Cherreads

Chapter 119 - Chapter 118: Taylor Swift, the money-printing chick, Fly's PR image

"Darling, are the Guinness officials coming today?" Taylor's voice suddenly came from the bathroom.

"Yes, they'll be at our club training base in the afternoon for the on-site test." Fly nodded, the Guinness officials had already confirmed the time with Allen.

After tidying up, Taylor walked out wearing a white plaid shirt, with bare, fair legs below, walking around the house without any reservations.

Taylor was always this casual at home, never caring about her appearance, no different from an ordinary homebody.

Fortunately, Fly was used to this scene and didn't react much.

After breakfast, Taylor, wearing tight pants, accompanied Fly for a walk in the small garden outside, enjoying the rare sunshine.

It was indeed rare to see the sun in London during winter, and Fly and Taylor didn't want to miss such hard-won good weather.

The two didn't speak, just silently felt the warmth of the sun on their skin.

"Elder sister, how many copies has your new album sold now?" Back in the living room, Fly remembered this and quickly asked.

Taylor tilted her head and said indifferently, "Just over 4 million copies, not many."

Hearing this, Fly was speechless.

If it were him in his previous life, he might not have felt anything, because he didn't understand the music industry.

But in this life, because of Taylor, he had learned about it.

Generally speaking, if a singer's album can sell 1 million copies, it means the singer is already very popular.

Even if they are not a top-tier singer, they are close to it.

Some albums by even top-tier singers that flop sell far less than 1 million copies.

Now, Taylor's new album had only been released for a month at most, and it already had sales of 4 million.

She truly lived up to the title of 'money printing machine' in the current European and American music scene.

Fly calculated in his mind, the price of an album is roughly around 20 US dollars.

4 million albums, that's 80 million US dollars.

After deducting the distribution share and the portion taken by the United States tax authorities, Taylor had already earned approximately 30 million US dollars from "Speak Now".

Fly's current annual salary is just over 2 million euros, even with a series of sky-high endorsements in the future, he couldn't reach 30 million US dollars after tax in a short time!

You know, 30 million US dollars after tax means you need to earn at least 60 million US dollars before tax.

What kind of concept is this? No one in the football world currently earns that much before tax.

Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo are the closest to this figure.

But Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo also need to combine their annual salary with bonuses, commercial endorsements, and a series of other income sources to reach this number.

Taylor made so much just by selling an album, and other income sources like concerts haven't even been counted yet.

Fly couldn't help but sigh. Before the oil tycoons started splashing out hundreds of millions of euros in annual salaries for players, the salary levels in the European top 5 leagues alone were indeed a bit lacking in terms of upper limit.

Can you believe that Cristiano Ronaldo's annual salary in the later period at Real Madrid was only 21 million euros?

You know, at that time, Cristiano Ronaldo already had five Ballon dOr awards to his name, and he was 33 years old.

But even such a world-class player who had ability, experience, honors, and commercial value, had an annual salary of just over 20 million euros at Real Madrid.

This was absolutely an incredible thing.

Even though Cristiano Ronaldo's off-field commercial income was the highest in football, his total annual income never exceeded 100 million until he went to Juventus.

According to Fly's memory, in his previous life, it seemed that Cristiano Ronaldo's annual income was first reported by Forbes to reach 105 million euros in 2020, which was also the first time Cristiano Ronaldo's career annual income exceeded 100 million.

Fly didn't want his income to take another 10 years to reach nine figures, otherwise he would be completely overshadowed by his girlfriend.

In his previous life, Taylor was already able to earn a net profit of 170 million US dollars a year in 2016. Although he liked being a kept man, he didn't want others to know he was a kept man.

Fly could completely imagine what Taylor's fans and his fans would think when Forbes revealed the celebrity income list and they saw that Fly's annual income was completely overshadowed by Taylor's.

At that time, the title of "kept man" would definitely fall on his head, just like many people in his previous life thought Piqué was a kept man of the Wolf sister.

As for having a good family background? Sorry, those fans, including the onlookers, don't look at that.

They only look at the man's income. As long as the man's income is lower than the woman's, the label "kept man" is stamped on him.

Thinking of this, Fly felt immense pressure.

"Elder sister, roughly how much do you think your annual income will be this year?" Fly asked cautiously.

Taylor thought her man was testing her wallet to gauge the amount of'soft rice' for the coming year, so she didn't hide it. She held up five fingers and shook them: "This much, not much."

What? Annual income of 50 million US dollars in 2010?

Fly was somewhat shocked. His wife seemed to earn more than he had imagined!

He had originally estimated it to be in the range of 40 million to 45 million US dollars.

As a result, the actual income was several million or even tens of millions more than his estimated maximum?

Thinking of this, Fly wanted to cry without tears. Wuwuwu, it's not that Fly isn't working hard, it's just that his girlfriend is too formidable.

Seeing Fly's bitter face, Taylor thought he was complaining that she didn't earn enough, so she said angrily, "Darling, elder sister has worked very hard, okay? To have a better future with you, I haven't missed any money-making opportunities, as long as they don't violate my principles!"

"50 million is already a lot. I'm still in the stage of building my reputation, and I'll only earn more and more each year in the future."

Looking at Taylor's confident look, Fly was full of question marks. No, are we on the same page?

Why don't I understand what you're saying?

"Elder sister, that's not what I meant. I never thought you earned little. On the contrary, I think you earn too much, so much that I can hardly look up to you."

Hearing this, Taylor finally understood what her man meant. So, it was the so-called male pride that was hurt?

Taylor thought of this, her expression became strange, she deliberated her words, and stammered:

"Darling, this... I thought you didn't have male chauvinism and wouldn't care about these things. After all, I saw you enjoy eating my'soft rice' quite a bit before, which doesn't seem like something a male chauvinist would do..."

Being told this by Taylor, Fly was speechless because he thought about it and realized, damn, that's actually true!

When did someone like him, who was used to being a kept man, ever have such male chauvinistic thoughts?

Fly recalled briefly, it should have been during the time he made a name for himself that he put a 枷鎖 on his heart.

He subconsciously felt that someone who was so amazing at playing football couldn't be a kept man.

But thinking carefully, is there any connection between the two?

There really isn't!

Can't Fly be a tyrant on the field and a kept man off the field?

Of course he can, being a kept man doesn't affect his historical status in football.

However, Fly still hoped to build a "tough guy" image in front of the public, as the vast majority of sports fans like tough guys.

This would be beneficial for Fly to accumulate his fans.

"Elder sister, you know, most football fans are guys, and guys prefer tough guys rather than pretty boys who rely on women."

Hearing this, Taylor thought for a moment and felt that her boyfriend made sense.

If it were just a harmless matter, Taylor might not necessarily listen to her boyfriend.

But when this matter was related to her boyfriend's career, Taylor was still very understanding.

"Okay, elder sister understands. From now on, if you need elder sister to cooperate, just say so. Don't worry, outside I will definitely give Darling face. Whatever you say goes, even if I don't agree, I won't refute it."

After agreeing with Taylor on the future public image, the two hugged and watched TV.

The Guinness officials wouldn't arrive until noon, so Fly still had time at this moment.

Besides, when the Guinness people arrived, the club staff would receive them. What did that have to do with Fly?

They were coming to certify him and they expected him to personally receive them?

If he did that, wouldn't Fly's image be completely ruined?

Even if he didn't care about face, his Dad Li still needed it.

Fly never did things that damaged his image like this.

His persona wasn't the approachable type either. The persona of the son of a super-rich man wasn't suitable for someone who was approachable.

Because deliberately lowering his status to be approachable wouldn't make the public think Fly wasn't arrogant.

On the contrary, most people would only think Fly was putting on a show, acting, and being fake.

After all, it's hard for ordinary people to imagine a young master who grew up in extremely wealthy circumstances being approachable to others.

This was too unrealistic.

If it were a successful person like Dad Li, the public would be more willing to believe it.

Because Dad Li at least worked his way up. Although he didn't start from scratch, to be able to develop Fly's grandfather's family business to this extent, Dad Li couldn't be the kind of arrogant second-generation heir who acts like he's worth millions.

His life experience and background made the public willing to believe that he lowered his status from the heart.

But for a second-generation heir like Fly, forget it, few people would believe it.

Fly also knew this. The head of the public relations team arranged by his mother had also explained to him how to manage his public image.

The image Fly presented to the public had always been his most authentic side.

He liked to trash talk on the field, seek revenge, be full of confidence, be fearless like a newborn calf, and be sharp...

These were all Fly's inherent personality traits. All he had to do was present them as they were to the public.

Whether it was the previous interview with the Premier League where he said he was the best player in the Premier League, or the post-match interview after Arsenal vs Tottenham where he said "my speed is among the top in the world".

These were not only Fly's genuine feelings, but also part of the public relations.

He didn't need to deliberately suppress his nature, and he could also do public relations along the way. Why not?

Support this humble author at patreon.com/brainiacc

More Chapters