“Nonsense! There is nothing between Second Young Master Sharp and me.”
Elena did not like the direction of the conversation, so she immediately put an end to it. “How’s the progress of the new projects?”
“The designs for the characters are ready. All we need is your scripts.”
Layla picked up her phone and forwarded the designs to Elena. “Take a look and see if you are satisfied with the images of the male and female leads?”
Elena opened the file and fell in love with it at first glance.
“I’m delighted!” She was thrilled with the results!
“Caleb, what’s the progress with the technical department?” Elena looked at the boy at the corner.
“The outline of the APP design is done, and I’ll test it out within these two days.”
“What about the marketing department?”
Lois immediately reported, “The human resource department received more than thirty new applicants today. With our new hires, we have 22 artists, 20 inkers, and 30 assistant artists for coloring.
“As for scriptwriting, we have also hired about 20 people, all of whom had real experience and results in publishing web novels.
“If we stay at this rate and start all the work this month, we would have around 20 finished works to publish next month.”
Elena turned on her laptop and logged onto the APP. There was no difference in the data.
The APP had not been tested, so they could not start any advertisement or promotional activities to bring in the traffic as there was nothing to see yet.
After she thought about it for a while, she said, “Lois, I’ll give you two days to write an event planning proposal for me.”
“What kind of event? Comic contest?”
“A comic contest is more of an online thing. I want an offline event, a big one.”
The September Media under Sharp Corporation would not be content with only published comics. They had to aim higher and go bigger as they were running out of time. They had to make plans for all the allocation they had within one year and control any potential losses to 30 percent. That was quite a big challenge.
“We can’t just stick to comics. Comics would always start with losses, and we would definitely lose more than 30 percent.”
Everyone agreed with Elena.
“Furthermore, we are now September Media and no longer September Studio. A media company that only does comics would look too miserable.”
“Elena, are you thinking about going into animation?” Layla was thrilled.
Elena seemed to be very calm. “It is not that I want to do it. I have to do it. I’m also looking at online dramas and anime films.”
“If we get into so many industries at once, I’m afraid we would…”
“Do you think that we can use up one billion dollars on only comics?”
The cost to make comics might be high for September Studio, but the figure was just peanuts for September Media. Aryan did not know much about investment, but he had never had any big projects in the past.
“Nina’s studio once co-produced an anime film that cost 100 million dollars, but it was a failure.”
“It is natural to gain or lose in an investment. Bad experiences should not deter us. We can do this.”
Elena downloaded the form and sent a copy to everyone.
“To start the year off, we’ll produce “My Mysterious Husband’ as an online drama with real actors, and we’ll make ‘The Rebirth of the Goddess of Speed’ into an anime film.”
“We should open the audition for the roles of ‘My Mysterious Husband’ to create a buzz online. You’ll have to plan the activities well.”
Lois jotted everything in her notebook. Even though the pressure was tremendous for such a heavy workload, she happily welcomed the challenge. They could only make it a success. If they failed, they would have to work for free for three years.
“I’ll meet with the planning department and the marketing tomorrow, and we’ll kick start it within a month.”
“Half a month.” Elena corrected as she flipped the calendar. Her heart shook when she realized that it was already November. It was the month that Eldest Young Master Williams would depart to Arystan, was it not? After she woke up from the coma, no one had mentioned it to her again, and she almost forgot about it. She felt uneasy when she recalled it.
Everyone started to get busy, but Elena was perturbed when she thought about Michael’s trip to Aryastan. She could not focus on her work.
It was already an hour to midnight when most of her friends left the office. Layla took Elena’s hand and said, “Let’s go back to the dormitory.”
“Dorm?” Elena was a little confused. What dormitory?
She was ready to sleep in the office that night.
“Ashton had prepared an employee dormitory for us. It is specially prepared for senior employees. We just moved in last night. I even brought your luggage over.”
Elena was still in a daze, but she packed up and left with everyone else. She got on the buggy bus.
The dormitory was also in the industrial park, near the back entrance. If they were to go in and out of the dormitory without returning to the office, they could use the back gate to cut the distance shorter. It was a high-end studio apartment! Elena looked at the layout of the apartment, and her eyes lit up instantly.
“What do you think? I tidied it for you. Isn’t it pretty?” Layla pointed at the fruit on the table, and said, “I bought these too. Aren’t I good to you?”
Elena was moved. Layla had always arranged and sorted things like that in her life. How lucky of her to have met such a good friend?
“Aren’t you staying with me?” She noticed that there was only her luggage in the room.
“No, Lois and I are on the next floor down. This floor is only for management.”
Layla smiled and stood at the door. She pointed to the end of the corridor. “This floor has a dedicated elevator. Of course, you are at a different level than us.”
Elena sighed in relief and held her forehead. “So, I’m at a higher level?”
“That’s for sure. You are the general manager of September Media.”
Since it was late, Layla bade her goodbye. “I should go now. Have a good rest, Elena.”
Elena nodded and watched as Layla left before she closed the door. She dragged her suitcase into the room and was again shocked by its neat and luxurious design. Even though it was still inferior to WongRiver Pavilion, it was still comfortable for a studio apartment.
Finally, she unpacked her luggage, took out her pajamas, and went into the bathroom. The ringtone of her mobile phone broke the silence. She walked to the bed to answer the call. It was Caleb. For some reason, her long fingers shook as she quickly answered it.
“Elena, I can’t find anything about the relationship between Talia and the old madam for the time being. However, I learned that your mother used to live with a family by the surname of Hill for sometime when she was in City L.”
“Ye?” Elena had never heard of her mother’s past.
Everyone told her that her mother used to be a barmaid, and Grace often claimed that her mother was a willful woman. However, Elena had never believed it. She did not think that her mother was a terrible woman!
“Yes, a man by the surname Hill. I checked his background, and he was Old Madam Williams’s classmate.”
The old madam’s classmate…
Their relationships sounded complicated, and Elena would not be able to understand them in such a short period. However, she was sure of one thing; her mother and the old madam had a connection.
“Caleb, is there still a way to run a test on their DNA if the two of them had already passed away?”