Chapter 515: Business Strategies Unfold

Tuesday.

In the morning, I received a message from the ‘You Le Mei’ client side confirming Xie Bingran’s shooting schedule.

Actually, Xu Chen had learned about it earlier from Director Li.

June 1st is the ‘You Le Mei’ ad shoot day, starting at 7 a.m. with the spokesperson arriving and running until 4 p.m.

That includes a one-hour break, making it an eight-hour work schedule overall.

This is the standard way commercial schedules work for most celebrities.

From 4 p.m. on the 1st through the entire morning of the 2nd, it’s dedicated time for Xie Bingran’s still photo shoot, mainly to meet the material requests Director Li discussed earlier.

With the schedule finalized, both the client and the director’s team breathed a sigh of relief and hurried off to prepare.

The plan for Xie Bingran’s individual photo shoot is set, with the photographer preparing over a hundred action poses.

Xu Chen frowned a bit, thinking he didn’t want to wear out his Bing Ge.

At noon, Xu Chen headed to the office and pulled Nie Fei and Jiang Yuze into a quick meeting.

“On the evening of the 1st and morning of the 2nd, while shooting Bing Ge’s stills for ‘Ran Bing Sports’, let’s customize some more demands on our end.”

“Bing Ge has no other slots after that, so let’s get as many shots as possible.”

Jiang Yuze: “Got it, I was just chatting with Aimi about this earlier in the morning.”

Xu Chen thought for a moment and added:

“Later this year, we’ll launch ‘Ran Bing Lite’, so have Aimi and Zhuang Lei draft some still shoot plans in advance.”

“We might as well shoot everything together this time.”

Jiang Yuze: “Okay, noted.”

……

Once the meeting wrapped up, Nie Fei pulled Xu Chen aside to her small office and called in Zhou Junjun too.

“Something up?” Xu Chen asked.

Zhou Junjun dropped his usual playful demeanor and said:

“Remember how we mentioned someone was using connections from Li City’s local factories to probe ‘Ran Bing’s situation?”

“Well, we’ve pretty much figured it out—it’s the investors.”

Xu Chen: “Investors?”

Nie Fei held a slim cigarette between her fingers:

“Specifically, ‘Anrui Investment’.”

Xu Chen frowned: “They’re still at it, eyeing us again.”

Zhou Junjun: “Anrui is expanding in the whole sports category, so any new competitive brand popping up will catch their attention.”

“Now that ‘Ran Bing’ is making waves in buzz and sales, ‘Anrui’ is bound to make a move—it’s something we expected.”

He paused, then continued:

“Another thing I heard from other factories:

“Anta’s new running shoe line had high expectations within their group.”

“But it’s getting crushed by ‘Ran Bing 001’, and sales are way below what they hoped.”

“That news is probably reaching ‘Anrui’ too.”

Xu Chen: “Anta’s running shoes—that’s the line endorsed by Chen Lan, right?”

Nie Fei nodded: “Exactly.”

“Last time ‘Anrui’ talked about buying out Xie Bingran’s commercial deals, they planned to use it for that product line.”

Zhou Junjun: “It’s directly hitting their sales, so getting targeted now is inevitable.”

Nie Fei took a drag from her cigarette and went on:

“Jin Ruibin from ‘Anrui’, who we chatted with before, has reached out again wanting to talk more.”

Xu Chen: “They’re moving fast.”

Zhou Junjun glanced at Xu Chen, then at Nie Fei:

“How do you two feel about it?”

“Accepting ‘Anrui’s investment could be an option.”

“Once they’re in, they could bring some hidden industry resources.”

“Anta and Li Ning might not even be full rivals anymore.”

Nie Fei shook her head slightly:

“I discussed it with Young Xu Chen, and this plan’s too risky.”

“From the industry layout, the big overseas and local brands are already set—they don’t need a new brand like ‘Ran Bing’ to cut into their pie.”

“If ‘Anrui’ invests or even takes control of ‘Ran Bing’, their intentions might not be pure.”

Zhou Junjun: “For example?”

Nie Fei: “Like shelving or suppressing ‘Ran Bing’s growth to protect the profits of the existing big brands.”

“Though ‘Anrui’ might lose money on ‘Ran Bing’, they’d make it up elsewhere.”

Zhou Junjun pondered:

“I deal with factories every day, so I underestimated these upstream capital games.”

Xu Chen thought it over:

“What was Jin Ruibin’s specific proposal last time?”

Nie Fei: “They wanted us to sell Xie Bingran’s endorsement to them, or they’d take control of ‘Ran Bing’ at a 4 billion valuation.”

Zhou Junjun: “How did you turn them down?”

Nie Fei smiled: “Young Xu Chen said 4 billion was too low—at least 100 billion.”

Zhou Junjun paused, then burst out laughing.

That was indeed some sky-high asking.

After all, at this 2007 point, Anta’s market value was just over 100 billion, and Li Ning’s was around 300 billion.

“Ran Bing”, as a pure new brand with only two products so far, couldn’t possibly hit 100 billion in valuation.

Xu Chen pondered again and turned to Nie Fei:

“This time, with ‘Anrui’ coming around, you go chat first. You know my stance—just feel out their intentions and terms.”

Nie Fei: “What’s our bottom line?”

That was the key—Nie Fei needed to align with Young Xu Chen internally before probing.

“Anrui” wasn’t some small firm; it was a major capital player in the sports category, so talks couldn’t involve outright rejection or burning bridges.

Xu Chen: “First, Xie Bingran’s endorsement is absolutely not for sale.”

“Second, absolute decision-making for ‘Ran Bing’ now and in the future stays in our hands.”

Nie Fei: “I get it.”

Zhou Junjun: “So basically, nothing to discuss.”

Xu Chen: “Let’s see what they want and offer first…”

“If they just want a slice of the pie through investment, it might be okay.”

“But no way are they taking control.”

He paused: “We’re still small, but we don’t lack cash and don’t need funding.”

“Sales are rolling in to cover cash flow, plus we have East Morning Star Co. behind us.”

“I want to keep ‘Ran Bing’s shares clean, but if they’re just sharing investment risks and taking some profits, that could work—as long as they don’t get into our decision-making.”

Nie Fei exhaled smoke:

“With their style, even without full control, they’d want a board seat.”

Xu Chen shook his head firmly:

“No board seats at all.”

“If they’re dead set on undermining ‘Ran Bing’, one seat would be enough to block or muddy key decisions.”

“Ran Bing” so far hasn’t even formalized a full board; it’s basically just me and Nie Fei deciding things.

We’ve had no major disagreements so far.

If we define a board, it’s Xu Chen, Xie Bingran, and Nie Fei.

Expand to five, and it’s Xu Zhiquan and Fang Jun from the parent group.

Ultimately, it’s Young Xu Chen’s full control.

This simple setup can’t be broken.

Like Xu Chen said, ‘Ran Bing’ doesn’t need funding, so no inviting trouble in.

Nie Fei stubbed out her cigarette:

“I’ve got it clear now. I’ll talk to them first.”

“Once I know their intentions, I’ll update you two.”

……

……

The next morning.

During a class break, Xu Chen got a message from Hua Shao Jie at ‘Cadillac’.

He glanced at it and couldn’t help smiling.

[Thanks a lot to Young Xu Chen and Fei Jie for the trust. I’ve thought it over these past couple of days and am really interested in diving deeper into Chenfeng Technology…]

Looks like that Monday meal with Hua Shao Jie went really well.

Hua Shao Jie was sharp; he didn’t need much explaining—just lay out Chenfeng’s current situation, and he’d research the industry and see the company’s huge potential.

Of course, jumping from a stable foreign company to a growing local one still carried risks.

It depended on whether he was up for that risk to chase a bigger future.

Xu Chen replied:

[Thanks for the trust, Jack! I’ll have the admin team reach out to set up a visit to our Tiancheng headquarters.]

[You can get a deeper look at Chenfeng Technology and chat face-to-face with our President Xu.]

[Great, thanks Young Xu Chen!]……

Xu Chen quickly looped in his father Xu Zhiquan via message.

He’d already discussed this with Xu Zhiquan, so he knew the background.

Bringing in automotive marketing talent was a win, and President Xu was pleased.

[I’ll have Wu Yue handle the arrangements. The new production line in the north park is nearly done, so show him around!]

Xu Zhiquan remembered something:

[Will he base in Shanghai or come straight to Tiancheng?]

Xu Chen: [We haven’t pinned that down yet!]

[But Hua Shao Jie’s set up his life in Shanghai, so that might be a snag.]

[He could work from Shanghai though—Chenfeng Technology’s brand marketing can stand alone without issues.]

[I didn’t lock it in when we talked; he’s fine with travel and can rotate between the two places…]

Xu Zhiquan: [Good!]

[Guo Liang’s around these days too, so let’s set up a meal together.]

[I’ve talked to Guo Liang; he’s thrilled to hand off the marketing side.]

[The dealer stuff has him swamped already—he can’t handle more.]

……

……

Before they knew it, Friday rolled around.

Wu Feifei and Su Rong dropped by again, chatting and laughing in the office area.

Su Rong, seeing some new colleagues, felt a bit shy and stayed half-hidden behind Wu Feifei.

Wu Feifei, ever the social butterfly, pulled Su Rong around introducing her to the new folks.

For Wu Feifei and Su Rong, Nie Fei had Tang Mo from HR brief the new colleagues.

The gist was that “they’re Young Xu Chen’s friends” and “treat them well.”

Fei Jie handled it thoughtfully, since these two were key to Xu family’s business.

Xu Chen pulled Sun Aimi and a few others into a meeting, with Su Rong and Wu Feifei quietly slipping in.

When they realized it was about the ‘You Le Mei’ shoot plan, both young ladies’ eyes widened.

Xu Chen, a bit amused, interrupted Sun Aimi’s report and said:

“If Su Rong and Feifei have time, they can come along to the shoot.”

Su Rong nodded eagerly, and Wu Feifei grinned:

“Sounds great!”

……

Nana ordered afternoon tea—pizzas, fried chicken, barbecue, and sodas…

This was the usual Friday perk, with everyone gathered in the rest area chatting away.

Jiang Yuze and Sun Lingfeng had been pushing hard on ‘Ran Bing X’s first sale launch and looked a bit worn out.

Nie Fei joked, “Save the good food for them.”

……

Updates came in on the ‘Anrui’ matter, so Nie Fei said she’d pull Xu Chen and Zhou Junjun for a chat.

With the sixth floor buzzing, Xu Chen led them up to the eighth-floor studio.

Zhou Junjun walked in and smiled: “Didn’t expect Young Xu Chen to set this up so comfortably!”

Xu Chen: “If Vice President Zhou ever wants a quiet spot, just come up anytime.”

Zhou Junjun joked: “I prefer the hustle; quiet’s not my thing.”

He glanced around and spotted the wine rack Xu Chen had set up, saying with a grin:

“I’ll send over a couple of good bottles for Young Xu Chen!”

“That’d be great, thanks Vice President Zhou!”

Xu Chen went to the rack:

“Let’s pop one open!”

He thought for a second and grabbed a bottle of Penfolds Bin 407:

“This one’s from 1990!”

Zhou Junjun rubbed his hands, clearly tempted.

……

While the wine breathed, Nie Fei got to the point about ‘Anrui’.

“This time, it’s not just Jin Ruibin; a senior partner from ‘Anrui’ is involved too.”

“That shows they’re serious about ‘Ran Bing’.”

“It’s probably rated high in their internal investment projects.”

Zhou Junjun: “What exactly do they want?”

Nie Fei: “They’ve dropped the idea of buying out Xie Bingran completely.”

“Mainly because ‘Ran Bing Sports’ has officially launched, and both ‘Ran Bing 001’ and ‘Ran Bing X’ are getting positive market feedback.”

She paused briefly:

“They’re pushing to invest and take control of ‘Ran Bing’.”

Zhou Junjun, already sipping his wine, nodded vigorously at the taste while adding to the discussion:

“Anrui just won’t let go!”

Xu Chen: “What’s their offer this time?”

Nie Fei: “They’re valuing ‘Ran Bing’ at 20 billion RMB now, up from 4 billion.”

“But for investment talks, they’re willing to go to 40 billion RMB, or about 5.3 billion USD.”

Zhou Junjun joked: “40 billion—still miles from Young Xu Chen’s 100 billion ask!”

Xu Chen ignored the joke and said:

“Anta’s only at 130 billion RMB market value, so offering 40 billion for ‘Ran Bing’ is them putting up serious money.”

He turned to Nie Fei:

“What’s the specific investment plan?”

……