Chapter 918: New Headquarters Officially Activated

The day after coming back from Jinling, good news came from Old Ma’s side — Ah Li successfully secured the naming rights for this year’s CCTV Spring Festival Gala.

It might be that the smokescreen Old Ma released about a three billion budget intimidated all competitors including Midea, as no giant wanted to go all out against it.

It could also be that Ah Li’s advertising plan was more favored by CCTV, or for other reasons. In short, Ah Li successfully took the sponsorship for the 2006 Spring Festival Gala, eleven years earlier than in the previous life!

On the phone, Old Ma also happily revealed the sponsorship cost, which was just 230 million, saving a lot more than expected.

Originally, he thought at least 250 million would be needed, even in the worst case, it would take the extreme budget of 300 million. This result was indeed a pleasant surprise.

After securing the naming rights, Ah Li’s fame quickly rose. The impact of sponsoring the Spring Festival Gala is definitely not limited to just a few hours of the program. In fact, from the moment the deal is sealed, the sponsor enters the discussion in media and among the public, continuously gaining exposure.

After returning triumphantly from Yanjing, Old Ma immediately held a celebration dinner and invited Su Zelin to attend, to share his joy with his buddy.

During the dinner, the usually cheerful Old Ma unusually did not let his usual standby toasts drink on his behalf; he personally drank quite a bit.

By the end of the banquet, the leader of Ah Li was already a bit unsteady on his feet, leaning on his buddy’s shoulder, seven or eight-tenths drunk, yet full of ambition, and very talkative.

“Younger Brother Su, last year your New Era was on the Spring Festival Gala, and it took off all of a sudden!”

“This year, it’s Ah Li’s turn, the two brother enterprises from Lin’an will advance side by side, working hard together!”

“One day, among the giants standing at the top of the pyramid in Xia Country, there will be a place for both Ah Li and New Era!”

Su Zelin was actually still very sober, and seeing Old Ma like this, couldn’t help but secretly find it amusing.

So, even Mr. Ma, who was famed across the world in a past life, had such a side.

“Brother Ma, I’ll take that as a blessing from you!”

Old Ma thought of something and said wondering, “Speaking of which, Younger Brother Su, why have you been hiding your status as the founder and major shareholder of New Era? This is nothing dishonorable, achieving success while young, ambitious, the whole world would envy you. I think there is no need to hide it, why not simply make it public?”

Su Zelin replied blandly, “Brother Ma, everyone has different pursuits. I’m not keen on fame, only profit. A tall tree catches the wind, and sometimes it’s not a good thing. Excessive fame brings many inconveniences, every action can be magnified infinitely.”

“Younger Brother Su, are you worrying about women?”

When Old Ma said this, he subconsciously lowered his voice.

Although he seemed drunk, his mind was still quite clear.

Not only did Su Zelin achieve success at a young age, but he was also quite charming in youth.

What can you do, he’s handsome, quite wealthy, and has the gift of the gab to charm girls, it would be odd if a young person like that didn’t have a few girlfriends. Not to mention, that woman boss and general manager of Lina Fashion, Ding Linna, Old Ma was sure she was Su Zelin’s lover.

Su Zelin strongly supported her in starting the company, investing money and offering advice, this couldn’t just be because of their schoolmate relationship.

Moreover, having had a few meals with those two, Old Ma could see a lot from the details of Ding Linna’s interactions with Su Zelin.

Someone as shrewd as Old Ma, such a relationship could not be hidden from his eyes.

For an ordinary rich kid or a small boss, enjoying a charming youth is not a big deal; it’s human nature, quite common.

As the founder of New Era, a nationwide large chain digital enterprise with stores exceeding ten thousand, if this identity was exposed, it would definitely become major news.

After all, a college student starting a business in their freshman year and a few years later establishing a company valued at hundreds of billions in the market, such an experience is just too incredible.

If attention greatly increased, Su Zelin might become a public figure, then he would have to be extremely careful of the impact his words and deeds could have on the company’s reputation.

Even if having a few girlfriends is private, once exposed it could turn into a scandal, not only bringing disgrace upon himself but possibly also dragging down the company.

So, Su Zelin chose to stay low-key, and it seemed Old Ma could also understand this.

After all, his situation was different from his own, he just had that nagging wife at home, nothing to fear being exposed.

“You’re the one who truly understands me, Brother Ma!”

Su Zelin smiled, not denying it.

Compared to worrying his family about huge debts, this was even more concerning to him.

In the previous life, Brother Dong’s scandal in the Beautiful Nation was a classic example.

If Brother Dong were just an ordinary executive at JD, what media outlet would care about such things, tirelessly digging for material, hitting the headlines, the gossiping public would also not pay attention. But as JD’s leader, Brother Dong inevitably attracted attention, becoming a public figure, and thus a pariah.

A public figure having a lover, as long as exposed, would meet no good end. They’d gain infamy, and if a star, would still face a probable ban, so Su Zelin tried to keep a low profile.

“However, continuing like this is also not a solution, the truth cannot be hidden, especially since New Era is already a nationwide large chain digital enterprise, if someone wants to check the equity structure, it wouldn’t be hard to find out you’re the major shareholder!”

Old Ma seemed to have a lot of concern for his little brother, and immediately raised the question.

“I know!”

The buddy nodded slightly.

Actually, his identity wasn’t something that no one had tried to dig out, just that it had not been exposed. The journalist involved first contacted him, and was suppressed by Su Zelin with money.