But Pei Zhen had personally gone to do the selection. After picking through everyone, he’d ultimately decided that this completely unknown young male model, with his confident, devilish little smirk, best suited his brand’s new fragrance concept, which was all about being untamed and free-spirited.
Later, that modeling fee—not an enormous sum—had covered Lei Yao’s basic rent and instant noodle supply for the next several years. Ultimately, it allowed him to hold on until the very day he rocketed to stardom.
So Lei Yao had stated clearly: If the sales target really can’t be met, I’ll promote it on Weibo, tap into my fan economy.
Of course, Pei Zhen hadn’t told Han Fu any of this yet.
He couldn’t tell him right at the start; otherwise, the Little Wolfdog would slack off.
With difficulty, he freed his hand from that incredibly possessive embrace and gently rubbed the Little Wolfdog’s brow.
Don’t worry. I’ll help you. There won’t be any problems.
Although Pei Zhen had said the sales should be left to their company’s sales specialists, on the very first day of selling, Han Fu couldn’t hold back and rushed over to the pedestrian street booth.
The bottle was, unsurprisingly, gorgeous. The gold foil swirled within it, sparkling and gleaming under the sunlight.
Only the price… was enough to make anyone despair.
The sales assistant: “Because President Pei said so, the costs are relatively high, and it’s a piece of great commemorative significance. It absolutely cannot be sold at a loss.”
Han Fu: “…”
The problem is, this price point is chasing after major brands! Without that major-brand recognition, would any high rollers actually buy it?
The sales assistant: “President Pei said, it’s okay if it doesn’t sell out, we can just hold onto the stock and sell it slowly in the future. A few years from now, once you, the perfumer, become famous, the price might shoot up more than tenfold, and it’ll be so sought-after you won’t be able to find a single bottle.”
Han Fu: Does this girl not understand the current problem at all?
It needs to sell out in a week!
How can she be so unbothered by this?!
Listen! The young women passing by were already murmuring amongst themselves—What perfume is that? The bottle really is gorgeous but, I’ve never heard of this brand? And it’s so expensive. Can’t justify spending that much.
“Eh… Han Fu?”
Just as he was fretting, wondering if he should call Pei Zhen to discuss the on-site situation, he suddenly heard a familiar male voice. Looking up, it was none other than Yu Wenzhe and his friend, the Fat Bearded Brother!
It was the weekend, and the two of them were clearly in a leisurely mood, out shopping before ten in the morning.
The Fat Brother was even tugging along a huge balloon, looking perfectly content.
After chatting for a while, Han Fu received a piece of news that was quite unexpected—it turned out that the final round of the qualification trials for Grasse Academy had been won by this very technical powerhouse, the Fat Brother!
So, for this year’s PA Competition, Fat Brother would be entering the Elimination Round directly via Belle’s recommendation slot.
But… what about Yi Changkong then?
Could Belle’s side… later find some excuse to retroactively cancel Fat Brother’s spot?
Fat Brother: “Nah, they won’t. Besides, Yi Changkong didn’t even lose the slot to me by coming in second—he straight up didn’t show up for the final selection.”
Han Fu: “What??”
Fat Brother shrugged, looking quite helpless. “The day before the finals, his older brother, Yi Changqing, called the school board and said that, as his brother, he needed to step aside to avoid any suspicion of conflict of interest, and voluntarily withdrew from the recommendation qualification selection.”
Han Fu: “…”
Fat Brother: “Actually, he totally could have competed! I ain’t scared of him anyway! Han Fu, tell me, ain’t I the one who’s getting shafted here? The whole Sixth Phase Class knows—Wenzhe knows it too—his skill level can’t match mine. I’ve always been the one crushing that kid! And the result? You and Yi Changkong get banned from competing, Senior Sister Fu Yao gets sick, and suddenly a bunch of people are yapping every day about how I’m a luck-sacking vulture.”
“Who the hell luck-sacked anything?! I clearly won it on skill! Even if all of you had come to compete, I still would’ve been first! One comes, I’ll wreck one; two come, I’ll wreck the pair of you!”
Han Fu didn’t really listen to what he said after that, lost in his own thoughts.
Stepping aside out of “suspicion,” forcing his little brother to withdraw from the qualifiers?
That made no sense. Hadn’t the whole point been to rig the game for his brother? And now, in the blink of an eye, Yi Changqing was… acting the white lotus saint again? What was this charade?
Or was he simply trying to prove to Pei Zhen that the true mastermind behind the scenes really wasn’t him?
“Hey, Han Fu! Han Fu!” Fat Brother called out to him. “Stop spacing out! Didya hear what I just said? Why are you working some part-time gig selling perfume on your day off? Quit selling. Let’s go to the library and have a proper match. Don’t you worry, Fat Bro’s got money. Fat Bro will pay today’s wages for you!”
Han Fu: “Heh.”
…
…
“So you need to sell a thousand bottles. How many have you sold so far?”
After hearing Han Fu explain the whole situation with Lister and the Cranberry slot, Fat Brother frowned. He picked up the sample again, examining it closely and sniffing it.
“Honestly, the scent is quite harmonious. Even if you tried to pass it off as a professional, top-tier brand, plenty of people would probably believe it. But your product design is flawed. This scent profile is clearly aimed at the young demographic, right? And you’re pricing something made for generally broke young people this exorbitantly—does that seem appropriate?”
Han Fu: “…”
It didn’t.
He’d been wholly absorbed in blending the scent, thinking of the Glass Heart Princess, and had indeed overlooked basic market principles.
Even though the theme was “Glass Heart Princess,” it actually should have been made into a light, sophisticated scent profile. After all, with such exquisite packaging and this price point, the primary target should have been career women with actual spending power, didn’t it?
“So, see,” Fat Brother shook his head and rolled up his sleeves. “Selling the way you do, you’re not gonna complete the task easily. And on top of that, you’re just standing here so awkwardly, all shy. We walked right past earlier and didn’t even hear you hawk the goods. You plan on selling like this until when?”
“So, count yourself lucky. Me and Zhezhe just happen to be free today. We’ll help you sell! Let us show you what top-tier sales technique looks like!”
“You only have the one booth, right? Oh, oh, another one at the far end of the street, yeah? Okay, pretty girl, come with me to man the booth at the other end. You two cute little bros, work the street corner here! See ya at noon!”
…
So, the two shy young men sat under a large parasol, selling perfume in a very Zen-like, detached manner.
Thankfully, they were handsome, so at least they consistently drew some attention.
Han Fu was absolutely exasperated with himself. When it came to his own Pei Zhen, he could endlessly innovate new ways to be shameless. But here, on this bustling street with people coming and going, he couldn’t summon an ounce of boldness.
In contrast, Yu Wenzhe, who was normally so reserved, actually had the sense to go next door and borrow a giant bunny costume. With his adorable bun-face looking all cute and pitiable, he charmed young women into visiting the booth to try the perfume samples.
“It’s totally fine! Come give it a try even if you’re not buying. There are handmade soap gifts too~ What a cute young lady.”
“Thanks for your purchase! Mwah, pretty girl!”
At noon, Fat Brother returned. “How many’ve you sold? What the hell, with your two faces combined, you’ve still only sold this many? Trash-tier! I’ve already sold over two hundred bottles!”
Han Fu: “…How many?”
At the combined sales rate he and Yu Wenzhe had managed all morning, forget one week—they might not reach a thousand bottles in half a month. And yet, one morning from Fat Brother had yielded over two hundred bottles?
Two hundred in a morning meant four or five hundred in a full day. At that pace, he could sell out in two days?
Was Fat Brother seriously not just bragging?
…
Fat Brother really wasn’t bragging.
When Han Fu went over to observe his booth in the afternoon, not only was the business booming, but he had also managed to negotiate a cross-promotional sales deal with the pricey, exquisite all-you-can-eat cake place next door.
Each perfume purchase came with a 50% off coupon for the neighboring high-end cake buffet.
Fat Brother: “Honestly, the people willing to shell out for a pricey, bling-bling little perfume like yours are bound to be somewhat aspirational, bourgeois men and women. The target clientele is identical to that of an expensive cake buffet.”
“With a 50% off coupon in hand, the perfume feels practically free. People are scrambling to grab it!”
“But actually, the cake buffet was already planning to run a half-price promotion. We’re basically helping promote them for free. Since I’m not taking a commission, the cake buffet owner felt bad and even gave me a bunch of free meal vouchers.”
Han Fu: Holy shit…
Running a promotion and still coming out ahead? What kind of heaven-defying business acumen was this?!
And furthermore, in this world that supposedly judges by looks, why were multiple gorgeous girls, stars in their eyes, proactively asking the Fat Bearded Brother for his phone number?
Yu Wenzhe, in a hushed tone: “Actually, Jing Xing… he gets pursued a lot.”
“But he says it’s just personal charisma. Says others can’t learn it.”
Han Fu: “…”
Was the gap between people really this vast?
Take Yu Wenzhe—so ridiculously handsome for nothing, yet he couldn’t even land a girlfriend. And Han Fu himself was also miserably chasing and chasing, day in and day out.
Maybe… learning some tricks from Fat Brother could have surprising effects down the line?
Just as he was thinking this, a man approached the booth. He was quite slender, with slightly yellowish hair.
“Uh, Brother Mai?”
As if one pair of outside helpers wasn’t enough, even Zhenzhen’s friend, Mai Zixi, had come out to show his support?
