Chapter 356 - 231: Highlight Moment
The final whistle of the game had just died down.
Jin Heon waited around the corner of the hallway, a fresh hot Americano in hand, leaning against the wall for Li Wei to return.
The Boss had played an unprecedentedly brilliant game today, but there were some things she still needed to discuss with Li Wei beforehand to avoid a PR crisis.
However, just as she was contemplating her next move, a series of chaotic and aggressive footsteps suddenly flooded the hallway.
"Move aside! Routine inspection!"
Hearing the commotion, Jin Heon peeked her head out to take a look.
In the hallway, a grim-faced white official held up a document bearing the NFL Alliance’s seal. Behind him were four men carrying professional medical coolers. Surrounding them, more than a dozen people with press passes trailed them like hyenas, excitedly hoisting their cameras with long lenses. There was even a team reporter for the Philadelphia Eagles mixed in with them.
The blinding flashes of cameras were already going off in front of the locker room’s closed door.
Jin Heon quietly shrank back into the shadows of the corner, her heart starting to pound.
Ever since she was a child, she had been afraid of direct confrontation with adult men like this. It made her instinctively recall her alcoholic father, who spoke with his fists.
But thinking of the head referee who had targeted Li Wei on the field just now, Jin Heon didn’t even have to think twice. ’This is definitely aimed at Li Wei.’
The team reporter mixed in with the crowd, still wearing an Eagles jacket, was the best proof.
She took a deep breath and dialed Don Quixote’s number.
"Mr... Mr. Don Quixote!" she stammered, reporting what she saw while watching the testing team make their preparations. "The Alliance’s doping control team is outside the locker room! They brought a lot of people, and a bunch of reporters! They want to give the Boss a surprise blood test!"
On the other end of the line, Don Quixote sounded exceptionally calm, not at all panicked.
"Yes, I know about this," he said. "The owner of the Philadelphia Eagles is sitting right across from me. He’s the one who strongly recommended the Alliance conduct the test. Don’t worry about them."
"Just let them wait outside. The Boss has his own way of handling things," he said before hanging up. "I still have some things to take care of. I’ll deal with it when I get down there. Protect yourself."
"But—"
Jin Heon had just been about to say there were Eagles reporters with them when the call was disconnected.
She quietly peeked half her head out again, looking down the hallway.
The reporters were already snapping photos of the locker room’s door sign and the testing officials. Several of the officials were ready, and the one in the lead was preparing to wait for Li Wei’s return.
A war suddenly raged within Jin Heon.
’Did the Boss really use performance-enhancing drugs?’
Jin Heon didn’t know. She truly had no idea.
She had only been on the job for a month and didn’t yet have contact with Li Wei or the Giants’ medical team.
She had originally thought Li Wei was completely clean, but the Boss’s performance on the field today... he had run at a speed approaching Bolt’s world record! Was that the kind of physique a normal person could have?
Besides, even if the Boss was completely clean—she glanced again at the reporters frantically snapping away—she knew the bloodthirsty nature of the media all too well.
The moment these reporters captured photos of "The NFL Alliance ambushing Li Wei’s locker room with a doping control team," tomorrow—no, not even tomorrow, in half an hour, every social media platform would explode.
She could already imagine the headlines:
Yellow-Skinned God Falls From Grace? Refuses to Open Door Post-Game, Suspected of Destroying Doping Evidence!
In mass communications, the truth is never as important as emotion and narrative.
Once such intensely suggestive photos were released, even if Li Wei’s test results came back 100% clean tomorrow, even if all his levels were normal, a thorn of doubt would be forever planted in the public’s mind.
People would just say, "He must have used some new drug that isn’t on the banned list yet," or "He must have found a way to scrub his blood sample."
Not only that, but Don Quixote and Li Wei were no fools.
If her cowardice, her "just following orders," led to this kind of disastrous PR crisis today, Don Quixote would never say, ’Xiaojin, you did the right thing. You followed my command.’
That agent, with his natural air of authority that was intimidating without him even being angry, would only unleash all his fury on her.
’He would point at her nose and scream: "I hired you to handle crisis PR! The reporters had their cameras shoved in our faces, and not only did you fail to stop them, you hid in a corner like a coward! You’re a worthless piece of trash, get out!"’
’Get out? Get out to where?’
’Back to that home in K-Town she never wanted to return to?’
’Back to facing that father who reeked of alcohol and was always ready to raise his hand? Back to pinching pennies for every cup of Starbucks?’
’Son of a bitch...’
It was just like when she was a kid in school; to avoid a beating, she would swing her water bottle with all her might and smash it on a bully’s head.
She knew she had no cards to play. All she had was this desperate, crazed drive to climb up, no matter the cost.
BANG!
Jin Heon violently slammed the half-finished iced Americano into a nearby trash can, then slapped herself hard across the face.
"Stop right there!"
Jin Heon strode out from the shadows, the sharp heels of her high heels clicking on the marble floor.
"What do you think you’re doing?" she demanded menacingly, walking right up to the lead official. "Put your cameras down!"
The lead Alliance official frowned, looking down condescendingly at this Korean girl who stood under five-foot-seven. With a hint of contempt in his eyes, he said in a stern tone:
"Little girl, move. We are conducting official NFL Alliance business. Li Wei needs to undergo blood and hair testing. If you obstruct our duties, we have the right to have security throw you out."
"A routine inspection, is it?" Jin Heon laughed in fury, her usually smiling, crescent-shaped eyes now blazing. "If this is a random post-game inspection, then why is Li Wei the only name on your list?! Are the dozens of players on the Philadelphia Eagles team invisible?! And who gave you permission to bring reporters?"
The official’s expression changed slightly, but he spoke forcefully, "This list was randomly generated by the Alliance’s system. Now get out of the way!"
"You just try and touch me!"
Jin Heon shouted. Not only did she not back down, but she met his intimidating presence head-on, taking a sharp step forward.
"According to the clear regulations on the Policy on Performance-Enhancing Substances in the NFL Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA), all sample collections for drug testing must be conducted in a completely closed and private environment, and the process must be kept strictly confidential from the outside world!"
She jabbed a finger at the crowd of reporters holding cameras. "You brought the media here to publicly document a medical procedure, and you’re only targeting Li Wei. This is a serious violation!"
The white official was momentarily stunned.
Jin Heon sharply caught this detail. Enunciating every word with perfect clarity, she continued to press her advantage, her small frame radiating immense power.
"Under the privacy rules of the federal Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), any of a player’s medical testing procedures, biological samples, and health data are classified as protected health information of the highest level! Without the individual’s authorization, any organization or person who leaks, implies, or suggests the occurrence of such medical activities in public can face a federal prison sentence of over ten years, as well as civil penalties of up to 1.5 million USD per violation, with no cumulative limit!"
The reporters in the hallway were stunned by this terrifying energy.
There are lines you don’t cross, things you can get away with as long as they remain unspoken. But now that Jin Heon had called them out so explicitly, to continue would be crossing that line.
Half of the reporters lowered their cameras.
"Now!" Jin Heon pointed at the lead official, then at several of the eager team reporters. "If you insist on taking unauthorized photos today, if even one picture of Li Wei being cornered or publicly tested gets out, Horizon Holdings will assemble its legal team and sue your newspapers and you personally into bankruptcy! I wonder if your payment for this job is enough to cover 1.5 million USD, not to mention the massive bail you’ll have to pay!"
The remaining team reporters exchanged glances and silently lowered their cameras. A few of them even guiltily hit the delete button.
It was clear this madwoman in front of them knew the law. She made perfect sense, and there was nothing to be gained by confronting her head-on.
The NFL Alliance official was also caught in a dilemma.
He wasn’t exactly scared by Jin Heon, but the public testing was what the Alliance’s upper management had demanded. If he didn’t go through with it, he wouldn’t be able to answer to them.
The atmosphere descended into a stalemate. Jin Heon’s chest heaved, and her whole body trembled in a combat-ready state.
At this tense, sword-drawn moment, a flurry of footsteps echoed from the other end of the hallway.
Li Wei had just finished a brief remote interview off the field and was walking over with a few teammates who had been trailing him, sucking up.
Seeing the scene in the hallway and Jin Heon blocking a crowd of people, Li Wei said with some surprise:
"What’s going on?" he asked, grabbing her arm and pulling Jin Heon behind him protectively. "And you are?"
The moment Li Wei pulled her behind him, Jin Heon’s taut nerves suddenly relaxed. A huge sense of security washed over her from head to toe, and her entire posture softened.
Her tone instantly became soft and delicate, full of grievance:
"Boss, the Alliance’s testing officials brought reporters to ambush us. They’re demanding a targeted blood and hair sample from you."
Wardafa?
If they hadn’t just been subjected to Jin Heon’s lioness-like roar, these reporters would never have believed such a delicate voice could come from the same woman.
"Hm?" Li Wei’s gaze swept over the team reporters for the Philadelphia Eagles. "It’s so late. Shouldn’t our friends from Philadelphia be heading to the visiting team’s locker room?"
Li Wei’s voice could be described as gentle and calm, a stark contrast to his performance on the field. But the terrifying dominance he had just displayed on the gridiron now transformed into a tangible, oppressive presence.
"Mr. Li Wei, this is a routine inspection by the Alliance," the official’s voice involuntarily lost its edge. "Please... please cooperate."
"Of course I’ll cooperate," Li Wei said. "But as my publicist has already stated, medical testing must be conducted privately and confidentially. Is that acceptable?"
"Of course... no problem," the official nodded repeatedly. "We will prepare a private testing room."