Chapter 1225 prizes
Chapter 1225: 1225 prizes
The sports event is a public welfare project, and generally, such public welfare projects receive national investment, and this sports event is no exception.
The government will only invest a portion; the rest comes from business investments. Businesses advertise at the sports event, and the water the athletes drink or the clothes they use all bear the logos of various businesses.
The Zhuang family never invests in these projects because their business doesn’t need advertising. The Tao family also doesn’t need the income from advertisements, but the old master of the Tao family has always invested in public welfare projects, so the Tao family continues the tradition every year, investing a lot in charitable activities.
This time, the matter was handled by Tao Zhi, and when he got involved, he discovered the issue with the prizes, but those prizes didn’t mean much to Tan Rou, so he didn’t mention it to her.
“What kind of physical prizes will be there in the next competition?” Tan Rou asked.
“Each event has different prizes,” Tao Zhi recalled, “In the long-distance running event you’re participating in, the first prize is a three-bedroom, two-living room apartment within the Fourth Ring of the Capital, second place gets a one-bedroom apartment, and third place gets a car.”
Tan Rou was shocked, “Can that be? Are the sponsors real estate companies and car manufacturers? How come they are rewarding such valuable items? You know, even Olympic champions aren’t necessarily awarded apartments in the Capital.”
Tao Zhi wasn’t clear about the trickery inside, “That I don’t know, I only know that this year the country poured quite a bit of money into the sports event and our batch of sponsors was also not small, maybe these apartments really are sponsored by real estate companies.”
“So what did our family sponsor?” Tan Rou asked, “Cars?”
“Money,” Tao Zhi replied, “as well as some small robots, the latest version.”
Tan Rou was speechless, “Big brother, have you been brainwashed by someone? Why use robots as sponsorship prizes?”
Tao Zhi didn’t wish to sponsor these either, but Mayor Guo had said that if they provided valuable items for sponsorship, then during this year’s land tender in the latter half, they would be given concessions. Naturally, Tao Zhi couldn’t pass up this opportunity, so he personally took care of this matter, all for the sake of getting preferential rights in the land tender.
After hearing this, Tan Rou understood Tao Zhi’s thoughts, “So are those sponsors also investing for the sake of the land?”
“I guess that’s the case,” Tao Zhi sneered, “I have to say, Mayor Guo really is a cunning one; not only did he coax us to invest, but he also fooled other companies. Land in the Capital is worth its weight in gold; even if you have the money, you’re not necessarily able to buy land. Since Mayor Guo said so, we can’t not come, can’t let others take the lead.”
“If it were just a medal, surely some would be willing to go all out,” Tan Rou analyzed, “But if you tell those young people that once they win first place, they could get a three-bedroom, two-living room apartment within the Fourth Ring of the Capital, they would participate even if it ran them to death.”
“Hmm,” Tao Zhi said, “The intention is good, it’s just a pity that some are being taken advantage of.”
“So how did those people get the information?” Tan Rou curiously asked, “I didn’t receive any news, how did they get it?”
Tao Zhi chuckled, “Didn’t you just say, the evidence has been submitted to the organizing committee, yet no one has dealt with it, so who do you think is causing trouble behind the scenes?”
Suddenly, it all clicked for Tan Rou, “Still such an interesting affair!”
Aside from the organizing committee and the sponsors, no one knew about the actual physical rewards for this competition, and within the sponsorship businesses who are all very wealthy, this point in rewards wouldn’t matter.
But it’s different for the organizing committee; many of them are public servants on fixed salaries who couldn’t afford a house in the Capital even if they worked hard all their lives. Now with a chance to make extra money, how could they resist?
Even if they can’t participate in the competition themselves, they can have their relatives and friends join. For those without family or friends, the information can still be sold for a profit.
“All I can do is probe around for you, but if my reporting touches their interests, I doubt they will care,” Tao Zhi said.
Tan Rou nodded, “Mm, I got it.”
It’s uncertain how much uproar this sports event could cause.