Chapter 510: Bing Ge’s Cozy Days

In the morning, at Tonghai New Village.

Xu Chen had just finished freshening up when Xie Bingran came back from outside.

She had clearly gone downstairs for a run, still wearing her hat and mask.

Today was different from usual; Bing Ge had become a hot topic in the media spotlight.

On top of that, her massive ad for Louis Vuitton hung daily on Huaihai Road, making her recognizable to almost everyone in Shanghai.

Seeing her walk in, Xu Chen hugged her with a greedy grin.

Xie Bingran awkwardly dodged a bit:

“I just finished running—I’m all sweaty…”

Xu Chen flashed a mischievous smile and held her even tighter, taking a deep breath against her.

…

After a quick rinse, Xie Bingran came out to find Xu Chen had already fried up bread and eggs, set on the table.

Bing Ge dug in without hesitation, wolfing it down in a few big bites.

Xu Chen, though, ate slowly and deliberately.

Glancing up at Xie Bingran’s figure, he thought Bing Ge looked even more toned, with her deltoids slightly bulging on her shoulders.

Of course, it was the attractive kind of toned look.

…

“Let’s head to the supermarket to stock up; we’ll make dumplings with locust flowers this afternoon.”

“Oh.”

“You’ll need to gear up fully— the supermarket’s packed, and if anyone spots Bing Ge, we won’t be able to move.”

“Oh.”

Xie Bingran thought for a moment: “Then lend me some of your clothes to wear.”

Xu Chen: “Sure, help yourself to anything in the wardrobe.”

…

Bing Ge stood in front of the wardrobe, picked out a lightweight black jacket and a pair of khaki work pants.

Once she changed and walked over to Xu Chen, he couldn’t help but say:

“You pull off these clothes way better than I do—they look so sharp on you.”

Xie Bingran didn’t think much of it, just put on her mask and replied with an “Oh.”

…

At the intersection of Sipin Road and Chifeng Road, there’s a Wumei Supermarket, but Xu Chen drove the little rich girl to the farther Walmart in Wujiao Square instead.

Wujiao Square was easier to browse.

They bought ten pounds each of pork and flour—way more than they could eat in one go, so Xu Chen could make more at home later.

Then came onions, ginger, garlic, and various seasonings.

Bing Ge effortlessly lifted a bag of flour into the cart, glanced at the pork Xu Chen picked, and said:

“I… don’t know how to season the filling.”

Xu Chen pulled her into his arms:

“I’ll handle that part.”

Xie Bingran: “Great, I’ll take care of kneading the dough.”

…

…

An hour later, the two returned home.

They hauled the ingredients into the kitchen, especially those ten pounds of pork and flour—that was heavy stuff.

Xu Chen thought for a moment:

“This is turning into a real big project!”

Xie Bingran: “We could call Su Rong and Wu Feifei to help out.”

“…”

“You know, you’re right.”

“Wrapping and eating dumplings is always more fun with a crowd.”

He chuckled:

“So, no rush to start now—I can steal a few more moments to hold you.”

“…”

…

Hearing they could wrap and eat dumplings with Bing Ge, Su Rong and Wu Feifei were thrilled.

They’d visited the Tonghai New Village home before, and after classes that afternoon, they showed up on their own.

Xu Chen and Xie Bingran were already busy in the kitchen.

Xu Chen was chopping and mincing the meat, while Xie Bingran was kneading the dough, her hands and arms covered in flour.

The two young girls were clearly over the moon to see Bing Ge again.

They didn’t even mind the flour on her; they went straight in for hugs, leaving Xu Chen, who was mid-chop, speechless.

“Oh, it’s locust flowers!”

Wu Feifei spotted them in the bowl and exclaimed in delight.

Xu Chen: “My dad sent them specially from Tiancheng; he picked them himself from the woods.”

Wu Feifei: “I loved these as a kid, but I haven’t had them much since growing up.”

“This is so exciting!”

Su Rong blinked and leaned in for a closer look, clearly unfamiliar with this kind of ingredient, and said shyly:

“Do we wrap the petals inside the dumplings?”

Wu Feifei: “They’re delicious—with a sweet taste and floral aroma!”

Hearing that description, Su Rong’s eyes lit up with stars.

…

Even with two extra helpers, it was still a massive undertaking.

Xu Chen finished seasoning the filling just as Bing Ge wrapped up the dough.

Wu Feifei grabbed the rolling pin:

“I’ll roll the wrappers—I’m good at this!”

As she got started smoothly, Xu Chen couldn’t help but remark:

“Who knew, Miss Wu, you’re so skilled at this?”

Wu Feifei: “My dad loves dumplings, and when he was just a clerk, my mom always had me help wrap them.”

Xu Chen and Xie Bingran were already wrapping away; glancing over, Xu Chen saw Bing Ge’s dumpling-making skills were impressively deft, giving off a homemaker vibe.

It felt oddly out of place with Bing Ge’s usual cool aura.

Su Rong held a wrapper, looking unsure, and said timidly:

“I’m not great at this; mine might turn out really ugly…”

Before Xu Chen could respond, Xie Bingran chimed in:

“No worries, you can go watch TV and wait to eat if you want.”

She sounded like she was talking to a beloved little kid…

Xu Chen: “…”

Su Rong thought about it, then smiled sweetly:

“Can I make some shaped like cats, dogs, or pigs?”

“If they’re too ugly, I’ll just eat them all myself!”

Xu Chen laughed: “Go wild; we’ve got plenty of dough and filling today!”

Su Rong: “Awesome!”

…

By the time the hot dumplings came out of the pot, dusk had fallen.

The three young women each grabbed their chopsticks, eyeing the steaming platter, already eager to dig in.

Su Rong, who’d never tried locust flower dumplings before, was probably the most amazed:

“These are amazing! They really have that floral scent!”…

Xu Chen chewed a big bite and couldn’t help but think of his dad.

The way to make the locust flower filling had come straight from his father, Xu Zhiquan.

He glanced at Bing Ge beside him.

Xie Bingran ate with her head down, not much different from their middle school desk mate days.

Su Rong’s cheeks were puffed out as she ate; suddenly realizing something, she turned to Xu Chen and said:

“So, you took a couple of days off from the class monitor just to hang out with Bing Ge!”

Xu Chen: “What else?”

Su Rong squinted and giggled:

“I won’t tell the class monitor!”

…

…

The next day.

Xu Chen had considered taking Xie Bingran out for a stroll, but she didn’t want to go far, so they wandered around Tonghai University instead.

He remembered thinking the Sipin Road campus was huge when he first started last year, but now it felt small after spending more time there.

At midday, under the bright sun, Xu Chen led Xie Bingran to the back of the library.

This sloped lawn, known as ‘Lovers’ Hill,’ was where almost every couple at Tonghai University had lounged in the sun.

Xu Chen figured they shouldn’t miss out, so he pulled Xie Bingran to sit there.

The sunlight warmed their skin.

Turning his head, he saw Xie Bingran looking back at him.

With her hat and mask on, only her big eyes showed.

From the slight twitch at the corner of her eye, he knew she was smiling at him.

…

…

In the blink of an eye, a new week began.

Xie Bingran had returned to the Xin Zhuang Base.

Apparently, Shanghai had planned a series of victory celebrations and meetings for Xie Bingran, but the State Athletics Team blocked them all.

After winning her first real international gold medal in Zurich, the ‘pressure’ on Bing Ge had actually intensified.

The original expectation for the 2008 Olympics was just to make it to the finals as a total win…

But with Bing Ge’s gold from the International Athletics Grand Prix, the State Athletics Team, Sports Administration, and even the public expected more than just finals.

Bing Ge herself seemed unfazed, but her coaching team was surely under immense stress.

For head coach Sun Mouping and the entire State Athletics Team’s staff, plus the support and medical teams, they lacked experience with a ‘world-class hurdler.’

It was impossible for them to feel no pressure or panic.

What worried Xu Chen was that the coaches might overdo it—pushing Bing Ge with excessive training under the weight of big goals.

Forcing her to train harder, compete more, improve faster—rushing things could lead to unnecessary injuries.

Xie Bingran, though, stayed completely relaxed about it.

When Xu Chen seriously reminded her, she just replied:

“I’ve got it under control; no one can make me do what I don’t want to.”

Still as bold and free-spirited as ever.

Maybe because of their close relationship, Xu Chen had almost forgotten Bing Ge’s dominant side in front of others.

“Yeah, who could force her to do anything she doesn’t want?”

…

In the days that followed, Xu Chen dove back into his studies, while the company side didn’t need much from ‘Young Xu Chen.’

“Ran Bing Sports” had Nie Fei steering the ship, and “East Morning Star Advertising” had Gu Xinxi as the little manager, keeping everything in order…

That noon, the “China 4A Association” pulled Xu Chen into an MSN group, and he realized it was full of true advertising industry heavyweights.

The so-called “Four Godfathers of Chinese Advertising”—Mo Kangxun, Su Qiuping, Sun Dawei, and Lin Junming—were all there.

There were also big names like Hong Kong’s Lao Shuang’an, Singapore’s Chen Yaofu, Malaysia’s Liang Weifeng, and other 4A circle giants.

The rest were top executive creative directors from various 4A firms, like Wu Tianfu from Dentsu, whom he’d met on the Baidu project.

As the head of “East Morning Star Advertising,” Xu Chen felt a bit intimidated facing these industry legends.

But then he recalled that in the previous Baidu pitch, even Mo Kangxun, the ‘Godfather of Chinese Advertising,’ and Wu Tianfu, known as the ‘Top Creative Director on the Mainland,’ had been outdone by him.

That thought made him feel instantly more confident.

He reminded himself to learn from Bing Ge.

After all, those top black and white athletes from around the world were just defeats under her belt too.

He needed to keep that absolute confidence…

Seeing Xu Chen join, Mo Kangxun took the initiative to introduce:

[Welcome Xu Chen, General Manager of East Morning Star Advertising!]

A wave of polite and lively welcome messages followed.

Since most in the group were from non-mainland creative circles, the chat was full of traditional Chinese characters.

Back then, group red envelopes weren’t a thing, so Xu Chen just typed a courteous and natural greeting.

From the replies of these bigwigs, it was clear that “East Morning Star Advertising”‘s influence and reputation in the industry exceeded Xu Chen’s own expectations.

Whether it was last year’s “Afraid of Getting Heated” for the Great Wall Award, or projects like Jeep and Vanke, they were all brought up.

Many top creatives in the Chinese advertising world gave them high praise.

The recent projects sparked a lot of discussion too.

[That ‘Red Star Erguotou’ campaign is brilliant!

“Drown all unspoken words in one gulp,” “Youth races by, throat slashed by alcohol”…]

Our team loves it.]

[It’s embarrassing to say, but our McCann team also bid on ‘Red Star.’

In the end, East Morning Star Advertising came out on top!

We weren’t fully convinced at first, but seeing the ad during May Day, everyone was stunned.

That’s the golden line of the year!]

[The Baidu one is clever too! Truly eye-opening!]

[Is that East Morning Star’s work? What a surprise!]

[Manager Xu, when are you coming to Beijing? Come share with our team!]

…

Xu Chen was genuinely flattered and replied with some humble, modest words.

After all, these were industry veterans, and he was still a newcomer, so staying low-key was best.

Still, having “East Morning Star”‘s projects mentioned so widely in the group was great, especially since several members were judges for ad awards.

The awards that little manager Gu Xinxi had submitted for felt like they were already locked in.

…

…

In the past couple of days, Xie Bingran’s endorsement deal with “You Le Mei” was officially signed.

The brand side sent Chairman Li Yongjun and Marketing Director Kuang Lili to fly to Shanghai and sign with Xie Bingran personally.

Before heading to the airport, Li Yongjun and Kuang Lili made a point to visit “East Morning Star Advertising.”

Since there was no prior notice, it caught Xu Chen, who was in class, a bit off guard.

Nie Fei handled the initial reception, and Xu Chen rushed over to the company to chat briefly with Mr. Li and Director Kuang, also giving an overview of the company’s situation.

That’s when Li Yongjun and Kuang Lili learned that “Ran Bing Sports” was also Xu Chen’s company.

They were both clearly surprised.

As a big name in the domestic business world, Li Yongjun saw the huge potential in “Ran Bing Sports.”

Looking at the young “Manager Xu,” his expression grew even more complex.

…

The ad shoot for “You Le Mei” was moving smoothly on East Morning Star Advertising’s end.

They’d locked in the production team through the “China 4A” director database.

The director was the well-known ad director from Bay Island, You Yuhui.

In Bay Island, he was famous for food ads, having worked on campaigns for旺仔, 大黑松, and Zhang Junya; it was a perfect fit for “You Le Mei.”

You Yuhui’s team had already dived into the project, producing storyboards and shooting plans.

They’d also connected with Li Lizi from “Xi Zhilang” to discuss the specifics of filming and performance.

You Yuhui had a slight concern about Li Lizi’s acting skills.

On this, Xu Chen reassured during the phone meeting:

“Even if the acting’s a bit off, it’s not a big issue; these cheesy lines in the ad work better with a touch of awkwardness.”

You Yuhui paused, then said in his Bay Island accent:

“Manager Xu, I haven’t heard this ‘cheesy lines’ phrase before…

“But honestly, it fits perfectly!”