Chapter 535: The cooked duck was released!

Su Hao's gaze, sharp as a hawk's, swept rapidly across the list.
He had to act quickly; the longer this "intuition" remained active, the more his eyes ached, and a stabbing pain shot through his temples.
"Chairman Su, you finished reading so quickly?" Liang Haiyuan stared in astonishment as he watched Su Hao lightning-fast mark and annotations.
"Yes, distribute the list according to this order." Su Hao casually handed the document back; the final partners were already marked in red.
"Ah...yes!"
For Fang Huan, the African project was secondary; the commercial gains were secondary.
Its true core lay in establishing a completely new industrial base and cultivating tens of thousands of technical talents on that ancient and barren land.
This was not merely a business deal; it was more like a modern-day "Jingwei filling the sea" (a metaphor for a futile endeavor).
Using reinforced concrete and fiber optic cables, we will bridge the gap of poverty and hunger on that continent, making the word "famine" a thing of the past!
This will require an astronomical investment that would make any conglomerate tremble.
But once successful, Africa will no longer be synonymous with misery and despair.
This is the true compassion and ambition behind this grand project, which is seen by the outside world as "neo-colonialism"!
'But speaking of which, Messi…'
The name flashed through Su Hao's mind again—the world's number one football superstar, coming to our football desert to sweat it out?
He couldn't help but laugh.
This scene, no matter how he thought about it, felt like a drunken daydream.
***
Meanwhile, across the ocean, in Miami.
'What the hell is going on?! Why the sudden suspension of negotiations?!'
A roar shook the door of the Miami International Club's chairman's office.
Ricardo Hobbs kicked open the door, his eyes bloodshot, like an enraged bull.
The Hobbs family, holding 75% of Inter Miami, is a powerful force in North American sports.
Two brothers run the vast Hobbs family conglomerate. Their initial acquisition of the team was aimed at leveraging the popularity of soccer to propel the commercial value of Major League Soccer to new heights.
To this end, they spared no expense, bringing in David Beckham, the original heartthrob, and even giving him a 25% stake.
This move allowed them to now touch Lionel Messi, a true deep-sea shark, a super bargaining chip that could multiply the team's value several times over overnight.
The club was poised for its most glorious moment in history.
But at this crucial juncture, his own brother, José Hobbs, let this sure thing slip away!
"Explain yourself! Are you crazy?! Do you know what this means?!" Ricardo roared,
"We prepared everything for him! A Spanish-speaking community, top-notch education, a perfect living environment!
He rejected Middle Eastern money and chose us! We won!
And now you're telling me you flipped the table?! Explain yourself!
You're not fucking playing this stupid, suicidal game of cat and mouse to drive down the price, are you?!"
“Brother, calm down.” José Hobbs’s face was even more grim than his brother’s.
“Didn’t we already agree on this? A salary of fifty to sixty million US dollars a year, and we’d get him.”
“Yes! We agreed on it! So why did he change his mind? Did he ask for a hundred million?”
“Even if he wants a hundred million, we can scrape together the money if we grit our teeth! He’s worth that price!” José shook his head.
“The problem is much more serious than that.”
“Then what the hell is the problem!”
José didn’t say much, but silently handed over a document.
“What’s this?” Ricardo snatched it, his brows furrowing instantly upon seeing the title.
"The Xia Country's Scottish Premiership? They want to sign Messi too? Xia Country? That football wasteland?" He scoffed, his face full of disdain.
"Their professional league level isn't even as good as our amateur league!
And this so-called Scottish Premiership is actually their amateur league!
A bunch of amateur league guys want to join the fun? Don't be ridiculous, they're not even worthy of carrying our shoes!"
"The league is small, but you have to see who's orchestrating this negotiation."
"I want to see which blind madman dares to mess with us and steal our thunder...
Wait... Holy crap! Fang... Fang Huan!?"
When he saw the words "Fang Huan Investment" etched into his mind like a brand, Ricardo's mockery froze instantly, replaced by a deep-seated horror and fear!
"That's right, it's that Fang Huan."
At first, Ricardo was still sneering.
Which clueless idiot, who doesn't understand business rules, wants to ruin this deal that's already a done deal?
Messi is the kind of man who turned down even the vast sums of money from Saudi oil tycoons. Trying to snatch him from them? It's utterly a pipe dream.
But when the words "Fanghuan Investment" seared into his retina like a branding iron, Ricardo felt his breath catch in his throat.
His initial arrogance and disdain crumbled instantly.
Ricardo felt a chill run from his tailbone to the top of his head, rendering him speechless.
"Looks like Fang Huan is planning a big move in China's sports industry."
"Why so suddenly?"
"It's all because of those Saudi tycoons.
They're waving their money around, driving up prices across the entire sports market.
Fang Huan probably figured it out: rather than letting others profit, he'd rather do it himself.
Have you forgotten? How many times did Tottenham's profitability increase after they acquired them?
Two consecutive Premier League titles!
They've figured out how to run the sports industry perfectly there, and now they're bringing that mature model back home."
"So... just because of the name 'Fang Huan,' you're giving up on Messi, who was practically in your grasp?" Ricardo was still unwilling to give up.
"Turn to the next page."
"Next page?"
Ricardo turned the page and found it was no longer news, but a formal letter of intent for cooperation.
"This... this was sent by Fang Huan?"
"You know about Fang Huan's 'Genesis Project' in Africa, right?"
"Of course I know! Construction giants worldwide are scrambling for a piece of the pie, and we're no exception."
The project was the talk of the town, with conspiracy theories even suggesting Fang Huan intended to turn all of Africa into his economic colony.
But regardless of what the outside world said, for construction companies globally, this was an absolute golden opportunity not to be missed.
Getting on Fang Huan's bandwagon meant a decade of guaranteed orders and a comfortable life.
In the current global construction downturn, this was like a godsend.
Therefore, the Hobbes family also submitted an application, but didn't hold out much hope, given that their competitors were all world-class behemoths.
"We...we've been selected for the final cooperation list," Jose said, his voice tinged with a dreamlike quality.