On the highstreet in Kyoto, Japan.
In Doma’s toy store, Kotaro stared at a Photon Fairy, which said “New” on the sticker, with twinkling eyes.
He was practically drooling.
Mr. Doma, who was doing his accounts, looked up at the boy and shook his head.
How many customers had acted like this today?
He had lost count.
Photon Fairy was the designated item to be used in the yo-yo world cup with a price tag that matched its superior status.
The common Photon Fairy was sold at a MSRP of 7,500 yen across the country.
The limited edition Photon Fairy S had a price as high as 22,5000 yen! With that much money, one could buy a decent second-hand vehicle.
I’m so glad that I’m not married or have kids! thought Mr. Doma.
Seeing the way Kotaro was tempted but didn’t dare to make a purchase, Doma recalled what he was like when he was a kid.
He then remembered what his father told him when he was mentioned that he wanted to open a toy store. “All toy sellers are profiteers!”
Kotaro was from an affluent family, but it was obvious that he didn’t have that much pocket money for Photon Fairy. If nothing unexpected happened, the boy wouldn’t buy that toy.
Mr. Doma’s prediction was correct.
As much as he wanted it, Kotaro didn’t have the money. He had no choice but to leave the store in frustration.
He lay in bed after returning home and couldn’t get that Photon Fairy out of his head. In his opinion, Photon Fairy was definitely the greatest yo-yo which Company P had launched so far. Both the design and the style looked appealing…
“Why does the awful Company P have to set the price so high?!”
He would be able to afford it if the price was lower than 7,000 yen.
He was only 500 yen short. Damn it!
Frustrated, Kotaro rubbed his head, suddenly regretting having purchased that Power Silver S the other day.
If he hadn’t given in to the temptation and saved the money, he would be able to afford a Photon Fairy now…
Wait!
Kotaro jumped out of bed and murmured, as if he had been enlightened. “That’s right! Power Silver S is out of fashion already, so I can sell it to someone else! With the money, I’ll be able to buy Photon Fairy!”
“I’m such a genius!”
Kotaro was a boy of action. Once he had figured that out, he immediately took out the Power Silver S, which he had been playing with for a while, from his desk drawer, put it in a paper box, and left home.
He only came back in the evening when it was time for dinner.
“I’m back!”
Azumi Akane stared at her older brother, who was taking off his shoes, and asked in bewilderment. “Brother, why are you back so late today?”
“It’s a secret!”
With the newly earned 1,000 yen in his pocket, Kotaro was in a great mood when he thought about the dream toy he was going to buy the following day. He teased his sister, “Do you want to know? I can tell you if you want to hear it!”
“Wait! Let me guess!
“It has something to do with yo-yo, doesn’t it?”
Bingo!
Kotaro nodded, and Akane smiled sweetly. “Brother, you’ve learned a new move, right?”
“Wrong! That’s not it…”
Kotaro shook his head.
Akane frowned, bit her finger, and thought for a bit longer, but still couldn’t give the right answer.
Kotaro laughed wholeheartedly.
Afterward, he told her his plan about selling Power Silver S to buy a Photon Fairy.
Akane didn’t seem impressed, and that was within his expectation. Girls would never get what boys thought.
Kotaro had a sleepless night.
He went back to Doma’s toy store the following day.
“I finally have it!”
Ripping the Photon Fairy’s package open, Kotaro suddenly felt as though he was holding the entire world in his hands!
Once he had this yo-yo, he didn’t want anything else!
Photon Fairy could have that effect!
Even his empty wallet couldn’t upset Kotaro.
His great mood affected Mr. Doma as well.
“Congratulations, Kotaro! You now have the most powerful yo-yo in the world! With it, you’ve become the most amazing boy in the entire Kyoto!”
“Yes!”
Mr. Doma shook his head as he watched Kotaro leave.
The hell with “the most amazing boy”. 10 Photon Fairies had been sold in his store alone. There were probably thousands of “amazing boys” walking around Kyoto now…
Unless they had bought a Photon Fairy S, but the owners wouldn’t care about that.
Kotaro couldn’t wait to show off his Photon Fairy to his buddies.
However, before he could do that, he received a piece of news.
The yo-yo world cup was over, and to celebrate the champion of the competition, PD was going to launch a newest model, the Snowy Scale series.
That was to say, his Photon Fairy was already an outdated model!
Kotaro couldn’t believe it…
He wondered if there was enough time for him to sell this almost brand new Photon Fairy for a Snowy Scale.
…
Yan Tao was a graduate of the director department of a certain film academy.
He had directed several short films before going into the advertisement industry and making a lot of advertisements.
His online ID was Director the Supreme!
That was right!
Yan Tao was the director Meng Lang chose for Blazing Teens 2!
He left Meng Lang with a good impression on their first meeting, and Meng Lang had deemed the guy a down to earth kind of person.
Before Pengda Pictures had signed any contract with him and there was only an oral agreement, Yan Tao had prepared a shooting plan, including the general idea of the sequel and the estimated distribution of the budget.
Earnest people like this were hard to come by nowadays!
He might be an advertisement director only, but his professionalism still won him respect from the others. As expected, Meng Lang was impressed and decided to give him an opportunity.
“You have two options now. The first one is to sign a directing contract, and you’ll be working with us for this show only. The second option is to become an employee of Pengda and start earning your salary with us. The company will provide you with a lot of opportunities from now on.”
Did one even have to choose?
Any other directors would choose the first option, signing a contract for this one show only. Once this job was finished, even if the show was a mere feature show, the director would be able to call himself a TV director instead of an advertisement director from then on. And that title would give him many more resources in the future.
Only a fool would pick the second option!
It just so happened that Yan Tao was that fool.
To be more precise, he was willing to be the fool.
He wasn’t a people person and didn’t know how to interact with investors. Of his classmates, the more sociable ones had found the right investors and directed quite a few TV shows, and some had even become a film director right after graduating.
Yan Tao was too much of an introvert to deal with people. He was without any patron and couldn’t find any investors on his own. In the end, despite his reluctance, he had to join the advertisement industry to make a living.
Of the two options, the first one sounded more appealing, but it was only to other directors. To Yan Tao, the second option was his ideal choice.
“Sign me on board!” said Yan Tao.
Meng Lang was pleased, but a little worried as well. He had to ask, “Aren’t you afraid that I’ll trick you?”
“No.”
Yan Tao smiled. “The worst scenario, I’ll waste a couple of years here and go back to making advertisements.”
Well said! Director Meng was pleased!