Chapter 80: The Toy Business
Li Daoxuan carried a large box into his bedroom.
The box was labeled "Ningyang Toy Company." He lifted the lid to reveal a jumble of diverse and colorful toys.
However, there was one key difference between these toys and those from other companies: their size. They were "small."
Most typical toys were manufactured at a 1:100 or 1:144 scale. But the toys from Ningyang Toy Company were made at an astonishing 1:200, or even 1:400, scale—ridiculously tiny.
The 1:400 scale items were so minuscule Li Daoxuan had to disregard them, but the 1:200 toys sparked his keen interest.
There were 1:200 airplane models, 1:200 buses, 1:200 high-speed trains, 1:200 ships...
These were, quite literally, tailor-made for his miniature people. The only drawback was that they were merely plastic toys, completely devoid of any internal power system, meaning they couldn't actually move on their own.
Lifeless toys with no power were completely useless to Li Daoxuan.
The person who had called him that morning was already a WeChat contact. Li Daoxuan opened the app and sent a message: "I've received the samples. Your company's toys are certainly quite small."
"Win my foot!" Li Daoxuan retorted without mercy. "Haven't you noticed? My 'Miniature World Diaries' are stories set in ancient villages. If you send me a pile of modern toys, how am I supposed to film them into my videos?"
"Uh... well," A Bucket of Pudding stammered, a bit embarrassed. "You could always film some modern miniature world stuff..."
"No way!" Li Daoxuan flatly refused. "I only enjoy filming ancient miniature worlds. Modern ones are just boring. You know there are tons of TikTok bloggers doing 'shift-tilt photography,' right? Why aren't their accounts popular while mine is? It's because they film modern scenes, which are everywhere. Even if they use 'shift-tilt photography' to make them look like miniature worlds, people aren't really interested in modern miniature worlds; they glance at them and move on. My miniature world, on the other hand, is an ancient setting, a massive investment, with all the actors in period costumes and actual ancient villages as the backdrop. That's what people love to watch."
That made sense. A Bucket of Pudding fell into thought. "So, what are you suggesting?"
Li Daoxuan replied: "Make some ancient miniature toys for me! For example, 1:200 scale models of ancient-style houses—they don't even need interiors. And 1:200 castles, small pavilions, gardens..."
A Bucket of Pudding hesitated. "Uh, in that case, we'd need to create new molds, and that would be quite expensive."
Li Daoxuan countered: "Instead of making generic products that won't sell, it's better to invest in new molds for things that *will* sell. You'll make back more than what you spend. Don't you agree?"
A Bucket of Pudding conceded, "Uh, I'll have to discuss this with the product department."
"No problem," Li Daoxuan said. "Take your time discussing it. I'm not in a hurry. For now, I'll try listing these little cars and planes on my product link, but I can't guarantee sales."
A Bucket of Pudding was delighted. "Great! You can test the waters first, and we'll see the results."
Li Daoxuan closed WeChat and sat down at his computer. He dug through his video archives, found a clip of two blacksmiths making armor plates, edited it, and added a caption: "Another peaceful day begins in the Miniature World. Today, two blacksmiths are diligently crafting armor..."
Once the video was uploaded, he casually attached a product link for the 1:200 miniature airplanes, ships, and high-speed trains.
His account, "Miniature World Diaries," was already gaining traction, and as soon as the video went live, comments from netizens flooded in.
"Whoa, this little blacksmith's forge looks incredibly realistic today. Look, the flames are actually burning!"
"Where did they find these two blacksmith actors? They're so convincing."
"These actors *are* real blacksmiths. They're using ancient forging methods. Look at that dilapidated furnace next to them! Such authentic, old-fashioned techniques – the historical accuracy is insane."
"Why not just get an electric furnace? A home electric melting furnace can liquefy all sorts of metals in a flash."
"No, no, don't use modern furnaces. The ancient aesthetic is exactly what makes it good."
As their chattering discussion continued, a few items from the product link actually sold. But the sales were... undeniably dismal. After all, tiny cars, planes, and high-speed trains were ubiquitous online; who would bother buying these?
Suddenly, Li Daoxuan had an idea. He picked up a miniature bus, placed it in the diorama box, and used his hand to push the bus, making it "drive" to the front of the blacksmith's forge.
No one in the village could see his hand. The villagers only saw a strangely shaped vehicle suddenly descend from the sky and zip haphazardly through Gao Family Village, leaving them utterly bewildered.
But their bewilderment quickly turned to understanding. This must be another one of the Heavenly Lord's peculiar celestial vehicles, sent down from the heavens. There was no need to fear; the Heavenly Lord would never harm them.
A crowd of miniature people gathered, murmuring excitedly about the bus.
Soon after, Gao Yiye arrived, her face serious as she announced to the villagers: "The Heavenly Lord instructs everyone to get in and try the vehicle."
With that, Gao Yiye was the first to board. Gao Chuwu, the simple-minded fellow, was the second to leap on, followed by Zheng Daniu, Li Da, Gao Yiyi, and the others, who all piled into the vehicle.
Li Daoxuan then gently pushed the bus with his hand, slowly circling it through Gao Family Village.
Gao Yiye exclaimed: "Wow, this celestial vehicle is so much fun!"
Gao Chuwu mused: "I've never ridden in a carriage before. This must be something like it, right?"
"Hahaha, so much fun!"
The whole group chuckled and chattered as they completed a loop around the village. After disembarking, they watched the Heavenly Lord retrieve the vehicle to the heavens, still feeling a touch of lingering excitement.
After taking the bus out of the box, Li Daoxuan immediately opened the recently recorded video. He burst out laughing—his hand pushing the car was clearly visible in the footage.
As he had expected, while the people inside the box couldn't see his hand, the monitoring camera outside the box had captured it.
This made for a truly comical scene: a giant hand pushing a bus, filled with miniature, costumed ancient people, cruising around an ancient village, the passengers looking utterly bewildered by this novel experience.
Even Li Daoxuan, who was completely inept at writing captions, now felt a sudden burst of inspiration. He quickly processed the video, uploaded it, and added a caption: "The deity bestows a bus upon the ancient miniature people, who experience 'the feeling of being pushed back' for the very first time."
As soon as the video was uploaded... it instantly went viral!
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