Chapter 1983: Refusal

Choice is undoubtedly something we all do every moment of our lives.

Just like Zhao Fusheng at this moment.

Should he follow everyone's expectations and choose the diving team and the badminton team, or stick to his own opinion and choose the beach volleyball and cycling teams, which no one pays attention to and are not favored?

Clearly, this multiple-choice question, in the eyes of Director Chen and the others, was not difficult at all.

Seek good fortune and avoid disaster, strive for fame and gain.

That was their principle.

But unfortunately, it was not Zhao Fusheng's.

"I'm very sorry."

Zhao Fusheng was silent for a long time, then looked at Director Chen and suddenly said, "I think the badminton team and the diving team probably don't lack my sponsorship fee, do they?"

"Huh?"

Director Chen raised an eyebrow. Not only him, but President Jiang and Team Leader Zhou were also stunned, completely not expecting things to turn out like this.

Was this Zhao Fusheng crazy?

They found it hard to understand why someone would make such a decision. Didn't he know what this decision meant?

"Chairman Zhao, won't you reconsider?"

"Yes, Chairman Zhao, please think it over again."

President Jiang and Team Leader Zhou exchanged glances and spoke to Zhao Fusheng again.

Although Zhao Fusheng had made his words very clear, they were still unwilling to give up.

After all, that was nearly ten million in sponsorship fees per year.

At this time, sponsorship fees meant profit.

Especially for high-level officials like them.

Before coming, none of them had expected Zhao Fusheng to make such a decision.

After all, unless someone had a problem with their brain, they would clearly know how influential these two teams were in the country and how high their chances were of winning medals or even gold at the Olympics.

The benefits from sponsoring these two teams and from sponsoring other teams were simply not proportional.

To put it bluntly, even if beach volleyball won a championship, the number of people paying attention to the event and recognizing the athletes would probably be less than those paying attention to the badminton or diving team winning second place.

But as it turned out, the chairman of Future Group personally met with them and ended up rejecting them.

What was going on?

For a moment, Director Chen and the others felt their brain cells were insufficient; they simply couldn't understand what Zhao Fusheng was thinking.

Not to mention them, even Liu Yiming didn't understand.

Looking at Zhao Fusheng in surprise, Liu Yiming felt he was increasingly unable to see through this boss.

What was going on?

What was the chairman thinking?

"No need to reconsider."

Zhao Fusheng smiled and waved his hand: "How about this: I will personally fund certain rewards for athletes from the diving team and badminton team who win medals, but as for sponsorship, let's forget it."

He paused and explained, "After all, you don't lack sponsors, right?"

"Heh..."

"Well..."

The few of them looked at each other and ultimately said nothing more.

The conversation had reached this point; clearly, Zhao Fusheng did not intend to continue.

Since that was the case, no one could say anything else.

After seeing off that group, Zhao Fusheng's face immediately darkened.

"Next time something like this comes up, just turn it down directly." Zhao Fusheng said directly to Liu Yiming.

"Okay."

Although Liu Yiming didn't know what was going on, he nodded and agreed.

He could naturally tell that Zhao Fusheng's words were not a joke.

"A bit strange?"

Zhao Fusheng asked casually.

"A little." Liu Yiming answered honestly.

"These people are just bureaucrats who want to pick the fruits."

Zhao Fusheng said indifferently: "Believe me, if I sponsored them ten million, at least five million would be embezzled by these people under the name of management fees."

Hearing this, Liu Yiming was startled, then nodded.

He could understand Zhao Fusheng's words; certain domestic bureaucrats indeed had this style.

Not to mention anything else, no matter what the money was, they would first deduct half as management fees—that was their consistent practice.

"Alright, this matter ends here."

Zhao Fusheng said to Liu Yiming: "But notify the planning department and the PR department to remember what I promised. Later, if someone wins a championship, remember to give the reward. Champion gets one hundred thousand, runner-up eighty thousand, third place fifty thousand."

Liu Yiming nodded numbly.

He could tell that the chairman's rewards were given without any sincerity at all.

"And for beach volleyball and cycling?"

After thinking for a moment, Liu Yiming still asked.

"Champion gets five hundred thousand, runner-up three hundred thousand, third place one hundred thousand."

Zhao Fusheng thought for a moment and added, "If they make it to the top eight, give a few tens of thousands as a token, you decide."

"Ah?"

Liu Yiming was dumbfounded.

Wasn't this differential treatment too obvious?

Seeing his expression, Zhao Fusheng smiled: "You don't know, for these niche events, it's hard to achieve results, and most importantly, the higher-ups don't pay attention. Even if they win a championship or a good ranking, there's actually not much prize money. After retirement, the treatment is even worse, far behind those big gold medal winners."

This was the truth.

Take beach volleyball as an example; this event is a branch of indoor volleyball. In China, at the youth training and amateur sports school entry level, there is no difference between the two. Only after reaching the professional team or youth team do they gradually differentiate, with some athletes entering beach volleyball and more entering indoor volleyball.

But here's the problem.

China's indoor volleyball has developed very well. Especially the Chinese women's volleyball team, which is a banner in China's sports circle. Under these circumstances, when faced with a choice, most talented individuals choose indoor volleyball.

Relatively few athletes are diverted to beach volleyball, and honestly, from a professional perspective, their athletic talent and physical conditions are relatively poorer. The good seedlings are all taken by indoor volleyball; even if beach volleyball sets its sights on someone, they are unwilling to go.

In Zhao Fusheng's memory, a later main player of the Chinese women's volleyball team came from beach volleyball.

Moreover, besides low pay, unlike the fashionable image of this sport filled with sunshine, sea, sand, and bikinis, beach volleyball athletes are exposed to wind and sun all year round, their skin tanned dark. For young girls who value fair skin, few are willing to endure this hardship.

According to materials Zhao Fusheng had read before, at the training sites for these girls, on the hottest days, an egg placed under the sand would be cooked in a short while—that was the temperature.

If the competition venue had bad weather, like the high-cold regions of Russia, it would be even worse.

Furthermore, in indoor matches, there are six players on the court, substitutions are allowed, and the coach can give on-site instructions.

But beach volleyball only has two players, and the coach cannot be on the court to direct, so both technically and psychologically, beach volleyball places extremely high demands on athletes.

During the match, the two athletes rely entirely on themselves to adjust. For athletes whose conditions are not particularly outstanding, achieving good results is even more difficult. So, combining these factors, it seems that beach volleyball is really hard to develop and progresses slowly.

Speaking of which, even Zhao Fusheng himself couldn't believe that the entire registered beach volleyball athletes in China numbered only a little over three hundred.

Moreover, there is not a single professional beach volleyball club in the country, and indoor beach volleyball courts are few and far between.

Behind these numbers, it reflects that the mass base of China's beach volleyball sport is too weak.

This sport, which originated in the United States in the 1920s, its popularity is closely related to a society's development level and people's leisure habits.

And clearly, today's China does not have such conditions.

Speaking of which, this is really an awkward situation.

But it is indeed the truth.

Beach volleyball is like this, and other niche events are more or less the same.

So this is why Zhao Fusheng was unwilling to abandon them and sponsor other events instead.

After all, for events that already have little attention, if he withdrew funding, these poor girls might really have nowhere to go.

This amount of money meant nothing to Zhao Fusheng, but if it could help a group of people realize their dreams, Zhao Fusheng felt it was quite worthwhile.

"Chairman, rest assured, I will definitely carry out your instructions."

Although Liu Yiming didn't know why Zhao Fusheng wanted to do this, he quickly nodded.

The boss's words were always reasonable.

If the boss was wrong, refer to the previous sentence.

"Come on, let's go home."

Zhao Fusheng chuckled lightly and said to Liu Yiming.

The two walked out of Future Group, and the motorcade headed towards home.