-39- Documents
On the way here, Zhao Jinghuan even thought that Lu Kai still owed her a wish. She was torn between whether or not to use that wish to force Lu Kai to comply if he refused. Naturally, she didn't want to go against Lu Kai's wishes, but she was also afraid of missing the best time to save themselves, which would later lead to regrets for both herself and Lu Kai. She hadn't expected Lu Kai to agree so readily. While this was supposed to be good news, the fact that it had all happened so smoothly left Zhao Jinghuan feeling vaguely uneasy. As they left Lu Kai's house, Zhao Jinghuan pulled Sister Zou aside and whispered about the matter. She intended to tell her that she was overthinking it, but she agreed. "Lu Kai isn't feeling right. He seems to be worried." Thus, their worries compounded, becoming a seemingly infinitesimal number, a truly overwhelming combination. But for a moment, they were unsure how to alleviate their anxiety. The people in Waikiki were too lazy to go back to the company and face those internet celebrities, so they took half a day off. However, Zhao Jinghuan still had to rush back to Mr. Hu. Lunch break was over, and although Zhao Jinghuan had already finished the work at hand, being late was still being late. Feeling guilty, she went to the door and deliberately peeked inside to make sure Hu Mingyuan was not blocking her at the door. Only then did she swipe her card to enter the company and run inside. Hu Mingyuan was indeed not blocking her at the door, but was sitting at her workstation. Zhao Jinghuan couldn't help but sigh when she saw Hu Mingyuan waiting for her. Hu Mingyuan turned around in his chair and looked like a judge on "The Voice of China". "What were you doing?" Zhao Jinghuan evaded the question. "It's my fault for being late. I apologize." Hu Mingyuan said, "I asked you what you were doing?" Zhao Jinghuan felt annoyed. "It's my freedom to go wherever I want during my break." "Don't think I don't know where you've been." Hu Mingyuan stared at her for a moment. "Come to think of it, you haven't sent me the video of customers queuing up to buy Freckles in the past few days." Zhao Jinghuan didn't bother to talk to him. Since he was standing at his workstation, she decided not to sit down either. She walked past Hu Mingyuan, picked up the canvas bag on the table, and turned to leave. Hu Mingyuan was stunned for a moment, then stood up and chased after her, asking her why she was leaving early after being late. Zhao Jinghuan said nothing, while Hu Mingyuan, who was chasing after her, kept chattering, "You haven't answered me yet, why don't you send me the queue video? You'll be stupid now that the hype is over. I've seen this kind of thing too many times. You've gained it by being a clown...
On the way here, Zhao Jinghuan even thought that Lu Kai still owed her a wish. She was a little conflicted, wondering whether she should use that wish to force Lu Kai to "surrender" if Lu Kai refused. She naturally didn't want to go against Lu Kai's will, but she was afraid of missing the best "self-rescue time". In the future, both she and Lu Kai would regret it.
But I didn't expect Lu Kai to agree so readily.
In theory, this should have been good news, but it all happened too smoothly, which made Zhao Jinghuan vaguely uneasy.
When they were leaving Lu Kai's house, Zhao Jinghuan pulled Sister Zou over and talked to her in a low voice about this matter. Her original intention was to make Sister Zou say that she was overthinking it, but Sister Zou said that she had the same opinion.
"Lu Kai's condition isn't right. He seems to be worried."
So, one person's worry was added to another's, becoming an incalculable amount of worry, truly making the sum of one greater than two. But for a moment, neither of them knew what they could do to alleviate this anxiety.
The people in Waikiki were too lazy to go back to the company to face those internet celebrities, so they gave themselves half a day off, but Zhao Jinghuan still had to rush back to Mr. Hu Zi.
The lunch break was over. Although Zhao Jinghuan had finished the work at hand long ago, being late was still being late. Feeling guilty, she went to the access control and looked inside on purpose to make sure that Hu Mingyuan was not blocking her at the door. Then she swiped her card to enter the company and ran in.
Hu Mingyuan did not block her at the door, but sat at her workstation.
Zhao Jinghuan couldn't help but sigh when he saw Hu Mingyuan sitting there waiting for something to happen. Hu Mingyuan turned around on the chair and looked like a judge on "The Voice of China".
"What did you do?"
Zhao Jinghuan avoided answering: "I am wrong to be late. I apologize."
Hu Mingyuan said, "I asked you what you were doing?"
Zhao Jinghuan felt annoyed. "It's my freedom to go wherever I want during my break."
"Don't think I don't know where you've been." Hu Mingyuan stared at her for a while. "Come to think of it, you haven't sent me any videos of customers lining up to buy Freckles these past few days."
Zhao Jinghuan was too lazy to talk to him. Since he was standing at his workstation and refused to leave, she simply gave up her seat. She walked past Hu Mingyuan, picked up the canvas bag on the table, turned around and left. Hu Mingyuan was stunned for a moment, then stood up and caught up with her, asking her if she was late enough but also wanted to leave early?
Zhao Jinghuan remained silent, while Hu Mingyuan, who was chasing after her, chattered non-stop, "You haven't answered me yet. Why haven't you sent me the queue video? You'll be stupid now that the hype has worn off. I've seen this kind of thing a lot. Relying on clowns to gain traffic won't last long."
Zhao Jinghuan was almost nervous when she heard the word "clown". Unable to suppress her anger, she turned around and said, "You're not a clown. Where are the players lining up to buy Mr. Beard? If you're jealous, just say you're jealous!"
The two of them were almost at the gate. With no colleagues around, Hu Mingyuan became even more relaxed. "Why should I be jealous? How much did Little Freckles sell for? Thirty, fifty, or so? Do you know how many Mr. Beards I sold in my first two series? I sold nearly seven hundred thousand."
Zhao Jinghuan said, "Is 700,000 a truly remarkable number? Labubu's sales exceeded 1 billion last year."
Hu Mingyuan was stunned. "Why don't you let me compare my historical status with Jordan? I'm talking about Edison Chen."
"What's wrong with Little Freckles? The sales of Little Freckles will surpass yours sooner or later." Zhao Jinghuan was stunned after saying this. If Hu Mingyuan hadn't suddenly made trouble, she would have almost forgotten her original intention - her original plan was to make Little Freckles the IP that crushed Mr. Hu Zi.
Hu Mingyuan was also a little excited: "Even if you give me 100 years, Little Freckles still can't surpass me."
Zhao Jinghuan said with disdain: "It doesn't take 100 years, one year is enough."
"Stop bragging."
"Want to make a bet?"
"What's the bet?"
"Bet ten million."
Hu Mingyuan was stunned for a moment: "Where the hell do you have 10 million?!"
Zhao Jinghuan asked him what he wanted to bet on, and Hu Mingyuan said, "Let's bet 10,000 yuan."
Zhao Jinghuan's heart tightened, and he shook his head repeatedly: "That won't work."
Hu Mingyuan narrowed his eyes at her and said, "You just said you were going to bet 10 million."
The two argued for a while before finally agreeing that if Speckled Dog's sales surpassed Mr. Huzi's within a year, Zhao Jinghuan would immediately leave Hu Mingyuan's company. Conversely, if Speckled Dog's sales still lagged behind Mr. Huzi's within a year, Zhao Jinghuan would pay Hu Mingyuan 5,000 yuan.
In the end, both of them felt that the "stakes" for the bet were actually unimportant. Winning or losing itself, or the resentment called "desire to win" that was pent up in their chests was enough to make them give their all.
After the bet was made, Zhao Jinghuan called Sister Zou, volunteered, and asked if he could help.
At the time, Sister Zou had just received a list of influencers from her distributor who wanted to collaborate with Waikiki or Lu Kai. She didn't trust Fanqie or Wanfeng, and was worried the list was too long and she wouldn't be able to handle it. So she split the list in half and gave it to Zhao Jinghuan. The two of them used the list to review influencers, looking at those they could find a slice of, and watching those they couldn't find a slice of. It took them six or seven days to whittle the long list down to just three.
When I was hesitating in the final round, the lady from the Investment Promotion Office of the High-tech Zone suddenly called and said that the internet celebrity blogger "Blue Star Iron Mouth" in the jurisdiction hoped to cooperate with Waikiki, and specifically found the Investment Promotion Office, hoping that the district could act as a matchmaker.
Zou's response to this was: "What a rubbish username."
Neither of them had heard of such a prominent figure in the local area. But looking at Lan Xing Tie Zui's account, a cultural and creative product promotion platform, he surprisingly had quite a few followers. Just flipping through his livestreams revealed a man in his twenties or thirties, acting mature, like a feather fan and walnuts, spouting classic quotes from Yilin while occasionally making up idioms. It was truly a headache. If it were up to Sister Zou, there would be no chance of collaborating with him. Zhao Jinghuan had the exact opposite opinion, and even went to meet with Sister Zou at her home after work.
The two ate the matcha cake Zhao Jinghuan had bought and discussed the choice of blogger. Zhao Jinghuan's statement was concise and to the point:
"The joint event between Hu Mingyuan and Wanda was spearheaded by the Investment Promotion Office."
Zhao Jinghuan's meaning was obvious. The staff of the Investment Promotion Office were pragmatic and capable. They had been working hard to promote cooperation between local companies. Establishing more contacts with them and maintaining good relationships would definitely bring many benefits in the long run.
"At least, if we can't stay in Sea Cliff Alley anymore, they can help us find an office space..."
Sister Zou smiled helplessly. Zhao Jinghuan was obviously joking, but seeing how the studio had been "besieged" recently, it was hard to say when she might be kicked out.
"Of course, there are other considerations," Zhao Jinghuan said. "Of the three bloggers we chose, one is in Hangzhou and two are in Changsha, both very far from us. Lu Kai has been quite popular lately, but he's still... what's the word? Oh, right, an amateur. An amateur running into someone else's home turf, wouldn't that make him something they could manipulate at will? What if they set a trap for Lu Kai during the live broadcast just to attract traffic? We'd be bullied and have no way to seek justice."
Sister Zou frowned and thought for a moment, admitting that this was indeed a problem. "Cooperating with that Blue Star guy has this advantage. With the district acting as a middleman, he shouldn't mess around."
Zhao Jinghuan struck while the iron was hot, pulling out the data she'd compiled earlier and showing Sister Zou the Blue Star Iron Mouth's recent product selections and analyzing its fan base. She chattered on for a long time, then looked up to find Sister Zou looking at her tenderly. Their eyes met, and Zhao Jinghuan blushed inexplicably.
She asked Sister Zou what was wrong.
"Nothing." Sister Zou said with a smile, "I just suddenly felt that you can already stand on your own."
…………
Zou Jie's compliment made Zhao Jinghuan so happy that she felt lightheaded for several days. Zou Jie's approval of Zhao Jinghuan wasn't just verbal. After seeing Zhao Jinghuan off that evening, she called Lu Kai. After discussing the matter, they ultimately decided to follow Zhao Jinghuan's advice and hand Lu Kai's online debut to local blogger Lan Xing Tie Zui.
The next day, Sister Zou took Lu Kai to meet with Blue Star Tiezui, and then began to connect with Blue Star's team.
A few days later, while Zhao Jinghuan was at work, Sister Zou sent her a rough draft of the livestream script, asking her to review it for any issues. Zhao Jinghuan had initially planned to review it after work, but couldn't resist. She clicked "Receive" on her laptop at her workstation and took a quick glance.
She didn't know that the company's backend software could actually monitor the general activities of computers connected to the company's wireless network, so she didn't expect that Hu Mingyuan in the office would soon see that she had just received a file titled "November 2, Blue Star Iron Mouth, Script Draft".
Author's Note
Yaunai
author
06-01
Happy Dragon Boat Festival everyone!
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