Chapter 391: Rising Ventures and Daily Hustle
by xennovelXu Chen thought it over and spoke up again:
“The first business meeting with Head & Shoulders is crucial for making a good impression.”
“Plus, this brand fits Bing Ge’s image pretty well, and I’m really interested in taking it on.”
“So, we need to handle it seriously.”
Nie Fei sipped her red wine and said with a smile:
“Young President Xu, you always play up your youthful look to pull off surprises that leave everyone stunned.”
Xu Chen: “……”
He thought for a moment, then said to Gu Xinxi:
“Tomorrow, make another business card for Fei Jie.”
“East Morning Star Advertising, Partner.”
“Got it, I’ll get it done tonight.”
Gu Xinxi remembered something else and said:
“The Yichun project is all set with the specific launch and execution plan.”
Xu Chen: “Oh? What’s the launch date?”
Gu Xinxi: “End of the month, December 30th. The ‘Call of Spring’ page will go live on the Yichun City tourism website.”
Xu Chen nodded: “Just follow the plan step by step.”
Nie Fei said with a laugh:
“I only caught a glimpse of this project on Xinxi’s computer screen a couple of days ago…”
“You’ve got quite the touch, coming up with a concept like ‘Call of Spring’.”
“This could become a household name in city promotions—a widely talked-about case!”
Xu Chen showed a hint of pride:
“Every project I handle turns into a case study.”
Gu Xinxi said:
“Boss, since the Jeep ad went live, some car brands have reached out through the website to ask about collaboration possibilities!”
Xu Chen paused, surprised by this.
“Didn’t expect business to come knocking so quickly.”
Ads for car brands could be worth pursuing.
“They usually mean easy work, good pay, and no hassle.”
Xu Chen: “Which car brand exactly?”
Gu Xinxi: “I got an email this afternoon, but they didn’t specify the brand yet.”
“I’ll reach out and connect tomorrow.”
……
……
Tuesday morning.
During the break, Xu Chen slipped out of the teaching building, skipping class, and headed straight for the office.
It was the moving ceremony for Ran Bing Sports and East Morning Star Advertising, and they were waiting for him, the boss, to cut the ribbon!
Just as he stepped out of the hallway, he heard someone call from behind:
“Xu Chen……”
Turning around, he saw Su Rong smiling as she caught up.
She said shyly:
“Can I come along?”
Xu Chen laughed and replied:
“Of course, Miss Su!”
“I just wasn’t sure if you’d have time with classes.”
Su Rong smiled sweetly:
“We’ll head back together and show up late…”
……
……
Tonghai Creative Design Building, 6th floor.
As soon as Xu Chen and Su Rong stepped out of the elevator, they heard applause and cheers.
It was from Nie Fei, Sun Aimi, Gu Xinxi, Jiang Yuze, and Sun Lingfeng.
They stood at the new office door, clapping to welcome Xu Chen and Su Rong.
At the East Morning Star Advertising entrance, several large flower baskets were set up.
Xu Chen was surprised—who sent these without him mentioning it?
He walked over for a closer look and couldn’t help but smile.
[Chenfeng Technology congratulates Ran Bing Sports and East Morning Star Advertising on their successful move…]
[Chenxin Nurseries congratulates on the move and wishes prosperous business…]
Fang Jun had been involved in the office renovations, so he probably knew about the move today.
These two baskets were arranged by Fang Jun’s sister and Xu Chen’s father, Xu Zhiquan.
There were two more baskets: one from Wanrong Materials and another from Lifeng Footwear…
Xu Chen paused and glanced at Su Rong.
Su Rong stuck out her tongue and smiled awkwardly:
“I mentioned it to my dad yesterday, and he had a basket sent over…”
Xu Chen: “President Su is so thoughtful!” …
The Lifeng Footwear basket was arranged by Vice President Zhou and Zhou Junjun.
Another basket caught Xu Chen’s eye and surprised him.
It simply said ‘Congratulations on the move’ with two names: Wu Yongming and Wu Feifei.
Well…
Getting a basket from such high-profile leaders was quite an honor.
……
Xu Chen walked up to Nie Fei:
“Congratulations, Fei Jie.”
Nie Fei beamed:
“Congratulations to you too, Young President Xu.”
She added, “You’ve got your work cut out today, cutting ribbons twice!”
With two companies moving, there’d be two ribbon-cutting ceremonies.
Young President Xu was happy to oblige!
……
In front of the new East Morning Star Advertising office, Jiang Yuze and Sun Lingfeng had strung up a ribbon.
Xu Chen, Sun Aimi, and Gu Xinxi each held scissors and stood behind the ribbon.
These three were the founding team of East Morning Star Advertising.
Xu Chen pulled Nie Fei and Su Rong over too.
They smiled and didn’t refuse—one stood by Sun Aimi, the other by Gu Xinxi.
“Good luck on the move!” Xu Chen called out.
The long ribbon was cut with a snip.
Jiang Yuze and Sun Lingfeng pulled out party poppers.
“Bang bang” went the poppers…
Followed by applause and mutual congratulations.
Xu Chen posed for photos with Sun Aimi and Gu Xinxi under the East Morning Star Advertising sign.
The two young women were thrilled, each linking an arm with Xu Chen.
……
A few minutes later, at the Ran Bing Sports reception area.
This time, Sun Aimi and Gu Xinxi strung up the ribbon.
Xu Chen and Nie Fei, along with Jiang Yuze, Sun Lingfeng, and Su Rong, performed the ribbon-cutting.
After the “bang bang” of the poppers, Jiang Yuze opened a bottle of champagne.
Everyone gathered in the office, each with a slender glass, sharing the whole bottle.
They clinked glasses, and Xu Chen said with a smile:
“Let’s do a chain of toasts. I’ll start:
“May business thrive and wealth flow in!”
“Ride the winds and rise steadily!”
“Expand far and wide, fortune smooth!”
“Draw in riches, blessings shine!”
“Boom with success, profits soar!”
……
Laughter and excitement filled the air.
Young President Xu downed his champagne, feeling thrilled.
In just a few short months, his two companies had grown to a solid start, both showing great potential.
Who to thank?
Everyone deserved thanks.
But the ones he owed the most to weren’t there—Old Xu and Xie Bingran.
Thanks to Old Xu, that solid backbone, for giving Xu Chen’s companies a strong foundation.
Thanks to Bing Ge, that treasure trove, for opening up more business opportunities for Ran Bing Sports and East Morning Star Advertising!
……
……
Before leaving, Xu Chen went to the flower baskets and snapped photos with his phone.
He sent the photos of the Chenfeng Technology and Chenxin Nurseries baskets to Fang Jun’s sister and politely expressed his thanks.
Fang Jun replied quickly:
[Save a spot for my wine cabinet in the new office.]
Xu Chen chuckled and replied:
[I’ve already set one aside—spacious and hidden.]
Xu Chen sent the photos of the Wanrong, Wu Yongming, and Lifeng baskets to his father, Xu Zhiquan.
These were key partners, so he needed to loop in Old Xu.
[Dad, we got baskets from the big leaders, Wanrong, and Lifeng…]
Xu Zhiquan replied:
[Noted. I’ll send separate thanks.]
[Congrats, son! When I get to Shanghai, we’ll celebrate with a drink.]
[Sounds good, looking forward to it!]
……
……
When Xu Chen and Su Rong got back to class, they were both late.
Luckily, it was Homeroom Teacher Shi Dinghai’s class, and he was easygoing, so he didn’t say much.
They had jogged back from the south gate and were a bit out of breath.
Their classmates watched Xu Chen and Su Rong rush in late, looking puzzled and curious.
……
Xu Chen settled into his seat at the back and caught his breath.
“The Jiang Zhe Little Prince” Qian Xin leaned over and whispered:
“Xu Boss, you wouldn’t have hooked up with Su Rong…”
“You’re actually together, right?”
Xu Chen looked exasperated: “Don’t spread rumors!”
“I had company stuff, and Su Rong needed to go too.”
Qian Xin nodded:
“So, when did you two get together?”
Xu Chen said with annoyance: “I told you, there’s nothing between Su Rong and me!”
Qian Xin nodded seriously:
“How far have you gone?”
Xu Chen: “……”
……
……
Around 11 a.m., a shorter guy with a backpack arrived at the East Morning Star Advertising office on the 8th floor.
His name was Tang Xiaowei, Sun Aimi’s junior and the new designer for East Morning Star Advertising.
Tang Xiaowei stood at the 8th-floor office door, seeing it empty, and instantly felt a bad premonition.
Was the company he was about to join…
“Already shut down?!”
He had just handled his resignation from his previous job!
This was his first day, and he hadn’t even started onboarding…
When he came for the interview, the small office had already seemed off!
Sure enough, his instincts were spot-on…
But why did his senior, Sun Aimi, set him up like this?
If the company was gone, why not warn him?!
……
In just a few minutes, Tang Xiaowei imagined all sorts of tragic outcomes for starting a job and losing it immediately.
As he stood there lost, a familiar voice came from behind:
“Tang Xiaowei……”
He turned to see his senior, Sun Aimi.
She was carrying a box, looking like she was clearing out after getting fired.
Tang Xiaowei felt a pang of bitterness.
It was true—he was out of a job before starting…
Sun Aimi walked over and said with a smile:
“Forgot to mention, we moved offices—now we’re on the 6th floor…”
Tang Xiaowei: “?!”
Sun Aimi saw his odd expression: “Perfect timing since you’re here—help me carry some stuff!”
Tang Xiaowei snapped out of it and followed his senior into the office.
……
Ten minutes later.
When Tang Xiaowei walked into the spacious, new office on the 6th floor with Sun Aimi, he felt a wave of relief, like surviving a disaster.
Okay.
So, it hadn’t shut down or gone under…
In fact, this office looked even more upscale—how about that?
Sun Aimi glanced back at the stunned Tang Xiaowei:
“Come on, let’s introduce you to the team!”
……
Sun Aimi set down her things and took Tang Xiaowei around to meet Gu Xinxi, Jiang Yuze, and Sun Lingfeng.
Gu Xinxi smiled and said:
“Welcome! Your office computer is already set up from yesterday!”
Sun Aimi added:
“At East Morning Star Advertising, we’ll mainly work with Xinxi on projects.”
Tang Xiaowei nodded respectfully and quickly called her “Xinxi Jie.”
Sun Aimi then led him to Nie Fei’s office to introduce “Fei Jie.”
Tang Xiaowei acted polite and deferential, like a nervous new guy…
She told him his desk was next to hers.
After tidying his desk a bit, Tang Xiaowei scooted his chair over:
“Aimi Jie, so that Fei Jie we just met—is she our boss?”
Sun Aimi: “Our boss is Young President Xu; he should be by this afternoon.”
“You know, the guy from your interview…”
Tang Xiaowei blinked in surprise, remembering the young guy from the interview.
He said with astonishment:
“That guy… is the leader?”
“I thought he was just another interviewer!”
Sun Aimi: “Not just a leader—he’s the boss.”
Tang Xiaowei couldn’t hide his shock:
“The boss? But he looks so young!”
Sun Aimi said seriously:
“I told you about the projects we’re doing—Wang Laoshun, Jeep, Kunlun Mountain, Vanke—all landed by Young President Xu!”
Tang Xiaowei blinked his small eyes, looking utterly amazed and confused.
Sun Aimi added:
“Fei Jie handles another line of business as the general manager of Ran Bing Sports, and she reports to Young President Xu.”
“He’s the big boss of both companies.”
Tang Xiaowei swallowed hard.
He thought back to meeting Young President Xu during the interview, replaying every detail…
Had he spoken too loudly back then?
……
……
……
At noon, Xu Chen and his roommates grabbed a quick meal at the cafeteria before heading to the library.
With finals approaching, exams and project evaluations were piling up.
After months of slacking, the students were finally cramming.
Xu Chen had already locked in A grades for two subjects, but he still needed to work on a few end-of-term projects.
For ‘Probability in Communications’ and ‘Consumer Psychology,’ he’d have to hit the library for research and put together some reports.
It wasn’t much pressure for Xu Chen—just like grunt work he needed to power through.
As they walked to the library, ‘The Jiang Zhe Little Prince’ Qian Xin complained:
“Why’s finals so intense? So many subjects need project evals, and they’re all bunched up—it’s annoying!”
Hong Xiaoqiang: “The teachers assigned them way ahead; it’s our fault for leaving it till now.”
Pei Qian from the next dorm chimed in:
“I’m jealous of Xu Boss—he’s skipped evals for two classes!”
Xu Chen just smiled and didn’t say more.
Hong Xiaoqiang added:
“I heard your ‘University Advertising Competition’ win means you’ll go with the dean to Kun City for the awards at the end of the month!”
Xu Chen smiled: “Yeah.”
Hong Xiaoqiang shook his head:
“Xu Boss’s life is something else—total envy!”
……
……