Chapter 45 2/3

Even the life-sized figurines, the most expensive items, were sold out.

This thing was priced at twenty-three thousand.

Three years ago, when her company invested in a movie, they tried joint merchandise. A thermos was priced at over a hundred yuan, and practically nobody bought it.

Temporarily setting aside her astonishment, Xie Wan Zhao thought for a moment, opened Weibo, ignored the hot search about “Cultivator Merchandise Sold Out Overnight,” and directly searched for “Cultivator Merchandise,” then clicked on real-time.

Sure enough, the popularity was immense, refreshing new Weibo posts every second.

JustCallMeWang: [Ahhh, you guys are too fast! I couldn’t even get one! ]

CatEatingFish: [Who is it? Who bought the last real-life-sized figurine? I saw there was still one left, but when I clicked to buy, it showed sold out! So annoying! ]

EarlySleepToday: [Looking to buy the Azure Green Hair ornament, willing to pay 1.5 times the price.]

WhenWillICanDayThousandsWithMyWife: [I got it! I got it! Hahaha! A bunch of weak chickens couldn’t even beat me! ]

High Visibility: [Frustrated, yesterday I spent a long time on the official website; as a student, I could only buy one cup.] I couldn’t decide whether to buy Yuan Ming or Xing Yun Dao Chang. I thought of sleeping and deciding later, but when I woke up, everything was gone! Child really wants to cry; please, is there anyone who bought it and doesn’t want it? Please sell it to me.

MuYuChen: [When I went, most of it was already sold out.] In the end, I only got two pillows. But my classmate couldn’t even get a pillow. [I was originally a bit disappointed, but when I found out she didn’t get one, I instantly felt great.]

New Weibo kept refreshing, mostly about bragging that they had bought something or lamenting the difficulty of not being able to get it.

Xie Wan Zhao was in this industry. Just by reading the Weibo posts with different tones—sometimes crazy and sometimes cursing—she knew it was definitely not water army work.

She clicked into the hot search incredulously, scrolled down, and saw a Weibo with numerous likes and comments.

RichButNoParsley: [Haha, I just asked my usual scalper, wanting to buy a pair of dual swords. It turns out he not only didn’t have any but also told me a bunch of bitter words. Their scalper group saw that there were so many leftovers of Cultivator merchandise that they thought it wasn’t necessary to hoard them. It turns out they sold out quickly. Especially the Cultivator official website’s requirement for real-name purchases, probably to prevent scalpers. The scalper told me that when they first saw it, they thought it was funny. So much inventory for a movie’s merchandise, and they even implemented real-name purchases, blah blah blah. Now, realizing they’ve missed a money-making opportunity, the funniest thing is that when they went to buy it, the dual swords were already sold out. And now, besides me, many people are asking him to buy dual swords, willing to pay extra. He’s regretting so much, muttering things like, ‘Why do you guys like a sword so much? ‘ ‘Just one night, how much can they buy? ‘ ‘What do modern people need a sword for? ‘ I bet he won’t sleep well tonight. Thanks to him, I’m now focused on taking pleasure in misfortune. Even the sorrow of not being able to buy dual swords is reduced! ]

Under this Weibo post, regardless of whether people bought or not, almost everyone was reveling in schadenfreude.

[Laughing to death, even scalpers have their days.]

Hahaha, don’t talk about scalpers; I’m surprised. I saw an interview with Director Sheng, saying they didn’t expect everyone’s purchasing power to be so strong. They called the manufacturer early in the morning and are working overtime to produce the second batch.

I watched that video too. Sheng Quan said she planned to buy a pair of dual swords to play with at home. [But when she couldn’t compete with everyone, her expression was really hilarious.]

Scalpers can close their eyes now. Director Sheng couldn’t even get the dual swords! ]

Come on, which modern person can resist a pair of dual swords? ]

Hahaha, my scalper is almost the same. When I went to him, he said there was no stock. Although he didn’t say much more to me, I could feel his frustration in those few words.

[Thanks to “Cultivator,” thanks to mortals, finally, someone can deal with scalpers.]

Xie Wan Zhao, after reading to the end, didn’t quite understand. After searching a bit, she found out that “mortals” were what “Cultivator” fans called themselves. This was because in the movie, the credibility of mortals could be transformed into spiritual energy by cultivators.

Even if Xie Wan Zhao hadn’t watched “Cultivator,” she could still sense the fans’ love and enthusiasm for it from this self-proclaimed term.

Moreover, they were willing to purchase merchandise and were even willing to buy it at a high price from scalpers if they couldn’t get it directly.

Xie Wan Zhao: I don’t understand this world anymore.

The domestic movie merchandise industry has always been sluggish because of its late development. Chinese audiences had been reluctant to spend money on it. Ironically, until last year, the best-selling merchandise was all from animated films.

It was laughable and somewhat ironic. Until last year, the best-selling movie merchandise was all from animated films, and there were hardly any products priced above two hundred yuan because they wouldn’t sell.

This kind of passionate and high-priced merchandise rush had almost never happened in the history of Chinese cinema.

Xie Wan Zhao’s assistant didn’t find it hard to understand: “Perhaps it’s impulsive buying. Merchandise from other movies used to be pre-sold, with a longer cycle. ‘Cultivator’ merchandise is all in stock, sold at the peak of the audience’s love for it, and it does create impulsive buying.”

He predicted, “There will definitely be a wave of returns in the next seven days.”

Seven days was about the time for the audience to calm down. When their enthusiasm faded and they looked at the merchandise they bought, which was too expensive compared to ordinary items, their love would naturally turn into regret.

Moreover, with the option to return the stock merchandise, a wave of returns would surely occur.

Xie Wan Zhao also agreed with his speculation.

Then, after seven days, the netizens who had basically received the merchandise they bought indeed gathered into a wave.

However, it was not a return wave.

It was a wave of praise.

When I got it, I was shocked! The texture! The details! Can I really buy something this good for 288 yuan? ]

I didn’t expect the quality of the merchandise to be so good. Those who often buy know that, usually, merchandise is just a bunch of overpriced common items. But this time, the cup I bought was genuinely surprising. It looks so high-end, even more exquisite than the cup I bought for eighty yuan. [It’s’senuinely a conscience-shocking purchase.]

[My goodness! Originally, I regretted spending $888 to buy a figurine, but when I received it, I couldn’t bear to return it. It’s really detailed! These long legs, this clothing, this gaze—ah, ah, ah, ah! I still regret it now. I regret not buying another one for Qingqing Jun! ]

Look at my Xing Yun Dao Chang, so handsome—really so handsome. Hormones are splashing all over my face. Why did the crew dig out Jiang Zhen from where? Why is he only becoming popular now? ]

Jiang fans are crying. I was a bit late when I bought it; not even a strand of hair from Xing Yun Dao Chang was left, but I did buy a pen pouch. It’s much better than before! I put Jiang Zhen’s photo inside! ]

Audiences who impulsively bought merchandise might regret it, but when they held the actual items in their hands, they would be pleasantly surprised. The merchandise was of high quality, looked great, and for the price, they genuinely didn’t lose out.

Of course, not everyone chose not to return. There were sporadic cases of returns, and just as they returned to the warehouse, they were immediately snapped up by someone else.

Xie Wan Zhao: “…”

She even found someone complaining in the comments.

“I know for sure there will be impulsive buyers who will return their purchases, so I’ve been waiting on the official website. However, surprisingly, there were so many people with the same idea as me! Dozens of times, and not once did I manage to grab one!”

Someone replied below: “Don’t mention it; I’ve been waiting several times too, and it’s too slow. I went to the second-hand website, and it’s ridiculous. Almost every one that was put up for sale was gone in seconds. We are all mortals; can we get a chance?”

People, like Xie Wan Zhao, who initially wanted to see Sheng Quan’s misfortune, had all simmered down.

In just a short time, the total sales amount of “Cultivator” merchandise had exceeded one billion.

And there were even more people joining the movie viewing, so there would only be more mortals continuously entering the purchasing queue.

Anyone could see that Sheng Quan was making a fortune.