Su Chi left after two o'clock that afternoon. A day later, Su Huanyi and the others also departed from Banyan City for the next city, Huadu.
Huadu was located in an economically developed coastal area and was one of the most prosperous cities in China. The plane took off in the morning and arrived in Huadu in the afternoon. As usual, the three rested that day and went to meet the agent the next day.
There was a night bar outside the hotel, and after dinner, Zhou Qingcheng suggested hanging out there. They ordered a few glasses of fruit wine as they settled in.
"Didn't you ask me about internet bloggers last time? I have many friends in Huadu. Do you want to meet some?"
Su Huanyi's focus was on the word "many": It seems that a sea king was very different from his lonely little frog self.
"Let's meet them." He also wanted to see what the friends of the sea king looked like.
Su Huanyi added, "Preferably those who are in the wine and food circle."
Zhou Qingcheng was puzzled. "You want them to help sell it?"
Su Huanyi disapproved, "How can you be so wasteful?" It's a tsunami and yet you let it go to water the fields!
Zhou Qingcheng choked for a moment. "Then what do you want them to do?"
Su Huanyi elegantly raised his glass and took a sip, saying, "Of course, it's to bring out their remarkable creativity."
The blue light from the bar fell on the rim of the glass, giving him a wise halo.
Sun Heyu slowly closed his eyes, not wanting to see more.
Zhou Qingcheng leaned back in his seat and took out his mobile phone to type. "Please stop being pretentious. I have an appointment with my friend tomorrow. Tell me what you are planning to do?"
Su Huanyi sniffed and put away his pretentious posture and elaborated to the two men, "The reason why Kun Liquor is facing so much competition in the market is that there are other similar alternatives, which means it is replaceable."
He added, "To increase sales without pressuring prices, you need to turn replaceable into irreplaceable."
Zhou Qingcheng was in a fog. "What do you mean? How do you want to fix that?"
Su Huanyi chose to tolerate his ignorance. "It means we have to make consumers feel that it is irreplaceable."
Zhou Qingcheng was stunned. "You want to brainwash the consumers?"
The corners of Sun Heyu's mouth twitched. "It's you who should wash your brain."
Su Huanyi raised his glass and clinked it with Sun Heyu to show his approval.
The local sales situation was also well understood after meeting the agent the next day. The sales in Huadu were a little higher than in Banyan City, but still not up to expectations.
They parted with the agent and found a specialised restaurant for dinner.
They were there early, and the food was served quickly. Huadu's dishes were sweet, with fine ingredients and a full range of colours, flavors, and tastes.
Su Huanyi didn't forget to clock in and take a photo to send to the family group.
[Su Huanyi]: "We ate at the Bilang Pavilion at noon!" [Photo]
[Su Jitong]: "I don't think enough dishes are remaining. Stop taking pictures and quickly put your chopsticks to use!"
Su Huanyi raised his eyes to look at the table, and sure enough, half of the food had already been swept away. "I don't think we look like the second generation," he said as he put down his phone and joined the fray.
Zhou Qingcheng pulled his head out of the bowl. "Then what do we look like? The second generation of rice?"
"Rice bags."
"…"
The two were fighting fiercely with their chopsticks when the phone on the table dinged. Su Huanyi put his chopsticks down and picked up his phone.
[Su Chi]: "What are you doing now?"
Su Huanyi was instantly scared, and he reflexively flipped his phone backwards! Once bitten, twice shy.
Sun Heyu, "What are you doing?"
Su Huanyi was vigilant. "My big brother asked me what I was doing."
Sun Heyu answered for him, "A thief's heart is always weak."
Su Huanyi was not in the mood to accompany him in his comedy at the moment. He squeezed his phone in contemplation, trying to figure out the deeper meaning behind Su Chi's text. He then put out a foot tentatively.
[Su Huanyi]: "I'm thinking of you!"
[Su Huanyil]: "Big Brother, where are you?"
[Su Chi]: "I thought I was in your heart."
Su Huanyi: "…"
There wasn't a single valid message in the dialogue that filled the screen, even after several rounds of trial and error.
It wasn't until Su Huanyi went back to the hotel and soaked in the hot bathtub that he slowly came to his senses – Su Chi was simply bluffing him!
What an interesting Su Chi. He was really worthy of writing a book about.
...
After a perilous night, the sun rose again the next day.
They had a meeting with an internet blogger today, and Zhou Qingcheng especially urged Su Huanyi to primp and not to lose his style again. "I remember that you used to like wearing those European shirts and blazers, oozing an aristocratic air. Why did you become so plain?"
Su Huanyi's face reflected the light. "I went back to the basics."
Zhou Qingcheng concluded that he was talking nonsense again.
The clubhouse where the meeting was to be held was owned by a friend of Zhou Qingcheng's. He just had to show his face and be allowed in. Sun Heyu followed Zhou Qingcheng all the way in and sighed. "It's really cool to brush up with just the face. Su Huanyi, have you ever felt it?"
Su Huanyi's face was grave. "I almost felt it several times." Luckily, I was able to survive due to Big Brother.
The two were unsure. "That's a shame."
They entered the box and saw a corner of Zhou Qingcheng's sea. There were a total of four people sitting on the sofa: two women and two men, all-around twenty to thirty years old.
Zhou Qingcheng stepped forward to greet them. "Let me introduce you to Chacha, Chestnut, and Nan Min. All are food bloggers with millions of fans, and Brother Yu is a famous bartender in Huadu."
Su Huanyi and Sun Heyu greeted them, and they sat down. Zhou Qingcheng asked the waiter to serve some snacks and drinks.
There were board games, billiards, and table football in the box, so they played a few games together. After lunch, they were almost familiar with each other, so they sat down and prepared to talk.
The snacks and drinks in the box were replaced with desserts and afternoon tea, which the girls and Su Huanyi enjoyed. "Eat more." Chacha pushed a plate of strawberry lasagna to him with affection.
Su Huanyi reciprocated by pushing her a piece of egg tart. "You too."
Sun Heyu, who was watching, was startled by the words "motherly kindness and the son's filial piety" that popped into his head.
After having enough to eat and drink, Su Huanyi put his plate away and started to talk about business. "We have launched a new batch of wine called Kun wine, which Zhou Qingcheng should have mentioned to everyone. The current situation is that the sales path has not yet been opened and we need a few people to help."
Chestnut asked, "Do you want it to be recommended at the end of our food videos?"
Su Huanyi hinted, "It needs to be a bit more complicated."
Chestnut simply reasoned, "So you want it to be recommended at the beginning and end?"
The crowd: "…"
"I'm talking about a different form of recommendation." Su Huanyi went ahead to explain in detail, "There are no complimentary products for Kun wine and a large number of substitutes exist. So to maximise demand, one can do both. You can create complementary products on the one hand and avoid becoming a substitute on the other. The same method can also be used for complementary products, buffing the whole thing up."
Brother Yu understood at once, "So all we have to do is create complementary products."
Su Huanyi replied shyly, "Yes, it's up to you all."
...…
They added each other on WeChat after discussing the steps of the project in detail and finally took a group photo together as a souvenir.
Su Huanyi had made new friends, and when he returned to the hotel, he posted a rare friend circle to show that he was not alone!
[Su Huanyi]: "New friends!" [Photo]
Under the friend circle, Su Jitong and Yu Xinyan liked it one after the other. The other two brothers did not like it but left comments.
[Su Jianchen]: "Why didn't you carry the rabbit backpack?"
[Su Huanyi]: "It wouldn't have fit in the suitcase, Second Brother!"
[Su Yu]: "You're in Huadu? It's very close to the capital, so come over and hang out with Third Brother." [Looking Forward To It.gif]
[Su Haunyi]: "Okay."
[Su Jitong]: "Make sure Su Yu buys you delicious food!"
[Su Yu]: "We shall do whatever Little Brother wants to do."
Before Su Huanyi could think of a reply, he saw Su Chi give the comment a "Like".
"…"
He instantly had the feeling of being caught red-handed for being discriminatory.
He was currently soaking in the bathtub, and he immediately took a genuine picture of himself and sent it to Su Chi.
[Su Huanyi]: "Big Brother, I really miss you!" [Picture]
In the picture, a slim hand was glowing white in the light, and the water beads were shiny and crystal.
[Su Chi]: "Your sincerity is melting."
[Su Huanyi]: "…"
Su Huanyi came out of the bath and tossed his phone aside before going to blow-dry his hair.
He finished tidying up and found that Zhou Qingcheng had sent him a bunch of messages in succession.
[Zhou Qingcheng]: "I'm so fucked! A friend of mine sent me this. You're fucking hung up on the internet!"
[Zhou Qingcheng]: [Link – Sweet cake boy on Banyan City's ancient street, with a stunning red mole on the side of his neck!]
Crap! What is this? Su Huanyi was shocked and extended his index finger to poke at the link.
The opening screen was a side face. The light was sufficient and the picture was clear.
The street scene behind it was deliberately blurred, and the person in the centre of the picture had pulled his jacket open. He was raising his hand to eat a sweet cake, causing the collar to fall and revealing a long, slender neck with a bright red mole adornment on the side.
Su Huanyi first froze for a second. Who is this little fairy... then exclaimed, "Oh, it's me!"
He was completely unaware of what was happening and hurried to text Zhou Qingcheng again.
[Su Huanyi]: "How did it come to this?"
[Zhou Qingcheng]: "Banyan City's ancient street was originally a popular shooting spot for online bloggers and internet celebrities. There were many people taking pictures, and I guess someone took your photo and sold it to the website, which in turn secretly sent it out to earn traffic, not expecting it to become popular."
Su Huanyi's first thought: If I had known that I could make money this way, why would I be selling wine?
Then he looked at the comment section and quickly dismissed the idea.
He didn't know what kind of website this was, but some netizens in the comments were even asking if they could date him!
Didn't this mean that they were coveting him? Su Haunyi thought about it for two seconds and decided to tell his big brother everything.
[Su Huanyi]: "Big Brother, I'm here to report!"
[Su Huanyi]: [Link – Sweet cake boy on Banyan City's ancient street, with a stunning red mole on the side of his neck!]
[Su Chi]: "?"
During the time Su Chi went to check the link, Su Huanyi went back to the web page and began to look through the comments section.
There were both male and female commenters, from those who simply complimented him on his good looks, to those who spoke lewdly, and those who were asking him out.
Su Huanyi went through a few pages, and then his eyes stopped at one of the comments.
"Do you need a brother? Do you want a brother to love you?"
Su Huanyi said to himself, 'The last thing I need is a brother!' His "brother-container" was almost flooded.
He screenshotted this comment and went back to the dialogue box. Su Chi had just finished reading the post and replied to him.
[Su Chi]: "It's a mess. It was good to report."
[Su Huanyi]: "Yes! Yes!"
[Su Huanyi] : "Brother, someone was asking if I needed a brother. Is it to shake your throne?"
There was silence in the dialogue box. After a long time—
[Su Chi]: "Start putting on more clothes."
Su Huanyi didn't understand how the topic jumped so quickly. He had gone straight into the blanket after showering and was all hot.
[Su Huanyi]: "Why?"
[Su Chi]: "It's getting cold."