Chapter 24: Pivoting to E-commerce in Search of Opportunity!

Tang Ye had encountered Lin Ziyang before. Someone capable of such righteous bravery could not be a bad person.

Cautious of making a misjudgment, Tang Ye asked, "Why are you afraid to let everyone check your camera?"

"The photos in the camera involve personal privacy, and I haven't done anything wrong! Why should I let them check it? What right do they have? If the police requested it, I would consider it."

Tang Ye found that Lin Ziyang had quite a personality. "Can you show it to me?"

"Sure!" Lin Ziyang did not hesitate and handed over the camera.

Tang Ye pressed the buttons and scanned quickly; the first few photos were just pictures of clothing. As he scrolled further, he finally understood why Lin Ziyang was unwilling to openly let people inspect his camera. There were quite a few photos of young women, which could easily lead to misunderstandings.

Seeing Tang Ye's expression shifting, Lin Ziyang lowered his head in embarrassment and explained, "This is my hobby; I usually take photos for some models."

Tang Ye looked up and spoke calmly to the woman, "I've checked the camera. It has photos of a few dresses in your shop, but none of the suggestive photos you mentioned. Why don't we call the police and ask the officers to help resolve this? If you are framing someone, you will also have to bear legal responsibility."

The woman stepped back, feeling guilty. "It's still wrong for him to take pictures of my merchandise! He comes by every few days to snap photos; who knows if he's trying to steal my shop's design ideas."

Taking surreptitious photos of someone's shop products was not exactly defensible. Tang Ye tried to de-escalate the situation and urged Lin Ziyang, "Just delete the photos!"

Lin Ziyang was quite straightforward. In front of the woman, he cleanly deleted the relevant photos and flashed the camera at her. "Gone!"

Tang Ye said to the woman, "The photos are deleted now. There's no need to be so relentless. You're a business owner yourself—harmony brings wealth!"

The woman glared at Lin Ziyang. "Don't let me see you again."

Seeing how easily Tang Ye had defused the situation, Gu Wenqin felt a surge of admiration; this was truly a display of capability. As the onlookers saw the matter settled, they gradually dispersed.

Lin Ziyang was in a good mood. He grabbed Tang Ye's arm and said, "You've helped me again. I must thank you properly. It's lunch time, let me treat you to a meal!"

Tang Ye glanced at Gu Wenqin and said awkwardly, "I have a friend with me!"

"Do me a favor and let me treat both of you!" Lin Ziyang had already noticed Gu Wenqin by Tang Ye's side. He hadn't paid much attention before, but looking closely now, he was struck by her beauty.

They found a small shop in the food court where the signature dish was pickled fish—sour and spicy.

Tang Ye used the fish broth to soak his rice and ate two large bowls. Watching Gu Wenqin eat while sipping mineral water—clearly loving the spice but struggling with it—made Tang Ye feel she was quite interesting.

"Ziyang, what do you do for a living?" Tang Ye was curious about Lin Ziyang's profession.

Lin Ziyang was open-hearted and scratched his head in embarrassment. "Me? Well, I suppose I'm a freelancer."

Gu Wenqin looked at Lin Ziyang curiously. "What do you do specifically?"

Lin Ziyang waved his hand. "You probably wouldn't know my profession, so I'd better not say."

Tang Ye opened a bottle of cola for Lin Ziyang. "If I'm not mistaken, you run an online shop, don't you?"

"An online shop?" Gu Wenqin looked puzzled. Back in 2005, opening a shop on the internet was a budding industry, but in many people's eyes, it wasn't a "proper" path and was often looked down upon.

Lin Ziyang didn't expect Tang Ye to guess his profession at a glance. "Your eye is sharp. I just graduated this year. During the second semester of my junior year, I opened a shop online, buying second-hand computers, repairing them, and then listing them for sale. But since so many people are doing that now, I don't think it has a long future. I wanted to switch products. I came to the mall to take photos to research clothing, see what sells well, and then find a manufacturer to customize them for online sales!"

Tang Ye, knowing Lin Ziyang had his own car, asked softly, "Can you disclose the profit?"

Lin Ziyang had no guard against Tang Ye. "Five or six hundred thousand!"

Hearing that Lin Ziyang was just starting out and could earn half a million a year, Gu Wenqin was extremely shocked. One had to know that the Qinge factory had been running for decades, and its annual profit was only in the hundreds of thousands. Was she perhaps dealing with a con artist?

However, Tang Ye knew Lin Ziyang wasn't boasting. Tang Ye had participated in research regarding e-commerce. In the United States, e-commerce, led by Amazon, was just beginning to shine. In China, several e-commerce companies were already preparing for public listings and would have significant development in the coming years.

Suddenly, an idea popped up. Tang Ye nudged Lin Ziyang's arm and smiled. "I don't think you need to look for products anymore; what you're looking for is right in front of you."

Lin Ziyang looked at Tang Ye in surprise. "Are you in the clothing business?"

Tang Ye turned his gaze to Gu Wenqin and introduced her to Lin Ziyang. "Boss Gu is the owner of a clothing factory. We are currently researching new products and looking for a suitable channel. Actually, I think an online sales channel is a great idea."

Although Gu Wenqin trusted Tang Ye deeply, she still had reservations about this idea. "If buyers can't see the physical item, can they feel safe buying it?"

Tang Ye explained patiently, "You can mark the sizes clearly, let the buyers compare them one by one, and allow returns and exchanges, provided the buyer covers the shipping. Because there is a trial-and-error cost, buyers will actually be more cautious when placing orders. Furthermore, selling products online currently doesn't require paying business taxes, there's no blood-sucking middleman, and no rent, so costs can be minimized."

Lin Ziyang's eyes lit up. With a sense of mutual understanding, he exclaimed, "Brother Ye, you really know your stuff!"

Tang Ye gave Gu Wenqin a look. Understanding, she took out the proposal she had originally prepared for Zheng Yaodong from her bag. Lin Ziyang flipped through two pages, his eyes filled with surprise. He hadn't expected such a niche product. Niche meant scarcity, but it was absolutely a necessity. As long as there were women, there was a market!

"Lingerie will definitely sell well online," Lin Ziyang said, licking his thumb as he turned the page. "There's no standard price, no dominant brand, a massive consumer base, and good profit margins. As long as the product page is designed well and quality is controlled, sales will take off."

Seeing that Lin Ziyang was interested, Tang Ye smiled and encouraged Gu Wenqin, "Try out a brand-new sales channel. Only the first person to eat the crab gets the prize."

Gu Wenqin trusted Tang Ye implicitly. The materials for the lingerie were already in place, and because Xu Jie had sabotaged her previous channels, she had to find another way. For Lin Ziyang, choosing any product involved trial and error. Finding the source manufacturer directly would save a lot of trouble.

Moreover, Lin Ziyang felt grateful for Tang Ye's two acts of help. Although neither was particularly major, when someone is in a desperate situation, having another person willing to trust them provides psychological support that is incredibly valuable. Zheng Yaodong looked down on Tang Ye, but in Lin Ziyang's view, having a government official friend as a guarantor was far more reliable than venturing out alone and relying on luck.

Lin Ziyang immediately promised, "I'll apply for the shop as soon as I get back. The only cost besides time is a one-thousand-yuan deposit, and that deposit is refundable at any time."

The more Tang Ye thought about it, the more he felt that e-commerce had great potential! Nowadays, the trend was towards light-asset entrepreneurship. Compared to opening a physical store—which required finding a shop, renovating, stocking, and promoting, while dealing with various government departments like the industrial and commercial bureau and fire department—opening an online store had a simple process and extremely low costs!

Of course, it wasn't as if one could just open a shop and ignore everything else; one had to register accounts on various message boards and forums to post advertisements. But for Lin Ziyang, as long as he was diligent, tasks that required time were not a problem at all!