Chapter 291: Evening Strolls and Future Plans

They finished dinner and stepped out of the cafeteria as the sky began to darken.

Xu Chen and Xie Bingran wandered around the training base again. It felt just like a large campus, but focused entirely on sports venues and their amenities.

On a quiet path with few people, they naturally slipped their hands into each other’s.

“Training resumes tomorrow,” Xie Bingran said softly.

Her voice carried a hint of reluctance.

Resuming training meant slipping back into a regimented, almost military-style routine.

Every day started with a 5 a.m. wake-up, followed by a 6 a.m. morning workout, then physical training in the morning, technical drills in the afternoon, and evening sessions for recovery and theory lessons.

That meant no more carefree strolls hand-in-hand with Xu Chen.

Even tougher were the winter and summer training camps.

Athletes had to adapt to various weather and climate conditions to handle competitions in different seasons, countries, and regions.

The saying ‘train in the dead of winter and the height of summer’ captured it—pushing skills to the limit in the most extreme weather to build and solidify performance.

Luckily, athletes still had weekends; after completing the day’s plan, they got some free time.

“I’ll come see you on the weekends!” Xu Chen said.

“Oh,” Xie Bingran replied.

“I’m thinking of buying a car soon. It’ll make it easier to drive over and visit you.”

“Oh.”

“I’m getting a car—aren’t you going to congratulate me?”

“Congratulations.”

“……”

“Once you’re free, I’ll take you out for a drive!”

Xie Bingran finally smiled. “Sounds good!”

Xu Chen thought for a moment, then added:

“Since you just checked in today, they probably aren’t keeping a close eye on you yet, right?”

“Ah?”

“Could you sneak out tonight?”

Xie Bingran blinked her big eyes.

Xu Chen grinned mischievously. “When we drove in earlier, I noticed a hotel nearby.”

Xie Bingran pursed her lips and smiled. “Coach Cheng will do room checks tonight, but once she’s gone…”

“Perfect!”

……

……

On Monday, Chen Xinyi from Jiaduobao’s marketing department reached out to Xu Chen.

The endorsement contract for Xie Bingran with Kunlunshan Mineral Water was moving forward.

This week, Nie Fei would accompany Boss Chen Jinru on another trip to Beijing to discuss the contract details with Directors An Jin Xiong and Li Yue from the Sports Administration.

Negotiating the endorsement fee would take some time.

During a midday break, they set up a phone conference. Xu Chen skipped the office and held it on the school’s large lawn instead.

On the other end was Nie Fei, who had just returned from Japan.

The main topic was coordinating the needs for Xie Bingran’s print materials.

After National Day, they’d need a solid plan for the print ad shoot.

It wasn’t complicated. They’d pass the requirements to Sun Aimi today; since she’d be in Tiancheng during the holiday, they could team up to finalize a print execution plan without issues.

Theoretically, celebrity endorsements usually covered both video and print ads in one deal.

But Nie Fei mentioned that Kunlunshan’s collaboration with Xie Bingran might skip the video ads.

First, to cut costs—dropping video would help lower the overall budget.

Plus, for Kunlunshan’s initial launch, they weren’t ready to pour too much into market spending, so no widespread TV ads yet.

The focus would be on print ads and distribution channels.

From a new product launch perspective, this was a solid strategy.

Nie Fei also shared that negotiating Xie Bingran’s endorsement fee was tough.

After her Osaka competition, her popularity had skyrocketed, boosting her commercial value.

An Jin Xiong and Li Yue, who handled business deals for the national team, were pushing for the best price.

Boss Chen Jinru from Jiaduobao was regretting his delay.

He wished he’d listened to ‘Teacher Xu Chen’ earlier—right after the East Morning Star Advertising pitch, he should have jumped on talks with the national team.

If they’d signed Xie Bingran before the Osaka event, they could’ve saved a bundle.

Now, it was too late; they had to accept the terms.

Currently, Jiaduobao was considering signing the entire State Athletics Team with Wang Laoshun.

Bundling the deals might help pull down the total cost.

After months of rapid growth, Wang Laoshun had hit a sales bottleneck, making it time for a fresh promotion push.

Partnering with the State Athletics Team would be a great promotional move.

……

After the call ended, Xu Chen dialed Sun Aimi.

He synced her on the material needs for Kunlunshan Mineral Water and Chenfeng Electric Vehicles.

During National Day in Tiancheng, Sun Aimi would have her hands full—creating plans for both sets of materials and overseeing the Xie Bingran shoot for Chenfeng Electric Vehicles.

Sun Aimi didn’t mind the workload; she was excited and said she’d start on the plans right away, then chat with Xu Chen once she got to Shanghai.

For Kunlunshan Mineral Water’s print plan, Xu Chen provided the visuals and copy; Sun Aimi just needed to design the layout.

They’d stick to the approved scheme Xu Chen had outlined before.

The core concept and ad theme centered on ‘The quality of water determines the quality of life.’

The product name and slogan followed Xu Chen’s submitted plan.

Jiaduobao had already negotiated with the trademark holder for ‘Kunlunshan’ and was set to buy it.

Boss Chen Jinru was sharp—he used a subsidiary company’s name for the talks to cut down on transfer fees.

Xu Chen couldn’t help but wonder if Chen Jinru would use some clever tactics in negotiating with the State Athletics Team for Wang Laoshun.

……

……

On Wednesday, Xu Chen unexpectedly got a call from Coach Cheng Hong.

She said Director Li Yue had a business opportunity for Xie Bingran and wanted to discuss it over the phone.

Xu Chen made time and set up a call with Director Li Yue that afternoon.

On the call, Director Li Yue got straight to the point:

“A car brand wants to discuss an endorsement deal with Xie Bingran.”

“The fees and details are nearly finalized, and the brand has no objections.”

“But when we talked to Xie Bingran, she insisted on one firm condition—that East Morning Star Advertising must be involved in the project.”

“Otherwise, she won’t sign the contract.”

That’s when Xu Chen realized why Bing Ge had suddenly asked about East Morning Star Advertising during their visit to the training base.