Geng Bin’s words gave Wang Zhuo a hint of suspicion, mingled with a faint sense of foreboding.
Just as Baidu was notoriously known as a shameless search engine, Taobao was never short of oddities. Although the company’s reputation was a hundred times better than Baidu’s, there was an old saying: where there are many birds, there are all kinds of birds. With hundreds of thousands of shops on Taobao, truly any kind of merchandise imaginable could appear.
“Could it be that someone is selling pictures of you and Irene on Taobao?” Siyuan guessed.
Wang Zhuo gave a wry smile and shook his head: “Probably not. There are too many channels circulating those pictures; there’s no need to pay to buy them.”
As the two were talking, the sound of light footsteps came from outside, and then a fresh, pretty face poked in from the doorway—it was Bailu.
Tall and graceful, she was wearing a silky white gauze blouse, smiling at the two of them: “Come, try the pudding I just made.”
Pudding is the epitome of desserts. Wang Zhuo had never been interested in such things, but women flocked to them. Siyuan immediately jumped up and grabbed a bowl from the tray in Bailu’s hands.
Although he disliked eating it, he still had to save face. Wang Zhuo smiled, opened his mouth, and let Bailu feed him a small spoonful. He had to admit, the texture was silken and the taste sweet and fresh—it was professional quality.
“Quick, check Taobao to see what’s going on!” Siyuan urged from the side.
Bailu’s body carried a faint, delicate fragrance. Wang Zhuo casually reached out and patted her thigh. It had nothing to do with lust, just a simple enjoyment of the feel of her skin. After touching it, he opened Taobao and searched for 250.
The search results immediately appeared, revealing two million related items, including complete motorcycles, motorcycle parts, snacks and specialty foods, computers, toys, dried and aquatic products, and adult novelties.
Siyuan quickly pointed a small finger at the screen: “Choose the last one, Adult Novelties.”
Wang Zhuo was caught between laughter and tears. Bailu asked curiously, “What are you two doing?”
“You’ll know soon enough,” Siyuan replied, smiling like a little fox.
The facts proved Siyuan’s choice was absolutely correct. After entering the adult novelties category, Wang Zhuo immediately saw the results: over thirty thousand related products. Seeing the promotional titles and accompanying pictures, Wang Zhuo sputtered, spraying out the pudding Bailu had just fed him!
“Asia’s Number One! The favorite of international superstar Miss Irene, the blessing of lonely women, a 250mm passionate experience!”
“Nationwide free shipping, cash on delivery. The only real-life mold replica product on the market, ultra-realistic feel, perfectly balanced flexibility, made with imported Japanese materials, the 250mm Asian Prowess!”
“The 250 vibrating model is launching fresh! Veins bulging, aren't they? Head held high, aren't they? Identical to Director Wang’s original article, aren't they?! Our shop has specially prepared a mini version for petite women, scaled down to true proportions, allowing you, the petite one, to experience what international superstar Irene experiences!”
“250! 250! 250! Best seller across the entire network, over ten thousand units sold in seven days since launch! Every single vein and every fold is faithfully replicated from the actual object, special price of only twenty-five yuan!”
“Crystal Collector’s Edition 250, Irene fans, what are you waiting for? Director Wang’s fans, what are you hesitating for? Grab yours now!”
“Rotary Bead Edition 250, flash sale with free shipping, Asia’s Number One Male Member, seven pulse modes, sold a thousand pieces hot!”
“……”
Siyuan was already doubled over laughing on the table, clapping her little hands repeatedly, while Bailu’s shoulders shook, barely suppressing her mirth.
Next to the product titles were actual photographs of the items. Of course, these physical objects could not possibly be Wang Zhuo’s “real object”; they were the merchants’ display samples. But truth be told, these pictures bore a resemblance to Wang Zhuo’s treasure, and some were even so realistic that watermarks had been added to obscure parts of them.
Wang Zhuo felt like crying. After the incident, he had considered every possibility, but he never imagined that Chinese people were so adept at capturing business opportunities; related merchandise was already selling like hotcakes!
“This is hilarious!” Siyuan slapped her thigh, clearly delighted: “I need to order a few pieces to see if they’re really as good as advertised.”
“Siyuan, stop fooling around…” Bailu whispered, torn between laughter and distress.
Siyuan was undeterred. Pointing at one item that claimed to be the Crystal Collector’s Edition, she chuckled: “This one looks good; I feel like this one is quite similar.”
As she spoke, she picked up the mouse and clicked on it. After reading the product description, the three of them burst into laughter again.
“Exported to Europe and America! Breaking out of the country! This product has already received one hundred thousand orders from countries around the world, the shop owner is offering a special price reduction for three days!”
“The shop owner guarantees that this product is one hundred percent faithful to the original object. As everyone knows, the prototype for this 250 product is a super-rich man, so he himself could not possibly participate in the real-life molding process. Therefore, all products on the market claiming to be real-life molds are fraudulent advertising by merchants! We urge everyone to be aware!”
“The main body length of this product is 250 millimeters—not a millimeter more, not a millimeter less! The shop owner does not know the actual length of the original object because he has never seen it with his own eyes, nor measured it with his own hands! However, the shop owner specifically confirmed with a friend studying medicine that Director Wang indeed has the nickname 250, so the shop owner believes this product’s length should be basically consistent with the original!”
“Although this product is made of craft glass, its transparency rivals crystal, and the mold master specially hired a master craftsman from Japan known for making figurines. As you can see, the large tip is rounded and full, the coronal sulcus contours are clear, and the masculine veins extend outward; every detail is vividly rendered by the Japanese master!”
“The overwhelming positive reviews are not just because of this product’s excellence, but also because of everyone’s deep affection for 250. As everyone knows, treasures belonging to Asian men often have inherent deficiencies; a large treasure like this 250 millimeters is truly rare, so calling this product noble in origin is no exaggeration. Based on the shop owner’s personal judgment, this is absolutely the most famous treasure globally right now—possess it once, and you’ll desire nothing else!”
“……”
Just as the shop owner claimed, this product indeed received a tidal wave of positive reviews. The subsequent replies were varied, and some even quoted an advertising slogan Wang Zhuo was very familiar with: “Extra large, extra satisfying.”
Wang Zhuo felt utterly burnt out inside and out. This time, he was truly stunned. He sat in his chair, a mixture of tears and laughter on his face, completely forgetting about the fact that he had to rush to the airport that afternoon.
“What does real-life molding mean?” Siyuan quietly asked Bailu.
Bailu thought for a moment and replied, “It seems like using something like plaster to create a mold from the original object. After Lu Xun passed away, a Japanese doctor made a plaster death mask for him, and some of his beard hairs were even attached to it.”
Siyuan suddenly understood: “Oh, oh, then I get it! I’ve seen the death mask of Beethoven; it must be similar.”
Bailu shook her head. In reality, the Beethoven mask in the school’s art room was not his death mask but rather a representation of him during his peak creative period. However, since neither of them studied fine arts nor history, their knowledge of such matters was superficial, and they missed the finer details.
“Then in that case, this shop owner is actually quite decent. Earlier I saw a few places actually advertising one hundred percent real-life molding…” As she said this, Siyuan burst out laughing. Such advertising was simply too comical; why would Director Wang ever participate in this kind of molding?
“Decent, my foot!” Wang Zhuo laughed and cursed good-naturedly: “These guys are infringing on my portrait rights, my reputation, and all sorts of rights!”
“Then you should apply for a patent so they can’t manufacture products based on the real object,” Bailu said with a touch of humor, deliberately emphasizing the word “real object.”
Wang Zhuo scratched his head: “I’ll call Jack Ma and have him take all this stuff down immediately!”
“Hey? Wait a minute.” Siyuan quickly stopped him, giggling, “Let me order a few pieces one by one first, as a souvenir!”
“A souvenir for your head!” Wang Zhuo slapped her little bottom, caught between laughter and tears: “You can have the real thing; why bother with these knockoffs?”
Siyuan pouted a charming, spoiled smile: “That’s different. I can look in the mirror every day, but I still need to take photos to commemorate the moment.”
Wang Zhuo was at a loss for words, just about to speak, when Bailu chimed in, egging her on: “I also want to see what the real object looks like; just let her buy some.”
“The real object is right here,” Wang Zhuo gestured toward his own lower body, saying helplessly, “I give up against you two.”
Pushed off the chair by the two of them laughing and joking, Wang Zhuo felt both amused and resigned. He knew that suppressing this kind of thing was worse than letting it flow. Simply trying to manage Taobao wouldn't work; these three-no products, lacking factory addresses and trademarks, were impossible to trace to their source. To strike down every link in the production chain would likely involve endless trouble!
So, Siyuan and Bailu began online shopping. Some merchants offered small, medium, and large sizes; some products included hard and soft versions. Since money was no object, the two of them collected everything, letting none escape. They even ordered multiple pieces of that Crystal Edition which claimed to have received overseas orders. Siyuan even said she wanted to give some away as gifts!
He didn't know if she planned to give them to female classmates at school or to Qi Fei and the others. Wang Zhuo didn’t bother to care; let her cause trouble!
A while later, a phone call came in. They had secured Wang Zhuo’s reserved flight ticket; it was a seven o’clock flight in the evening. The flight to Osaka would take exactly two hours; landing time in Osaka local time would be eight o’clock at night.
Osaka used Tokyo time, which was one hour behind Beijing time.
After a good nap in the afternoon, Wang Zhuo woke up, took Siyuan, his little follower, and boarded the international flight bound for Osaka, Japan.
During the two-hour journey through the sky, Wang Zhuo was recognized by other passengers several times. Fortunately, the passengers in the first-class cabin had higher composure and did not cause a scene.
However, the expressions of the flight attendants who occasionally passed by him were somewhat ambiguous. In those days, there were too many men who were “strong on the outside, weak on the inside.” When a man like Wang Zhuo, who was “the same inside and out,” appeared beside them, even if it didn't cause them to be “consumed by desire,” it was enough to lead their imaginations astray!