Chapter 388

Facing Wei Ming's request for a car, Wei Lingling said coolly: "Young comrade, don't be extravagant and dissolute—avoid pride and impatience; do you want a private jet next?"

"That's a bit excessive."

At this moment, Xu Shufen began serving dishes, her wrist adorned with the gold bracelet given by her mother-in-law; Lin Ni smiled and urged her children and grandchildren to eat.

Today, Old Wei and Xu Shufen would spend the night here; tomorrow would be a tough battle, while Wei Ming planned to return to the hotel.

Downstairs, Wei Lingling pointed to a Mercedes: "Want to try my new Mercedes?"

"How much did it cost?"

"Not expensive—two hundred thousand Hong Kong dollars."

Wei Ming patted the car's hood: "Extravagant and dissolute."

Inside the car, Wei Ming realized: "Why am I the driver?"

Wei Lingling sat in the passenger seat: "Drive around once, then come back—I have something to tell you."

In the car, Wei Lingling said: "I found a perfect animated series for blind boxes in the U. . already secured the rights. It's called The Smurfs."

"The Smurfs?"

"Yes, just released this year—originally Belgian, then the American company Hanna-Barbera remade it into a TV animation. I've acquired their toy licensing rights."

Wei Ming was fairly familiar with The Smurfs—it would enter the mainland in a few years, become wildly popular for years, and its theme song would sink deep into people's hearts.

Plus, the show was a hit in the U. ., won an Emmy, and its ratings rivaled those of the later Transformers animation.

"Hong Kong has Old Master Q, Japan has Arashi, America has The Smurfs—this blind box business is bound to succeed!" Wei Ming affirmed.

"Taiwan and Hong Kong also have Old Master Q—I've already secured the rights, and automated blind box vending machines are under development," Wei Lingling declared with ambition. "Transformers will be ready for production in about half a year—then we'll roll it out globally. I also plan to make action figures of Qin Shi Mingyue—this comic is currently among Hong Kong's top three in popularity, and its characters are famously beautiful, commanding higher premiums."

Seeing the toy factory's massive growth, Wei Ming was happy for his aunt, but he had concerns: "With so many projects running at once—plus greeting cards—can your factory handle it all?"

Wei Lingling said: "Impossible. We'll first acquire a toy factory in Hong Kong to supplement capacity, but it's still far from enough. In the future, Lanning Factory's operations will exceed today's by more than tenfold."

"So what's your solution?" Wei Ming sensed she already had a plan.

Wei Lingling looked at her nephew: "When I went to the Canton Fair in Guangzhou last time, I thought about this—I want to build a factory on the mainland. Land is cheap, labor is cheap—we can slash our costs dramatically."

"Great! I support it!" It was incredibly hard for the mainland to attract foreign investment now, and they were actively seeking outside capital—policy conditions were excellent, mutual benefit for all.

Wei Lingling: "But there's one very practical problem—Lanning Factory is a Taiwanese-funded company."

"Uh…"

He'd forgotten that. The mainland welcomed Hong Kong and Macau capital, but Taiwan was still problematic—unless we claimed it was American capital with Taiwanese origins…

He and his aunt exchanged glances; Wei Lingling said: "You thought of it too, didn't you?"

Wei Ming asked: "Did Grandpa decide to give you the toy factory?"

Wei Lingling looked at Xiao Ming: "He gave it to both of us."

Wei Ming showed no great surprise—he knew Grandpa had no heirs. He pulled over to the roadside, and they talked slowly.

"What does that mean?"

Wei Lingling said: "Literally—Transformers was just a licensing partnership before; now it becomes a deep integration—full development of comics and animation, plus priority collaboration with Lanning Factory for Kuangren Comics and your other works. If you're uncomfortable putting it under your name, you can list it under Dream Factory. The factory is fifty-fifty between us."

"Grandpa's being generous."

Wei Lingling: "He recognizes your ability. Lanning Factory was worthless before—it's valuable now because of you. One music greeting card idea earned the factory millions in months. Even if imitators appear, as long as we move production to the mainland, no Hong Kong, Taiwan, or Western copycats can compete—we'll be eating this business for years."

Wei Ming shook Wei Lingling's hand: "Then let's cooperate. I'm not stingy—here's my offer: I'll give you and Melinda each five percent of Dream Factory's shares. I'll tell her later—you draft the contract."

Previously, Wei Ming had paid them high freelance bonuses—they were helping him out. Now it was a shared cause.

Wei Lingling smiled and pinched her nephew's cheek: "You give me fifty percent of Lanning Factory, then give me five percent of Dream Factory—and you call yourself generous?"

"Of course I am!" Wei Ming blushed in defense. "Dream Factory is just my copyright operation now, but it'll become a media aircraft carrier, an entertainment empire. Future equity splits will always draw from my share first—I might not even have anything left."

"Alright, alright, we know you're generous. Any other good ideas? Tell your aunt."

Wei Ming: "I think the electronic gaming industry has huge potential. Also, in Japan I saw these snack-grabbing machines—could you adapt them into doll-grabbing machines? Grabbing dolls is way more fun than just buying them…"

Wei Ming told his aunt everything he had observed during his trip to Japan. Many Japanese industries could be replicated in Hong Kong—Hong Kong's market is just too small, but when combined with Taiwan and Southeast Asia, it's quite substantial. And the mainland will eventually open up to Hong Kong—the future prospects are incredibly bright.

Wei Ming's car was still parked downstairs; they needed to go back and retrieve it.

On the way, Wei Lingling told him: "After we wrap up the greeting card business here, I'll head to Guangzhou to discuss setting up a factory, then I want to visit Shanghai's Shanghai Animation Studio to negotiate outsourcing the Transformers animation. I checked with Hanna-Barbera—they're too expensive and too demanding. You'll have to come with me—on the mainland, connections matter. You have connections at the animation studio."

"I've already written the story—I'll find someone to draw the comic version," Wei Ming said. This was a headache—where in Hong Kong could he find a comic artist skilled in sci-fi?

Though Transformers didn't require complex sci-fi principles, its main characters were all angular—only slightly curved when transforming into vehicles—this challenged Hong Kong artists' drawing habits.

The next day was Christmas. Ah Long and Gong Ying had asked Jiefang Uncle to buy tickets to Ocean Park to see Gang Dan and Ba Si's debut. After meeting, Wei Ming brought up the issue with Ah Long.

"Autobot battles? Even if they lose limbs, they won't bleed, right?"

Wei Ming nodded.

Ah Long said: "What if we get Niu Lao to draw it?"

Wei Ming:???

The image he couldn't bear to imagine: Optimus Prime to Megatron: "This Earth is under my protection! Face me alone!"

Bumblebee declares: "In this world, loyalty matters most—be ruthless, have lots of brothers."

Soundwave sneers: "I'm feeling mighty angry right now!"

"Is that reliable?"

Ah Long: "You told me Transformers is a battle manga—it's all about visual impact. They're still young, their styles aren't fixed, they're highly malleable. Niu Lao just grew up surrounded by street thugs, so he seems rough—but he actually loves cars."

Wei Ming: "Then let him try. The comic's just a bridge between toy and animation—we don't expect it to be a hit. Your aunt has the character designs and storylines."

Outside Ocean Park, it was a sea of people. Far off, two giant panda-shaped helium balloons floated by the entrance—the theme today was Christmas + Panda.

Parking was impossible. Wei Ming wisely parked farther away and walked a few extra steps, wondering if Ocean Park had capped visitor numbers.

As soon as they entered, staff warned them: "Don't rush straight to the panda pavilion—spread out and enjoy other attractions first. The queue outside the panda pavilion is already very long."

Ah Long thought this made sense, so he and Gong Ying headed uphill to try other rides.

Wei Ming didn't join them—he waited by the entrance for A Min, but was spotted first by his aunt and Li Zhi.

They'd come to see the giant pandas too. Li Zhi had seen them in Shanghai, but Lingling wanted to see them again, so she tagged along.

"Teacher Wei."

Wei Ming: "Your head's okay?"

Li Zhi touched her short hair: "Fine, thanks for asking."

Wei Lingling: "You're waiting for someone?"

"Yeah. A Min."

Hearing this, Li Zhi's expression darkened slightly.

Wei Lingling said: "We'll go in first—we're heading to see the killer whales."

Wei Ming waited for A Min—but not just A Min. Zhou Ma and his step-grandmother arrived too. The three women had come as a group.

But his step-grandmother was a good wingman—she immediately dragged Zhou Ma off to the aquarium, leaving only A Min and Wei Ming to queue for the panda pavilion.

This time, they moved slowly with the crowd, passing staff in panda costumes interacting with waiting visitors.

The queue passed by a cultural merchandise window—parks had already filled shelves with panda plushies and other Gang Dan Ba Si merchandise, even Ba Si head-clipping stickers—all expensive, yet tourists bought them eagerly.

Wei Ming bought a panda plush and a panda headband. A Min put it on—adorable.

After about an hour, they finally entered. At the entrance, photos and brief bios of the two giant pandas were displayed.

Gang Dan: Male, two years old. Record: Once captured by humans after stealing sheep.

Ba Si: Female, one and a half years old. Record: Once stuck in a car door.

Visitors smiled at these descriptions—their queue frustration vanished before even seeing the two little cuties.

When Wei Ming and A Min entered, the two were munching bamboo shoots, movements graceful, making viewers' appetites stir.

Thanks to their natural advantages, they needed no special training—bears needed to ride bicycles to please crowds; these two giant pandas simply cuddled and peeled bamboo shoots, instantly melting hearts.

Especially Gang Dan—he ate fast, then eyed Ba Si's bamboo, wanting more but too shy. Finally, he held two peeled leaves beside his mouth—the crowd nearly died laughing.

As more people flooded in, Wei Ming and A Min were pushed out after barely half an hour. At the exit, another cultural shop had been set up—many visitors who hadn't bought anything at the entrance bought here.

When they emerged, Ah Long and Gong Ying were already preparing for lunch.

Gong Ying, visiting for the first time, was deeply impressed—this was far more fun than Shanghai's Da Shijie.