-65- Interests
The online abuse directed at Lu Kai, Waikiki, and even Little Sparrow continued for nearly a month before gradually easing. During this time, Lu Kai remained silent. He remained unwilling to address Wanfeng's death and the subsequent disputes that followed. As Sister Zou had predicted, feigning death wouldn't save them from the crisis. On the day the assault video went viral, Little Sparrow's subsequent Wanda collaboration event was urgently canceled. Despite the initial investment of manpower and materials, it was ultimately just a promotional event, and even its cancellation wouldn't be a fatal blow. The real problem lay with Waikiki's offline retailers. After the controversy erupted, they stopped purchasing from Waikiki to avoid risk. Some, having nearly sold out of their existing stock, pulled Little Sparrow from their shelves. Others, holding out for a few days, realized the situation wasn't working and contacted Zhao Jinghuan, demanding a refund. The contract terms were unfavorable to Waikiki. Considering the storage costs, Lu Kai, Zhao Jinghuan, and Tomato held a meeting and ultimately decided to refund the money but not the goods. After the distributors sent videos of their inventory, Zhao Jinghuan would negotiate a compromise compensation amount and pay it to them. The remaining goods would be left to the distributors to dispose of as they pleased. The compensation process kept Zhao Jinghuan and his team busy for a while, but once the compensation was settled, the studio had nothing else to do. Besides sitting and worrying, their only remaining task was to gather together and count the abusive private messages that had flooded into the backstage today, to estimate how long the wave of public opinion would last. However, even if they didn't say it out loud, Zhao Jinghuan, Lu Kai, and Tomato all knew that even if the verbal battle ended, Waikiki would likely never be the same again. The new series of Little Freckles, which was supposed to follow, was no longer necessary. Lu Kai was depressed, occasionally muttering that he had delayed Dorasi, but he didn't know what to do or how to make amends. But Sister Zou knew. However, Lu Kai hadn't made up his mind yet. Back at the studio, Tomato, who'd always been lazy, had suddenly become a model employee, arriving early and leaving late, even taking the initiative to clean. But he also had his less-than-model side. Occasionally, Tomato would leave the studio during work hours, spending most of the day gone. Upon returning, he'd always appear composed, though perhaps even revealing. Lu Kai was in a state of irritability, so it took him a few days longer than Zhao Jinghuan to realize...
The online abuse directed at Lu Kai, Waikiki, and even Eddie Redmayne lasted for nearly a month before gradually easing. During this time, Lu Kai never responded.
He was still unwilling to bring up Wanfeng's death and the disputes that followed his death.
The result was just as Sister Zou expected, pretending to be dead did not help them out of danger.
On the day the assault video went viral, Eddie Redmayne's subsequent Wanda collaboration activities were urgently canceled. Although a lot of manpower and materials were invested in the early stages, it was only a promotional event, so even if it was cancelled, it would not be a fatal problem.
The real trouble came for Waikiki's offline retailers. After the public outcry, they stopped buying from Waikiki to avoid risks. Some, having nearly sold out of their existing stock, pulled the "Little Freckles" from their shelves. Others held out for a few days, but when they realized the situation wasn't right, they contacted Zhao Jinghuan and demanded a return.
The terms of the contract were very unfavorable to Waikiki. Considering that warehousing also had costs, Lu Kai, Zhao Jinghuan and Fanqie held a meeting and finally decided to refund the money but not the goods. After the cooperating terminal merchants sent a video to count the inventory, Zhao Jinghuan discussed with them a compromise amount of compensation and then paid it to them. As for the remaining goods, they would be left to the terminal merchants to dispose of them freely.
The compensation issue had kept Zhao Jinghuan and the others busy for a while, but once it was settled, the studio had nothing else to do. Besides sitting around worrying about it, the only thing they could do was gather together and count the abusive private messages that had flooded into the backstage today, hoping to gauge how long this wave of public opinion would last.
However, even though they didn't say it explicitly, Zhao Jinghuan, Lu Kai, and Fanqie all knew in their hearts that even if the verbal battle ended, Waikiki would probably never be the same again.
There was no need to produce the new series of Little Freckles that was supposed to follow. Lu Kai was in a low mood, occasionally muttering a few words, worrying that he had delayed Dorasi, but he didn't know what to do or what he could do to make up for it.
But Sister Zou knew.
However, Lu Kai has not made up his mind yet.
At the studio, Tomato, who had always been lazy, suddenly became a model employee, arriving early and leaving late every day, even taking the initiative to clean. But he also had his less-than-model side. Occasionally, Tomato would leave the studio during work hours and be gone for most of the day. When he returned, he always looked composed, though perhaps even more obvious than he was trying to hide.
Lu Kai was in a bad mood, so it took Zhao Jinghuan a few days longer to realize Tomato's unusual behavior. That morning, Tomato mopped the floor, picked up the trash, and even bought a window cleaner to clean the windows. Lu Kai asked him suspiciously, "What's wrong with you lately? Why are you so hardworking? Did you invite the wrong deity and get a Virgo?"
Tomato blushed and said, "Exercise and lose some weight." He said this, but then he quietly slipped away under the pretext of going downstairs to take out the trash.
Lu Kai and Zhao Jinghuan lay side by side on the balcony, watching the chubby Tomato jog and get on the online taxi waiting at the intersection.
Lu Kai tilted his head and asked Zhao Jinghuan, "Is Tomato in love again?"
Zhao Jinghuan, however, had already seen through it. She shook her head and said, "People in love won't do housework like they've done something wrong."
Lu Kai looked back at the office that Tomato had cleaned up so neatly. "Yeah, only people who cheat like to do housework." He suddenly frowned as he spoke, "So..."
Zhao Jinghuan nodded: "Tomato should have started the interview."
"Oh..." Lu Kai smiled bitterly, "There's no need to hide this kind of thing."
Tomato disappeared the entire afternoon and returned just as get off work was about to end. As soon as he entered the house, he took the initiative to "confess" to Zhao Jinghuan, saying that he had gone to Cool Music to play that afternoon and said, "Their Little Freckles are still on sale and selling normally. No one is causing trouble. I think no matter how fierce the online criticism is, it won't necessarily affect the offline business."
Wanda was not far from here, and even if he went to investigate military intelligence, it wouldn't take him half a day to walk. But Zhao Jinghuan didn't expose him, and just said "Oh" lightly.
Lu Kai asked Tomato directly:
"How was your interview? What session is it now?"
Tomato was stunned for a moment, then raised his voice in response to the pressure: "Who told you I had an interview? How could I have an interview? Don't listen to outsiders slandering my innocence! I'm not leaving. We need to overcome this difficult time together. How could I possibly run away?"
"You use idioms quite well," Lu Kai said. "I really don't mean anything else, Tomato. If there's a suitable opportunity, you can leave. No one will blame you."
Tomato's face flushed red as he sat back at his workstation. He stared at his computer for a moment, gathering his emotions before saying, "Why? Because I'm the most useless, so I can just leave, right?"
Lu Kai frowned and said that he didn't mean that. But Tomato seemed to have not heard what he said at all. He turned his head and shouted at Lu Kai:
"I've always been the superfluous one anyway. I can leave whenever I want, right? What's the point of me staying here? You don't even think highly of the IP I created. I failed once, and I'll never be able to hold my head up high in front of you!"
Tomato said, "It's like it's my fault that the studio is in this state now. I didn't hit anyone, and I wasn't recorded. Ultimately, you just look down on me, but if you look down on me, there are others who do! They may only be a small studio, but they really like my designs and praise me, and I'm sure they'll sell well. You don't want to produce for me, but they do, so why am I still here? I've already done everything I can. Not to mention all the work I've done lately, I've even mopped the floor so many times in the past few days! Look at the glass! The property management said they'd find someone to clean it, and they've been saying that for half a year, and in the end, I still had to clean it today, didn't I?"
He said a lot of nonsense in one breath, but Lu Kai just looked at him with a helpless look, which made him feel uneasy.
Tomato said, "Why are you looking at me like that? Are you sick?"
Lu Kai said: "So this is what you look like when you cheat on your partner."
Tomato glared at him. "What nonsense are you talking about? What about cheating? I went to a job interview. This is the right given to me by the labor law!"
Lu Kai smiled and said, "I know. I didn't say you shouldn't go for the interview. And I never thought you were useless." He pointed at himself and said, "I'm the most useless person in this room."
Lu Kai said, "You're the one who talks the most bullshit in the studio, but you're not useless at all. Not to mention how much of her work you've taken on since Sister Zou left. Even when she was around, didn't every offline event still rely on you?"
Tomato obviously didn't expect Lu Kai to praise him: "Yes, you're right. You do have some conscience."
Lu Kai said, "And you're right. The studio is in this state. It's my fault. You don't owe me anything."
He secretly glanced at Zhao Jinghuan beside him. Although he was speaking to Tomato, it seemed as if he was also speaking to her: "I owe you this. So, you can leave."
"You don't have to feel guilty."
…………
Tomato had been prepared to have a huge argument with Lu Kai, slam the door, and leave, catching a taxi to start work across the street. But his fist missed, dodging the punch and causing a slight pain in his back. Lu Kai's generosity made Tomato feel a bit mean, and he couldn't help but try to make amends:
"Who said I was leaving? It's just that I haven't had anything to do recently, so I just did an interview. I didn't say I was really leaving." He threw down a sentence: "Okay, okay, let's go home, let's go home." Then he ran away in shame.
It was not until Tomato left that Lu Kai discovered that Zhao Jinghuan was sitting at her workstation, staring at him.
Lu Kai asked her, "What's the matter?"
Zhao Jinghuan shook her head and said it was okay: "You just said..." She actually vaguely guessed that Lu Kai's words might not just be meant for Tomato, but she couldn't be sure. So she tentatively asked Lu Kai:
"If Tomato leaves, we'll really have to hire new people."
Lu Kai said, "There's not much work to do right now."
Zhao Jinghuan said: "Not now, but what about in the future?"
"Later...yes, later." Lu Kai suddenly changed the subject. "Sister Zou called me a few days ago and said she went to work at TD. Did you know that?"
Zhao Jinghuan nodded: "She told me that too."
Lu Kai uttered an "oh" and remained silent for a long time. Zhao Jinghuan thought his expression was a little strange, so she asked him why he suddenly brought up this matter.
"Oh, nothing, it's just... Sister Zou said that day." Lu Kai grinned, as if he found it really difficult to speak.
"She said TD Club is still very interested in Dorasi."
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