Forced Me to Regress, Huh?

Cheng Zhu’s summer vacation was nearing its end.

The explosive sales of Keep Coming had wrapped up his summer on a high note.

Since Wang Anquan was also heading off to college, Cheng Zhu promoted Wang Haitao to deputy team leader.

He didn’t do this because Wang Haitao was good at flattering him but purely because he was ambitious and had solid business skills. He was a striving dog who excelled at internal competition.

Cheng Zhu estimated that he had earned nearly 300,000 yuan in August.

And most of the earnings came from the second half of the month, as the first half was relatively slow since the store had just opened and was still finding its footing.

Of course, since the sales surge didn’t happen until the end of the month, profits would only climb higher starting next month.

In the past few days, their product photos had started to gain viral traction.

They were being spread widely in various groups full of perverts.

‘Human-comic fusion’ was undoubtedly a fresh concept these days, and the quality of the images Cheng Zhu produced was undeniably top-notch.

I feel like I’m starting to threaten the standing of some private photographers, he thought.

Having worked all afternoon in the studio, Cheng Zhu felt a bit tired and decided to open the comments section of his store to enjoy the reactions.

Soon, his eyes were drawn to some comments.

“I tried it with my lover and was busy all afternoon. That’s all for today. I’ll try it with my husband tomorrow and compare the experiences. Thanks to the seller for including two bonus pairs of stockings, haha. So thoughtful! Giving a 5-star review.”

Cheng Zhu: “???”

He almost suspected that if he had only included one pair of stockings, she might have left a lukewarm or even negative review.

Damn, she’s really a thrifty wife. She didn’t even treat the stockings as disposable.

Then his eyes landed on another glowing review.

“Originally, I was going to buy a stepmother dress from the Graceful Flagship Store since it was cheaper there, but I felt their product photos weren’t as good as yours. After receiving the product, I have to say it’s excellent. I will try it during ovulation. Hopefully, I’ll get pregnant this time.”

Cheng Zhu: “…”

What is this? Are you treating my store like a fertility shrine?

That said, he did appreciate the first half of the comment.

With the ‘human-comic fusion’ theme, the visual impact of his store’s images had reached a whole new level.

You copy my designs and set your prices lower, but so what?

These products aren’t just about price. They’re about the experience, about indulgence.

What’s the point of being just a few yuan cheaper?!

Do you think customers care about saving ten yuan or so? Are you looking down on the people in our adult products world?

As long as my product photos are more eye-catching than yours, customers will still choose my store.

And if you set your prices much lower than mine, you’ll run into a new problem: customers will start doubting your quality.

That’s the thing with intimate wear. People will have this mindset and won’t dare to buy from your store.

These days, people spend a lot on League of Legends skins.

What about changing your real-life skin? It’s not expensive, is it?

It’s not expensive at all!

In games, you control your new skin. It’s the same principle here. You still control your new look.

And hey, even with a skin in the game, it doesn’t guarantee you’ll play better. But in real life, at least you can show off properly, right?

Can their skins boost your stats? My products can literally increase your attack speed, amplify your output, and even come with a built-in berserk effect.

If you’re skilled enough, you might even trigger hidden sound effects, unlocking lines and sound waves you don’t usually hear.

Who is the real conscientious seller here? Do I need to spell it out?

—Buy it!

* * *

As night fell, Cheng Zhu returned home and saw someone he had been waiting for since his regression.

—His second uncle.

His second uncle was finally here to scam money!

Cheng Zhu had been anticipating this day for a long time.

Due to his parents still treating him as a child, they hadn’t informed him about his second uncle coming to borrow money in his past life. As a result, Cheng Zhu’s memories of the event were vague. He only remembered the general timeframe but not the details.

As he arrived at his neighborhood, he saw his second uncle’s car parked downstairs.

At this moment, he guessed his second uncle had probably just arrived because the restaurant hadn’t closed yet. When Old Cheng was busy, his second uncle wouldn’t have come over.

Cheng Zhu jogged upstairs with light steps, eager for the show to start.

He was so eager that he nearly tripped on the stairs.

When he entered, everyone looked at him and wondered why he was so energetic.

Cheng Zhu’s second uncle, Cheng Nanli, was wearing a polo shirt and dress pants. His shirt was tucked into his pants to highlight his Louis Vuitton belt.

He was sitting on the couch with one leg crossed and a cigarette in his mouth, looking at the door. “Oh, Cheng Zhu’s back? You shouldn’t just fool around all summer. What time is it now?”

Cheng Zhu gave a perfunctory nod. His second uncle was the same as always. He liked to interfere in everyone’s affairs and lecture others, but he couldn’t manage his own life.

In the past, Cheng Zhu would have retreated to his room whenever there were guests.

Many younger people were like this. They didn’t like to spend time with their elders and would rather return to their rooms to play on their phones or games.

Listening to their conversation was boring. But if you joined in, the elders might find you annoying.

But today, Cheng Zhu took the initiative to sit down and start munching on an apple from the coffee table.

If his second uncle wasn’t here to scam money, he would be more than happy to brag in front of his nephew. After all, his nephew was the perfect audience.

But today was different. He didn’t want to ask for money in front of his nephew, so he started trying to get rid of him.

“Cheng Zhu, go back to your room. I’m here to talk to your dad about something,” Cheng Nanli said.

“Huh? I can’t listen?” Cheng Zhu played the fool, munching on his apple. His eyes sparkled with the naive, clueless innocence typical of today’s college students, as if he knew nothing about the ways of the world.

“Stop talking and get going,” his second uncle snapped.

Hearing this, Old Cheng immediately furrowed his brow. “Why are you talking so loudly to a child?”

Cheng Zhu knew that although his position in the family had always been very low, Old Cheng was still protective of his son.

During family gatherings, some parents would side with relatives criticizing their children and openly scold them in front of everyone.

Old Cheng wouldn’t act like that. He’d think, What right do you have to talk like that to my kid? Do you really think you’re half a father just because you share some blood?

Cheng Zhu knew that Old Cheng would be annoyed, so he deliberately stirred up his father’s anger before they got down to business.

Additionally, he understood something. When a gambler sat at the gambling table, their emotions rose and fell with wins and losses. Over time, this emotional rollercoaster would make some gamblers more irritable and prone to outbursts.

His second uncle had never had a good temper, and after becoming rich, he had become more condescending, looking down on others through his nose. Now that he was a gambler drowning in debt, his temper had only gotten worse.

And what’s with that attitude? I, Cheng Zhu, am the richest in the family and can take out more cash than anyone here!

“I’ll go in after I finish this apple,” Cheng Zhu said.

He sat there leisurely munching on the apple, the crisp sound of each bite filling the air.

He was eating it so cleanly that Cheng Nanli wondered if he was going to eat the core too.

After finishing the apple, Cheng Zhu stood up but didn’t immediately go to his room. He went to the kitchen to wash his hands and then walked back to the coffee table to grab some tissues to dry them. Afterwards, he plopped back down on the couch.

It wasn’t until his second uncle glared at him that he finally said, “Oh, I forgot. I’ll go to my room now.”

Cheng Nanli only thought, Damn, has this kid changed so much?

After entering his room, Cheng Zhu leaned against the door and eavesdropped for a while. He heard his second uncle laying the groundwork for his scam, talking about some big project he was working on and how it was full of potential.

Looks like he’ll keep bragging for another ten minutes. Cheng Zhu sat in his chair and played with his phone, planning to eavesdrop some more later.

His second uncle’s bragging was of no use to him. He wasn’t even half as good at showing off, so there was no point in listening to the nonsense.

It wasn’t until the tone of the conversation outside became more heated that Cheng Zhu leaned against the door again.

He vaguely heard his second uncle asking Old Cheng to take out a loan.

He guessed that it must have been because Xu Yun had mentioned that the family had opened a supermarket and was short on cash.

Fuck, Second Uncle is ruthless. He’s asking our family to take out a loan for him to gamble. Cheng Zhu felt he had underestimated gamblers.

Right now, Cheng Nanli was deep in debt. Even if he could borrow a few hundred thousand yuan, he wouldn’t think about paying it back. To a gambler, this amount was just a drop in the bucket. He would just think of using this money to turn things around.

At first, he might have thought of gambling just a few thousand, but once he started, he’d get hooked.

Thankfully, Old Cheng and Xu Yun weren’t blinded by family ties. They hadn’t forgotten they had borrowed money from Cheng Zhu’s grandfather to open the supermarket.

In the end, the conversation ended on a sour note.

Cheng Zhu stood by the window in his room. From his vantage point, he could see his second uncle’s BMW parked downstairs.

The car would eventually be repossessed by the lenders.

He just stood there, watching as Cheng Nanli approached his car. His second uncle first trembled, then looked around nervously for a while before cursing and angrily tearing at the paper stuck on the car window.

Seeing this, Cheng Zhu walked out of his room and into the living room.

“Has Second Uncle left?” he asked.

“Mm.” Old Cheng nodded with a neutral expression.

“When I came home just now, I saw someone had glued a piece of paper on Second Uncle’s car window. The paper said ‘Pay back the money’. I didn’t dare to bring it up in front of him because I didn’t want to make the atmosphere awkward,” Cheng Zhu said with a hint of pride, as though he were already a sensible adult. Praise me quickly. Tell me how mature I am.

Old Cheng and Xu Yun exchanged a glance, then, without a word, walked to the window to look down and check if Cheng Nanli and his car were still there.

Meanwhile, Cheng Zhu picked up his cup and went to pour some water.

Without looking back, he thought, He’s probably still there tearing at it. I put so much glue on it. He’ll be scratching at it with his nails for ages.

===

The twist at the end was great.