-85- It's all money

Zhao Jinghuan said: "I want you to terminate the contract with Wanfeng's mother and return Wanfeng's IP." Hu Mingyuan looked at her coldly: "How did you know about the TD Club?" Zhao Jinghuan did not answer, but Hu Mingyuan figured it out himself: "Oh, by the way, Dorasi and that guy went to TD Club." His tone suddenly became vicious, "So Zhao Jinghuan, do you think I'm scared because of this? It's just money. If TD Club doesn't buy Mr. Hu Zi, I will continue to do it myself. It was originally my IP, my hard work, and I don't want to sell it!" Zhao Jinghuan said: "But what makes you think that if you let the situation ferment, your Mr. Hu Zi will still be unaffected and continue to sell?" Hu Mingyuan was stunned for a moment. He seemed to be angered by this sentence. He slammed the table and stood up, scaring Zhao Jinghuan and Lu Kai. He pointed at Zhao Jinghuan: "Zhao Jinghuan, don't scare me, I tell you! You want to play, I will accompany you to the end! I, Hu Mingyuan, am not a person who admits to being scared! You want me to give in, you are blinding your heart!!" He yelled until his face flushed red, a vein popping out on one side of his body. Everyone in Starbucks turned their gazes, and the employees behind the coffee counter were whispering to each other, clearly discussing countermeasures. Fearing Hu Mingyuan was about to attack again, Lu Kai stood up with him, ready to stop her. Zhao Jinghuan, however, was neither anxious nor annoyed. She looked up at Hu Mingyuan for a moment before saying, "Hu Mingyuan, what are we doing? We're just making a toy, why are you making so much hysteria?" Hu Mingyuan glared at her: "It's all because of you. I had good intentions at the beginning and gave you the HEC spot." He lightly put the blame on Zhao Jinghuan again, but Zhao Jinghuan was anxious and didn't argue with him. She just said: "But no matter what, our original intention was not this. Why do you want to make trendy toys? Is it to win, to vent your anger, to suppress others?" Hu Mingyuan snorted coldly: "Are you going to talk about value?" Zhao Jinghuan shook her head: "It's not value, it's just facts. Look at what we have become now. You recorded a video of us beating you, causing Waikiki to disband, and then Tomato said you were a pua, and then let netizens judge you. Even if we don't talk about our original intentions, just say, is what we are doing now really related to toys?" Zhao Jinghuan said, "I recently designed a toy, and you might have seen it. It's called 'A Million Ways,' and it's a cat holding various weapons. I was actually a little angry when I made it, after all, I had just learned about T...

Zhao Jinghuan said: "I want you to terminate the contract with Wanfeng's mother and return Wanfeng's IP."

Hu Mingyuan looked at her coldly: "How did you know about TD Club?"

Zhao Jinghuan didn't answer, but Hu Mingyuan figured it out on his own: "Oh, right, Dorasi and that guy went to TD." His tone suddenly turned vicious, "So, Zhao Jinghuan, do you think I'm scared? It's just about money. If TD doesn't buy Mr. Huzi, I'll continue to do it myself. That's my IP, my hard work, and I don't want to sell it!"

Zhao Jinghuan said, "But what makes you think that if you let the situation continue to escalate, your Mr. Huzi will remain unaffected and can continue to sell?"

Hu Mingyuan was stunned for a moment. He seemed to be angered by this. He slammed the table and stood up, startling Zhao Jinghuan and Lu Kai. He pointed at Zhao Jinghuan and said, "Zhao Jinghuan, stop trying to scare me. I'm telling you! If you want to play around, I'll definitely play along to the end! I, Hu Mingyuan, am not someone who gives in! You want me to give in? You're going to make you lose your mind!"

He yelled until his face flushed red, and a vein popped out on one side of his face. Everyone in Starbucks looked over, and the employees behind the coffee counter were whispering to each other, obviously discussing countermeasures.

Lu Kai was afraid Hu Mingyuan was going to attack again, so he stood up with him, ready to stop her. Zhao Jinghuan, however, was neither anxious nor annoyed. She looked up at Hu Mingyuan for a moment before saying, "Hu Mingyuan, what are we doing? We're just making a toy, why are you making such a fuss?"

Hu Mingyuan glared at her: "It's all because of you. I gave you my spot in the HEC out of kindness in the beginning."

He casually shifted the blame onto Zhao Jinghuan again, but Zhao Jinghuan was too anxious to argue with him. She simply said, "But no matter what, this wasn't our original intention. Why did you start a trendy toy business? Was it to win, to vent your anger, or to outdo others?"

Hu Mingyuan snorted coldly: "Are you going to increase the value?"

Zhao Jinghuan shook his head. "It's not about value, it's just facts. Look at what we've gotten into now. You recorded us beating you up, causing Waikiki to disband, and then later on, you called Tomato a pua and let netizens judge you. Even if we don't talk about our original intentions, let's just say, is what we're doing really related to toys?"

Zhao Jinghuan said, "I recently designed a toy, as you might have seen. It's called 'A Million Ways,' and it features cats wielding various weapons. I was actually a bit furious when I made it, having just learned that TD Entertainment was paying for my IP. But anger is also passion, and once I actually started creating and drawing the illustrations, all those distracting thoughts vanished."

She chuckled, "When I was painting, I felt like a genius. The image I was about to create could be said to be timeless and groundbreaking. Although when I look at it after it's all finished, I feel that it's not as good as I originally imagined. But during the creation process, the feeling was real. I asked Lu Kai and Dorasi, and they felt the same way when they were creating it."

Hu Mingyuan looked at her quietly: "What do you want to say?"

Zhao Jinghuan said, "I just want to ask, what about you? Was it the same when you were creating Mr. Hu Zi?"

Hu Mingyuan said with some disdain, "I'm different from you guys. I won't doubt myself after I finish my work. Even if I look at it now, Mr. Hu is still the coolest."

Zhao Jinghuan smiled and said, "Yes, you are more conceited." She took out an unsealed Pixz from her handbag and placed it on the table. She faced Hu Mingyuan and said, "You designed this doll too, right?"

Hu Mingyuan frowned and remained silent. Zhao Jinghuan continued, "When you designed Pixz, did you feel the same way? Did you feel that your design was unprecedented and astonishing?"

Hu Mingyuan gritted his teeth but still did not respond.

Zhao Jinghuan said, "You don't feel that way, right? You disliked Wanfeng's designs, so you remade them. But... don't you think it's ironic? You don't really like the Pixz you designed. No matter how many excuses you make for yourself, saying how sorry I am for you, how much you deserve revenge on me, you can't fool yourself. When you drew the first stroke, you knew this wasn't what you wanted."

Zhao Jinghuan said, "That's why I'm asking, what are we really doing? We're not exaggerating or adding value, and I don't think creation is sacred. I just want to ask, what are we really doing? We've turned the skills we rely on for a living into a tool for anger. Is that really right? Isn't that stupid?" She pushed the Pixz app on the table toward Hu Mingyuan. "And you, are you going to throw away a 15 million yuan acquisition contract for such a twisted product that you don't even like?"

When Zhao Jinghuan said this, he couldn't help laughing, as if he had asked a very stupid question.

Hu Mingyuan's expression shifted again and again, clearly shaken by Zhao Jinghuan's words. He was far more conceited than Lu Kai and Dorasi, and he even disagreed with Zhao Jinghuan's assertion that creation wasn't sacred. But it wasn't until Zhao Jinghuan pointed it out that he realized he'd gone too far down the wrong path.

Can……

Hu Mingyuan took a deep breath and continued to be stubborn: "Do you think that you can let this go by saying a few nice words?"

Lu Kai, who had been silent all this time, suddenly spoke: "1.5 million."

Zhao Jinghuan clearly hadn't anticipated Lu Kai's sudden response. She and Hu Mingyuan both looked at him. Lu Kai said, "I've asked Boss Chen, and the first batch of Pixz orders is only valued at over 900,000 yuan. We've been working with Boss Chen for so long, and since we haven't placed any subsequent orders, we can cancel them. Including promotional expenses, I'm willing to give you 1.5 million yuan."

Lu Kai said, "Give Wanfeng's IP back, and you'll get away with it. I'll pay you 1.5 million, and you'll still win."

Hu Mingyuan frowned and said nothing. Lu Kai changed the subject and said, "Now it's 1.3 million."

Hu Mingyuan sneered: "Do you fucking think you're pretty handsome?"

Lu Kai raised a finger: "120."

"Then let's not talk about it." Hu Mingyuan said as he stood up. Lu Kai immediately felt guilty and reached out to Hu Mingyuan, "No, no, no, 150, 150, and still 150!"

Hu Mingyuan was obviously hesitant. He tilted his head and looked at Lu Kai for a while, but did not give an answer. He just said, "I need to think about it."

Lu Kai and Zhao Jinghuan watched Hu Mingyuan turn and leave. No one could be sure when Hu Mingyuan would make a decision or what decision he would make in the end, so they couldn't help but worry. After all, the longer it took, the more difficult it would be for Hu Mingyuan to recover the losses he suffered, and the less necessary it would be for him to reconcile with Lu Kai and Zhao Jinghuan.

Lu Kai comforted Zhao Jinghuan: "No matter what, we did our best."

"Yeah." Zhao Jinghuan turned her head to look at Lu Kai, "1.5 million, eh? Do you really want to give it to him..."

Lu Kai said, "He has to give it to him, otherwise he won't willingly hand over the authorization of Wanfeng."

Zhao Jinghuan said, "But that's 1.5 million."

"Yes, one hundred." Lu Kai suddenly covered his chest and said, "Don't mention this number anymore. I can't breathe."

When the two came out of the cafe, Lu Kai suddenly asked Zhao Jinghuan with a red face if she wanted to go to his house in the evening.

After the studio recruited new people, the two no longer spent the night together. At first, it was to avoid suspicion, fearing that the new Tomato Xiao Liang would find out about their "office romance", think the studio was unreliable, and run away early. Moreover, the studio was indeed very busy before and after the launch of "A Million Ways".

After that, the sales of the new product stabilized, and Xiao Liang officially boarded the "pirate ship", but then the pixz incident happened again.

Now, both of them have made all the efforts and concessions they can make. There is nothing they can do except wait for the results, and they have freed up their time and energy all of a sudden.

So Zhao Jinghuan blushed and nodded, saying, "Okay."

Lu Kai drove Zhao Jinghuan back to his home. After not doing it for a while, the two of them became shy again. They were clearly thinking about that kind of thing, but they were both pretending, embarrassed to get straight to the point.

After arriving home, Lu Kai ran to the vegetable market to sell vegetables first, then put on an apron and rushed into the kitchen, busy cooking several dishes that Zhao Jinghuan liked.

By the time he finished cooking, it was already late. The two of them didn't say anything, but when the food was on the table, they tacitly lowered their heads and ate faster, eating at the speed of a firefighter, trying to buy more time for the subsequent activities.

Lu Kai shoveled his food into his mouth in big mouthfuls. As soon as the bowl was empty, he stood up, not caring whether he had not swallowed everything in his mouth, and said incoherently: "It's... It's so hot, I'm going to take a shower."

He rushed into the bathroom without even taking his phone. When the sound of the shower came from the bathroom, Lu Kai's phone, which he had thrown on the dining table, lit up.

He didn't even have a password set on his phone. Zhao Jinghuan saw that the message was from Hu Mingyuan, so he reached out and clicked it.

——"I agree, 1.5 million, let Zhao Jinghuan release a clarification video."