-45- Exposed

Lu Kai was actually a little worried, fearing no one would actually record Tiezui's livestream, which would mean his suffering would be in vain. Fortunately, the next morning, Blue Star Tiezui's account directly released a clip of Lu Kai's "backflip New Year's greeting" livestream. This caused Lu Kai to feel somewhat complicated. "If I don't want this clip to be leaked, it would be like backstabbing..." Within five minutes of the livestream clip being released, it had already amassed tens of thousands of views. Zhao Jinghuan, who had heard the news from the group, opened Douyin. In the video, the table that had been moved to the side hadn't completely moved out of the frame when Lu Kai "flopped" and knelt down, causing the "Freckles" on the table to vibrate. Zhao Jinghuan watched the clip over and over again, and suddenly a thought struck her. She then wrote in the comments section: "Doesn't anyone think that little doll in the back is cute?" More than half an hour later, Blue Star Tiezui's account pinned Zhao Jinghuan's comment to the top. The number of likes on that comment climbed steadily, just like the sales of "Freckles" that followed over the next month. Lu Kai's "New Year's greetings backflip" sparked renewed buzz, but this repetitive behavior also drew criticism, with some accusing him of deliberately messing up and playing the clown for attention. Lu Kai knew the criticism was well-deserved, but fortunately, it ultimately attracted even more attention, leading to a small surge in his inspirational message during the livestream: "This is a six-year backflip." Sales of the "Spider" brand saw a second surge, with some people making jokes about Lu Kai's backflip and the product, and bloggers in the niche category meticulously analyzing its design. It was like... Lu Kai lit the fuse, and the explosion of fireworks captivated everyone's attention. In less than a month, all 300,000 "Spider" products had been shipped from the warehouse. This was just two months after the launch of the "Literary Spirit" product line. Mr. Zhou, Waikiki's original partner, approached, still holding the contract for the previous Spider product line, originally scheduled for release around Christmas. Lu Kai and his team had previously begged Boss Zhou to move up the schedule, but only after being met with rebuff did they redo the current "Literary Spirit." Boss Zhou, evidently aware of the popularity of Little Freckles, had specifically called to ask if Lu Kai wanted to increase the order for his series. After some discussion in Waikiki, the team decided to increase the order, but the additional order would still be for the "Literary Spirit" produced in collaboration with Boss Chen's new factory. As for Boss Zhou, they paid some liquidated damages, "redeeming...

Lu Kai was actually a little worried, afraid that no one would record Tiezui's live broadcast, and then his suffering would be in vain. Fortunately, the next morning, Blue Star Tiezui's account directly released a clip of Lu Kai's live broadcast of "backflip New Year's greetings."

This made Lu Kai feel somewhat complicated.

"If I don't want this clip to be leaked, it would be considered a backstab..."

Less than five minutes after the live broadcast was released, it had already received tens of thousands of views. Zhao Jinghuan, who got the news from the group, opened Douyin. In the video, the table that had been moved to the side had not yet completely moved out of the camera. When Lu Kai "flopped" and knelt down, the freckles on the table vibrated along with it.

Zhao Jinghuan looked at the slices again and again. Suddenly, something occurred to her, and she wrote in the comment section:

"Doesn't anyone think that little doll in the back is cute?"

More than half an hour later, Lan Xing Tie Zui's account pinned Zhao Jinghuan's comment to the top of the page.

The number of likes for that comment kept climbing, just like the sales of Freckles kept climbing in the following month.

…………

Lu Kai's "backflip after New Year's greetings" once again brought a wave of popularity, but this "habitual offender" behavior also attracted a lot of criticism, saying that he deliberately messed up and acted like a clown to attract attention.

Lu Kai knew in his heart that the criticism he received was not unjust. Fortunately, these criticisms eventually attracted more onlookers, making his words "This is a six-year backflip" said during the live broadcast go viral in a small circle.

As a result, the sales of Little Freckles also ushered in a second wave of rapid growth. Some people began to make jokes about Lu Kai's backflip and Little Freckles, and some vertical bloggers also seriously analyzed the design language of Little Freckles.

It was like... Lu Kai lit the fuse, and then the exploding fireworks attracted everyone's attention.

In less than a month, all 300,000 freckles were shipped from the warehouse.

At this time, only two months had passed since the launch of the "Literary Spirit" series of products by Eddie Redmayne.

Waikiki's original partner, Boss Zhou, came over. He still had a contract for a previous series of products from the "Freckles" brand, originally scheduled for release around Christmas. Lu Kai and his team had previously begged Boss Zhou to move up the release date, but only after being met with rebuff did they revamp the "Literary Spirit" brand. Boss Zhou, evidently aware of the popularity of the "Freckles" brand, had called Lu Kai to inquire about increasing orders for the previous series.

After some discussion, the Waikiki team decided to add another product, though it was still the "Literary Spirit" product, a collaboration with Boss Chen's new factory. As for Boss Zhou, they paid some liquidated damages, "redeemed" the contract, temporarily shelved the old Freckles line, and continued to fully promote "Literary Spirit," striving to elevate Freckles to a near-first-tier product.

Boss Chen worked overtime to continue shipping "Literary Spirit". Everything was going smoothly in Waikiki, with online and offline sales continuing to rise. The freckles blind boxes coming out of the factory could be sent directly to various places without having to stay in the warehouse overnight.

After the New Year's Day holiday, the year-end review videos of various vertical bloggers have been released one after another. In addition to the popularity of labubu's trendy toys going overseas, the popularity of Speckled has also become the annual keyword for many bloggers.

Hu Mingyuan, who had planned everything, watched helplessly as the sales of Little Freckles took off, but he was powerless to do anything. Long and short videos praising and even bragging about Little Freckles were popping up on various software, and he couldn't report them all.

Even the following year, at a company market seminar, the marketing director who had worked with him for three years actually used the popular "Little Freckles" as an observation and prediction for the new year's market trends. Hu Mingyuan, feeling "hit home," finally couldn't help himself and, picking up the tablet on the table, threw it at the projection screen, startling everyone in the room.

"Freckles, Freckles! Compare yourself to this kind of trash! Do you want us to become trash too?" He pointed at his marketing director and yelled, "How can you be a marketing director? Just ask any netizens online, and they'll all know that Freckles is selling well because their idiotic boss is making a fool of himself! Tell me, how universal is this? How representative is it? You use that kind of garbage as a reference. What's your reasoning? Not everything that's popular is good! It's such a simple truth, and you don't understand it?"

Hu Mingyuan stormed out, then stormed off, shutting himself in his office. The marketing director who was being scolded was a few years older than Zhao Jinghuan, but still a young woman under 30. After being lashed out by Hu Mingyuan, she couldn't help herself and burst into tears as soon as she left the meeting room. The rest of the company was also bewildered, unable to understand why the usually mild-mannered Hu Mingyuan had become so hysterical.

Zhao Jinghuan sympathized with the marketing director who had been inexplicably scolded, but seeing Hu Mingyuan's defenses break down still made her secretly happy. The entire day, the entire company seemed shrouded in a gloomy cloud, except for Zhao Jinghuan, who was in a bright mood and seemed to enjoy everything.

When it was almost time to get off work, Zhao Jinghuan's cell phone suddenly rang. When she found out it was Sister Zou calling, her heart tightened for no reason. Zhao Jinghuan vaguely had an idea that it would be better to pretend that she didn't hear it and let the phone keep ringing until Sister Zou hung up.

But she also understood that you can't avoid the fifteenth day even if you can avoid it on the first day.

When the call was connected, Sister Zou asked her why she hadn't been talking in the group recently. Zhao Jinghuan casually said that the company was too busy. Sister Zou on the other end of the phone was obviously stunned for a moment:

"Why are you working so hard again? Can't you help it?"

Zhao Jinghuan stammered and glossed over the situation, and Sister Zou didn't ask any further questions. She simply told her, "It's been a bit busy here on New Year's Day, so we didn't get together for dinner. Are you free tomorrow night? Let's get together. Invite your roommates, too, and we can have dinner together."

Zhao Jinghuan agreed readily, but after hanging up the phone, she regretted it. She spent the rest of the day trying to figure out a reason to cancel the next day's party. After much deliberation, she came to the conclusion that feigning illness was the only option. So when Ji Anya returned to the dormitory that night, she found Zhao Jinghuan lying in bed, a cold water bag pressed against her forehead, nearly dead.

Ji Anya was a little surprised: "What's wrong with you? Weren't you fine when you left this morning?"

Zhao Jinghuan said that she didn't know what was going on, and then said weakly, "There will be a dinner in Waikiki tomorrow, and Sister Zou asked me to call you over as well."

"It's a pity that I can't go... You can go by yourself. We all know each other well anyway."

Ji Anya nodded, but her expression was full of suspicion. Zhao Jinghuan could vaguely sense that Ji Anya was planning something, but she couldn't be 100% sure. She lay in bed, paying close attention, and then she saw Ji Anya go to the bathroom with a cup of water. The faucet gurgled for a while, and Ji Anya came out with an almost full cup of water and stood in front of Zhao Jinghuan's bed.

——If she wanted to drink water, there was no reason for her to go to the bathroom sink to get it.

"What...what's wrong Anya?"

Ji Anya shook her hands violently, pretending to splash water at Zhao Jinghuan. Zhao Jinghuan was shaken by her and suddenly sat up, her head hitting the upper bunk with a "bang". She screamed, covering her head and shouting at Ji Anya: "What are you doing!"

Full of energy.

Ji Anya frowned at her and asked, "Why are you pretending to be sick?"

Zhao Jinghuan realized that he had been exposed, but he still rubbed the big bump on his head and said stubbornly: "I... I am not pretending to be sick... I..."

Ji Anya's hand suddenly trembled again, and Zhao Jinghuan dodged backward, this time hitting her back against the wall. She was so angry that she yelled at Ji Anya, "Are you done yet?!"

Ji Anya was amused by her and climbed onto the bed to rub her sore back: "Alright, alright, who told you to pretend to be sick? What a lousy acting." Zhao Jinghuan said aggrievedly: "Can't you just cover up for me? Do you have to expose me?"

Ji Anya said, "Yes, but you have to tell me the whole story. Everyone in Waikiki is your friend, why are you suddenly pretending to be sick?"

Zhao Jinghuan's face turned red: "I, I just don't want to go..." Ji Anya smelled the scent of gossip, moved forward, squinted her eyes and looked at Zhao Jinghuan, which made Zhao Jinghuan feel guilty.

"You...what are you doing?"

Ji Anya shook her finger: "It's not what I did? It's what you did?"

"I...I didn't do anything?"

"Okay." Ji Anya shrugged and climbed out of bed. "Then I'll go tell them tomorrow that you're pretending to be sick at home and don't want to come."

"Hey!" Zhao Jinghuan was a little anxious. "Ji Anya, which group are you on? Why are you leaning so far outward?"

Ji Anya said, who told you not to tell me the truth.

"I...I'm not lying...I'm...I'm..." Zhao Jinghuan blushed. "Well, I'll tell you, but you can't tell anyone else."

Ji Anya was a little speechless: "Who can I tell? So what did you do?"

"I...I..." Zhao Jinghuan said, "Don't say that to me. I'm telling you, no one can endure that situation."

"I know, I know. What on earth did you do?"

"I..." Zhao Jinghuan held her burning face: "I... I kissed him."