At nine in the morning, the phone rang continuously, urging a sense of panic. Seeing the caller ID on the screen, Shi Ye rubbed his forehead and answered reluctantly, “Dad.”
On the other end of the line, Chairman Shi’s voice arrived like a gale-force wind. “What is this I hear about you changing your profession to sell toys?”
“They are figure blind boxes, which fall under the category of designer toys,” Shi Ye corrected him. “They are not ordinary toys.”
“Hmph! You changed the name, but aren’t they still toys?” Shi Kangping clearly did not buy it. “I worked so hard to secure this company for you, and you are using it to play house!”
“Dad, it is really not what you think,” Shi Ye said. “The designer toy market is currently very large, and it is an excellent opportunity for the company.”
“Is it not better to just follow the company’s established development path and stay safe?”
Shi Kangping was fuming. “You are a CEO who was parachuted in; you already lack the support of the staff. If you insist on causing chaos with these innovations, are you waiting for people to stab your old man in the back?”
Shi Ye tried to remain calm. “Dad, I am serious.”
“Clean up those messy projects immediately,” Shi Kangping threatened. “If you continue to act recklessly, I will immediately convene the board of directors and replace you!”
Such criticism had been expected by Shi Ye long ago. When the former CEO, Fang Mo, first proposed the concept store project, it had been met with a wave of opposition. However, Shi Ye was confident; he believed he could do better than Fang Mo and turn this dying project around completely. Shi Kangping lacked the patience to listen to his explanation and issued an ultimatum: dissolve the creative team and have the personnel return to their original posts by the end of the month.
Helpless, Shi Ye made a military pledge: “Give me three months! Three months from now, I will let the performance results speak for themselves.”
There was silence on the other end for several seconds. Shi Kangping ignored his statement and said, “We have dinner scheduled with President Wen this weekend. You will come along.”
During lunch break, there were few customers in the shop. The two employees were each lost in thought in their own corners. Shi Ye leaned against the wall by the display window, clutching his phone with a dark expression. Yan Xi sat at the counter, facing his computer screen, looking dispirited.
After a moment of hesitation, Yan Xi summoned the courage to log into his video platform account. As expected, his messages and DMs had exploded. Half of his fans were concerned about his hand injury, while the other half were obsessing over the identity of the man who had briefly flashed across the screen that night and what his relationship was to Yan Xi. Yan Xi had not seen the live stream footage himself, so he did not know exactly what state they had been in when Shi Ye rushed over, or if their faces had been inadvertently revealed. Clearly, the fans in the chat had misunderstood.
The comments section contained almost no discussion about the figures; it was entirely filled with speculation about the identity of the mysterious man. Yan Xi had started this account purely out of personal interest and passion; he did not enjoy being the center of attention, and the feeling of being secretly surveilled made him uncomfortable.
After a long silence, both people sighed softly at the same time. Yan Xi took one last look at his account content, clicked log out, and decided to take a temporary break from the platform. Shi Ye swiped open his screen and replied to his father: “I will be there on time this weekend.”
On the weekend evening, on the top-floor garden in the city center, the lights were brilliant, like stars. The transparent glass walls blocked the chill but could not contain the radiance of the night. Shi Ye stood in front of the floor-to-ceiling windows, dressed in a crisp suit, taking in the city nightscape. He had thought it would be a simple business dinner, but when he saw President Wen arrive with his daughter, Wen Yaxin, Shi Ye immediately realized he had been set up by his father.
The true purpose of this dinner was to introduce him to the Wen family’s heiress. After the meal, the two old foxes made an excuse to go have tea, leaving the young people alone. Shi Ye and Wen Yaxin sat face-to-face, neither speaking first. Wen Yaxin was wearing a white lace suit, and the ruby-encrusted bracelet on her wrist was dazzling. She held a French teacup with slender fingers.
Shi Ye resisted his father’s arrangements from the bottom of his heart, but he could not cause a scene; he needed the three months to push his plans forward. Sitting here meant he had implicitly agreed to this transaction. While Wen Yaxin sipped her tea, she secretly sized up the young man. She had heard rumors about Shi Ye and felt a spark of curiosity about this young man often dismissed as a playboy.
“I heard you plan to make blind box figures?” Wen Yaxin broke the silence.
Shi Ye toyed with his keys distractedly. “What, do you also think I am not doing my proper job?”
Wen Yaxin did not take offense at his rudeness and pointed to Shi Ye’s phone. “Can you show me the products you designed?”
Shi Ye was surprised. He stared at Wen Yaxin for a moment, confirming she was not merely being polite. He turned over his palm, which had been clutching the table, and slowly opened his fingers.
Wen Yaxin leaned in, her beautiful European-style double eyelids widening. He actually carried a figure doll with him? Hanging from Shi Ye’s keychain was the original version of the figure he had made with Yan Xi. Wen Yaxin found it amusing—Shi Ye, in his high-end formal wear, holding a doll keychain, looked incredibly incongruous. However, she was quickly drawn in by the figure’s unique design.
“Beautiful!” Wen Yaxin gave an honest appraisal. “The design is unique, and the details are handled well. It is quite competitive among similar products.” She held up the figure and asked, “What is its name?”
“Chengfeng.” Shi Ye lifted his chin, his pride undisguised. “He has a partner named Lingyun.”
“Oh?” The woman’s intuition keenly captured the key information. “May I ask where this Lingyun is?”
Shi Ye answered without hesitation: “He is with someone else.”
Wen Yaxin raised an eyebrow in surprise, then quickly recovered, maintaining an elegant smile. “I understand.”
The conversation having reached this point, Shi Ye assumed the spoiled rich girl would get offended and leave, but to his surprise, Wen Yaxin sat down and began to discuss the designer toy market with him in earnest. They talked from figures and blind boxes to the development trends of the entire industry, and finally to their respective plans for the future.
“To be honest, I admire your courage and determination,” Wen Yaxin said. “I believe the designer toy project has great development prospects. Perhaps we can collaborate in the future.”
Far away in the tea room, Chairman Shi and President Wen peeked out through the bamboo curtains several times, both very satisfied. As they left, Shi Ye shook hands lightly with Wen Yaxin. “It was nice meeting you. Let us chat again when we have the chance.”
Wen Yaxin winked at him. “Will I be able to see Lingyun next time?”
Shi Ye nodded. “You will.”
The two old foxes standing behind them smiled at each other. It seemed this dinner had been a success.
Early in the morning, a caller claiming to be from YK Company’s creative team phoned Yan Xi to discuss some work. At first, Yan Xi thought it was a scam, until the person on the other end put Zhao Qingqing on the line. What started as a simple phone call turned into a three-way conference.
“May I ask, who is the person in charge of our creative team?” Yan Xi asked.
Zhao Qingqing explained: “The position is currently vacant, and members are being recruited. President Shi has asked me to handle related matters for now.”
Yan Xi followed up: “What do you need me to assist with?”
Zhao Qingqing said: “Before the team is officially formed, we need to do some promotional groundwork. The company has already registered an official account, and we hope you can build some popularity through early live streams.”
Yan Xi asked: “Will the live stream be held in the store?”
“Yes,” Zhao Qingqing said. “The relevant equipment will be delivered to the store this afternoon. At the beginning, it is mainly about getting exposure. Do not feel pressured; just prepare some simple live stream content.”
Yan Xi was surprised. “You want me to do the live stream?”
“Yes,” Zhao Qingqing laughed. “After all, your image is quite presentable.”
At 8:00 PM, the first live stream officially began. The newly formed team was loose, and after setting up the room, everyone left. Yan Xi sat in front of the makeshift operation desk, alone before a high-definition camera. He glanced at the top right corner of the screen; the viewer count was “1.” Previously, when streaming on his personal account, he had always kept his face hidden. Doing a live stream with his face exposed was bound to cause some psychological barriers.
Yan Xi adjusted his mindset and began the stream without haste. He spent half an hour molding the skeleton, and the popularity of the room slowly increased, with the viewer count rising from 0 to 23. However, these people were not there for the figures; they were there for him.
“Are you new? I have not seen you before.”
“The little brother looks pretty good.”
“What is the point of molding that robot? Can you mold something we want to see?”
“Host, why do you not mold yourself?”
Previously, his streams were purely a personal hobby; he did not care about comments or popularity. But this was the company’s official account, and it was his first stream; he did not want the data to look too bad.
Yan Xi paused his work and earnestly asked for suggestions. “What would you like to see?”
“We want to see the little brother.”
“The kind with abdominal muscles.”
“You know what we mean, right?”
“A handsome guy with abdominal muscles, right?” Yan Xi glanced at the skeleton he had just built and pondered for a moment. “Alright, I will give it a try.”
He selected several items from his toolbox and began meticulously modifying the clay. The round body was flattened, the scraper went back and forth across the stomach, and a beautiful man with a well-defined eight-pack began to take shape. When Yan Xi looked up again, the number of viewers had risen to 76. However, because this was his first time making a figure without clothes, there were details Yan Xi struggled to visualize.
After deep thought, he looked up and nodded at Shi Ye, who was sitting behind the camera lens, staring at the screen. Shi Ye tilted his head: “?”
Yan Xi hid his left hand under the desk and typed a few words on his phone to send to him.
“Take off your shirt.”