272: Chapter 272 Watching the Flag Raising

The next day, before dawn, Chen Fan woke up the soundly sleeping Qiao Linlin. She opened her eyes groggily and reached for her phone to take a look: "Do we really have to get up at three o'clock?"

"The flag-raising ceremony is after four; there won't be much time left after we wash up." Chen Fan was already dressed.

Qiao Linlin rubbed her eyes. Although she was sleepy, she still pushed back the covers and sat up.

She went into the bathroom, and the sound of water ran for a while. When she came out, she was much more awake, her hair was tied up, and she had changed into a clean jacket.

When the two of them went downstairs, it was still dark outside.

The hotel was not far from the Tiananmen Rostrum; it only took five or six minutes to walk there.

When they arrived at Tiananmen, it was not yet 4 o'clock, but there were already quite a few people in the square.

After a great deal of effort, the two of them finally squeezed through the crowd, found a suitable spot, and waited quietly for the flag-raising ceremony to begin.

When the horizon began to turn white, the crowd quieted down.

Footsteps came from the distance, steady and low.

The national anthem played, and the flag slowly rose. Chen Fan looked up, watching the flag ascend to the top in the morning light.

After the flag-raising ceremony ended, the crowd slowly dispersed. The two found a nearby breakfast shop to grab a bite to eat, and then returned to the hotel.

When they returned to the hotel, it was not yet 6 o'clock. Qiao Linlin was truly too tired, so she lay back on the bed to take a nap.

Chen Fan, on the other hand, didn't feel sleepy at all and sat on the sofa playing with his phone.

Inadvertently, Chen Fan caught sight of a spreadsheet file that Li Nan had sent him, and suddenly realized he seemed to have forgotten something.

Before coming to Beijing, Chen Fan had said he would get some signed photos of the cast of "love is not blind" for his employees, but after arriving, he had forgotten all about it.

He hadn't even remembered it yesterday when he was signing the contract with Director Teng Huatao.

Fortunately, it wasn't too late; he would call Director Teng Huatao later to ask about it.

After nine in the morning, Chen Fan dialed Director Teng Huatao's number. It rang a few times before the other end picked up: "Good morning, Mr. Chen."

"Good morning, Director Teng. I have a favor to ask."

"Please go ahead, Mr. Chen."

"I previously promised my company's employees that I would help get some signed photos of the cast. I was in a rush yesterday and forgot to mention it. Would it be convenient for you?"

Director Teng Huatao laughed: "Is that all? No problem. Send me the list, and I'll have my assistant take care of it. We have photos of Wen Zhang, Bai He, and Zhang Jiayi. Whose do you want?"

Chen Fan thought for a moment: "Let's get those, and a few from the other main cast members as well. You don't need too many, three to five of each will be enough."

"Alright, I'll have someone prepare them in the next two days and mail them to you once they're ready." Director Teng Huatao agreed readily. "Is it still your company's address?"

"Yes," Chen Fan said. "Sorry for the trouble, Director Teng."

"It's no trouble, it's a small matter." Director Teng Huatao paused, then added, "Mr. Chen, when would it be convenient for your friend to come over for an audition? I've kept the role reserved for her."

Thinking of Naza, Chen Fan said: "I'll ask her later and contact you once the time is confirmed."

"Alright, I'll wait for your news."

After hanging up, Chen Fan called Naza.

It rang twice before Naza picked up, her voice tinged with surprise: "Brother Fan? What made you think to call me?"

"I have something to tell you." Chen Fan leaned back in his chair. "There's a film crew that's short on a role; it's quite suitable for you. Do you want to act in it?"

"Sure!"

"You're agreeing just like that, without even asking what the role is?"

"As long as it's recommended by you, Brother Fan, it's no problem."

"Alright then, let me tell you first. The film's investment isn't large, the director is the former TV director, Director Teng Huatao, and the role isn't the female lead, just a small supporting role."

"Then I'll go!" Naza's answer was almost without hesitation.

"Alright, then I'll give you Director Teng's contact information, and you can get in touch with him."

"Okay, Brother Fan, wait for my good news."

...

Half an hour later, Chen Fan's phone rang. He picked it up and saw it was Naza calling.

"Brother Fan, I've gotten in touch with Director Teng." Naza's voice was filled with irrepressible excitement. "He said to come for an audition the day after tomorrow. He also asked about some basic details, very thoroughly, and his attitude was incredibly good. I thought big directors would be quite serious, but I didn't expect him to be smiling and laughing the whole time he was talking to me. He even told me not to be nervous, to just treat it like a casual chat."

After hearing this, Chen Fan smiled.

He had invested three million in it, plus there was the product placement collaboration between Fanti and the film, and Naza was his person—how could he not be polite?

However, Chen Fan didn't intend to tell her any of this, only saying: "That's good. Prepare well, and don't be nervous."

"Don't worry, I definitely won't be nervous."

"Alright, that's all for now."

"Bye, Brother Fan."

Just after hanging up, Chen Fan noticed that, he didn't know when, Qiao Linlin had woken up and was walking towards him.

"Just woke up?" Chen Fan asked.

"I've been awake for a while. I saw you, Boss, on the phone with your little celebrity girlfriend, so I didn't want to disturb you."

"Since you're up, let's go. We'll spend the day strolling around Beijing, and head back to Chang'an tomorrow morning."

"Alright, Boss."

...

On Tuesday morning, Chen Fan arrived at the Fanti company.

He walked over to Li Nan's workstation to check the backend sales data. Yesterday's total sales had already reached over 1,300 units, and it was still growing.

According to the current trend, reaching 20,000 units in sales within the first half-month of launch shouldn't be a problem.

However, the problem now was that the production capacity of Su Jingqiu's factory would soon be unable to keep up.

Over the past two months, Su Jingqiu had been hiring people and taking out loans to buy equipment, raising production capacity to 50,000 units a month.

But as Fanti's reputation grew, a capacity of 50,000 units a month would certainly not be able to meet Fanti's requirements.

Although Su Jingqiu was still working hard to increase production, Fanti couldn't wait any longer.

Now that Fanti had started selling, there was no longer a need to worry about factory leaks; they could completely switch to a larger OEM factory for production.

However, Chen Fan couldn't bring himself to do something like "discarding the millstone after the donkey is done grinding." Su Jingqiu was, after all, the first factory partner he had brought up, and she was also Su Mian's mother; he couldn't just cast her aside like that.

Therefore, he planned to keep Su Jingqiu's factory while simultaneously finding a large factory to cooperate with.

Another consideration was that he couldn't put all his orders in one basket.

Putting all your eggs in one basket was too risky; if one factory had a problem, the entire supply chain would break.

Retaining a portion of orders for Su Jingqiu while letting the large factory handle the main production capacity—with the two running in parallel—was both safe and secure.

"Li Nan, have you seen the sales figures?" Chen Fan stood next to her workstation.

"I have, they've been rising for the past few days," Li Nan said.

"What do you think about the production capacity issue?"

Li Nan thought for a moment: "Sister Su has done her best, but given her scale, there's a limit to how much she can expand. I suggest finding another large factory as a backup, splitting off the high-volume styles to be made there, and keeping Sister Su's current production capacity as is."

Chen Fan nodded; Li Nan's idea was the same as his own.

"Alright, let's do that. But make sure to find a factory with a good reputation, and it's best to investigate thoroughly before discussing cooperation."

"Don't worry, Boss, I'll make sure to vet them properly."