Chapter 321: Shadows of the Ad World

Evening at the East Morning Star Advertising office.

Xu Chen and Sun Aimi sat at the computers, double-checking the launch visuals for ‘Chenfeng Ice Power’.

“That should do it, no issues,” Xu Chen said.

“Send it online to Guo Liang; he’ll review it.

Then have him provide the various extended sizes we need. Get them done before the end-of-month trip.

Don’t worry about printing and production; Guo Liang will handle that himself.”

Sun Aimi adjusted her glasses and let out a long sigh.

Xu Chen smiled. “What’s up?”

Sun Aimi replied, “This is my first project since joining East Morning Star Advertising, so I’m a bit nervous.”

Xu Chen said, “Don’t be nervous. Your skills as a designer are top-notch in the whole ad industry, Teacher Aimi!”

Sun Aimi smiled sweetly and added,

“Oh, and about that website for ‘East Morning Star Advertising’ we talked about, I’ve put together a basic framework. Boss, take a look first.”

As she spoke, Sun Aimi opened a design document—it was the display page for ‘East Morning Star Advertising’.

Xu Chen had already sorted out the copy, and it was straightforward.

The core was information display, with the main part featuring logos of a few partners to show East Morning Star Advertising’s strength.

Of course, East Morning Star Advertising had only handled a few projects so far, so Sun Aimi split the logos to make it look like more.

For example, for Jiaduobao, she included logos for Jiaduobao Group, Wang Laoshun, and Kunlunshan Mineral Water all at once.

She also added the Fuyan Jie logo for Renhe Pharmaceuticals.

Naturally, there were Shenbao, HuiShuang Pharmaceuticals, Jeep, and more…

Lining up those partner logos made it all seem pretty legitimate.

Xu Chen thought for a moment and said,

“Let’s drop the Jin Kela one; it looks too out of place.

And remove Kunlunshan for now—they haven’t launched yet, so putting it up would be like giving them free publicity.”

Sun Aimi nodded and quickly adjusted the page.

Xu Chen added, “Export a image for me first. I’ll show it to my tech classmate.

If he can’t pull it off, I’ll find another way.”

Sun Aimi said, “Sure, I’ll tweak it and send it to your phone, boss.”

…

…

It was getting late, so Xu Chen took Sun Aimi to a Pizza Hut down the street.

They ordered a large pizza with chicken wings and salad—it looked sinfully good.

As Xu Chen enjoyed his meal, his phone buzzed; it was his father, Xu Zhiquan, calling.

“I’ll step out to take this call,” Xu Chen said with a smile.

Sun Aimi nodded vigorously, her cheeks full.

…

The moment Xu Zhiquan picked up, his familiar hearty laugh came through.

“Dad, what’s got you so cheerful?”

Xu Zhiquan said, “That Nie Fei, President Nie, is a real talent!”

“Met her already?”

Xu Zhiquan replied, “She arrived at noon, and Wu Yue showed her around the park in the afternoon.

I just met her and we chatted for over an hour.

Guo Liang and Fang Jun were there too…

This President Nie is top-tier talent!

Son, how did you snag her?”

Xu Chen laughed. “She was a partner on a previous project. Their company had some personnel changes lately…

I’ll fill you in when I get back. But she’s solid—no issues.

She’s been a vice president at foreign and joint-venture firms for years.”

Xu Zhiquan said, “Great!

It’s time for East Morning Star Co. to bring in high-level talent like this with broad skills and vision…

Nie Fei had some exchanges with Fang Jun and Guo Liang. She’s got sharp insights into finance, investment, market channels, and distribution.

She even gave some solid advice on our electric vehicle distribution setup…”

Xu Chen smiled and said,

“Dad, I’m assigning her to ‘Ran Bing Sports’!

Chenfeng Technology can get her help, but you can’t have her.”

Xu Zhiquan chuckled heartily,

“Don’t worry! I won’t steal her from you!”

He paused, then added,

“Foreign execs like her probably command a high salary, right? Want me to chip in?”

Xu Chen replied, “No need. I talked equity in ‘Ran Bing Sports’ with her.

That way, she’ll treat it like her own business if she owns shares.

It’s like tying her to the ‘Ran Bing Sports’ ship—she’ll be fully invested!”

Xu Zhiquan said, “My son is brilliant!

You’ve brought another top talent to the family company.”

Xu Chen added, “She hasn’t fully committed yet, but she’s interested.

Next, she’ll check out the sports industry, which will help her decide.”

Xu Zhiquan paused and said,

“Got it.

Tonight, I’ll host her properly!

Tomorrow, I’ll take her to see Chenxin Nurseries’ operations,

And when she visits the factories later, I can tag along and learn too!”

Xu Chen said, “Sounds good, President Xu—appreciate the hard work!”

Xu Zhiquan replied, “What are you saying?

Nie Fei is impressive; we need to lock her in.

You’re giving her a general manager or deputy role at ‘Ran Bing Sports’, right?”

Xu Chen said, “Yeah, I’m handing off the day-to-day stuff to her since I don’t want to deal with it.”

Xu Zhiquan thought for a moment. “Besides ‘Ran Bing Sports’, I’ll give her a ‘Group Vice President’ title at East Morning Star Co.—that’ll sound better!”

Xu Chen agreed, “Fine by me—your call, President Xu!”

He added, “Dad, I sent over some wife cakes again. Make sure to enjoy them!”

Xu Zhiquan laughed heartily, “Thanks, my good son!”

…

Xu Zhiquan’s strong endorsement of Nie Fei surprised Xu Chen a bit, but it was a good thing.

As a former exec at foreign and joint-venture firms, Nie Fei’s skills and vision were undeniable…

She could definitely help with Chenfeng Technology’s matters.

Currently, Xu Zhiquan was handling most of it and needed a solid professional manager to share the load.

Once ‘Ran Bing Sports’ was on track, they could discuss having her shift some focus there.

But that was for later—no rush.

…

After dinner, Xu Chen and Sun Aimi left the restaurant together.

“Oh, right, Gu Xinxi starts soon. Let’s get her nameplate and business cards printed first…

I’ve arranged her office computer; it’ll arrive tomorrow morning for installation. Keep an eye on it then.”

Sun Aimi said, “You got it—mission accepted!”

Xu Chen smiled, thinking Sun Aimi with her round cheeks was endearingly cute.

Compared to her more aloof self in his past life as a creative director, she was much more likable now.

Xu Chen hailed a taxi for Sun Aimi.

“Stay safe!”

“Thanks for the dinner, boss!”

…

…

The night breeze was a bit cool, so Xu Chen hurried back to school.

He didn’t wander around; he went straight to the dorm.

In the hallway, he glanced at the open door of room 3104 and spotted Jiang Zhe Little Prince Qian Xin’s desk.

On the side cabinet of his desk was that poster of Xie Bingran.

Xu Chen sighed, finding it still a bit weird.

…

Back in the dorm, only Hong Xiaoqiang was there.

He was tinkering with his custom-built computer, coding something advanced.

Xu Chen remembered the East Morning Star Advertising website and walked over with a smile,

“Hey, about that website I mentioned last time—help me out!

The designer has a preliminary layout; take a look and see if you can make it work.”

Hong Xiaoqiang grinned, “No problem, Boss Xu—just send it over!”

Xu Chen forwarded the design draft from Sun Aimi on his phone.

“It’s mostly for display.

Add some simple animations if you can…

And for the contact info, it’d be great if it links straight to an email backend, but no big deal if not.”

Hong Xiaoqiang scrolled through it carefully,

“This is all straightforward stuff—I can handle it!

Though we’ll need a domain and server, which means some costs.”

Xu Chen smiled, “Costs aren’t an issue—just give me a quote.

And I’ll add five thousand for your website-building fee.”

Hong Xiaoqiang blinked,

“You’re too generous, Boss Xu…”

He chuckled awkwardly,

“This doesn’t take much skill; five thousand’s too much. I’d feel bad taking it.

Just treat me to a meal!”

Xu Chen said, “I’ll still buy you dinner, but you have to take the five thousand for the work.

There might be more websites later that I’ll need your help with!”

He paused,

“Domains can get snatched up, right?”

Hong Xiaoqiang nodded, “Yeah, especially popular or simple ones—they’re probably taken.”

“Then tomorrow I’ll list some for you. Register the available ones.

Just send me the costs later.”

Xu Chen thought about it; besides East Morning Star Advertising, they needed domains for Chenfeng Technology and Ran Bing Sports.

Especially Chenfeng Technology’s site—it was time to build that properly.

This East Morning Star Advertising page was simple, so it was a good test of Hong Xiaoqiang’s skills.

If he wasn’t up to it, they’d go with a professional company.

And Chenfeng Technology’s official site needed to look like a major enterprise.

They had to snap up those domains, so he’d list combinations—English, Chinese, abbreviations, initials.

He could do that during class breaks and send them over…

Hong Xiaoqiang scratched his head, still looking uneasy about the fee.

Xu Chen patted his shoulder,

“If you don’t take the pay, I won’t feel right asking for changes if needed.

Without payment, I wouldn’t even suggest improvements!”

Hong Xiaoqiang laughed, “Alright! Thanks, Boss Xu!”

“Start with the domains for now; the page design isn’t final yet.

I’ll send updates when it’s ready.”

Hong Xiaoqiang agreed and glanced back at the screen.

He flipped through those partner logos and chuckled,

“Fuyan Jie? ‘Wash Well for Health’?”

Lately, Fuyan Jie’s ads had been everywhere on media.

Hong Xiaoqiang paused, then stared at Xu Chen in disbelief,

“Wait, is that Fuyan Jie ad really yours?”

He looked back at the screen,

“And Wang Laoshun and Jeep too!

No way! HuiShuang Shenbao as well!”

Hong Xiaoqiang was amazed,

“‘He feels good, I feel good’—did you do that?

Is this for real?!”

Xu Chen joked,

“I just threw those logos in for now…”

Hong Xiaoqiang blinked, processing it,

“Oh, got it…

For a second, I thought you made all those ads! That’d be insane!”

Xu Chen brushed it off with a laugh and grabbed his toiletries for a shower.

Hong Xiaoqiang stared at the screen, still half-doubting.

‘He feels good, I feel good…’

‘Wash Well for Health…’

‘Afraid of getting fired…’

If Xu Chen had done all that, it’d mean a massive ad empire!

He’d be a celebrity in advertising, even with clients like Jeep…

Hong Xiaoqiang took a deep breath, thinking it was lucky none of it was true.

Otherwise, a dorm mate his age pulling that off would be too unbelievable.

…

…

In the morning, at the North Teaching Building.

Standing at the lectern was the Advertising Department’s chair, Ni Zhi.

He was teaching the ‘Advertising Planning’ course.

Ni Zhi was tall and lean, with graying hair.

He wore a dark red scarf and dressed with style.

As the department chair and professor, his class had everyone paying extra attention.

First-year courses were mostly overviews, not too in-depth.

This ‘Advertising Planning’ class dove deeper into the industry.

And Professor Ni Zhi always analyzed a couple of ad cases per session for discussion.

Today, in the second half, they reached the ad case segment.

Xu Chen was zoning out in the back, but when the screen lit up with the case, he felt a wave of awkwardness.

Even a touch of embarrassment…

[‘I use Fuyan Jie…’]

[‘Fresh and clean…’]

[‘Fuyan Jie: Wash Well for Health.’]

…

Ni Zhi was discussing the Fuyan Jie case today.

After the ad played, students murmured, some even snickering softly.

A few girls looked flushed or annoyed.

Xu Chen scratched his head, feeling like the one who started it all.

“Today’s analyzing this kind of ‘trash ad’, huh…”

“It’s been on TV nonstop—way too catchy.”

“My six-year-old niece is reciting it; it’s mortifying!”

“Mainland ads are so cheesy; why do they make stuff like this!”

…

Xu Chen shook his head with a bitter smile.

“Just a bunch of ad students who don’t get advertising at all.”

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