Claire arrived earlier than expected at the store, allowing both Rei and Jin to reconvene once again in the conference room instance. Rei handed Claire the documents to take a look at Studio Mashi's expenditure records, and she was quite shocked at what she was looking at.

"Isn't this one of the few more popular animation studios in Japan? Are they really in such a dire state?" Claire asked. Both men were surprised that Grandma Yuan's secretary knew a thing or two about the studio. The serious women certainly did not seem the type to watch anime.

"Let's say that their previous CEO was not really the cleanest person in the studio. He had been embezzling a large portion of money before he ran away. Not many know about the situation since they've done their best to cover it up. I happen to have a connection there, and he begged me to help the studio. They've been struggling ever since, and the movie I am making is currently the only project they are working on and is somewhat their only lifeline."

"So you're expanding into movies now, Jin? That is a very risky move to play, even more so considering that this one's an overseas studio." Claire warned as she took some time to study the numbers after taking a brief. Unsurprisingly, Claire confirmed that the studio was bound to fail without a LOT of additional budget coming in.

"I am not too sure about the Japanese laws with regards to overseas investment, but saving this studio is nigh impossible. Even if you inject in extra cash, it's less than certain that you will break even. You can forget about seeing any profit from it unless the upcoming movie that Rei is mentioning will become a multimillion dollar hit. And I'm talking USD, not yuan or yen. It is very highly likely that you will experience a loss." Claire concluded.

"What about if I hypothetically create a movie studio and hire those peeps instead?" Jin asked

Claire shrugged at that particular idea but humoured him nonetheless: "I still can't see you incur anything but losses. Nevertheless, that way you won't have to worry that they waste the money and you will have control over the studio. Whatever the case, it's not your responsibility to save any random Tom, Dick and erm in this case, Sato-san from their dying business. If you plan on doing that, I can only conclude that Grandma Yuan had misplaced her faith in you as someone unfit to make sound business decisions."

Rei felt devastated by the sound of her analysis.

"Rei, are you able to get Studio Mashi to send over the incomplete work? Maybe we can still finish from there and publish it ourselves?" Jin suggested yet the manga artist wasn't on board.

"I am choosing Studio Mashi because of their prestige in details and plot as well as their dedication to complete the project. I am not going to hand it over it to some Tom, Dick and in this case, Xiao Ming to complete their work." Rei was fully adamant on it.

"Then my advice to you, Jin, is to not take this deal. You are walking in a financial death trap because of your friend. Let me repeat that you have no obligation to fulfil his request." Claire did not know the whole situation, but s