Sail across the sea

Chapter 452 With a Curious Heart

The activity of painting the classrooms at Peking University was launched in great style.

Meanwhile, under Yuan Xiaoyan's planning and with Gao Min's financial resources as support, the event received extensive publicity. China National Radio, CCTV, and several major newspapers reported on it several times, and dozens of local and industry newspapers also published lengthy articles.

As a result, not only were Jia Liuming and other student union cadres beaming with joy, but the school's Youth League Committee, General Affairs Office, Academic Affairs Office, and other departments were also very happy.

The General Affairs Office and the Academic Affairs Office have jointly conducted an assessment, confirming that the repainted classrooms have indeed achieved a completely new look, and they believe they will bring some surprises to the students when the new semester begins. The two departments plan to submit a report to the school explaining how they, without spending a single penny, contacted external resources to significantly improve the teaching environment. Such achievements are worthy of being included in the school's year-end summary.

Xinglong Company, of course, wouldn't be absent from the publicity. Reporters are all shrewd; once they receive the thick envelope containing their travel expenses, they know exactly what to emphasize in their articles.

To get the editor-in-chief to approve the article, the topic naturally had to be related to college students' work-study programs and beautifying classrooms in universities, because only by mentioning Peking University could it have news value. However, in the middle of the article, phrases such as "Shuinan Xinglong Coatings Company generously donated after learning about this" and "The student union tasted hundreds of herbs and finally selected Xinglong brand coatings with superior environmental performance" were bound to appear.

Don't ask why it's written in such detail. It's because the reporter is responsible and knows every detail clearly. The article is vivid and engaging. What are you going to do about it?

So, can the editor-in-chief see the personal agendas that the reporters have mixed in?
We only need to know one thing: the editor-in-chief also came from a journalist background.

National-level media outlets can only do this much; we believe that the vast majority of listeners, viewers, and readers will be able to pick out the information that is most useful to them.

Once you get to local and industry media, the room for maneuver is much greater. Several media outlets published interviews with Gao Min, and the articles began with:
"Recently, something interesting happened at Yan Garden... With curiosity in mind, the reporter interviewed Ms. Gao Min, the deputy general manager of Xinglong Coatings Company of Renqiao City, Shuainan Province, which sponsored all the paint for this classroom painting activity..."

Then, of course, came a whole bunch of empty promises: that he'd had a dream of going to Peking University since he was a child, that Xinglong Company always respected knowledge, and that he cared about Peking University students and wanted to provide them with a clean and environmentally friendly learning environment.

Gao Min stayed in Beijing for 20 days, only setting off back to Maolin towards the end of the summer vacation. Some of the salespeople and engineers from Xinglong Company she brought with her returned to Shuainan, while others remained in Beijing to handle follow-up matters.

During these 20 days, Xia Shihui indeed came over to help Gao Min with her work as promised, and soon became familiar with both Gao Min and Yuan Xiaoyan.

Gao Min is only two years older than Xia Shihui and Yuan Xiaoyan, so they can be considered peers. Friendships between girls are easy to build... well, actually, they can collapse with just a glance.

By the time Gao Min left Beijing, the three girls had become inseparable best friends, addressing each other as Sister Minmin, Huihui, and Yanyan.

During a break from work, the three of them went shopping together at Xidan, Qianmen, and Dongfeng Market, buying quite a few pretty clothes. Minmin, claiming she was already working and had a salary, insisted on buying several expensive outfits for the two younger girls. The two girls initially declined, but eventually accepted them because they couldn't refuse her kindness.

The day the news article in the People's Daily was published, Gao Min called Renqiao from Beijing. Chen Xingquan went to the post office and bought all the People's Daily newspapers available that day, bringing them back to the company and distributing them to all senior executives and department heads. Seeing Xinglong Coatings Company's name appear in print in the nation's largest newspaper, everyone felt a surge of excitement, as if their company had shed its rustic image overnight and entered the ranks of national-level corporations.

Soon, calls came in from the township, county, and even city, first inquiring about the details, then offering congratulations and praise. Titles like "model of wealth creation" and "advanced enterprise" were bestowed upon them more than a dozen times.

According to an official from the county party committee office, the last time Yanzhou County's name appeared in the People's Daily was two years ago, in a typhoon warning.

"You know what, Gao Min is really capable. No wonder she's Gao Fan's sister."

Chen Xingquan's father, Chen Linfa, patted the newspaper and said with emotion.

“This time, Gao Min didn’t tell Gao Fan beforehand about her trip to Beijing to handle the publicity; she did it all on her own,” Chen Xingquan said.

"Why is that?" Ke Shuilong asked, somewhat surprised. "Gao Fan himself is a student at Peking University, and he knows many people in the central government. If we get Gao Fan's help, this matter will be much easier to handle."

Chen Xingquan said, "Before Gao Min left, she told me that she wanted to try it herself first, and if it didn't work, she would ask Gao Fan for help. What she meant was that our company can't always rely on Gao Fan, and if you don't try things yourself, you'll never learn them."

Chen Linfa nodded and said, "Gao Min's idea makes sense. Our company's business is growing bigger and bigger. If we can't do everything without Gao Fan, our future development will be affected. Gao Fan is now a person who does big things, and he can't have the time to manage our affairs as he used to."

"Gao Min was able to handle this matter independently, so we will have experience to do publicity in the future."

“But isn’t this still a relationship with Gao Fan?” Ke Shuilong muttered. “We can leave Gao Fan, but we can’t leave Gao Min. Our company is still controlled by Gao Fan’s family.”

Chen Linfa glared at him: "Shuilong, what are you talking about! Without Gao Fan, would our company even exist? Let's not even talk about the distant past. Just look at this research on interior wall coatings. The earliest design was also brought by Gao Fan, as were Lecturer Zhou and Master Xu. Could we have invited an expert like Lecturer Zhou?"

Chen Xingquan also spread the newspaper on the table and said, "Shuilong, do you think Gao Min's trip to Beijing was easy? If it were you, would you dare to negotiate with those people from the Peking University Student Union? Do you know how to talk to those students?"
"Our relationship with Gao Fan is one of cooperation. Although we seem to do more things than Gao Fan on a daily basis, in terms of our contribution to the company, we are no match for Gao Fan."

"Don't think Gao Fan can't do without us. Look at his vitamin factory, he's even expanded his business to the United States. Can we compare?"

(End of this chapter)