-38- Provoke
Sister Zou said, "It wasn't a big deal. Lu Kai came to work that day and was approached by an internet celebrity who was trying to capitalize on his popularity... well, it wasn't an internet celebrity, just a guy with a phone. He stopped Lu Kai and insisted he film a video with him. When Lu Kai refused, he started swearing and saying a lot of nasty things." Zhao Jinghuan asked her what he had said, and Sister Zou said, "Something about him saying, 'We're all just clowns here, so what's there to pretend to be? Are you superior to others?' Lu Kai was very upset. He told the guy, 'I'm different from you.' After that, I don't know what else they said, but they started fighting. In the end, Wanfeng pulled Lu Kai away." Sister Zou sighed and said, "Fortunately, it happened early in the morning, and the other bloggers who came to join in the fun hadn't arrived yet, so the whole process wasn't recorded. Otherwise, if the video of the fight was posted online, we'd be in big trouble. So... thank goodness." Zhao Jinghuan's first reaction was to excuse Lu Kai: "Recently, the internet has been full of videos making fun of Lu Kai. I get very angry when I see them, and Lu Kai must be in a bad mood too." "Yes, I know." Sister Zou suddenly felt a little emotional: "Oh, you said this incident. I thought that the higher sales of Freckles would be a good thing, but who would have thought that in the end, Lu Kai was unhappy, Dorasi was unhappy, and only Tomato was there laughing foolishly all day long." She turned her head to look at the workstation that now belonged to Lu Kai, "I haven't let Lu Kai come to work these days, and I don't know if he's feeling better now." As they were talking, Tomato and Evening Breeze came back from outside. They were surprised and happy to see Zhao Jinghuan coming: "Are you coming back to work?" Zhao Jinghuan felt a little embarrassed and shook her head, saying it wasn't time yet. "The contract stipulates that I must work for Mr. Huzi for a full year, but I just suddenly... suddenly felt like coming back." Tomato uttered an "Oh," then noticed his counter had been unplugged. He screamed, "My national sales counter!" Sister Zou rolled his eyes at him. "You're clearly 'pretending to be a national sales counter.'" She stopped Tomato from plugging it back in. "Stop it! You're back just in time. I have something serious to discuss with you." Wanfeng and Tomato returned to their workstations before Sister Zou said, "There might be a problem with Little Freckles' sales." Tomato, completely oblivious to the severity of the situation, continued to joke frivolously, "It's because you unplugged my sales counter, right?" Sister Zou glared at him, and he finally shut up. Sister Zou said, "The channel distributor gave us a...
Sister Zou said, "It wasn't a big deal. Lu Kai came to work that day and was approached by an internet celebrity who was trying to capitalize on his popularity... well, it wasn't really an internet celebrity, just a guy with a phone. He stopped Lu Kai and insisted he film a video together. When Lu Kai refused, he started swearing and saying a lot of nasty things."
Zhao Jinghuan asked her what the man had said, and Sister Zou said, "It basically said that everyone is out here to be a clown. What's there to pretend to be? Are you superior to others? Lu Kai was very unhappy. He told the man, 'I'm different from you.' After that, no one knew what else they said, but they started fighting. In the end, Wanfeng dragged Lu Kai away."
Sister Zou sighed and said, "Luckily, it happened early in the morning, and the other bloggers who wanted to join in the fun hadn't arrived yet, so the whole thing wasn't recorded. Otherwise, if the video of the fight had been posted online, we'd be in big trouble. So... thank goodness."
Zhao Jinghuan's first reaction was to excuse Lu Kai: "Recently, the internet has been full of videos mocking Lu Kai. I'm really angry when I see them. Lu Kai must be in a bad mood too."
"Yes, I know." Sister Zou suddenly sighed. "Oh, you mentioned this incident. I thought the increase in Little Freckles' sales would be a good thing, but who could have imagined that in the end, Lu Kai was unhappy, Dorasi was unhappy, and only Tomato was sitting there foolishly smiling every day." She turned her head to look at the workstation that now belonged to Lu Kai. "I haven't let Lu Kai come to work these past few days. I don't know if he's feeling better now."
As they were talking, Tomato and Evening Breeze came back from outside. They were both surprised and delighted to see Zhao Jinghuan coming. "Are you coming back to work?"
Zhao Jinghuan felt a little embarrassed and shook her head, saying that it wasn't time yet. "The contract stipulates that I must work for Mr. Huzi for a full year, but I just suddenly...suddenly wanted to come back and take a look."
Tomato uttered an "Oh!" before noticing his counter had been unplugged. He screamed, "My national sales counter!"
Sister Zou rolled her eyes at him. "That's clearly a 'pretend to be a national sales statistics device.'" She stopped Tomato from plugging it back in. "Stop it! You're back just in time. I have something important to discuss with you."
Wanfeng and Tomato returned to their workstations before Sister Zou said, "There might be a problem with the sales of Little Freckles."
Tomato was completely unaware of the importance of the problem and was still joking in a mean way: "It's because you pulled out my sales statistics device, right?" Only after being glared at by Sister Zou did he shut up obediently.
Ms. Zou said, "We've received some feedback from distributors in the past few days that the new wave of Little Freckles arriving at retailers isn't selling as well as we'd hoped. I think we need to actively save ourselves while the hype lasts."
She said that the channel distributor introduced us to several live-streaming anchors who were selling products. "The slot fees for top-tier anchors are too expensive. Even if they give us a discount due to their popularity, we still can't afford it. Fortunately, some mid-level anchors with good traffic have contacted us and can waive the slot fees and only take commissions. However, they still require Lu Kai to appear on the show. But I think this model is actually quite suitable for us."
Tomato clearly still didn't understand the situation: "If you think it's a good idea, then let Lu Kai go."
Sister Zou frowned and said nothing. Tomato then remembered the incident from the previous two days. "Oh, yes, Lu Kai might not be willing to show up in public right now." He asked Sister Zou again, "Then if we don't do the live streaming to sell the goods, will Little Freckles be unsaleable in the future?"
Ms. Zou said: "No one knows what the future will be like, but it seems that if we don't do something, the pressure on sales will be huge in the future."
Tomato said, "Then can I go for Lu Kai?"
The three of them looked at him with disgust, and Tomato finally curled his lips and said, "Okay, okay. I get it. Is it not okay for me to ask?"
After a discussion, Zhao Jinghuan felt that as long as he could persuade Lu Kai with both emotion and reason, he would definitely agree to participate in the promotion. After all, everyone had invested so much effort during this period, and Lu Kai himself had also invested a large sum of money. However, several "veterans" in Waikiki were not very confident. For Lu Kai, the "hard work" might make him think twice, but that large sum of money...
Sister Zou said, "How should I put it... Lu Kai may be stingy, but it's hard to say he's someone who cares deeply about money. Otherwise, he wouldn't have risked his entire fortune on Dorasi. He's just... passionate?" She sighed. "To put it nicely, I'm passionate, but to put it bluntly, I'm emotional. He's being ridiculed online right now, and I'm afraid asking him to participate in livestreaming at this time might only spark a rebellious reaction in him."
Tomato suddenly came up with an idea: "Then we should make good use of his rebellious psychology."
He paused and said mysteriously, "Do you know what 'provocation' is?"
Tomato's question left the three of them stunned. Sister Zou stared at him, "We all went to elementary school."
Tomato waved his hand, saying this was a standard phrasing for giving advice, and he wasn't looking down on them. "Let's say we saw an online debate. One person said Lu Kai was so popular lately, he must be selling products online, but many others said Lu Kai had lost such a big person, so he must be crying at home and wouldn't have the guts to run in front of the camera. Let's stimulate Lu Kai's rebelliousness this way, and we'll definitely get him hooked."
Sister Zou looked impatient, not even looking at Tomato who was giving her advice. She discussed with Zhao Jinghuan that they had to listen to Lu Kai's opinion first. Even if he really disagreed, they should think of other solutions quickly.
The downstairs of Waikiki was already occupied by various bloggers trying to catch Lu Kai. Asking Lu Kai to come back to work was not realistic. After discussing it, they decided to go to Lu Kai's house to find him. Sister Zou then called Lu Kai and asked if he was at home.
The food stall where they celebrated HEC last time was right outside Lu Kai's residential complex. Zhao Jinghuan had been curious about what Lu Kai's home looked like back then, and now she had finally seen it – a north-south apartment with two bedrooms and a living room, where only Lu Kai lived. There was hardly any clutter on the exposed surfaces of the house, all stored out of sight, making the house appear even cleaner and tidier.
After they entered the house, Lu Kai, wearing a loose T-shirt and with messy hair, poured them his freshly brewed chrysanthemum tea. Tomato praised him for actually knowing some hospitality skills, but it turned out that the praise was a bit premature.
Lu Kai either lived a life of "letting go" or simply rarely bought things he didn't need. He gave his only glass to Zhao Jinghuan, and Sister Zou and Wanfeng only got two bowls, one large and one small.
When it was Tomato's turn, there was only one plate left.
Tomato glared at Lu Kai: "Are you going to...feed the dog?"
Lu Kai said: "If you don't like it, I have another basin."
Sister Zou waved her hand and told them not to worry about the tableware. Then she told Lu Kai about the current situation.
While Sister Zou was talking, Lu Kai was quietly pouring tea for everyone. At first, no one could tell anything was wrong, but when Sister Zou talked about "selling goods online", the expression on Lu Kai's face suddenly became a little stiff.
Sister Zou explained, "I know you might not really want to be in the spotlight, but... this is probably a critical juncture."
Lu Kai frowned as he pondered, but his hand didn't stop pouring water. The broken plate in front of the tomato couldn't hold much water, and it was about to overflow. He quickly reached out to stop it, saying, "Okay, okay, why don't you change the basin for me?"
Lu Kai finally came back to his senses. He sat back on the sofa and didn't say anything for a long time, as if he was silently weighing the pros and cons.
The more he kept quiet, the less confident Sister Zou and the others became. Tomato and Sister Zou exchanged glances, each pointing to their chests, suggesting that it was time to employ the provocation techniques mentioned in the second semester of fifth grade. Sister Zou was still a little hesitant, but Tomato, on the other hand, didn't want to wait any longer. He abruptly stood up and said to Lu Kai, "Lu Kai, I know you went to elementary school too... Pah, pah, I mean, you don't even know what those internet celebrities downstairs have been saying about you in the past few days you've been away..."
Before Tomato could finish his words, Lu Kai suddenly interrupted him with a wave of his hand:
"That's all right. I'll go. It's not just for myself."
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