Zhan Xi knows that Hanfu culture is still a niche culture in China and has only developed in recent years. During holidays, young people wearing Hanfu can often be seen going out for fun in scenic spots or on the streets.
The consumption levels of Hanfu enthusiasts vary widely. Some girls have to save money to buy a dress of one or two hundred yuan, while others can spend thousands of dollars.
The same is true for Hanfu brands. High-end brands use exquisite materials and workmanship, so they are naturally expensive. Mid- and low-end brands take a popular route, striving to make more Hanfu lovers able to afford and enjoy wearing them.
The Hanfu embossed flower accessories made by Luo Jingyu are a niche among niches.
To be specific, his target consumer group should be the consumers of mid- to high-end Hanfu brands. After all, a girl who buys a 200-yuan skirt would hardly be willing to buy a 300- or 500-yuan hairpin, and a girl who can afford a hanfu worth thousands of yuan would never be willing to buy a hairpin worth dozens of yuan to match her Hanfu.
As a result, when "Xiyu Hot Flower" was just starting out and did not have enough consumer groups to support it, it was obvious that the business after opening would not be ideal.
Twenty-four hours passed, and the Taobao store only received more than thirty orders. Zhan Xi and Luo Jingyu looked at the computer screen side by side, but they were not too disappointed.
All things are difficult at the beginning. Zhan Xi shook Luo Jingyu's hand and still had full confidence in him.
In general, Hanfu culture is developing, and some other traditional Chinese cultures have also returned to people's horizons in recent years. Therefore, as long as Luo Jingyu persists, he will slowly get better. After all, the accessories he designs and produces have always had a good reputation in the Hanfu circle, and he has had the experience of losing money in a few hours.
Although the orders were few, at least the business was open. Luo Jingyu was very calm and prepared to sort out the styles and quantities and make them in batches. This time he had plenty of time, so he could make them more refined and didn't need to stay up late for the time being. Anyway, the first batch of shipments would be at the end of August.
Miss Susu from Huanshang Hanfu Studio has always kept in touch with Zhanxi, and the two of them get along quite well.
Su Su told Zhan Xi that Huanshang Hanfu and Xiaoyuyu had collaborated on several joint products in the past few years, and it was always very pleasant. The designers in the studio really liked the works designed by Xiaoyuyu's accessories teacher, but they never had the opportunity to contact the teacher directly. They didn't expect that the teacher was now working alone, and only then did they know that the teacher's surname was Luo.
Su Su: Miss Zhan, is the side profile silhouette on the official account Teacher Luo
Egg Pudding: Yes, that is Mr. Luo himself [shy]
Su Su: Oh my god! I didn’t expect Mr. Luo to be a man! And a handsome guy! I must meet him if I have a chance! Our designers really want to meet him!
Egg Pudding: [grin] Sure, we're in Qiantang. If you guys come to Qiantang, Mr. Luo and I will treat you to a meal~
Su Su sent the contract for the design and production of the co-branded product to Zhan Xi. Zhan Xi read it word by word and felt there was no problem.
But after all, she did not study law, so she shamelessly asked Yuan Sichen for help and asked her to show the contract to a colleague in the legal department of her former company. The colleague said there was no problem, and only then did she feel relieved.
Zhan Xi repeatedly confirmed with Su Su that Huan Chang had never signed any contract with Xiao Yuyu Embroidery before, and had never received any design drafts sent by Fang Xu, which made Su Su puzzled.
Su Su: What's wrong? Is there any unhappiness between Mr. Luo and Mr. Fang
Egg Pudding: Not really, it’s just that Mr. Luo has just started working on his own, and this order was taken over from Mr. Fang, so we’re afraid there might be a dispute.
Su Su: Don’t worry, our designer specifically asked the original designer of Xiaoyuyu to design it. It doesn’t matter if he is from Xiaoyuyu or Xiyu, as long as it is him, there will be no problem.
Egg Pudding: That must have been designed by him. I saw it with my own eyes when Mr. Luo designed the first draft and watched him draw it.
Su Su: Yes, our previous contracts were all signed with Mr. Fang, so this time I’d like to trouble you to ask Mr. Luo to sign it. After signing, express it to me and I’ll stamp it and send it to you.
Huanshang Hanfu Studio is a mid- to high-end clothing brand with its headquarters in Guangzhou. Zhan Xi has checked online and visited their online store. Each set of clothing is not cheap.
Summer clothes generally cost three or four hundred yuan, spring and autumn styles cost five or six hundred yuan, and winter clothes range from eight or nine hundred yuan to one or two thousand yuan. Some wedding series and joint series with well-known online games are even more shockingly expensive.
This time they collaborated with Luo Jingyu on two sets of women's clothing from the new autumn theme of "The Glory of the Tang Dynasty", each set comes with a hairpin, a hair crown and a hand flower.
The theme of the jewelry requested by the other party is - fish playing with lotus.
Women in the Tang Dynasty paid great attention to their hairstyles and hair accessories, and most of the accessories were gorgeous and complicated. Although the finished products of Hanfu have been improved to be more in line with modern people's aesthetics, the style of accessories still needs to fit the dynasty. Therefore, Luo Jingyu also designed the lotus according to the requirements of the other designer, and designed it to be exquisite and gorgeous, with the usual elegance and generosity in his works.
The number of finished products required by the other party was not large. Su Su said that these accessories were limited editions and only the first customers to place an order could buy them. There were only thirty sets in total, and the contract price was more than 30,000 yuan.
After the contract was printed out, Zhan Xi gave it to Luo Jingyu for signature. He didn't even look at it and just signed his name directly.
Zhan Xi sat opposite him and signed helplessly: Don’t you even want to take a look
Luo Jingyu looked at her with a puzzled expression, raised her hand and gestured: What are you looking at
Zhan Xi tapped the papers on the table with his fingers.
Luo Jingyu smiled, shook her head, and signed: I believe you, it's okay as long as you have seen it, I don't understand it either.
Zhan Xi felt that he was really hopeless: "Xiao Yu, it's a miracle that you haven't been sold out by Fang Xu for so many years!"
Luo Jingyu didn't care about Zhan Xi's complaints at all, she still laughed heartily and answered in sign language: I have never signed before, he didn't let me see it.
Zhan Xi almost vomited blood. He rushed over and held Luo Jingyu's cheek and rubbed it: "You are such a stupid fish! How can you be so stupid?"
Luo Jingyu opened her eyes wide and read her lip reading. As if she had been hit, she raised her hands and asked hesitantly: Do you think I'm stupid
Ah! Zhan Xi was about to be mad at him. He squeezed the flesh on both sides of his palms with his palms, and Luo Jingyu's mouth pouted. Zhan Xi bit his lips and said angrily, "Idiot!"
After saying that, he took the signed contract and ran away.
Luo Jingyu touched her face and then her bitten lips, feeling really wronged.
A week later, Huan Chang sent the contract with her stamp back to Zhan Xi. After communicating and revising it several times with the other party's designer, the co-branded accessories were finally finalized, and Luo Jingyu began to buy materials and start making them.
In addition to hardware, there are some pearl and jade accessories in the hairpins and crowns, and of course the most important ones are fish and lotus.
Needless to say, the lotus is made of hot stamping. What Zhan Xi is most curious about is the fish. What material did Luo Jingyu use
Luo Jingyu didn't answer, but took out a few finished koi from the cabinet and showed them to her.
These were the koi fish he used in his previous experiments, made with heat shrink films. They have three-dimensional shapes, and each one has a different posture. They are crystal clear, with a light orange-red body and a transparent tail. The fins and scales are clearly visible, and even the eyes are very lively.
Zhan Xi held a small koi in his palm and looked at it. It was smaller than a coin. He was stunned. He felt like he had seen this fish somewhere before, but he couldn't remember where it was.
Luo Jingyu stood beside her with a smile and asked: Does it look good
Zhan Xi thought he looked very cool when he was signing, and nodded repeatedly: "Looks good, so cute! So small! You are amazing!"
Luo Jingyu raised his eyebrows proudly. For him, nothing could stump him as long as it involved hands-on work. He was very happy when making these little koi, little fish, little fishes!
He also wants to try making little goldfish in the future. Goldfish come in more colors and shapes, and their postures are more graceful. If combined with embossing, it should look good.
Zhan Xi was still playing with the little koi fish, imagining what the hair crown would look like: one or several elegant lotus flowers, two koi fish around them, and some shiny metal and broken jade pearls. Wow! It would be absolutely beautiful!
No wonder Xiaoyu said that the first draft can only be slightly revised. How else can the fish playing with lotus be revised? You can't change the flowers or the fish. Isn't it still the same theme after all the revisions
—
Customers have been placing orders for the "Xiyu Hot Flower" online store one after another, and Zhan Xi insists on updating the content on the social platform every day.
The q site focuses on short videos, and the official account is naturally tweets. Zhanxi will talk about each piece of customized accessories for the Hanfu Festival separately, accompanied by beautiful pictures and some interpretations of traditional culture. It is not long, and it is used to show presence every day.
Things on Weibo are not so serious. In addition to content related to flower perming, Zhan Xi occasionally posts pictures of his cat at home, as well as the flowers raised and dishes cooked by Luo Jingyu.
This is no longer a purely work account, but has become a platform to showcase Teacher Luo's life. Of course, apart from the silhouette in the public account tweet, Zhan Xi and Luo Jingyu have never shown their faces to protect their privacy.
The number of fans on various platforms is increasing little by little, but the number of orders in the online store has not improved much.
Zhan Xi visited Fang Xu's online store and found that the sales were quite impressive. Fang Xu attached great importance to this Hanfu Festival and invited Hanfu models to take photos and also organized some discount activities.
Luo Jingyu only gave Fang Xu five samples, but there were more than five samples on the model's head, and the flowers were of different colors.
Zhan Xi showed his cell phone to Luo Jingyu and asked him to identify which ones on the model's head were made by him and which ones were not. He could recognize them at a glance.
Judging from the pictures, Guan Rujie did a pretty good job, but I don’t know what the actual quality is like.
Zhan Xi thought that it was important to know both oneself and the enemy, so he asked Luo Xinran for help and placed an order for two hairpins in Fang Xu's store, intending to see how exquisite Miss Guan's craftsmanship was.
She and Luo Jingyu discussed that according to the current situation, Xiyu's business this year might not be good, but it doesn't matter, after they ship the goods, everyone will know the quality of Mr. Luo's products, and word of mouth will be improved.
In addition, when Huanshang holds a new product launch conference on Chinese Valentine's Day and Xiyu Hot Flower follows up with the promotion, the order volume should be even higher.
Luo Jingyu was not that busy, so she picked a day to ask her sister and brother-in-law to visit her parents and have dinner at her parents' house.
Luo Xiaomei is almost sixteen weeks pregnant and her belly is very noticeable. In a little over a week she will have to undergo genetic testing of the fetus.
She had gained a lot of weight. When she saw Luo Jingyu at her parents' house, she smiled and patted her brother's arm, using sign language to say, "What's wrong with you now? Are you not coming home now that you have a girlfriend? I haven't seen you for almost two months."
Luo Jingyu told her that she was very busy attending an exhibition last month and only had some free time recently.
Luo Xiaomei knew about this. At that time, she wanted to visit the Maker Festival with her parents, but was persuaded by Luo Jingyu. On the one hand, she felt that Zhan Xi was there and she was afraid that she would be unhappy if she had to meet his parents. On the other hand, it was very hot in the exhibition hall, there were many people, and the air was not very good, so it was not suitable for pregnant women to go there.
Luo Jingyu chatted with her sister and brother-in-law for a while and told them that she and Fang Xu had broken up. Luo Xiaomei was very surprised and asked Luo Jingyu what she was going to do next. Luo Jingyu told her that he was doing it with his girlfriend and that his girlfriend would help him with many things, so his sister should not worry.
When he was signing, he thought of Huanhuan, and his face became slightly hot: "My girlfriend is a college student, very smart, and good at writing. Now thanks to her help, it would be really difficult for me to do it alone. Although the business is still small, she has been encouraging me and told me not to worry."
Luo Xiaomei looked at her brother's silly face as he was immersed in love, and asked worriedly: Doesn't your girlfriend's family know about you two
When it comes to this, Luo Jingyu's eyes light up, and she straightens her back immediately, and signs excitedly: No! Her father and brother already know that I am deaf. Her brother even came to my house as a guest and had dinner with me several times. He likes me very much! They agree that I can be with her.
Gao Yuan laughed out loud, and Luo Xiaomei also covered her mouth and laughed. Luo Jingyu felt that she seemed to be too proud, and explained weakly using sign language: My girlfriend and I have a really good relationship, and I want to marry her.
Luo Xiaomei rubbed Luo Jingyu's head: Work hard, treat her well, and don't mind too much that you can't hear. You are a good boy and you deserve a good girl.
Luo Jingyu looked at his sister, then moved his eyes to her bulging belly, and couldn't help but reach out and touch it. He thought a pregnant belly would be soft, but it felt hard to the touch.
After touching for a while, he withdrew his hand and asked: Can the baby move
Luo Xiaomei replied with a smile: Not yet, it will take a few more weeks before I can feel the movement.
Luo Jingyu thought for a moment and asked: Are you nervous? I want to check.
Luo Xiaomei shook her head gently.
Luo Jingyu looked at Gao Yuan again, and Gao Yuan smiled and shook his head, and replied: "Not nervous, Xiaomei and I are not nervous, just let it go."
Luo Jingyu couldn't understand why his sister and brother-in-law were so calm. This was their first child. If it were him, he would be so nervous that he would go crazy. He would wonder every day whether the child had inherited deafness. What would he do if he did
He thought, his sister and brother-in-law are such good people, and they have suffered so much. It is not easy for them to study, find a job, and even more difficult for them to be together. God has played a big joke on them, so shouldn't he give them some good rewards now
God, please give them a healthy child! Luo Jingyu prayed in her heart that a healthy child would also bring him more hope to spend the rest of his life with Huanhuan.
As they were chatting, Yan Yajuan came out of the kitchen and signed to the three juniors: It's time to eat, Xiaomei, sit still, Xiaoyu, go get the dishes and chopsticks.
Luo Jingyu obediently got up and went to the kitchen. Yan Yajuan followed him in, patted his arm, and asked: "When are you going to bring your girlfriend home for dinner? You've been dating for half a year, right? Why don't you let us meet her?"
Luo Jingyu was shy again. She pursed her lips and did not answer. She took the bowl and chopsticks and slipped out.
—
The hot August passed quickly, and Luo Jingyu sent several samples to Su Su early.
After waves of preheating, Huanshang Hanfu Studio held a new product launch conference in Guangzhou on August 25, which was also the Chinese Valentine's Day.
Zhan Xi saw the videos and photos of the press conference on Weibo. Male and female models walked the runway in gorgeous Tang-style clothing. She waited for a long time and finally waited for the two sets of women's clothing related to the accessories designed by Luo Jingyu.
Zhan Xi ran to Luo Jingyu and looked at them with him. There were two sets of dresses, one dark and one light, and the patterns indeed both had elements of fish playing with lotus flowers.
The model is wearing exaggerated Tang Dynasty makeup, and she should be wearing a fake bun on her head. The hairpin and hand flower are very small and not very noticeable in the video, but the hair crown is very eye-catching. The lotus is quite large, exquisite and lifelike, and you can vaguely see two orange-red koi fish surrounding it.
The press conference was very successful. Not long after, Huanchang Hanfu’s Weibo published refined photos of each new product. The two Weibo posts about the “Fish Playing in Lotus” model also tagged the jubilee fish pattern, indicating that the accessories were co-branded models.
Zhan Xi immediately forwarded the post and praised both Huanshang Hanfu and Teacher Luo highly.
She quickly updated her official account. Huanshang Hanfu has more than 300,000 followers on Weibo. Zhan Xi was eagerly waiting for more orders from her Taobao store, but things did not go as smoothly as she had imagined.
Not only are things not going well, they seem to be heading in a very scary direction.
On the morning of the second day after the new product launch of Huanchang Hanfu, Zhan Xi woke up and looked at his phone, and found that there were more than a dozen missed voice calls from Su Su on WeChat, all of which were called in the middle of the night.
She quickly called back and apologized, "I'm sorry, Susu, I muted my phone when I went to sleep. What's the matter?"
Su Su's tone was filled with panic and anger: "Xiao Zhan, quickly check Weibo! Someone has tagged you and us, take a look at what's going on! I'm going crazy!"
Zhan Xi was confused: "Ah? Okay, okay, I'll go and see it right away and call you after I'm done."
After hanging up the phone, she opened Weibo and found a lot of messages. She ignored the comments and went to read the messages that tagged her.
What Su Su showed her was probably an original Weibo post from a Weibo user named "rrmft0429", with pictures and text:
rrmft0429: Oh my god! Was I plagiarized? Huanshang Hanfu Studio, Xiyu Hot Flower Art, please read my Weibo post on July 21st, statement! That is my original work! Please explain it to the two bosses! [crying]
Picture 1: Screenshot of rrmft0429’s Weibo post on July 21. The time is very clear.
Figure 2: A close-up of a fish playing with a lotus hairpin in the refined photo released by Huanshang Hanfu
Figure 3: Close-up of the hand flower of Huashang Fish Playing with Lotus
Figure 4: Close-up of the hairpin made by rrmft0429
Figure 5: Close-up of the hand flower made by rrmft0429
…
Zhan Xi was so shocked that her first reaction was that Fang Xu was behind it! She immediately went to read the original Weibo post that rrmft0429 had posted on July 21.
7-21 from xxx mobile phone
rrmft0429: I went to the park with my friends last week to collect inspiration. The lotus flowers were in full bloom, and I saw a lot of small fish. Unfortunately, I didn't bring bread. I took a few photos and felt unsatisfied. So I decided to make a handicraft! It took a week to finally finish it! I'm showing it off. I'm still a novice in hot stamping, so praise me! [Cute]
Figure 1: Lotus in the lake
Figure 2: Koi fish beside the lotus
Figure 3: Close-up of the hairpin made by rrmft0429
Figure 4: Close-up of the hand flower made by rrmft0429
…
Zhan Xi enlarged the handmade pictures made by this person one by one and saw watermarks on all of them.
The lotus is indeed made of heat-shrinkable flowers, not as delicate as Luo Jingyu's, and rough, which is in line with the character of a novice. I don't know what material those fish are made of, it doesn't look like heat shrink film, it's even rougher than the flowers, the problem is the shape and color... It's really too similar to the accessories made by Luo Jingyu!
Zhan Xi looked carefully and found that the details of the accessories on both sides were definitely different, and the hardware was also different, but the visual effect of the lotus and koi combined together was impossible to ignore.
This person did not make a hair crown, maybe it was too difficult to make a hair crown, but the hairpin and hand flowers alone were enough to give Zhan Xi a headache.
A raging rage burned within her.
If he was just a suspicion before, Zhan Xi is now certain that this was Fang Xu's doing!
Sorting out the timeline, Luo Jingyu drew the first draft in early July, and Zhan Xi watched him draw it!
When was the photo taken by Fang Xu? She couldn't remember it for a moment and had to look back on the calendar.
This person posted the picture on July 21, saying that he got the inspiration a week ago, which was obviously after Luo Jingyu drew the first draft.
Did Xiaoyu leave an electronic version to prove the date after finishing the first draft
Zhan Xi didn’t know and needed to ask him for confirmation.
She racked her brains but couldn't figure out why Fang Xu did this? !
Kill them all? How much hatred and resentment do they have
She went to look at rrmft0429's homepage again. It seemed to be a small account with only about 60 fans. It started posting on Weibo at the end of March, updating one post every ten days or half a month, and occasionally it would be related to perm flowers.
Judging from the tone, it sounds like a girl. No one commented or liked the Weibo post she posted. It is just an inconspicuous corner on Weibo.
Even the Weibo post that tagged two studios and accused each other of plagiarism did not receive a single comment.
Zhan Xi decided to put Fang Xu's motives aside for the time being.
The problem has arisen, and now is not the time to know why, but to come up with a solution. This is not only a problem between Luo Jingyu and Fang Xu, but also involves a brand as big as Huanshang. If there is a plagiarism scandal in the product, Xiyu will be held legally responsible if she signs the contract!
It was obvious that the other party came prepared and was watching Huan Chang's new product launch conference.
Zhan Xi sat on the bed and gradually calmed down. She knew that any verbal explanation was useless and swearing was a joke. This kind of dispute required evidence.
Su Su was still waiting for her explanation.
Zhan Xi jumped out of bed, not even bothering to wash his face or brush his teeth. He grabbed his cell phone and keys and rushed to the 15th floor.
Please, please, I hope Xiaoyu has evidence to prove that he drew the first draft before this person!
Once this can be proved, all problems will be solved.