Rebirth: My dad is too obedient

Chapter 549 will only result in a complete loss.

Early on the morning of the 10th, in the large conference room on the second floor of the Sports Newspaper Headquarters.

When Xu Chen arrived after breakfast, a group of experts and teachers were already there, each holding a cup of strong tea, talking or working at their desks.

Upon seeing "Teacher Xu Chen" enter, the teachers greeted her with smiles.

Xu Chen maintained a humble posture, acting like a junior even in front of these true news and public relations experts.

When Coach Cheng Hong arrived, there were still beads of sweat on her forehead.

Xu Chen asked a question, and Cheng Hong replied somewhat helplessly:
"Our coaching staff also has to complete training sessions, and we went to make up for those sessions this morning."

"But getting some exercise is good; it'll give me more motivation to help Brother Bing with this troublesome matter."

It has been a little over a week since the "investigative news" article on the 2nd was published.

Starting from the 10th, the "expert panel" will have a week to quell this storm.

The goal for Xie Bingran is to reshape her image as an "Olympic heroine" so that she can go to the Olympic Games next year without any doubts or obstacles.

……

When Teacher Li Xu arrived, he was holding a document in his hand, and he was dressed quite formally today.

After he cleared his throat and spoke, everyone realized that he had brought some instructions from above and was going to announce the overall management arrangements.

Mr. Chen Hui from Huaxia Society will serve as the "Project Commander-in-Chief," while Mr. Li Xu will serve as the "Project Secretary-General" for internal and external liaison.

These two individuals are the core managers of the overall project.

The position of "project commander" was originally intended to be held by Professor Li Guangwan, a professor of communication studies at Peking University. However, during an internal meeting yesterday, Professor Li voluntarily declined the position.

As the deputy editor-in-chief of a core domestic media outlet, Chen Hui naturally took on the role without hesitation.

Although he said a few words of modesty, he did not refuse too much and took the initiative to shoulder this important task.

Afterwards, Chen Hui, the "commander-in-chief," read out the relevant arrangements for the division of labor, and all the experts and teachers present, including Xu Chen, took on their respective responsibilities according to the division of labor.

The entire second-floor conference room had been modified and arranged in advance to become the "combat center".

A row of office computers and ten landline telephones with dedicated lines have been set up here.

Xu Chen was also given a special "workstation" because she was involved in the on-site coordination of the dissemination event and the production of materials.

Even Niu Xiaoli was assigned to be Xu Chen's personal "secretary," serving him tea and water.

Xu Chen was a little unaccustomed to it, especially when it came to things like serving tea and water, so she insisted on doing it herself.

Besides, Niu Xiaoli's name means "little," but she is actually quite old, so Xu Chen can't just order her around.

Some of the text copying and editing work was assigned to Niu Xiaoli, which was at least a professional task and allowed her to make use of her expertise.

In fact, Xu Chen didn't really need computers or landlines, since he handled all the execution matters remotely through Sun Aimi and her team at the Shanghai company.

But "Little Xu" didn't say much, and sat calmly in front of the computer, with a cup of hot tea placed in front of him.

A white porcelain teacup with a lid, fragrant and refreshing green tea—this "standard meeting equipment" that I'd only ever seen on TV still felt quite novel...

The morning was for the overall project launch and basic deployment arrangements, but the members of the expert group had already begun their individual work.

Xu Chen's side is fine, there's nothing urgent. It's mainly that several expert teachers under Teacher Chen Hui, who are in charge of news and publicity, have already started to rush to finish their work.

In addition to preparing a batch of news materials and press releases, there were also some temporary matters related to the arrangement of news page layouts.

Because the project was both unexpected and confidential, many media placements required last-minute arrangements and communication, which was quite a hassle.

However, several of the "news experts" who appear here are themselves editors-in-chief, deputy editors-in-chief, or chief reporters. They have no problem with either their professional abilities or the allocation of page resources.

Coach Cheng Hong is also busy out there, assisting several media colleagues with a series of news gathering and editing tasks at the "Training Bureau".

When she went out, two reporters followed her.

……

Just before lunchtime, a round of applause suddenly broke out in the conference room.

It turned out that three advisors from a higher-level unit had come to the "operations center".

They came to mobilize and encourage the expert team.

Teacher Li Xu was very polite and respectful, and introduced the three consultants.

On behalf of the superior unit, the consultant once again expressed sincere gratitude to the "Operations Center".

His words were concise, without much fluff, and were practical and sincere.

"This matter may seem like a small thing to outsiders or ordinary netizens."

But internally, this is probably one of the most urgent and important things we need to do in this Olympic year…

"Please help me, teachers! Thank you, teachers!"

……

At lunchtime, the usual work meals were delivered, mainly to save time.

The head chef at the sports newspaper's canteen is quite skilled.

It's just a typical northern-style boxed lunch, with steamed buns and stir-fried vegetables.

After a quick bite, the afternoon officially began.

It was mainly Professor Chen Hui who coordinated and directed the work, and the core of it was the deployment of news and public relations work.

The "expert teachers" he directly mentored were all from the fields of journalism and public relations.

Xu Chen is doing well; Sun Aimi in Shanghai is helping to handle the specific advertising materials he's following up on.

Mr. Xu simply created a project spreadsheet to keep the progress of this project synchronized with the larger progress spreadsheet in real time.

He could leisurely sip his tea and browse the web.

However, like Professor Li Guangwan, Xu Chen was still considered a core member of the project, and some important press releases were reviewed by both Xu Chen and Li Guangwan.

Xu Chen remained serious and responsible, not daring to slack off in the slightest.

Besides, this involves Brother Bing...

At the same time, it was also the first time that Xu Chen had worked closely with teachers from "news organizations" and seen some details of their work, which broadened his horizons.

The news releases we usually see in the media, which may only be a few hundred words long, go through a lot of scrutiny and review behind the scenes. They are meticulously reviewed, scrutinizing every single character and punctuation mark multiple times.

Especially when it involves content directly published by core media outlets, there are multiple layers of review and oversight.

Xu Chen had known about this beforehand, but seeing the editors' work in reviewing documents firsthand still surprised her.

No wonder many teachers on site had thinning hair. This kind of "nitpicking" work not only consumes brain cells, but also puts a lot of psychological pressure on people.

……

Around 6 p.m., at the teahouse in a residential building near the east gate of the Temple of Heaven.

When Xu Chen arrived, Director Li Yue and Coach Cheng Hong were already in the private room.

As usual, there were two pots of tea and several self-service snacks, making for a relaxed and pleasant atmosphere.

This bureau was organized by Director Li Yue, so naturally they would exchange "intelligence" with each other.

Cheng Hong spent the whole day helping with coordination and communication at the "Training Bureau," and assisting with some news gathering and editing work.

She was quite happy about this, as she no longer had to go to the "operations center" and be exposed to secondhand smoke.

Coach Cheng Hong talked about Bai Miao, who had just returned to China, which Xu Chen found interesting and funny.

After Chen Lan's gold medal was disqualified, Bai Miao, who was originally ranked fourth, moved up to third place, thus winning the bronze medal at this year's Asian Athletics Championships.

This is naturally a wonderful thing, and it's Bai Miao's first medal at a major Asian track and field event. With this bronze medal in hand, Bai Miao can truly be considered a top-tier athlete in Asia.

The awkward part is that, due to the sensitivity of the Chen Lan incident, the cancellation of her gold medal was naturally handled quietly in the media, with little reporting or public discussion.

Correspondingly, Bai Miao's bronze medal became mysteriously "unknown".

Director Li Yue joked:

"Bai Miao really has it tough. He finally managed to get a bronze medal, but he can't even show it off to anyone."

Coach Cheng Hong burst out laughing:

"This little girl is so clueless, yet she's still incredibly happy!"

Xu Chen instantly pictured Bai Miao with two little braids, holding the bronze medal with a smug and happy expression.

However, Senior Bai Miao hasn't received the bronze medal yet. After all, the winners of the gold, silver, and bronze medals usually have to pass them around.

Chen Lan's "first Asian gold medal" was only in her hands for a day, and she had to hand it over before she could even enjoy it. It's truly regrettable.

Director Li Yue then spoke up:
"So after Chen Lan's efforts, Bai Miao ended up getting the bronze medal by chance."

Xu Chen: "..."

Director Li Yue also updated Chen Lan on her situation.

Li Yue was naturally aware of some of the more internal follow-up actions.

Chen Lan's attempts to smear Xie Bingran and the "Asian Championships" mess are something she definitely couldn't handle on her own.

But after yesterday's scandal, she was completely isolated and helpless, because this was a fundamental issue that no one could save her from...

The team still has strict disciplinary requirements, and most of the team members and coaching staff were very shocked by Chen Lan's behavior.

People still find it hard to believe, and some even discuss whether Chen Lan was being used by certain people.

Chen Lan has returned to China and is currently under investigation by the team.

Until the truth comes out, it's best to keep things under wraps for now.

On the other hand, Director Li Yue is also in a very anxious state.

Chen Lan still has four or five commercial endorsements and collaborations, including "Anta xRun", "Sanlu Milk Powder", and two or three additional domestic small and medium-sized brands.

Director Li Yue also needs to consider the commercial interests of her partners.

For now, we can only take a "cold treatment" approach to give our partners time and space to buffer and reduce losses.

Director Li Yue took a sip of tea, sighed, and said:

“Anta is in a very bad situation right now. They originally wanted to take advantage of the popularity of the Asian Championships.”

During the Asian Championships, they spent at least 30 million yuan on promotional materials and content to promote Chen Lan.

Now that Chen Lan is in trouble, almost everything is going to be for naught.

Especially offline media channels like bus stop signs—those are non-refundable; the money has already been spent.

Cheng Hong: "The only option is to force it?"

Li Yue: "We can't force it..."

Their advertising materials still featured information such as "Asian Championships gold medalist Chen Lan," which was added temporarily after Chen Lan won the championship.

There's no time to fix it now; all that material is now useless.

Moreover, the key issues concerning Chen Lan, including the Asian Championships and matters involving Bing Ge, will eventually be seen by the public, netizens, and consumers, even if the media handles them lightly.

It's still unknown how far these negative rumors about Chen Lan will spread or how much discussion they will generate, and the brand wouldn't dare take that risk.

Anta is racing against time to replace all of Chen Lan's promotional materials as soon as possible; anything that can't be replaced in time will simply be a waste of media resources.

Chen Lan sighed with emotion:

"Those who do evil will not live long."

It's a pity about Chen Lan; her athletic career has basically come to an end.

She was already approaching retirement age and was scheduled to retire next year, but now it's being moved up.

Cheng Hong wanted to say something more, but hesitated and stopped herself.

Li Yue paused for a moment, then said:

"It's still too early to say what will happen to Chen Lan..."

Cheng Hong frowned, seemingly aroused by curiosity:
"Any other news?"

Li Yue paused slightly:
"The higher-ups probably dragged things out a bit earlier, just to make the 'north' jump around a bit more and see who was involved."

From the moment Chen Lan won the championship on the 8th, to the news of her suspension breaking the following afternoon...

Within that day, those who were going to jump out had basically done so.

He looked at Cheng Hong:
"Just wait. Once you're back in the team, see which people in the 'north' have mysteriously disappeared. They've all been dealt with."

……

……

Evening, in the hotel room.

Xu Chen confirmed several suggestions for minor adjustments to the materials with Sun Aimi, and then made a separate phone call to Nie Fei.

Nie Fei was also relieved to see "Little Xu's" progress in Beijing.

"Ranbing Sports" has been under severe pressure due to this wave of public opinion in the past few days, but it is finally about to see the light at the end of the tunnel.

Meanwhile, Nie Fei also shared the news from within Anta and Amree.

The conversation with Anta was largely the same as what Director Li Yue had discussed during the day, but Nie Fei provided more internal details.

"Their situation is very bleak right now. They were originally betting on Chen Lan winning the gold medal to boost the 'xRun' product line."

Now it's all for naught...

I heard the vice president in charge of this project went to report to the board of directors today and didn't come down all day. He must have had a tough time.

This wave of spending will cost Anta at least 30 to 50 million yuan in cash.

Moreover, they stocked up on a lot of stock for the 'xRun' to sell well.

I haven't found out about the product sales yet, but I estimate the losses will be substantial.

"Amrex is also conducting an internal project review, and I heard that the overall assessment is 'mixed.'"

In their internal assessment, although they did not take advantage of the momentum to promote 'Anta x Run', they did use this wave of public opinion to bring down Xie Bingran and 'Ranbing Sports'.

They can still make a certain judgment based on the external data regarding the reputation and sales of 'Ranbing Sports'.

They probably felt that this wave of public opinion surrounding Xie Bingran had damaged the very foundation of the 'Burning Ice Sports' brand, and that she would no longer be a potential competitor that they needed to pay close attention to.

However, it cannot be ruled out that they will approach us soon, wanting to "buy low" again and discuss equity investment or acquisition.

Xu Chen smiled helplessly:

"A mixed bag?!"

Starting tomorrow, they will think differently.

There's no such thing as a mix of joy and sorrow; it'll only result in total loss...

(End of this chapter)