Chapter 2345: The Matter Has Blown Up!

Zhao Fusheng naturally had no intention of deceiving Paul. He soon left the club and returned to the island.

"How did it go?"

Seeing his son back so soon, Zhao's father was a bit surprised and asked Zhao Fusheng in confusion, "Did you settle things that quickly?"

He had never imagined that the talks might have fallen through.

Zhao Fusheng didn't beat around the bush either. He recounted the whole story from start to finish and finally said to his father, "Dad, if you ask me, let's just forget about this."

That was his honest opinion.

Although he was willing to help Chinese football, the problem was that, according to the logic of those idiots at the Football Association, he would have to pay them to train young players.

That was nothing short of daylight robbery!

It wasn't that Zhao Fusheng lacked money; an annual expenditure of two million euros was indeed nothing to him.

But that wasn't how money should be spent!

He couldn't let people treat him like a sucker to be fleeced!

Sure enough, upon hearing Zhao Fusheng's words, Zhao's father also frowned deeply.

The old man loved football, but he wasn't a fool.

Just as Zhao Fusheng had said.

Chinese football was already terminally ill and in urgent need of rescue.

But when he finally gave them a chance, those bastards were still thinking about making money?

They really took him for a fool!

"What a bunch of bastards!"

Zhao's father was silent for a long time before gritting his teeth and saying.

Apart from those two words, he really couldn't find any other term to describe those idiots.

"Alright."

Seeing that his father was getting emotional and afraid he might get sick from anger, Zhao Fusheng said to him, "If you ask me, let's leave it at that. Don't worry about this matter anymore. As for the Football Association, just ignore them. Since they don't want to cooperate with us, then we won't cooperate. After all, it's not us who will suffer the loss."

To be honest, in Zhao Fusheng's view, this was purely a case of "better you than me."

It had nothing to do with him in the first place.

At worst, he could just stay out of it.

If the media really exposed it or something, and the whole truth came out, let's see how the Football Association would handle it.

Besides, Zhao Fusheng didn't think those idiots at the Football Association would dare to make the truth public. After all, their behavior was too ugly, their greed too shameless. If it were really exposed, wouldn't they be cursed to death by the domestic media?

In this era, with the development of the internet, the idea of freedom of speech was no empty talk.

As long as it wasn't aimed at the government, cursing the Football Association or something like that was left alone.

"Alright, I'll listen to you."

Zhao's father ultimately chose to listen to his son.

He wasn't stupid; after all, his son's words made sense.

Zhao's father had always been inclined to follow Zhao Fusheng's advice.

After all, his son was grown up and so successful in his career. In Zhao's father's view, there were some things he now needed to defer to him on.

Zhao Fusheng nodded and said no more.

Things had reached this point, so there was no need for further discussion.

……

……

Zhao Fusheng originally thought that would be the end of it.

In his eyes, even if that Leader Chen represented the Football Association, he didn't have much influence. Surely they wouldn't dare to make the matter public?

But he hadn't expected that some people's stupidity defied normal logic.

Not long after, he suddenly received a call from China.

"Do you know? You've become famous."

The caller was Zheng Yao, her tone very strange.

"What's up?"

Zhao Fusheng looked completely baffled.

"A Football Association official leaked to the media that you, Zhao Fusheng, deliberately obstructed the development of domestic football and sabotaged the cooperation agreement they reached with Roma Club..."

Zheng Yao then told Zhao Fusheng what she had learned.

After a long silence, Zhao Fusheng's expression was quite interesting.

Now, he had become famous in China, especially among football fans. Following the Football Association official's "accusation," the country's largest sports media had all reported on the matter.

"What should we do?"

Zheng Yao said to Zhao Fusheng, "A couple of days ago, some football fans even came to our company gate holding signs. I had security throw them out."

"Ignore them."

Zhao Fusheng thought for a moment and said to Zheng Yao, "Those fans have been deceived. They're actually quite pitiful."

As a football fan himself, he could understand their feelings.

Regardless, these people didn't need to be punished.

Even if punishment was necessary, it didn't have to come from him.

"But what about the Football Association?"

Zheng Yao asked in confusion, "They're ruining your reputation right now."

She was also baffled. What were those Football Association leaders thinking? Zhao Fusheng was a super-rich man, and they dared to play this game?

Zhao Fusheng could understand, though. After all, in the eyes of those bureaucratic leaders, no matter how rich he was, he was just a businessman.

On this patch of land called China, businessmen and officials were inherently unequal.

Later on, even two such formidable figures as Boss Ma had trouble with others, let alone him.

Over the years, he had adhered to a low-key principle and rarely stirred up trouble, so the outside world saw him as a very modest person.

People like that often lacked deterrence, which was why some riffraff dared to bully him.

With that in mind, Zhao Fusheng said to Zheng Yao, "How about this: I'll have Roma Club compile some materials about the Football Association, including the videos of this cooperation, and have someone bring them back to you."

"You mean to blow this up?"

Zheng Yao was taken aback and asked in surprise.

Zhao Fusheng nodded: "Not just blow it up—I want everyone to know exactly what kind of scum is running the Football Association!"

Zheng Yao gasped.

She naturally understood what Zhao Fusheng meant.

Clearly, he intended to nail those people at the Football Association to the pillar of shame!

To make sure they never recovered!

Otherwise, he wouldn't go to so much trouble; a simple statement would have sufficed.

But Zheng Yao thought Zhao Fusheng's approach was perfectly normal.

Because that was the kind of person Zhao Fusheng was.

He might be quiet and reserved on ordinary days, but that didn't mean he had a good temper.

Whoever dared to provoke him had to be prepared to pay the price.

"You really are..."

After a long pause, Zheng Yao sighed helplessly, "Lucky for us that we're on the same side."

Clearly, she was also intimidated by Zhao Fusheng's methods.

Zhao Fusheng chuckled: "Once bitten, twice shy. I don't want to make a mistake. If you don't deal with people like that properly, they'll point at your corpse later and say, 'What an idiot,' believe it or not?"

Zheng Yao was silent.

She had to admit that Zhao Fusheng was right.

Kindness must also be directed at the right people.

For example, if you show kindness to those who are grateful, they will help you at critical moments and remember your goodwill.

But what about petty people?

They are just like those folks in the Football Association.

Not to mention anything else, Zhao Fusheng and his father acquired Roma Club and voluntarily offered to help the FA train young domestic players. Anyone with a bit of sense should see that they genuinely care about the development of Chinese football.

They want to help domestic football grow!

But those FA leaders—instead of thinking how to use this opportunity to improve the players' strength, they think about how to exploit it for personal gain.

In plain words, they care about their official hats and money bags.

As for the development of Chinese football?

What the hell does it matter to them?

In their eyes, football is probably just a stepping stone for promotion and wealth.

This sounds ridiculous, but it's the truth.

Zhao Fusheng remembered clearly that in two years, when the anti-gambling and anti-corruption campaign hit Chinese football, a large number of people would be arrested.

But he was even more convinced that those arrested were just the tip of the iceberg.

The real criminals, or rather, those responsible, had already hidden themselves well.

"Alright, just handle this matter quickly."

Zhao Fusheng said to Zheng Yao.

Zheng Yao nodded and hung up the phone.

After putting down the phone, Zhao Fusheng went straight to his father.

No matter what, he had to inform his father about this.

"Dad, there's something I need to tell you."

Zhao Fusheng said to his father.

Father Zhao was a bit puzzled; his son rarely spoke to him so seriously.

He thought something had gone wrong with Zhao Fusheng's business.

"What's wrong? What happened?"

Father Zhao asked Zhao Fusheng in confusion.

Zhao Fusheng gave a bitter smile and recounted the whole story, finally saying, "The situation now is that those FA guys plan to smear us domestically by exploiting the lack of smooth information flow between home and abroad."

"Bastards!"

Father Zhao was furious and immediately stood up.

He paced back and forth on the floor, muttering incessantly.

He was truly enraged!

"Alright, Dad, don't be angry."

Zhao Fusheng smiled and said to his father, "How about this: I'll have Paolo prepare the correspondence and details of our cooperation, then send them back to China, and I'll arrange for someone to handle it. What do you think?"

"Okay, no problem."

Father Zhao quickly agreed.

He knew that China was his son's foundation. If, as Zhao Fusheng had just said, the FA's despicable tactics had affected the operations of Zhao Fusheng's company, that was unforgivable.

It's a poor parent who doesn't worry about their child.

If they had targeted Roma Club, Father Zhao might not have been so angry.

But they had aimed their attacks at Future Group, at Zhao Fusheng.

That was something Father Zhao couldn't accept.

As a father, not only had he failed to help his son, but he had also caused him trouble. One can imagine how the old man felt now.

At this moment, his identity as a football fan automatically took a back seat; his responsibility as a father was the most important.

…

…

Zhao Fusheng didn't stand on ceremony. After getting his father's consent, he quickly contacted Roma Club, had General Manager Paolo prepare the materials, and faxed them to Zheng Yao in China.

When Zheng Yao received the materials, she was also taken aback.

To be honest, she hadn't expected those FA people to be so brainless!

Looking at the contract, even as an outsider, she could see how ugly the FA's behavior was.

Roma Club had practically handed them the meat on a platter.

But these guys still wanted more.

Because they couldn't profit from that piece of meat!

It was truly laughable!

"Are these guys stupid pigs?"

Zheng Yao asked the person beside her, holding the documents.

That person, naturally her confidant, smiled and said, "President Zheng, you don't understand. This is about 'worrying about scarcity, not about inequality.' Maybe we think it's fair, but in their eyes, sending so many people to Roma Club for free without getting a single cent themselves—that's an imbalance in their hearts!"

"..."

Zheng Yao was speechless.

To be honest, she really couldn't understand how such people's minds worked.

Call them fools, yet each one was extremely shrewd.

After all, to have climbed to their current positions within the system, they were all sharp cookies.

But if you called them smart, this wasn't something a smart person would do!

What smart person would kill the goose that lays the golden eggs?

Well, the Chinese Football Association could.

"President Zheng, to be honest, after seeing this contract, I'm not surprised at all."

The assistant beside her, also a man who liked football, remained calm about the contract and explained to Zheng Yao, "I fully believe the chairman; what he said should be true."

"Why?"

Zheng Yao looked at the assistant strangely, puzzled. "Because he's the chairman?"

"No, not because of that."

The assistant laughed. "The chairman's character is beyond doubt, everyone in the company knows that. But what I'm saying is, from a fan's perspective, this document must be genuine."

"Reason."

Zheng Yao looked bewildered.

"Because the FA is such a奇葩 organization."

The assistant chuckled and explained to Zheng Yao, "Some of their practices are similar to certain sports associations within the system. For their own interests, they would even rig matches in international competitions. Would you believe that?"

"Huh?"

Zheng Yao was stunned, looking at the assistant in surprise.

Rig matches?

She had never heard of such a thing.

The assistant nodded. "Really. Match-fixing has happened in badminton and table tennis, especially the former. It's just speechless."

"What about football?"

Zheng Yao asked curiously.

"Football definitely couldn't."

The assistant waved his hand. "In international matches, match-fixing is impossible because we can't beat most of our opponents."

"..."

Zheng Yao couldn't help but want to laugh.

The Chinese team can't beat anyone.

That sentence could indeed be interpreted in two ways...

But at this point, she understood what the assistant meant.

Zhao Fusheng's evidence, it seemed, would indeed be very useful.