-89- Backflip
Auntie added a tear that never dries to the Evening Breeze design. Thus, the theme of the trendy toy was set: a sensitive and fragile child who strives to love and even protect those around him. Zhao Jinghuan was reminded of Dorasi's comics, and they named the new Evening Breeze toy "Evening Breeze Knight." The series was named "We." This time, they only produced 5+1 models. The five tearful "Evening Breeze Knights" shared a common base image, differentiated by color schemes and accessories. The five standard models are: "Harvest": A green Evening Breeze Knight holds a giant tomato. "Whip": A black Evening Breeze Knight wields a whip that reaches the ground. "Enthusiasm": A red Evening Breeze Knight holds a fluttering battle flag. "Inspiration": A pink Evening Breeze Knight holds a melting cake, with an equally pink exclamation point above his head. "Protection": A yellow Evening Breeze Knight holds a blossoming bouquet. These are the images of Lu Kai and his companions. The "+1" hidden model is "Me." Dressed in pure white, he rubbed his hands awkwardly, tears streaming down his face, yet smiled gently. Zhao Jinghuan accompanied Aunt Su in completing the design of all six models. Lu Kai remained silent throughout the entire process, even refusing to even look at the final blueprints after they were all completed. "Just ship it directly to the factory..." Lu Kai didn't explain, but Zhao Jinghuan understood his reasoning. He just... it was just too much for him. Zhao Jinghuan spent the next few days busy getting the "Evening Breeze Knight" shipped, and Lu Kai was equally busy. Without consulting anyone, he applied for a spot for the "Evening Breeze Knight" at the HEC exhibition in June. He knew this was the best plan: he and Zhao Jinghuan would return to their starting point, along with Wanfeng's mother and Wanfeng's trendy toys. Boss Chen's factory was operating at full capacity, and at the end of May, the first batch of "Evening Breeze Knight" units rolled off the production line. Boss Chen sent the boxes for them to inspect. Zhao Jinghuan accompanied Aunt Su in unpacking the boxes when she realized Lu Kai had somehow disappeared. She hesitated, then went downstairs to look for him. She spotted Lu Kai, cosplaying a sign, on the third manhole cover from east to west, in the alley behind the express lockers in Building 3, Lu Kai and Xiao Liang's "secret base." She asked him why he was stepping on the manhole cover. Lu Kai said blankly, "I don't know," but he didn't get down. Zhao Jinghuan looked up at him for a moment, then suddenly said, "Evening Breeze Rides..."
Auntie added a tear that will never dry up to the design of the evening breeze.
The theme of the trendy toy was thus determined - a sensitive and fragile child who has been trying hard to love and even protect the people around him.
Zhao Jinghuan thought of Dorasi's comics, so they named the trendy toy Evening Breeze "Evening Breeze Knight".
The name of the series is "We".
This time, they only made a 5+1 model. The five tearful "Evening Breeze Knights" use a unified basic image, but are differentiated in color and accessories.
The five common models are:
"Harvest": The green evening breeze knight holds a huge tomato.
"Whip": The black Knight of the Evening Breeze holds a whip that reaches the ground.
"Warmth": The red evening breeze knight holds a battle flag fluttering in the wind.
"Inspiration": The pink evening breeze knight, holding a cake that is beginning to melt, with an equally pink exclamation point on his head.
"Guardian" The yellow evening breeze knight holds a bouquet of blooming flowers in his hands.
This is the image of Lu Kai and the other five people.
And the “+1” hidden version is——"Me".
The evening breeze knight dressed in pure white, with tears in his eyes, rubbed his hands awkwardly, but smiled gently.
Zhao Jinghuan accompanied her aunt to complete the design of all six models. Lu Kai never asked about the whole process. Even after everything was completed, he refused to look at the final design drawings.
"Just go to the factory directly..." Lu Kai didn't explain, but Zhao Jinghuan understood his thoughts.
He just...
But this was too heavy for him.
In the following time, Zhao Jinghuan was busy getting "Evening Breeze Knight" shipped to the factory, and Lu Kai was also busy. Without discussing with anyone, he applied for "Evening Breeze Knight" to participate in the HEC exhibition in June.
He knew this was the best arrangement. He wanted to go back to where they started with Zhao Jinghuan, Wanfeng's mother, and Wanfeng's trendy toys.
Boss Chen's factory was running at full capacity. At the end of May, the first batch of "Evening Breeze Knights" rolled off the production line. Boss Chen sent the boxes over for them to inspect.
Zhao Jinghuan accompanied Aunt Su in unpacking the box, only to discover that Lu Kai had slipped away at some point. She hesitated for a moment, then went downstairs to look for him.
She saw Lu Kai cosplaying as a signboard on the third manhole cover from east to west in the alley behind the express cabinet in Building 3, which was Lu Kai and Xiao Liang's "secret base."
She asked Lu Kai why he was stepping on the manhole cover.
Lu Kai said blankly, "I don't know." But he still didn't come down.
Zhao Jinghuan looked up at him for a moment, then suddenly said without context, "Evening Breeze Knight will be a huge hit."
Lu Kai shook his head and said, "That's not our goal." He asked Zhao Jinghuan:
"Will Wanfeng like it? What would he say if he saw Auntie's revised work?"
Zhao Jinghuan frowned, and the brief moments she spent with Wanfeng emerged one by one in her mind. She thought of Doraemon's comics.
"The evening breeze would say..." Zhao Jinghuan smiled, "It would say that we should use it to replace the sun."
…………
Tomato is no longer in the studio, so the design of this year's Waikiki exhibition is entirely up to Lu Kai himself. He took the drawings left by Tomato and made some modifications, but he still felt something was not right.
He hesitated for a moment, then called Tomato, thinking of asking him for help. He spoke humbly and even offered to pay, but Tomato refused without a care:
"I've had dry eyes lately and can't see the screen."
Lu Kai started cursing after hanging up the phone, but he was helpless against the ungrateful Tomato. He later hired a professional set designer, but the result felt a little lacking. Finally, Zhao Jinghuan had to console him, saying that the work should speak for itself, and that the set design was merely a supporting role and shouldn't be overly focused on.
On June 15, the HEC exhibition was held as scheduled. Early in the morning, Lu Kai and Zhao Jinghuan picked up Aunt Su and rushed to the convention and exhibition center. He was a little silent on the way. When Zhao Jinghuan asked him what was wrong, he just used nervousness as an excuse.
Like previous HECs, Euro tickets and ordinary priority tickets will enter first at 9 a.m., while ordinary ticket players will have to wait an extra hour.
At 7:15, Lu Kai and Zhao Jinghuan arrived with Aunt Su, Ji Anya, and Xiao Liang. Ji Anya had attended the exhibition with Lu Kai and the others two years before, and upon entering the booth, she began bossing Xiao Liang around, asking him to wash the pot and then to stir-fry the sugar first.
The staff came over, checked them, and asked them to fill out forms. After going through this process several times, when I looked at the clock again, it was already past 8 o'clock. There was less than an hour left before the "early bird ticket" could enter.
At this point, Lu Kai finally took a deep breath, walked to the display cabinet of the booth, and looked carefully at the "Evening Breeze Knight" redesigned by Aunt Su for the first time.
Passion, inspiration, protection, encouragement, and harvest.
Aunt Su did not draw herself, but placed the images of Lu Kai, Fanqie, Sister Zou, Zhao Jinghuan and Dorasi into the trendy play of the evening breeze - in this way, she froze their friendship into reality.
Zhao Jinghuan came over and asked Lu Kai, who was lost in thought, what he was thinking about.
"I was thinking..." Lu Kai said, "It seems like just a moment, but we really have come a long way."
"Yeah." Zhao Jinghuan was also very emotional. "Even I, who got on the bus halfway, felt the same way... It really is a long way."
The two of them looked at the Knight of Evening Breeze at the counter in silence. After a long pause, they asked again, "What about now? What are you thinking about now?"
Lu Kai turned his head to look at her, and finally spoke hesitantly: "I'm probably thinking... it would be better if they were all here." He sniffed and sorted out his mood. "Okay, let's get down to business. Let's go see if Xiao Liang needs anything."
As he said this, he turned around and saw Fanqie and Sister Zou walking towards him with smiles on their faces.
Lu Kai was stunned for a moment. Even when Tomato walked in front of him, he was still a little dazed.
Tomato smiled and asked him, "What are you looking at? Am I that handsome? You're staring at me."
Lu Kai said: "You've gained weight."
"Get lost. You're the one who gained weight. I've lost more than half a pound since last month." Tomato was obviously irritated by him and pointed at his nose and said, "You're the one who speaks the most rudely. If Jing Huan hadn't called me, if it wasn't for her face, I wouldn't have come."
Sister Zou, who was standing by, added: "I'm different. I have a conscience. Even if Jing Huan didn't call me, I would still come back."
"Eh?" Tomato stared at Sister Zou. Zhao Jinghuan beside him coughed twice and secretly gave Tomato a wink.
Tomato finally stopped arguing with Sister Zou. He put his hands on his waist and pretended to inspect the inside and outside of the booth. "As an exhibition master, I have to say that your layout is not bad, but it's missing one crucial thing."
As he spoke, he turned slightly to face the nearby employee passage, clapped his hands softly, and shouted, "Come out."
As soon as he finished speaking, Dorasi came out of the employee passage with an exclamation mark on her face and rushed to Lu Kai. She spread her hands and made a "click" sound like a magic trick.
Then two workers came out, pushing a cast iron door with rollers underneath. The door was illuminated by a black curtain, but Lu Kai was sure it was a cast iron door. After all, he had bought the door, and Dorasi had specially arranged for it to be removed before leaving.
Sister Zou tilted her head and asked Lu Kai, "Guess what this is?"
Lu Kai smiled and said, "That's too hard to guess. It looks like an iron gate, sounds like an iron gate, and tastes like an iron gate. Could it be an iron gate?"
Sister Zou said, "It is indeed an iron gate. But I guess you are only half right."
Dorasi suddenly pulled open the curtain, and Lu Kai finally understood why Sister Zou said he was only half right.
On the cast iron door was a mural painted by Dorasi himself, but it was not the one Lu Kai was familiar with - Dorasi painted over the original mural of the six of them and repainted it. This time, the family portrait on the picture included not only Lu Kai, Zhao Jinghuan, Sister Zou, Dorasi, Tomato, and Wanfeng, but also Xiao Liang, Ji Anya, and even Wanfeng's mother.
Lu Kai then realized that the reason Dorasi asked everyone to take a group photo that day was for this.
Tomato glanced at his watch and told Lu Kai to stop staring blankly. A few people hurriedly placed the iron gate with the family portrait painted on it in the most conspicuous place in the booth.
The iron gate was in place, and the time was approaching nine o'clock. The staff ran quickly through the aisle, shouting that it was about to begin and urging everyone to get ready.
I don't know who at the booth suddenly started the countdown.
“30!”
People continued to join in the shouting from the surrounding booths. Lu Kai and Zhao Jinghuan looked at each other and started shouting together.
“22! 21!…”
Lu Kai shouted with full concentration, until he was hoarse. It seemed as if all the depression accumulated over the past year was squeezed out of his chest and melted away by these shouts.
He had a strong feeling that Night Breeze Knight would surpass Dorasi's Little Freckles and become the hottest new work in the past two years. He also thought of the answer to that question and the reason why he liked Zhao Jinghuan.
But then he realized that he could answer that question slowly, and he had a lifetime to explain why he liked Zhao Jinghuan, but right now, he had more important things to do.
“13…12…11!”
Lu Kai suddenly jumped out of the booth, then turned to face everyone, facing the iron door with a family portrait painted on it.
"10! 9!"
Zhao Jinghuan asked him what he was doing, and Tomato shouted, "Come back quickly! The zombie tide is coming!"
“8! 7!”
Lu Kai did not respond. He gave Zhao Jinghuan and the others a wicked smile, then suddenly lowered his knees and lowered his center of gravity.
“6!”
Everyone was stunned for a moment, but Zhao Jinghuan was the first to react: "Ah? You!"
“5! 4!”
Sister Zou also figured it out: "Stop making trouble!"
“3!”
Then came Tomato: "Oh my god! You do it again."
“2!”
Lu Kai ignored their shouts, tensed his abdominal muscles, stretched his hips, waved his hands, and then jumped up.
“1!”
The security guard opened the door, and Lu Kai saw players pouring in like a tide of zombies in mid-air.
He was not affected at all. He twisted his waist in the air, turned over, and drew an almost perfect arc.
“0!”
This time.
He landed safely.
(The full text is over, hehe)
Author's Note
Yaunai
author
08-01
Thank you all for your support over the past 100 days! "Just a Toy" is officially finished here. Although I didn't make the final shortlist this year, I still know I wrote it incredibly well, haha! So, it's still been a joyful journey!
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