Bubble Mary's office is in a not-so-new office building in Wangjing. There is no signboard at the door, only a small house number.
When Zhao Chen followed Wang An out of the elevator, several people were already standing in the corridor.
"Chairman Zhao, welcome."
A middle-aged man in his early forties came forward, wearing a suit, gold-rimmed glasses, and a professional smile.
"I am Finance Director, Zhou Zheng from Bubble Mary."
Zhao Chen shook hands with him.
Zhou Zheng's palms were a little sweaty and he held them very hard.
Next to him was a young woman with a ponytail, wearing an oversized sweatshirt with Mololoy's face printed on it:
"Chairman Zhao, I am Operations Director, Su Xiaotang."
Zhao Chen nodded. "Hello, Director Su."
Su Xiaotang obviously didn't expect that Zhao Chen was so young. He was stunned for a moment, and then smiled:
"Chairman Zhao is younger than in the photo."
Next to them were two older men. Wang An introduced:
"This is Old Zhou, Zhou Guoqiang, our earliest angel investors. This is Mr. Liu, Liu Mingyuan, Series A."
Zhao Chen shake hands one by one.
Old Zhou's hand was very rough, and he let go after holding it for a moment. His eyes looked at Zhao Chen with some scrutiny.
Liu Mingyuan was very polite and said with a smile, "I have admired Chairman Zhao for a long time, and I finally met him today."
Zhao Chen smiled, "Mr. Liu, you're welcome."
Wang An pointed to a young man standing at the back. "This is our legal director, Chen Mo."
Chen Mo pushed up his glasses, nodded, and said nothing.
A few people exchanged pleasantries, and Wang An said, "Let's go, let's show Chairman Zhao around first."
Zhao Chen followed Wang An into the office area.
The open space is not large, only more than 200 square meters, but it is carefully arranged.
The walls are covered with Mololoy's design manuscripts and various Designer Toys promotional posters.
There are several huge Mololoy balloons hanging from the ceiling, and there is a "Blind Boxes wall" in the corner. The entire wall is displayed with disassembled Blind Boxes.
More than twenty young people are sitting at the workstation, some are drawing design drafts, some are discussing products, and a few are gathered around to open newly received samples.
"Our company currently has less than fifty people."
Wang An said as he walked, "The design team accounts for one-third, and the rest is mainly operations and Supply Chain."
Zhao Chen walked to a design table and stopped.
There is a white Mololoy model that has not yet been painted on the stage. The posture is Looking Back sideways, with a light expression, the corners of the mouth are slightly upturned, and there are a little highlights in the eyes.
"Is this a new model?" Zhao Chen picked up the white model and looked at it over and over.
A girl with a ponytail stood up, a little nervous:
"Yes Chairman Zhao, this is the 'Looking Back' series, it has not been officially released yet."
Zhao Chen Put down the white mold:
"Mololoy's Third Generation Series changed the eyes from the original round shape to almond shape, and added highlight points in the pupils.
This change is very small, but it changes Mololoy's expression from 'cute' to 'storytelling'."
The girl's eyes lit up. "Chairman Zhao, you really understand!"
Wang An looked on and said nothing.
Zhao Chen continue to walk forward and reach the front of the Blind Boxes wall.
There are about three hundred Blind Boxes on the entire wall, all disassembled and displayed, with every style available.
"This is the first generation of Mololoy." Wang An pointed to the top row,
"Launched in July 2016, it sold out in 4 seconds. We only had 5,000 units in stock at that time, but we didn't expect it to be sold out in one day."
Zhao Chen Looking at those little dolls, each one has its own expression and posture.
Some are laughing, some are crying, some are in a daze, and some are sleeping.
"The biggest feature of Mololoy," Zhao Chen said, "Is that it is not perfect."
Wang An turned his head and looked at him.
Zhao Chen continued:
"Mololoy's face is not symmetrical. The left eye is a little larger than the right eye, the corners of the mouth are slightly crooked, and his hair is always messy.
But this kind of imperfection makes people feel real."
He paused. "Perfect toys are for others to see. Imperfect toys are for you."
Wang An was silent for two seconds, then smiled:
"Chairman Zhao, you are the one who knows Mololoy best among the investors I have ever met."
Zhao Chen said, "Because I bought it."
Wang An was stunned for a moment. "Have you bought it?"
Zhao Chen nodded. "I bought a whole set of the first generation and gave it away."
No one here asked him whether it was true or not. If he said he bought it, then he bought it.
But Wang An saw something from his expression and did not ask further questions.
The visit continues.
Wang An took Zhao Chen to see their Supply Chain management system, store operation data, and several new products under development.
"This is Pucoky." Wang An picked up a small doll wearing a spacesuit,
"It was just launched in the second half of this year, and the current sales are not bad. But compared with Mololoy, it is still far behind."
Zhao Chen took Pucoky and looked at it:
"The design styles are different. Mololoy is 'gentle sadness', Pucoky is 'innocent curiosity'. The positioning is different, and the audience is also different."
Wang An nodded, with a hint of appreciation in his eyes.
At this moment, Chen Xi walked in from the door.
She was wearing a black suit jacket, carrying a Briefcase in her hand, followed by Zhang Qingxue.
Zhao Chen turned around and saw Zhang Qingxue standing at the door, holding a document bag in his hand.
"Thank you for your hard work." Zhao Chen said, then turned to Wang An,
"Wang Zong, let me introduce - this is my chief assistant, Chen Xi.
This is Zhang Qingxue, our legal advisor."
Wang An shook hands with Chen Xi, and then shook hands with Zhang Qingxue.
"Ms. Chen, Ms. Zhang, welcome." Wang An said.
Chen Xi smiled, "Wang Zong is good. Zhao Zong often mentions Bubble Mary, and today I finally have a chance to take a look."
Zhang Qingxue said nothing, just nodded.
The document bag in her hand was held tightly - it was the Mololoy Overseas Authorization Agreement signed at Hong Kong yesterday.
Zhao Chen glanced at Zhang Qingxue and shook his head slightly.
It's not time to play this card yet.
"Let's go," Wang An said, "Meeting Room is ready, let's sit down and talk."
Meeting Room is not big, one Long Table, twelve chairs.
Zhao Chen is sitting on one side, Chen Xi and Zhang Qingxue are sitting on both sides of him.
Opposite are Wang An, Zhou Zheng, Su Xiaotang, Old Zhou, Liu Mingyuan and Chen Mo.
Wang An sat in the middle, folded his hands on the table, and looked around.
"Everyone," Wang An spoke,
"Everyone should have heard about the situation of Chairman Zhao. Henglong Group Chairman, the youngest actual controller of Listed Company born in 1995.
This time I came to Beijing to talk about investing in Bubble Mary."
He paused and glanced at Zhao Chen:
"Chairman Zhao's conditions - 1 billion valuation, 50 million, accounting for 5%, give up Voting Rights. This condition, to be honest, is very generous."
Old Zhou nodded. "If it's 5%, I have no objection."
Liu Mingyuan also echoed, "The valuation of 1 billion is higher than the Ningxia Huaqiang we discussed before. Two Hundred Million. This price is acceptable."
Su Xiaotang said nothing, but looked at Zhao Chen with curiosity in his eyes.
Wang An then said, "But--"
He paused and his voice became more serious:
"Chairman Zhao has another idea. He wants to acquire some of Existing Shares's shares and increase his shareholding ratio to 15% to 20%."
Meeting Room was quiet for a second.
Old Zhou's brows furrowed.
Liu Mingyuan's smile also stiffened.
It seems that not only Wang An is unwilling to have an important shareholder, but others are also unwilling.