Chapter 32

Seeing the atmosphere grow increasingly tense, Qiao Shiyu, the star of the birthday party, immediately stepped in to smooth things over. "Everyone's here to celebrate my birthday, so let's all be happy, okay?"

"Zhang Yang, don't be so harsh when you talk to girls. No wonder you've grown this old and still can't find a girlfriend!" Qiao Shiyu's words pierced her old friend right through the heart. Then, smiling, she said to her besties, "But Zhang Yang does have a point. Final exams are coming up soon, and Lu Chi is ranked first in our grade. He's aiming for that eight-thousand-yuan scholarship. If making bracelets delays his studies, we'd feel bad too, right?"

Among those who had come to celebrate the school beauty Qiao's birthday were friends Qiao Shiyu had known since childhood, as well as classmates she had met from elementary school through high school. Whether or not they attended Yanda Affiliated High School, they had all heard about its scholarship system. After hearing Qiao Shiyu's explanation, the girls stopped being upset. Some even apologized to Lu Chi, saying they had not thought things through and had nearly delayed his review time. Still, most of them were disappointed—they would not be getting such cool bracelets.

Yue Bin, who had been watching from the sidelines, promptly stepped forward with a smile. "Actually, you don't need to be so disappointed. If you really want bracelets, it's not like there's no way to make it happen!"

Yue Bin's words immediately drew everyone's attention. Everyone, including the school beauty Qiao, looked over with burning eyes.

With a genial smile, Yue Bin draped an arm around Lu Chi's shoulders and said unhurriedly, "The bracelet-making technique itself isn't that difficult. The hard part is that Lu Chi has to turn everything you want to say into Morse Code, sentence by sentence, then incorporate it into the bracelet's pattern. That requires a solid foundation in cryptography, exceptional calculation skills, and design talent. So even if you want to learn, without a strong foundation, you won't be able to grasp it in a short time."

That was true. Everyone present nodded in agreement.

Still smiling, Yue Bin continued, "So I have a bold idea..."

At that, Yue Bin turned to Lu Chi and said gently, "How about we work together? Zhang Yang and I will provide the money, manpower, and sales channels, while you handle bracelet design. We can register a brand and split the profits sixty-forty. You get sixty percent, while Zhang Yang and I get twenty percent each. What do you think?"

Lu Chi looked expressionlessly at Yue Bin, though inwardly he was completely dumbfounded. He could not understand how things had ended up like this—he had only made two bracelets, so how had it turned into starting a business?

Zhang Yang's eyes lit up, and he immediately raised both hands in agreement—in truth, Zhang Yang was interested in anything that could make money.

"Then it's settled!" Yue Bin clapped his fist into his palm and asked a club waiter for a stack of A4 paper and two boxes of carbon pens. As he handed them out, he seriously asked, "Since we're establishing a brand, let's do some market research first. What do you all want to say through Morse Code Bracelets? How much would you consider an acceptable price for one bracelet? What colors of Morse Code Bracelets do you like? When we launch them, should we include a Morse Code guide, and teach everyone a few simple bracelet-weaving methods in it..."

It wasn't that I didn't understand; the world changed too quickly!

Although they had no idea why the world had changed so fast, the utterly baffled group still seriously filled out the incredibly simple market survey under Yue Bin's direction.

Even the birthday girl, the school beauty Qiao, accepted the pen and paper with mixed laughter and tears. As she wrote, she complained, "Is this really my birthday party... Also, since you've already thought of bracelet styles and prices, why don't you give your brand a name first?"

Her words jolted them awake. Amid the rustling sounds of everyone writing, Yue Bin suddenly realized it and patted Lu Chi on the shoulder. "Right, we should name the brand first."

"Lu Chi, do you have any good suggestions?"

Still unable to make sense of how the whole situation had developed amid Yue Bin's rapid pace, the person involved instinctively rubbed his chin. After pondering for a moment, Lu Chi decisively shook his head—as someone hopeless at naming things, he refused such a high-difficulty task.

But Lu Chi suddenly realized that if Yue Bin had not interrupted him, he would have forgotten what he wanted to say. "We don't need to split it sixty-forty. I actually haven't done anything. You're the ones putting up all the money..."

"How much can a few strings and plastic beads cost?" Yue Bin waved a hand, cutting Lu Chi off. "You're contributing technology. Your method of combining Morse Code with Chinese elements is the core competitive advantage of the brand. So there's absolutely no problem with you taking sixty percent. Even in real business partnerships, this is how things are done."

Zhang Yang also chimed in with a smile. "Yeah, Lu Chi, don't worry. You're definitely not taking advantage of us. This is how everyone does it."

Before Lu Chi could continue, Yue Bin confidently declared, "Since none of you can come up with a brand name, then I won't hold back... What do you think of 'Binchi Yang,' or 'Binchi Young'?"

The boys and girls filling out the market survey looked at one another, then suddenly burst into laughter.

Yue Bin looked at everyone in utter confusion. "What's wrong?"

"Because everyone thinks it's terrible, obviously!" Lu Chi calmly mocked him. "Binchi, Binchi—don't you think it sounds a little like an English word?" And then you want to add young after it. How would that even be translated?

"Of course, we'd use transliteration!" Qiao Shiyu teased with a grin. "Binchi is bitch, and Binchi Yang is still Bitch Young... Yue Bin, your naming skills really are as consistently awful as ever!"

Yue Bin finally understood completely. With dark lines across his face, he looked at everyone and explained pitifully, "I just wanted the brand name to represent the three of us!"

Zhang Yang sighed and could not help saying, "Then we might as well call it Leaping Deer Sheep! At least that sounds a little better."

But Leaping Deer Sheep did not sound like a bracelet brand either, did it?

Lu Miaomiao shook her head and silently mocked them. "It might as well be called Silly Roe Deer!" At least, aside from her eldest brother, the other two big brothers were rather similar in both image and temperament.