The happiest person at the moment Cheng Che achieved his golden form was neither the fans nor Qin Lie.
It refers to the five companies that he had business dealings with.
LV branch in Capital City China World Trade Center.
The office was usually quiet, with only the sound of keyboards and the occasional ringing of the telephone.
Then, a series of loud noises came from the corner, growing louder and louder, like a tide washing over the entire office area.
Old Zhou sat in his office looking at the quarterly data, his brow furrowed as the noise outside disturbed him.
He put down the report and was about to push the door open to take a look when it was pushed open.
The female secretary stood at the door, holding her phone, her face flushed red.
"President Zhou! Cheng Che! Cheng Che, he--"
Old Zhou raised an eyebrow and asked somewhat nervously, "What's wrong? Has there been negative news?"
"No!" The secretary's voice trembled. "He proved it! A mathematical conjecture! A sixty-year-old problem! The paper was published in the Annals of Mathematics! CCTV even reported on it!"
Old Zhou was stunned for a few seconds.
He doesn't understand mathematics and doesn't know what level the Annals of Mathematics is.
But knowing the level of a century-old problem that has persisted for sixty years, and knowing the level of importance that CCTV has reported on in Xia Country, is crucial.
At the same time, he understands traffic even better!!
He immediately opened Weibo, and almost all of the top ten trending topics were Cheng Che's name.
Clicking into each post reveals that it has over a million interactions.
He then opened Douyin), and the search index showed an almost vertical straight line. He then opened Baidu, Cheng Che the real-time trending list.
Old Zhou stared at the screen, his eyes widening.
He had only one thought in his mind: if this publicity campaign were launched after this incident, how many times could LV's sales in Xia Country increase?
A pang of regret welled up inside, but it vanished in an instant.
He took a deep breath, stood up, and straightened his suit collar.
"Notify everyone that the meeting will begin in ten minutes."
There were more than a dozen people sitting in the conference room.
When Old Zhou walked in, everyone had already arrived.
Everyone's phone was lit up, and the screens were all displaying the same news article.
An irrepressible excitement filled the air.
Old Zhou sat down in the main seat and looked around.
"I saw it all."
Everyone nodded at the same time.
"Annals of Mathematics, the most prestigious journal in mathematics. A sixty-year-old conjecture has been independently proven by our representative. CCTV reported on it, Peking University issued an announcement, and a report meeting will be held at the end of February and broadcast live online."
He pushed a document to the center of the table.
"I propose we renegotiate the contract with Cheng Che. Fifty million per year for the second year, for a three-year term. Before tax."
The meeting room fell silent for a moment.
When this price was first proposed, some people objected.
Fifty million a year is too high for an Asia-Pacific brand ambassador.
There were two rounds of arguments at the meeting, and finally a proposal with a budget of less than 50 million was barely approved.
But at this moment, no one objected.
"Fifty million? Worth it." The marketing director was the first to speak. "With his current popularity, he'd be worth sixty million, let alone fifty million."
"It's not a question of whether it's worth it or not," another executive chimed in. "He represents more than just popularity now. He's a mathematician, a top Zhuangyuan, and a world Champion. Signing him elevates LV's brand image to a whole new level."
"I saw the reactions on foreign websites. Many foreign netizens are asking what kind of spokesperson LV chose. Some people put screenshots of academic papers together with LV's advertisements and said, 'This brand chose a genius.' This kind of praise is priceless."
"Some people used to say he was just good-looking, but now? He's a good-looking genius. That's more convincing than simply being handsome or academically gifted."
Old Zhou nodded.
"Then it's settled."
He had barely finished speaking when his phone rang.
He glanced at the caller ID and then answered.
The person on the other end of the phone was a vice president from LV's France headquarters, who spoke very quickly.
"Zhou, I saw the news. Your Asia-Pacific region has done an excellent job with this spokesperson."
"Thank you. We're preparing to renew his contract, raising it to fifty million a year."
"Fifty million isn't enough," the vice president interrupted him. "Headquarters is suggesting we consider a global brand ambassador."
Old Zhou was taken aback. "Global brand ambassador? But the current global brand ambassador contract hasn't expired yet—"
"I know. That's why I said 'consider'." The vice president paused for a moment. "Let's lock in the contract renewal first. We'll talk about upgrading when his contract with us reaches its second year. Tell him that LV won't treat him unfairly."
After hanging up the phone, Old Zhou relayed the vice president's message.
The atmosphere in the conference room rose to another level.
"Global Brand Ambassador," the marketing director murmured. "In LV's history, no Xia Country artist has ever held this title..."
"He's the first," Old Zhou said.
Meanwhile, at Nike's Greater China headquarters.
Mark stared at the computer screen, at the English abstract of the paper.
He couldn't understand it, but he watched the CCTV report.
CCTV said, "A strong youth makes a strong nation," and that "a 19-year-old boy from the Xia Country has reached the pinnacle of mathematics."
This report was forwarded millions of times on Weibo.
He picked up the phone and dialed the headquarters number.
"I want to apply to upgrade Cheng Che's contract from Greater China brand ambassador to global brand ambassador."
There was a pause on the other end of the phone.
"Reason."
"Reason?" Mark chuckled. "Open any search engine and search his name. He's a mathematician, a top scorer in the national college entrance Zhuangyuan, a Grand Slam Champion, and a luxury brand ambassador. Nike has never signed someone like him before. Federer is an athlete, James is an athlete. Cheng Che is an athlete, a mathematician, and an author for top academic journals. This cross-disciplinary background is exactly what Nike wants right now."
There was a few seconds of silence on the other end of the phone.
"Continue to observe. If his report goes well, we will consider initiating the escalation process."
Rolex was the happiest about Andrew.
He stared at Cheng Che's thesis title for a long time, then smiled.
He dialed headquarters.
"We didn't just sign an athlete," he said, his voice tinged with rare excitement. "We signed someone who calculates serve angles using mathematical formulas. What's the core of Rolex? Precision. Cheng Che's mathematics is the ultimate form of precision. The fact that he wears Rolex in matches is the best interpretation of the brand's philosophy."
Headquarters responded quickly: they would consider launching Cheng Che's Rolex advertisement in the global market after the report meeting.
The lights in the conference room at Gucci's Italy headquarters stayed on all night.
The brand director projected Cheng Che's information onto the wall.
Tennis Champion, top Zhuangyuan, Peking University student, author of a top mathematics journal, and spokesperson for top luxury brands.
Each label is a separate dimension, but together they create a unique and unreplicable hybrid quality.
"Wisdom and beauty," the brand director said. "These are the two words that define our theme this season. And Cheng Che is precisely the perfect embodiment of wisdom and beauty."
The meeting decided to upgrade Cheng Che's endorsement from brand ambassador to global brand ambassador.
The promotional campaign expanded from Greater China to the global market, materials were reshot, and the tagline was changed to "Wisdom and beauty can coexist."
But beyond all these brands' reactions, there's one company that's even happier than them all.
Esquire.
Teacher Chen sat in her office, staring at the trending topics for a long time.
Then he turned to his assistant and said something.
"Call Cheng Che's side and tell him we want to reshoot."
The assistant was taken aback. "Reshoot? Wasn't the set of photos in school uniforms and tennis outfits already booked?"
Teacher Chen shook her head.
"That set of photos captured 'the two sides of an 18-year-old Champion.' But things are different now. Cheng Che is not just a Champion; he has become a mathematician. We need to reshoot the photos, adding his mathematical elements. School uniform, tennis outfit, formal attire, plus images of him standing in front of a blackboard covered with formulas."
The assistant nodded and turned to leave, but was stopped by Teacher Chen.
"Also, it's different from before. This time, we didn't just notify him to come and film."
The assistant turned around.
Teacher Chen put down her phone, her tone serious.
"Yes, please. Please invite him over."