Chapter 649 - 333: Our Hanfu Is a Self-Inflicted Humiliation

Chapter 649: Chapter 333: Our Hanfu Is a Self-Inflicted Humiliation

After receiving the call, Chen Jincheng headed to the fashion design department, calling Xiaoju and Li Xiaoyang on the way.

It had already been decided that he would shoot a sword-kicking video for the Hanfu Travel Day promotional short. The plan was for him to then meet up with the two Hanfu-clad beauties, Xiaoju and Li Xiaoyang, in Jinglan City.

The reason he wanted to shoot with these two first was because in his past life, they were both known as one of the "Top Ten National Style Beauties."

Before he traveled back in time, there was never a consensus on who was the "queen" of the National Style genre. In the eyes of different people, each of the top ten beauties had her own unique charm.

It was just a shame that these top ten girls all became famous too late.

The National Style genre had already emerged by 2018, but they mostly joined Tiao Yin in 2020 or 2021. By the time they blew up, it was no longer the platform’s peak trend.

But there was nothing to be done. Back in 2018, many Hanfu designs were still stuck in an old-fashioned mindset. The film and television costuming industry controlled the sector, which meant a single nice set of Hanfu was incredibly expensive.

As a result, the National Style influencers of this era wore outfits that had the quality of cheap Hanfu rentals you’d find at tourist spots.

Even the outfits worn by the female lead played by Yang Zi, the most popular actress of 2018, looked that way after adding filters.

The thing was, to the people of this era, this level of costuming was considered the best. Many even praised it as high-quality and beautiful.

It was, for lack of a better word, a limitation of the era’s perspective.

It was like when cell phones first came out—the older generation thought they were the best-looking and most fashionable phones available.

Looking back now, if someone released a phone with physical buttons, you’d see if anyone would actually use it.

Hanfu was the same. In 2018, before the National Style trend took off and before the costuming in short-form dramas shook up the market, the film and television industry dictated the standards.

But when others began producing Hanfu of similar quality for a fraction of their hundred-thousand-yuan price tags, the whole system collapsed. They not only lost the market but also their control over industry standards.

And so, the Hanfu industry began to flourish.

Although people in the future would relentlessly roast the plots of TV dramas, saying each generation was worse than the last, the costuming just kept getting better and better.

Just think, after 2021, the Hanfu in those dramas was so good that even the outfits worn by supporting actresses were more beautiful than what the main leads used to wear.

Even the Golden Empress Dress worn by Mou Bing in her role as Empress Wu, which reportedly cost over two million yuan to make, was later mass-produced and worn by female influencers.

That’s why, when Xiaoju and her generation came along, the environment for Hanfu was so much better, allowing them to showcase the rich and diverse culture of National Style Hanfu to their fans.

Of course, there were also rumors that before 2018, the film and television costuming business was actually involved in the money laundering industry. That would explain the exorbitant prices and restricted development.

Chen Jincheng was an outsider, so he didn’t know the exact details.

What he did know for sure was that the Hanfu styles he was having his design department create were some of the most popular types from the future. Bringing them into the 2018 market would be an absolute game-changer.

Therefore, by taking Xiaoju and Li Xiaoyang—who were destined to become two of the top ten National Style beauties after 2021—and promoting them during the peak trend of 2018, they were guaranteed to become the queens of the genre. No one at this time could compete with them.

After contacting the two girls, he also called Sister Hong. Once the Hanfu Travel Day promotion started, Sister Hong needed to be in constant contact with Tiao Yin to get them to boost the content’s traffic immediately and to handle any related issues.

After all, this promotion was a three-way collaboration between Tiao Yin, Second-Life Star, and Coastal City.

「Meanwhile, at Jingyuan Building.」

Xiaoju and Li Xiaoyang were shopping together, arm in arm.

They had, of course, met when they went to get their measurements taken at the Hanfu design department.

As the saying goes, kindred spirits are drawn to each other. After chatting for a bit, they discovered they had the same aesthetic tastes and felt a real connection. They were the type who could become close friends despite having known each other for only a short time.

Since they had the same taste, they could chat endlessly about everything they wanted to buy, so it was only natural they’d arrange to go shopping together.

It also just so happened that neither of them had any friends in Coastal City, so they quickly hit it off and became best friends.

Just then, Li Xiaoyang’s phone rang. Seeing it was a call from her boss, she immediately answered, "Boss."

Xiaoju instinctively glanced over.

After all, the boss had called Li Xiaoyang, not her.

’That’s a bit upsetting.’

"To the office? Okay." Li Xiaoyang replied right away. After hanging up, she immediately said to Xiaoju, "Xiaoju, the boss wants me to go to the office."

The words had barely left her mouth when Xiaoju’s phone also started ringing. The caller ID also read "Boss."

Li Xiaoyang was visibly taken aback.

Xiaoju quickly answered. After hearing what he had to say, she replied, "Okay, Boss."

After hanging up, she said to Li Xiaoyang, "The boss wants me to come to the office too. It must be for something important."

"Ah!" Li Xiaoyang responded, blushing slightly.

’My taste really is the same as Xiaoju’s... we’re the same in every way. Even down to the man we’re involved with.’

’Still, I already knew Little Su Fei and her friend have a special relationship with the Boss, so I’m not surprised that Xiaoju is involved with him too.’

’In fact, now that I think about it, Little Su Fei and the other girl are inseparable, yet they’re *both* with the Boss.’

’I could never do something that shameless. But... sharing with a good friend might be okay. After all, who’s to blame when Xiaoju and I have the exact same taste?’

"Let’s go. We can head to the office together." Li Xiaoyang linked her arm with Xiaoju’s.

Xiaoju seemed to understand what she was implying but said nothing. The two of them left Jingyuan Building together and hailed a cab for Jinmao Building.