng, the first phase of the shoe factory is completed and can be put into production. This is the first batch of samples made by the factory working overtime. Take a look and help me keep an eye on them."

Whoa! The samples were out; this was good news.

Looking at her taking 13 pairs of sample shoes out of two backpacks, he recognized at a glance that these were the Nike Air Force series, which he had intercepted in advance. It was no exaggeration to say that the appearance and style of the shoes could beat all categories of shoes on the market in this era.

Li Heng was somewhat happy and tried on these shoes one by one without being bothered. Finally, he praised:

"This is simply the perfect combination of appearance and comfort! The diverse colors and styles are eye-catching and will definitely help us kill a piece of heaven in the market."

Li Wang also nodded repeatedly with a smile on the side.

To be honest, when Li Heng made a big move and took out the Nike Air Force series and Adidas shell-toe series designs, she was amazed and shocked. Even though time had passed for so long, even now, she still hadn't finished digesting these fashion designs.

After trying on the comfort, Li Heng then tested the quality and asked: "These fabrics look very good. When large-scale production begins, can the supply keep up?"

Li Wang indicated: "I took people to Wenzhou and Quanzhou Jinjiang to find some suppliers and showed them the raw materials brought from Xiangjiang. The problem shouldn't be big."

In this day and age, Wenzhou people were famous for doing business, and Jinjiang in Fujian had the title of "Shoe Capital" in later generations, where everything was available—there was nothing you couldn't think of, and nothing they couldn't do. Whether it was high-imitation or OEM for luxury goods, it was all a piece of cake.

There were even rumors in the world that their high-imitation clothes and shoes were of better quality than the genuine ones; wouldn't you say they were awesome?

The two discussed the shoe factory matter for an hour until their mouths were dry. Finally, Li Heng gave Li Wang a task:

"Sister Wang, it's June now. The Olympics will be held in Hancheng in mid-September. Time is tight. We must take down the sports equipment sponsorship matter before September."

According to his idea: not only should all Olympic athletes wear shoes produced by their own factory on the arena. They also had to sign a few gold medal athletes as advertising spokespersons.

Because the financial resources were insufficient and there were so many participating athletes, Li Heng weighed it and wrote 11 names on the paper.

They were: Table tennis, Chen Longcan, Wei Qingguang, and Chen Jing.

Gymnastics, Lou Yun.

Diving, Gao Min and Xu Yanmei.

In the 1980s, the country attached great importance to sports and focused on promoting the spirit of sports.

For example, "Learn the spirit of the Chinese women's volleyball team, bravely climb the peak of science and culture," "Won the championship in Lima again, the five-star red flag flutters in a foreign land," let the flowers of the three-eight and five-good bloom all over the motherland, etc.

For another example, the honor of the motherland is higher than everything, swearing to fight for the motherland's sports medicine career, etc.

It had been less than 10 years since the reform and opening up. After opening the country's door, whether it was economy, culture, sports, industry, or even military equipment, almost every industry you could think of was in a weak state, with a relatively low status internationally, and was always looked down upon by foreigners.

Even due to some special reasons, many intellectuals in this era held skeptical and pessimistic attitudes toward the country's future, which was the reason why many people took going abroad as their lifelong goal and the reason for the study-abroad fever in the country.

In short, the gap was too large, making many people highly unconfident and producing a sense of inferiority.

Amidst the atmosphere of self-doubt and self-denial, in order to revitalize morale and enhance national self-confidence, the country focused on the fighting spirit of the Chinese women's volleyball team as the object of propaganda.

And the effect was very significant; the women's volleyball spirit injected fresh vitality into the listless masses, encouraging everyone to move forward.

In later generations, due to the richness of material culture, perhaps the fighting spirit of the women's volleyball team would not be understood, and even felt to be an empty slogan.

But Li Heng, as a person who had been there, understood the importance and far-reaching significance of the women's volleyball spirit better than anyone else. It awakened a group of confused people, brought surprises and longing to the people, and truly encouraged a generation.

Due to the huge influence of the women's volleyball spirit in the country, various sports events were very popular in the 1980s, and the public's attention to them was far beyond later generations, and the status of sports athletes was generally high. This made Li Heng see the opportunity for the rise of sports brands.

This was also the reason why Li Heng hurriedly wrote a letter to fool his little cousin to come to Hushi to start a business together when he learned that she wanted to independently create a sports brand.

Otherwise, according to the historical trajectory, Li Wang would have taken the core city of reform and opening up, Shencheng, as the base for starting a business, and would not have come to Hushi.

But Li Heng's letter worked. His analysis of the prospects of sports brands, his innovative design ideas, market operations, and money finally attracted Li Wang. Otherwise, would she have willingly given most of the equity to Li Heng?

The key was that Li Heng invited her to start a business together, and the key was that Li Heng contributed much more in all aspects than she did. Whether it was money, wisdom, or personal reputation, he almost crushed her in all aspects, making her admire him.

The 6 names Li Heng just wrote on the white paper were athletes who would win gold in the 1988 Hancheng Olympics. Among them, Chen Longcan and Wei Qingguang were the men's table tennis doubles champions.

That's right, the Chinese team won 15 gold medals in the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics, but it plummeted to a pitiful 5 in 1988.

Li Ning, the gymnastics prince who was infinitely optimistic about before the event and was regarded as the hope of Chinese sports, failed in the 1988 Olympics, with frequent mistakes, which disappointed many people and led to a round of criticism from domestic media, and even angry people sent him razor blades. This was also one of the reasons why Li Ning couldn't bear the burden and chose to retire after returning to the country.

After writing the 6 gold-winning athletes, Li Heng wrote 5 names who couldn't win medals, including Li Ning.

The purpose of doing this was to mix fish and dragons, confuse the line of sight, so as not to be suspected.

Staring at the list on the white paper, Li Wang questioned: "Are you sure these people can win the championship?"

Li Heng waved his hand: "No. You know my hobby, I love reading newspapers, I just extracted these 11 names based on news information.

They have high popularity and strong ability, the Chinese people are optimistic about them, and there is attention, which is exactly what we need."

Glancing at the thick stack of newspapers on the coffee table, Li Wang was somewhat impressed. This little cousin was truly amazing; not only did he have to attend classes and create, but he also spent a lot of time every day reading newspapers to obtain outside information, which was truly much harder than the average person. No wonder he could be so successful at a young age.

Li Wang didn't know enough about others, but she had heard of Li Ning's name like thunder. She pointed at Li Ning with her finger:

"This person has the reputation of a gymnastics prince. Four years ago, he won 3 gold, 2 silver, and 1 bronze medals in the Los Angeles Olympics. Our financial resources are tight, he is estimated to be very expensive, do you think he will endorse?"

Li Heng glanced at the name on the paper, thinking in his heart that he wrote him to deceive everyone's line of sight, and didn't count on him at all:

"It doesn't matter, we do things in human effort. If Li Ning is hard to handle, these 3 people must be signed."

As he spoke, he used a pen to circle the names of the 3 gold medal winners: table tennis Chen Jing, gymnastics Lou Yun, and diving Gao Min.

The reason for designating these three names was that Chen Jing and Gao Min had high popularity, and there were relatively many news reports, which was conducive to brand promotion.

As for Lou Yun, hey, he was just a substitute for Li Ning.

It was completely imaginable that when Li Ning encountered Waterloo in Hancheng, Lou Yun, who carried the banner of gymnastics, would be sought after by media and the public, and would be very popular.

Damn it, signing him now was completely picking up a leak.

After listening to his analysis, Li Wang kept these three names in her heart, and then asked the last question: "Will the Sports Commission agree to our sponsorship of sports shoes?"

This was the thing she was most worried about.

Li Heng ordered: "You go ahead first, and when you arrive in Jingcheng, show your Xiangjiang compatriot status first. If there is still no way, you call me, and I will think of a way."

"Okay, I'll go back to the factory to arrange work matters and set off the day after tomorrow." Li Wang was a person who acted decisively, stood up and said.

Li Heng sent her to the door: "The matter of CCTV advertising is also a top priority."

Li Wang nodded: "I know."

PS: Published first, edited later.

(End of chapter)