74: badge

Ye Bai had already asked the printing factory to start making the badges before school started.

This stuff was profitable—high margins and quick returns.

Plus, the fans would be happy to see them after buying.

He didn't go for that blind box gimmick; he simply had illustrations of most major characters printed on them.

When the time came, kids could happily buy them and hang them on their schoolbags.

Of course, adults also loved collecting them for fun.

After the release, Ye Bai took some time to visit the printing factory. Manager Chen was living quite comfortably these days.

There was no need to worry about the factory going bankrupt anymore; there was work to do every day, and they had even hired quite a few new employees.

As soon as he saw Ye Bai, he eagerly poured him some tea. "Boss, the badges are being printed. We currently have a stock of nearly fifty thousand."

Ye Bai thought for a moment. "Print another fifty thousand. Then put fifty thousand on sale first, and keep the rest for now. Wait until they're sold out before putting the rest up after a while."

Manager Chen was puzzled. "Not put them all on sale at once?"

Ye Bai chuckled. "It's called hunger marketing. If they can't buy it, they'll look for second-hand ones. If people are looking to buy, others will sell at high prices. This way, even if the original price isn't that high, the value will keep rising as people collect them."

"When we sell more later, we won't have to worry about a lack of buyers."

"When the time is right, we'll release some special edition badges at a higher price than the regular ones."

After hearing this, Manager Chen gave a thumbs up. "Boss, you're amazing!"

Each of these small badges cost less than one yuan to make.

That was including labor, factory overhead, and other expenses—it averaged out to one yuan.

Otherwise, the cost might have been pushed even lower.

If they could sell well, it would be quite profitable.

"Boss, what price are you planning to set?"

Ye Bai took a sip of tea. "Ten yuan for a major character, five yuan for a minor one."

He wasn't trying to rob anyone; ten yuan for an official badge was honestly quite cheap.

He was far more conscientious than the capitalists from his previous life.

Manager Chen did a quick calculation. Even if every badge only sold for five yuan, they could still make a profit of two hundred thousand yuan.

It seemed there was no need to worry about the factory's future profits.

"By the way, Boss, sales of the Playing cards have leveled off."

It wasn't that he wanted to manage this, but Chen Chen and Grom had been quite free during the summer break.

Now that they had started school, everything was piled onto Manager Chen's head.

Fortunately, the matters weren't complicated.

Ye Bai hummed in acknowledgment. "Keep printing the Playing cards. Just make sure they can be sold."

He wasn't in a hurry about this.

Playing cards would eventually become a global sensation; it just might take a bit longer to gain momentum.

"You've worked hard, so I'm giving you a raise," Ye Bai said, then continued, "Also, tell everyone in the factory that their wages will be increased by ten percent."

"In addition, overtime pay will be tripled."

"Boss!" Manager Chen was almost moved to tears upon hearing this.

It had been so long since he'd had a raise. Now that he had one, he felt full of energy from head to toe.

"Thank you, Boss!"

Ye Bai smiled. "By the way, see if you can get in touch with someone to buy some toy-making machinery."

Manager Chen couldn't keep up with his train of thought for a moment. "Toys?"

Ye Bai hummed. "You've watched some of Romance of the Three Kingdoms, right?"

Manager Chen had certainly watched it.

Ever since he found out his boss was also an animation Producer, he had binge-watched the animated version of romance of the three kingdoms.

He had to admit it was really good.

The boss was truly talented!

This made him even more confident in following Ye Bai.

"I've seen it. The animation you made, Boss, I can only say it's this," he gave a thumbs up. "My kid absolutely loves watching it."

Ye Bai: "The green dragon crescent blade and those other weapons—if we make them into toys, do you think they'll sell?"

Manager Chen: "They'll definitely sell!"

If he could, he'd want to buy one himself. Who doesn't have a bit of a chunibyo spirit?

And with so many people in the world, someone will always be willing to pay for it.

They could definitely give it a try.

"Alright, then find some time to look into how to make toys. If the machines are hard to buy, just ask how much the whole factory costs," Ye Bai said.

Upon hearing this, Manager Chen thought to himself that the boss was truly wealthy and generous.

He had only bought the printing factory a short while ago, and now he was already thinking about buying a toy factory.

Ye Bai had his own ideas about this.

Although the investment was large now, there would definitely be demand later on.

A toy factory was guaranteed to make money. Not to mention the props from Romance of the Three Kingdoms could be made and sold.

In the future, every kid would probably have one of the Monkey King's golden-hooped rod from journey to the west.

Then he could also do something like Balala the Fairies, so both boys and girls would be covered.

They wouldn't be able to save a single cent of their pocket money.

Although it added to his workload, he felt he should find things to do while living in this world.

What a fulfilling life!

After chatting with Manager Chen, he went back and was about to continue working on See when he remembered the contact information Zhang Haoqi had given him last time.

Ye Bai hesitated for a moment before dialing the number. "Hello?"

On the other end, Yu Sanxing was worrying about the money he owed.

The movie he directed last year had lost him over fifty million yuan, and he was currently overwhelmed.

He had sold everything he could at home, but he still owed several million.

He really didn't understand. No matter how you looked at it, last year's film shouldn't have flopped that hard.

Was there something wrong with his aesthetic sense?

Ring ring ring—

The persistent ringing of the phone made him even more frustrated. He answered, "I'm already raising the money. Didn't we agree on next month?"

"What? You're not a debt collector?"

Ye Bai said on the other end, "Zhang Haoqi introduced me to you. I want to film a movie, and you happen to have a crew. Are you interested?"

"Filming?" Yu Sanxing curled his lip. "I don't just film anything. Even if Zhang Haoqi introduced you, it's no use!"

After saying that, his mind cleared a bit.

"Um... forget it. Zhang Haoqi and I are old acquaintances. How about this: bring your script and investment, and we'll meet in the virtual space."

After speaking, he hung up and added the person's contact info.

Then he called Zhang Haoqi. "Director Zhang, someone called me today saying they wanted me to film a movie, and they said you introduced them. What's this person's background?"

He asked this to confirm the truth of the matter and to see if it was reliable, hoping to gather some information.

Zhang Haoqi heard this and said, "Oh, I've been so busy lately I forgot to tell you."

"He's my junior fellow student from Zhongzhou University. He used to make games and now wants to try filming. He's quite wealthy, so you don't have to worry about investment at all. Since you're short on money right now and he needs a team, you two are a perfect match."

Hearing this, Yu Sanxing felt much more relieved.

"Fine, based on your word, I'll film it even if he asks me to film crap."

He was desperate for money right now. Worst case, he could just use a pseudonym.

No matter how much people criticized the film, it wouldn't fall on him.

Anyway, he didn't believe a college student could have any good scripts.

Probably just trying to chase a dream?