I met my whole family through Baidu Tieba.

Upon hearing Shen Kang's voice, Zhou Man suddenly perked up.

She was initially lying slightly on her side on the sofa, but she immediately sat up, looking more alert.

Xiao Bonian was also in the living room, sitting on the sofa to her left, watching a silent television.

Noticing Zhou Man's movement, he stopped watching TV and looked over.

"Why is there a woman's voice?" Zhou Man asked.

Before Shen Kang could speak, Zhou Man continued, "Instead of taking Qiu Zhu back to Yang University of Science and Technology, you went to Qianmin University by yourself. Did you go to see your girlfriend? You even lied to me and said you didn't have a girlfriend. What's the point of hiding something like that? Fine, then don't come back to sleep. That's good. Remember to take precautions..."

Shen Kang on the other end of the phone was both amused and exasperated. "What are you all talking about? It's all business!"

Zhou Man wouldn't listen at all. "Yeah, it's business. That's all for now. Take care of yourself. If it gets late and you really can't find anywhere to buy it, call Xiao Yang and he'll bring it to you."

"..."

Zhou Man didn't give Shen Kang a chance to speak again. After she finished speaking, she hung up the phone directly, her face showing some joy.

She had heard Shen Kang say more than once that he didn't want to be in a relationship anymore, and he always said that he didn't have a girlfriend, which made Zhou Man vaguely feel that something was wrong:

Judging from the age of "eighteen years old", Shen Kang is definitely a top-quality boy of this age.

While other freshmen were still worrying about their studies, Shen Kang had already started his own business and was doing very well. He had both money and a successful career. In terms of physique and appearance, Shen Kang had no shortcomings; he was tall and handsome.

This guy, at the age of eighteen, a time when hormones are raging, has not been heard of having a girlfriend for half a year.

When asked, they said dating was pointless.

So, is there something wrong with Shen Kang? For example, does he not like women? Or does he like men instead?

This is something Zhou Man has been thinking about from time to time lately.

Logically speaking, Shen Kang was just a business partner of hers, and whether Shen Kang liked women or men was none of her business.

But for some reason, Zhou Man felt uneasy whenever she thought about Shen Kang possibly liking men. She always felt that it would be better if Shen Kang liked women.

Fortunately, judging from tonight's events, Shen Kang does like women.

This made Zhou Man's eyebrows and eyes flutter slightly.

Xiao Bonian had been listening and watching silently for a while, and finally spoke up: "Shen Kang has a girlfriend?"

"Hmm," Zhou Man smiled and shared the information she had just received with Xiao Bonian, "When I was on the phone with him just now, I heard a girl's voice on his end. I was wondering why he was in the High-tech Zone and hadn't mentioned coming back to stay; turns out he had 'important business'..."

After chattering on for a while, Zhou Man finally said, "Anyway, it's good that he likes girls. I really thought he liked boys before."

After thinking for a moment, Xiao Bonian tentatively asked, "Is it possible that Shen Kang wasn't lying to you? Knowing him as I do, he might really be doing something serious. The woman's voice you heard might be from a business partner he's discussing something important with?"

Zhou Man confidently and firmly shook her head, "Impossible!"

Then he started nagging again: "I told you before, how could someone his age look like an old man? Sure enough, I caught him red-handed! He's quite shy and won't admit it, haha..."

Seeing Zhou Man talking to herself, completely immersed in her own world, seemingly unable to listen to anything, Xiao Bonian shook his head and remained silent. However, images of Shen Kang and He Qiuzhu resurfaced in his mind.

He always felt that there was something strange between the two children.

It's possible that Shen Kang is indeed in a relationship, but the person he's dating isn't the one from Qianmin University that Zhou Man thought he was dating, but someone who is both far away and close at hand.

If that's really the case, Xiao Bonian thinks it's actually quite good.

However, he wasn't sure yet, so he didn't tell Zhou Man—if he was wrong, talking about it could easily make things awkward between them, which wouldn't be good.

Let's wait and see.

……

"..."

Shen Kang listened to the dial tone on the other end of the phone, took the phone away from his ear, held it in his hand, and looked at it, feeling both amused and exasperated.

"What's wrong? Who called?"

Long Yuewen asked a question from the side.

Although she was talking to Ma Xiaofeng, her attention was also drawn to Shen Kang when he was on the phone, and she overheard some of what he said.

It seems that Shen Kang is on the phone with his mother?

The thought of this gave Long Yuewen a strange idea, a weird feeling, like "meeting the parents," something odd.

Shen Kang put away the phone. "Oh, it was an elder. It's nothing, just asking me, okay?"

If it were her mother calling, she obviously wouldn't say "elder." Thinking this, Long Yuewen felt inexplicably relieved.

The three of them continued walking towards the girls' dormitory.

When they arrived at the girls' dormitory where Long Yuewen and the others lived, Shen Kang said goodbye.

"Then I'm going back to the boys' dormitory."

With that, he prepared to leave.

Long Yuewen temporarily stopped her discussion with Ma Xiaofeng and looked at Shen Kang.

She felt somewhat dazed from this evening until now. She felt like Alice, having entered "Wonderland," embarking on an unprecedented fantastical journey, and Shen Kang was the cave that led her into "Wonderland"...

Long Yuewen suddenly spoke up: "Shen Kang, I'm also participating in the final of the campus's top ten singers competition tomorrow... Are you coming to watch?"

Shen Kang didn't even turn his head, he just raised his right hand and waved, "Xingchen told me that I'll go see it if I'm free tomorrow."

Long Yuewen smiled. "Be careful on the road."

"it is good."

……

After leaving the girls' dormitory and returning to the boys' dormitory, Shen Kang first went to Long Xingchen's dormitory.

The people in their dorm were still awake. Two were online, two were standing behind watching, and a boy was pulling at Long Xingchen, saying some nonsense and pleading.

"...Brother-in-law, I'll cover all your hot water needs from now on! Please introduce me to someone..."

Shen Kang walked over, and upon hearing this, he chuckled, "Not bad, you've been promoted to brother-in-law now."

Long Xingchen was being pestered and looked helpless. When he saw Shen Kang coming over, he first said to the man, "I've said it many times, she and I are just from the same clan and have the same surname. We are not related by blood. I am not her brother, nor am I her brother-in-law."

The boy grinned and said, "Whether you're the older brother or not doesn't matter. The important thing is, didn't you say you two are close? It's good that you can introduce us! I'll treat you to dinner on the third floor!"

"I'm no one to her, I can't decide who she meets..."

After a desperate struggle, Long Xingchen finally managed to shake off the man and quickly pulled Shen Kang out of the dormitory and into the corridor. Their steps were hurried, as if a demon was chasing them.

He only stopped and breathed a sigh of relief after walking a short distance into the corridor and making sure no one was chasing him.

"What's wrong?" Shen Kang asked casually.

Instead of answering, Long Xingchen asked, "Was it you who found clothes for Yuewen, took photos, and posted them online?"

Shen Kang nodded. "Mm."

Long Xingchen sighed, "They saw it too. Those who know Yuewen are fine, but those who don't, as soon as they heard others say that Yuewen and I are close, immediately started pestering me to introduce them..."

Shen Kang listened with amusement, his mind already conjuring up images of contemporary college students desperately seeking mates.

After complaining, Long Xingchen also voiced his doubts: "Why did you take this photo of Yuewen and post it online? Yuewen isn't someone who likes to be in the spotlight, so why did she agree to it?"

Shen Kang then explained the underlying interests involved.

After listening, Long Xingchen suddenly realized, "So it's about making money..."

As he spoke, his eyes flickered towards Shen Kang, and after a moment's hesitation, he said, "Shen Kang, look at me..."

Shen Kang looked him up and down and said directly, "Take off your clothes."

"?"

Long Xingchen was stunned for a moment, then, as if he had thought of something, he subconsciously took a step back, crossed his arms, and stared at Shen Kang warily.

"..."

Shen Kang sighed helplessly, "I just wanted to see what your figure is like. To be honest, it's hard to become famous just based on your face. I don't know what other special talents you have, so I can only look at your figure first. If you have a good figure, maybe it will work out."

Long Xingchen finally breathed a sigh of relief.

It's normal for guys to go shirtless, especially in a boys' dormitory, so Long Xingchen immediately took off his clothes.

Shen Kang glanced at Long Xingchen's upper body, extended his right index finger, made a circle, and whistled in a lewd tone, "Spin around."

"..."

Long Xingchen felt something was off, but thinking about making money, he obediently turned around.

After seeing Long Xingchen turn around and face him again, Shen Kang gave his conclusion directly, "It's difficult. Your physique is pretty standard among normal people, but for a guy to become popular on the Beiming Community by selling his body, just being normal isn't enough. You need to be very outstanding, with a lot of muscular aesthetics. I don't think it'll work for you."

Long Xingchen was very disappointed when he heard this.

But then Shen Kang changed the subject, "However, there are other ways to make money besides becoming a KL in the Beiming Community."

"Aren't you an embroiderer? I heard you say over dinner that your work can sell for over two hundred yuan, which means your skills are excellent, right?"

Long Xingchen said, "It's alright."

Shen Kang said, "Besides Beiming Community, there's also Xianyu.com, which is a sister website to Beiming Community. You should know about it, right?"

Long Xingchen already knew what Shen Kang was going to say, and spoke up, her tone somewhat helpless: "I know. I actually sold my embroidered piece on secondhand websites. It sold, but the price was drastically reduced, and I didn't make much profit after deducting costs. Making that kind of thing is also extremely time-consuming and laborious. All things considered, I might as well do a part-time job outside."

Just then, a boy from one of the dorms came out and walked towards the end of the corridor, seemingly heading to the restroom. Passing by, he saw Long Xingchen standing shirtless in the corridor in this weather, which seemed odd.

Long Xingchen quickly put his clothes back on.

After he finished dressing, Shen Kang said, "The reason you can't sell it for a good price is because the marketing wasn't done well. Miao embroidery, an intangible cultural heritage, can only fetch a high price if the story is told well. If the marketing is done well, I estimate that your embroidered piece could sell for 800, let alone 220 or 350."

Upon hearing this, Long Xingchen was shocked and couldn't help but question, "Really?"

Seeing this, Shen Kang didn't answer but instead asked, "Have you heard of Hermès? Do you know how much a bag costs?"

Long Xingchen nodded, then shook his head. "I've heard of it. But I don't know how much one of its bags costs."

Shen Kang then gave a figure, "Basically, it ranges from tens of thousands to several million."

"!"

Long Xingchen was shocked.

He knew Hermès was a luxury brand and that Hermès bags were expensive; he'd heard his classmates mention it. But he really didn't know Hermès bags could be this expensive!

The figure of "millions" was so outrageous that he couldn't help but question it again: "Millions? That's impossible!"

Shen Kang said, "You can search online yourself; there is relevant information. And this is just the price of the bag itself. In reality, you can't get many Hermès bags at this price because you need to 'buy more' them. The so-called 'buying more' means that you also need to buy other Hermès items, and buy a certain amount before you can buy the bag you want that costs hundreds of thousands. So, all things considered, Hermès bags will only be more expensive than the number I mentioned, but people still buy them."

Long Xingchen fell silent.

He was from a poor family in a Miao village and had never been exposed to this kind of knowledge before. Shen Kang's words truly opened the door to a new world for him, allowing him to realize for the first time how diverse the world could be.

One of those bags might be more money than he could ever earn in his entire life...

Shen Kang continued, "Hermes bags, in the end, are just about using some leather and adding some accessories. What real technical skill do they possess? No. But why can they sell for such high prices? That's because of their excellent marketing. Or rather, it's about culture."

"They started out making equestrian equipment, and later expanded into other fields. Over hundreds of years, they made Hermès a staple for royalty, politicians, and the super-rich around the world. This gradually created the idea that only the upper class could afford Hermès. And the reverse is also true—being able to afford Hermès means you're upper class. Their greatest success was implanting this idea into people's minds over such a long period of time, imprinting it on their minds. People are no longer buying bags, but a social status symbol."

"If Miao embroidery can also imprint this kind of ideological mark on people, or even if it doesn't need to be imprinted, but just needs to give people a similar concept, then selling it at a high price will no longer be a problem."

Long Xingchen listened attentively.

He himself is a Miao embroiderer, and he has always been troubled by the fact that Miao embroidery cannot be sold at a good price, so he is very interested in these things.

Seeing that Shen Kang paused here, he couldn't help but ask, "So, how do you make people have this kind of concept?"

Shen Kang chuckled, "It's just storytelling."

As he spoke, he clapped his hands, "Perfect, now we have a place to tell stories—Long Yuewen's account."

"Long Yuewen's shop introduces Miao culture. So far, it's doing well. If one day, Long Yuewen's shop grows bigger and becomes a large establishment, then she can tell the story of Miao embroidery there, telling everyone that it is an intangible cultural heritage, how difficult and time-consuming it is to make, and how few people know how to make it now."

"Things are valued for their rarity. As long as we tell this story well and successfully make people accept the concept that Miao embroidery is rare and precious, then it will not be difficult for Miao embroidery to sell at a high price."

Shen Kang spoke at length, his words flowing freely: "Furthermore, we can learn from the marketing strategies of many luxury brands. Once we've accumulated our first pot of gold, we can spend money on marketing, getting more influential figures to wear Miao embroidery and talk about its preciousness. By leveraging these influential figures, we can further instill the concept that 'Miao embroidery is precious and also a luxury item' into a wider audience. In fact, that's indeed the case. After all, compared to those so-called luxury bags, this intangible cultural heritage is indeed more difficult and precious in terms of craftsmanship. It's just that Western culture is now dominant, which is why their luxury goods can sell at high prices, while our luxury goods can't."

"Ultimately, it's a result of weakness in the cultural sphere. But in reality, this is only a matter of the last few hundred years. Hundreds of years ago, silk was the true luxury. The world is constantly changing, and this situation can certainly be changed again; I'm quite confident about that. Of course, it can't be accomplished overnight; it requires gradual progress. Starting with Miao embroidery as a product now is a great idea. Behind the scenes, there's you and embroiderers like you providing technical support; on the front end, there's Longyuewen, or perhaps more brands in the future, to promote culture and marketing. Everyone is moving forward together. It may be slow, but as long as we persevere, I believe that a single spark can start a prairie fire."

"You might even become a 'Miao Embroidery Fairy' someday..."

Long Xingchen listened intently, and after a moment of stunned silence, he quickly stopped being distracted and focused on listening carefully to what Shen Kang was saying, trying his best to remember everything.

As he diligently memorized the information, he came to understand the path that Shen Kang had planned for him, the embroiderer.

Simply put, he still makes a living with his skills, just like before. The difference is in his promotional channels. In the past, he would simply list his products on the internet or find people to promote them offline.

After that, according to Shen Kang, he no longer needed to find people to sell his products.

Everything is entrusted to Long Yuewen.

Furthermore, Long Yuewen does not actively promote her work; instead, she simply posts online and tells stories to her classmates about the preciousness of Miao embroidery as an intangible cultural heritage.

As long as the story is told well, customers will come to the door without needing to be sold to them. They will be willing to accept the prices offered, or even higher prices.