The program after the reception had ended. Smiling and saying his goodbyes, Zheng ngjun saw Contiguglia’s group off. The man, who had appeared drunk just monts before, was suddenly perfectly sober.
"Was the item delivered?"
Zheng ngjun turned to ask his assistant.
Assistant Jin nodded. "He didn’t keep the female celebrity, but he took the gift."
"Good enough."
Zheng ngjun smiled, satisfied.
Assistant Jin hesitated for a mont before asking in a low voice, "Chairman Zheng, why did we choose this Dr. Chen instead of Mr. Contiguglia?"
"You idiot," Zheng ngjun snapped. "Didn’t you read the background report?"
Assistant Jin imdiately stood at attention, putting on an expression of soone eager to be taught. Internally, however, he couldn’t help but scoff, ’If I don’t ask a question like this, how am I supposed to make you look smart?’
Zheng ngjun said, "According to our investigation, this Chen Yu is an extrely famous doctor in the United States. He’s treated many players, and Contiguglia and his people trust him completely. You could say he’s the final authority on the matter."
"Furthermore, he doesn’t just have dical expertise; he also understands training. This inspection tour is primarily about evaluating logistical facilities. In that regard, you shouldn’t underestimate him. His word and his opinions carry significant weight and can directly influence whether the United States Team chooses South Korea as its base camp."
"The risk of bribing Contiguglia is high, but if we bribe a team doctor, no one is likely to notice. He can accept the money without any worries and do as we ask."
"Chairman Zheng, you are truly brilliant." Assistant Jin executed a sharp, ninety-degree bow.
Zheng ngjun laughed heartily. This little trick was nothing. Forcibly snatching half of the World Cup hosting rights from Japan—now *that* was his proudest accomplishnt.
What Zheng ngjun didn’t expect, however, was that the one hundred thousand US dollars would soon be sitting in front of Contiguglia.
Contiguglia looked at the hundred thousand US dollars, then said with a strange expression, "Did this Zheng ngjun underestimate your inco? Why give you so little?"
Zheng ngjun’s investigation probably wasn’t that thorough, but Contiguglia knew the truth.
In the United States, doctors already earn a very high inco.
And Chen Yu’s was frighteningly high.
Never mind his inco as a team doctor and from the NBA; that alone added up to seven hundred and fifty thousand US dollars.
Then there was his clinic.
For a client like Ronaldo, the fee started at five hundred thousand US dollars.
On top of that, Chen Yu was a leading authority in orthopedics. Countless patients were desperate for him to perform their surgeries. You didn’t need to be a genius to figure out how much his clinic was making.
This little bit of money really wasn’t enough to make Chen Yu compromise his integrity.
"Is there any way to get back at him? For example, report him for bribery?" Chen Yu asked in a low voice.
Bribing with such a small amount of money... it was a complete insult.
"Well..." Contiguglia scratched his head, first muttering glumly, "Why didn’t they try to bribe ?"
He wouldn’t have accepted it, of course, but for them not to even try... Wasn’t that just looking down on him?
"It would be difficult. He’s very powerful in South Korea," Contiguglia said after a mont’s thought.
"What about the FBI?"
The FBI has an office in South Korea, I think.
Contiguglia still shook his head. There was no way to prove the gift was sent on Zheng ngjun’s orders.
Chen Yu cursed himself. Li Hyori’s arrival had been so sudden that he’d forgotten to record the conversation on his phone.
"How about this, then? We’ll leak it to a reporter later. That should piss him off." Just returning the money wasn’t an option.
We might not be able to do any real damage, but at the very least, we can make him lose face.
Contiguglia nodded. "I’ll also report this to FIFA later."
At this, he couldn’t help but add, "Just how bad must the facilities in South Korea be for them to resort to bribery? Didn’t he say they spent a fortune on building them up?"
Chen Yu thought, ’And you actually believed that load of crap.’
’Well, we’ll see for ourselves tomorrow just how good they are.’
The next day, the group set off to inspect the training facilities at the potential base camp sites.
There were several options, including Han City, Shangzhou, and Seogwipo on Jeju Island.
"Chen, this is awful," Andy muttered, trailing behind Chen Yu.
Chen Yu didn’t say anything. As he walked into the training center’s gym, the corner of his eye twitched.
Any decent comrcial gym would probably have better equipnt than this place.
Then there were the living quarters.
You could tell they had been renovated, but the work was shoddy, and many areas were still a complete ss.
So rooms didn’t even have hot water.
Worst of all, the entire training base had only one tiny infirmary. If a player got injured, they would just be sent to the nearest general hospital.
Chen Yu went to see it for himself. After the inspection, he had only one thought: get out of here. This whole South Korean option was a disaster.
Only Seogwipo was remotely acceptable. Plus, since it was in the south of the country, the temperature should be a little better next sumr.
"I, for one, do not recomnd it." When they gathered after the inspection, Chen Yu imdiately voiced his opposition.
Now he understood why Zheng ngjun had tried to bribe him.
With facilities like these, who in their right mind would choose this place without a bribe?
And the man was cheap, too. A asly hundred thousand US dollars. So classless, and so stingy.
"Let’s go to Japan," Contiguglia said, clearly dissatisfied. Even though Zheng ngjun had spent the last two days trying to convince him how great South Korea was, the reality couldn’t be *this* bad.
And then there was the matter of the bribe.
They had originally planned to find a reporter and leak the story after leaving South Korea.
Unexpectedly, Zheng ngjun had arranged a small press conference at the airport, right as they were preparing to leave.
The purpose was to ask the group for their impressions of the inspection tour in South Korea.
So, as he stood before the crowd of reporters, Chen Yu glanced at Contiguglia, giving him a look that said, ’You or ?’
Contiguglia gave a slight nod, indicating he would handle it.
However, Chen Yu didn’t hand him the gift bag. Instead, he walked straight up to the podium himself.
’I should be the one to do this,’ he thought.
’After all, I’m the one they tried to bribe.’
"Dr. Chen, I’m a reporter from the Korea News Agency. After inspecting various sites in South Korea over the past two days, what is your impression of the country? I heard that you promote Acupuncture in the United States. This is also a traditional dical practice of ours in South Korea, and many of our hospitals offer it. I was wondering if you’ve had a chance to speak with any of those doctors?"
This reporter had clearly done his howork, even knowing about his use of Acupuncture.
’But since when,’ Chen Yu wondered, ’did Acupuncture beco a traditional Korean therapy?’
Chen Yu gave him an odd look. "First, let correct you on one point. If I’m not mistaken, Acupuncture is a form of traditional Chinese dicine. It has nothing to do with South Korea."
The faces of the reporters present all changed.
Before they could argue, Chen Yu continued, "Second, you asked for my impression. I can only say that it’s very poor. The supporting facilities are too backward, the hardware isn’t up to standard, and it’s clear there was a lack of effort."
"So, I have to wonder if that’s the reason soone tried to bribe us."
Chen Yu pulled out the gift bag.
The reporters in the room were all stunned.
"This is a ’souvenir’ I received after arriving in South Korea. I won’t say what’s inside; I’m sure you can all guess." Chen Yu held up the gift bag for everyone to see.
As he did, he glanced at a few people standing behind the press corps.
Zheng ngjun’s face had turned dark as thunder.
Chen Yu pretended not to notice. He loosened his grip, and the gift bag dropped to the floor. "I won’t say who sent it. I’m leaving it here. Whoever it belongs to can co and get it."
"Alright, we have a plane to catch. Apologies."
Chen Yu nodded to the crowd, then turned and walked off the stage.
Almost in unison, every reporter in the room turned to look at Zheng ngjun.
Zheng ngjun’s face was ashen. He said nothing.
Assistant Jin, standing beside him, reacted instantly. He quickly backed up and pushed a security guard forward, ordering him to go retrieve the bag.
But a quick-thinking reporter had already lunged for it.
"It’s US dollars!" the reporter who snatched it exclaid excitedly after a quick look inside.
The shout finally snapped the stunned Zheng ngjun out of his daze. He quickly forced a smile, calling for security to maintain order while shouting, "Everyone, please calm down! There must be so misunderstanding. Alright, Dr. Chen and his group have a plane to catch, so we’ll end the questions here."
With that, he signaled for his n to lead the reporters away.
But the flashes of caras were already going off, all aid at him.
Chen Yu and his group ignored the commotion and turned to leave.
Unexpectedly, just as they were about to board, Zheng ngjun ran over again. He was still all smiles as he cordially shook Chen Yu’s hand. "Dr. Chen, I am so sorry about what happened. There must have been so misunderstanding. Rest assured, I will conduct a thorough investigation into that gift bag and give you a satisfactory explanation."
"Sure."
Chen Yu smiled back.
’If you say it’s a misunderstanding, then it’s a misunderstanding.’
’In any case, the goal of revealing this was just to embarrass him.’
’And that goal had clearly been achieved.’
Afterward, Chen Yu did so research on Zheng ngjun. Contiguglia had been right; the man was very powerful. Without concrete evidence, there was nothing they could do to him.
「On the plane.」
The n were still talking about what had just happened.
"What do you guys think? If we end up in the sa group as South Korea, do you think they’ll deliberately target us?" Alina asked.
Chen Yu thought, ’Even if we did get placed in the sa group, how could they target us?’
"Our performance is so consistently poor, what more could they do to us?" Chen Yu retorted.
Alina didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. He said weakly, "Chen, I actually think we’re pretty strong."
But even he didn’t sound confident saying it.
"That Zheng ngjun is a FIFA vice president, isn’t he? What if he tries to pull so strings sowhere else, like with the referees, to stop us from advancing out of the group stage?" Andy whispered from the side.
Alina frowned and nodded. Biased refereeing was certainly not unheard of in international soccer.
"Don’t worry," Contiguglia said with a wave of his hand. "If they dare to interfere with the integrity of the ga, I will not let him get away with it."
It was true that soccer didn’t get much attention in the United States, and people didn’t care that much about their performance in the World Cup.
But losing was one thing.
If they were simply outplayed, no one would complain.
But if they lost under suspicious circumstances, because of so biased referee, Contiguglia would make damn sure that man understood the consequences of trying to pull a fast one on the United States.
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