Chapter 610 - 281: Finale, Sponsorship Prize Money, Back on CCTV Again_4

Li Younan already had over 10 million in his account, and with the money he hadn’t used before and what he’d earned recently, he now had a massive 17 million in his account.

And this was just the first payment from Red Bull; in fact, after signing the contract at the base camp, Red Bull couldn’t wait to transfer the money, as if they were afraid Li Younan would back out if they delayed.

Now that he completed the challenge, there was still a full $6 million in sponsorship fees and subsequent commercial shares to come; this $6 million would be paid into Li Younan’s account in three installments, of course, subject to withholding of incidental income tax.

When the funds arrive, Li Younan will have over 53 million cash in RMB in his account.

This is really outrageous; to have more than 50 million cash readily available usually means that a typical wealthy individual’s liquid assets wouldn’t even amount to 5% - which means having more than a billion in assets to have that much cash at their disposal.

In a sense, Li Younan could be on par with a tycoon with ten small fortunes, and he’s debt-free.

On this point, what excited Li Younan the most was merely having the initial capital to build a boat.

Of course, 50 million seems enough to build a boat, but this business of building a boat is like sailing the waters - it’s really deep.

This is a matter where you can spend hundreds of thousands to build it, but spending tens of millions or even hundreds wouldn’t be too much.

It all depends on what kind of boat you want to build.

So, if he really wanted to start doing this next, it wouldn’t be so easy.

In the field of shipbuilding, Li Younan doesn’t really know much; after all, he only has the skill to sail a boat, not to build one.

Besides, building a boat is different from building other things; every step and process has strict production standards, and each step requires inspection before proceeding to the next one; it’s not something done overnight.

So Li Younan’s idea is to plan slowly and carefully after this 318 journey is over and he returns.

After toiling outside for so long, he indeed feels a bit fatigued and needs a good rest.

However, things at the Mount Everest base camp are not over yet; Red Bull still wants to shoot a documentary of his climbing journey this time.

Even though the previous footage couldn’t be shot, they could supplement some related shots after coming down.

After all, having taken their money, Li Younan showed a high degree of professionalism and contract spirit, cooperatively helping Red Bull complete the documentary shooting.

And Red Bull seized this opportunity, flamboyantly publicizing Li Younan’s heroic deed this time.

It’s vital to know that when it comes to extreme sports in China, the mainstream voice is that Chinese people can’t play extreme sports well, which is a result of culture, and indeed one reason is that there are too few representative figures in China in this regard.

The last extreme sports figure who broke the circle was the deceased Tibetan Adventure King, and before him was Wu Yongning, known as China’s top extreme sportsman, whose circle-breaking reason was also falling to death climbing skyscrapers with bare hands.

In a sense, Red Bull’s tone is somewhat incompatible with Chinese culture, yet China’s population is indeed enormous, the market here is vast, so having a representative figure like Li Younan makes Red Bull extremely happy; they must utilize this wave of attention properly and promote to build the brand’s momentum.

Red Bull sponsoring "I pay, you risk your life" is a hot meme among young people, but actually, only a small portion of people in China truly understand this meme.

And this time, the sponsorship revenue was far better than imagined, especially the footage at the end where Li Younan skis down pursued by an avalanche can be used as a signature Red Bull ad shot.

Thus, after several days of fuss, the journey in Rikaze and even the entire Tibetan area came close to an end.

He temporarily doesn’t plan to go further north into the Ali Region and the uninhabited zone bordering Western Xinjiang; perhaps he could pass through in reverse when traveling to Western Xinjiang next time.

After staying for a few days in Lhasa, he prepared for the return journey.

During a short rest on the road, while eating in a restaurant, news about Li Younan was unexpectedly broadcast on TV.

Liu Li and Li Younan bewilderedly watched the television.

"CCTV news brief: Our country’s explorer Li Younan completes the extraordinary feat of snowboarding descent on the North Slope of Mount Everest."

"From our channel: Recently, renowned traveler and explorer Li Younan of our country successfully summited Mount Everest without supplemental oxygen from the north slope, and for the first time, accomplished an extreme snowboarding descent from the summit to Rongbuk Glacier, setting a new record in the history of human mountaineering and extreme sports. The entire challenge was broadcast live on social media, drawing widespread attention from outdoor sports enthusiasts worldwide."

"It is understood that Li Younan chose the Hornbain to Japan’s snow gully route with a vertical drop of nearly 3,700 meters, an average slope exceeding 50 degrees, and some sections reaching 70 degrees, recognized as one of the most challenging routes in the mountaineering community."

"During the descent, he skillfully managed complex ice crevasses, steep rock walls, and sudden avalanches, finally safely reaching the 5,100-meter Rongbuk Glacier area.

"Notably, this is Li Younan’s third appearance in CCTV news reporting vision."

"Previously, he was reported on our channel for showcasing superb survival skills and profound Chinese cultural heritage on the popular overseas show ’Alone in the Wilderness,’ and for successfully participating in the restoration of precious artifacts from the Forbidden City, earning affectionate titles from netizens as ’CCTV’s record holder’ and ’The all-rounder from the wilderness to the Forbidden City to the top of the world.’

"Li Younan’s remarkable feat not only expanded the cognitive boundaries of human extreme sports but also showcased the spirit of contemporary Chinese youth who are brave in exploration and daring in challenges to the world."

"His success signifies a historic breakthrough for our country in the field of extreme mountaineering and adventure sports!"

Liu Li pulled out her phone, browsing the news comment section, suddenly excitedly read one of the netizens’ top-voted comments: "Li Younan, look at this comment, it’s so interesting. It says: From spreading Chinese culture to restoring national treasures, and then to conquering the top of the world, Li Younan’s ’since we’re here’ philosophy turns the impossible into possible time and again. Maybe next time on CCTV news, we should expect him to roam space?"

"Space, huh... hehe."