Forced Me to Regress, Huh?

Hangzhou, in a high-end neighborhood.

Lin Lu was wearing cartoon-patterned pajamas, half-propped up her pillow, one of her legs slightly raised.

After blowing her bangs with her lower lip, she interrogated like a police officer questioning a suspect, “Shen Qingning, is there anything else you haven’t told me?”

“Hmm? Like what?” Shen Qingning was puzzled.

“Did you forget to mention some details? For example, your cousin’s friend is really handsome!” Lin Lu said.

“You’re crazy.”

“Then tell me. Do you think he’s handsome?”

The image of Cheng Zhu’s bad-boy, handsome face appeared in Shen Qingning’s mind, and she immediately said, “Anyway, he’s not my type.”

“Got it. So he’s handsome,” Lin Lu said.

Shen Qingning: “…”

Lin Lu knew her best friend well. Shen Qingning was an aloof person who rarely smiled, was very cool, and seldom praised others.

Some people who were more tactful might rephrase ‘ugly’ into ‘not my type’ as a more emotionally intelligent response.

Shen Qingning was not like this type.

Since she avoided answering the question directly, Lin Lu firmly believed he was handsome!

“Why don’t you let me join you for dinner?” she asked, almost as if compelled.

To her, this dinner wouldn’t be awkward because she knew Shen Minglang and had met Jiang Wanzhou a few times. They were friends, just not that close.

The only stranger was the mysterious guy who had let her win over ten thousand yuan for nothing.

She was really happy watching the game because she enjoyed her father’s dumbfounded expression.

When I said I wanted to bet on 0-0, he refused to bet for me! Lin Lu thought.

Shen Qingning thought about it and said, “Okay, I’ll tell them in the group.”

“Group chat? You and Cheng Zhu are in a group?” Lin Lu became vigilant again.

“What are you talking about? I’m talking about my family group. I’ll let my brother and cousin know you’re coming too.” Shen Qingning sighed. “Can you not be so suspicious?”

“Oh, okay!” Lin Lu said. “Hehe, I get to have dinner with a younger, handsome guy!”

“You only have a sharp tongue,” Shen Qingning mocked.

“You haven’t kissed me before, so how do you know, hmm?” This voice actress changed her tone to a sultry, alluring one, letting the hmm dip slightly and inflect, giving it a sexy quality.

Shen Qingning couldn’t stand it. “You have that talent, but you only use it on a woman like me. What kind of skill is that?”

“Hehe!” Lin Lu didn’t mind the comment and even felt quite proud. “I just haven’t met someone I like. If I do, I’ll charm him to death!”

* * *

In Yunlai Restaurant, Cheng Zhu and Jiang Wanzhou accompanied Little Youzi to watch another episode of Balala the Fairies.

During a commercial break, Cheng Zhu chatted on his phone.

“Who are you chatting so happily with?” Jiang Wanzhou asked, worried it might be Li Xinyue.

The two of them had been on and off too many times, and Jiang Wanzhou had witnessed it all. So no matter how absolute Cheng Zhu sounded, he remained skeptical.

“It’s with Yezi, the bartender from your cousin’s bar,” Cheng Zhu said honestly.

“Huh? You two are already chatting?” Jiang Wanzhou was taken aback. “What are you talking about?”

“Just flirting,” Cheng Zhu said softly, careful not to let Little Youzi hear.

Jiang Wanzhou’s eyes widened, and he gave Cheng Zhu a Bone Dissolving Palm.

“Don’t tell me you want to date her?” he said, shocked.

“Of course not,” Cheng Zhu said.

“Then why are you flirting?”

“Can’t we flirt if we’re not in a relationship? You don’t understand. She’s useful to me.”

“Useful for what?”

“I told you I would be doing e-commerce next, and she already agreed to help me shoot product photos,” Cheng Zhu explained. “Heh, she’s actually really nice!”

“What’s so special about that? I can do it too,” Jiang Wanzhou said.

“You?” Cheng Zhu looked him up and down and said disdainfully, “You definitely can’t.”

“Why not? What are you trying to sell? One moment, you’re talking about market research, and the next moment, you’re talking about doing e-commerce.” He grew more and more curious.

“It’s a secret,” Cheng Zhu said. “I’ll tell you once it’s all set up.”

“Heh, still playing mysterious and keeping me out, huh? But I, CEO Jiang, don’t fancy your small business,” Jiang Wanzhou said, feeling a bit unhappy.

Cheng Zhu patted his shoulder. “I haven’t even started yet. If it doesn’t work out, the more I say now, the more embarrassing it will be. I promise you’ll be the first to know once it’s all set up.”

“Tsk, I wouldn’t laugh at you,” Jiang Wanzhou retorted, then stopped asking.

At this moment, his phone vibrated. He picked it up and saw that Shen Qingning had sent a message in the group chat, telling him and Shen Minglang that Lin Lu would be joining them for dinner.

Jiang Wanzhou didn’t mind and replied, “Okay.”

Shen Minglang sent three emojis in a row and said he would be shopping at Hangzhou Tower tonight to buy some new clothes to look sharp for tomorrow.

“A peacock spreading its tail,” Jiang Wanzhou mocked.

He looked at Cheng Zhu. “My cousin said she’ll be bringing her best friend along for dinner tomorrow.”

Cheng Zhu naturally replied with the universally agreed response among guys. “Is she good-looking?”

“Yes,” Jiang Wanzhou answered honestly.

“Nice. Sure. I really haven’t made a mistake in becoming brothers with you,” Cheng Zhu teased with a mischievous grin.

Jiang Wanzhou couldn’t be bothered with him anymore and said he was going home for dinner.

Before leaving, he didn’t forget to make a small purchase, buying three packed servings of mung bean soup.

After he left, Cheng Zhu held his phone and continued chatting with Yezi.

Girls like her who work in nightlife have a wide network, and many of her female friends are probably open-minded too.

These are all resources I can make use of.

After all, as the saying went: Don’t let down good girls, don’t waste bad girls.

But this time, he intended to turn them into tools for his own use.

Next, he planned to visit a place called Guanyun County.

This place had been a poverty-stricken county for years.

But in a few years, it would earn an awesome title: The Capital of Sexy Lingerie.

Many people might not know that most of the lingerie in the world was produced by factories in China, and a significant portion of it came from Guanyun.

Yes, sexy lingerie was the e-commerce sector that Cheng Zhu chose.

With the rapid growth of e-commerce, competition among merchants had become increasingly intense.

Now, in 2014, things weren’t that bad, as the market was still flourishing.

But if you looked at 2023, you would see that the number of complaints from people in the e-commerce business was overwhelming.

However, even in 2023, if you knew what you were doing, this sector still had great potential!

It was because people’s perceptions were changing, and so were social trends.

Cheng Zhu’s choice to enter this market was made after careful consideration.

First, I know where the supply is.

Second, just by looking at the designs, you can tell these items require little material, have low costs, and high profits!

If managed well, a profit margin of seventy percent is normal.

When customers buy other items, they might be very price-sensitive. But when it comes to these products, they don’t consider the costs. The less material you use, the more they might actually like it!

High profits, sky-high profits!

Of course, there’s another very crucial point. The return rate is very low!

Yes, this sector had one of the lowest return rates in e-commerce.

In the e-commerce industry, handling returns could be quite challenging.

Oh, and there’s no off-season. There’s demand in the market all year round. Although it’s cooler, there’s heating in winter anyway.

In addition, I’m choosing this sector because it doesn’t require a high initial investment.

It’s now 2014, and Guanyun is still in the developmental phase. It’s definitely not as exaggerated as later, with the government directly allocating billions of yuan to support the construction of the ‘Clothing Fun Town’. Many factories have a mature system and processes.

But they should be able to help with dropshipping now.

This meant that Cheng Zhu wouldn’t need to accumulate too much inventory, saving time and effort.

One of the biggest cost pressures in the clothing industry was inventory.

With factories supporting dropshipping, this issue could be resolved.

At the same time, the customer base mostly chose to shop online because many people felt too embarrassed to select items in physical stores.

It was still an era where discussing such topics made people uncomfortable.

It seems as if once you step through that door, you become a pervert.

What a joke. Whether they step through that door or not, men are perverts until they die! Cheng Zhu thought.

So these days, there were plenty of people earning millions annually using this method!

And there was another interesting aspect about sexy lingerie.

Women were users, but men were users too.

Therefore, although this business might not seem that dignified, Cheng Zhu felt a sense of mission growing in his heart. I’m improving everyone’s happiness index. It’s just that during the process, I’m making a bit of money that isn’t exactly dignified.

By 2023, product photos of this type of clothing had vanished on Taobao. But now, in 2014, they could still be posted.

This way, girls like Yezi became useful.

With this noble idea in mind, Cheng Zhu continued to flirt with Yezi.