Chapter 1436: The Medal for Suffering Travels
Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios

Ye Zhizhou could not help but look surprised. “Oh? There’s such a thing?”

Ye Zhizhou had heard of this Stamford car before.

This name might sound western but it was actually established in 1960 as a native company. It was a high-tech company that specialized in new energy, batteries, IT, cars, and other technologies. It had seven large production bases in the country.

In the field of domestic new energy cars, Stamford’s technical accumulation was second to none. The market share was not bad.

However, the problem was that its name sounded very fake and low-class. It severely held it back.

The official explanation for this name was “STF”, which meant “Seize the future”.

As a new energy car company, the meaning of this name was quite accurate.

However, the problem was that no one bought it. That was because this explanation was forced to find an explanation after Stamford’s car really expanded and realized the brand problem.

In fact, someone had interviewed the founder of the Stamford car a few years ago. The founder’s answer at that time was that the reason why this name was named was because the two and four names that he had originally thought of had been snatched up. The three names were easier to pass, so this name was finalized.

To put it bluntly, the creator of Stamford car had not thought about the brand at that time.

That was normal. There were so many startups in the country every year. There were many companies that went bankrupt. As a new company’s primary goal was to survive, who could have thought so far ahead and predicted that they would develop into a top company in twenty years and be troubled by the brand problem?

It was just like many web novel authors. They would try one name but fail again but still fail again. They would try again and again until they lost their name and passed.

Many years later, when he became famous, his fans were fixed, and his pen name could not be changed. He could only participate in various activities with strange online names. Those who heard about it would feel sad, and those who saw it would shed tears.

What’s more, many people guessed that there was a hidden reason why the founder was too embarrassed to tell them.

The company had set up the Stamford Cars in ’96. At that time, companies liked to come up with westernized names that were disguised as foreign brands.

That was because that was the atmosphere in the entire market at that time. Consumers generally thought that western brands were good. The quality was reliable and the technology was strong. Thus, many companies at that time deliberately named them as foreign brands. They said that they were deceiving consumers or adapting to the market environment. In any case, they were all for the initial survival problem.

However, with the rise of domestically-produced goods in recent years, domestic consumers gradually stopped being superstitious about western brands. Instead, they did their best to support outstanding products in the country. The change in environment made the problem of the brand of Stamford car the biggest shortcoming.

In the past, many consumers would have a good impression of foreign brands once they heard their names. However, now, a domestic brand that was similar to foreign brands would only give people a strong feeling of copycat. It had become a synonym for Low.

Even though Stamford’s boss was a practical person, he was not very good at bragging. The products that he launched were relatively cheap. Thus, even though he was very technical and had a good market share, the brand could not be built.

The cooperation with Shenhua Corporation this time was obviously because of Shenhua Corporation’s brand strength.

Shenhua Corporation might not have much brand appeal in the field of cars but they had a lot of brand appeal in the internet and smart hardware! One of these two companies was good at hardware and the other was good at software. The best combination point was the automatic driving technology of new energy cars!

Ye Zhizhou had not expected to receive such a pleasant surprise.

Obviously, they did not publicize the fact that they were working closely with Shenhua Corporation. Thus, many people in the outside world did not know about it.

However, given the strength of the two companies, many people would definitely be shocked once the research results were released.

Ye Zhizhou was elated. “Alright, if the new car that Stamford and Shenhua made can also take the initiative to enter ‘Safe and Civilized Driving’, then it would obviously be a very competitive catfish!”

Lin Wan took out her cell phone. “I’ll give you the contact of the person-in-charge now…. Yes, let’s ask the person-in-charge to come over. We’ll talk in person.”

“Based on what I know so far, even though the two companies are about to enter the mass-production stage, we have not completely reached a consensus on the name, brand positioning, marketing strategy, and so on regarding this car model. We have not thought of a particularly suitable plan.”

“If we can get in touch with Tengda as well, with Shenhua and Tengda’s dual support, the brand value of this new car will definitely skyrocket. This cooperation will definitely become a triple-win situation.”

Once he heard the words ‘marketing strategy’, Ye Zhizhou perked up. “Isn’t it just a publicity plan? I’m good at it!”

“Meng Chang has already taught me all the Pei family publicity methods that he had carefully summarized. ‘Safe and Civilized Driving’ is considered a small test. The effect is still alright.”

Lin Wan was stunned. “The Pei family’s publicity method? There’s such a thing?”

She felt confused. She had worked in Tengda Games and Shang Yang Games for so long, but she had never heard of this concept.

Ye Zhizhou nodded. “This concept has only been around recently. It was summarized by Meng Chang in Tengda’s long-term publicity work.”

“However, Boss Pei has actually used the Pei family’s publicity method many times. It’s just that we are not very talented in this area and don’t understand it. Think about the publicity plans for so many projects in the past. Which one of them did not look extremely ridiculous but have unexpectedly good results?”

A realization dawned on Lin Wan. “I see!”

“I’ll contact the person-in-charge of the project over there now. However, they are also rather busy over there. After all, they are about to be released and there are some details that need to be adjusted. How about this? I’ll discuss with them and ask them to come to Jingzhou next week at the latest!”

…

…

January 30th, Wednesday…

On the nameless island where the Suffering Travels was located.

Qiao Liang was the last to climb the cliff of Shanghai Island. He was so tired that he lay on the ground.

He looked at the others. They were not much better. All of them were twisted around, feeling like their bodies had been hollowed out.

Everyone had become tanner after an entire month of exposure to the sun.

This group of people might have taken the opportunity to apply sunblock on their faces and bodies, but sunblock was not omnipotent. Their skins would inevitably become bronze if they were to be exposed to the sun in such an environment.

On the other hand, Bao Xu was slightly tanner, but he could not tell. After all, he had been through hundreds of battles.

Bao Xu pressed the timer in his hand and said, “Alright, that’s all for today’s training program.”

“I announce that the second episode of Suffering Travels has ended perfectly!”

Everyone immediately felt relieved and revived.

It was finally over!

People like Qiao Liang, Yu Pingan, and Chen Yufeng, who had relatively weaker tolerance, almost cried tears of joy on the spot.

A month? Do you know how we spent this month? Huh?

They had suffered too much on this deserted island. They had instinctively forgotten that there was still a month of indoor training before the island. Now that they thought about it, indoor training was as easy as a holiday!

Sa Ziran took out the memorial and certificate that he had prepared beforehand.

Bao Xu looked saintly. “Now, I present the ascetics medal. Please stand in a row.”

Previously, everyone had been lying on the ground, exhausted and did not want to move. However, when they heard that the medal was going to be awarded, they quickly got up from the ground and stood in a row.

Sa Ziran and Li Yaling helped Bao Xu with the medals and certificates. Bao Xu took the corresponding medals and certificates and awarded them one by one.

Qiao Liang’s face was filled with anticipation.

One of the most important reasons why he could persevere in the tough training of Suffering Travels was that he was filled with expectations for the title of the ascetic and the various benefits that it brought.

Of course, the most important reason was that this was an deserted island. He could not escape even if he wanted to.

However, no matter what, this was an honor!

“You’ve worked hard!” Bao Xu took the medal and certificate from Sa Ziran after shaking hands with Qiao Liang. He handed them to Qiao Liang and continued to send the next person.

Qiao Liang played with the ascetic medal happily.

The workmanship was very exquisite and was very valuable for collection!

This was an irregular medal with three levels of engraving on it.

At the bottommost level was a huge shield. There were many long swords under the shield. The hilts were facing up and the tips of the swords were facing down. It was in the shape of a Peacock Screen.

There was another layer of engraving on the shield. There were tall mountains, steep mountains, and swift rivers flowing into the sea. In short, it reflected the godly work of nature.

On the topmost level, on top of a steep cliff, a small person was trying hard to climb, representing the image of an ascetic.

Qiao Liang loved this medal to the core.

Absolute!

It had to be said that Tengda was Tengda. This commemorative stamp was so exquisite and very memorable because it had a deep cultural connotation.

When he saw it, he would naturally recall the outstanding years that he had spent on Suffering Travels!

Qiao Liang decided that this medal must be kept as a family heirloom forever. Then, he would be able to brag to his son and grandson.

Do you know about Suffering Travels? This is your daddy/grandfather’s military seal!

Then, he looked at the certificate.

The cover of the certificate was also special. There was also a metal engraving process. It felt heavy in his hand.

The symbol on the cover was also related to the symbol on the commemorative stamp.

When he opened the certificate, the words written inside were very pleasing to Qiao Liang.

“The ascetic, Qiao Liang, in the second episode of the Suffering Travels (December 2012 – January 2013), he worked hard and persevered. He displayed an indomitable fighting spirit and specially awarded the title ‘Tenacious ascetic’!”

There was also an inscription, time, and stamp below. It was very formal.

Qiao Liang could not help but feel elated. At the same time, he heaved a sigh of relief.

Alright, alright. I thought the final title would be something like ‘bottom-tier member’!

Tenacious ascetic? This title was not bad. It showed his outstanding quality very well!

Qiao Liang could not help but look at Ruan Guangjian. “What is your title?”

That was because the announcement had said that they would record the results of this episode. If this rule was not canceled, everyone should obtain different titles..