Chapter 236 - 191: Sports Superstar? Musical Genius? Superstar

With that, the chain of logic finally clicked into place.

A full three minutes later, a reply finally came from Yuan Qiang. He sighed in relief. "Alright, it’s handled... You can relax! Um, actually, I’m very curious... Don’t you, you know, care a lot about your reputation?"

Yuan Qiang felt quite wronged. It hadn’t been easy for him to orchestrate this publicity stunt; he’d had to argue and debate with many leaders over and over again. He did it all because, in his eyes, Chu Bamboo seemed to only care about fame and fortune.

With so much time left before the Olympics, how could he get Chu Bamboo to enjoy the glorious treatment of a future track and field champion, the "pride of the yellow race," as much as possible? How could he get him addicted to it? How could he make him the center of everyone’s attention!

Ever since his return, Yuan Qiang had been wracking his brain day and night. In the end, he had come up with this ultimate strategy!

But... he never expected the guy to almost flip out on him over it! He even began to suspect, ’Could it be that he suddenly regretted it, decided he didn’t want to participate in the Olympics, and just grabbed a random excuse to start a fight with me?’ At this thought, his heart suddenly tightened.

"Um... about the Olympics!" Yuan Qiang said cautiously.

"...Since you’ve pulled the plug on your end, we’ll leave it at that." Chu Bamboo’s emotions had calmed a bit, and he spoke peacefully.

’It seems the reason my other self was so furious was that they failed to salvage the situation... But I was smart enough to be on guard. I realized there was a problem the moment I heard Z’s reply.’

"Um," Yuan Qiang said, sounding insecure and hesitant. He suddenly bit his lip. "By the way, are you interested in participating in the upcoming Grand Slam track meet being held in White-headed Eagle?"

"It’s a commercial event organized by White-headed Eagle’s star sprinter, Michael Johnson, and it takes place from April to June in Miami, Philadelphia, and Los Angeles," Yuan Qiang explained patiently. "The competition has six event groups. All athletes have to compete in two individual events based on their chosen group, like the 100-meter and 200-meter dash."

After a brief pause, Yuan Qiang continued, "Actually, just getting our recommendation isn’t enough to get into the Olympics... The most important thing is to constantly participate in competitions and get good rankings to earn points! Only if your points meet the standard will you be eligible to compete..."

"The domestic competitions I recommended before... that was also to rack up points!"

This was, in fact, a test from Yuan Qiang. If Chu Bamboo was really looking for an excuse, he would definitely refuse to participate in this event.

If he refused, Yuan Qiang would have to seriously consider how to face the questions from his superiors... or figure out a way to convince Chu Bamboo to change his mind...

"So you mean, it’s during this period?" Chu Bamboo’s brows furrowed. His first reaction was naturally to refuse; after all, he had a bit of PTSD about going abroad lately.

But then he remembered that the next Olympic Games were also being held in White-headed Eagle... In other words, if he said no, he would essentially be rejecting the Olympics entirely...

Pinching the bridge of his nose, Chu Bamboo finally made a decision. "Tomorrow. Let me think about it... I’ll give you an answer tomorrow."

In the end, Chu Bamboo chose to leave the difficult problem to his other self of tomorrow.

’If my other self doesn’t want to go to White-headed Eagle, then he can just refuse once and for all.’ Chu Bamboo actually had a suspicion that his other self from the previous timeline hadn’t just refused because of the publicity stunt that made them fall out. He might have been stuck on this very point...

’Of course, if my other self does go to White-headed Eagle for whatever reason... then we’ll see if it’s safe or not!’

’Or rather, if he goes this time...’

Chu Bamboo narrowed his eyes. ’If my other self really makes the decision to go, it would be even better if he could gather some information about the Golden Dawn’s presence in White-headed Eagle’s society...’

’Although, based on what I know about myself, I probably won’t end up going.’

"...Tomorrow!" Yuan Qiang was silent for a long, long time before saying bitterly, "I’m begging you... I... you clearly already agreed! We haven’t wronged you... This! And, about the hype campaign, are we doing it or not... We really have no ill intentions! I actually... I pulled a lot of strings for this, that’s how I managed to free up some resources!"

Chu Bamboo fell silent. His personality was the type to respond to pleading, not pressure. If Yuan Qiang had shown any malice or spoken harshly, he would have refused without hesitation... But the other party was clearly acting with good intentions... ’This is tough!’

"Z, what do you think?" Chu Bamboo asked subconsciously.

"Father... to be honest! Their method of handling the online shills is very crude..." Z’s voice held a hint of dissatisfaction. "Following their operational procedure, it’s highly likely they’ll end up being accused of ’god-making’ by the public! Compared to my flawless operations... they’re just, so bad. How can their technique be so poor..."

Yuan Qiang: "???"

’Wait a minute, let me get this straight...’ he thought. ’Aren’t you a college student? How do you have a daughter already? And isn’t there something a little off about this daughter’s voice...’

"Of course, if Father has no objections, and the gentleman on the other end is worried about wasting resources... you can actually give me the contact information for the shill team. I can direct them on a macro level!"

Chu Bamboo’s mouth twitched. "..."

’She’s really become a crafty little spirit!’

Yuan Qiang stopped talking. He had realized something terrifying and stammered, "No way, the Chu Bamboo that’s trending online right now... that’s really you???"

"??" Chu Bamboo was momentarily stunned by the question. "Wait, you didn’t know it was me? Then why did you send online shills to run a campaign about me?"

"...My original plan was to let netizens mistakenly think the two were the same person at first! Then I’d issue a clarification later." Yuan Qiang really couldn’t keep his composure anymore. Who could have possibly imagined something like this? "It’s mainly because the topic is so hot, I thought I could ride the coattails of the hype... That way the resources for the shills would be much lower... but..."

’No, but how are you a sports superstar and a musical prodigy at the same time...’

’Was what you said before true? Are you planning to quit sports and become a pop superstar?’

At this thought, Yuan Qiang instantly panicked and said hurriedly, "You don’t need to give me an answer right now! We’ll talk tomorrow... As for public opinion, um, if your ’daughter’ doesn’t mind, then, I’ll just give you the contact info..."

Yuan Qiang actually had a suspicion about who this "daughter" might be... ’If it’s really who I think it is, then he’s playing way too wild a game! Kids these days are just something else...’

Before Chu Bamboo could say anything else, Yuan Qiang hung up the phone.

"..." Listening to the dial tone, Chu Bamboo was silent for a long time. Finally, he met the differing gazes of the two others and sighed, "Was that really necessary? He ran off like he was fleeing a plague beast..."

"Whatever. Z, I’m giving you the authorization anyway. Just use my WeChat and talk to Coach Yuan about this."

"No problem, Father!" Z’s voice was tinged with excitement. "I will definitely make you famous across half the sky... No, I will definitely make you the one, the only, the most unique... superstar in human history, known throughout the entire world!"

Chu Bamboo: "..."

’It doesn’t really have to be that dramatic!’ Fame and all that was just a means to achieve his ultimate goal, not the final goal itself.