Chapter 62: Evaluation Feedback

Sister Wang possessed a mature and magnificent temperament, with gentle and graceful brows that carried the distinct charm of a woman from the Jiangnan water towns.

And indeed, she was just like a woman from Jiangnan—

Moist and delicate!

Lü Yao had already verified this fact repeatedly and personally.

At this exact moment, the celadon-colored Hanfu collar—reminiscent of the finest Ru kiln porcelain—adorned Sister Wang’s slender and fair neck, centered with a single golden bell. Below it lay an unobstructed expanse of undulating snowy peaks.

This scenery was nothing short of exquisite!

Thus, a gentle, continuous drizzle began to fall over the Jiangnan water towns, and the wind within the body swept past the golden bells under the eaves, producing a ceaseless, crisp, and pleasant ringing.

"Jingle, jingle~"

"Jingle, jingle~"

The sounds echoed and intertwined with the patter of rain in the Jiangnan water towns, rising and falling in succession.

By the time the clouds parted and the sky cleared to a pristine blue, the water town had dissolved into an even muddier marshland.

……

Even after Lü Yao concluded his product evaluation, the fine drizzle over Jiangnan continued to fall in a misty patter.

Judging from Lü Yao’s personal user experience, this particular brand of intimate apparel was exceptionally energetic and robust. If one happened to possess a fondness for traditional aesthetics, it would be an absolute killer feature!

The main theme for Lü Yao’s second product line leaned heavily in this direction!

One piece was a traditional-style Hanfu collar with sleeve rings, another was a minimalist, modified Warring States women’s robe, and the last was styled after a flying celestial maiden.

The inspiration for the final celestial maiden outfit had been found by Lü Yao a few years later from the costume design of a female character in a video game.

The reason he decided to make the entire second collection revolve around traditional styles was simple.

As living standards in the country improved, the pursuits of young men and women were becoming increasingly diversified.

Subcultures like cosplayers, the Hanfu circle, and traditional costume fandoms were beginning to sprout up one after another.

Although the influence and exposure of these circles were not yet comparable to what they would be in three or four years, their target audience had already reached a considerable scale.

The reason they would become widely known to the general public a few years later was that the commercial value of these circles caught the eye of unscrupulous profiteers, leading to the proliferation of all sorts of anime conventions, Hanfu exhibitions, and cosplay expos.

And that was how these circles eventually earned a bad reputation.

As for why Lü Yao chose not to dabble in two-dimensional ACG-themed intimate apparel, it was because the anime and manga market had already been thoroughly overdeveloped.

Every time a popular anime series aired, the outfits of the hit female characters would inevitably flood e-commerce platforms.

There were legitimate cosplay costumes.

And then there were the illegitimate, risqué cosplay costumes that appeared in intimate apparel shops.

Therefore, that sector had long been a red ocean, making it a poor subject for marketing.

Traditional Hanfu-inspired intimate apparel, however, was entirely different.

Over the past few years, historical television dramas had experienced a massive boom, especially with the phenomenal success of *Empresses in the Palace*.

Not only did women love watching *Empresses in the Palace*, but even men were hooked.

After seeing the various dazzling beauties in these historical dramas, who wouldn't harbor a secret fantasy of visiting a luxurious pleasure pavilion for a song?

These traditional Hanfu-style intimate outfits could fulfill those desires brilliantly!

Had the Qing dynasty women's Manchu banners not been so hideously unflinching, he would have gladly capitalized on the popularity of *Empresses in the Palace* to design some Qing-style intimate garments as well.

Once the evaluation concluded, Lü Yao picked up his phone and sent a message to Boss Chen Xing: "I've finished testing. Among this batch of products, the user experience of the collar and sleeve rings is quite good, except the ribbons need to be a bit sturdier."

Boss Chen Xing had not yet gone to sleep.

Ever since Lü Yao’s online store experienced an explosion of orders, the sewing machines in her factory had practically been running so fast they were smoking!

To cope with the demand, she had even expanded and added two more production lines.

The young boss from Shangnan possessed wildly imaginative ideas; the intimate apparel he designed wasn't made entirely of fabric.

Some incorporated metal, and in the future, there would even be leather versions.

Consequently, Boss Chen Xing had set up dedicated hardware and leather sections within the factory floor.

Whenever manpower ran short, she would roll up her sleeves and join the production line herself to help out.

Receiving Lü Yao’s message while resting in her office, and realizing that Lü Yao had started his evaluation that very evening and had already finished... Boss Chen Xing’s imagination began to run wild.

The woman who was able to conduct the evaluation alongside Boss Lü...

She truly had incredible fortune.

After letting her thoughts wander, Boss Chen Xing replied: "Sturdier? Didn't you say before that you wanted a good texture, but a lower durability?"

Lü Yao typed back: "It depends on where it's used. For external ribbons like these, many seasoned veterans have alternative uses for them."

Alternative uses?

Even though Boss Chen Xing operated in this industry, her knowledge in this specific domain was far from profound, so she couldn't possibly fathom what Lü Yao meant by "alternative uses."

However, she was very receptive to advice, so she replied: "Understood. I'll make the ribbons sturdier in the upcoming batch."

Lü Yao: "Sturdily enough to support the weight of a person, at the very least."

Ah?

Boss Chen Xing was momentarily baffled.

Support the weight of a person?

What kind of operation was that?

Boss Chen Xing didn't understand, but she felt somewhat shaken.

After wrapping up the discussion regarding product performance with Boss Chen Xing, Lü Yao took a shower and went to bed.

The next morning, Lü Yao arrived at the studio bright and early.

Due to the recent surge in orders, the studio was operating on virtually three shifts around the clock.

To compensate for this, Lü Yao not only increased the wages of the studio's customer service representatives but also promised them substantial bonus red envelopes at the end of the month.

Therefore, the moment Lü Yao stepped into the studio...

He was almost driven back out by the thick cloud of cigarette smoke.

Just how many cigarettes had they smoked?!

Lü Yao opened the door to let the air circulate and proceeded to throw open all the windows in the studio: "Are you guys trying to smoke yourselves to death? This definitely doesn't count as an occupational injury, you know."

Seeing him, Xu子乔 (Xu Ziqiao) looked exhausted yet wired as he spoke: "We've just been so busy!"

Lü Yao said, "I ordered coffee for everyone; it'll be here shortly."

The employees in the studio instantly burst into boisterous laughter: "Thank you, President Lü~"

Returning to his desk, Lü Yao smiled and asked, "So, everyone’s been worn out these past few days, haven't they? Any frustrating issues come up?"

Mentioning this, the group of men working as customer service agents for the intimate apparel store immediately revealed knowing grins.

Xu Ziqiao stared with bloodshot eyes and said, "We're tired, but we're enjoying it from the depths of our hearts, right?"

Hearing this, the bunch of guys in the studio exchanged knowing glances and chuckled knowingly.

Most customer service jobs were terribly boring and often full of grievances.

But the intimate apparel e-commerce store was different.

Especially the strategy Lü Yao taught them to encourage customers to share buyer show photos—it had given them a real feast for the eyes.

Whenever they felt tired during the day, their greatest joy was gathering together to act as voluntary porn-appraisers.

Among the customer reviews with pictures, some generous buyers provided exceptionally pleasing visual treats.

While other customers' picture reviews didn't feature human models, they were full of narrative flair.

Xu Ziqiao laughed, "The comments and likes on the review photos posted by that group of rich guys you brought in are extremely high, which has inspired quite a few other customers to place orders."

With that, Xu Ziqiao scratched his head frantically: "Donkey Brother, where on earth do you learn these shady tricks?"

You even used male competition tactics!

And the kind that everyone loves to see!

Lü Yao chuckled, "Don't ask too much about society's ways. By the way, have similar online stores on the platform started popping up with products like ours recently?"

Xu Ziqiao replied, "There are a few stores already. Also, the bidding price for several keywords in our express traffic service keeps getting more expensive."

The express traffic service allowed sellers to set keywords in order to pin or prominently display their products.

This was a thoroughly aggravating feature.

While online stores could acquire traffic through it, the bidding mechanism gradually drove many smaller shops out of business.

Meanwhile, the platform operator made a killing by feeding off the deep pockets of major players.

Lü Yao shook his head and said, "There's nothing we can do about that."

Vicious competition was a constant reality.

That was precisely why Lü Yao planned to leverage traffic outside the platform to build momentum and create hype.

The infuriating cutthroat competition of platform traffic systems was precisely one of the factors behind the later rise of Pinduoduo and even the Douyin Mall.