When
He opened the glass door, and Chen Ge walked over to the workbench with the fat boss.
"This level of detail, this texture — you're wasting your talent running a haunted house," the fat boss said, following behind Chen Ge. He picked up a female student's head from the table. At first he'd been a little scared, but once he got used to it, he gradually became captivated by the head in his hands.
It was strikingly lifelike. The girl's eyes seemed to hold some kind of emotion, without the slightest hint of a doll's blankness or rigidity.
"Even the most skilled puppeteer I've ever seen couldn't do better than this," the fat boss said, cradling the mannequin head and gazing at the girl's face for over a full minute before finally looking away.
He seemed to want to say something. After hesitating for a good while, he placed the girl's head back where it had been and gently tapped Chen Ge, who was busy working: "Brother, I came here so early today because there's actually something else I wanted to discuss with you."
Brother?
The fat boss had suddenly switched how he addressed him, and his whole attitude had shifted dramatically. It made Chen Ge a little uncomfortable.
"If you've got something to say, go ahead. I'll help if I can." Chen Ge was busy designing the body for a mannequin, so he was rather blunt.
"It'll be good for both of us." The fat boss pulled a business card from his pocket and handed it to Chen Ge. "We should keep in touch going forward."
"Qian Guigen?" Chen Ge didn't know what he was up to. Why had he suddenly become so enthusiastic?
Only after Chen Ge accepted the card did Boss Qian lean in and speak in a mysterious tone: "I used to make mannequins exclusively for major amusement parks and retail stores. But technology's gotten too advanced — all kinds of visual projections can fool the eye, and the demand for mannequins has dropped dramatically. To keep the shop going, I've been thinking about pivoting recently, but this industry's model is already set in stone. Transitioning is just too difficult."
"Every industry finds it hard to pivot. I'd suggest you play it straight — don't bet your entire savings and lose everything." Chen Ge had sculpted a student's body out of clay and was wiping the surface with a damp sponge, his fingers applying just the right amount of pressure. The area the sponge passed over looked like real skin — smooth and taut. He wasn't particularly interested in Boss Qian's grand vision; he just wanted to finish quickly and ship these mannequins back to the haunted house.
"Before I met you, I thought the same way. But after meeting you, it's like a little ship sailing through the fog finally spotted a lighthouse — you've pointed me in a direction." Boss Qian circled around Chen Ge, staring at the twenty-four realistic mannequin heads with different expressions lined up on the workbench, then suddenly spoke up: "I've got a bold idea!"
"Step aside — pass me the number sixteen sculpting tool."
"Don't brush me off! If this pivot works out, our monthly net profit could end up being more than your haunted house makes in ticket sales for an entire year!" Boss Qian slapped his fat hand on the table and looked at Chen Ge with utter seriousness.
At the mention of money, Chen Ge paused his work: "I'm not the type who's crazy about money — I'm just curious about your pivot strategy."
"Small creative figurines can't command high prices, and cheap mass-produced large mannequins are a dead market. So I've decided to go the high-end custom route!" Boss Qian carefully lifted one of the finished mannequin heads. "This is the first time I've seen a mannequin this realistic, and you're using relatively inferior materials. If we switched to the best materials available, wouldn't we be able to make mannequins virtually indistinguishable from real people?"
"In theory, no problem." Chen Ge didn't bother telling Boss Qian that if he was given enough materials, he could potentially make an actual living doll.
"That's your talent, and it's our ticket to fortune!" Boss Qian took out his phone and pulled up some images of semi-realistic dolls. "These shoddy adult dolls online dare to charge eight or nine thousand. A custom, life-sized, perfectly beautiful mannequin like ours would start at five figures minimum. I've done the research — this market is huge, and it won't be saturated for years to come."
"That is indeed a bold idea." Chen Ge shook his head and went back to shaping the clay molds.
"It's pure profit! At yesterday's pace, you could casually make twenty in three days. That's two hundred a month. There's never been a mannequin like this on the market — the starting price is at least fifteen thousand, and even with the most expensive materials we'd still pocket ten thousand in profit each! Two million a month! Why would you even bother with the haunted house anymore!" Boss Qian hadn't expected Chen Ge's reaction to be so lukewarm.
"I won't do anything illegal. Besides, customizing mannequins based on a customer's photos and personal information is a violation of the person in those photos." Chen Ge knew perfectly well that the mannequins he produced used living-doll techniques — they carried a certain degree of danger. He didn't want to see a headline in the news about a mannequin killing someone.
"How can you be so stubborn!" Boss Qian looked genuinely pained. "Every one of us is an island. Even the most loving couples argue. But mannequins are different — a lot of people choose mannequin companionship because they need something to hold onto. Life is full of pressure, and no matter who you pour your heart out to, they'll get tired of listening. A mannequin never will. You're not hurting anyone by making custom mannequins — you're just building a harbor in the middle of the ocean for countless lonely people to dock at."
"If you went into insurance sales, you'd probably have your own company by now." Chen Ge lowered his head and continued shaping the clay. This world wasn't as peaceful as it appeared on the surface. If the living dolls he created were sent to every corner of the country, things could easily spiral out of control — and eventually it would probably come back to him.
"When you have a bold idea, you have to try it! Why don't you make two more mannequins today, and I'll take them out to test the waters. If it doesn't work out, just pretend I never said anything." Boss Qian already had photos loaded on his phone — he had clearly come prepared.
"Boss Qian, have you ever imagined a scenario like this: you're sharing a bed with a mannequin, and after you fall asleep, the mannequin slowly opens its eyes."
"A mannequin… how could it possibly open its eyes?"
"If you don't believe me, you're welcome to come experience my haunted house. The mannequins I make aren't quite like ordinary ones — and I'm not just talking about their appearance." Chen Ge didn't elaborate further. The fat boss seemed like a decent enough guy, just a little too avant-garde in his thinking.
After hearing Chen Ge's words, Boss Qian looked back at the realistic mannequin heads on the workbench. A flicker of fear crossed his mind, but he still hadn't given up: "Whenever you come around, just give me a call."
While they'd been chatting, Chen Ge had finished the clay molds and started repeating yesterday's steps.
At nine in the morning, Chen Ge packed all the realistic mannequin heads into three large cardboard boxes, called a taxi, and shipped them off to New Century Amusement Park.
"The mannequin bodies should all be done tonight. The Muyang Middle School scene should be ready to officially open tomorrow."