Forced Me to Regress, Huh?

“Isn’t organizing product photos easy? Just find a model, pick a location, take pictures according to my specifications, and touch up the photos afterwards,” Cheng Zhu said.

He actually knew this wasn’t what Wang Anquan wanted to hear.

But how could I possibly chat with you about things prohibited by Qidian in the back of a taxi, in front of an outsider like the taxi driver?

Wang Anquan opened his mouth several times but ended up saying nothing.

Cheng Zhu patted his shoulder and said, “Due to the unique nature of our products, it’s not convenient to shoot at a photography base.”

He suddenly remembered that photography bases were also flourishing with the rise of e-commerce.

A photography base was essentially a large space filled with a variety of sets, serving as backgrounds for photo shoots.

A well-managed photography base can be quite profitable, he thought. It’s also a way to make money in the next few years.

Wang Anquan’s heart began to race again. Since public venues weren’t suitable for shooting the product photos, then there were only so many places left.

Seeing that Wang Anquan had already started imagining things, Cheng Zhu added mischievously, “The shooting scenes should have a homey feel, such as on a sofa, a bed, a bathroom room, a bathtub…”

“Wait, Brother Zhu! If you’re going to those kinds of places to shoot products like ours, will it be… inconvenient for me to be there?” Wang Anquan stammered.

“Oh, you’re quite knowledgeable! Since you’re so sensible, remember not to come!” Cheng Zhu grinned.

* * *

The taxi driver recklessly weaved through traffic and overtook all kinds of cars the entire way, quickly sending the two of them to their destination.

When they got out of the car, Wang Anquan, seeing no one around, mustered his courage and said, “Brother Zhu, can I admire your masterpiece?”

Fuck, why are you still thinking about the photo shoot?

“Based on your attitude, you’ll be the first to see it!” Cheng Zhu said with a grand wave of his hand.

Product photos were for people to see anyway, so what was the big deal?

They arrived at the second factory, which was slightly larger than the previous one.

The boss, who looked in his forties, had a lukewarm attitude and was firm about not offering dropshipping.

Cheng Zhu didn’t care and walked away Wang Anquan without a second thought.

“Who does he think he’s looking down on?!” Wang Anquan was still a bit annoyed.

“It’s fine. I just told him which factory we got our samples from,” Cheng Zhu said.

“And then?” Wang Anquan asked.

“Nothing. It’s just that he might one day find out that this factory’s machines are running so hot they’re smoking, and the workers are on round-the-clock shifts.” Cheng Zhu raised an eyebrow, exuding confidence.

Wang Anquan understood what he meant. “Awesome!”

Cheng Zhu wasn’t surprised by the factory owner’s attitude.

In his past life, he had worked in e-commerce in Wucheng, a city famous for its global small commodities market and abundant supply chains.

He had been quite familiar with many charming female bosses and had developed deep personal relationships with them.

He had heard them complain a lot about people who came to the market under the pretense of sourcing samples but were actually just freeloading with no intention of placing orders later.

Some business owners became more guarded after suffering losses a few times.

This factory owner, being in his forties, had a somewhat rigid mindset. His stomach wasn’t great either, and he couldn’t digest the grand vision Cheng Zhu was selling.

In the afternoon, despite the sweltering heat, he and Wang Anquan visited all three factories in the plan and even managed to check out an additional one.

In the end, he felt that the first factory was the best.

In fact, after visiting the first factory, Cheng Zhu had already thought it met his needs.

But people always felt that the next one might be better.

Besides, in business, you should visit more places and explore more options.

You couldn’t just settle for the first factory and head back home thinking you were done, right?

He always remembered what Erlang Shen, played by Vincent Chiao in the drama Lotus Lantern, had said while lecturing Liu Chenxiang.

It was something along the lines of: when training, if you always think ‘that’s good enough’, then when it’s time to fight enemies, you’ll always fall just short.

In Cheng Zhu’s mind, the Erlang Shen in this drama was a representative character in the ‘beautiful, strong, and tragic’ genre.

Everyone would rather believe that the Lotus Lantern is broken than accept that Erlang Shen is also a kind person capable of activating its power.

Since I’m currently in Guanyun County, where everything revolves around the ‘guan character’, and Erlang Shen’s residence is at Guan Jiang Kou, I have to listen to his words. Cheng Zhu had a strange sense of superstition and a whimsical thought process.

At this moment, he and Wang Anquan were starving.

They casually found a small eatery. The food wasn’t great, but they still ate a lot.

“Brother Zhu, why don’t we go back to the first factory?” Wang Anquan asked.

Cheng Zhu shook his head. “Let’s stay the night and visit more factories tomorrow.”

“Huh? What if we waste our efforts in the end, and the first one is still the most suitable for us?”

Wang Anquan wasn’t afraid of getting tired. He was someone who could endure hardships, which was why Cheng Zhu liked bringing him along.

It was the experiences of the entire day that gave him this feeling.

“What? Is your time and energy that valuable?” Cheng Zhu asked.

“Brother Zhu, that’s not what I meant,” Wang Anquan hurriedly clarified.

“I know.” Cheng Zhu smiled.

He continued, “Now, we’re in a position to make choices, so we should explore our options thoroughly.

“When the time comes to sell the products, we’ll be the ones being chosen.

“When you have the power to choose, you have to make the most of it, understand?” Cheng Zhu began to pour chicken soup into his mouth, not worrying about whether he felt too full after eating.

Wang Anquan was about to say that he had learned something, but unexpectedly, Cheng Zhu changed the subject.

“Of course, I won’t bring you when choosing models. You don’t seem picky at all, so you might settle for just anyone. I, on the other hand, prefer to hold open auditions.”

Wang Anquan: “…”

At night, the two of them found a clean and comfortable hotel to stay at. Cheng Zhu never took hotel accommodations lightly.

He didn’t want to be bothered in the middle of the night by little cards slipped under the door.

They had chosen a standard double-bed room. If they started getting those little cards, it would seem like they wanted to play the ‘extra charges’ game, with a certain someone saying, “If it’s two brothers, you have to pay more.”

During the night, Wang Anquan snored loudly. Cheng Zhu was so annoyed that he finally crushed him in volume.

* * *

The next day, the two young men ran around to three more factories in this unfamiliar town. The final answer was, “The first one really is the best!”

Cheng Zhu admired his own foresight. He had given Wang Anquan so much chicken soup yesterday that after running around with him until his legs were almost broken, Wang Anquan still thought that Brother Zhu’s realm was really damn high!

Wang Anquan still had 100% obedience and respect for him.

This is very important. After all, if you don’t bring a team, you’ll have to work yourself to death.

After considering it for the day, the owner of the first factory finally gave Cheng Zhu an answer, saying he would try dropshipping.

With this, Cheng Zhu felt that this trip was going much smoother than he had expected.

“Good for you, boss. You deserve to make a fortune!” Cheng Zhu said over the phone.

Then he continued to maintain his persona as an experienced e-commerce professional in the adult products industry, as if he had been selling these items for years.

After the call ended, he, who had been talking nonsense, brought Wang Anquan to the nearest internet cafe and applied to open his store on Taobao overnight.

Stores selling adult products often had amusing names, and Cheng Zhu recalled several interesting ones.

Therefore, he chose a fun name for his store as well—Keep Coming.

Wang Anquan watched from the side and felt that this name carried countless layers of meaning.

After doing this, Cheng Zhu said to Wang Anquan, “Here, you can play games yourself.”

“Brother Zhu, what about you?”

Cheng Zhu waved his phone. “I still have work to do.”

He was still flirting with Yezi.

Cheng Zhu picked up his phone, cleared his throat, forced out a bubbly voice, and sent a voice message. “Hey, babe, you there?”