Investment Project

Janna was innocently chased downstairs.

But after calming down, Erwin and his wife still politely invited the Blue Bird into their home, reserving a premium "bird seat" for her on the solid wood carved sofa in the sitting room.

Seraphine skipped over, wanting to sit with her, but her father sent her back with a single glare.

"Li Wei, can you explain?" Mr. Ervin still regarded the Blue Bird as Li Wei's incarnation. "What exactly is going on?"

He was utterly bewildered.

How had an ordinary apprentice who had been quietly soldering circuit boards last night become a Zaunite brute trading bloody blows with Aubrey this morning, then transformed into a rare and noble spellcaster by the afternoon?

It made no sense.

Li Wei's explanation was, "Because I am a God Chosen whose wisdom was enlightened and whose extraordinary power was bestowed by Goddess Janna."

That explanation was... rather scientific.

In Runeterra, nothing could more scientifically explain Li Wei's astonishing transformation overnight.

"Goddess Janna... all right." Erwin temporarily believed him.

After all, Li Wei's spell of "transforming into a Blue Bird" was real. Even if the goddess was not real, there had to be some great figure backing him.

But why had Janna's chosen come to him for business instead of preaching?

There was something strange about this from every angle.

Erwin maintained a polite facade, but inwardly, he had no desire to get too deeply involved with Li Wei.

Asking a mere mortal to do business with a mage of unknown origins... wasn't that like a mouse splitting cake with a cat, or a tiger starting a partnership with a pig—you provided the meat, they provided the stomach; you provided the money, they provided the guns?

A business partnership? Did he look stupid?

Erwin was indeed not stupid.

But the problem was—

"Dad!" His precious daughter had already defected. "At least look at our proposal first!"

Before Li Wei even had to say anything, Seraphine was already impatient to pitch their business plan to her father.

"Dad! Trust me, this project is different from all the others. Even I can tell this plan is going to make a fortune in the future!"

Erwin: "..."

It was over. Completely over.

He was not afraid that his daughter knew nothing about business.

He was afraid that she knew nothing at all, yet had been sweet-talked into believing she did, then got carried away and wanted to invest, to start a "second business venture."

Sigh... he now firmly believed he needed to find a son-in-law with good character and a high IQ.

"All right, let me see." With the grim resolve of a man heading to the execution block, Erwin accepted the project proposal.

"Portable Pocket Cassette Player—"

"A Walkman?"

It was not some absurd project like turning water into oil, building a land cruiser, or cutting a passage through the northern mountains to build a highway to Noxus.

This proposal for a "Walkman" actually looked profitable.

It was also close to the business scope of Erwin's Hextech Sound System factory. As long as the relevant technical problems could be solved, manufacturing the product and transforming the business would not be difficult.

But were those technical problems really so easy to solve?

Erwin made Hextech sound systems himself. Of course, he had dreamed of making them smaller, portable enough that users could enjoy music anytime and anywhere.

When experts dueled, they would no longer need to lug around bulky sound systems. A pocket-sized Walkman would solve everything. What a great selling point!

He had had similar ideas. So had others.

But without the technology, no one could make it happen.

If Li Wei only provided the idea without discussing the technology, then he was still here to swindle money.

Then came what shocked Erwin even more.

"Pocket cassette technology, miniaturized batteries, microprocessors, relevant Mithril Circuit designs..." The project proposal contained nearly all the core technical materials needed to realize the product.

Though preparation time had been short and the document only briefly revealed the barest outline, Erwin and his wife were technical experts who knew the field. They could both see the value of those materials.

That kid Li Wei...

He actually possessed core technology!

And quite a bit of it was cutting-edge technology that had yet to see large-scale market application!

"May I ask, this Professor Viktor who wrote the proposal..." Erwin realized that Viktor was no ordinary man.

"He is Professor Jayce's colleague, Headmaster Heimerdinger's student, the second inventor behind the core of Hextech, a lifetime honorary professor at Piltover University, and deputy leader of the Hextech Applied Research Project Group."

"He is still at the university making specific technical preparations for this project. If you are willing, you can meet him at any time. Of course, he will definitely come to see you afterward as well."

"Hiss..." Erwin drew in a sharp breath.

"Seraphine?"

"Hm?" The pink-haired girl shuddered.

"Where exactly did you go before?"

"Piltover University, Dad. Didn't you already know?"

Erwin: "..."

This project really had potential!

Erwin was tempted. "However..."

"Isn't this seventy-thirty equity split a little too overbearing? This Walkman project does have great potential, but if I sign a contract like this with you, wouldn't I be handing over control of my factory?"

Of course, control of the factory was exactly what Li Wei wanted.

He was planning to turn this factory into the Wind Takers' temporary base.

"That is a reasonable price, Mr. Ervin."

"Although you would retain only thirty percent of the shares, I can guarantee that the profit dividends you receive from that thirty percent in the future will be more than ten times your current annual revenue."

"Heh." Erwin laughed. "You open your mouth and talk about profit dividends ten times annual revenue. Li Wei, when you boast, have you considered how big that number is? Or do you not even understand the difference between revenue and profit?"

"Forgive my bluntness, but a single Walkman project is nowhere near enough to fulfill the grand promise you are making."

"Unless Professor Viktor can produce projects of even greater value..."

There certainly were projects of greater value.

But Steam Golems, Hextech Mechanical Limbs, Laser Cutting Devices, Gravity Field Generators... could this little sound-system factory really master such black technologies just because it wanted to?

By the time research was converted into production, the products successfully launched, and profits began rolling in, who knew how many complications they would have to endure?

What Li Wei needed now was quick money.

"So besides the Walkman, I have another project."

"What?" It was not written in the document.

"It does not need to be written down. You will understand as soon as I say it—the second project I hope to cooperate with you on is..."

"Music publishing, distribution, and cassette sales to go with the portable pocket cassette player."

The concept was not hard to understand.

Before Hextech was born, Erwin's business had been traditional phonographs and records.

The cassette business Li Wei described did not sound all that different from the record business.

"That business is not nearly as profitable."

"We record makers can only earn processing fees. The bulk of the money goes to the music copyright holders..."

"That is why I say..." Li Wei revealed his trump card. "What we will do is music publishing, distribution, and cassette sales—"

"In other words, from writing songs to selling records, we handle everything ourselves."

"Everything ourselves?" Erwin was slightly stunned. "We handle music creation too? Who has that kind of ability?"

"Me!" Seraphine excitedly jumped forward.

"Huh?" Her father's eyes widened.

His daughter had been born with extraordinary musical talent and truly had the potential to become an idol star.

Over the years, while staying at home with nothing to do, she had written quite a few songs. Though most were melodramatic youth pop songs, they really did sound nice and had the potential to become hits.

But—

"You're using my daughter's songs to make money from me?"

"You bastard! What kind of bewitching potion did you feed my daughter—"

"Dad!" Seraphine pouted aggrievedly. "What are you talking about? I'm doing this willingly!"

"Mr. Li Wei and I have already agreed that the two of us will do it together from now on."

"Do what together?!" Her father instantly exploded. "No, I absolutely will not allow it!"

"Ahem, Mr. Ervin." Li Wei explained, "What Seraphine means is..."

"The two of us will debut together as a musical duo."

"Seraphine will handle the onstage performances and singing, while I will handle the behind-the-scenes music 'creation.'"