Chapter 57 No money? "Then I'll eat you up."
The old conflicts could be put aside for the time being, but the current conflicts have intensified. They listened to the advice of the Qi Group's public relations department and waited for the public opinion to change. However, the new tricks of their opponents are more and more numerous every day.
First, there was a leak on a public WeChat account, then a flood of press releases on various platforms, and later, even a well-known content creator came to investigate. After Qi Yun had security escort them out, he immediately received a barrage of exaggerated and malicious comments. At this point, even a fool would know that he couldn't ignore it.
Qi's Group's public relations department intervened again, issuing several clarification articles, and even the Supermarket Management Bureau issued an official statement, but unfortunately, the results were minimal.
Several customers who made reservations have requested refunds and cancelled them, causing a significant drop in reservations. Revenue in the past few days has been halved compared to before. To make matters worse, even the Qi Group seems to be looking to withdraw its investment.
“I’ve already talked to my dad,” Qi Yun complained frantically to Shu Qing and Tu Nan, “but he doesn’t agree. He says this matter is too sensitive. After what happened to Huiyao Group last time, the public has been very wary of this. Look, even the official statement from the Supermarket Administration Bureau is useless now. Now that we’ve caused this mess, Qi’s stock price has even dropped.”
"Forget about continuing to invest, my dad even wants me to close the studio." She scratched her head in frustration. "I can't bear to, we've put so much effort into preparing for this..."
Qi Yun manages the studio's finances, and Shu Qing asked, "Can our cash flow support this?"
“It used to be possible, but not now,” Qi Yun said painfully. “And the renovation and the initial marketing costs, I had to ask my dad for them. I should have paid back that part first, but I haven’t paid it back yet… Now the number of appointments is getting lower and lower. If we can’t rebuild trust, things will only get worse. I’m worried that I won’t even be able to pay next month’s salaries.”
She typed away on the keyboard, pulled out a string of calculation formulas, and highlighted the last cell in red: "I've included all the money I can use right now, whether it's public funds or personal savings, but it's still not enough. We need at least this much to keep operating."
Shu Qing recalled her savings and income, added the money the Superpower Management Bureau gave Jiu Su every month, and the subsidies she received for raising superhuman creatures, did the math on her phone calculator, and made up her mind to say, "I should be able to make do for now."
Tu Nan was taken aback. Qi Yun asked hesitantly, "Is it really possible? This isn't a small amount of money. I felt like you were worried about money just a few months ago."
"Actually, it's not really feasible," Shu Qing said honestly. "I've already staked all of Xiao Hong's monthly income on it. But I'm not willing to let the studio go bankrupt like this, and it's also hard to explain to the Supermarket Management Bureau. Besides, we have to explain how we got caught up in this mess. As long as we can explain it clearly, the money issue will be easier to resolve. The key is how to clarify things."
Tu Nan added her name to the Excel file to show that she was also one of the founders and wanted to contribute.
"Alright!" At times like these, the support of companions is the most important source of morale. Qi Yun regained his fighting spirit and clenched his fist. "I'll have the PR team think about it some more. I refuse to believe there's no way. Once we get the investment back, I'll pay you back the extra money you put in today, with interest. Even if we don't get it back, I'll still pay you back in the future. I absolutely won't let you lose money!"
Shu Qing joked, "Okay, I'll give you a written agreement."
That evening, contrary to her usual behavior, Shu Qing entered the kitchen of her new home for the first time.
She was very confident in her cooking skills and didn't want to disappoint her palate, so she took a different approach and made a plate of desserts, which she presented with great care and elegance.
When Jiu Su returned and saw her in the kitchen, she was stunned. She laughed and asked, "So you've finally realized that it's not fair to fight with me, so you've decided to challenge me with your cooking skills?"
"No, I know my place." Shu Qing replied obediently. "I just remembered that ever since you were able to take human form, I haven't cooked anything for you to eat. I wanted to relive the feeling of raising a little snake."
Okay, she didn't even retaliate with a sharp tongue, so something must have happened.
Jiu Su hugged her from behind, placing her palm on the back of her hand, and asked, "What is it?"
Shu Qing smiled guiltily at him, revealing a set of snow-white teeth.
Jiu Su had no choice but to pick up a small milk square and eat it, then said, "Okay, you've won me over. What's up?"
“That’s right,” Shu Qing said, blinking her eyes. “I used all my savings to support the studio, including your money.”
"Then?"
"We might run out of money."
"so?"
"Uh... our quality of life might decline for a while?"
Jiu Su didn't care at all—he was a monster, and a monster who had only died once. Money was something external to him; whether he had it or not didn't matter.
But it was rare for him to see Shu Qing looking guilty, and he felt it would be a shame not to take this opportunity to tease her. So, in that position, he bit her earlobe and said, feigning distress, "That's really troublesome. What should we do?"
Shu Qing, being perceptive, knew he didn't care at all. She took his hand in return and said, "Next month, we might not be able to afford this big house."
“Yeah, we’ll have to camp out in the wild then,” Jiu Su agreed. “I’ll have to be your pillow again.”
"What if you can't even get ice cream anymore? And you can't eat braised fish or steamed crab anymore?"
Jiu Su whispered in her ear, "Then I'll eat you up."
These words were unusually ambiguous, and Shu Qing blushed from her ears all the way to her neck from his teasing. Feeling that she couldn't let him continue like this, she broke free from his embrace and said, "I'm talking to you about something serious. If we really run out of money and can't get it back, you might have to live under a bridge with me."
“It won’t be that bad.” Jiu Su laughed. “I won’t be unable to afford a house or food. I was once the king of the demon race, so I can take care of you in return, as long as you don’t mind.”
Shu Qing imagined it for a moment, then resolutely refused, saying, "That won't do. I mind. We agreed that I would take care of you. Besides, it's not fair for someone else to keep snakes while I'm kept by snakes. I can't bear the shame of that."
Jiu Su leaned closer, hugged her again, kissed her forehead, and asked, "So, you already have a plan?"
"...Not yet," Shu Qing replied dejectedly. "I haven't figured out how to solve the problems the studio is facing. I feel like I can't count on the young lady's public relations department... I originally wanted to heal that little gecko and then clarify the situation, but now my own account has been affected, and I can't use my 'golden finger'. I don't know what to do."
"Or, could you consider me?" Jiu Su said with a smile, "Say a few nice things to me, and then I'll take care of it."
Shu Qing asked in confusion, "You?"
“Yes,” Jiu Su said. “The Superpower Administration’s words are useless, but as a ‘high-level superhuman being,’ I am useful.”
Shu Qing's eyes lit up—indeed, this matter involved the Qi Group, and the Super Management Bureau's words would be seen as "collusion between officials and businessmen." But since Jiu Su was a monster, people would tend to see him as a kindred spirit of the "victim" Little Gecko.
Besides, he was a monster familiar to many, and everyone had always had a good impression of the little snake demon, Xiao Hong. People will believe what they want to believe, and in such situations, a little favoritism from the people may be more effective than authority.
Shu Qing asked, "Can you get that little gecko out? I'll make a video for you all, and you can explain the truth. Then I'll see if my 'golden touch' works and I can raise it well."
"Of course you can," Jiu Su said with a smile, "but what about the sweet words you promised?"
Shu Qing was speechless for a moment, realizing that this snake was getting increasingly arrogant, so she decided not to indulge him anymore.
"That sounds nice..." She slipped him a small milk cube, saying slyly, "That sounds nice. Okay, that's two 'nice' things, I'm done. Go get to work~"
Jiu Su: "..."
Is it so hard for her to coax him? He gave her a slightly resentful look.
Shu Qing patted his face and coaxed him perfunctorily, "Good boy."
“Alright,” Jiu Su said, “Leave Uncle You’s side to me. But even so, this only dispels some of people’s doubts. Ultimately, we still need to find out who is in charge and explain the whole story clearly, just like last time, before the matter can be completely resolved.”
Shu Qing understood this as well. She sighed and said, "This time is different from the last one. Last time, Jin Yaoyao clearly had no idea what the monsters' abilities could do; this time, I feel like they do know. And they didn't use the direct confrontation method like Huiyao did, but instead avoided Nian Nian's spying ability... This is even more troublesome."
Jiu Su suddenly raised an eyebrow, "Avoid?"
Seeing his expression and tone, Shu Qing understood: "You mean, check if anyone knows what Niannian's ability is? But I've filmed Niannian, and everyone who's seen my videos knows that Niannian can peek into the past..."
“You only vaguely mentioned ‘voyeurism’ in your video, and the props you used were all real-life props,” Jiu Su reminded her. “Logically speaking, no one should be able to imagine that it could peek into the past of an account just by looking at it on the screen, right?”
That... seems to make sense.
Shu Qing forwarded this message to Qi Yun, and then ignored the results of her investigation. The next day at noon, she started a live stream for Jiu Su and Xiao Shou Gong in her studio.
Although Jiu Su in human form had already appeared when she was filming the pilot episode of "The Monster Compendium", he didn't say a word at that time. He was still a human-shaped snake, not a person who could communicate.
This was the first time he had spoken, and it was also the first time most people had ever seen a monster streamer. Even without any prior promotion, a large number of people flooded into the live stream, and the barrage of comments was jumping up and down like crazy.
"Little Red!"
"I also started livestreaming because I'm interested in monsters."
"Hilarious! Is Youling Studio using monsters to bolster their image again?"
Jiu Su had sharp eyesight and immediately noticed the question. He smiled very slightly at the camera.
The barrage of comments on the screen froze for a moment, and then the screen was filled with even denser comments as gifts came crashing down like a tidal wave.
"That damned monster," Shu Qing thought to herself, "is a master at manipulating people's hearts!"
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