Cultivating through increasing my stats in America-Chapter 73 - Titan Games
Chapter 73: Chapter 73 Titan Games
Chapter 73: Chapter 73 Titan Games
Just outside the hospital doors, it was not just Eric who was waiting for him; there were also several media personnel carrying cameras.
Seeing such a scene for the first time, Li Ang still patiently answered quite a few of their questions.
But beyond a few basic questions about the competition, perhaps seeing that Li Ang was young and accommodating, they began to ask questions that veered more and more off-topic, covering personal privacy, loaded questions, and incendiary topics.
Luckily, Sheila stood by his side, apparently quite skilled in dispelling the media journalists and finally managed to shoo away the pesky group.
Li Ang had previously read online comments about media personnel without much concern, but having experienced it firsthand, he realized the criticisms were mild in comparison.
Before getting into the car, Li Ang met a formally dressed, smiling young man.
“Mr. Li, may I have a minute of your time?”
He glanced over and seeing that this person was clearly not of the same ilk as those before, he nodded in agreement.
“I’m a staff member of the variety show ‘[Titan Games],’ have you heard of Dwayne Johnson? He is the creator of the program. We are here to invite you to participate in our show, this is my business card.”
As the young man spoke, he handed Li Ang a business card.
“Regarding compensation, we offer an appearance fee that is paid based on the number of appearances, and the champion of each quarter will receive a prize money of one hundred thousand US dollars, while the annual overall champion’s prize is one million.”
“That sounds good,”
Li Ang said as he looked at the business card and nodded.
However, he did not hastily agree, deciding instead to check out the relevant information before making a decision.
In an attempt to persuade Li Ang as much as possible, the young man added:
“As a special guest on our program, you can skip the preliminary selection stage, and each competition you participate in will be broadcast on the television program, which will be quite helpful in increasing your popularity.”
The young man clearly understood that for athletes like Li Ang, income relied not solely on skill; often, income generated from fame could be even greater.
Li Ang nodded; this statement wasn’t wrong. Domestic variety shows or films that were quite popular often had internet celebrities and stars willing to participate at their own expense.
“How about this, I’ll think it over and then contact you by phone,” Li Ang said.
The young man also nodded with a smile.
“That’s totally understandable.”
Obviously, he did not expect to secure a contract immediately upon meeting; if he had that kind of ability, he wouldn’t be working as a staff member; he would have gone into politics long ago.
Due to Li Ang’s injury, the award ceremony was specifically postponed for a while on his behalf.
The prize money for this championship was still quite considerable for him.
Firstly, the champions of the youth group, adult group, and senior group each received a prize of thirty thousand US dollars.
Moreover, the overall top scorer would receive an additional twenty thousand US dollars.
In previous years, this twenty thousand dollars wasn’t typically highlighted, implicitly assuming that the adult group’s champion prize was fifty thousand dollars.
However, this time, Li Ang won first place as a member of the youth group and took away the additional twenty thousand dollars.
On the podium, Harry’s feelings were complex.
To say he was unhappy, after all, he still won the adult group champion.
To say he wasn’t upset, his championship in the adult group was only good enough for third place overall, outright humiliating among the many champions before him.
At that moment, with three groups and a total of nine people on stage holding medals for photographs, a disturbance erupted from below the stage.
“I protest!”
The loud shout suddenly drew the attention of everyone present.
A somewhat overweight woman dressed in a t-shirt was holding up a sign with the word “Equality” and said:
New novel chapt𝒆rs are published on ƒгeewebnovёl.com.
“Why are all nine award recipients male? I think this is an oppression of women!”
The award presenter, for a moment, did not grasp her wild idea, and reflexively explained:
“As you can see, there were quite a few women participants in the competition, but our list of winners is sorted strictly by each person’s final results, so, as you see, there is absolutely no discrimination involved.”
Unfortunately, such explanations were bound to be ineffectual.
The woman holding the sign in the audience, if she could understand these words, wouldn’t be here now.
“Just because the results are presented this way doesn’t mean they are true, the absence of a single woman on this stage already constitutes discrimination!”
“Rest assured, our results are authentic and verifiable…”
The presenter wanted to continue his explanation but was immediately interrupted by a middle-aged man who came up from the audience and gestured to hand him the microphone.
The middle-aged man put on a confident smile and replied:
“Your question has been noted, but in fact, our competition was previously divided into men’s and women’s categories.”
Clearly, with his ample experience, the first thing in handling such unforeseen situations was to never fall into the trap of the opponents’ proposition.
“So, why is there no division now?”
The overweight woman in the audience was aroused by this new detail.
“It’s a bit sad to say, but we were reported.”
The middle-aged man spoke in a measured tone.
“The complaint was that by separating men and women in the competition, we were allegedly discriminating against women.”
After he finished explaining, the audience member obviously had her CPU overloaded and floundered for a long time, not knowing what to say.
Li Ang, standing to the side quietly as part of the onlooking crowd, couldn’t help but sigh—sometimes, an excessive emphasis on “equality” isn’t a good thing.
Nearly every faction, not only gender but also race, region, vegetarian, environmental protection… all were lecturing, marching, it was practically indistinguishable from a free-for-all.
After the award ceremony, the presenter, with excitement and admiration, asked the middle-aged man about his techniques for dealing with such incidents.
Li Ang didn’t pay attention to the other details but heard the last sentence: “I was the one who reported it back then.”
…
After all the matters here were taken care of, Sheila saw Li Ang off to Eric’s car, and reminded him:
“I still have some loose ends to tie up with the business I’m dealing with here. You go back first with your friend, and don’t worry, I won’t forget the surprise I promised you.”
After speaking, Sheila playfully winked at Li Ang before turning to leave.
“What surprise?”
As soon as Sheila left, Eric immediately leaned in to inquire.
“Adult matters, kids shouldn’t pry.”
Li Ang gave him a withering look.
“Ow.”
Eric subconsciously sat back down in his seat, then suddenly realized.
“Wait, I’m clearly a few months older than you!”
“Tell me you’re older when you manage to beat me in a bike race sometime, OK?”
Eric pursed his lips, pretending he hadn’t heard a thing.
