Chapter 158 - 156: Elaborate on the Reward

Chapter 158: Chapter 156: Elaborate on the Reward

Dinner was scrambled eggs with tomato, winter melon and pork rib soup, stir-fried pork with garlic scapes, and dry-fried green beans.

His mother-in-law was an excellent cook. She kept putting food on Jiang Xia’s plate, and he ate with gusto.

Perhaps their earlier conversation had given his father-in-law a great deal of inspiration, as he was all smiles during dinner. However, he still needed to discuss the specific operational details with his wife.

’If one online store isn’t enough, then we’ll open ten, or even twenty. With those advanced click-farming techniques, it might not be enough to break even, but it could at least ease our current financial burden.’

As for the merchandise rights for *Cat and Mouse*, that was truly a powerful tool that could quickly turn their situation around.

But the current hype wasn’t enough. They had to wait until at least the end of the second broadcast run, until nearly every family with young children knew about the *Cat and Mouse* cartoon. That would be the time to start selling merchandise.

Moreover, once his father-in-law’s e-commerce business grew, they could use that platform to sell the merchandise nationwide.

Jiang Xia grew excited just thinking about slapping an "Official Licensed *Cat and Mouse* Product" label on the online stores.

◇

After dinner, Lin Yanwan walked Jiang Xia downstairs. They held hands as they strolled through the residential complex’s garden to walk off their meal.

"What were you and my dad talking about in the living room earlier? It seems like his impression of you has improved a lot," Lin Yanwan asked, a little curious.

"Of course it has."

Jiang Xia grinned smugly. "The son-in-law passed the father-in-law’s test, and your mom already likes me so much. To put it simply, I’m now the Lin Family’s official son-in-law-to-be."

"Son-in-law-to-be? Aren’t you full of yourself." Lin Yanwan couldn’t help but roll her eyes at him. "Just tell me already."

"You’re running an online store, aren’t you? And the profits aren’t great yet?" Jiang Xia asked.

"How did you know?" Lin Yanwan was slightly surprised; she couldn’t remember ever telling him about that.

"Your dad told me."

Jiang Xia gently caressed the back of her hand. "At this point in time, the profit margin for a single online store is too low. Making big money requires careful operations over time. I just shared a few of my ideas with your dad, and he seemed to think they were pretty good."

"Oh?"

"It’s about finding people to open more online stores, taking a commission on every item sold, focusing on high volume with low margins, and running sales. Whether we actually make money is another question; the priority right now is just to survive. Besides that, we can also create memes..."

’Jiang Xia couldn’t help but think of a certain viral toy merchant from his past life. When faced with the same problem, they had accidentally stumbled upon the secret to success and went from the brink of bankruptcy to being profitable overnight.’

"How so?"

Jiang Xia gave a mysterious smile. He plucked a twig from a bush in the garden and, while the sap was still fresh, used it to draw a bizarre hybrid of a shark and horse legs on the ground.

"This is called a Shark-Horse."

Looking at this unique little creature, Lin Yanwan’s eyes lit up, and her mind was suddenly flooded with new ideas.

’Innovation, she realized, was about creating something different amidst the sea of cookie-cutter toys on the market.’

’And puns were so relatable. After being surrounded by traditional toys, it was hard not to love something that suddenly appeared with such a unique personality.’

However, this method was just a clever trick to make a quick buck. Once competitors saw it, they would jump on the bandwagon and copy it without a second thought. After all, there were no technological barriers with dolls. You could spend a lot of time applying for individual copyrights and patents, but this kind of thing was really just for the novelty. Once that wore off, sales would plummet.

Lin Yanwan nodded. She could easily imagine that scenario, but even so, it would be enough.

"In that case, when you get back, find some time to draw me some more similar design sketches. I’ll have my dad try producing them. It might have a great short-term effect."

"No problem, but..." Jiang Xia chuckled. "Honey, how about a kiss?"

In a corner of the garden, Lin Yanwan closed her eyes, stood on her tiptoes, and kissed his lips.

Jiang Xia wrapped his arms around her waist, pulling her flush against him as he greedily yet gently savored the sweetness of her lips.

"Okay, that’s enough. I’ll give you your reward after you finish the drawings."

He blinked. "Tell me more about this reward."

"Hmph. We’ll talk after you’re done."

A faint blush slowly crept across her delicate face.

’Especially late at night, when all was quiet, her thirty-something soul would feel lonely. And this guy just had to keep teasing her.’

Watching Jiang Xia get into a taxi and leave, Lin Yanwan let out a soft sigh.

’She was finding it harder and harder to be away from him. The amount of time she spent thinking about him each day was growing, while the amount of work she got done was shrinking. If this kept up, she wouldn’t be far from becoming nothing more than arm candy.’

’Besides doing voice work for him, she should be able to do something else.’

Back in her room, Lin Yanwan stared at the guitar for a long time, lost in thought.

◇

When Jiang Xia got home, he immediately locked himself in his room. Xia Shanshan was already used to this sight.

’My son is working so hard. He’ll definitely become a great painter one day, won’t he?’

After putting away the company seal, Jiang Xia first made a call to Shen Ying.

"Boss, I was just about to call you," Shen Ying said as soon as she picked up.

"Oh? What is it?"

"An editor from the CCTV Children’s Channel just contacted me. They want to sign for the exclusive broadcasting rights for the second run of *Cat and Mouse*, and they’re offering a high price—25,000 per episode! You told me before not to even consider exclusive rights, but this is the CCTV Children’s Channel! In terms of influence, there’s just no way Yu Du TV Station can compare. I couldn’t decide, so I wanted to discuss it with you," Shen Ying said all in one breath, her voice tinged with excitement.

Jiang Xia mulled it over for a moment, then said slowly, "Turn them down. From now on, we won’t be selling exclusive broadcasting rights for the *Cat and Mouse* series."

"What?! You’re turning down 25,000 per episode from the CCTV Children’s Channel?" Shen Ying was stunned. For a 12-episode season, that was 300,000!

She’d never seen so much money in her life!

"I was actually calling to talk to you about this very thing."

Jiang Xia explained slowly, "This afternoon, I renewed the broadcast contract with Yu Du TV Station for 7,000 per episode. If other stations want to sign, the price cannot be lower than 5,500, and the broadcast must start after July 7th. If they can accept those terms, sign them. I’ll email you a contract template in a bit for you to look over."

"Oh, oh... okay..." Shen Ying replied, still in a daze.

At the end of the day, she was just an employee; she would do whatever her boss instructed.

After hanging up, Jiang Xia leaned back in his chair, staring at the ceiling. ’A price of 25,000 per episode was certainly tempting, but as long as enough TV stations signed on, they could make up for that difference—and even surpass it by a wide margin.’

’What he valued more, however, was nationwide viewership. If possible, he even wished there could be a TV station broadcasting *Cat and Mouse* in every time slot, 24 hours a day, to maximize its influence.’

’Exclusive broadcasting rights had too narrow of a market reach.’

...