Chapter 141: A Million-Dollar Pitch

Obviously, the brand owner’s vice president is already showing a hint of urgency.

In the business world, choosing the right direction is often the hardest part.

Countless paths lie before you—and picking one means giving up the rest.

And you can never be entirely sure your choice is the right one.

Internally, Jiaduobao has debated for rounds which product category to add as a “sub line”—with no conclusion in sight.

Nie Fei and several other executives have been jockeying behind the scenes over this.

In fact, whoever can open a second product line beyond Wang Laoshun’s will gain far more influence in the company.

Right now, Nie Fei is keen to extract some valuable ideas and guidance from this very young “Mr. Xu” in front of her.

After all, it was Mr. Xu who just cracked the slogan problem that’s been vexing Wang Laoshun…

Xu Chen didn’t beat around the bush. He opened his mouth and said,

“High-end mineral water could be one option.”

Nie Fei frowned. “High-end mineral water?”

Xu Chen: “The domestic mid- to low-tier bottled water market is already saturated, with brands covering nationwide channels.

But premium pure water products—like Evian or Perrier—still have relatively blank space in our market.

Of course, given current consumer habits here, it’s hard to match Evian’s pricing.

You could price it below Evian but above the mainstream…”

“Build a truly high-quality water around concepts like plateau spring water and deep natural filtration.

Your company already has a natural advantage to pursue this.

After all, it’s still a beverage business—most of the marketing channels and resources are largely reusable…”

With measured pace, Xu Chen continued with more details.

This direction naturally points to Kunlunshan Mineral Water.

In my previous life, Jiaduobao officially launched Kunlunshan Mineral Water in about two years.

What I’m offering now is essentially the “standard answer.”

Nie Fei might not accept it immediately, but after internal evaluation, they’ll end up on this path.

Actually, when I first helped my father plan the business, I also considered bottled water.

After all, a later-world billionaire made his fortune selling water, which shows how profitable and stable the business can be.

But weighing my father Xu Zhiquan’s connections, resources, capital, and interests, we abandoned the idea.

There are many ways to create wealth—but not every path suits the Xu family right now.

Nie Fei thought for a moment before saying,

“We did consider bottled water, but never positioned it as mid-to-high end.

So far, no company has succeeded with that…”

Xu Chen smiled. “I’m just offering a thought for your reference.”

Nie Fei nodded.

“Thank you, Mr. Xu. We’ll scrutinize it carefully.

This could indeed be a promising route.

Like you said, the current market channels, sales, and promotional resources could be reused directly.”

She paused, then added with a smile,

“Mr. Xu, your slogan submission scored highest in our research.

But whether we ultimately use it will depend on another round of internal review.”

Xu Chen said nothing, just nodded with a smile.

He knew perfectly well that, no matter how many reviews, they’d end up using that slogan—since it was the one used in my last life…

“Also, we have a series of follow-up promotional needs, including material production and media placement.

Would East Morning Star Advertising be interested in participating?”

Xu Chen: “Overall, our company is defined as an external consultant for strategic advertising resources. We haven’t considered production or placement.”

He said this partly because East Morning Star Advertising truly lacked the capacity to handle production and placement right now…

And partly because he didn’t want to touch that work later.

Both are tedious jobs that pay low margins and often thanklessly exhaust you.

Nie Fei smiled.

“No problem. If we need brand-level creative ideas or strategy support for the new line, we’ll reach out to you, Mr. Xu.”

Xu Chen: “Sounds good.”

Market manager Chen Xinyi spoke up from the side.

“Mr. Xu, there’s an authorization document that needs your signature.”

She handed over a file.

Xu Chen glanced and saw it was the authorization for the “No More Burnout” slogan.

Nie Fei explained,

“We haven’t finalized using that slogan, but since it scored highest in our research, it’s very likely.

We came by now so you can sign the authorization—this will save a lot of time in the later processes, including the one-million-dollar payment…”

Xu Chen nodded and carefully reviewed the document.

After confirming there were no issues, he signed his name.

The form was in duplicate; he handed the other copy to Fang Jun.

Fang Jun looked at the one-million-dollar line item, and a flash of amazement crossed his single-lidded eyes.

This eighteen-year-old is making money far too easily.

In less than half an hour of talking, a one-million-dollar project was signed?

In just a few days, Xu Chen landed two projects—over two million in revenue…

Fang Jun used to handle finance at the Mechanical Factory, and even at its peak, that decades-old state enterprise never made money this fast!

Most astonishingly, East Morning Star Advertising is just Xu Chen alone—he’s doing it all by himself.

And he’s only an eighteen-year-old high school senior, still preparing for the college entrance exam…

It’s unbelievable, mind-blowing.

…

…

That evening after school, Xu Chen grabbed his backpack and returned to the Jinfeng Business Tower office.

There were a few finishing touches left for Renhe Pharmaceuticals.

He needed to organize a detailed ad strategy and script document to push the next payment process.

Entering the door with the code, he found Fang Jun sitting alone in the office.

Fang Jun: “Young Mr. Xu? Why are you here so late?”

Xu Chen: “I still need to finish organizing the bid documents from a couple of days ago.”

He looked at Fang Jun’s desk: the computer was on, and a stack of ledgers lay open in front of him.

Fang Jun explained,

“These are the Seedling Company’s accounts. President Xu took on several new projects and I’m archiving them all digitally now.

And I need to reconcile the Mechanical Factory’s books next…”

Xu Chen felt a touch of admiration—Fang Jun really is a dedicated employee who volunteers for overtime.

Knowing my father Xu Zhiquan, he’d never force employees to work late.

“Fang Jun, you don’t have to push yourself this hard—it’s already dark.”

Fang Jun smiled.

“You’re the one pushing—pulling double duty between school and proposals.

And yet you effortlessly snapped up a million-dollar project.”