Chapter 388: Banquet of Connections

Lujiazui Peninsula Hotel’s Jeep Appreciation Banquet.

Xu Chen and Director Li Yue had already finished their private chat and now walked out of the reception room, chatting casually.

Once they returned to the banquet hall, Li Yue introduced Xu Chen to a leader from Shanghai Wen Guang Group.

This director, surnamed Chen, worked at the Wen Guang Group’s advertising center, managing ad resources for a range of Shanghai media including Oriental TV—a key contact.

Li Yue had recently arranged some supporting promotions for Xie Bingran, which included resources from Director Chen’s media.

Hearing about Xu Chen’s connection to Xie Bingran, Director Chen politely made his acquaintance.

Li Yue was very enthusiastic and introduced Xu Chen to several local Shanghai media colleagues.

Xu Chen brought Nie Fei along, seeing it as a prime opportunity to build networks and resources.

There were also people from various subcontractor companies, like media placement firms and PR agencies, and Nie Fei took the initiative to connect with them.

During a break in the banquet, Xu Chen sent a message to Gu Xinxi.

He asked her to gather information on recent public opinions in the dairy industry, including major food safety scandals.

This was all for Director Li Yue, to help with his reports and internal communications.

[Received, boss. Why now?]

[I need it sorted and sent by next Monday.]

[Okay, I’ll handle it as soon as I get to the office on Monday.]

The endorsement issue with Sanlu Milk Powder—at least Li Yue had verbally agreed not to involve Xie Bingran.

Still uneasy, Xu Chen messaged Xie Bingran directly.

He told her to sign the contracts for Louis Vuitton and Head & Shoulders, but absolutely not for Sanlu.

Bing Ge replied with just one cool word:

[Oh]…

Nie Fei was still networking with media leaders when Sun Aimi approached Xu Chen with a glass of orange juice.

[Boss, Coach Cheng sent over a few photos of Bing Ge.

I picked one for the poster—what do you think?]

She said, holding out her phone screen.

The high-res photo from Coach Cheng was meant for printing as a poster to give to Vanke’s Wang Shi for autographs.

Xu Chen glanced at the phone screen:

“That works—it’s a great one!”

The photo captured Xie Bingran in a championship sprint at the Doha Asian Games.

It was a shot taken by CCTV reporters at the event.

Xu Chen studied the phone for a moment, smiled, and said:

“Send me a copy of that photo.”

Sun Aimi: “Sure! I’ll forward all the photos Coach Cheng sent.”

Monday morning, during physical education class.

With finals approaching, students were intensely practicing for their end-of-term exams.

Xu Chen and his roommate Hong Xiaoqiang were in soccer class, practicing ball control and passing on the sidelines.

It wasn’t just PE—other general and major courses were gearing up for finals or project evaluations, ramping up everyone’s academic pressure.

General classes like English, higher math, and computer science were manageable; the exams weren’t too tough.

But the department’s major courses involved detailed project assessments that demanded a lot of time and effort.

Advertising students were all buzzing with activity, with even the usually laid-back ones heading to the library or the department’s Little Yellow Building.

Luckily, Xu Chen’s two national first prizes in the University Advertising Competition meant he could skip finals for two major courses and get straight A’s, easing his load instantly.

He chose the two courses with the most complicated projects, saving himself the hassle.

One was taught by Professor Ni Zhi, the department head, who expressed a hint of regret:

“What a shame—I won’t get to see Xu Chen’s final project…”

Xu Chen replied with a mix of innocence and smugness:

“Plenty of time ahead—I’ve got your classes in sophomore and junior years too…”

His roommates and classmates were full of envy.

While everyone else scrambled with projects, Xu Chen relaxed, already locked in for top grades…

Taking a break on the sports field.

Xu Chen and Hong Xiaoqiang headed to the rest area between the soccer and basketball fields.

A group from the basketball class was there too, including classmates Huo Dashan, Qian Xin, and Pei Qian.

They were all in basketball class.

As they chatted and sipped drinks, they noticed Qian Xin—the usually chatty ‘Jiangsu-Zhejiang Prince’—quietly fiddling with his phone.

Hong Xiaoqiang teased:

“Qian, who’s the girl you’re chasing this time? So focused!”

Qian Xin: “Snagging shoes!”

Hong Xiaoqiang: “What shoes?”

Xu Chen, sitting next to Qian Xin, glanced over and couldn’t help but sigh.

Qian Xin’s phone showed the reservation page for ‘Ran Bing 001’.

Qian Xin grinned excitedly:

“The Asian Games champion’s shoes!

Xie Bingran released an official running shoe—it’s awesome!

Too bad it’s a抢—it—only a thousand pairs, and nearly 300,000 people have reserved already!”

Hong Xiaoqiang: “That popular?”

Pei Qian: “A thousand pairs with 300,000 reservations?!”

This ‘stock trader’ blinked, sensing a business opportunity:

“What’s the link? Send it to me…”

Xu Chen: “…”

Qian Xin eagerly shared the ‘Ran Bing 001′ reservation link.

He went on about how cool, hot, and stylish the shoes were.

Xu Chen thought it was good he hadn’t revealed his connection to Xie Bingran yet.

It wasn’t that he was stingy—’Ran Bing 001’ production was just extremely tight.

From the first batch, only Wu Feifei, Su Rong, Wang Shi, and Yu Liang got special reserves.

Even Xu Chen and Nie Fei planned to take the rejects from the production line.

If Qian Xin and the others asked for shoes, ‘Little President Xu’ wouldn’t have any to give…

Hong Xiaoqiang:

“These shoes look sharp! I want a pair!”

Qian Xin: “Forget buying—they’re a grab…”

Hong Xiaoqiang stared at his phone:

“Really this hot?”

Qian Xin: “Everyone reserve one quick—if you get one and don’t want it, sell it to me!”

He lowered his voice:

“Keep it quiet, or more people will jump in.”

Xu Chen: “…”

By noon, even more people were jumping in.

The college’s group chat was buzzing with ‘Ran Bing 001’ news and links, sparking widespread discussion.

It started with a student sharing a Tianya forum post.

The post featured photos of Xie Bingran from Doha.

One showed him with foreign fans at a restaurant, wearing ‘Ran Bing 001’.

Comments quickly discussed the shoes, and soon someone dug up the PR materials and reservation page…

Riding Xie Bingran’s popularity, ‘Ran Bing 001’ was everywhere.

Students in the group started reserving like crazy.

“It goes on sale on the 20th—set an alarm!”

“At midnight?”

“Probably by reservation order?”

“Some might cancel—better camp out on the 20th!”

“Buying at a premium—message me if you get one!”…

Xu Chen stayed silent—this was starting to look like a sneaker hype.

The company had discussed hype before—it was inevitable.

Officially, they couldn’t get involved, just encourage rational buying.

At lunch in the cafeteria, roommates kept the conversation going.

That simple reservation page probably got multiple submissions from everyone.

Xu Chen focused on his meal, and no one asked him about it.

He breathed a sigh of relief…

Otherwise, if his buddies asked, even as a major shareholder of Ran Bing Sports, he couldn’t produce a pair right now.

Xu Chen realized he hadn’t exposed his link to Xie Bingran.

The ‘Ran Bing Sports’ sign was at the company reception—Chen Wenyi and Jiao Tianbo had visited and likely seen it.

But they probably didn’t pay much attention, so they hadn’t connected it to him yet.

In classmates’ eyes, Xu Chen just ran an ad agency.

As he thought this, his phone buzzed.

It was a message from his high school buddy Chen Dahai:

[Xu Boss, I might not get ‘Ran Bing 001’ through reservation!

Can you snag me a priority spot?]

Xu Chen chuckled.

Chen Dahai was a straight-up friend—you could talk openly.

[The first batch is too tight—I can’t help.

Wait for the second batch; I’ll send you a pair directly!]

[Thanks, Xu Boss!

When’s winter break? Let’s hit up barbecue and beer!]

[Deal—it’s on!]

In the office.

A young man in a sharp suit and gold-rimmed glasses knocked, smiling politely.

Nie Fei stood to greet him.

“You’re Fei Jie, right? I’m Ben.”

“Welcome!”

Nie Fei smiled and led him to the meeting room.

They exchanged business cards and glanced at each other’s.

The young man with gold-rimmed glasses was Jin Ruibin from Anrui Investment.

His card listed him as ‘Business Director’.

Jin Ruibin was impeccably dressed, exuding a finance executive vibe.

He smiled and said:

“I’ve heard of you, Fei Jie—your name’s big in the industry.”

Nie Fei: “You’re too kind, Director Jin.”

“Anrui Investment” mainly deals in sports brands, so Jin Ruibin’s knowledge of Nie Fei likely came from her Nike days.

This meeting was initiated by Anrui, and Nie Fei still didn’t know their exact goals.

But as major backers in the industry, she didn’t dare brush them off.

In recent years, several acquisitions and mergers had Anrui’s fingerprints all over them.

And not all methods were straightforward—there were shady behind-the-scenes moves.

Whether Anrui was involved was unclear, which made Nie Fei and Xu Chen cautious…

Jin Ruibin: “You have another shareholder-director, right?”

Nie Fei smiled: “Our little President Xu is on his way; he should be here soon.

We can chat in the meantime…”

Jin Ruibin nodded.

He looked around, adjusted his glasses, and said with a smile:

“Your office is a bit small—the company doesn’t seem large…”

His tone carried a subtle edge.

Nie Fei just smiled back without reacting.

Jin Ruibin kept his friendly smile:

“Don’t take it the wrong way, Fei Jie.

I did some background checks—you’re a seasoned brand manager in sports…

Why settle for a small setup like this?”

Nie Fei feigned a touch of awkwardness but didn’t respond.

Jin Ruibin adjusted his glasses again—it seemed his words were just a probe.

He opened his documents and said with a smile:

“You’ve been in the industry a while, Fei Jie, so you know Anrui’s background.

Over the years, we’ve been involved in the competitive landscape of domestic sports products.

To keep the industry healthy and stable, we monitor emerging brands.

Now, that includes ‘Ran Bing Sports’…”

We first noticed ‘Ran Bing Sports’ when you secured the TPU material from Vanke.

That had quite an impact…

The main competitors were three companies, and Anrui has influence with them.

We could even negotiate their bids with Vanke to some extent…

But unexpectedly, an unknown like ‘Ran Bing Sports’ won it, which surprised everyone.

We looked into it afterward, but couldn’t figure out why Vanke’s chairman, Su Qitai, made that call…

He glanced at Nie Fei.

Nie Fei kept her professional smile but said nothing.

Jin Ruibin continued with a smile:

“We were ready to overlook ‘Ran Bing Sports’.

After all, Anrui only focuses on potentially threatening new brands.

The TPU material is good, but not game-changing.

Without big backing, we didn’t think you’d take off…

But after the Asian Games and Xie Bingran’s win, her commercial value exploded.

Our investment team analyzed ‘Ran Bing Sports’, so I’m here on behalf of Anrui to talk.”

Nie Fei nodded with a smile.

Now she had a clear picture, especially with that line about focusing on threatening brands—it matched what she and Xu Chen had discussed.

As long as that held, their strategy could proceed: make Anrui see ‘Ran Bing Sports’ as no threat, letting it grow under the radar.

Nie Fei smiled and said:

“Let me grab some tea or drinks—what would you like, Director Jin?”

Jin Ruibin politely replied: “Ice water is fine.”

Nie Fei nodded with a smile:

“Just a moment, Director Jin.”

She stepped out to get the drinks and quietly sent a message to Xu Chen.

It was just the number ‘1’, meaning ‘as expected—stick to the plan’…