Chapter 435: Corporate Ascendancy

Thursday.

Afternoon classes ended, and Xu Chen skipped joining Qian Xin and the others at the cafeteria, heading straight to the company on work business.

“Xu Chen’s always so busy, isn’t he?”

Behind him, Qian Xin’s teasing joke still echoed…

Company matters kept piling up.

Xu Chen was the type who couldn’t sit still; these past couple of days, his mind kept drifting back to company affairs.

After cramming through his final assignments, ‘Young Xu Chen’ finally had a bit of free time today to head back and handle business and projects.

…

Tonghai Creative Design Building.

Xu Chen didn’t go to the 6th floor; instead, he headed first to the small office on the 8th floor.

Pushing the door open, he saw a large solid wood table set up in the original workspace area.

This was Xu Chen’s latest purchase; during the New Year’s holiday, Gu Xinxi had arranged for workers to deliver it.

He planned to turn this space into his own ‘little studio,’ which meant a bit of hassle.

Besides this long table, they needed to add a few cabinets.

Also, the original meeting room would be converted into a small bedroom.

That way, Xu Chen could crash here when he wanted to escape and relax.

The renovation company was already lined up—all arranged by ‘little manager’ Gu Xinxi—and they’d start sorting things out in the next couple of days.

Xu Chen then headed to the original ‘General Manager’s Office’.

Opening the cabinet, he found all the fine wines still there, including those from Fang Jun and his own collection of wines.

Additionally, the safe for Bing Ge’s gold medals had been ordered by Gu Xinxi and should arrive in the next few days.

It was supposed to be installed during the New Year’s period, but Xu Chen changed his mind and picked a new one, which delayed things with returns and exchanges.

Xu Chen did a bit of research; to keep the gold medals in good condition, they needed specific humidity and temperature controls.

So, he chose a high-end safe with those features.

Once everything was set up securely, he’d go get Bing Ge’s collection of gold medals.

‘Young Xu Chen’ inspected his private studio thoroughly and finally headed downstairs, satisfied.

…

6th floor.

Xu Chen walked into the Ran Bing Sports reception area and paused, surprised.

A stranger sat at the front desk—a young woman he didn’t recognize.

She was a twenty-something with a pretty oval face and a warm, sweet demeanor.

Seeing Xu Chen enter, she stood up and said:

“Hello, sir. Are you here to visit or…?”

Xu Chen smiled, realizing this must be the new admin assistant Fei Jie had hired.

Nie Fei had mentioned it to him before and even suggested he interview her.

But since she wasn’t in operations, Xu Chen let Nie Fei handle it completely.

The front desk assistant was meeting ‘Young Xu Chen’ for the first time and took him for a stranger.

Xu Chen chuckled, unsure how to introduce himself at first.

Gu Xinxi hurried over:

“This is our boss, Young Xu Chen…”

The warm assistant blinked in surprise before it clicked.

She quickly stepped out from behind the desk and said, a bit embarrassed:

“Hello, boss. I’m Han Meina. You can call me Nana.”

Han Meina had heard ‘Young Xu Chen’ was quite young, but seeing him in person still shocked her.

Xu Chen: “That name sounds like a South Korean celebrity.”

Nie Fei smiled as she walked over:

“Nana is indeed half Korean and half Chinese.

She’s fluent in Chinese, Korean, and English, so she’ll help with translations if we get South Korean clients, Young Xu Chen.”

Xu Chen nodded with a smile, pleasantly surprised.

Han Meina stole a quick glance at ‘Young Xu Chen’ and blushed slightly.

Xu Chen said with a grin: “Welcome to the team, Nana!”

“Thank you, boss.”

Han Meina replied softly, her face warm with a gentle smile.

…

…

Main conference room.

Nie Fei called in Jiang Yuze and Sun Lingfeng to give Young Xu Chen a quick update on project progress.

Xu Chen: “Fei Jie, you’re amazing—finding a half-Korean for the front desk!”

Nie Fei: “It was just luck; a friend recommended her.

She’s pretty and helps spruce up the place.

The girl is sharp, and her language skills are a bonus!”

Xu Chen joked:

“Well, now you’re putting pressure on me—I need to land a Korean project soon!”

…

They shifted to serious business.

Sun Lingfeng fired up his computer and shared the screen, giving an overview of the initial ‘Ran Bing 001’ sales and current online store metrics.

“The first release of ‘Ran Bing 001’ already has tens of thousands of pre-orders.

With that base, the second batch in February should sell out instantly.”

Sun Lingfeng said with a grin, clearly optimistic about future store sales.

Nie Fei took a sip of coffee and chimed in:

“Zhou Junjun’s team is working overtime to ramp up production.

After the first batch, they’ve optimized the process, so efficiency will improve.

We’ve analyzed the initial sales and pre-order data, adjusting sizes accordingly.

All that feedback went to production, so inventory will be more accurate, and overall costs can drop further…

From what we see, once production and sales stabilize, ‘Ran Bing 001’s profit margin should hit that 20% target.”

Jiang Yuze updated them on the marketing plan for the second wave in early February.

They planned to start hyping it up mid to late January…

Xu Chen looked at Jiang Yuze and said with a smile:

“I promised you a hot event for publicity, and it’s pretty much set.”

Jiang Yuze lit up: “Really, Young Xu Chen?”

Xu Chen smiled and shared two photos on the screen.

The photos showed Xie Bingran with Wang Shi and Yu Liang.

In them, Xie Bingran was presenting ‘Ran Bing 001’.

Nie Fei, Jiang Yuze, and Sun Lingfeng stared in surprise, their faces lighting up with excitement.

Nie Fei: “Nice one, Young Xu Chen! You got Vanke’s founder and president on board!”

Jiang Yuze: “This is perfect!

Wang Shi has that sports vibe, so endorsing ‘Ran Bing 001’ will boost the product’s image big time!”

Xu Chen: “It’s timed for late January—the Sanya Marathon, which Vanke sponsors.

Wang Shi and Yu Liang will both run in it, wearing our ‘Ran Bing 001’.”

Jiang Yuze: “Seriously? That’s awesome!”

Nie Fei turned to Xu Chen:

“You’re full of surprises—pulling this off is impressive!”

Xu Chen smiled: “There’s more.”

“Oh?”

Xu Chen paused:

“Wang Shi mentioned we can get a prime spot at the Sanya Marathon venue.

We’ll set up a big X stand and display a few pairs of shoes.”

Jiang Yuze couldn’t hide his excitement:

“This is gold! Plenty of media will be there!

And the attendees are all runners—right in our target demographic!”

Sun Lingfeng: “With this boost, February’s promo is locked in!

Paired with store ops, the hype should last for ages!”

Nie Fei teased:

“You’ve got some serious pull—Vanke’s going all out for us.”

Xu Chen: “It’s not my influence; it’s Bing Ge’s.

An Asian Games champion delivering signed photos and shoes to Vanke HQ is a rare honor.

Wang and Yu are the ones scoring big here!”

Nie Fei laughed: “Bing Ge’s just returning the favor you arranged.”

Xu Chen showed a touch of pride.

He remembered something else and added:

“On the hype around shoes, let’s use this late January push for some user guidance.

As ‘Ran Bing Sports,’ we don’t encourage reselling; it’s not a sustainable market move.

Too much of it could hurt our brand reputation.”

Jiang Yuze nodded:

“Fei Jie’s already on it; we’ll release official guidance content mid-January.”

Nie Fei looked at Xu Chen and said:

“Quick update on ‘Ran Bing X’.

Chen Youjian Studio has started designing, with Chen Youjian leading it.

I’ve aligned timelines for finalizing it late January to early February.

It’s on schedule; Zhou Junjun’s team is still cranking out ‘Ran Bing 001,’ so they can’t jump in yet.

By February, it’ll give them a breather.”

Xu Chen nodded:

“No problem. We’re taking small, steady steps—nothing too rushed.”

He turned to Nie Fei:

“Has Chen Youjian Studio given a quote? It’s not still five million, right?”

Nie Fei: “Of course not…

They’re eager for this project to ride Xie Bingran’s fame and boost Ran Bing Sports’ brand, which will raise their profile in Mainland China.

Plus, ‘Ran Bing’s style and design appeal to Chen Youjian; he’s excited to create for it.

The price isn’t set yet; we’ll check their proposal first.

But we’re aiming for one to one point five million.”

Xu Chen smiled: “Sounds good. You handle it, Fei Jie.”

Nie Fei: “‘Ran Bing Lite’ will follow ‘Ran Bing X’.

We’ve discussed it briefly with Pearl Cat.

They’ll modify designs based on ‘Ran Bing 001’.”

Xu Chen nodded:

“‘Ran Bing X’ is our premium line, and ‘Ran Bing Lite’ is the everyday youth version.

Together with ‘Ran Bing 001,’ that makes our three core running shoe lines.

If we get these launched smoothly this year, we’ll hit our annual goals.”

Nie Fei smiled:

“Smooth launch isn’t enough.

My KPI with Jiang Yuze and Sun Lingfeng is to get ‘Ran Bing’ shoes to 100,000 pairs sold per month this year.”

Young Xu Chen grinned:

“Don’t stress too much—just work happily and live well!”

Jiang Yuze joked:

“Vice President Zhou’s the one under the gun; apparently, the factory machines are smoking…”

…

The Ran Bing Sports meeting wrapped up, and Xu Chen called for an East Morning Star Advertising session.

The new admin assistant Nana thoughtfully brought ‘Young Xu Chen’ his favorite sparkling water.

Xu Chen was surprised, figuring Fei Jie had tipped her off.

Still, being fussed over as the boss felt pretty good—it boosted his mood.

Gu Xinxi, Sun Aimi, and Tang Xiaowei were already in the meeting room.

Xu Chen smiled and started:

“I got Procter & Gamble’s email yesterday—it looks like your presentation went great!”

Gu Xinxi beamed:

“Yes! The client loved it…

After Sun Aimi presented, we waited for feedback, but Sia just said the plan was fine—it caught us off guard.”

Xu Chen chuckled: “I told you Sun Aimi could handle the pitch alone.

Your plan was solid from the start.”

Sun Aimi: “It was all thanks to your creative idea, boss—the client ate it up.”

Xu Chen: “Keep a close eye on this project; it’s key.

It’s for Procter & Gamble and the Head & Shoulders brand, so once it’s out, it’ll be a major fast-consumer win for East Morning Star Advertising.”

Gu Xinxi: “And it’s Bing Ge’s project, so we’ll give it our all.”

Xu Chen: “Just coordinate with the client; I won’t interfere much.

Send me the shooting script when it’s ready.

And let me know once the shooting schedule is set.”

He thought for a moment and added:

“We also need to shoot a video ad for Chenfeng Ice Power with Bing Ge.

I was thinking of filming during his Provincial Capital visit, but I’m worried about finding a good production company there.

His schedule in Shandong Province is packed, so squeezing in time might be tough…

The Head & Shoulders shoot won’t take long—it’s coming up soon.

If it fits, let’s use the same studio and team for both.

Chenfeng Ice Power’s shoot is simple—just bring a car, film in the studio, and handle post-production.

That way, we won’t need to coordinate Bing Ge’s schedule with the National Team extra…

Don’t worry about costs; bill it under Chenfeng Ice Power and liaise with Fang Jun.”

Gu Xinxi: “Got it, boss. I’ll chat with the production company quietly first.”

Xu Chen nodded, thinking Gu Xinxi was sharp:

“Exactly—keep it under wraps from the client.”

Gu Xinxi grinned:

“Bundling Chenfeng Ice Power and Head & Shoulders should help us negotiate the production fees down.”

Xu Chen: “Our little manager’s a pro at saving the company money!”

…

After wrapping up those details, Xu Chen reviewed the Baidu project plan.

They’d promised to submit a proposal next week.

Gu Xinxi, Sun Aimi, and Tang Xiaowei were thrilled to hear Xu Chen had landed a ‘Baidu’ project.

As young folks, they found this hot ‘internet’ gig exciting.

Compared to traditional brands like Jiaduobao or Head & Shoulders, the creativity and execution here sounded fun.

Sun Aimi and Tang Xiaowei shared some initial ideas.

Xu Chen listened, noting their concepts aligned well with his thoughts.

It even matched the ‘standard answer’ in his mind.

…

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