Chapter 6: Setting Sail

The midday sun was like a giant furnace, baking the earth until it was scorching hot; the air seemed to have solidified, without a breath of wind, only the ceaseless chirping of cicadas, making one feel increasingly stifled.

At two in the afternoon, the entire photography process concluded smoothly, costing two hundred; upon returning home, Shen Yan took off his clothes and gave them a light wring, and sweat splashed onto the floor with a splat.

My dear mother! I was almost roasted alive.

After taking a cold shower, turning on the Air Conditioner, and downing two bottles of milk sent by the Yu Family, he began organizing the photos without a moment's rest.

He opened Photoshop, adjusted the image dimensions, uploaded the photos, decorated the shop... and finally, listed the products.

Once all the preparatory work was done, the next step was to boost sales and positive reviews.

It is reported that in order to cover up negative reviews and increase product exposure, many Taobao merchants are currently exploiting loopholes, paying to hire buyers to fake reviews and sales.

Perhaps because the scale is too small, the platform is currently too busy to attend to this area, so he could boldly go ahead and act.

"Dong, dong, dong!"

Just at this moment, a crisp knocking sound rang out.

Opening the door, he saw Yu Youwei standing there with her little mouth pouting, looking indignant.

"Stinky Shen Yan, where did you run off to all morning? You didn't answer the phone, and you didn't reply to instant messaging app messages either."

Shen Yan's eyes lit up instantly; wasn't this free labor delivered right to his door?

"Youwei, you've come at just the right time. Come in quickly, I have something I'd like your help with."

???

A row of question marks appeared on Yu Youwei's forehead; not only did he leave her behind this morning without an apology, but now he wanted to ask her for a favor?

That was truly like jumping for distance in a latrine—going too far (too much shit).

Despite this, Yu Youwei still trotted into the room, sat casually on the Large Bed, and let her little feet sway gently against the edge of the bed.

Before Shen Yan could speak, she took the initiative and said, "I can help you, but you have to agree to go to the class reunion."

Shen Yan sat in front of the desk, his gaze sweeping over those fair, straight, long legs; while admiring them inwardly, he waved his hand and said he really couldn't go.

"Don't interrupt, listen to me first. It's like this, you know Taobao; my cousin just opened a Taobao shop and needs me to assist from the sidelines."

"Once we make money, I'll get a share of the profits."

Yu Youwei was very familiar with Taobao, the largest online shopping platform currently, where one could have items shipped directly to their home, which was extremely convenient; she had even once helped her mother buy a silk scarf.

She then asked, "What is your cousin planning to sell online? Is it reliable?"

Shen Yan directly showed her the actual men's clothing and opened the shop's webpage for her to browse.

"How is it? The quality of the clothes is alright, right?"

"It's really not bad! The style is also very good-looking, and it's surprisingly only selling for 59 yuan." Yu Youwei couldn't help but exclaim as she looked at the clothes.

"I didn't realize your cousin was quite capable; the products are here, the shop is decorated, and it looks like the real deal. But I see the sales in the shop are zero, and there isn't a single review; surely no one will buy anything like this, right?"

Shen Yan chuckled and said that this was exactly where he needed Miss Yu's help—to find a few classmates to place orders and buy the clothes, preferably men, and even better if they were from out of town; then, once they confirmed receipt and left positive reviews, it would be done!

Uh... Yu Youwei listened, dumbfounded.

So that's how a Taobao shop could be played; with fake reviews and sales, once others saw the high ratings for the clothes, their trust would soar, and there would be no need to worry about the product sales not taking off.

Her eyes rolled, and she said slyly, "I can help, but how do you plan to thank me?"

Shen Yan patted his forehead; the little girl was sharp as a tack and not easy to fool.

"How about this, once we make money, I'll buy you a pretty outfit, how's that?"

"Deal!" Yu Youwei beamed with joy, opened her phone, and began contacting people.

Preferably those out of town, and they had to be boys; start with five orders, two to three pieces per order...

"Hey! Pangzi, do you have a Taobao account? Help me place an order (cute emoji)."

Pangzi: "Did your family open a shop?"

"Why ask so much? Just tell me if you'll help or not."

"Help, help, help!"

"Zhugan, do you have a Taobao account? Help me place an order (cute)."

Zhugan: "What do you mean?"

"Buying something on Taobao; use your account to place an order, and I'll transfer the money to you."

"Got it! Since the great beauty Yu has spoken, I must give you face."

As expected of a great beauty, her rallying power was top-notch; in less than twenty minutes, Yu Youwei had completed the task.

"Ding!"

"Ding!"

The melodious sound of order notifications made the corners of Shen Yan's mouth rise uncontrollably.

He had finally taken the first step on the road to entrepreneurship.

Yu Youwei seemed to have opened the door to a new world, full of curiosity about everything; she looked here and there, realizing that the merchant backend was like this, and the chat interface was like that...

As if thinking of something, she asked Shen Yan, "Then for these few fake orders, we can't actually ship the goods, right?"

"Of course not; I don't know the specifics too well, just leave it to my cousin to handle." Shen Yan brushed it off casually.

That evening, Shen Yan bought five tracking numbers on an empty-package website for 1.2 yuan each and clicked 'ship' in the backend.

These tracking numbers would update logistics in real-time, without any actual transport of goods.

The next day, following the same pattern, Yu Youwei found people to place another seven orders in the shop.

On the third day, there were ten orders, and at the same time, several orders with logistics showing 'signed for' were confirmed as received.

Shen Yan edited a few comments and took a few more photos of the clothing, having Yu Youwei forward them to those classmates.

On the fourth day, exciting news arrived: real buyers began to inquire and place orders.

Although this is a world of survival of the fittest, if the weak seize the opportunity, there is no reason they cannot soar into the sky.

On the fifth day, there were twenty real transactions, and the product exposure was rising in a straight line.

On the sixth day, 55 orders were completed, and on the seventh day, 97 orders were completed; meanwhile, Shen Yan's wallet was completely empty, with his funds stuck on the Alipay platform, unable to be withdrawn.

Taking advantage of the lunch break, Shen Yan said to Shen Nainai, "Nainai, more and more people are buying clothes online now, and I've run out of money to restock, so could you give me a few tens of thousands to help me out for now?"

He had long since told Shen Nainai everything about opening an online shop; with money coming in and out every day, and a huge pile of clothes, packaging, and couriers at home, it was impossible to hide even if he wanted to.

Shen Nainai was stunned upon hearing this and asked worriedly, "Little Yan, Nainai only sees you spending money, but no money coming in; could something have gone wrong somewhere?"

To be honest, she didn't understand this online shop business, and no one around them worked in this industry; she had only occasionally heard neighbors mention it.

Online shopping, where one can buy everything without leaving the house, and the sight of couriers running around the neighborhood every day, further confirmed the existence of this market.

"Nainai, it's like this..."

Shen Yan knew that the older generation was set in their ways and held doubts about new things, so he began to explain tirelessly.

Constant dripping wears away the stone; constant sawing cuts through the wood.

After much persuasion, Shen Yan had talked until his mouth was dry, and only then did Shen Nainai understand the ins and outs; upon learning that the online shop business was booming and the profits were substantial, she immediately beamed, sighing that her grandson had grown up and become successful.

Taking the bank card handed over by Shen Nainai, which contained 150,000 yuan, Shen Yan knew this was the money left over from selling the house, as well as her savings over the years, and he silently swore that he would definitely let her live a good life in this lifetime.