Chapter 508: Paths of Ambition

Fang Jun held that bottle of Shan Di Shi whiskey, squinting slightly with eyes full of joy.

The regret of not going to Zurich to see Bing Ge win the gold medal seemed to fade a bit at last.

Xu Chen spoke up again:

“I brought back plenty of handmade chocolates; they’re in the car trunk. I’ll get them for you later.”

“I don’t care for chocolate. This bottle of whiskey is enough.”

Fang Jun thought for a moment, then added:

“But go ahead and give them to me. I’ll share them with Wu Yue and Director Yang.”

Xu Chen: “You’re always so thoughtful, Teacher Fang Jun.”

Fang Jun remembered something else and seemed to get annoyed, saying:

“Join me for a drink tonight.”

Xu Chen: “Something bothering you, Teacher Fang Jun?”

Fang Jun: “Yeah, I’m bothered…”

Xu Chen: “Huh?”

Fang Jun: “Last May, when I went with you to Shanghai, you didn’t take me to see Bing Ge’s competition.”

“And this May in Europe, I missed it again.”

Xu Chen chuckled awkwardly, thinking to himself how innocent he was in all this.

The competition last May was the one he attended with Bai Miao and Dong Jiajia at the National Youth Athletics Championships.

At that time, he was on a business trip with Fang Jun, pitching for the Renhe Pharmaceuticals project.

But back then, he hadn’t introduced Fang Jun to Bing Ge, so he didn’t bring her to the event.

Now, Sister Fang Jun had a bit of a grudge about it.

Xu Chen feigned innocence:

“I’ll cover the drinks tonight.”

Fang Jun: “You just pay for the food. I’ll bring the booze myself.”

Xu Chen: “Oh.”

……

Over the May Day holiday, Xu Chen shuttled between the park, the town, and Tiansheng Mansion.

The production line in the park scheduled some overtime to keep things running; after all, Bright Factory needed supplies urgently.

Construction on the new northern park was in full swing.

Xu Chen took a day to visit; the Chenfeng Technology headquarters building was nearly topped out.

Additionally, production lines imported from Japan were arriving one after another in the new park.

Xu Chen didn’t go inside, but during a meal, he heard Director Yang talk about it extensively.

This production line was basically semi-automated, saving a lot on manpower.

Still, Chenfeng would need to hire more workers later—to fill new positions and replace some of the older staff from Bright Factory.

The company hired a new HR director, introduced by Sister Fang Jun, who previously worked in HR at a manufacturing plant in the provincial capital.

He connected with a technical college in the provincial capital to train skilled workers directly.

Also, to give back to Tiancheng, Xu Zhiquan partnered with two vocational schools there for targeted recruitment each year.

At least for workers, supply for the next two or three years wouldn’t be an issue.

Some middle-aged and older workers from Bright Factory couldn’t handle the new production line, so Xu Zhiquan worked with tech, HR, and logistics departments to arrange proper transitions.

Part of them shifted to administrative or support roles; their pay would drop compared to technical work, but the workload would be lighter, and most were okay with that.

Others were still fit but couldn’t continue as technical workers due to skills or reasons, so Xu Zhiquan assigned them to Chenxin Nurseries.

The nurseries were short-staffed, and many of these former Bright Factory workers had done it before, so it wouldn’t be too hard.

The nursery work was tougher, but pay wouldn’t drop much, so those still in good shape agreed to move to Xu Zhilin’s side.

By year-end, the entire Chenfeng Technology workforce would get a refresh.

They’d bring in young, skilled tech workers, train existing ones, and phase out those who couldn’t keep up…

After adjustments, with the new lines and processes, the company’s efficiency would jump even higher.

When Xu Chen heard his father Xu Zhiquan explain this, he felt a surge of surprise.

President Xu had become a truly savvy entrepreneur, clearly leveling up in company management.

……

In the next couple of days, Xu Chen couldn’t help but check in on Bing Ge’s situation.

During May Day, Xie Bingran stayed in Beijing for internal events and awards, so Xu Chen felt okay sending messages and calls.

Once she entered closed training, he wouldn’t want to bother her.

After May Day, Bing Ge returned to Shanghai, where the team gave her two days off.

Xu Chen had already planned with Xie Bingran to just hang out in the small house in Tonghai New Village.

Then, she’d fully shift into Olympic prep mode.

For the next year, Bing Ge would be in intensive closed training.

Half the time in Shanghai’s Xin Zhuang Base, the other half in Beijing.

Since the 2008 Olympics were in Beijing, she needed to adapt to the climate and weather there early.

Especially July through September, the national team’s Olympic squad would train in Beijing.

Not always at the Sports Administration’s training center; they might go to places like Beidaihe Base nearby.

There’d be some competitions, domestic and international, to keep her in top form and build mental toughness.

The team’s focus was on next August’s Beijing Olympics.

Xie Bingran’s recent world championship gold had boosted her status in the sports system.

After May Day, when Bing Ge got back to Xin Zhuang Base, the administration and national athletics team expanded her medical and support team, pulling staff from Beijing.

……

Over these May Day days, Nie Fei was also working overtime at Ran Bing Sports.

The buzz from Xie Bingran’s competition lingered, and with Ran Bing X’s launch and pre-sales, Sun Lingfeng and Jiang Yuze were swamped.

Official store traffic had surged and stayed high, making Sun Lingfeng thrilled.

Jiang Yuze had prepped some promotions, but they weren’t even needed—the Ran Bing hype took off on its own.

Ran Bing 001 sales had topped 100,000 pairs in the last two days and kept climbing.

Ran Bing X officially launched after May Day, with pre-orders already over 200,000.

It was all happy chaos…

Bing Ge’s popularity spilled over to the brands she endorsed.

In this era, ‘traffic’ wasn’t a common term yet.

But in reality, from sports to entertainment, Xie Bingran was the biggest draw.

Not just in mainland China.

Her European gold was a historic win for Asia and people of her ethnicity.

So, news spread across Japan, South Korea, India, and regions like Bay Island and Hong Kong.

Louis Vuitton’s marketing team must be ecstatic.

They signed her to target the Asian market, and now it exceeded expectations.

Jeep and Kunlun Mountain should be even happier, as her endorsement fees weren’t sky-high when they signed her.

You Le Mei jumped in eagerly too.

Their market director, Kuang Lili, was handling the endorsement deal and ad shoots.

The plan was to sign officially after Xie Bingran returned to Shanghai post-May Day.

In emails with You Le Mei, Xu Chen reminded them:

“The endorser will enter Olympic closed training soon, so confirm ad shooting schedules early.”

……

In Tai Bei Song Shan District, at Jay Will Music.

Zhou Jielun and his team, along with a few friends, were messing around in the studio.

Lara from Nan Quan Mama watched TV news and said:

“That girl from the mainland is amazing—she beat the Black athletes!”

Agent Yang Junrong glanced over and sighed deeply.

He turned to Zhou Jielun and said:

“That mainland tea brand endorsement we wanted? She snatched it.”

Zhou Jielun looked and said:

“Whoa, that’s impressive!”

……

……

At noon, in Tiansheng Mansion.

Xu Chen lounged around half the day before slowly getting up to make something to eat.

He checked the company group chat; Sun Lingfeng posted daily reports on store traffic, sales, and metrics.

Nie Fei tagged Young Xu Chen in the chat:

[The three pairs of Ran Bing X shipped to Pengcheng have been sent out; they should arrive in two days.]

Xu Chen: [Got it. I’ll let Zhou Kai know.]

These three pairs were to keep ties with Wang Shi and Yu Liang at Vanke.

Secretary Zhou Kai had helped a lot, so they saved a pair for him too.

Xu Chen washed his face and was about to drive to the park when he got a call from his father Xu Zhiquan.

“Son, come to Yangguang Road. Don’t drive—take a cab!”

Xu Chen was confused, but Xu Zhiquan sounded excited and mysterious…

Half an hour later, at the Yangguang Road Mercedes dealership.

It turned out Xu Zhiquan’s dream Mercedes S was finally ready.

For such a happy moment, he naturally wanted his son there.

The all-black Mercedes S350 cost over 1.3 million now.

It was decked with red ribbons, and the dealership held a formal handover ceremony.

Xu Zhiquan loved the fuss, so he was all smiles.

But he only invited his son, so it was just the two of them.

After the excitement, father and son settled into the car.

Xu Chen adjusted the passenger seat to a comfy position:

“No denying it, this over-a-million car is something else.”

Xu Zhiquan: “It’s made for riding, so the back seat’s even better.”

He touched the steering wheel, beaming:

“I’ll have Li Rui drive it first. Fang Tao and Zhao Yong just got their licenses, so they’re too reckless.”

“I thought about the 500L, but that’s over two million—too extravagant.”

“The 350L is plenty to make an impression.”

Xu Chen glanced at the back seat:

“Dad, hop back there—I’ll be your driver!”

Xu Zhiquan laughed heartily and, without a word, got out and switched.

With a solid, pleasant thud of the doors, they both got in again.

Xu Chen gripped the wheel:

“Where to, President Xu?”

Xu Zhiquan kicked back in the rear, legs crossed, smiling:

“There’s a place I need to show my son!”

……

Half an hour later, in a villa development under construction in West City.

As soon as President Xu arrived, four or five sales reps eagerly greeted them.

“Let’s check out the model home,” Xu Zhiquan said with a grin.

Back at New Year’s, he’d mentioned to his son about eyeing villas in West City, and now there were models to see.

The villas came in three types: stacked, townhouses, and standalone.

Naturally, President Xu wanted the priciest standalone one.

Two stories above ground, one below, with four parking spots.

“Dad, how big is this?”

“Figure about 4,000 square feet, but with the basement and spots, it’s more.”

Xu Chen: “Congrats, President Xu—pure class!”

Xu Zhiquan lit a cigarette:

“Haven’t finalized it yet—just bringing my son to look.”

It won’t be ready until year-end.”

Xu Chen: “Raw or finished?”

Xu Zhiquan: “These villas are usually raw delivery.”

“That way, we can handle the decor ourselves—you can be my design director!”

Xu Chen: “Sounds good!”

The father-son pair wandered upstairs and down; Xu Chen asked:

“How much for this?”

Xu Zhiquan: “Not much.”

“The owner’s an old business friend, so basically cost price.”

“In a small place like Tiancheng, how pricey can houses get?”

Xu Chen joked:

“Tiancheng has Chenfeng Technology now, so it’s not small anymore.”

Xu Zhiquan: “You know, house prices near our park have shot up in the last half-year.”

Then he remembered something and added:

“I heard your Red Star Erguotou ad starts in Beijing during May Day.”

Xu Chen: “Yeah, it goes live on the 5th.”

“First in Beijing subways and outdoors, then major northern cities.”

Xu Zhiquan: “Just big cities? Won’t reach Tiancheng.”

Xu Chen: “It’s targeting young users, not lower markets.”

“High-end groups in big cities are the key.”

Xu Zhiquan took a drag and smiled:

“I was hoping it’d hit Tiancheng so I could brag to friends!”

Xu Chen: “……”

Xu Zhiquan laughed again:

“Ranran’s world championship has me wanting to boast to everyone.”

“But I can’t say she’s my future daughter-in-law…”

“Just that she’s my son’s high school classmate—it doesn’t sound as impressive.”

Xu Chen: “……”