Endorsement Deal

Amid all the doubts and discussions, Lin Feng and the other two walked out of Thunder Martial Arts Hall.

Not far from the entrance, some gamblers who had lost until their eyes were red glared at him viciously. Quite a few pointed at him and cursed, but they remained rational enough not to make the first move.

These gamblers were almost all ordinary people; few had even reached the Body Cultivation Ninth Stage. Lin Feng could beat martial artists senseless—wouldn't going after him just be asking to get thrashed?

Although Lin Feng's arena matches had drawn many martial artists, and some had placed bets, to martial artists, tens of thousands of dollars were nothing more than entertainment. Losing did not hurt enough for them to deliberately seek trouble with him.

Besides, martial artists also knew that Lin Feng possessed outstanding martial arts talent. Even if he could not become a Demon Spirit Master, he was still no ordinary martial artist.

No one would casually make an enemy for themselves.

"Brother Feng, are we coming again tomorrow?" Gao Hai asked, looking at the distinctly unfriendly crowd around them.

"Of course. We'll keep fighting until they're convinced."

Lin Feng simply did not believe that if he beat up one martial artist every day for a month straight, in all kinds of creative ways, he still would not land an ad slot. At worst, he could lower the price a little. As long as he got five million, he could accept it.

"I'll go back and stir up some more buzz on the Martial Artist Forum," Yang Fan said reassuringly.

Lin Feng nodded. "Alright, we'll discuss it in detail when we get back."

He planned to reveal his Thirty-Six Forms of Body Refining on the forum. When that happened, the buzz would probably rise rather than fall.

"Brother Feng, are we going home?"

Gao Hai asked. It was already past four o'clock. It would take two hours to get back to Anbian Residential Area, just in time for dinner.

"We..."

Just as Lin Feng was about to answer, a man in a white shirt and black dress pants suddenly appeared in front of him, holding up a silver phone and immediately beginning an interview.

"Student Lin Feng, may I ask why you've been putting on such a mysterious act? Was it merely for an ad slot?"

The male reporter asked. Seeing Lin Feng's icy expression and getting no answer, he did not mind. He continued on his own, "With the college entrance exams approaching, did you create such a huge commotion to attract the attention of the Nine Elite Joint Schools?"

Though it was supposedly an interview, the reporter's attitude was clearly unfriendly. He had started recording without Lin Feng's consent, and his questions were all steering in an unfavorable direction.

"Do you truly think you're qualified to be mentioned in the same breath as Ye Qiu?"

"What does it have to do with you?"

Gao Hai stepped in front of Lin Feng and shoved the reporter away.

"Don't push me! Student Lin Feng, do you really think anyone would pay a huge price for your ads?"

Though the reporter had been blocked, he kept asking questions as if he did not care whether Lin Feng answered. "There are no fools in this world..."

"Ah!"

The moment the word "fools" left his mouth, the reporter suddenly let out a scream. A huge fat man had appeared before him and smacked him hard on the head, barking, "Who are you calling a fool?"

"I said people who buy ads are fools! I wasn't talking about you," the reporter snapped angrily.

At those words, the fat man raised his hand to hit him again, frightening the reporter into hurriedly dodging aside.

"I'm buying an ad slot. If you weren't insulting me, then who were you insulting?" The fat man was Zhou Fu. He glared fiercely at the reporter.

At once, the reporter, who had been about to argue, wore an expression as though he were constipated and did not dare say another word.

He truly had not expected someone to actually buy Lin Feng's ad slot.

Lin Feng was not some major celebrity, but he had been quite popular lately and could be considered a public figure. Public figures generally did not make things difficult for reporters, much less lay hands on them. Doing so would invite a barrage of criticism from every reporter, which was why he had dared to be so arrogant.

But clearly, this pot-bellied, middle-aged fat man who looked like a boss was not a public figure. If the man hit him, he would simply have to take it.

At this moment, Lin Feng and the other two also looked curiously at the middle-aged fat man.

"Student Lin Feng, let me introduce myself. My name is Zhou Fu, and I'd like to ask you to endorse my hotel," Zhou Fu said bluntly.

"Eighteen million."

Lin Feng named his price. Just as he thought the other party would turn and leave upon hearing it, Zhou Fu merely frowned slightly without walking away.

"That's higher than the price I estimated. Can we discuss it?"

It had to be said that fat people naturally carried an air of friendliness. Seeing that Zhou Fu did not seem to be joking and was quite sincere, Lin Feng naturally agreed. "Sure."

"It's nearly dinner time. Let's go straight to my hotel and have dinner while we're at it," Zhou Fu suggested.

Lin Feng shook his head. "No need for dinner. We can talk while we walk."

If they failed to reach an agreement, the meal would only be awkward.

"That works too." Zhou Fu did not mind.

Gao Hai and Yang Fan exchanged a glance, then tactfully fell behind the two of them.

"Student Lin Feng, may I ask why you didn't sign with one of the three major clubs?"

As Zhou Fu sized Lin Feng up, he asked the question.

The youth was tall and slender, handsome, neither fat nor thin, with a body as sleek as a leopard's. His expression seemed somewhat indifferent, yet he exuded a cold, sharp temperament. He truly was attractive to girls; his appearance was absolutely qualified for an endorsement deal.

Lin Feng's martial arts talent was outstanding. As long as he did not fall midway, there was a high chance that he would become an advanced martial artist in the future.

Though Zhou Fu was not sure whether Lin Feng could become a Demon Spirit Master or what grade of demon spirit he could refine, he wanted to take a gamble.

"I already said it before. I just haven't found a suitable demon spirit." Lin Feng remained calm and gave the same explanation.

Even an Earth Ranking Demon Spirit was not suitable?

How could his ambitions be so enormous?

Zhou Fu muttered inwardly. Naturally, that reason did not satisfy him, but he did not directly voice his doubts.

In truth, Zhou Fu understood that if Lin Feng really signed with one of the three major clubs, then after the contract was signed, all of Lin Feng's endorsements and commercial activities would be handled by the club. He would not be allowed to privately accept ad endorsements.

By then, Zhou Fu obviously would not be qualified to ask Lin Feng to be his endorser, nor could he afford such a high endorsement fee.

Right now, he was gambling on Lin Feng's future.

"Eighteen million is fine, but it will be a lifetime endorsement," Zhou Fu said. He had no intention of haggling, but he offered another condition.

Since he was gambling on Lin Feng's future, as a businessman, he naturally wanted to maximize his profits.

Lin Feng's heart jolted. Suppressing his excitement, he fell silent for a moment before saying, "Alright."

Lin Feng understood Zhou Fu's plan.

At present, his value naturally did not warrant such a high endorsement fee.

But three years later, when he made a name for himself in the National University League, his endorsement fee would be at least tens of millions. And that would only be for one year. One could imagine that a lifetime endorsement would cost at least over a billion, perhaps even several billion New Dollars.

It could be said that Zhou Fu would make a killing!

Eighteen million in exchange for returns worth billions.

But since Zhou Fu had the courage to gamble, Lin Feng, who was short on money, naturally would not refuse.

To him, this money was life-saving money.

The sooner he got it, the sooner he could refine Nightmare.

Once he refined Nightmare, would money still be a problem?

He had not really lost anything. It was only an endorsement.

"Since that's settled, take a look at the contract. If there's no problem, sign it."

Seeing Lin Feng agree, Zhou Fu also secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

Next, he took out a contract he had prepared long ago. There were two copies. In the blank space for the amount, Zhou Fu first wrote eighteen million, signed his name, and then handed it to Lin Feng.

Lin Feng flipped through it and learned that Zhou Fu's hotel was called Huating Grand Hotel. The name sounded rather high-class, and it had forty-six branches in River City.

Aside from requiring a lifetime endorsement, the contract stipulated that Lin Feng had to shoot two ads for Huating each year and cooperate with three events annually. It also required that he not sign with any other hotels.

The rest were minor details, and there was no problem. Lin Feng signed his name and took one copy of the contract.

"Give me your bank card number!" Since they had already signed, Zhou Fu was straightforward.

Lin Feng gave him his bank card number. Before long, his phone chimed with a notification.

Lin Feng took out his phone and looked at it: Your Bank of China card ending in 745... has a balance of 18,122,540.00.

Eighteen million was the endorsement fee, while the additional one hundred twenty thousand or so was the betting money he had earned over the past two days.

"You received it, right?"

Zhou Fu asked while observing Lin Feng's reaction.

At the beginning, he had felt somewhat uneasy. After all, eighteen million was no small sum to him. If he lost this gamble, the hotel would not go bankrupt, but it would still suffer a serious blow.

However, his unease gradually settled.

Because from his observations, Lin Feng had remained calm from beginning to end.

It was hard to imagine that a high school senior from a not particularly wealthy family could remain so composed when facing a massive sum of eighteen million.

In truth, Zhou Fu did not know that Lin Feng was not nearly as calm as he appeared. After all, this was life-saving money to him.

Having to gather eighteen million within two months had placed immense pressure on him.

Just when he was ready to lower the endorsement fee, Zhou Fu had unexpectedly appeared and directly thrown down eighteen million. How could he not be excited?

"I got it."

Lin Feng nodded, then said to Zhou Fu, "Don't worry. You won't regret this!"

"Haha, I have faith in you," Zhou Fu said with a laugh.

"Now that we're partners, shall we go celebrate? At Huating!" Zhou Fu suggested.

Since they were already working together, repeatedly refusing Zhou Fu's invitation would clearly be rather discourteous, so Lin Feng called Gao Hai and the other one over.

"Brother Feng?"

Gao Hai's eyes lit up with delight. In his view, if they were going to eat, then the deal had naturally been made.

"It's done."

Lin Feng gave Gao Hai and Yang Fan a confirming look.

After calling home to say he would not be back for dinner, Lin Feng followed Zhou Fu to the first hotel he had ever endorsed in his life.

An hour later, the three well-fed youths walked out of Hua Ting Hotel.

It was nearly nine o'clock. At this hour, many people in Anbian Residential Area were already preparing to sleep, yet outside Hua Ting, the lights blazed brightly and people came and went. The true nightlife had only just begun.

"Brother Feng, now that you endorse this place, do we still have to pay when we come here in the future?"

Standing at Hua Ting's entrance, Gao Hai rubbed his round, bulging stomach and asked with a grin.

"Hehe, we still have to pay, but we won't be short of money anymore," Lin Feng said with a smile, patting Gao Hai's belly.

Hua Ting was somewhat similar to Juewei, but it was the kind of hotel that did not meet five-star standards while still serving excellent food.

Zhou Fu was also very warm and generous. Though there had only been four of them, he had ordered more than ten dishes.

"Any other plans? Are we heading back?" Chen Fan asked.

"Yeah, home!"

It was already so late. If they did not return soon, their families would worry, and Lin Feng could not wait to share this news with them.