Domination in America, Starting from being a Boxing Champion-Chapter 944 - 660: Investment and Competition

During his lunch break, he received a message from Teacher Yu, asking if he was interested in playing the male lead in "Love Will Return."

Link said he was too busy and didn't have time for acting. However, if her new movie needed investment, he could help.

Teacher Yu agreed.

"Link, how did you train your speed? Why are your punches so fast? Even I, as a lightweight, can't match you."

In the National Boxing Team's training gym, Zou Shiming asked while throwing punches.

"Let me think... It's probably talent and hard work. I have natural strength, so it's effortless when I throw punches. Additionally, I do a lot of speed training as well."

Link replied after putting his phone away.

"Based on what you said, if we train harder, do we stand a chance to catch up with your speed?"

Zou Shiming earnestly asked.

"It's possible. But remember to balance your training to avoid injuries."

Link chatted with Zou Shiming for a bit, then changed into a sports t-shirt, put on gloves, and got into the ring to spar with Zou Shiming, Zhang Xiaoping, Zhang Zhilei, and Hu Qing, teaching them while fighting. He showed them how to attack, defend, throw combination punches, leverage their strengths to defeat opponents, and identify their opponent's flaws.

After graduating from university, he was specially appointed as a coach for the National Boxing Team to help train its boxers.

Link didn't decline the offer and frequently came to the training center when he wasn't busy, teaching them everything he could. How much they could learn depended on their talent and effort.

For these athletes to make it into the National Team and become pro boxers, their talent was more than adequate.

However, skilled boxers within the country were scarce, and high-level boxing competitions were lacking, resulting in insufficient practical experience. In matches against stronger opponents, issues often arose, leading to poor performance.

Link, being a world-class boxer with rich practical experience, perfectly compensated for these shortcomings in the team.

After training with him for over a year, the National Team's main boxers had made significant progress in technique and skills.

The only thing they lacked was experience in major competitions.

The nation's boxing championships were at a general level, with few participants and strong contenders, meaning these competitions couldn't produce many top-notch boxers.

Such situations couldn't be improved within a short time.

Now, if Zou Shiming and the others wanted to gain experience in major competitions, they could only participate more in international boxing events, such as the Asian Games, World Boxing Championships, Boxing World Cup, and Olympic qualifiers.

If they could perform well in these amateur events, their results at the Olympics wouldn't be bad either.

After the afternoon training session, Link turned on his phone again and saw a message from Teacher Yu saying she wanted to discuss the project "Love Will Return" and asked when he would have time.

Link replied that he was available on the weekend.

There was also a missed call from Old Liu, Liu Qiangdong, on his phone. Link called back to ask what he needed.

Since he invested in JD.com, although he didn't involve himself in the company's detailed operations and management, he always provided reasonable advice whenever Liu Qiangdong called to consult him on issues.

In August, he took Old Liu to the United States to meet Amazon's founder Jeff Bezos. The two had a pleasant conversation, and Old Liu gained valuable experience.

Additionally, in terms of funding, Link had been continuously investing in JD.com since 2004, injecting nearly $30 million into its operations and expansion, allowing JD.com to persist without financing until now, though it originally planned to raise funds in 2005.

On the call, Old Liu said he had returned to the Capital City and invited Link to dinner.

Link agreed.

They had dinner at a Huizhou cuisine restaurant near JD.com's headquarters. They ordered just four signature dishes and a bottle of Maotai.

During dinner, Old Liu talked about the purpose of his trip back. Recently, the company had been developing smoothly in East China, with branches in Dahai City, Wuxi, Hefei, and Qingdao. It also created the nation's first professional blog system targeted at products. Currently, JD.com processes over 2,000 orders daily.

The next step was to expand into South China.

Link asked if he needed money.

Old Liu gave him a knowing look.

Old Liu said they needed a considerable amount of money this time, around 300 to 400 million. So far, they had raised 160 million, leaving a shortfall of about 200 million. Old Liu asked if Link's cash flow was tight. If it was, he could seek investment elsewhere.

Link said it wasn't tight, and he still had some liquidity on hand. Two hundred million wasn't an issue.

Although he hadn't competed recently, he continued to receive royalties from his album copyrights, dividends from several companies' shares, and profits from other investments by the Golden Shell investment department.

Now, even if he did nothing, he could earn one to two hundred million annually from these sources, with more in the coming years.

Old Liu was delighted by his straightforward response and raised his wine glass to toast him, saying he felt like he had found a mentor when meeting him.

Link smiled and said that Guan Zhong and Bao Shuya might be more fitting.

Old Liu laughed heartily, clinked glasses with him, and downed his drink in one go.

After dinner, Link drove to the Princess's house to spend the night. The next day, he resumed training. On the weekend, he met up with Teacher Yu and agreed to invest one million in her new movie, "Love Will Return."

That weekend, another piece of good news came. Liu Yifei attended the 6th Huaxia Golden Eagle TV Art Festival in Changsha, serving as the opening ceremony's Golden Eagle Goddess. This made her the first-ever Golden Eagle Goddess in the festival's history.

Liu Xiaoli hosted a grand party at a hotel to celebrate Liu Yifei, inviting company employees and some familiar faces from the industry.

After attending Liu Yifei's celebration banquet, Link flew to Sanya to participate in the 56th Miss World pageant held there. This was the third time Sanya hosted the event.

Zhang Zilin stood out in the Huaxia region's selection rounds and became the Miss World Huaxia champion, later representing Huaxia in the Miss World finals.

After several rounds of competition and evaluation, Zhang Zilin won the Miss World title with her stunning beauty, sharp answers, and graceful demeanor, beating 106 contestants from around the globe. She became the first-ever Miss World from Huaxia.

As Miss World, Zhang Zilin had to fulfill her responsibilities, including promoting world peace, setting an exemplary role for women, and supporting hungry and disabled children through charity and public welfare activities, showcasing the beauty and influence of women while spreading positive energy.

Link suggested Zhang Zilin join the 1+1 Charity Foundation as a council member to use her influence to raise funds and oversee the appropriate allocation of donations. Through these activities, Zhang Zilin could also build a positive public image.

After considering it, Zhang Zilin agreed.

By late November, Link traveled with the Huaxia sports delegation to Doha, Qatar's capital, to participate in the 15th Asian Games.

The event ran from December 1 to December 15, featuring 11,000 athletes from 45 countries and regions competing across 39 major categories and 424 minor categories.

Link signed up for eight events, including the 100m, 200m, 1500m, 3000m, 5000m, 10,000m, shot put, and javelin.

Over ten days of competition, Link secured seven golds and one silver, breaking five Asian records in events including the 100m, 200m, 1500m, shot put, and javelin. For the remaining three events, though he created new competition records, he didn't break existing ones in this Asian Games.

With his incredible performance of seven golds and one silver, Link became the most popular athlete at the Games.

Additionally, the Huaxia boxing team earned four golds and three silvers, setting a new record for the boxing team in international events.

The Huaxia delegation also topped the medal table at this Asian Games with 165 golds, 88 silvers, and 63 bronzes, totaling 316 medals.

Second place went to South Korea, with 58 golds and 193 medals overall, followed by Japan, with 50 golds and 198 medals.

When the Asian Games ended, Link returned to the Capital City to continue training in various sports while starting to record his second English album.

This album's tracklist directly followed his previous second album, "Keep On Movin," with a theme that was more positive compared to the boxing style of his first album.

The album included 14 songs such as "Keep On Movin," "Give Me Reason," "Believer," "Trouble I'm In," "This Is Me," and "Rainbow."

The recording process lasted two months, and Warner Records planned to release the album in March.

By the end of the year, the Capital City became colder, and snow occasionally fell from the skies.

After finishing the album, Link had some downtime and spent his days training or practicing piano in his courtyard home, occasionally finding time to date Lin Zhilin, Tang Yan, the Princess, and Yu Feihong.

During his last conversation with Teacher Yu about the film project, she invited him to her place. They drank some red wine, and what happened next was inevitable.

Teacher Yu hadn't had a partner in years and appeared to live a tranquil life, but her desires were surprisingly intense. Once they started, she didn't want to stop until she lost consciousness, quite similar to the Princess.

Teacher Yu confessed that she never considered marriage or wanted children and was only looking for a long-term partner to fulfill her physical needs. She asked if he was willing.

Link didn't refuse.

In January, the nominations for the 49th Grammy Awards were announced. Link was nominated for two awards for his album "The Fighter": Best New Artist and Song of the Year for "Unstoppable."

The Grammy organizers invited him to attend the award ceremony in February and perform on stage.

Warner Records believed that attending the Grammys would help promote the new album and boost its exposure.

Link didn't refuse.

Soon after, the nominations for the 79th Academy Awards were announced. "Curse of the Golden Flower" received two nominations: Best Foreign Language Film and Best Costume Design.

Director Zhang was ecstatic upon receiving the news and invited Link to join him at the February ceremony.

Link replied that he would attend if his schedule allowed.

This year, the Spring Festival fell on February 18, sandwiched between the Grammy and Academy Award ceremonies. If he decided to attend both, he would need to fly back and forth, making it uncertain whether he'd have time for the Oscars.

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