Ring, ring… ring, ring…

  The office pho ringing non-stop.

  The girl in charge of taking orders tilted her head, holding one phone receiver between her left ear and shoulder, another in her right hand, a another in her left. A fourth phone, just a short distance away, was still ringing.

  A phohat was usually quiet had suddeed with an endless stream of calls, leaving her flustered.

  No matter which business call she finished, another would immediately take its pce, tless people were calling back-to-back.

  And every single one of them was asking the same question:

  "How I bee a distributor for your wine?"

  The young woman barely had time to catch her breath, let aloake a sip of water. It felt like she was on a battlefield.

  Across the office, er service representatives were frantically typing away on their keyboards, responding to a flood of inquiries. Some ers were asking about the process, while others were eager to know about delivery times and logistics.

  The once rexed office atmosphere had suddenly turned chaotic. The surge in orders and er demand had throwire operation into overdrive. Even the warehouse had triggered a stock she alert.

  Iwo offices separated by gss partitions, Su Zhijun and Gao Jianguo were just as busy.

  Regur ers were calling non-stop, eager for updates. Many were pg additional orders on the spot, while some were even pre-booking stock for year and in signifit quantities.

  Everything poio one clear fact:

  Their imported Chilean wine was selling like crazy.

  Online sales, physical store distribution, wholesale partnerships every el was experieng an explosion in demand.

  Businesspeople from across the try, especially those with a keen sense for trends, were scrambling to inquire about being regional agents for their brand. Some of them were major pyers in the industry, including pahat had previously turhem down.

  Now, those same panies were chasing them down instead.

  But her Su Zhijun nao Jianguo felt particurly overjoyed.

  Because right now, demand far exceeded supply.

  …

  "Lao Su, there are too many smart people in this world—especially in business."

  During the lunch break, Gao Jianguo stepped into Su Zhijun's office, sighing.

  In just a matter of days, their warehouse had almost pletely run out of stock.

  Evech of goods still en route across the Pacific O had already been sold out in advance.

  Their only option now was to push Chilean produ into overdrive and hope they could keep up.

  "This wave of publicity was too successful," Su Zhijun admitted, shaking his head. "I never expected it to take off like this."

  He had arranged for press releases aultiple domestic media outlets, hoping to boost their exposure.

  But he never imagi would spark such a massive rea.

  Gao Shen, Ferguson, luxury wihe Champions League semifinals, a perfect storm of high-profile elements had bio catapult their brand into the spotlight.

  And as the hype grew, els that had previously ighem were now lining up to do business.

  There was no doubt about it, Gao Shen's popurity in a was off the charts.

  And all of this stemmed from one idea.

  Thinking back, Su Zhijun couldn't help but admire Gao Shen's fht.

  When he first agreed to join Gao Shen's pany, he never imagi would grow this fast.

  Especially in the past few days, in just three or four days, their order volume had surpassed two months' worth of sales.

  They simply couldn't keep up with demand.

  Now, both Gao Jianguo and Su Zhijun had just one word to describe Gao Shen:

  Respect.

  "Last night, Xiaoqing called me to discuss the situation," Su Zhijun said, motioning fao Jianguo to take a seat on the sofa. He poured some tea, taking a rare moment to breathe.

  "She thinks the current surge in demand is a huge opportunity, but we have to stay rational and level-headed. We o grow our distributiowork carefully, without rushing."

  "Our focus should be on finding long-term partners, busihat are truly itted and capable of w with us long-term. Not those who are just looking to ride the hype and make a quick profit. It's better to go slow and steady than to rush and run into problems."

  "I pletely agree," Gao Jianguo nodded. "First of all, our iory just 't support rapid expansiht now. Sedly, we don't have the mao handle an explosion of new orders. If we stretch ourselves too thin, we'll colpse under our own success."

  "And there's one more thing," Su Zhijun added.

  "I told Xiaoqing that I pn to expand our produ capacity in Chile. She agreed but she also stressed one key dition."

  "Quality must be guaranteed. We ot promise our brand, and even more importantly, we ot damage Gao Shen's brand."

  "Absolutely!" Gao Jianguo nodded emphatically. "Gao Shen's brand is worth far more than just our wine business. The st thing we want to do is hold him back or worse, create problems for him."

  "I'd rather do less business and make less money if it means proteg our reputation and maintaining quality."

  Because even though their pany's profits were skyrocketing, at the end of the day…

  Gao Shen didn't really care about the money.

  Any single sponsorship deal he took was worth €5 million equivalent to 50 million yuan and oftentimes, even over €10 million or €20 million.

  In the football world, top experts were the most valuable asset.

  As long as Gao Shen maintained his success, everything else would naturally fall into pce.

  But if they weren't careful, if they failed to protect his brand then it wouldn't matter how much mohey made.

  "So, now that our business volume has grown, I think the pany should further expand. At the same time, our operations and ma in Chile both at the winery and the vineyard must keep pace."

  Gao Jianguo nodded. "Alright. As usual, you hahe domestic side, and I'll take care of Chile."

  When it came to business, Su Zhijun was sharper and had a better instinarket trends, while Gao Jianguo was more methodical and reliable. Their division of responsibilities, one fog oernal affairs, the other on internal operations had proven to be an effective partnership.

  As for personal is? That was never a .

  This business had been built with Gao Shen's help from the start, and their families had been close friends for years. Now, with Gao Shen and Su Qing in a retionship and both being only children there was really nothing to worry about.

  It was all in the family.

  Besides, when Gao Shen promised Su Zhijun a stake in the pany, it was a golden opportunity. With the business booming, Su Zhijun was already more than satisfied and eager to take things to the level.

  Why would he think about anything else?

  If he didn't have the vision to see this through, Gao Shen wouldn't have chosen him in the first pce.

  Right now, Gao Shen was a goldmine. Only a fool would do something to sabotage their own future.

  "Alright," Su Zhijun decided. "Let's each prepare a pn. Once we're in Italy, we'll discuss everything with Gao Shen and Xiao Qing. If all goes well, we'll start exeg as soon as we return."

  He and Gao Jianguo were eager to seize the moment.

  Gao Shen had already opehe door for them. If they couldn't take advantage of this opportunity, it would be a waste of his resources and their own.

  Meanwhile, in Italy…

  Gao Shen had no idea what was happening bae.

  And Su Qing and the others weren't about to bother him with these matters.

  Everyone knew Gao Shen was at a critical stage, and nothing could disrupt his focus.

  That weekend, just days after returning from Maer, Napoli traveled to face Lecce.

  Once again, Gao Shen rotated his squad, fielding a pletely sed-string lineup.

  In the 33rd minute, Callejón opehe sg for Napoli, assisted by Parejo.

  But just before halftime, avaro made a costly passing error. Lecce capitalized, with midfielder Zaa firing a le strike past Napoli's defeo equalize.

  In the sed half, Napoli relentlessly attacked Lecce, registering 28 shots, nine on target, but they just couldn't find anoal. The matded 1-1, a frustrating draw away from home.

  However, the result did little to affeapoli's position at the top.

  Inter Min had already e to terms with losing the title. Their morale had dropped, and it showed as they were held 2-2 by Verona.

  Mourinho's side led twice but were pegged back both times, leaving the Puese manager furious on the sidelines.

  Three days ter, at the Stadio Olimpi Rome…

  Coppa Italia Final – Napoli vs. Sampdoria

  Walter Mazzarri stuck to his usual 3-5-2 formation, while Gao Shen deployed his best XI, setting up in a 4-3-3 attag system.

  Napoli were here to win.

  And they wasted no time proving it.

  4th minute – Goal!

  Sánchez received a pass on the left wing, feinted past his marker, cut i the edge of the box, and curled a right-footed strike into the far er.

  Napoli 1-0 Sampdoria!

  From then on, Napoli dominated.

  17th minute – Goal!

  This time, it was Di María cutting in from the right before suddenly squaring the ball to Lichtsteiner, whed forward from full-back. His low cross into the box found i, who met it with a powerful header from cle.

  Napoli 2-0 Sampdoria!

  Napoli were ruthless, creating ce after ce.

  But in the 31st minute, Sampdoria hit back.

  During a terattack, Cassano floated a diagonal cross to the back post. Bonucci went up for the cleara, under pressure, could only head it weakly into the ter of the box.

  Pazzied first, direg a header into the far er.

  Napoli 2-1 Sampdoria!

  Sed Half – Napoli turn up the pressure.

  Napoli came out firing after the break.

  47th minute – Goal!

  Rakitic received the ball 26 meters from goal and unleashed a rocket of a shot that flew past the keeper into the top er.

  Napoli 3-1 Sampdoria!

  The match was now all but decided.

  But Napoli weren't finished.

  59th minute – Di María's cross from the right found Sánchez, who fired a cle shot off the post. i tched onto the rebound, but his shot was brilliantly saved by the goalkeeper.

  60th minute – Vargas swung in a cross from the left, pig out i at the penalty spot. The Uruguayan volleyed first-time only to see the ball crash off the crossbar.

  After the hour mark, Gao Shen made substitutions, seg his side's lead while giving some pyers a rest.

  Sampdoria, realizing they had no way back, offered little resistance.

  Mazzarri tried making ges, but it was too te.

  Final whistle.

  Napoli 3-1 Sampdoria – Coppa Italia Champions!

  Napoli had domihe final, showg their superiority.

  Their victory sent shockwaves across Italy.

  With the Serie A title all but secured and the Champions League final approag, Napoli faed iands at the Stadio Olimpico, ting:

  "Treble! Treble! Treble!"

  Napoli had their first trophy of 2009. Was this just the beginning?

  ***

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