A Tale of Two Cities Supporting Xinjiang

The "Cotton Field Silk Road" cultural and creative gift box became an instant hit as soon as it was launched!

Just three days after the sale started, the WeChat messages from the owners of several specialty shops in the local scenic area were already overwhelming the business contact person.

"Mr. Li, please order another fifty sets. They sold out this morning; tourists were scrambling to buy them!"

"Could you please prioritize my order? The line of tourists waiting for my gift boxes is practically stretching out to the store entrance."

"Add more orders, at least thirty sets, otherwise we won't make it through tomorrow."

Messages kept coming in, along with various voice messages urging people to place orders.

Not only were they snapped up offline, but the gift box also flooded social media feeds.

Guzalinur casually scrolled through her feed and found that eight out of ten posts were about the "Cotton Field Silk Road." Some tourists were taking photos in front of the scenic area's iconic buildings while holding gift boxes, while some local netizens shared detailed photos of the gift boxes after they were opened.

Even the accompanying text was full of praise: "The pinnacle of Xinjiang's cultural and creative products! Both aesthetically pleasing and practical."

"This cotton bookmark is so cute, it's so soft and I almost don't want to use it."

"The gifts I gave to my friends were all amazing."

Even more popular is the trend of purchasing on behalf of others. Many tourists from other places ask local acquaintances to help them buy a few more sets after returning home. Some keep them for themselves, while others give them to relatives and friends.

The orders in the company's backend were booked up for half a month in advance, and customer service was busy replying to "when will the goods be shipped?" every day, their hands were always busy.

Guzalinur and her team members huddled together to look at the sales figures on the back end. As the numbers kept jumping up, they couldn't stop smiling, and all their previous fatigue vanished instantly.

"My goodness! It's only been a few days, and sales have already exceeded a thousand!"

Aygul slapped her thigh, her voice rising with excitement, "All those all-nighters revising the design, those arguments over the density of the cotton pattern—it was all worth it!"

Another group member nodded in agreement, his face full of a sense of accomplishment: "That's right! I was worried that the gift boxes would be too complicated to sell, but I didn't expect everyone to like them so much."

Look at the comments section, lots of people said they bought it specifically for the detachable laptop organizer, saying it's incredibly practical.

Guzalinur felt a warm glow in her heart as she looked at the positive reviews on the screen, and couldn't help but smile: "Some people even said that the gradient edges of the canvas bag are beautiful, showing the characteristics of Xinjiang without being flashy."

We were right to follow Professor Lin's advice and simplify the elements.

"Thanks to Guzalinur, you insisted on making the gift boxes and even took on the core design!"

The team member who had previously opposed making gift boxes scratched his head, looking both guilty and admiring. "If we had just made a single canvas bag as I suggested, it definitely wouldn't have become a hit."

Guzalinur said with a smile, "This is the result of our joint efforts. The color parameters you adjusted look so good, and the gift box packaging you designed has instantly improved the quality."

But this joy didn't last long before trouble came knocking.

Guzalinur went to the company to discuss the details of mass production as agreed. As soon as she entered the production workshop, her eyes widened in surprise.

The canvas bags on the assembly line conveyor belt were nothing like the samples they had agreed upon.

The original thick, sturdy, and textured canvas has been replaced with a thin, translucent non-woven fabric that deforms with the slightest pull.

The cotton pattern on the bag was blurred and indistinct, with the edges blurred together, making it impossible to see the original delicate texture.

The red and blue gradient of the Atlas at the corners has gone awry; the red is dull and the blue is grayish, making it heartbreakingly ugly.

She immediately became anxious, grabbed her canvas bag and rushed to Mr. Li's office. As soon as she opened the door, she questioned him: "Mr. Li, we clearly agreed on the material before, how come you secretly changed it?"

This non-woven fabric is not durable at all, and the subtle pattern is printed all over the place. Isn't this ruining the reputation of our Cotton Field Silk Road?

Mr. Li leaned back in his office chair, looking completely indifferent: "Xiao Gu, how can mass production be exactly the same as the sample?"

Non-woven fabric costs half the price of canvas, allowing for higher profits. Consumers buy it for the novelty; who can really tell the difference in materials?

"How can this be allowed? Our designs rely on these details to reflect the characteristics of Xinjiang. Now, the materials are shoddy and the printing is perfunctory. What's the difference between this and the inferior imitations on the market?"

Tourists who buy things like this will only feel that Xinjiang's cultural and creative products are overrated!

Mr. Li's expression changed, and he pulled out an agreement from his drawer and threw it in front of her. "Take a good look at it yourself. We signed a joint development agreement between the school and the enterprise. You students are here for practical training, so the design should belong to the company."

"Gift boxes are selling like hotcakes right now. I've already been generous by not asking you to provide subsequent designs for free. And you still dare to talk to me about materials?"

Guzalinur picked up the agreement and saw the words "joint development," and her hands trembled with anger.

It was clearly agreed that the students would design the product, the company would be responsible for production and sales, and the company would pay a commission based on sales volume. However, these verbal agreements were not written down, so it's impossible to clarify things now.

"You're cheating!"

She suppressed her anger, "We've worked countless sleepless nights on this design, revising it three times before finalizing it. How can you be so unreasonable?"

"Reasoning?"

Mr. Li sneered and leaned forward. "Back then, I provided you with practical training opportunities and helped you bring your designs to fruition. Now that the gift boxes are a hit, you're demanding copyright and design fees?"

"You'd better watch your mouth before trying to extort money from me. I'm not falling for that!"

The two sides argued fiercely, and finally, General Manager Li slammed his fist on the table and said harshly: "Either you let the team accept the material adjustment and continue to work on the subsequent design, and the commission can still be negotiated."

"Either you quit, all your previous hard work will be wasted, the design will be mine, and you'll get nothing. The choice is yours!"

Guzalinur was so angry that her chest felt tight, but there was nothing she could do. She returned to school, seething with anger.

Before she could even discuss countermeasures with her team, worse news arrived.

My classmate sent me a bunch of screenshots from e-commerce platforms, pointing at the screen and saying urgently, "Guzalinur, something terrible has happened! There are so many counterfeit Cotton Field Silk Road products online, priced at half the price of our genuine products, and selling extremely well."

When Guzalinur clicked on the screenshot, she saw that the counterfeit products almost copied their designs exactly. The cotton pattern on the canvas bag, the gradient cover of the notebook, and even the cotton shape of the bookmark were exactly the same, except that the material was worse and the printing was rougher.

Even worse, counterfeiters actually turned around and complained that the genuine products "infringed" on their copyrights, claiming that their designs copied their styles.

Several e-commerce platforms removed the links to the genuine gift boxes without any investigation.

The comments section was filled with complaints. Some said that Xinjiang cultural and creative products were a rip-off, with the canvas so thin that it would tear easily. Others complained that the gift boxes they bought for tens of yuan had unclear patterns, making them a complete waste of money. Some even declared that they would never buy Xinjiang cultural and creative products again, as they were all inferior goods.

Guzalinur clicked on the order details of those negative reviews and found that the people who placed the orders had all bought counterfeit products, but were venting their anger on the genuine ones.

She wanted to appeal to the platform, but the appeal required clear proof of copyright. Since she hadn't made a clear agreement with the company, she couldn't provide any strong evidence and could only watch helplessly as the legitimate copyright holder took the blame.

Upon hearing the news, the group members immediately erupted in chaos and started arguing with Guzalinur.

"This is outrageous! The company not only switched the materials, but now they're being falsely accused by counterfeiters! We can't live like this anymore!"

"What do we do now? The link's been taken down, our reputation's ruined, and all our design work was for nothing? All our hard work has been for nothing!"

"If I had known it would turn out like this, I shouldn't have agreed to cooperate with this company in the first place. I was blind!"

Now look what's happened! Our design was stolen, our reputation is ruined, and we're not even getting anything out of it!

"Why don't we do as General Manager Li says? If we accept the material adjustment, at least we can still get some commission, which is better than nothing."

"No way! Isn't this blatantly forcing us to compromise? We can't let our design be ruined like this!"

Everyone was talking at once, some angry, some frustrated, some wanting to compromise, and it was all in chaos.

Guzalinur knew that now was not the time to complain; she had to find a way to protect her rights as soon as possible. Otherwise, not only would the team's hard work be wasted, but the reputation of Xinjiang's cultural and creative industries would also be tarnished by these inferior imitations and unreasonable companies.

With unclear copyright, rampant counterfeits, and companies defaulting on their promises, how can we overcome these difficulties?

Guzalinur was filled with anxiety, yet she was unwilling to give up just like that.