Chapter Four Hundred and Fortieth Consumption Trap
The company's team work has obvious advantages over the previous individual work.
However, there is one thing that Guan Lang doesn't like very much.
That's a meeting.
Animation companies have too many meetings.
At present, in addition to the main creative work that requires manpower, the company also takes on small animation outsourcing orders from time to time to generate income.
Some of the animation outsourcers are colleagues who are too late to complete the project, but most of them are game developers and advertisers.
Most animators these days are poor, so there are quite a few projects for game promotional videos and short commercials.
The advertising agency negotiated via email and held a video conference.
After accepting the formal offer, a meeting will also be held to discuss revisions to the advertising script.
Not to mention there are consultation meetings to convey storyboards, performance description meetings, art meetings during the production process...
But maybe this is life.
There is always some work that is annoying but has to be done.
...
On the white horizontal table in the company's tea room, there are many desserts, snacks and drinks, which are all paid for at public expense and employees can eat as much as they like during their breaks.
Today is the winter solstice, so Guan Lang also asked the logistics and purchasing department to purchase special winter solstice snacks.
At yesterday's meeting, employees had disagreements over whether to eat glutinous rice balls or dumplings during the Winter Solstice, and whether they should taste salty or sweet. There was endless debate.
However, only children make choices, while mature adults like Guan Lang want them all.
Differences in taste among employees are naturally resolved.
Considering that during the winter solstice, some painters may have to go back to celebrate the holidays with their families, Guan Lang got off work a little early today.
This can be regarded as allowing them to avoid the crowds during peak hours after get off work.
Of course, there are still relatively few married people in the company with families, and most of them are singles.
If they want to work overtime, Guan Lang won't stop them.
In addition to the basic salary, painters' income is calculated on a piece-by-piece basis. The more you do, the more you earn.
On the way back from get off work, Guan Lang went to the supermarket and bought all the ingredients for making hot pot and a hand warmer bag for winter.
With Guan Lang's current physical condition, his whole body was as warm as a small stove, so he naturally didn't need a hand warmer. Wu Yazhen asked him to bring one with him.
Tiannan is neither south nor north. Most areas do not have central heating in the north. Unlike some provinces and cities in the south, it is like spring all year round. Winter is indeed not very pleasant.
Moreover, there is no heating in the school classroom, so you can only keep warm by wearing thick clothes and other primitive means. It will be much more comfortable if you can carry a hand warmer bag or a baby warmer in class.
The shopping mall was crowded and lively.
It's Christmas in two days, and the decorations of all major stores have been changed to Christmas style.
Regardless of whether it was a foreign monk who liked to recite sutras, Guan Lang has never understood how this religious mass day in Europe and America, which is regarded as a day for family reunion and enjoyment of delicious food, evolved into Valentine's Day in China.
Guan Lang glanced at the product advertisement on the cabinet and shook his head slightly.
If you look at the elements that are popular during Christmas, they are clearly the marketing activities of merchants.
Why would anyone be willing to waste money? It’s puzzling...
Like him, because he has never had such consumption needs since he was a child, he has naturally avoided the consumption traps of countless merchants.
...
The home is equipped with floor heating. As soon as you enter the room, you will be enveloped by the warm air, making you feel lazy unconsciously.
The living room is very quiet.
Qianqiu curled up in a ball on the floor, her body rising and falling gently, and she looked like she was asleep.
Orange lights, sounds coming from the TV in the distance, and animations playing on the TV screen.
"This silly cat...forgot to turn off the TV again..." Guan Lang sighed, put down his shopping bag, and walked to turn it off.
I looked at the time and saw that it was only after five o'clock, which was still early.
He was not in a hurry to cook, but walked towards the bathroom to take a hot bath.
In the evening, I also worked on the original painting for the eighth episode of Era of Dawn.
The water mist was steaming. After taking a bath, Guan Lang opened the door.
He vaguely heard movement in the living room and quickened his pace.
Probably not...
As soon as I walked into the living room, I saw a familiar figure standing in front of the dining table.
At the dining table in the living room, Wu Yazhen took out all the hot pot ingredients from the shopping bag, washed them, and put them on plates. At this time, she was looking at a beautifully packaged goose egg yellow bag with great interest.
Sensing Guan Lang's movement, she turned around.
"Cocoa powder, cocoa butter..." Looking at the ingredients in the packaging bag, she asked with some confusion: "Brother Lang, are you making chocolate hot pot today?"
"Uh..." Guan Lang stopped.
"But it should...not be."
Before Guan Lang could answer, she quickly rejected her guess, because she found a set of DIY gingerbread man molds in the bag, which were clearly the materials and tools used to make chocolate.
"...Cousin, are you going to make chocolate?" Wu Yazhen asked, holding her chin, her expression inexplicably becoming meaningful.
"Handmade chocolates to give away at Christmas?"
"..."
"Don't...don't think too much. I just bought it for fun when I had nothing to do. Moreover, even if it is a gift, it is just a return gift. If someone gives a gift, wouldn't it be rude not to return it? Well, that's it."
Guan Lang nodded slightly as he spoke, seeming to have convinced himself.
He felt that this explanation was very tenable.
In the distant middle school days, it was popular to give each other gifts at Christmas. When someone gave him chocolate, he would give him a giri chocolate in return.
Although the chocolate he gave as a gift was also given by others, it still shows that he is a person who considers the psychological feelings of others.
"I understand, I understand. Don't worry, I'm very tight-lipped and won't spread rumors. I want to create a surprise." Wu Yazhen lightly covered her lips and promised with understanding.
...
At the dinner table, I saw Wu Yazhen picking up her cell phone from time to time and typing out messages to reply.
Guan Lang was inexplicably alert, but he was too embarrassed to ask directly, so he had to act calmly.
He didn't ask the question until the hot pot dinner time was almost over.
I walked into the studio with a tangled mood.
Are you going to send them out then? The thoughts in his mind were like a mess...
Holding a pen, he scribbled meaningless lines on the animation paper.
Forget it, don’t worry about it anymore, let’s make the chocolate first, and let’s talk about the rest later...