Chapter 153: The Star Athlete’s Entrance

Xie Bingran wore an orange-red tracksuit, with a small national flag on the left side of her chest.

Anyone could see it was the real national team uniform.

The judges, especially the three city leaders, snapped out of their surprise and stood up smiling, applauding.

The conference room filled with a somewhat puzzling round of applause.

Xu Zhiquan joined in the clapping, watching Xu Chen and Xie Bingran under the screen, his smile mixed with a touch of emotion.

Fang Jun saw Xie Bingran for the first time, though she’d spotted her in the news before; seeing her in person made her blink her monolid eyes and linger on the sight.

Xie Bingran stood beside Xu Chen, glancing at him then at the projection screen behind them.

Spotting the words ‘Chenfeng Ice Power,’ she paused for a moment.

The name cleverly included ‘Chen’ and ‘Ice.’

The arrival of Tiancheng’s sports star was a delightful surprise.

Even the panel leaders couldn’t resist coming down for photos with Xie Bingran.

Xie Bingran turned into a relentless photo machine, yet she kept her usual cold and brooding expression, even with provincial and city leaders beside her.

It wasn’t that she was uncooperative—after all, she’d always support anything involving Xu Chen.

Among the judges, the old secretary from the mechanical factory might not follow the news much due to his age, so he didn’t recognize her.

The elderly union chairman, however, seemed quite familiar with Bing Ge and excitedly whispered an introduction while grabbing the old secretary’s arm.

Finally, a leader’s secretary couldn’t stand it anymore and suggested,

“Ladies and gentlemen, we’re running overtime here. How about we move on with the reporting process?”

The leaders chuckled and settled back into their seats, huddling for more quiet discussions.

Compared to before, their chat felt much lighter and more casual, with plenty of smiles.

Xu Chen and Xie Bingran quietly took seats off to the side.

Xu Chen asked softly, “Have you had lunch yet?”

Xie Bingran: “No.”

Xu Chen frowned. “I’ll grab something to feed you later.”

Xie Bingran: “Okay.”

Xie Bingran said nothing, fished a protein bar from her pants pocket,

and snapped it in half with a gentle squeeze in her right hand.

She quietly tore the wrapper and passed half under the table to Xu Chen.

Xu Chen shot Xie Bingran a look, and she glared back with that tough yet endearing edge.

Xu Chen glanced around, making sure no leaders were watching, then sneakily popped a piece into his mouth.

He covered his mouth, pretending to frown in thought while chewing in secret.

Xie Bingran, expressionless, chomped on her half in plain view.

Xu Chen shook his head, reminded of middle school when they’d sneakily share cookies at their desks during boring classes.

Fang Jun caught the whole scene and her usually cool face showed a hint of exasperation.

She grabbed an unopened bottle of mineral water from the table and slid it over to Xie Bingran across Xu Chen’s seat.

Xie Bingran, munching on the protein bar, murmured, “Thanks.”

Xu Chen whispered,

“This is Fang Jun, Teacher Fang.”

Xie Bingran nodded slightly.

Fang Jun looked at Xie Bingran and gave a somewhat awkward smile.

After some discussion, the city leader in the center said,

“There’s more to go over in the report, but to keep things moving, let’s push ahead! President Xu, stick around for a bit—we’ll chat more.”

Xu Zhiquan smiled, stood up, and turned to Xu Chen and the others:

“You all head to the reception room next door and wait for me.”

With that, Xu Zhiquan turned and walked toward the judges.

Xu Chen and the others got up and headed out.

From the judging panel, a young city leader hurried after them and said,

“Xie Bingran, I’m Director Feng…

We met last month at the City Sports Bureau’s celebration event. Do you remember?”

Xie Bingran: “Hello, Director Feng. Of course I remember you.”

Director Feng: “Here’s the thing—the city is filming a promotional video and we’ve been wanting to invite you, but you haven’t been back in Tiancheng, so we never got the chance.

Are you free tomorrow or the day after? I can set up a quick shoot—it won’t take long…”

Xie Bingran kept a straight face but seemed to hesitate, glancing at Xu Chen.

Xu Chen caught on and told her,

“If you’ve got time for the shoot, I can come with you.”

Xie Bingran blinked her finely arched, brooding brows, then replied to Director Feng,

“I should have some time tomorrow afternoon.”

Director Feng lit up: “Perfect! I already have your contact info, so I’ll confirm the schedule later and get back to you.”

Xu Chen, Xie Bingran, Fang Jun, and Yang Congxin left the conference room and entered the adjacent reception room.

The spacious reception room had two other groups: one from Fengrong Commerce and the other from Xixi Cultural Tourism.

Xu Chen and his group kept a low profile, settling into the corner sofa.

Seeing them enter, the sharp-dressed folks from Fengrong Commerce glanced over with curiosity.

“They were in there forever—almost an hour and a half…”

“Looks like their boss hasn’t come out yet, so they’re still reporting.”

Xu Chen’s group didn’t catch their conversation.

Yang Congxin, buzzing with excitement, whispered,

“Our presentation went really well—especially the city leaders, they were clearly hooked!”

Xu Chen smiled; it was exactly as expected.

With all the planning and tweaks to the report, East Morning Star Co. had shifted from just another entry to a top focus.

Xu Chen looked at Yang Congxin:

“Thanks for helping bring Xie Bingran in.”

Yang Congxin: “No problem. Getting to know our city’s sports star is a thrill for me too!”

Fang Jun sat quietly, a touch of nervousness on her face, stealing another glance at Xie Bingran.

Just then, two middle-aged men entered the reception room, all smiles as they approached the Fengrong Commerce group.

They hunched slightly, oozing flattery, whispering something to the suited individuals.

Yang Congxin glanced back and scoffed dismissively.

Xu Chen asked, “Who’s that?”

Yang Congxin replied, “One’s Jin Guiyuan, the second-in-command at the mechanical factory, and the other’s Zhao Jihong, the chief engineer.”

The second-in-command was the factory’s real power player, while the chief engineer led the technical side.

Yang Congxin continued:

“The old secretary on the panel is retiring soon. By seniority, Jin Guiyuan should step up…”

Xu Chen frowned:

“So this second-in-command and chief engineer basically run half the factory, yet they’re bowing and scraping to a real estate outfit?”

Yang Congxin scoffed again:

“Word is, some folks at the mechanical factory want to sell it off for their own gain…”

Xu Chen nodded, piecing it together, and quietly pulled out his phone to snap a discreet photo.