Wang Anquan had always listened to Cheng Zhu. He was a reliable little brother.
But no matter what, people were independent individuals.
If you told him to do something, he might comply. If you tried to teach him how to be a person, he wouldn't necessarily absorb it right away.
He had always admired Cheng Zhu, because he felt there was an indescribable drive about him ever since they were young.
Brother Zhu did things in a wild way, and his personality was unruly.
But when it came to romance, Brother Zhu had only been in a first love himself—and the ending hadn't been particularly good.
Although he acted very carefree, able to pick things up and put them down, it still lacked a bit of persuasive power.
So deep down, Wang Anquan still felt a little unconvinced.
Out of his usual respect for the leader, however, he didn't directly argue back, so as not to embarrass Cheng Zhu.
Instead, he shifted the topic and asked about the itinerary for this trip to Guanyun County, and what exactly they were going there to do.
Cheng Zhu could tell he didn't want to talk about Chen Rongrong anymore, and he was more than happy to save his breath.
Adolescent boys always had a bit of rebellion in them. How could a few words make them abandon their tender first love?
They were all iron-headed kids in love.
For this matter, he just needed to keep an extra eye on things.
For him, it was easy to handle.
At worst, he'd sacrifice himself a little and find a chance to let Wang Anquan see clearly how Chen Rongrong actually fawned over Brother Zhu.
That would wake him up instantly—he might even grow from it.
Of course, the prerequisite was knowing that Wang Anquan wasn't the kind of person who couldn't tell right from wrong.
Some people truly couldn't. When that happened, they wouldn't hate the girl—they'd choose to hate their own brother instead.
Cheng Zhu blew a bubble with the gum in his mouth before saying, "This time, what we're going to inspect in Guanyun County is its 'local specialty.'"
Speaking of which, when Jiang Wanzhou found out Cheng Zhu was going on a trip today, he had even reminded him, "Remember to bring me back some local specialty when you return."
Cheng Zhu agreed immediately, but worried he might open up a new world of crossdressing for him, so he added, "Promise me you'll learn to share—with others—and consume it together."
That left Jiang Wanzhou completely baffled.
At this moment, Wang Anquan asked, confused, "Is it food?"
Cheng Zhu didn't beat around the bush and said softly, "QQ lingerie."
Just those two words caused a universe-level explosion in Wang Anquan's mind.
At this moment, he felt like his body was sitting on the high-speed train, while his soul had been thrown outside.
"I… holy shit!" He was completely stunned.
He'd always thought Brother Zhu did things in a wild way, but he hadn't expected him to be this wild.
For a teenage boy like Wang Anquan, who had never even held a girl's hand and had never gone for a massage, this kind of thing was far too taboo—and far too distant from his world.
To people like him, impressions of these products probably still came from a few 'teachers' stored on computer hard drives.
Suddenly, Wang Anquan felt that this trip to Guanyun was insanely awesome—almost legendary.
…
…
In the blazing summer heat, under the scorching sun, Cheng Zhu brought Wang Anquan through several transfers before finally reaching their destination.
On this trip, he planned to first inspect three factories.
These three factories were ones he had carefully selected online.
This was 2014. Some forward-thinking manufacturers already knew how to rely on the internet to do business.
Others, stubbornly conservative, were still playing by the old factory model.
Relatively speaking, Cheng Zhu preferred to work with manufacturers who could accept new things.
"It's still 2014. Many factories aren't willing to do 'dropshipping' at all."
"But I need that service—it can greatly reduce costs."
All along the way, Wang Anquan had been extremely excited, even getting a bit flushed when he spoke.
But as they got closer to the first factory, he inexplicably started to feel nervous—very nervous.
Clearly, he was just an assistant, there to lend a hand, yet his body felt stiff and his palms started sweating.
Cheng Zhu noticed his abnormality but didn't think much of it.
Many students these days were protected too well by their families.
Let alone going out to negotiate business on their own—even buying groceries at a market or shopping in a store, they wouldn't dare to haggle.
Some even developed mild social anxiety, losing basic social skills altogether.
Go look at university orientation. When people are asked to introduce themselves on stage, how many can do it confidently?
If you can't even introduce yourself, let alone negotiate business or present yourself to others.
Sitting in the back seat, Wang Anquan glanced at Cheng Zhu in the front passenger seat.
In the time it took to smoke a single cigarette, Cheng Zhu had already become very familiar with the taxi driver, extracting all sorts of information about Guanyun.
Taxi drivers were excellent information resources—you had to use them.
Feelings of inferiority quietly sprouted in Wang Anquan's heart, along with a bit more admiration for Cheng Zhu.
When the car pulled up to the factory gate, it turned out to be a small factory, without even a security guard.
The taxi driver asked, "Stop here, or drive in?"
"Drive in," Cheng Zhu said directly.
It was hot as hell. He didn't want to walk even a few extra steps in the sun.
Besides, he was here to purchase goods. He was the client—the one paying.
If you act timid while spending money, who else would they fleece if not you?
After getting out of the car, Wang Anquan looked around first, then didn't dare look inside anymore, only sneaking glances.
Inside the factory, workers were busy.
You could see semi-finished products, and you could see finished ones as well.
Wang Anquan didn't even dare look properly, while Cheng Zhu was already wandering around inside—hands-on, no less.
"Why is Brother Zhu just picking things up and examining them so carefully? No—what is he rubbing?" Wang Anquan was starting to feel awkward.
Cheng Zhu was rubbing the fabric between his fingers, feeling its texture.
With behavior like that, it was impossible not to attract attention.
A middle-aged man quickly walked over and carefully sized up Cheng Zhu.
No choice—the young man's actions were rather strange, and more importantly—he looked slick and roguish.
"These days, public security is still pretty good. He's not some thug here to cause trouble, is he?"
"And that companion of his—standing outside and not coming in, fairly solid build, constantly glancing around, like he's keeping watch."
"What's this about?" the middle-aged man asked, his attitude not particularly warm.
Cheng Zhu wasn't surprised. After all, he was too young.
He put down the product he'd just dismissed as too old-fashioned and asked, "Boss?"
"Yes."
"I'm here to look at goods. I called you a few days ago—do you remember?" Cheng Zhu said.
To be honest, out of the three factories, one phone call hadn't gone through, and he'd forgotten which one it was.
But whatever. He just said it anyway.
The middle-aged man froze slightly. But seeing Cheng Zhu's slick appearance, it actually fit his impression of this age group of customers.
For some reason, he looked like exactly the kind of person who'd use products like these.
"Retail is a bit more expensive," the boss said directly.
"I do e-commerce," Cheng Zhu replied just as directly.
Wang Anquan stood outside baking in the sun until Cheng Zhu couldn't stand it anymore and waved him over into the shade.
By the time Wang Anquan trotted over, his Brother Zhu was already standing in the shade outside the factory, smoking with the owner.
In clothing factories, smoking inside was prohibited.
Now, Cheng Zhu was puffing smoke while painting big pictures for the factory owner, bargaining hard.
"Little brother, our profit margins aren't that high. If you bargain like this, there's no way to do this order," the owner said, taking a drag, looking troubled.
"And you can see for yourself—our goods are high quality. You get what you pay for," he added, gesturing inside with the cigarette between his fingers.
Cheng Zhu waved his hand. "I don't want high quality. I want good texture."
"Quality that's too good is useless. Not long ago, a customer left me a bad review saying they couldn't tear it no matter how hard they tried. You tell me—aren't they sick in the head?" Cheng Zhu ranted angrily, making things up as he went.
The factory owner looked at him, and this time he truly believed it.
This young man really was an experienced QQ e-commerce seller.
Standing to the side, Wang Anquan felt like the two smokers were blowing smoke straight into his face.
What the hell were they even talking about? He felt completely lost.
TL: If you want to read ahead by at least ten chapters, patreon.com/EdibleMapleSyrup