Chapter 440: Semester Wrap-Up

In the new week, Xu Chen focused almost entirely on his studies.

On Monday, he took exams for two general education courses; on Tuesday, he submitted final assignments for two major classes.

These four courses wrapped up the semester, and with the two college courses waived due to his ‘University Advertising Competition’ win, he finally breathed a sigh of relief.

A few classes remained unfinished, but the pressure was light; the next two or three weeks would handle them easily.

Heading back to Tiancheng this weekend meant seeing Xie Bingran again, which filled him with excitement and anticipation.

At the same time, he could finally check out the new park for Chenfeng Technology.

Dubbed a ‘100,000-square-meter manufacturing base,’ it had Xu Chen buzzing with curiosity.

Old Xu was thrilled to hear Xu Chen was coming home.

He even messaged Xu Chen that fresh sausages were ready and waiting at home.

The flower cakes and Puer tea sent from Kun City had arrived safely.

Old Xu had tried the Puer tea his son sent and loved it immensely.

The flower cakes became his go-to snack for meetings, and apparently Fang Jun’s sister enjoyed them so much they paired well with drinks.

…

While Xu Chen tackled his end-of-term workload, Wu Feifei and Su Rong were equally buried in exams and evaluations.

Over the past couple of weeks, the two hadn’t stopped by the company to ‘oversee’ things.

Wu Feifei kept tabs on company matters and, seeing in the group chat that Xu Chen was landing new projects, offered sincere congratulations to ‘Young Xu Chen’ while regretting she couldn’t join in.

Xu Chen left a special message for Wu Feifei:

[I saved a box of flower cakes for you, hidden in the company fridge on the 8th floor…]

[Great! I’ll swing by after my finals to grab them!]

Meanwhile, Wu Feifei still had her eye on the Chenfeng Ice Power electric bike from Xu Chen’s family, so he promised to get her one during summer break.

Wu Feifei insisted on paying for it herself, sticking firmly to her principles…

As the class arts representative, Su Rong finally wrapped up the college’s New Year’s welcome party programs just before New Year’s Day and let out a big breath.

The welcome party happened while Xu Chen was in Kun City, so he missed the final show, but it was apparently a hit, earning rave reviews around campus.

To show some emotional intelligence, Xu Chen took a moment to congratulate Su Rong.

Su Rong spotted the cartoon tag on Xu Chen’s backpack and lit up with joy.

The tag was a custom design featuring Xu Chen and Xie Bingran, created by Su Rong herself.

Xu Chen joked:

“So that’s what you and Bing Ge were up to in secret!”

Su Rong tilted her chin up, beaming with pride and delight.

She rummaged in her pocket and pulled out:

“I made two more for Bing Ge—here, for you!”

Xu Chen took them and saw they were adorable cartoon versions of Bing Ge.

One wore a sports vest, like a ‘track version’ of Bing Ge.

The other sported a baseball cap, capturing Bing Ge’s recent look…

Xu Chen liked them so much he couldn’t help saying:

“You really love Bing Ge!”

Su Rong: “Lots of girls secretly like Bing Ge!

But they have no idea you’re so close to him!

And when Bing Ge sat with me in class last time, no one even knew!”

Su Rong chatted away happily, clearly thrilled by the secrecy.

Xu Chen noticed that lately Su Rong seemed even more cheerful and optimistic, less reserved than before.

He wondered if it was from getting comfortable around him or from truly bonding with Bing Ge, bringing her a ton of joy…

…

With Xie Bingran’s trip to the Provincial Capital and Tiancheng this week, Feng Siliang from the City Publicity Department reached out to Xu Chen again for some promotional planning input.

Xu Chen didn’t have many suggestions, but he put on a professional front.

He knew Feng Siliang wanted him to review the plans mainly to make reporting to superiors smoother.

Secretary Xia Gang, after the Yangcheng National Games publicity project, trusted Xu Chen completely.

When Feng Siliang updated Xia Gang, mentioning ‘Xu Chen vetted the plan’ would ease things along…

For this Asian Games champion’s hometown visit, the City Publicity Department and local Tiancheng media lined up a series of special features.

The focus was on Xie Bingran’s upcoming events in Tiancheng.

The highlight was a City Sports University ceremony where city leaders would attend to honor sports achievements.

Many were being recognized, but Xie Bingran was the star.

In fact, the other awards were just to balance things out and avoid spotlighting her alone.

Hence, they threw in some makeshift categories.

Tiancheng’s rewards for the Asian Games champion came from the City Sports Bureau, as mentioned in earlier news.

The rewards included that house for Xie Bingran.

Another key for promotion was the two scholarships set up in Xie Bingran’s name.

One scholarship rewarded young athletes in Tiancheng.

The other was aid for high school students from tough backgrounds, like Xie Bingran…

Xu Chen learned from Feng Siliang’s news plan that Xie Bingran had personally added funds to expand these scholarships and aid programs.

No surprise from the ‘little rich girl’…

It was all good—it boosted her image by funding rewards and support for younger students.

Of course, based on what Xu Chen knew of Xie Bingran, she wasn’t doing it for the publicity.

Her choice to help Tiancheng students came straight from her kind heart.

Back when she was Bing Ge at Tiancheng No. 1 High School, her bold acts of justice stemmed from pure goodness and integrity.

Plenty of rural kids she protected became her loyal crew, like Fang Tao and his group.

Others remembered her kindness, like that underclassman who stepped up when Xu Chen first brought Xie Bingran to the track.

Since Bing Ge joined the National Team, those heroics had tapered off, but Xu Chen had heard her mention things occasionally.

Like older team members picking on the new ones.

Dong Jiajia, who attended Huahai Normal University with Xie Bingran, got protected by her early in the National Team.

No wonder the young athletes at Xin Zhuang Base were so respectful, calling her Bing Ge.

Xu Chen reflected on it.

Around him, Xie Bingran mostly acted like that timid desk mate from middle school, showing her true girl-next-door side.

He hadn’t seen much of the fierce, heroic Bing Ge in action.

…

…

On Wednesday afternoon break, Xu Chen got a message from Baidu Group’s assistant, Miao Xiaoyu.

Baidu’s admin had booked his travel and hotel in Beijing, and Miao Xiaoyu was double-checking his schedule.

For this Baidu trip, Xu Chen was bringing Sun Aimi along.

It was a project pitch, and having two people gave it a team vibe; plus, Sun Aimi could help hold things together.

Honestly, at under twenty, Xu Chen’s age was a bit of a drawback in pitches.

But in advertising, it’s the work that talks.

He’d considered bringing Gu Xinxi, but she was swamped, so he left the ‘little manager’ at home.

Miao Xiaoyu added:

[Mr. Xu, our presentation is at 10 AM on Friday. I’ve sent the company address to your email—just call me when you arrive.]

Xu Chen: [No problem, we’ll be there on time.]

After a pause, Miao Xiaoyu followed up:

[Besides Mr. Zhao, our big boss Robin might show up. He’s really focused on this project…]

Xu Chen was surprised that Baidu’s founder, Li Yanhong, was getting involved.

Li Yanhong’s participation made Xu Chen take it more seriously.

[Can I ask which other companies are pitching besides East Morning Star Advertising?]

Miao Xiaoyu: [Hold on, Mr. Xu, I need to check with Mr. Zhao…]

A bit later, she sent the list:

[There are four companies…

McCann, Dentsu, Blue Focus, and East Morning Star Advertising.]

[Got it.]

Xu Chen reviewed the list and thought it over.

McCann was run by the ad mogul Mo Kangxun from Hong Kong.

Last month at the Great Wall Awards in Kun City, Xu Chen had chatted with Mo Kangxun.

Mo Kangxun even joked about recruiting Xu Chen…

Dentsu was another top international agency under the global Havas group.

Their strongest creative team was in Shanghai, led by the homegrown talent Wu Tianfu.

He wondered if Wu Tianfu’s team was pitching for Baidu…

Blue Focus was a pure domestic PR firm.

It started in PR, excelling at buzz and media campaigns with solid connections.

Baidu bringing in Blue Focus suggested they wanted PR angles, not just straight ads.

Xu Chen checked these competitors to ensure his pitch wouldn’t overlap ideas.

His ‘Tang Bohu vs. Foreigners’ concept was basically the classic answer from his past life.

The original creators were some obscure small agency that gained traction from it.

Overall, with that proven idea, Xu Chen felt confident.

His only worry was Li Yanhong, a straight-up ‘tech guy.’

From experience, tech leaders could be tough on creative pitches—they were so logical.

He wasn’t sure if Li Yanhong would get the playful vibe of ‘Tang Bohu vs. Foreigners.’

…

…

Wednesday evening.

Xu Chen just finished another final exam.

With school easing up, he headed to the company before closing to handle some tasks.

In the meeting room.

Gu Xinxi had a document ready, projected on the big screen.

“This is a list of companies that reached out via our official email wanting to work with East Morning Star Advertising on ads.

I’ve already contacted them by phone or online, and turned down the ones that seemed shady, like those just trying to steal ideas.”

Xu Chen took the mouse and quickly scanned the document’s companies, products, and project needs.

Nothing jumped out as exciting—mostly small domestic firms with unremarkable brands and tiny budgets.

Taking these on would be more trouble than it’s worth, and payment might even be an issue…

A couple stood out, though, like a top domestic snack brand and a bottled water company.

Gu Xinxi saw Xu Chen linger on those and said:

“For Haribo and Nongfu Spring, they’ve just made initial contact without specific projects.

Haribo saw East Morning Star Advertising’s Great Wall Awards win and reached out.

Nongfu Spring noticed the ‘Afraid of Getting Heated’ herbal tea project and got in touch.

But they don’t have immediate promo needs, so it’s just about building a connection for now.”

Xu Chen nodded:

“Keep tracking them…

These fast-moving consumer goods giants pour money into ads.

Star products or new launches can match auto or real estate budgets, and the creative side isn’t too complex…”

Gu Xinxi: “Understood, boss!”

…

Sun Aimi and Tang Xiaowei pulled out the pitch files for Cadillac and Baidu for Xu Chen to review.

They’d already sent them online; this was the updated version.

Xu Chen went through it—nothing major wrong. The creative drafts didn’t need to be polished yet.

He thought for a second and said:

“For tomorrow’s Cadillac pitch, Sun Aimi and Gu Xinxi, come with me!”

“Sure, boss.”

Xu Chen remembered something:

“Any updates on the Head & Shoulders ad shoot with Bing Ge?”

…”