50: Chapter 50 Obtaining Qian Zhaodi's Token

"Ah!"

Qian Zhaodi breathed a sigh of relief.

She was an art student, skilled at conceptualizing and also skilled at filling in the blanks in her mind.

The Chen Hao she understood was a typical obsessive; to enter an industry and develop a brand, one needed a thorough understanding of all its departments.

This included design, marketing, branding, and the market, among others.

Whether a product would sell well mainly depended on its style, quality, and comfort.

Comfort could be determined through market research, and quality could be controlled through production, but style required professional knowledge to support it.

Chen Hao was not only conducting market research but also wanted to delve into design styles and learn the drawing process.

He was good at offering suggestions; according to him, language couldn't describe things well, so it was better to draw them out, after which everyone could brainstorm.

Three cobblers with their wits combined equal one Zhuge Liang.

A true master is indeed a master.

After thinking it through, Qian Zhaodi said again:

"Anyway, this stuff is useless. You can take it whenever you want."

She changed the subject and added:

"But these drafts have no reference value. If you want to learn drawing and design, you can ask me directly if you don't understand anything."

Although Qian Zhaodi said she would give them, her actions showed no intention of doing so.

Qian Zhaodi thought that for the sake of cooperation, she could personally teach Chen Hao drawing techniques, which would be much better than him taking them back to copy on his own.

But Chen Hao didn't want to learn by copying at all; he only wanted these drawings and the goddess token to exchange for points.

As a result, the two were at a stalemate.

Qian Zhaodi was still talking to herself.

"Drawing can't be learned overnight. First, you need to understand human anatomy, starting with sketching, including perspective, composition..."

While Qian Zhaodi was lecturing at length, she supported her drawing board and tirelessly explained things while holding her brush.

Chen Hao felt that Qian Zhaodi had misunderstood again. If he continued to be led by her nose, it would likely backfire. It seemed he had to take an unconventional approach.

An idea struck him, and he silently recited in his heart:

"System, I want to redeem Drawing."

The System Ability page popped up.

"Drawing Apprentice Level: 1 Point (Purchasable)"

"Drawing Specialization Level: 10 Points (Apprentice Level required first)"

"Drawing Proficiency Level: 100 Points"

"Drawing Master Level: 1000 Points"

"Drawing God Level: 10000 Points"

He spent 111 points, unlocking everything from Apprentice Level straight to Proficiency Level in one go.

"Current Available Points: 328"

The familiar dizzying sensation arrived, and a massive amount of drawing knowledge flooded in, including sketching, oil painting, Chinese painting, and more, integrating perfectly with his original memories.

Qian Zhaodi was still talking fluently.

"Mastering drawing is not an overnight thing. Relying only on self-study without guidance from a famous teacher will only lead to more mistakes as you learn."

"Factory Director Qian, please stop for a moment."

Chen Hao interrupted, then walked to the desk chest puffed out, casually picked up a draft, returned to the drawing board, took Qian Zhaodi's brush, and smiled confidently.

"Although I haven't formally studied drawing, my ability to copy is top-notch. Give me one minute if you don't believe me."

As soon as he finished speaking, Chen Hao was full of confidence, and his brush flew.

With just a few strokes, he outlined the figure on the paper. The woman's silhouette gradually formed, and he even perfectly replicated the three-piece swimsuit.

It was exactly the same as the draft in his hand, almost as if it had been printed.

Qian Zhaodi was shocked again.

One needed geometric structure for quick sketching, and also needed to use an eraser to remove composition lines before the quick form could finally take shape.

But Chen Hao's sketch required no geometric composition at all; he completely replicated it one-to-one and managed to draw it exactly the same.

Qian Zhaodi had been drawing since childhood, hailed as a genius among geniuses. Later, she even got into the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris to study fashion design.

Chen Hao's talent—this couldn't be called genius; it could only be called a monstrous anomaly even more formidable than a genius!

"I'm done. See if it looks like it?"

Qian Zhaodi asked, dumbfounded.

"Have you studied drawing before?"

Chen Hao answered truthfully.

"I haven't studied it. I just copied it based on your draft."

This made Qian Zhaodi even more devastated. Comparing herself to Chen Hao, she was utterly worthless.

It was too discouraging.

"Let me recover for a moment."

Qian Zhaodi supported her forehead and walked aside, pouring herself a glass of water.

Chen Hao explained:

"Although I've never touched drawing, I've always been very interested. Since I have this opportunity, I want to borrow your drafts to learn copying first so I can draw some design sketches myself later."

Qian Zhaodi took a sip of water and looked at her drafts again.

"Take them all. I have many more at home. I'll bring you all the books on drawing and copying I have later."

"Thank you for your generosity, Factory Director Qian."

Chen Hao cheerfully went to collect the drafts. A rough count showed there were over a dozen more.

"Qian Zhaodi's current Favorability: 40"

Although he wasn't cashing out at the peak, these dozen or so drawings were still a considerable gain.

"CEO Chen, you've been touring the factory for half a day. What are your specific thoughts on how we should cooperate?"

Qian Zhaodi poured another glass of water and handed it to Chen Hao.

She finally asked directly, and Chen Hao already had a response prepared.

"How does Factory Director Qian want to cooperate?"

He threw the question back to her.

Qian Zhaodi originally wanted to seize the initiative in the cooperation negotiation, but after interacting all morning, she felt that cooperating with Chen Hao was entirely her climbing up to him. Thus, her expectations kept dropping.

Now she had no idea either. If she stated her previous thoughts, Chen Hao might reject her on the spot and storm out, which would make her even more passive and cause her to lose this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

"I have no objections. I'll listen to you. However you want to cooperate, as long as I can accept it, I will fully cooperate."

Qian Zhaodi had already lowered her stance significantly, handing complete control over to Chen Hao; she would do as he said.

"First, call Zhang Menglu in. Let the three of us sit down and have a good talk."

"No problem."

Just as Qian Zhaodi was about to go find someone, Chen Hao suddenly interrupted.

"Factory Director Qian, wait."

"What is it now?"

Chen Hao said awkwardly.

"Don't mention the matter of me buying women's intimate apparel at a high price to her. I'm afraid she'll misunderstand."

Chen Hao had to be cautious; after all, Zhang Menglu was a bit petty, and Chen Hao didn't want to shoot himself in the foot again.

Qian Zhaodi smiled. She knew Chen Hao and Zhang Menglu were boyfriend and girlfriend; women were naturally sensitive about such things.

"Don't worry, CEO Chen. I know what words to say and what words not to say."

And so, Qian Zhaodi went out, found Zhang Menglu, and the three of them held a closed-door discussion in the factory director's office.

Chen Hao took the lead in the discussion, eloquently detailing his cooperation philosophy.

"Factory Director Qian's desire to build a domestic women's clothing brand is ambitious, and the idea is good, but you are the source factory, only responsible for production."

"Between your brand and the market, you need a company to act as a link, responsible for promoting the product nationwide and building brand recognition. Only then can your product establish itself domestically."

"This must consider the factory's survival and the company's development prospects. Therefore, my idea is a joint-stock partnership company."

"Factory Director Qian's factory, Zhang Menglu's company, and the investors' profit dividends—these three parties form a vested interest link. Once this triangular alliance is established, the brand can seize the market and take the lead."