Dream Toy Expo (Part 2)

Directly opposite the entrance stood a huge mechanical lock exhibition hall. As the company’s debut product—and one praised by Tony Stark, the prince of trending topics—Dream Toy Company naturally gave it the grandest treatment.

In fact, mechanical locks had developed to the point where Kraft no longer needed to devise new mechanisms himself. The company had recruited quite a few specialists in the field, who came up with new mechanisms every so often. The company was also quite savvy with its promotion, linking them to Mohist mechanical arts, which attracted plenty of Westerners interested in Eastern culture.

The area taking up the most space at the expo was the solar skateboard series. It was not because those products sold exceptionally well… though they did sell fairly well. The main reason was that they required a large open area for visitors to try them out.

Naturally, the mechanical pet section was the liveliest. A pack of noisy kids shouted and squealed there, mixed in with quite a few adults who had never outgrown their childhoods.

Besides that, there was the Quidditch series of pet toys Kraft had invented to keep Bea and Quinn occupied—various automatic cat and dog teasing toys, including Bludgers, Quaffles, Golden Snitches, and more.

As for why they had those names…

Don’t ask. The answer was just that they felt familiar.

All of those were products Kraft remembered, but he also spotted a product he had not expected—a portable ball series developed from Professor Agasa’s soccer belt.

Although the mass-produced balls could not expand infinitely like they did in the dream, the company’s designers had solved the problem of the balls deflating ten seconds after being made and had added a retrieval function. Their quality was not as good as professional balls, but for kids who just wanted to have fun, these portable balls were much more convenient. They were not a flagship product, but their sales were supposedly pretty good.

There were also some products that had probably been independently developed by the company’s designers. At any rate, Kraft could not tell what they had to do with his dreams.

Then there were other toy vendors attending to fill out the expo, along with traditional stalls commonly seen in Chinatown—sugar figurines, sugar paintings, paper kites, paper-cut window decorations, and the like.

Kraft found Mary Jane in a section selling sparklers and all kinds of floaty outfits. She was holding a pink princess dress up against herself.

Kraft: "…"

How old are you, sis?

"Uh… I was just curious…"

Noticing Kraft silently appear behind her, Mary Jane tried to defend herself, but quickly gave up.

"Yes! I like pretty little dresses like this! Is there something wrong with that?! What’s wrong with girls liking this kind of thing?!"

Alice nodded vigorously beside her, looking thoroughly in agreement as she gazed longingly at the little dresses nearby.

"I didn’t say anything…"

Kraft spread his hands with an amused smile, then waved to Alice. "If you like them, go try some on. They’re all our own products anyway, so just take whatever catches your eye."

"Really?" Alice looked at Kraft with sparkling eyes. After receiving his confirmation, she excitedly hugged him. "You’re the best, big brother!"

Then she happily darted into the pile of clothes.

"Aren’t you going to pick one too? I can decide to give you a set."

Seeing Mary Jane hesitate, Kraft quietly gave her a push. "Once the expo officially starts, someone might buy them before you do. There are expo-exclusive products in there. If you don’t buy them this time, it’ll be hard to get them later."

Selling limited-edition products at expos was already a standard tactic among major manufacturers, but it remained as effective as ever.

Pretty little dresses plus limited editions were more than Mary Jane could resist. She stopped pretending to be reserved and began picking through the merchandise with Alice.

By the time the two girls had finished choosing clothes, nearly an hour had passed. The expo had long since officially opened, and more attendees of other ethnicities had gradually arrived.

After leaving their chosen clothes at the store for safekeeping, Kraft asked Mary Jane, "Where are David and the others? I need him for something."

"He and Ned got hungry halfway through looking around, so they ran off to find something to eat."

Mary Jane was in an excellent mood after buying new clothes. She curled a lock of her red hair around her finger and answered with a smile.

"…That fat guy was lying about losing weight again."

Kraft rolled his eyes. He had thought that after the shooting, Fatty Liao would finally take his weight-loss campaign seriously. Apparently, he had still overestimated his good friend.

In the end, Kraft found the two fat guys happily stuffing themselves at a pancake stall.

"Didn’t you say you were going to lose weight?"

Kraft walked over irritably and kicked Fatty Liao.

"…You need to eat your fill before you have the strength to lose weight!"

Fatty Liao fell silent for a moment, stuffed the last bit of pancake into his mouth, and declared righteously.

"Don’t use my own words against me!"

Kraft kicked Fatty Liao again before finally getting down to business.

"I’m going onstage later to unveil a new product, and I need two people to help me. You’re coming up with me."

"No problem! Leave it to me!"

Of course Fatty Liao would not refuse such a good opportunity.

Just as Kraft was explaining the details to him, a young white man approached.

"It has been a long time, classmate Kraft. Have you been well?"

Kraft turned around, looked at the blond man before him, and fell into thought. "You… who are you?"

The elegant expression on the newcomer’s face stiffened slightly, then quickly recovered. Maintaining his smile, he said to Kraft, "Classmate Kraft truly has a poor memory for distinguished people. Let me introduce myself again. My name is Felim Jones. We met at the joint New York high school exchange ball."

Was there such a thing? What the hell was this joint New York high school exchange ball? When did I ever attend such a boring dance?

Kraft tilted his head in confusion, asking himself three baffled questions in his heart, yet receiving no answers.

Only after Fatty Liao quietly reminded him did he vaguely recall this guy who seemed to have an elegance filter permanently applied to him.

"Oh, it’s you. Welcome."

The ball in his memories did not seem to have been a pleasant experience, so Kraft did not give Felim a friendly expression. Still, Felim was a guest, and Kraft did not openly reveal his dislike. He merely nodded faintly.

"I only came to say hello, so I won’t disturb you any further."

Felim could also tell that Kraft did not welcome him. He maintained his elegance, gave a slight bow, and left. In truth, though, he was rather annoyed. He had never expected Kraft’s silly inventions to develop to this extent, and it now seemed unlikely that he could repair their relationship.

After getting rid of that inexplicable fellow, Kraft brought Fatty Liao and the others to the stage at the very back of the expo. A song-and-dance performance was taking place at center stage. Some guests who had already finished touring the venue, as well as those who had little interest in the toys and had merely come to show support, were loosely gathered before the stage to watch the performance.

When the performance ended, the host stepped onto the stage. His voice, carried through speakers placed throughout the venue, spread into every corner of the expo.

"Now! Please welcome the chief designer of Dream Toy Company! The genius teenager praised by the media, the renowned Doctor Ingenious—Kraft Leeeeeeeee—!!!"