Chapter 493: Office Intrigues and Team Dynamics

Xu Chen smiled and nodded.

“We have two plans. The first is to push this script directly with Zhou Jielun and that actress from Bay Island.”

But ‘Xi Zhilang’ might still worry if this plan can get past Zhou Jielun’s team—after all, they’ve shot down over a dozen proposals already…

That’s when we bring in Bing Ge.”

Gu Xinxi: “But it’s a romance theme. Is Bing Ge really the right fit?”

The implication was that Bing Ge was a woman, after all.

Xu Chen joked:

“You’ve all seen Bing Ge and Su Rong being all lovey-dovey, right?”

Gu Xinxi and Sun Aimi paused, glanced at each other, and then shared a knowing smile.

Xu Chen continued:

“Besides, it’s just a short ad storyline. Who’s to say Bing Ge isn’t acting a role?

Ye Tong played Xu Xian, and Lin Qingxia played Dongfang Bubai!”

Gu Xinxi, Sun Aimi, and Tang Xiaowei all burst out laughing.

Sun Aimi: “Interpreting it that way, no one could find fault with it.”

Gu Xinxi: “The key is, Bing Ge has a lot of female fans. They’d be thrilled to see her as the ‘boyfriend’.”

Sun Aimi: “This ad comes with so many built-in topics—it could really go viral!”

Their words carried a hint of uncontainable excitement.

…

After the meeting, the outside buzzed with energy.

Today was Wednesday, ‘afternoon tea’ day. Admin’s Nana had ordered fried chicken and egg tarts, and everyone was chatting and munching away.

‘Afternoon tea’ day was one of the team-building initiatives set up by HR director Tang Mo after she joined.

Wednesday hit right in the middle of the week, and a quick tea break was perfect for recharging after the hard work.

Post-New Year, both ‘Ran Bing Sports’ and ‘East Morning Star Advertising’ had ramped up their projects, making things intense and demanding. The staff really needed these team events.

Xu Chen stepped into the rest area, and people made way for him.

Young Xu Chen grabbed some fried chicken—he was a bit hungry anyway.

Looking up, he spotted Su Rong in the crowd.

She held a box of egg tarts, her cheeks puffed out like a little foodie.

Spotting Xu Chen watching her, Su Rong mumbled with her mouth full:

“I finished class and came to hang out, just in time to catch you all eating.”

Xu Chen laughed: “No one’s stopping you. Eat up!

If it’s not enough, I’ll order more just for you.”

Su Rong grinned, her eyes curving into crescent moons…

Xu Chen was happy to see Su Rong and Wu Feifei dropping by the office—it was a good way to build ties with the two young ladies.

They’d mentioned before that the office was way more fun than school.

That made sense—people like Sun Aimi, Gu Xinxi, Jiang Yuze, and Sun Lingfeng, with their work experience, were more worldly and entertaining than college freshmen.

Right then, Su Rong was chatting with Sun Aimi, the two of them enjoying fried chicken and laughing together.

…

Nie Fei lit a cigarette and walked over to Xu Chen:

“Chen Xinyi starts tomorrow. She said she’s bringing you some gifts from Yangcheng.”

Xu Chen: “Great! Let’s set up a dinner to welcome her.”

Nie Fei: “Sounds good. I was thinking of grabbing a meal with her alone, but we can make it a group thing.”

Xu Chen nodded: “Perfect, it’ll count as another team-building session over food.”

Nie Fei:

“Zhou Junjun heard about the new hires and is bugging to come to Shanghai for work!”

Xu Chen: “Vice President Zhou probably heard there are new ladies on board!”

Nie Fei burst out laughing.

Xu Chen: “He’s welcome. With him around, he can organize some dinners—he’s great at that.

Just have Tang Mo keep an eye on things to keep it balanced.”

Nie Fei remembered something else:

“You’ll have to handle more interviews soon. We still need to fill a few positions.

Since Tang Mo joined, we’ve gotten more resumes.

The managers and I will do the first round, then pass the candidates to you.”

Xu Chen: “No problem. I’m a bit freer now, so I can handle two interviews a day.”

Nie Fei nodded: “Sun Lingfeng’s team is under the most pressure with all the store operations stuff. I told Tang Mo to focus there first.

And Sun Aimi’s got a pile of projects, so Tang Mo’s prioritizing another designer hire.”

…

After eating, Xu Chen quickly checked in with Sun Aimi on the ‘Red Star Erguotou’ project.

It was officially signed, and Sun Aimi was working on the scripts with Tang Xiaowei.

‘Red Star’ involved distribution deals with ‘Chenfeng Technology’ and ‘Da Tuo’, so they couldn’t slack off.

The ‘One Word Is Hard to Express’ series scripts went through without any client feedback—they loved them, courtesy of Meng Huiyang.

Those were just rough drafts; turning them into polished pieces for release needed Sun Aimi’s fine touch.

She and Tang Xiaowei had been pulling late nights on these.

Beyond meeting the requirements, they genuinely enjoyed the creative ideas.

Young Xu Chen’s new work impressed them again.

…

Wrapping up and ready to leave, Xu Chen noticed it was getting dark.

Seeing Su Rong hadn’t left, he called her to join him.

Su Rong agreed, slung her little backpack over her shoulder, and followed.

In the elevator, Su Rong blinked, clearly holding back something she wanted to say.

“What’s up?” Xu Chen asked.

Su Rong chuckled:

“Can I join your ‘You Le Mei’ project?”

Xu Chen: “How’d you hear about that?”

Su Rong perked up: “It’s Bing Ge’s project! I want to learn from it!”

Xu Chen: “Sure, I’ll take you on the trip next week!”

Su Rong: “Yay! I promise I won’t cause any trouble!”

Xu Chen: “Come by the office after class tomorrow. We have a new colleague starting, and we’ll all grab a meal.”

Su Rong wrinkled her nose, looking a bit shy:

“I’m… kind of awkward around new people.”

Xu Chen looked at her, exasperated:

“She’s a really cute girl. Don’t worry, be good!”

“Oh.”

…

…

The next day, Chen Xinyi started, and Xu Chen headed to the office at noon to greet her.

Chen Xinyi was her usual self, speaking in thick Guangdong-accented Mandarin.

Though new to the company, she’d already worked with Gu Xinxi, Sun Aimi, and Tang Xiaowei on projects, so they were familiar.

Gu Xinxi introduced her to the rest of the team.

Chen Xinyi brought snacks from Yangcheng, delighting everyone.

She had a special Yangcheng Restaurant gift box for ‘Young Xu Chen’.

Xu Chen accepted it with a smile and warmly welcomed her.

Truth be told, among the current staff, Chen Xinyi was the first to connect with Xu Chen.

Back when he was in high school at Tiancheng No. 1, it started with the ‘Jiaduobao’ ad contest, linking him to this girl from Guangdong Province.

And Fei Jie only came into the picture after that.

“Which department did Fei Jie put you in?” Xu Chen asked, munching on her treats.

“Fei Jie said to put me in ‘Ran Bing Sports’, but whether it’s product, marketing, or operations, she’s still deciding.

So for now, I’m her assistant, and she’ll assign me properly in a month.”

Xu Chen joked:

“If you’re not happy with Fei Jie, come over to ‘East Morning Star Advertising’.”

Chen Xinyi hesitated, then gave a playful smile.

…

That evening, they dined at a barbecue spot Fei Jie had booked.

It was a big group, so the restaurant pushed together five long tables to fit everyone.

Xu Chen brought Su Rong and introduced her to Chen Xinyi.

Su Rong was a bit reserved around strangers, but Chen Xinyi was outgoing, greeting her in her awkward Mandarin.

The barbecue was underway when Wu Feifei arrived late.

“Sorry, student council had an event that ran overtime.”

Wu Feifei spotted Chen Xinyi and greeted her first.

Seeing how well they knew each other, Xu Chen looked puzzled:

“You two seem really familiar already?”

Wu Feifei: “I interned with Gu Xinxi and Sun Aimi last semester and worked with Chen Xinyi multiple times!”

Chen Xinyi added: “Last year, when I visited with Director Gong Ming, I even had a separate meal with Wu Feifei.”

Xu Chen: “Ah, got it.”

No surprise—Wu Feifei was a pro at networking.

The meal was full of laughter and chatter.

With Wu Feifei there, the vibe stayed lively.

Tang Mo kept things smooth, making sure everyone felt included.

Sun Aimi, Gu Xinxi, Nana, and the girls clinked glasses of juice, with Tang Xiaowei joining in.

The guys—Jiang Yuze, Sun Lingfeng, Liu Wei, and Luo Hui—huddled together, arms around each other, downing beer like old buddies…

Wu Feifei heard Su Rong was joining next week’s trip for Bing Ge’s project and got super jealous.

She pouted at Xu Chen, pretending to be mad:

“Next time, tell me ahead! I have student council stuff next week and can’t tag along on your trip!”

Xu Chen looked apologetic:

“Alright, I’ll give you and the other young lady a heads-up next time!”

Su Rong said: “Are we filming something with Bing Ge later? Let’s all go!”

Wu Feifei: “Yes! Yes!”

Xu Chen: “Only if we land the project and sign Bing Ge as the spokesperson.”

Wu Feifei grinned: “With you pitching, Young Xu Chen, it’s a sure win!”

She remembered something and got excited:

“What’s the weather like in Ruishi? We need to pack!”

Su Rong: “Yeah! Let’s go shopping for clothes this weekend!”

Wu Feifei: “Absolutely!”

Both turned to Xu Chen: “You’ll be our driver.”

Xu Chen: “…”

…

…

A new week began.

They were heading to Pengcheng for ‘Xi Zhilang’ headquarters on Friday, and Sun Aimi had a proposal ready by Tuesday.

Xu Chen reviewed it and saw no major issues, so she pushed ahead.

Tang Xiaowei re-edited the video recommending Xie Bingran, adding footage and case studies from Louis Vuitton, Jeep, and Kunlun Mountain projects, plus some introductory and hype copy. It looked way cooler.

Xu Chen praised:

“This could work for a ‘Ran Bing Sports’ promo video too—get on that, Xiaowei.”

Tang Xiaowei: “You got it! I’ll finish this and jump right in!”

Xu Chen thought: “I’ll chat with Fei Jie about adding another screen in the display area.

Besides the static trophies and cases, we can play these ads and promos.

It’s not just about projects—it’s part of our company culture too.”

Also, the ‘Chenfeng Technology’ intro document Li Yue needed was done and sent by Sun Aimi.

Guo Liang originally put it together, then Gu Xinxi polished it, and Xu Chen revised it before Sun Aimi designed the final version.

At this stage, ‘Chenfeng Technology’ looked like a local Shandong Province company, so Xu Chen added plenty of ‘future visions’ in the doc.

He was great at that packaging, and with Sun Aimi’s design, it made ‘Chenfeng Technology’ seem like an industry leader and tech upstart.

Li Yue was shocked when he got it and replied to Xu Chen:

[With this intro doc, recommending Chenfeng Technology just leveled up big time!]

Xu Chen politely responded:

[Thanks for the help, Director Li Yue. Let me know if you need anything else!]

…

On Wednesday, Nie Fei called a progress meeting for ‘Ran Bing X’, and Xu Chen sat in.

It was mainly Zhou Junjun updating via phone on the current status.

At Lifeng factory, all production was focused on ‘Ran Bing 001’ supplies.

Zhou Junjun had a small team refining ‘Ran Bing X’.

Prototypes were done; now they were finalizing materials for the upper, midsole, and outsole.

Beyond design, these were the core of product quality and involved costs and pricing, so it needed careful thought.

For the midsole, they’d locked in with ‘Wanrong Materials’.

They’d use the latest TPU foam cotton, an improved version from ‘Ran Bing 001’, with better support and toughness besides softness.

Costs were up about 40%, but it fit ‘Ran Bing X’ as a flagship.

‘Wanrong Materials’ continued supporting ‘Ran Bing Sports’ fully, prioritizing their latest tech.

Xu Chen couldn’t help thinking they needed to keep Su Rong happy—it was key for ‘Ran Bing’s’ long-term growth.

…