At twelve o'clock, the Pistons' special plane arrived in Detroit. A large number of fans went to the airport to greet them, and the roads were blocked by a long line of motorcades.
Zhou Quan looked at the enthusiastic fans and felt a lot of pressure in his heart.
He feels that if he cannot bring more victories and honors to these fans, even if he becomes a star or even a superstar, his career will not be considered a success.
As the Pistons' bus left the airport and drove to the headquarters, the Skechers headquarters in Los Angeles held a press conference and announced that it would donate 20,000 pairs of Tekken Generation 1 brand sneakers on behalf of Zhou Quan.
The news quickly spread throughout the United States through television media.
"Damn it, isn't it 10,000 pairs? Now that we have announced the donation of 10,000 pairs, they immediately increased the amount. Is this intentional?"
Jordan was furious when he heard the news, and so was Nike.
But there is no way, they have to keep up, and this time Nike directly announced that it would donate 40,000 pairs of sneakers worth one million US dollars on behalf of Michael Jordan.
At a quarter past one in the afternoon, after the bus arrived at the headquarters, Zhou Quan drove away in his pickup truck and was stopped by a group of fans and reporters at the gate.
"Iron Fist, Nike just announced an hour ago that it would donate 10,000 pairs of sneakers on behalf of Jordan. Skechers immediately announced that it would donate 20,000 pairs of sneakers on your behalf. But just now, Nike once again announced that it would donate 40,000 pairs of sneakers on behalf of Jordan. Iron Fist , do you and Skechers plan to follow up?" a reporter asked loudly.
Zhou Quan sat in the car, took the pen handed over by a fan, and wrote his name on his jersey. He was startled after hearing the reporter's words and said:
"The decision to donate 20,000 pairs of sneakers was made by Skechers and I. We decided in the morning. We will only do what we think needs to be done. It has nothing to do with Michael Jordan and Nike. How much they are willing to donate is their business."
"You mean that Skechers donated 20,000 pairs of sneakers because it didn't want to exceed Nike's donation? So do you think that Nike's additional 20,000 pairs of sneakers is because of you?" the reporter asked.
"Of course, our business has nothing to do with them. As for their additional donations, that is also their business and has nothing to do with us. But I am personally very happy to see Nike's donation decision, which can help more children in slums." Zhou Quan Smiled.
At this time, the Bulls' special plane arrived in Detroit and was surrounded by reporters when it left the airport.
"Michael, is Nike increasing its donation because Skechers' donation exceeds yours?" a reporter from the Detroit Daily Worker asked loudly.
"No matter what I do, I will never lose."
Jordan lined up the reporters and said while moving forward.
"You mean, just because they donated 20,000 yuan, you want to donate more?" the reporter asked.
Jordan immediately realized that he had fallen into the trap again. He looked at the reporter angrily and said, "This is Nike's decision and has nothing to do with me."
"Does Nike's donation have nothing to do with you? Then Iron Fist donated 10,000 pairs, don't you mind? You are a big star, and your business income in a year is several times that of him, why don't you get a dime?" The reporter asked again.
There were sweat stains on his forehead, and Jordan said angrily: "Didn't Nike donate it?"
"But you just said that Nike's donation has nothing to do with you." The reporter said.
Jordan's head started to hurt, and he said dissatisfiedly: "Sir, I'm warning you, don't write randomly. What I mean is that it's their decision how many shoes Nike donates. I'm not the management, I can't decide how much to donate."
After getting on the bus, he found peace and finally got rid of these hateful Detroit reporters who were entangled in him. Detroiters were not good people, and he hated the city most of all.
In the afternoon, Rodman returned home.
Then, as he expected, a violent quarrel broke out with Anne Banks, and the whole house was smashed up.
He finally admitted that he was dating Madonna. He had no choice but to admit it, and he didn't want to deny it because he wanted to resolve matters with his wife as soon as possible.
Anne Banks is also very decisive. In the past few days, she has also thought clearly that divorce is the best solution between the two of them.
After the initial negotiation, both of them breathed a sigh of relief. Banks would receive a large sum of compensation and future alimony, and Rodman would be free.
Then he said goodbye to his four-year-old daughter, left home with his suitcase in tow, and checked into a hotel.
"Dad, I want a divorce."
He called Chuck Daly and told him what had happened.
"Dennis, focus on the Eastern Conference finals and leave these matters to the lawyers."
Daly had no choice but to do it because it was Rodman's own fault. Now he is only worried that Rodman will go bankrupt after the divorce, and then Rodman, who needs money, will have conflicts with the Pistons because of his contract.
Rodman still has two years of contract, while Iron Fist's contract is 3+1. In other words, both of them will renegotiate their contracts in two years. By then, the Pistons will have the space and ability to offer Rodman his contract. Want to get a contract?
In the evening, Zhou Quan was cooking dinner by himself.
He cooks and eats at home and only goes out to eat occasionally.
When I was young, my mother had to go to work, so he had to cook by himself since he was six years old. He could still cook the food, but he could not starve himself while living alone.
"Zhou, guess what the sales volume is today?" The agent called and shouted happily.
"One million?" he guessed boldly.
Philip said excitedly: "Haha, Zhou, you guessed wrong. It's 2.35 million. Sales volume has skyrocketed, and 80% of the sales came from outside Detroit and Los Angeles. What does this mean? It means you also have some sales in other cities." Fans.
Zhou, you have completed 70% of the sales. Maybe you can complete all the sales tasks tomorrow and the day after tomorrow. By the way, Skechers is designing the second generation of Tekken, and they have invested more in research and development, which shows that they are very optimistic about your future. "
After ending the call, Zhou Quan happily put down the phone and started eating his breakfast.
A large portion of veal steak, fried to medium-rare, a little burnt on the outside, sprinkled with a lot of black pepper, and brushed with a layer of chili sauce. There was no obvious bloodshot after cutting. It was too raw and unappetizing. He liked this kind of steak.
There is also a piece of boiled chicken breast, a plate of fruit, a plate of vegetable salad mixed with chili sauce, a glass of juice, two slices of bread, and a piece of stir-fried pork with chili pepper.
Now that he has the conditions, he will cook some side dishes from his hometown to reward himself every few days. In the past, the conditions in the NCAA were not so good. He always ate Western food, steak salad with bread every day, and almost got anorexia.
After finishing other things, he took the stir-fried pork and tasted it. He chewed it slowly and while eating, he decided to get some pork ribs in a few days and make braised pork ribs, adding more chili peppers.
In the evening, the G3 game of the Western Conference Finals began. The Jazz, who returned to their home court, pulled back a game and fell behind the Trail Blazers 1-2.
The score was 89:97, and the Jazz won by 8 points.
Karl Malone scored 34 points, shooting 60.9% from the field and 11 of 13 free throws, achieving rare high efficiency and high damage.
He didn't focus on the Mailman's performance, only on John Stockton's performance.
John Stockton's performance in this game was still weak, with 14 points, 3 rebounds, 10 assists, 1 steal, 1 block, 3 turnovers and 2 fouls. He made 5 of 13 shots and his shooting percentage was only 38.5%.
This performance, to put it bluntly, is not as good as myself, and to put it humbly, it is still not as good as myself.
The Trail Blazers did not lose to the main lineup, but to the bench lineup.
The Trail Blazers rotated nine players, and the four substitutes played only 48 minutes in total. Only two of them scored, a total of 14 points, and the other two scored zero points.
The Jazz only had eight rotations, and three substitutes played a total of 70 minutes and scored 26 points together. The substitute lineup scored 12 points more than the Trail Blazers' bench.
In addition, the Trail Blazers made 2 of 10 three-pointers and committed 8 more fouls than the Jazz. The Jazz made 13 more free throws than the Trail Blazers. The home court advantage was obvious.
"The Jazz can come back at home, and so can we."
With this idea in mind, Zhou Quan climbed into bed and had a good sleep. When he woke up due to bloating from urine, it was already daybreak and he quickly ran to fill a large bucket of water.
While having breakfast, he looked through the newspapers and saw a lot of media news about him and Jordan donating shoes.
The media is positive about his donation, but some media are skeptical about Jordan's donation, thinking that it is just following the trend and hyping up.
“Hopefully today’s sales will continue.”
After having breakfast and resting for a while, at ten o'clock in the morning, he received a call from Catherine.
"Zhou, I'm ready to go back to England."
"What?"
Zhou Quan was stunned. What do you mean? Are you telling me to find another girlfriend?
He quickly said: "Katherine, don't worry, you should hold on for a little longer. You have only been in the United States for three months, and you shouldn't give up so quickly."
"I still feel that it's not the right time. No one in Hollywood knows me, and my agent has no connections. It just so happens that a movie in the UK is looking for me. I should go back to the UK to continue developing for a while. I have already decided."
At this point, Catherine said sadly: "I'm sorry, Zhou, we are breaking up again. I hope we have a chance to see each other again."
"Divide again?"
Zhou Quan said helplessly: "Well, I support your decision and I will go to the UK to see you. By the way, before you leave, do you want to see the Eastern Conference Finals?"
"Of course, I have already booked my flight ticket and will get on the plane right away. I will watch your playoff game before returning to the UK." Catherine said.
"Okay, I'll pick you up at the airport. When will you arrive in Detroit?" Zhou Quan asked.
"17:00."
"Okay, see you then."
"well!"
Putting down the phone, Zhou Quan sighed helplessly for his relationship that was about to end.
…
At noon, a group of league superstars including Barkley and Magic Johnson arrived in Detroit. After checking into the hotel, they each contacted the Pistons management.
Nothing else, just get free tickets.
Generally these stars want tickets, even if they are just ordinary All-Stars, no matter which team they are from, they will give them, and they are front row tickets. No team is willing to offend them for a ticket.
Barkley, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, and Dream quickly got answers from the Pistons management and got tickets, but Magic Johnson ran into trouble.
"how?"
Buckley asked quickly when he saw the magician ended the call and looked a little ugly.
Magic Johnson shook his head and said, "It's nothing. I'm afraid I have to watch the game in the hotel."
"No way, the Pistons are so disrespectful?"
"Erwin, have you offended the Pistons?"
"Is it because of the assassin?"
"It should be related to the assassins and the national team."
Dameng, Ewing and others were very surprised and couldn't help discussing.
Buckley said: "Erwin, why don't I find Iron Fist?"
"Forget it, last time you stood up for Hakeem, you already offended him."
Magic Johnson snorted and said: "Although I admire Iron Fist very much, I have no contact or friendship with him.
Moreover, we are all supporting the Bulls, so it is not good for you to ask him to get votes. "
Buckley nodded awkwardly and said, "That's right."
In order to liven up the atmosphere, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar joked: "Except for me, you all clearly support the Bulls and Michael Jordan. To be honest, I am surprised that the Pistons can give you tickets. If it were me, you would pay for it." "
"Ha ha……"
Buckley and others couldn't help laughing.
…
After training for two hours in the afternoon, Zhou Quan took leave and went to the airport to pick up Catherine.
"Zhou, I saw in the newspaper that your signature sneakers are selling like hotcakes. Congratulations." Catherine said with a bright smile.
"During the previous two series, Jordan performed very well, and my sneaker sales dropped to zero and were almost sold off the shelves. In the past two days, we won one game and things turned a bit better." Zhou Quan said modestly.
"I believe your performance will be better next season." Catherine nodded.
"certainly."
Zhou Quan smiled, nodded, and asked, "Have you had dinner?"
"Nope."
"Then I'll take you to the Palace of Auburn Hills for dinner. The three restaurants there are all OK."
"OK."
"Catherine, you don't have to be in such a hurry to return to England. Why don't you stay a little longer?" Zhou Quan couldn't help but persuade.
Catherine was a little disappointed and said: "Zhou, I don't want to lie to you. Your performance in the NBA is getting better and better, and your fame is getting bigger and bigger, while I have achieved nothing in Hollywood. This is not the result I want.
And if I don’t go back to the UK now, my foundation there will disappear. The entertainment industry is changing very quickly, so I have to go back before then. I happened to be approached by a movie, so I decided to leave. "
Zhou Quan could not persuade him any more and could only say some irrelevant words.
On the way, Roger Philippe called and told him that today's sneaker sales reached 1.5 million US dollars. Although it was down 35% from yesterday, it was very close to the 8 million US dollars in sales, and it would definitely be completed tomorrow.
At 6:40, the two came to the Palace of Auburn Hills. At this time, fans were entering the stadium, and there were people inside and outside.
"Catherine, call me after you finish eating and I will take you to the stadium."
"No, I'll go in by myself."
"That's fine too. Here's the ticket, right next to our bench."
Zhou Quan took Catherine to a restaurant, then hurried to the locker room to join the team.
The game started at 8:30, and all players had to gather in the locker room at 7:00. He was not late, he just made it.
"Iron Fist, it seems that you did not break up with your girlfriend."
"Iron Fist, congratulations."
Seeing him coming in, a group of teammates joked.
Zhou Quan shook his head and sighed: "You guys are right, she and I are going to break up."
"what happened?"
Chuck Daly frowned immediately. If it wasn't a joke, he was worried that this matter would affect Zhou Quan's state.
Zhou Quan said: "When she first arrived in Hollywood, her development was not going well, and she was worried about losing her foundation in the UK, so she chose to return to the UK."
"Why is there no development, she is so beautiful?" Rodman said in surprise.
"Yes, it's an agent, isn't it? It's best to change to another agent. You said her agent is still from the UK. How can that be done? She must change to a Hollywood agent. It's best to join an influential company. agency," Joe Dumas said.
"I'll try to persuade her again." Zhou Quan nodded.
"The decision was really hasty. When she came, she was hasty. The decision to leave was also hasty. She was not prepared at all." Chuck Daly shook his head.
Zhou Quan nodded and began to change his clothes.
"Zhou, I hope you won't be affected by this incident," Chuck Daly said.
"Don't worry, coach, I won't do it." Zhou Quan nodded.
After Catherine finished her dinner, she looked at the time. It was almost seven forty. She quickly went to the bathroom to touch up her makeup, and then came to the stadium.
When she found her seat, she found that the person sitting next to her was Madonna. She couldn't say hello rashly. Queen Madonna was too aura, so she just smiled and sat down in her seat.
Madonna noticed, smiled and nodded.
At this time, two reporters walked over quickly. Catherine glanced at them and thought they were interviewing Madonna, so she looked away, but the two reporters came directly in front of her.
Madonna glanced at Catherine. She thought she was here to interview her just now, but she didn't expect that she was interviewing the girl next to her.
She looked at Catherine carefully. She was very beautiful and elegant. She was also dressed like a star. But she didn't recognize her. She shouldn't be a famous star or a model?
"Catherine, why didn't you come to watch the first two rounds of the series?" a reporter asked.
"Oh, sorry, I have some unfinished work in Los Angeles." Catherine said hurriedly.
"Tekken led the team to win the G2 game. His performance the night before was even better than Michael Jordan. As Tekken's girlfriend, how do you evaluate the two of them?" another reporter asked.
"this?"
Facing this kind of question for the first time, Catherine said in a panic: "I think they are all excellent, and they will become as outstanding as Michael Jordan in the future."
"It turns out that she is Iron Fist's girlfriend. No wonder she is not very famous, but there are reporters interviewing her here." Madonna suddenly realized.
"Do you and Iron Fist have any marriage plans?"
"How many children are you planning to have? Do you like mixed-race children?"
"If Iron Fist cheated on him, would you choose to forgive him? How many times would you forgive him?"
"Where are you going on vacation?"
Then the two reporters started to gossip, and all kinds of strange questions gave Catherine a headache.
(End of chapter)
