Rebirth: My dad is too obedient

Chapter 592 Extra - The Taste (Part 2)

Late at night, in a hotel room.

Xu Chen, An Qing, and Liu Bohao huddled together, still discussing the plan.

Several options have been discussed and shortlisted for the name of "Xie Bingran Independent Sports Brand".

"Ice Leaps," "Ice Blue Sports," "Icebreakers"...

Another option is to simply call it "Xie Bingran Sports".

After several rounds of discussion and voting, the three of them put "Ice Blue Sports" first.

It is relatively simple and easy to remember, and because the name contains a color, it is easy to do visual design.

Xu Chen smoked a cigarette:
"We'll focus on promoting 'Ice Blue Sports,' and work overtime tonight to create a simple logo and further develop the visual design."

The others are just backup options; we don't need to work on logos for now, there's no time tonight anyway.

Liu Bohao, a designer, said while picking up his laptop:
"I'll do it right now!"

An Qing yawned:
"I've actually become a bit numb from all the discussions, and I don't know whether the name 'Ice Blue Sports' is good or bad."

……

After half an hour.

Liu Bohao began by saying:

"Boss, take a look at the draft of the logo. Is this direction okay?"

Xu Chen and An Qing both went over.

An Qing: "I think the ice-blue dynamic design is alright..."

It would be even better if it were simpler.

Xu Chen frowned and thought for a moment: "What if we don't make it ice blue? We can make it the color of flames..."

Liu Bohao: "Huh?!"

An Qing: "Why? Isn't it called 'Ice Blue Sports'?"

Flames...this is so strange.

Xu Chen took a drag of his cigarette: "I just thought of another name, 'Burning Ice Sports'..."

An Qing: "'Burning Ice'?"

Liu Bohao pondered for a moment and then typed out the four characters "燃冰体育" (Ranbing Sports) on his computer.

An Qing thought for a moment:
"It's actually closer to Xie Bingran's name."

And...it seems like they even captured the exciting feeling of the competition.

Xu Chen stood up, smoking a cigarette as he said:
“Bohao, you can focus on the ‘Ice Blue Sports’ plan. I’ll handle ‘Burning Ice Sports’.”

An Qing: "But we need to make a logo, right?"

Xu Chen: "Bohao has to make two logos, so he won't be able to sleep at all tonight."

Bohao, just do your best to make 'Binglan Sports' a success. Tomorrow, 'Binglan Sports' will be the main focus.

"I'll hand-draw a logo for 'Roasted Ice' as a backup plan before submitting it."

An Qing: "Hand-drawn?"

"Your boss here also has some basic design and drawing skills," Xu Chen joked.

"Thank you, Anqing, for calling the front desk and asking for red, black, and blue pens."

An Qing: "I'll go downstairs to buy it!"

Xu Chen smiled and said, "I'll reimburse you when I get back."

An Qing had already stood up and looked at the several empty cans of Red Bull on the table:
"I'll bring up some more drinks, would you like some beer?"

Xu Chen and Liu Bohao said at the same time, "Yes!"

……

……

The next day, all three of them slept until noon.

The hotel restaurant was both run-down and expensive, so Xu Chen took An Qing and Liu Bohao downstairs to find a small restaurant.

The local stir-fries aren't going to taste that great either.

Xu Chen specially ordered a bottle of beer and filled three glasses:
"I hope we can win this project and ensure that 'Dongchen Advertising' doesn't go out of business!"

Xu Chen, holding his wine glass, said in a joking tone.

An Qing and Liu Bohao also raised their glasses...

All three smiled with a touch of sadness as they drank their wine in one gulp.

An Qing took a breath and said:
"Boss, you're really a very nice person..."

If possible, I'd like to work for you forever.

Xu Chen chewed on a peanut:
"I like you two children very much too."

He paused, a touch of sadness appearing on his face:
"If I can't secure this project, you can wait for me for six months to a year."

If I cause trouble again, you can come find me again if you're willing.

Liu Bohao: "I think our project still has a chance!"

I really like the name 'Burning Ice Sports' now!

……

……

Around 3 p.m., Xu Chen and his two companions drove to "Xie Bingran Sports School" again.

Marketing Director Wang Xiaolei was listening to a proposal when her subordinate, a young man named Liu Yu, came out to greet her.

Liu Yu was also wearing a tracksuit, which suggests that wearing sportswear to work is a common practice at Xie Bingran's company.

"The previous company is still making a proposal, Mr. Xu, let's wait in the rest area for a while."

"no problem."

The rest area is right next to the main conference room.

Besides the usual sofas, tables, and chairs, there were even some dumbbells, resistance bands, and other sports equipment, which really gave it the style of a "sports school".

Xu Chen and the others sat for a while, and then the door to the large conference room opened.

Wang Xiaolei escorted the group out; they were clearly from the advertising company that had presented the proposal.

Xu Chen looked up and couldn't help but smile, simply because he saw someone he knew.

He thought for a moment, then got up and went over to her.
"Amy, it's been a long time!"

"Xu Chen? It's been a long time..."

Sun Aimei, Executive Creative Director of Blackja Marketing.

About ten years ago, when Xu Chen had just graduated and joined the advertising company, Sun Aimi was already a senior in the creative department.

Surprisingly, after all these years, Sun Aimi has remained at "Black Jazz Marketing" and has even risen to the position of "Executive Creative Director".

Wang Xiaolei: "So it turns out that General Manager Sun and General Manager Xu know each other."

After exchanging a few pleasantries, Sun Aimi was clearly pleasantly surprised to see Xu Chen.

They were in a hurry to report, so neither side gave a long explanation.

Before leaving, Sun Aimi handed Xu Chen a new business card:
"I've changed my phone, Mr. Xu, please keep it."

Xu Chen accepted the gift with both hands and quickly took out his own business card and handed it over.

Sun Aimi took it and glanced at it:

"Mr. Xu is amazing! He even has his own company now!"

Xu Chen felt a little embarrassed, but on the surface he still smiled as usual.

……

……

An hour later.

The presentation of "Dongchen Advertising" was over, and Wang Xiaolei politely saw Xu Chen and the other two out.

"Mr. Xu, I'm sorry, we still have an internal meeting to discuss this. I'll have Liu Yu see you off first."

Xu Chen: "Mr. Wang, you're busy, that's all."

Wang Xiaolei: "Thank you for today's excellent proposal. Internally, we will have Bing Ge review all the proposals as soon as possible."

The subsequent bidding results will also be communicated to An Qing in a timely manner.

"Thank you very much, Mr. Wang!"

……

……

downstairs.

Xu Chen, An Qing, and Liu Bohao walked towards the parking lot with somewhat unsteady steps.

I barely slept last night, but I've finally finished the report. Regardless of the outcome, I can finally breathe a sigh of relief.

An Qing, holding her laptop, said with some regret:
"It's a pity I didn't see Xie Bingran!"

Liu Bohao: "Are you her fan?"

An Qing: "The year she won the Asian Games championship, I was still in middle school!"

When I watched her compete, I thought she was really cool!
Therefore, Xie Bingran was my idol when I was a teenager...

Many girls in our class like her!

She paused:

"It would be great if we could win this project. Then we'd still have a chance to work with Xie Bingran in the future."

Liu Bohao sighed softly:
"I just asked Liu Yu, and he said that Ogilvy, JWT, BlueFocus, and others were also participating in the pitch today..."

These are all big companies; our chances of winning the bid are quite low.

Listening to his two subordinates' discussion, Xu Chen remained silent. He had actually considered whether approaching Xie Bingran, his old classmate and former deskmate, would help him secure the project.

But he only thought about it briefly before abandoning the idea.

Firstly, Xu Chen still cared about saving face and felt that doing so was rather shameful.

Secondly, this is Xie Bingran's company business after all. If she really accepts Dongchen's proposal because of "connections" and it affects future business development, then it would be Xu Chen's fault.

It wasn't that Xu Chen lacked confidence in his proposal, but rather that in the advertising and marketing field, there is no "best solution," only the "most suitable solution"...

Walking to the car, Xu Chen spoke:
"The three of us will go out tomorrow; it'll be a group trip."

Go home and get some rest today, make up for last night's sleep!

As he spoke, he handed the car keys in his hand to Liu Bohao.

Liu Bohao was taken aback: "Should I drive?"

Xu Chen: "You guys go back first, I want to wander around here for a bit before going back."

Liu Bohao took the car keys and nodded, saying "Oh".

……

……

at dusk.

After finishing her class, Xie Bingran returned to her office.

Wang Xiaolei knocked on the door and came in with two subordinates:

"Brother Bing, all the advertising proposals for today have been submitted. We'll go over them with you now."

Xie Bingran nodded and walked to the conference table.

……

Wang Xiaolei spent half an hour recounting all the proposals from the six advertising companies that day.

Xie Bingran listened attentively throughout, but didn't offer any specific feedback.

Seeing Wang Xiaolei's questioning gaze, Xie Bingran finally spoke:

"I'm not an expert on this either, which one do you like?"

Wang Xiaolei: "We discussed it internally and we all preferred JWT's solution."

Their company previously worked with Nike, and their team has experience serving international sports brands, making them more experienced and mature.

Xie Bingran was silent for a moment, then suddenly spoke:
"I'll take another look at that last option."

Wang Xiaolei paused for a moment, then pulled out the last proposal, "Binglan Sports," which was the same proposal submitted by "Dongchen Advertising."

She and her two subordinates exchanged glances, both somewhat surprised.

After all, "Dongchen Advertising" is just a small company with no reputation or case studies.

Xie Bingran: "No, is there a backup option?"

Wang Xiaolei said "Oh," then flipped through a few more pages of the PPT, stopping at the logo of "Ranbing Sports."

This is clearly a hand-drawn logo design. It was simply sketched on a white A4 sheet of paper with red, blue, and black markers.

I took another picture with my phone and casually pasted it into the PPT, which seemed a bit hasty.

It was just an "alternative plan" to begin with, and it was submitted by a small company, so Wang Xiaolei and her team didn't even look at it carefully.

Wang Xiaolei was indeed surprised that Brother Bing would become interested in the plan.

Xie Bingran stared at it for a while, remaining silent the entire time.

She just felt...

The way this pattern is drawn and its style are somewhat similar to those patterns on the blackboard bulletins back in the day.

Xie Bingran frowned, a sense of confusion rising in her heart.

Lately, she doesn't know what's wrong with her, but for no apparent reason, she keeps thinking about that person.

That pretty classmate from junior high who used to share her food...

Seeing that Bing Ge didn't react, Wang Xiaolei thought for a moment and said:

"We actually like the name 'Burning Ice Sports' a bit, mainly because it's novel and evokes a vivid image."

The main problem is that 'Dongchen Advertising' is a small company. If we actually use their services, there might be various problems later on.”

Xie Bingran: "We just need a brand name and logo design; we don't need any follow-up services from them, right?"

Wang Xiaolei: "That's true, but in the future, we'll still need advertising companies that provide long-term services."

If it's the same company as this one, things will be better in every way..."

Xie Bingran frowned slightly, remaining silent.

……

……

A pan-fried wonton shop.

An Qing and Liu Bohao each ordered a bowl of wontons and ate them in silence.

They both looked rather listless, not only physically exhausted but also inevitably gloomy.

"I have to go back and revise my resume tonight. I really feel like I need to start looking for a new job."

"Sigh... I wish we could really win this project."

With Xie Bingran's project as a endorsement, our chances of winning other project pitches will be much higher.

"With Ogilvy and JWT involved this time, how could we possibly win the bid..."

The atmosphere became even more somber, and the wontons tasted even worse.

An Qing's phone vibrated.

She picked it up and glanced at it, her eyes widening instantly.

So surprised, the wonton in her mouth fell out and landed back in the bowl.

"What's wrong?" Liu Bohao asked.

“I got it…” An Qing blinked.

"What hit the mark?"

An Qing swallowed hard.
"Xie Bingran's project has been won..."

As she spoke, she frowned and suddenly burst into tears.

……

……

Xie Bingran Sports School, canteen.

Xu Chen got hungry after wandering around, so he decided to have dinner at the school cafeteria.

I had a meal yesterday; the portion was large and the taste was okay.

In addition, the students here are all athletes, so the ingredients must be of excellent quality.

Xu Chen had 28 yuan left in his WeChat wallet, so he simply used it all to buy "meal tickets" at the service counter.

But when I got to the food counter, I realized that 28 yuan could buy quite a lot of vegetables here.

Ok……

I worked so hard on the proposal today, so I'll treat myself to some extra fish, meat, and vegetables!

A few minutes later, Xu Chen, carrying a pile of food on his plate and a bottle of iced Fanta, found a bright spot by the window.

……

After finishing her meeting with her team, Xie Bingran went downstairs to the cafeteria alone.

When students and coaches see her, they all whisper "Brother Bing".

She walked to the food line and picked up an empty plate.

Just as I was about to join the queue, I suddenly frowned, then sniffed the air.

Why does it smell like him again...?
Xie Bingran thought about it for a moment with doubt, then turned her head to look around.

……

Xu Chen opened the can of chilled Fanta and took a big gulp.

Exhaling a cool breath, I felt my tired mind instantly refreshed.

He picked up his chopsticks, ready to dig in, when he suddenly felt someone standing behind him.

He turned his head and glanced at it, then froze on the spot.

Xie Bingran stood there.

Eyes facing each other.

……

Xu Chen was stunned for a moment, and when he finally came to his senses, he smiled at her.

Xie Bingran blinked her big eyes, but her gaze was somewhat evasive.

She seemed to hesitate for a moment, then walked to the opposite side of Xu Chen, holding the empty plate in her hand.

Then sat down.

Xu Chen was actually a little flustered.

He coughed lightly to ease the awkwardness in the air, then glanced down at the empty plate in front of Xie Bingran:
"Are you hungry? I'll share with you..."

"Hungry……"

Xu Chen picked up his chopsticks and took a large piece of pork chop.

Xie Bingran blinked her big eyes.

She pursed her lips and smiled secretly.

……

(End of this chapter)