Forced Me to Regress, Huh?

After hanging up Little Youzi’s call, Cheng Zhu dashed downstairs.

Information acquired 1: Little sister is hungry.

Information acquired 2: She’ll only eat it once I’m there.

Cheng Zhu ran faster than an athlete, like a wild dog out of control.

August in Hangzhou was scorching, and by the time he reached Yunlai Restaurant, he was drenched in sweat.

Xu Yun looked at him, puzzled. “Where did you go?”

“Nowhere. I ran all the way from home. Pretty fast, right?” Cheng Zhu said with a hint of pride.

Suddenly, a pair of small hands appeared, holding two tissues. “Big Brother, wipe.”

Little Youzi remembered her mother’s teachings well. After sweating a lot, you had to wipe your sweat off before entering an air-conditioned room to avoid catching cold.

Cheng Zhu smiled but didn’t take the tissue. Instead, he bent down so Little Youzi could help him wipe his sweat.

Once at the restaurant, he suddenly recalled his promise to Shen Minglang, Lin Lu, and the others that he would treat them to a meal when the chance arose.

Looking at his little sister, Cheng Zhu straightened his back even more, thinking, With my standing in my sister’s heart, won’t Shen Minglang have to find somewhere to cry in envy?

During the meal, Cheng Zhu casually mentioned, “Mom, I heard you and Dad talking about wanting to open a fresh food supermarket?”

“Why are you bringing this up?” Xu Yun asked.

“I have a classmate whose family runs one.” Cheng Zhu began to make things up.

“Really?” Xu Yun’s interest was piqued.

“It seems to be doing well,” Cheng Zhu said nonchalantly while helping Cheng You with her dinner.

Xu Yun took a bowl of mung bean soup from the fridge and placed it on the table in front of the siblings. “Your father and I have thought about it, but we haven’t found a suitable place nearby.

“You’re just a child. Don’t worry about these things. Enjoy your summer break, and focus on your studies when you start college…”

She started nagging again.

Surprisingly, Cheng Zhu didn’t feel annoyed at all. Instead, he was happy to listen.

Speaking of which, his mother mainly worked as a cashier and a part-time server at their restaurant.

Her role wasn’t irreplaceable—another worker could easily take her place.

She could invest her energy into running a supermarket in the neighborhood.

The restaurant didn’t serve breakfast, so Old Cheng could help in the mornings too.

In Cheng Zhu’s opinion, it wouldn’t be a big deal if his parents ultimately couldn’t commit to opening the supermarket.

He’d just think of another way. In any case, he definitely wouldn’t let his second uncle swindle money from his family.

As the sky darkened, his phone buzzed. It was a WeChat message from Yezi.

“Boss, I’ve looked at the store’s sales. They look good. Congrats!” She was already used to calling Cheng Zhu ‘Boss’.

Speaking of which, she was seven years older than Cheng Zhu.

Twenty-five is a great age for a woman. The only problem is, I’m too damn young, he thought.

He replied, “Business is going well, and you deserve half of the credit.”

“Really? Does the model get a share of the profits then?”

“What are you dreaming about?” Cheng Zhu replied without hesitation, not minding exposing his ugly side at all.

Yezi didn’t mind either. Instead, she became even more proactive, asking, “Is there anything else I can help with?”

Cheng Zhu looked at the message, momentarily stunned. Why does it feel like she’s licking me a little?

So, now that I’ve discovered your impressive qualities, you’re not even trying to hide it anymore, huh?

Hmm, I have to pay more attention in the future.

However, there was actually something he needed help with, though he wasn’t sure if Yezi could help or if she’d even be willing to.

Cheng Zhu quickly typed, “As you saw, the sales are going well, but the review section is a little… too clean.”

“Isn’t that good? I don’t see any bad reviews, and no one’s complaining.”

“No, what I mean is… there aren’t enough pictures!” Cheng Zhu felt that there were too few customer review photos. The comments section was too bare.

For these kinds of products, customer review photos were crucial. They could stimulate people’s desire to buy.

Sometimes, someone might have just happened to click on the page without intending to buy.

But when they saw the pictures right there, could they resist looking?

And after looking, wouldn’t they feel a little tempted?

Then, hey, maybe they had a girlfriend or a wife. Could they really pass this up?

Don’t forget. Women were users of sexy lingerie, and men were even more so!

—Men, sometimes you need to learn to treat yourselves better.

Looking at the message from Cheng Zhu, Yezi thought for a moment and started typing. “I can ask around for you.”

“Sure. Ask your friends if any of them are willing to take customer review photos. The clothes are free. Consider them my gift,” Cheng Zhu replied generously.

“They don’t have to show their face, right?” Yezi asked.

“Nope.”

“Just one picture is enough, right?”

“One photo is enough for the review section. But if they’re willing to take a few more, they can send them to me privately, and I’ll give them a rebate,” Cheng Zhu said.

“Wow, Boss, for someone so young, you’re quite the pervert. Spending money to buy photos? Are pictures really that good?” Yezi asked, clearly annoyed.

Cheng Zhu instantly realized she had misunderstood.

This woman didn’t know that this was actually a seller’s tactic.

Some customers, even if their faces weren’t shown, were still unwilling to post customer review photos.

Men definitely wouldn’t want to post pictures of their girlfriends or wives online, except for a few who were into that kind of thing.

As for women, well, that went without saying.

It was 2014 now, and the social atmosphere wasn’t like it would be in a few years.

In a few years, some online platforms would get really bold in skirting the line.

If you wanted to stop indulging, you’d have to quit the internet because everywhere you looked, there would be temptations!

Cheng Zhu knew something very well. Did you really think the customer review photos in product reviews were from actual buyers?

Not at all!

Merchants had a stash of images. They would ask some customers to help out, send them the pictures, and have them post them with positive reviews.

The images were all provided by them. With some store discounts, there’d be people willing to post them.

Yezi worked in the nightlife industry. She had spent a year doing bar marketing in Shanghai, then worked as a bartender apprentice at a quiet bar before coming to Hangzhou to become a bartender.

Her circle of friends was full of open-minded women.

People in this industry were very proactive about adding girls as friends. If you could set up meetings with girls and organize gatherings, why worry about sales? There would be plenty of men willing to spend money.

With this thought, Cheng Zhu suddenly realized something he had overlooked. Some photos don’t even need to involve girls. Wang Anquan and I, two grown men, can take them ourselves!

These photos didn’t require people in them. They only needed to capture the aftermath of the ‘battlefield’.

People would fill in the blanks with their imagination.

Moreover, if you asked male customers to take pictures of people, many would refuse. But if you asked them to capture the battlefield as proof of their masculinity, they might be especially enthusiastic!

“Oh, did the customer service sister find out how great I am? Haha, hahaha!”

Some people would even fake their battlefield results!

For example, taking a bottle of water and splashing it all over the bed sheets.

—Heh, men!

Thinking of this, Cheng Zhu immediately messaged Wang Anquan.

After reading it, Wang Anquan felt a mix of amazement and admiration. Brother Zhu, you’re truly impressive!

Looking at his classmates, he saw peers either obsessed with love or glued to internet cafes.

For boys their age, pulling an all-nighter in an internet cafe made them feel on top of the world, and getting a triple or quadra kill in a game was enough to brag about for days! A pentakill? They could boast for a year!

And if they had a girl playing beside them, they might think they were winning at life.

Then there was Class Monitor Li Rui, still persevering in spreading warmth every day.

But Brother Zhu? Brother Zhu was about to have his very own collection of sexy photos!

While some classmates were still playing games to acquire sexy outfits to dress up their characters, Brother Zhu was already playing real-life dress-up with sexy outfits!

Wild, too wild!

It feels like our eighteen years are different from Brother Zhu’s, Wang Anquan thought.