Chapter 31

The owner of the second-largest domestic sports shoe brand saw the uncontrollable smile on Fan Xi's face, and he was also genuinely pleased.

For him, this was indeed an astronomical expenditure, but at the same time, he was a shrewd businessman.

Signing Fan Xi for a lifetime sports endorsement for 1 billion RMB was definitely not a loss.

1 billion RMB converted into US dollars is about 135 million. Although it looks larger than the first sponsorship contracts of superstars like LeBron James, Kevin Durant, and Derek Rose, they only signed for five or six years, while he wanted to hold onto Fan Xi for a lifetime.

As a sharp boss, he often came to the United States, and these past two days, he saw a completely different scene on television.

In the past, when Chinese players ventured into the NBA, they were only popular on Chinese television.

Even for a star of Yao Ming's level, the discussion here in the United States was very low.

But Fan Xi broke this probability; his discussion rate was very high, and not just on television, but even more so on the internet. Now, American fans were actually initiating votes for him to enter the All-Star Game.

You know, in the past, Yao Ming's entry into the All-Star Game relied entirely on the votes of Chinese fans. Later, Yi Jianlian caused an incident that greatly displeased the American media, to the point that non-US votes were no longer fully included in the data.

This explains a truth.

Fan Xi was extremely recognized and loved by the American public. Moreover, he was favored by professionals; as an undrafted player, he could make a powerhouse like the Lakers offer a contract unprecedented in history, showing his future was limitless.

Successful businessmen have extremely precise abilities to capture information.

Therefore, he believed he had offered a price that Fan Xi could not refuse.

Fan Xi was indeed shocked.

However, after waking up from the joy of his talent skyrocketing, he quickly calmed down.

His mother often taught him that if someone gives you an unprecedented delicacy for no reason, you must be careful of the trap behind the delicacy. Usually, only hunters throw out amazing bait.

At this time, that annoying cousin-uncle walked over and said to the boss: "1 billion? You aren't joking, are you? Isn't this too..."

He did not want Fan Xi to suddenly become a billionaire.

He was very annoyed in his heart now. He had originally called Fan Xi over just to boost his own face so he could do business better in the future. He never thought Fan Xi would get 1 billion RMB because of this.

That boss was also truly generous; he had his secretary take a contract out of his briefcase: "Little Xi, this is a contract in black and white. As long as you sign this contract, you will immediately get 30 million, and it will be the same amount every year after. After you retire, we will settle the rest through equity."

The equity the boss mentioned was actually also a trap.

According to what he said, giving Fan Xi 30 million RMB a year is about 5 million US dollars, and then half of the tax has to be deducted, so what he actually gets is not much.

Most importantly, a professional player's career is not long; the median in the NBA is 8 years. Calculated this way, what Fan Xi gets is about the same as his current contract.

If Fan Xi becomes a super big star during this period, the stock price of the company that owns his endorsement rights will inevitably rise, and when converted into shares at that time, it would be a drop in the bucket.

Capital is very good at painting big pictures to create traps.

It looks like 1 billion is an amazing astronomical figure.

When truly converted... there actually isn't much.

Fan Xi did not take the contract but said: "Thank you very much for your trust in me; this is indeed a very amazing number. However, it is difficult for me to make a decision on such a major matter without discussing it with my parents."

Fan Xi actually refused.

This was beyond everyone's expectations, including that boss.

On the contrary, his cousin-uncle was overjoyed; he didn't want his nephew to earn so much money.

"Are you worried that my contract has traps? You can let your uncle help you check it carefully. Or, find a professional lawyer to come over; that's no problem. You can even call your mom and dad now." The boss showed great sincerity.

Fan Xi still smiled slightly and said: "I still can't make a decision in a short time; this is really too important for my life."

"Yeah, yeah. This money is too much... No, I mean, this money is a lot of pressure for Jack; he needs a lot of time to digest it." The cousin-uncle on the side also chimed in.

Fan Xi turned his head and glanced at this hypocritical cousin-uncle. He thought, this person is still as "unable to see others do well" as ever.

"Little Xi, you have to know that athletes and stocks are the same. There are ups and downs; when it's at a high point, you should sell quickly, not hold onto it until it drops to a low point and get trapped..." the sports shoe boss said pointedly.

Fan Xi smiled.

His smile turned into a hearty laugh.

He said: "I think I am a potential stock, otherwise you wouldn't be willing to bet 1 billion RMB so early. I will become stronger."

"That's good." The sports shoe boss nodded with a smile. He realized this little guy wasn't that simple, but that was fine; top-tier athletes wouldn't last long without a smart brain.

"Little Xi, I also think you will become stronger and stronger. Come on, you will definitely be able to get more money than 1 billion." His cousin-uncle breathed a sigh of relief on the side.

Fan Xi turned back: "Is that so? Do you really think so? My dear cousin... uncle."

Fan Xi bit the word "cousin" very hard.

The cousin-uncle was sweating; he didn't expect Fan Xi to suddenly become a different person, with an extremely powerful aura.

"Of course," he said with a guilty conscience.

"Everyone, this is my cousin-uncle, who is in the sports shoe OEM business. Back then, my parents brought him along to do this business, and now he seems to be doing better than my father. So, if you have orders in the future, you must take care of my parents."

Fan Xi cupped his hands to everyone, and then said to the boss of the second-largest domestic sports brand: "Especially you, if you can give some of the orders to my parents, our future cooperation will definitely be smoother."

That boss immediately understood and quickly promised: "Don't worry, Little Xi. No matter if we can cooperate in the future, we are willing to maintain a good relationship with you."

The surrounding brand owners all said the same.

Fan Xi smiled and thanked them one by one.

The cousin-uncle's face was already extremely pale; he never dreamed that this guy, who looked unremarkable when he was young, was so powerful and had actually backstabbed him like this.

He felt extremely uncomfortable.

Fan Xi left after a few pleasantries, not staying here any longer.

After Fan Xi left, this dinner ended very quickly. Because these bosses came for Fan Xi, and which of the bosses present wasn't a shrewd person? They clearly heard from Fan Xi's words that the relationship between Fan Xi and this cousin-uncle was not as good as he boasted. Since that was the case, why give him face?

The cousin-uncle looked at the empty private room, and he was stunned.

He originally thought Fan Xi would be the type of person who cared too much about face and suffered for it, like his parents, the type who would remain silent even after being taken advantage of.

Unexpectedly... the Fan Xi who looked unremarkable when he was young was truly ruthless, stabbing him directly.

He was severely damaged, and his factory orders would definitely drop rapidly.

And the OEM factory of Fan Xi's parents, which he had bullied and slandered in secret for more than ten years, would definitely receive a lot of orders because of this.

This petty person was furious.

He quickly found someone to check Fan Xi's situation in the NBA, to ask what level Fan Xi was at in the NBA, whether he could establish himself in the NBA, and whether he could really become a so-called star player and win glory for the country.

The person helping him check soon sent back information.

"It's not yet known if your nephew can establish himself in the NBA; he has only played three games and is still very immature. Although the Lakers gave him a big contract and American fans are very keen on him, NBA players hate him. A player on the Nets even said he would destroy him tomorrow night. If your nephew is destroyed by Harris tomorrow night, his reputation will be ruined. You should remind him to be careful."

After reading the information, the cousin-uncle threw his phone away.

He said fiercely in his heart: Remind him? Remind him of what? I wish he would be destroyed immediately.

This is the face of some relatives.

They are often the people who least want to see you do well.

…

The game between the Lakers and the Knicks kicked off at Madison Square Garden.

However, the American media was clearly more concerned about Fan Xi, who was sitting on the bench. In the past two days, Fan Xi's contract had become known to everyone in the United States, and everyone was discussing this matter, so the media kept hovering around the Lakers' bench.

Fan Xi simply went back to the locker room after halftime.

In the absence of Kobe Bryant, Andrew Bynum, and Fan Xi, the Lakers lost this game.

Although the New York Knicks did not solve the compatibility between their two big forwards in this game, they were still slightly better than the chaotic Lakers.

After this game ended, everyone actually knew one thing: when Fan Xi was on the team, the Lakers' offense was much smoother than before.

"At least two of Steve Blake, Shannon Brown, and Derek Fisher will leave this team."

After the game, the commentator said bluntly. He believed that the two Lakers point guards were counting down their time with the Lakers.

The Lakers had no reason to hoard four point guards on the team, especially after spending millions in annual salary to renew Fan Xi's contract, making the salary burden heavier and heavier.

It is worth mentioning that as Devin Harris posted that declaration text on his personal social platform, the attention on the game between the Lakers and the Nets rose in a straight line. It even made TNT change its broadcast plan, broadcasting this game, which should not have appeared on national television, to the whole country.

And the fans were ecstatic; everyone cared about whether Fan Xi could continue to perform miracles and continue to flip unconvinced challengers to the ground.

However, for those experts in the basketball field and players who felt Fan Xi's contract amount was too glaring, they all looked forward to Devin Harris taking Fan Xi down, making him lose face, and setting the record straight.

"I am an honest person, and I am always responsible for what I say. However, this time, it is an exception. The official contract given by the Lakers is too far beyond the norm. I have to suspect that this is a disguised dumping. Therefore, I have to wait until after that game between the Lakers and the Nets to carry out my punishment. If Fan plays a performance worthy of his current value in this game, I will of course kneel down and shout 'Jack Fan is my basketball god'."

Charles Barkley reiterated on TNT's live program: "I keep my word."

But his partner Kenny Smith thought he was playing a rogue, believing that if he were a man who kept his word, he should have knelt down to fulfill his promise the moment the NBA announced the contract was effective.

But Barkley had his excuses.

Kenny said: "Come on. You definitely can't hide from it; it's nothing more than letting you delay it for another day."

"Do you think Fan can defeat Devin Harris? Devin Harris is a standard elite player, and now the Nets' head coach coached him when he was with the Mavericks."

"Most importantly, I heard that the entire league is helping Harris analyze Fan Xi's weaknesses. Harris's inbox is full of their analysis; it seems many people want Fan Xi to be ruined in this game."

Barkley said so.

In fact, what he said was the truth.

In just one day, Fan Xi became a public enemy in the minds of most NBA players because he received an unprecedented contract, jumped out of the existing rookie contract framework, and became the first person to eat the grapes.

So, of course, some people would want him to be embarrassed.

Kobe Bryant had discussed this matter with Fan Xi on the phone, and he hoped Fan Xi would stay steady. He also spoke privately with Phil Jackson, claiming that if Fan Xi could survive this wave of attacks, he would have a chance to become a star in the future.

Phil Jackson was optimistic, saying: "I will let him play the whole game, if his physical strength allows."

Since Devin Harris proposed a head-to-head confrontation, let them have a head-to-head confrontation.

All grievances, settled in one battle.

As for the outcome, let God's be God's, and Satan's be Satan's.

…

Selena and Taylor Swift set off early from Long Island, New York, to watch the game at the arena in suburban New Jersey.

Taylor Swift was very unwilling to go watch the game with her; she felt this game had little to see.

Selena said mysteriously: "Just come with me; tonight I will tell you a secret and give you a huge surprise."

"Really?" Taylor was skeptical.

"Didn't you say you wanted to know who my dream lover is? Tonight I will reveal the answer to the mystery for you." Selena said to her best friend.

Taylor immediately became interested: "You mean that dream lover who makes you infatuated and makes you reach unprecedented physical pleasure? The man who makes you feel like you're being electrocuted all over and rolling on the clouds?"

"Yes." Selena nodded shyly.

Oh, damn.

Taylor covered her chest and said: "I really hope you're not lying. I also want to see such a man."

However, another handsome and shy figure subconsciously appeared in her mind.

Jack.

A boy named Jack.

…