70: Chapter 70: Settling! Hu Gualing's Collaboration with Settling-themed Sneakers!

"Is that so..." Hu Gualing felt too embarrassed to look at General Manager Wu Jinkai, lowering his head and letting out two awkward laughs.

But come to think of it, since he had brought such great benefits to Nadi Group, surely he could just accept this whole room full of sneakers, right?

As Hu Gualing thought this, he looked over at Director Liu, only to see him say solemnly, "Gualing, actually, I have another matter I need your help with this time."

Seeing Director Liu like this, the people around them could hardly believe it.

Especially General Manager Wu Jinkai...

Others might not be very clear about how awesome Director Liu was, but General Manager Wu Jinkai deeply understood the weight of his status as the Executive Director of Nadi China.

Nadi was an international brand with markets spanning the entire Blue Planet, and it had branches in every country. The head of the China branch might look like just another employee.

But in reality, one had to consider that the Chinese market accounted for one-fifth of the global market.

Under these circumstances, the Executive Director of Nadi China naturally held a transcendent status.

Take General Manager Wu Jinkai himself, for example; although he was worth over a hundred million and exploited hundreds of employees under him, looking incredibly imposing... yet when he once competed for a Nadi China OEM line, he couldn't even manage to meet Director Liu. A single rejection email made him slink away in defeat, and he didn't even dare to harbor any resentment.

With someone of such weight, what on earth could he possibly need Hu Gualing's help with?

However... regardless of what others were thinking, Hu Gualing didn't care at all. He patted his chest and said, "Brother Liu, don't be so polite. If you have something to say, just say it. We're close!"

Director Liu was stunned for a moment, then couldn't help but laugh, "Alright, then I'll say it. We intend to collaborate with you on a pair of co-branded sneakers!"

"Huh?" Hu Gualing doubted he had heard correctly.

Collaboration... didn't co-branding activities usually only happen between brands? Could he, just a security guard, also do a collaboration?

He couldn't help but look at Wu Yingying, thinking that this Young Miss surely knew more than he did and might understand the ins and outs of this.

But he found that Wu Yingying was also frowning, looking completely bewildered.

In fact, it wasn't just the two of them; everyone present, except for those from Nadi Group, looked stunned.

The term "co-branding" was not unfamiliar in the business world. Usually, it was an activity where two different brands hit it off to build an IP, increase user engagement... or even simply to boost brand awareness.

A classic case was when a certain 2D game did a collaboration with a fast-food chain. Players of this game would go to the fast-food restaurant and shout the slogan "XX Launch," and they could get a customized meal for free...

Because of this, countless players went to the store for a "freebie," and the slogan, which could be considered social suicide, immediately went viral across all social media sites. Even people who didn't play the game followed the trend and shouted "XX Launch." For a time, the game's popularity skyrocketed...

And that fast-food chain also absorbed a large group of gamers as customers, cementing its position as the number one fast-food brand... It belonged to a situation where both sides won big.

However, such co-branding activities needed to be built on the premise that the resources possessed by both parties matched so that they could achieve mutual benefit.

For an international big brand like Nadi, it wasn't that they couldn't collaborate with an individual, but the person they collaborated with had to be at least an industry elite, right? Like a sports champion or a top-tier celebrity, so that there would be some co-branding value.

But he, Hu Gualing, what kind of industry elite could he be considered?

Just thinking about the brand name after the collaboration— "Nadi × Security Captain Hu Gualing"—could that even be appropriate?

"Collaborate with me?" Hu Gualing couldn't believe it.

Director Liu nodded and explained, "It's mainly because of that word you said in the interview— 'Precipitation!'" Director Liu emphasized his tone and pointed his index finger, clearly valuing this word highly.

He paused, then continued, "These two characters convey a sense of 'ten years to sharpen a sword,' and even more, a life philosophy of 'a gentleman hides his weapons within himself, waiting for the right time to act.' Compared to our Nadi brand spirit of 'Just Do It,' it adds a layer of effort and patience. This can undoubtedly inspire young people who are currently struggling..."

"Therefore, we have decided to launch a co-branded sneaker: Nadi × Hu Gualing Collaboration, 'Precipitation' Special Edition!"

As soon as Director Liu said this, everyone was stunned.

Especially the security guards.

They often heard Hu Gualing keep "Precipitation" on his lips and only found it funny.

But now, hearing Director Liu put it this way, it turned out that the simple word "Precipitation" had such great meaning... Could it be that he, Hu Gualing, was really a Genius?

'Precipitation Special Edition?' Hu Gualing felt a bit floaty as he heard this and nodded excitedly, "Alright, I don't know anything, so I'll just do as Brother Liu says!"

Director Liu laughed, "Then the collaboration is settled." He took a tablet from a colleague and handed it to Hu Gualing, "This is the blueprint the design department worked on overnight. Take a look."

"How would I understand any blueprints..." Hu Gualing gave an embarrassed chuckle, his gaze sweeping casually over the tablet, but his expression gradually became serious, as if he were studying or pondering it.

The Nadi employee who took out the tablet chuckled inwardly: How could an ordinary person understand professional design blueprints? But this guy's reaction was really quite convincing...

After a while, seeing Hu Gualing's expression relax a bit, he couldn't help but tease, "Brother Hu, how does it look?"

Hu Gualing said subconsciously, "The Materials have a certain degree of extensibility and strong elasticity, so these shoes should be quite good for running and jumping. However... looking at the overall styling, it seems to be based on the design of the pair I'm wearing... and improved upon?"

Hu Gualing looked down at the shoes on his feet, then looked up with an inquiring gaze at the Nadi staff member, wanting to verify his answer.

The group from Nadi looked at each other in dismay.

Director Liu was the first to react, laughing with a tone of surprise, "I didn't expect, Gualing, that you have such deep attainments in shoe design. Did you study it on your own before?"

"What shoe design? Why would I study that?" Hu Gualing said, confused.

"Uh..." Director Liu was choked up.

"Brother Hu, don't be modest. If you hadn't studied it deeply, how could you understand the blueprint at a glance? And you're right, the 'Precipitation' design blueprint was indeed improved based on the pair you're wearing, but there were a lot of changes. If the two blueprints weren't placed together for comparison, it wouldn't be that easy to see. The fact that you could tell at once shows that you really have a talent for design..." The person speaking was the Nadi staff member who had just teased Hu Gualing.

He was from the Nadi China design department. His teasing of Hu Gualing earlier wasn't out of malice, but simply because he had encountered his own professional Domain and couldn't help but want to show off.

But he hadn't expected that Hu Gualing could actually understand the blueprint.

That was why his tone was a bit sour.