The next day, Cheng Zhu woke up bright and early.
"Almost thirty-year-olds just can't compare to eighteen-year-olds," he reveled in this fact.
Each morning, the "dragon's head raising" exercise would tell him, "You're in great shape!"
For this trip to Guan Yun, Cheng Zhu planned to bring Wang Anquan along.
He now had only two close friends, one was Jiang Wanzhou and the other Wang Anquan.
Jiang Wanzhou had too gloomy an aura, Cheng Zhu didn't want to bring him to this kind of place, lest he opens the doors to a new world for him.
Wang Anquan had a fiery spirit, it was time to open the doors to a new world for him.
And let's not forget, as mentioned before, based on experiences from a past life, Cheng Zhu and Jiang Wanzhou should not partner in business. Separately, they were each incredible, together they were just a pile of crap.
But Wang Anquan was different; his integrity was solid, he was honest and reliable, very obedient. Cheng Zhu trusted him a lot, as in his previous life he was also part of Cheng Zhu's gang.
Previously mentioned, Wang Anquan's daddy was a firefighter, and with the name "Anquan" meaning safety, he hoped for his son's lifelong safety, also implying his son was his number one.
Cheng Zhu lived on the third floor, a few years back the second floor had a fire that spread upwards, it was Wang Anquan's daddy who extinguished it.
"They've done us a favor," Cheng Zhu always remembered this.
In the afternoon, he picked up his phone and sent Wang Anquan a WeChat message.
"I'm planning to start some e-commerce, earn some living expenses. Come with me to a place in a few days, I'll cover all costs."
He quickly received a reply from Wang Anquan: "Sure, Brother Zhu, where to? I'm about to go stir-crazy at home."
Wang Anquan seemed to think of it as a trip.
"Men's paradise," sent Cheng Zhu over WeChat.
"Could it be that place in Guangdong..." Wang Anquan's eyes lit up but hesitated to type out that city's name.
In the hearts of many young men, it was a taboo yet sacred and legendary place.
Cheng Zhu glanced at the message, suddenly remembering that the globally renowned service city was indeed swept this year.
Since then, the market prices have gone to hell.
"Otherwise, I heard that just one district in that city needs at least 300,000 QQ lingerie pieces a year," he recalled the news he'd seen before.
Not in the mood to keep up the suspense, Cheng Zhu typed: "Not where you're thinking, we're going to Guan Yun."
"Guan Yun? Where's that?"
"Why so many questions? Just follow me, and you'll see something incredible."
Wang Anquan replied with a "got it" emoji.
After chatting with his buddy, Cheng Zhu began to gather some information he needed online.
He always had a serious attitude when it came to making money.
Though the goods we sell don't seem very solemn, still it's a legitimate business, something that can be sold openly and proudly.
He didn't see anything dishonorable or embarrassing about it.
He forged ahead with wide strides, so it served him right that he made money.
Besides, these are everyday items, normal life necessities for many ordinary people; nothing to fuss about.
Surely, Victoria's Secret is classy, but Guan Yun's Secret isn't lowbrow, right?
"As society develops, more and more people start to care... well, let's just say they're concerned about the quality of life," Cheng Zhu thought.
"The future of this industry is indeed getting brighter by the year."
"This business is easy to run now because people are embarrassed to go to physical stores."
"And later on, it will still be easy to do business simply because the market demand is growing."
"If I remember the data correctly, in recent years, the mainstream age group of buyers is around 28 years old."
"But later on, the mainstream purchasing group's age is 22-25 years old."
Cheng Zhu from the previous life was also an expert in this area, having seen all kinds of designs.
However, they were always purchased by sensible women on their own; he himself had never bought any.
That was the level of a Grandmaster.
"Actually, I might even lead the trend if I design them myself," Cheng Zhu suddenly entertained such a thought.
After all, strictly speaking, this is also a branch of the fashion industry.
In the fashion industry, style and trends are especially important; it's all about the designs.
In this area, Cheng Zhu, with his seasoned experience, was very confident.
"Then let me be the trendsetter who rides the wave."
"And lead the customers to ride the waves together."
Cheng Zhu had made his plans and was ready to set off the day after tomorrow.
Of course, he'd lie to his parents and say he was going out to play with Wang Anquan for a few days.
These days, kids were too entrenched in academic competition.
During the summer break after elementary school, they have to take classes for middle school content. After the middle school exam, they study high school content.
After the college entrance exam, you really should relax a bit, and parents wouldn't oppose that.
Around five in the afternoon, Cheng Zhu went home and changed clothes.
He didn't make a special effort in dressing up, wearing a plain white T-shirt, a pair of distressed jeans, and a pair of canvas shoes that were still quite popular at the moment.
Soon, his phone vibrated. Jiang Wanzhou had come to the neighborhood to pick him up.
"Come to think of it, his house isn't that close to mine."
"He didn't have to come pick me up."
"He must enjoy the feeling of being on the road together, like when we used to go to the bathroom together after class in school."
Jiang Wanzhou rarely drove that Porsche 911 Targa version, a gift from his father for coming of age.
This generation's 911 still hadn't adopted the later-through tail lights.
As soon as Cheng Zhu got in the car, he asked, "Where are we eating?"
"Golden Sand Hall," said Jiang Wanzhou. "Shen Minglang chose the place."
Cheng Zhu nodded, aware that the place was rather expensive.
When the two reached the Golden Sand Hall, they found that Shen Minglang had arrived even earlier.
"It's rare for you to be so punctual for a meal," Jiang Wanzhou started teasing his own cousin again.
Cheng Zhu listened on the side, more convinced from the exchange: "Shen Qingning's friend must really be pretty."
Today, Shen Minglang wore a Givenchy T-shirt with a dog print, even making a special trip to the barber to style his hair.
As Jiang Wanzhou sat beside him, he immediately covered his nose with disgust, "You're wearing cologne now?"
"How is it? The salesgirl told me, this is one of the fragrances most loved by women worldwide, Hermes' Terre d'Hermes," Shen Minglang radiated confidence from head to toe.
"A tofu in fragrance is still tofu," Jiang Wanzhou rolled his eyes.
At this moment, Jiang Wanzhou surely sat next to his cousin, with Cheng Zhu sitting beside Jiang Wanzhou.
This meant that a young lady would certainly sit next to Cheng Zhu.
Everyone agreed to meet at six o'clock, and at 5:58, Shen Qingning, along with Lin Lu, arrived gracefully.
She didn't like people who were late, and she was never late herself, a rather nice quality among women. After all, these days there are quite a few girls who deliberately do not keep to time, intentionally arriving late.
Today, Shen Qingning still wore a black dress, but she switched from a knee-length skirt to a long one that hid her shapely, straight legs.
However, the dress had a distinct cinching effect at the waist, making it immediately obvious her incredible lower-body proportions.
To match her outfit, she also wore little high heels about four or five centimeters tall, a classic from CL: black on top but red underneath.
Cheng Zhu couldn't help but think of a phrase, "Red against black, powers unfold."
For men, these shoes practically added attack speed.
And it must be said, Shen Qingning indeed emitted a strong, cold aura; as she walked in her high heels, she gave the impression that the restaurant belonged to her home.
Lin Lu walked beside Shen Qingning, but with a contrasting style.
She had a slightly more voluptuous face than Shen Qingning, with beautiful, lively eyes, truly resembling a deer in the woods.
Her height appeared to be about 165 cm, shorter than Shen Qingning.
Her clothing style was also different, wearing a white short-sleeved blouse from miumiu on top and a black skirt from the same brand on the bottom, complemented by white socks and a pair of black round-toe leather shoes.
Stylistically, she leaned more towards a sweet girl. She greeted Shen Minglang and the others with a smile, dimples appearing on her cheeks.
Cheng Zhu thought she looked twice as attractive when she smiled than when she didn't.
When the two women sat down at the table, Shen Qingning naturally took her place on the other side of Shen Minglang, leaving Lin Lu to sit beside Cheng Zhu.
Self-assured as if he was in the central seat, Shen Minglang started to take charge, introducing Cheng Zhu and Lin Lu to each other.
Lin Lu had an open and lively personality.
When Shen Minglang mentioned she was a talented voice actress, Cheng Zhu looked at her in slight surprise.
Meeting his gaze head-on, the young lady nodded earnestly, confidently affirming herself along with Shen Minglang's praise, saying, "Quite talented indeed."
(ps: A new week, asking for monthly votes and recommendations, pushing for the new book rankings.)