Chapter 272

"Is there any difference?"

Qian Jiang looked puzzled: "Aren't Japan-Korea and Korea-Japan the same thing?"

"No no no, from our perspective they're the same, but from their side, they're not—Japan's been holding a grudge."

Zhou Yi leaned back in his chair with a tactical recline, turned his head toward Qian Jiang beside him, and smirked: "You don't follow sports trivia, so it's normal you don't know."

"Even though the official name is Korea-Japan World Cup, Japan initially sold tickets in its own country as Japan-Korea World Cup."

"Only after FIFA warned them did Japan reluctantly change the wording on the tickets—this was reported in sports news not long ago."

"…"

"…"

Zhou Jianhui and Qian Jiang had no interest in football, but after Zhou Yi mentioned this, both their eyes lit up at once—

There's a chance!

"So Japan actually got the short end of the stick in this arrangement?" Zhou Jianhui narrowed his eyes, immediately thinking of a PR target.

If the football associations of Japan and Korea were an unbreakable alliance, getting Zhou Yi onto the closing ceremony would be pure fantasy. But if they weren't…

Qian Jiang suddenly grew excited: "Ah Yi is quite famous in Japan—I think we should give it a shot."

"Yeah, I'll contact Warner Japan first and probe the situation." Zhou Jianhui's spirits lifted, and he immediately began investigating.

If before he'd been thinking of waiting to see how Zhou Yi's new song performed internationally before deciding next steps, now he didn't care whether Zhou Yi's new song would go viral overseas like the last one.

Over the years, so many songs tied to the World Cup have been released, but very few ever went viral—just listenable is enough.

Forget the distant past—just look at the recent ones: the three official songs of the Korea-Japan World Cup, plus all those ads—were they good? Catchy? Memorable?

Not a damn bit!

Zhou Jianhui certainly couldn't tell.

If that's the case, who isn't up there for the closing ceremony?

And the closing ceremony is being held in Japan anyway.

China-Japan friendship relies on Korea; China-Korea friendship relies on Japan; Japan-Korea friendship relies on the U. S. —Zhou Jianhui understood this much.

"Besides Japan's football association and Warner, you can also try contacting FIFA through Coca-Cola's connections."

Once football came up, Zhou Yi, who'd been wide awake, became a self-appointed strategist, plotting his path to the World Cup closing ceremony—

"Korea got to co-host because FIFA's then-president João Havelange wanted to turn FIFA into his personal fiefdom, promoting his son-in-law to succeed him, which angered and targeted UEFA."

"Zheng Mengzhun then approached UEFA, allied with them to lobby FIFA, and only then secured co-hosting rights. Originally, Havelange had planned to let Japan host alone."

"So FIFA's old guard loyal to Havelange still resent Korea."

The enemy of your enemy is your friend—this truth holds everywhere.

"Wait—if Havelange failed, what about the current FIFA president, Joseph Blatter?"

"He belongs to neither Japan nor Korea—he's just a middleman who benefited from the chaos."

Zhou Jianhui instantly understood—middlemen? Just throw money at them.

He knew how to do that—or rather, the entire Warner group did.

"I'll go talk to Chen Qiwei—Coca-Cola's been a longtime World Cup sponsor." Zhou Jianhui immediately acted on his decision.

If the spokesperson could perform at the closing ceremony and expand their influence, Chen Qiwei, as president of Coca-Cola (China), would have a solid achievement to show.

After Zhou Jianhui hurriedly left, Qian Jiang, who knew nothing about football gossip, suddenly remembered something: "Ah Yi, how do you know all this?"

Isn't this all insider information?

Zhou Yi shrugged: "Zheng Mengzhun was putting on a show—he basically spilled everything himself. Combine that with other sources, and you can piece it all together. It's just that, outside of hardcore fans, almost no one in China cares."

"He even published a book exclusively in Japan called 'Japanese People, I Want to Tell You,' detailing how he led Korea's football association to snatch the co-hosting rights."

"The Japanese consider this book a profound humiliation; Zheng Mengzhun is hailed as a hero in Korea."

Qian Jiang: "…"

That's so Korean—stereotype unlocked.

Watching his agent's stunned expression, Zhou Yi stood up from his chair, stretched lazily, and strolled to the floor-to-ceiling window, gazing out. His face faintly reflected in the glass.

As a Chinese singer aiming for a solo performance at the closing ceremony, the song must go viral—and PR requires immense time and preparation.

Starting now, by the time Korea begins pulling off World Cup scandals and its reputation plummets—even Japan will find co-hosting embarrassing.

Then, after years of quiet coordination, Warner can ride the wave and launch a joint PR campaign—landing the closing ceremony won't be impossible.

…………………………………………

"I asked around—what Ah Yi said is all true. Zheng Mengzhun is too flamboyant; everything's traceable."

The next day, Zhou Jianhui appeared at Coca-Cola (China) headquarters and discussed the matter with President Chen Qiwei; the two men, aligned in purpose, quickly reached an agreement.

After securing Coca-Cola's support, Zhou Jianhui, as Asia-Pacific President, submitted his plan to Warner's headquarters and secured a massive budget;

He also flew personally to Japan, dined with Warner Japan's senior executives, and, leveraging Warner Japan's connections, had an informal meeting with Sony personnel.

Sony, too, was one of the official major sponsors of this World Cup.

Then, through Chen Qiwei, Zhou Jianhui obtained contact details for FIFA officials and, together with Warner and Coca-Cola, organized a gathering to bring people together.

During what should've been a brief break, Zhou Jianhui raced nonstop between China, Japan, the U. S., and Switzerland, turning himself from a polished president into a relentless mill horse.

Even Zhou Yi, who'd already arrived in Singapore, would have to call him "Big Brother, you've got stamina."

"Whoa, if President Zhou keeps flipping his day and night like this, won't his body give out?"

Sun Yanzi, who'd dragged Zhou Yi to Singapore for concert rehearsals, glanced at the note Zhou Jianhui had left in Zhou Yi's hand after today's final rehearsal and winced.

A president busier than two singers? Just looking at him made you tired—it made the two of them seem lazy.

"Probably… not?"

Zhou Yi, who'd only opened his mouth the whole time, wasn't sure either.

Sun Yanzi sighed softly: "I heard President Zhou's hairline is starting to recede…"

"This has nothing to do with me."

Benefiting from his height advantage, Zhou Yi glanced down at her and said, "If you keep blabbing, do you think I won't just walk away and leave you with a charge of fraud tomorrow?"

The Mortal World!

One more update coming~

(End of this chapter)