95: Chapter 95 Press Conference

The date for the press conference was set for Wednesday, October 17th.

The venue was an established five-star hotel in Jing'an District. The banquet hall spanned about a thousand square meters, and while the stage wasn't large, it was elegantly designed.

The backdrop was a full curved LED screen, looping Shunyi Foods' brand promotional video before the start: the rising steam of fire chicken noodles in a bowl, neatly arranged toppings on bibimbap, and the bubbles forming as makgeolli was poured into a glass.

The color palette of the footage leaned toward warm orange, and a two-second clip of Kim Ye-rin eating noodles was edited in.

Chairman Wang Shunyi stood in the wings of the stage. The light spilled out from where he stood, casting a long shadow against the wall.

He wore a custom dark gray suit, a white shirt, and a dark blue tie, with a tiny golden chili pepper pin. Park Min-ji was waiting for him in the lounge.

She had asked him that morning if he was nervous, and he said he wasn't. She didn't believe him, and he didn't explain.

While standing in the wings, his palms were covered in sweat, but his face remained expressionless from start to finish.

After being in this industry for a long time, one's expressions become detached from the person; he showed what needed to be shown and hid what needed to be hidden.

Three hundred people filled the audience. Reporters from Xinhua News Agency, Daily News, and Penghu News sat in the first row. KOLs from TK, Red Book, and Web were in the second and third rows, mostly young girls holding up their phones with cameras pointed at the stage, the samples on the tables gleaming under the lights.

Low-pitched string music played through the venue's speakers, and the hum of the crowd sounded like the distant surge of waves on the sea.

Lee Jung-hoon trotted over from backstage and whispered in his ear:

"Chairman, two minutes left."

He nodded, wiped the sweat from his palms onto his suit trousers—leaving a small dark mark that dried in seconds.

The female host took the stage in a deep red evening gown, her jewelry sparkling under the lights.

Her voice was bright and her articulation perfect. She read an opening statement introducing the background of Shunyi Foods, while some in the audience looked down at their phones.

Chairman Wang Shunyi listened to a few lines, feeling the content was mostly what he had written in the press release, without much deviation. When the applause broke out, he walked onto the stage from the wings.

The moment he stood behind the podium, the lights hit his face, and the faces of everyone in the audience were blurred by the halo, their expressions indistinguishable. Because he couldn't see them clearly, he stopped feeling nervous.

"Good afternoon, media friends, guests, ladies, and gentlemen. I am Chairman Wang Shunyi, the founder and CEO of Shunyi Foods. Thank you all for attending our brand launch event."

His Chinese was very standard; he had memorized the entire speech. However, his pronunciation was forceful. Having not used Chinese in Korea for so long, he didn't sound like a foreigner, but rather like a person from the Dragon Kingdom with a heavy Korean accent.

He paused, the lights making his face look almost wrinkle-free. The audience fell silent.

"Shunyi Foods has been established for over two years and holds a 28% market share in Korea. This number was built pack by pack by consumers, not through massive advertising spend."

"China is the first stop in our overseas expansion. Not because we think the Chinese market is easy, but because Chinese consumers deserve better products."

He pressed the remote, and the LED screen behind him switched to a product lineup. The classic fire chicken noodles, low-calorie fire noodles, Mala fire chicken noodles, hot and sour fire chicken noodles, Korean bibimbap, and the ready-to-drink makgeolli series—six products lined up, their packaging colors exceptionally vibrant on the screen.

When he spoke about the classic fire chicken noodles, his tone was flat, like he was reading a manual.

"The spiciness comes from local Korean chili powder, not chili extract. The elasticity of the noodles was determined through repeated testing, not just by picking a random production line."

When talking about the low-calorie noodles, his voice rose slightly.

"The calories are lower, but the flavor isn't. The R&D team tried hundreds of times before finding the balance."

When he spoke about the Mala and hot and sour noodles, several KOLs in the front row put down their phones, and some were nodding.

"These were developed specifically for Chinese consumers. The Sichuan peppercorns come from Hanyuan, Sichuan, and the vinegar is a blend of Baoning and Zhenjiang vinegar, adjusted many times."

He paused. The lights made his forehead feel a bit hot, but he didn't sweat. That chili pepper pin sat obediently on his chest.

"...Quality first, healthy and delicious. This is Shunyi Foods' promise to consumers. Thank you, everyone."

The applause lasted a long time. Lee Jung-hoon clapped so hard in the wings that his palms turned red. Kim Sang-woo stood up from the back row to applaud, but was blocked by someone and sat back down.

Several media interviews were arranged after the conference. A reporter from Xinhua News Agency asked about future plans for the Chinese market. Chairman Wang Shunyi's answers were much shorter than his afternoon speech, but every word was to the point.

The reporter from Penghu News asked:

"Where does your advantage lie?"

He said, "Quality, innovation, and health."

"Master Kong and Uni-President have been doing this for many years, and I respect them. But when Chinese consumers eat my noodles, they will say, 'This is different.'"

The reporters shook hands and left after the interviews. During a break, Chairman Wang Shunyi returned to the lounge, where Park Min-ji was sitting on the sofa looking at her phone.

She was wearing the same light gray trench coat from yesterday, with her hair tied up, revealing a pair of tiny diamond studs on her earlobes.

Before the conference started, she had helped him fasten the pin. The pin was so small that it took her a while; neither of them spoke when her fingertips touched his chest. She had given him the pin last year, and he had kept it ever since.

"How did it go?" She looked up and smiled.

"It was okay. The questions the media asked were all prepared for."

"And your answers?"

"Those were prepared, too."

At 6:30 PM, the lights were just beginning to come on at the Bund. Chairman Wang Shunyi stood before the floor-to-ceiling window of his hotel room, watching the cruise ships slowly pass by on the Huangpu River.

The advertising lightboards on the ships flickered, red and blue lights reflecting on the water, broken by the wind and then gathering again. Lee Jung-hoon called to say that the post-event coverage exceeded expectations; over a dozen mainstream media outlets had published news, and the total views of the KOLs' teaser videos on TK and Red Book had already surpassed ten million.

Chairman Wang Shunyi finished listening and hung up the phone.

Park Min-ji came out of the bathroom, her hair still wet. She sat on the edge of the bed and dried her hair with a towel, stopping when it was half-dry and draping the towel over the back of the chair.

"We're going to Guangzhou tomorrow. What time is the flight?"

"9:00 AM. Kim Sang-woo is picking us up at 7:30."

She nodded. A few water droplets from the tips of her hair soaked into a small patch on the shoulder of her pajamas.

Chairman Wang Shunyi walked over, took another dry towel from the cabinet, pressed her down to sit on the chair, and dried her hair for her. Her hair was very thick, so it took some time. He wasn't impatient.

After the conference, he had asked Kim Young-jun to book two tickets to Sanya.

The conference was over, and it was time to rest for a few days. He said, "It's time to rest for a few days," not "I'll accompany you."

Park Min-ji didn't say anything, only saved the flight number into her phone calendar.

The towel gradually became damp. Her hair was still not completely dry. Outside the window, Shanghai was incredibly bright.

He remembered his college days living in a semi-basement a few years ago. Back then, he felt Shanghai was another world, and that other world would never have anything to do with him.

Now, he stood at the highest point of that other world, looking down.

"What are you thinking about?" she asked.

"Nothing. Your hair is almost dry."

She reached out and felt the tips of her hair; they were wet.

"Liar."

He didn't respond. He folded the towel and placed it on the back of the chair. The bell tower on the Bund chimed a few times, and the wind from the river squeezed through the gaps in the window, carrying a fishy scent of water.

She leaned against his shoulder. Maybe we should get a bigger room, he thought.