Chapter 520: Dawn of Ambitions

Early morning, with dawn just breaking.

Tonghai University’s Xueyuan Cafeteria.

Today was the weekend, so few students came for breakfast this early.

By the window, Xu Chen and Xie Bingran sat facing each other.

Xu Chen chewed on a fried dough stick with big bites, while Xie Bingran ate an egg.

“Has Bing Ge’s competition schedule been set for this year?” Xu Chen asked.

Asking about the competition meant he was planning to go to the venue and watch her.

Xie Bingran took a sip of soy milk:

“In August, there’s the Asian Athletics Championships, timed close to next year’s Olympics.

That’s the only one confirmed…

There might be one or two more international events, but whether I compete depends on Coach Sun’s arrangements.”

Xu Chen: “Where’s the August competition?”

Xie Bingran: “I think it’s in Amman, Jordan.”

Xu Chen: “Great! I’ll come watch!”

Xie Bingran: “Oh.”

Xu Chen smiled again and said, “Bing Ge’s already a world champion, so an Asian championship feels like no big challenge.”

…

After breakfast, with some time left, Xu Chen took Xie Bingran’s hand and wandered around the campus.

They picked up the car and along the way picked up Su Rong and Wu Feifei, then drove toward the film studio in Minhang District.

When the four arrived, photographer Liu Jianan was already busy with his team.

Sun Aimi, Gu Xinxi, Zhuang Lei, and Ma Lingyao were there too, helping adjust the lights and equipment.

Zhou Junjun didn’t come because she had headed to the airport that morning to fly back to Fujian Province; the factory had a pile of new production plans waiting for Vice President Zhou to coordinate.

As soon as Xie Bingran walked in, everyone gathered around and called out ‘Bing Ge’.

Xu Chen felt a bit speechless, thinking that following ‘Bing Ge’ around made him seem like a sidekick.

After the three young women—Sun Aimi, Gu Xinxi, and Ma Lingyao—called out ‘Bing Ge’, they turned to Xu Chen and called him ‘Boss’.

Xie Bingran was called away by her assistant to the makeup room, and by then Coach Cheng Hong and Huang Xueli had also arrived.

Truth be told, these two didn’t need to come today, but clearly Coach Cheng wanted to spend another day with Aimi.

Huang Xueli came along out of responsibility and to keep building her relationship with Young Xu Chen.

…

…

The shoot proceeded smoothly as planned.

Building on the summary from last night’s three sets of material, the morning shoot today went even more fluidly.

Xu Chen glanced around and figured they might wrap up early at noon and take the foodie out for something good.

His phone buzzed—it was a message from Nana:

[Boss, I’ve booked your flight to Tiancheng for the evening of the 5th.

When do you plan to return? I can book the return ticket for you too…]

Flying back to Tiancheng on the 5th was for the 6th’s ‘660,000th Chenfeng Electric Vehicle rollout ceremony’.

Old Xu loved a good celebration, and with it being June 6th and the 660,000th vehicle rolling off the line—such an auspicious occasion—he’d make sure to throw a big event.

This would greatly boost the company’s team spirit and strengthen cohesion.

Xu Chen replied to Nana: [Don’t worry about the return flight; I’ll check the situation first when I get back.

The company in Tiancheng can handle the return ticket.]

Nana: [Okay, boss. Just let me know if you need anything.]

She added a sweet, cute smile emoji.

At the same time, his father Xu Zhiquan sent a message, confirming the itinerary for the 5th and 6th.

Learning that his son would arrive on the evening of the 5th, Old Xu replied:

[General Manager Guo and I will also land in the provincial capital that evening. We’ll wait for you at the airport, then head home together.]

Xu Chen: [Are President Xu and General Manager Guo on a business trip?]

Xu Zhiquan: [We’re in Hebei Province today, holding a meeting at Aixing Car Dealership.

Tomorrow we’ll go to Beijing, and on Monday, we’ll visit the Sports Administration to meet Director Li Yue.

We’ll chat face-to-face, build the relationship, and sign the cooperation agreement.]

“Cooperation agreement” referred to officially naming Chenfeng Technology as a ‘Sports Administration training partner’.

As Xu Chen was replying with congratulations, Old Xu probably got tired of typing and called directly.

In the call, Xu Zhiquan asked about any special things to note when meeting Director Li Yue.

“Nothing special to watch for—Li Yue is already very familiar with us and is genuinely helping.”

“Got it.

I brought some tea gift boxes from the provincial capital. Is it okay to give one to Director Li Yue?”

Xu Chen: “Tea should be fine; it’s not against the rules.”

“Then I’ll arrange a proper meal with Director Li. We need to solidify this connection.”

Old Xu sounded cheerful, and when Xu Chen asked a couple more questions, he mentioned that the channel expansion with Aixing Car Dealership was going very smoothly.

Aixing Car Dealership and Datuo Car Dealership have some competition, quietly vying in the northern market.

Xu Zhiquan always played it straight, so before formally partnering with Aixing, he specifically talked it over with Jiang Huaqin from Datuo.

Since Old Xu was so upfront, Jiang Huaqin couldn’t really block it anymore.

But Xu Zhiquan was still fair, promising that the cooperation with Aixing would focus on cities and towns not covered or weakly covered by Datuo.

That way, it wouldn’t hurt Datuo’s sales much.

Datuo and Aixing have a complementary distribution anyway.

Datuo, being more established, mainly covers developed first-, second-, and third-tier cities and their surroundings.

Aixing, starting a couple years later, took a ‘rural surrounding the cities’ approach, opening dealerships in many northern counties and towns.

For Chenfeng Technology, partnering with both is a win, covering the entire northern market.

In the northern electric vehicle market, the main players are Aibang Electric Vehicles and Shenbiao Electric Vehicles from the Tianjin industrial belt.

A few others are small workshops—cheap products, poor quality, and they can’t scale up much.

Once Chenfeng Electric Vehicles hit Datuo’s shelves, sales took off.

Though no official stats yet, in the northern market, Chenfeng is already the third brand, right behind Aibang and Shenbiao.

With more vehicles rolling out and Aixing’s channels, Chenfeng’s scale will keep growing.

In the call, Xu Zhiquan mentioned two other things.

First, Hua Shao Jie from Cadillac is in Beijing on business these days, and hearing Xu Zhiquan was there, he proactively suggested a meal.

Hua Shao Jie’s initiative shows his interest in joining is stronger, though he’s still weighing options—leaving Cadillac for Chenfeng Technology is a big career move.

Currently, Chenfeng’s sales growth relies mainly on Guo Liang’s channels.

But pure channel sales will hit a growth ceiling eventually, so market branding will become crucial.

For Chenfeng, bringing in a marketing expert like Hua Shao Jie is essential.

Plus, next year they’ll expand to southern channels and nationwide, and with Xie Bingran’s Olympic momentum, branding needs are even more urgent.

If Hua Shao Jie doesn’t join, Xu Zhiquan and Xu Chen will have to look for other candidates.

If nothing works, the backup plan is for Xu Chen and Nie Fei to split their efforts and handle marketing themselves.

But that would overburden both Young Xu Chen and Fei Jie…

For the dinner invite with Hua Shao Jie, Xu Zhiquan agreed and plans to chat more deeply.

If time allows, Old Xu will have Guo Liang take Hua Shao Jie around the electric vehicle market in Beijing and Hebei to see Chenfeng’s sales and reputation.

Old Xu has another task in Beijing: meeting that postdoc from the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

Xu Zhiquan will meet him separately to try recruiting him to oversee tech and production at Chenfeng Technology.

If they land this tech leader, it’ll be a game-changer for Chenfeng.

Xu Zhiquan has already talked openly with Yang Congxin.

As Old Xu said, Yang has some lingering reservations.

As an intellectual, he has that inherent pride, and suddenly having a boss above him stirs some feelings.

But Xu Zhiquan is straightforward and has always been honest with Yang.

Hearing the other is the postdoc’s vice head, Yang came around.

Yang Congxin is mature and straightforward, so overcoming his ego isn’t too hard.

If both the postdoc and Hua Shao Jie join, Chenfeng Technology will soar.

Bringing in more high-level managers is key for Chenfeng to expand from Tiancheng to the north and nationwide, becoming a top electric vehicle brand.

…

The film studio shoot wrapped up smoothly.

As it neared the end, they discussed where to go for lunch.

Originally, after the shoot, Xie Bingran was supposed to go back to Xin Zhuang Base with Coach Cheng Hong.

Xu Chen deliberately called Sun Aimi over and asked what she wanted to eat.

Sun Aimi adjusted her round glasses, looking a bit confused, and casually said, “Anything’s fine.”

Xu Chen then casually said to Coach Cheng Hong:

“Coach Cheng, join us for lunch? And Bing Ge too…”

Coach Cheng Hong paused, then chuckled and kept her arm around Sun Aimi.

Picking a restaurant was Wu Feifei’s job, of course.

Wu Feifei thought for a moment and said:

“Bing Ge can only eat lean meat, and there’s a great seafood place here in Minhang!”

…

This wrap party was straightforward; photographer Liu Jianan arranged some flowers but skipped the flashy cannons from yesterday.

Liu Jianan was more low-key than yesterday’s director from Bay Island, You Yuhui.

But Liu Jianan was sincere; before leaving, he specifically found Bing Ge and pulled a brand-new Ran Bing 001 from his bag, asking her to sign it.

Xu Chen was surprised, thinking Teacher Jianan was a real fan…

After wrapping, they headed downstairs together, chatting as they walked to the parking lot.

Wu Feifei grabbed Su Rong:

“Let’s ride in Coach Cheng’s van! It’s roomier…”

Su Rong hadn’t figured out what was happening before Wu Feifei dragged her away.

Xu Chen and Xie Bingran got into their car.

The car had been sitting in the sun, so the interior was hot.

Xu Chen cranked the AC to max, cool air blasting.

On internal circulation.

Xie Bingran still sweated a little, lifting her hand to adjust her collar, revealing her graceful neck and collarbone.

Xu Chen caught a glimpse of the sheen and quickly shook his head to shake off the distracting thoughts.

Xie Bingran cleared her throat softly:

“Help me buckle my seatbelt.”

“…”

…

…

In the blink of an eye, it was the 5th, and Xu Chen had to fly back to Tiancheng that evening.

Xu Chen had already asked Class Monitor Min Siyang for two days off; for the ever-absent ‘Boss Xu’, both the class monitor and homeroom teacher Shi Dinghai were used to it.

After morning classes, Xu Chen grabbed his bag and hurried to the company.

Before leaving, he needed to hear the latest company updates.

…

In the main conference room.

Nie Fei was leading the Ran Bing Sports team in a meeting.

Besides the original Jiang Yuze and Sun Lingfeng, they’d added Liu Wei, Luo Hui, Lü Yang, Lei Qidong, and Chen Xinyi—suddenly the numbers had grown.

But everyone was still swamped.

Sun Lingfeng’s operations department now had a four-person team, which eased things a bit.

Jiang Yuze’s marketing department faced upcoming Olympic marketing pushes, so the pressure remained high.

Nie Fei was still interviewing for more people, planning to bring in two sharp, efficient marketing talents for Ran Bing.

Xu Chen knocked on the conference room glass door and pushed it open.

Nie Fei pulled out the chair next to her and said with a smile:

“Perfect timing!”

Once Young Xu Chen sat down, Nie Fei cleared her throat:

“Let me announce some good news: In May, our monthly sales hit over 100,000 pairs for the first time.”

The room erupted in applause and cheers.

Xu Chen looked thrilled: “100,000 already?”

Sun Lingfeng adjusted his black-framed glasses:

“The store data just came in this morning, and I double-checked with Vice President Zhou’s side—it’s definitely over 100,000 pairs!”

Nie Fei added:

“It was boosted by two factors.

First, Bing Ge’s gold medal in Zurich at the end of April brought huge traffic that converted to sales in May.

Second, the Ran Bing X launched in May, and many past Ran Bing 001 buyers came back for more.”

Xu Chen: “I remember Fei Jie telling me at year-end that the goal was 100,000 pairs per month by year’s end…

Didn’t expect to hit it mid-year.”

Nie Fei: “Neither did we. Bing Ge went from Asian Games gold to world champion so quickly.”

…”