chsdbacks Chapter 48 The Villain's Bonus
Chapter 48 The Villain's Bonus
2009年1月18日，上午9:00。
The morning sunlight shone on the large bed, but Li Xiangbei was awakened by the vibration of his cell phone.
Li Xiangbei rubbed his eyes and picked up his phone.
The screen displayed a dozen or so text messages from Bill Duffy.
"Are you awake, Lee?! Look at the news! You've set all of New York on fire!"
Li Xiangbei turned on the TV.
Almost every sports channel is replaying last night's game-winning shot.
On the screen, Mike Brin's heart-wrenching "BANG! BANG!" still echoed.
The image freezes on the moment when Li Xiangbei points to his wrist, with LeBron James behind him.
New York Post headline:
New York welcomes its new Caesar!
The report, written in an extremely emotional tone, stated: "The moment LeBron James became the background, Li Xiangbei didn't just make a basket; he made the pride that New Yorkers had craved for a decade. He doesn't need to be as tragic as Ewing; he's a winner, a ruthless winner."
ESPN Homepage Feature:
The Victory of Physical Fitness: It's not that LeBron's 38 points weren't good enough, but that Li Xiangbei's 48 minutes were too perfect.
The internet went absolutely crazy.
Li Xiangbei's wrist gesture last night has become the hottest imitation show in the United States.
Fans call it "Villain Time".
On Twitter, the hashtag #VillainTime even trended more than newly inaugurated President Obama.
Countless fans uploaded videos of themselves imitating this move.
"This has blown up."
Li Xiangbei put down his phone, a playful smile playing on his lips.
"However, I like this chaos."
……
11:00am.
Under Armour founder Max Planck practically burst through the door, followed by an equally excited Duffy.
"Li! You're a madman! And a genius!"
Planck burst in, not even having time to take off his coat, and slammed a latest sales report onto the coffee table.
"Look at this! This is a money-printing machine! Within an hour of the game ending last night, all sizes of the 'Villain 1' were sold out on the official website! Even the physical stores that haven't opened yet have long lines outside!"
Planck was so excited that he danced with joy.
"And I have some inside information," Planck said in a low voice, but couldn't hide the excitement in his eyes. "Nike has pulled back LeBron James' latest 'King James' promotional video. Because the current trend is 'mortals defeating gods,' if they were to promote anything like 'the chosen one' now, they'd just get bombarded with criticism online! This is Nike, for crying out loud! We actually forced Nike to pull back the promotional video!"
"Our stock opened 8% higher this morning! This is the best day in Under Armour's history! The old guys on the board are ecstatic!"
Li Xiangbei sat on the sofa and calmly took a sip of coffee.
"Kevin, this is just the beginning."
He put down his cup, his eyes gleaming with the cunning of a business tycoon.
"Since they hate me, since they call me a villain, then let's turn that hatred into dollars."
"I have a new plan."
"Don't promote how strong I am, and don't promote any inspirational stories. That kind of thing is too cliché; it's a script for Kobe and LeBron."
"What we want to promote is—how much I'm hated, but how much they can't get rid of me."
He wrote down several names on the paper: James, Paul, Garnett, Artest.
"We're releasing a merchandise T-shirt. It features silhouettes of these people—of course, silhouettes of them when I defeated or humiliated them."
The caption was just one sentence: "They hate me, they watch me."
Planck and Duffy exchanged a glance, both seeing excitement in each other's eyes.
This is blatant provocation! And the ultimate marketing tactic! They're determined to solidify the "villain" persona and leech off their opponent!
"Let's do it!" Planck slapped his thigh. "This shirt is going to be a huge hit! I'm going to get all the young people in America wearing it! This isn't just a T-shirt, it's an attitude! It's a rebellion against the mainstream!"
Duffy added, "And we can release limited editions to create a sense of scarcity. Combined with your All-Star vote-getter status, Lee, your commercial value is going to explode this year."
……
8:00 PM. Scarlett's private mansion.
Under the soft light, Scarlett, wearing a silk robe and holding a script, was watching Li Xiangbei sitting opposite her with great interest.
"Do you know?"
"Hollywood has a lot of tough guys and so-called bad boys. But most of them are just acting; once they're off-camera, they become docile and boring."
She stood up, walked up to Li Xiangbei, and gently traced her fingers across his chest.
"Only you truly enjoy being booed by tens of thousands of people. That... twisted mentality of enjoying the chaos. When I was watching you drive LeBron crazy on the sidelines, I thought to myself, this man is absolutely insane."
Li Xiangbei grabbed her hand and kissed it.
"Perverted? Is that a compliment?"
“Of course,” Scarlett chuckled. “It’s sexy. Much sexier than those guys who just fake a smile for the camera and spout high-sounding nonsense.”
She picked up the script from the table and handed it to Li Xiangbei.
"Look at this. Marvel is working on a big project. They want to add some real sports elements to it to make the movie more realistic."
Li Xiangbei glanced at the cover—"Iron Man 2".
"Even though it's just a cameo, playing yourself, and making a brief appearance at a party, I think you'll like it."
Scarlett leaned close to his ear.
"And this is also part of my 'after-sales service.' How about it? Interested in crossing over from the sports section to the entertainment section? Let those who don't like basketball get to know this 'New York villain'?"
Li Xiangbei looked at the script, then at the woman in front of him.
He knew what that meant.
This means that his influence will no longer be limited to basketball fans, but will begin to penetrate into a wider area of popular culture.
He will become a true icon, just as Jordan is more than just a basketball player.
Scarlett was paving the way for him to reach the top of the world of fame and fortune.
Why not?
Li Xiangbei put the script aside and pulled Scarlett into his arms.
"I'll take any role as a villain in a movie. I don't like being the hero who saves the world; it's too tiring."
Scarlett leaned into his arms and unbuttoned his shirt.
"Don't worry, even though you're only making a cameo appearance in this movie, your presence is absolutely on par with Tony Stark. And..."
She kissed Li Xiangbei's lips.
"In my script, you are the only protagonist."