"???" Qu Wei was still confused, not understanding.
"Let me put it this way!" Huang He smiled slightly, "A modern person wearing a Hanfu directly would feel very strange, right? Doesn't it feel like something is missing?"
"That's natural. Normally, a ceremonial Hanfu for women would be paired with corresponding headwear, such as璎珞 (yīngluò), 宫绦 (gōngtāo), hairpins, hair clips, hair ties, hair combs, hair ornaments, earrings,褙子扣 (bèizi kòu), ankle bells, swaying hairpins, belts, belt hooks, sashes,狄髻 (díjì), bracelets, bangles, prayer beads, jade hairpin flowers, crowns, scarves, silk flowers, rings, thumb rings, coin purses, and so on, with different accessories."
"For men, they would usually have jade pendants, belts, sachets, tassels, fan ribs, crowns, etc., but the variety is much smaller."
"Boss, you don't think we just sell a Hanfu and that's it, do you? That's definitely wrong. We usually provide corresponding accessories with each Hanfu to create a perfect look. That's how the previous Hanfus were sold!" Qu Wei said with a smile.
"I naturally know that. What I mean is, aren't these matching accessories exactly what we need? They are unique and cannot be bought elsewhere, so their reasonable price cannot be assessed, making them appear very valuable?" Huang He smiled.
"Boss, do you mean that all these accessories, originally paired with the Hanfu itself, should be put into other boxes and become ordinary and rare items in the blind boxes?" Qu Wei said in shock.
"Not all of them. Some basic accessories that should be paired with the Hanfu should still be with it, but only the most basic and plain styles. At the same time, you need to find someone to specifically design unique accessories that perfectly match this Hanfu!"
"For example, the璎珞 (yīngluò), 宫绦 (gōngtāo), hairpins, and silk scarves you mentioned, these small items, should be ordinary items in the blind boxes. Their styles should be very ornate, but the cost should be controlled within 10 yuan."
"Then, for items like belts, bracelets, crowns, and rings, which might use some precious materials, they can be designated as rare styles, with a cost controlled around 500 yuan, as the probability of opening a rare item is only 3%. This way, we can earn a little more."
"By the way, because these items are relatively expensive, ordinary styles cannot be too repetitive. Therefore, I hope you can design at least 100 different ordinary styles, so that even if consumers buy 100 boxes, they won't get too many duplicates, giving them a sense of satisfaction!" Huang He said with a smile, truly embodying the wisdom of later generations' blind box culture.
"But designing over a dozen matching accessories for one outfit is already exhausting. You want me to design 100 different small accessories? I'm afraid I'll be completely burnt out!" Qu Wei said, covering her chest with a look of absolute impossibility.
"Well, first of all, for designing jewelry and such, you only need to provide a general idea. The specifics can be handled by your subordinate designers. There are so many art graduates nationwide who are finding it difficult to find jobs. You can hire them cheaply and have them design a few hundred styles, and you can pick out the suitable ones!"
"Besides that, the same piece of jewelry can actually be turned into multiple different pieces of jewelry. For example, this emerald hairpin you're wearing on your head, if we change it to a sapphire, doesn't it become another different hairpin?"
"Also, I see the patterns on this hairpin are very similar to the patterns of a phoenix. If we change the pattern and then change the gold thread of the pattern to a green thread similar to jade, wouldn't that become another different style?"
"In short, we can focus on these small details. Changing colors, changing lines, changing shapes, as long as we slightly alter a detail, it becomes a brand new style," Huang He said casually.
"...Boss, are you sure anyone will buy these things? Are you treating consumers like fools?" Qu Wei said with her mouth wide open.
"Ah, for consumers with limited finances, they naturally wouldn't do such a thing. Our blind boxes, priced at 98 yuan each, are not targeting those consumers. We are targeting the newly rising middle class in the country. Once these people fall into our trap, they will rush for even a simple color change!" Huang He said confidently, recalling his experiences with Bandai in his later life.
In his later life, Bandai had a famous Unicorn Gundam, but Chinese players habitually called it "Money-Scamming Beast."
Why did a good Unicorn become a "Money-Scamming Beast"?
It was because this Unicorn, with its beautiful appearance, immediately triggered a buying frenzy upon release. Bandai reprinted it three times, and all were sold out, earning Bandai astonishing profits.
However, there were only so many model enthusiasts worldwide. After the fourth reprint, the products began to accumulate and were not selling well, as most Gundam fans already owned a Unicorn.
But how could Bandai let go of the Unicorn? Thus, they successively released the Phoenix and Banshee models. In the anime's storyline, these were the second and third units of the Unicorn, and it seemed normal to turn them into model kits and sell them.
However, anyone who assembled these two models knew that the Phoenix and Banshee were essentially just the Unicorn with a color change, from the original white to the Phoenix's gold and the Banshee's dark blue.
Of course, simply changing the color was a bit too blatant, so they also changed some details and designed different weapons for the two models, and then put them on sale. For the same grade, they were sold at even double the price of the original Unicorn.
As a result, the Phoenix and Banshee were also huge sellers, with players willingly paying to add these two color-varied models to their collections, and Bandai made another fortune.
Then Bandai slapped their thigh and realized they had found the "wealth code."
So soon, the Unicorn, along with the Phoenix and Banshee, were re-released in RG and PG versions. The former were smaller, the latter larger, but in any case, there was a change in size, and they sold well again.
Then they released dedicated "cages," which were accessories used to fix the Unicorn, and they continued to sell well.
Adding a surface plating process, the price directly doubled, and it was proudly named: PB Limited.
Then, they gave the Unicorn a so-called pearl light color... this time it was purely a color change, and it still sold incredibly well.
Later, Bandai launched the MGEX Unicorn, claiming it was a brand new design with built-in lights, priced at a staggering 1200 yuan per unit, three times more expensive than the original Unicorn.
It continued to sell like hotcakes, even more popular than any previous model.
The most ridiculous part was that after the MGEX Unicorn's massive success, Bandai had a sudden idea and released a model called the Limited Edition Box Art MGEX Unicorn, priced at a whopping 1500 yuan per unit.
So, what was the difference between these two MGEX Unicorn models?
First, the boxes of these two Unicorns had completely different cover art on the front.
Then... oh, there was nothing else. These two MGEX Unicorn models, with a price difference of 300 yuan, only had this difference on the cover art. You could say that just by changing the cover picture, the price increased by 300 yuan.
Fortunately, the sales were not ideal this time, and the insatiably greedy Bandai finally became slightly more rational.
However, another Unicorn model has recently become a massive seller. This Unicorn is named Perfect Unicorn, and it is available in both RG and MG versions.
This Perfect Unicorn is more considerate than the previous Limited Edition Box Art MGEX Unicorn because it incorporated all the different weapons and equipment from the Phoenix and Banshee onto the Unicorn.
With over a dozen different accessories attached to one Unicorn, it transformed into the Perfect Unicorn. Let's give a round of applause to the clever Bandai kids.
In short, if Bandai can do it, why can't I, Huang He?
"Yes!" Although Qu Wei was still somewhat skeptical about whether consumers would buy it, since the boss said so, she would just do it. She finally nodded in agreement.
"Alright, that's about it. It's May now, and I want to see all the blind box samples before the end of August!" Huang He said.
"Mission guaranteed to be completed!" Qu Wei immediately replied. "Boss, I'll start working overtime tonight and ensure all tasks are completed on time for you!"
"No rush, no need to start working these next few days. You actually have a more important job for these two days!" Huang He said with a smile.
"What job?" Qu Wei was taken aback.
"Be a bridesmaid for Zhiruo!" Huang He said with a happy smile.
That's right, after three years of mourning his wife, our Boss Huang was finally going to marry Leng Zhiruo.
Leng Zhiruo herself didn't mind, but her mother was very eager. They were originally supposed to get married in February, but there were too many things going on, so it was postponed.
In March, there was the matter of the evening party, and in April, there was the public opinion battle, so it dragged on until May before a suitable time was found for the wedding.
Her mother couldn't wait another day and directly summoned Huang He and Leng Zhiruo back. Although Huang He hadn't been involved in the wedding preparations at all, his mother-in-law handled everything.
This was because for the entire year of 2003, she had been focused on one thing: preparing for the wedding.
Finally, his mother-in-law decided that Huang He and Leng Zhiruo would get married on May 4th, Youth Day, as it was also a good day for marriage according to the almanac.
"Zhi Ting, don't just stand there asking at home. Go and call the wedding company. Ask them if the venue has been set up properly. Also, ask them to send me a fire basin and charcoal. When the bride enters the house, she has to pass over a fire basin!" the mother-in-law said incessantly. "Oh, and check the mailbox. See if there's a registered letter from Mount Wutai. This letter contains a multi-child prayer bead blessed by Master Huineng from Mount Wutai. I had to use a lot of influence to ask Master Huineng to bless it for eighty-one days before sending it!"
"Yes..." Leng Zhiting wearily and very unwillingly went out to handle the task. A few minutes later, she lazily walked back and said, "Mom, there's no registered letter from Mount Wutai yet. However, there's a letter from Hangzhou, which seems to be from a hospital."