I am a Big Player
Chapter 110 - 109. A Popular Car Technique Abroad (Third Update)_1

Chapter 110: 109. A Popular Car Technique Abroad (Third Update)_1

In 2005, cycling tricks were still basically the so-called fancy cycling tricks, and they were quite basic. It wasn’t that Chinese people lacked physical strength compared to foreigners, nor that Chinese people had less creativity, Ren He simply thought that extreme sports caught on earlier abroad because there were more foreigners with a devil-may-care attitude...

At this time, there were very few people in China who paid attention to major world cycling events like the Tour de France, let alone participate in them.

Although China has always been a big cycling country, few people wanted to delve into it, and even fewer noticed that cycling could be extremely exhilarating when pushed to the limit. Now, Ren He’s emergence had, undeniably, opened a window for everyone, showing that cycling could be enjoyed in such a way!

People always talked about car drifting, but it was the first time they had heard that bicycles could drift too!

Moreover, at this time, even abroad, the sport of bicycle drifting had not yet caught on. It really took off in 2008 when the first anonymous video was released, which sparked collective attention. That video was hotly discussed all over the internet, and many people began to follow suit and learn how to drift on bicycles.

The video of Ren He that was captured was now not only popular in Luo City but had spread across all of China. Anyone with the habit of using a smartphone had seen it that morning, and the skillful drifting technique truly ignited people’s enthusiasm.

Ren He himself opened his smartphone to go to a video website and found that the video had been pinned to the top. The title read "Luo City’s Good Driver."

When he clicked to watch it, it was right at the moment when he started recording as he charged down the first turn. After filming three turns, he disappeared at a corner, so the citizens of the country still didn’t know that he had actually drifted twelve times! Ren He felt a bit distressed hearing the sound of his tires rubbing at the time, guessing that this would probably wear out the tires quickly...

Luckily, the video hadn’t captured his face, so he wasn’t too worried about being recognized. Only those closest to him could possibly identify him by his silhouette, and even then, they would at most find him familiar since the video’s resolution was rather low.

When Ren He arrived at school in the morning, Xu Nuo mysteriously showed him his phone, speaking as if he had discovered a treasure, "Let me tell you, we’ve got a ’Good Driver’ in Luo City!"

Haha, the legendary ’Good Driver’ is sitting right beside you. Ren He said with exasperation, "Alright, alright, I’ve seen the video too."

"Don’t you love extreme sports? Have you thought about learning bicycle drifting from him? It looks so cool!" Xu Nuo opened the video to watch it again, but then he suddenly felt something was off and said, "This guy’s back looks kind of like you..."

Ren He looked at him expressionlessly, and Xu Nuo’s mouth slowly dropped open: "Holy shit! You..."

"Shut up."

"Oh."

Ren He didn’t mind Xu Nuo knowing that he was the person in the video; there really wasn’t anything to hide. If you don’t ask, I won’t tell, but if you do ask, I won’t lie to you; that’s probably what Ren He thought. Between good friends, why hide something that isn’t a matter of life or death, touching on significant interests?

But he didn’t want too many others to know for now; it wouldn’t be ideal if it got to Ren and Mrs. Ren, as they were not the type who usually watched such videos. If they heard about it through other means, that would just be a headache.

It was different from concealing things like a newfound wealth event; this was just too dangerous. Ren had only one precious child—raised with a light touch but that didn’t mean they wanted him endangered.

Yang Xi had just arrived in the classroom at that moment, putting down her backpack before cutting straight to the chase, "Is it you?"

"Yes," Ren He admitted.

"Impressive," Yang Xi said with a smile, "I used to watch people doing BMX tricks abroad, but this looks even more interesting than that."

However, just when Ren He thought that would be the end of it, unexpectedly, a foreigner posted the entire video on a foreign video-sharing website. And, as anticipated, the number of views was much higher than in China!

In certain circles that love extreme stunts, it was like discovering treasure; they couldn’t wait to contact the person doing the high-speed bike drifting to learn the technique the very same day!

This video, in fact, appeared three years earlier than the era of bike drifting that would be historically recognized!

Moreover, the mature aspect overseas is that people who engage in such activities often have sponsorships, either from well-known bicycle dealers or large sports brands. When the video emerged, there were sports brands that wanted to find Ren He in the video to endorse their products, hoping he’d wear their brand’s clothing and shoes to make a clear version of the video with added post-production, which would undoubtedly elevate the impact. The initial endorsement fee wouldn’t be too high; it mainly depends on the influence.

But the problem arose when they wanted to begin this project: the person in the video is Chinese, and even the Chinese don’t know who the youngster in the video is...

How could they find him? Many businesses immediately gave up, opting to wait and see. If the identity of the youngster was revealed much later, the video’s popularity would decline, and its value would not be as significant.

However, among these major brands, there was one that knew who was in the video!

The TK brand has been focusing on the bicycle field for over thirty years. Their bikes had always led the industry, which is why they commanded such high prices. TK’s designers and executives didn’t react when the video first came out, but they quickly noticed the details. The bike that the youngster was riding was a distinctive TK design!

Even though the video had low resolution and the lighting wasn’t very bright, it would be embarrassing if they failed to recognize their own iconic bicycle.

If it were an average bicycle, it might be difficult to find the owner, as sales reports from any bicycle manufacturer in mainland China are counted in tens of thousands. But how many people would buy a bicycle that costs tens of thousands of yuan in China in 2005? The Chinese are not short of money, there are plenty of rich folks, but the consumer mentality is somewhat different from abroad, more practical in nature. People preferred adding a little more money on a house than spending tens of thousands on a bicycle.

Even Ren He, in his previous life, would have felt the same; why spend tens of thousands on a bicycle when you can spend the money on food instead?

Therefore, every TK bicycle sold in China was almost traceable. They started by checking the sales data for Luo City and found that, to date, only one bike had been sold there! Customized, purchased by Ren He!

Since it was shipped, they even had the delivery address.

Of course, TK is a mature company, and keeping their client’s information confidential is the least they could do. Additionally, they couldn’t let other brands get a head start, so they kept this information to themselves. They then immediately dispatched the management of their China division to Luo City to discuss endorsement deals with Ren He!

The video on the website was still gaining traction. If they could find Ren He before the popularity waned and shoot a complete video for advertising, it would significantly increase their influence.

For sports apparel brands, Ren He’s biking skills might just be a bonus, but for a brand like TK that specializes in bicycles, it was a treasure beyond price.

...

Well, when I was writing the previous book, I encountered people saying that writing about foreign scenarios meant pandering to foreigners. Please don’t be too sensitive. I am very patriotic and quite the nationalistic youth. In the previous book, I even vanquished the Japanese myth of Takamagahara and subsumed America’s coolest organization, so please, let’s not be overly sensitive.