214: Chapter 214 Immersive try-on and taste-testing have long been integrated into daily life.

A young researcher, around twenty-five or twenty-six, stood nearby, his voice tight with excitement, almost subconsciously shouting at Lu Li:

"Mr. Lu, how high do you think the first truly complete one can fly?"

Lu Li looked at the prototype still swaying slightly, his tone as lazy as ever.

"Get it to fly before you start bragging."

The whole room suddenly burst into laughter.

Laughter aside, the excitement that rushed up was even harder to suppress.

Because everyone already had a clear idea.

If we go by the current speed of progress—

Around New Year's, the first Anti-gravity flying vehicle in the true sense will be able to come out.

Not mass production, not for civil use, and not something that can immediately be used to change traffic rules.

But it is enough to prove one thing.

Anti-gravity is not science fiction.

When leaving the research center at night, the sky was already completely dark.

The car drove back, along the elevated road into the city.

Lu Li leaned in the back seat and looked out through the car window.

The night lights of Mingzhu were connected one after another; the traffic light control units at intersections, the holographic screens in business districts, the air-imaging advertisements on the side of the street, Robot delivery points, and unmanned convenience terminals were all quietly embedded on the surface of the city.

He suddenly discovered that he did not know when it started, but the lives of ordinary people had been completely turned upside down unknowingly.

...

When returning to the villa, only a warm yellow floor lamp was left on in the living room.

Su Qingxue was leaning on the sofa, with a thin blanket on her legs, wearing a very casual light-colored knitted sweater, looking like she had fallen asleep.

Her long hair fell loosely on her shoulders, her breathing was light, and she was as quiet as a painting.

Lu Li changed his shoes and was just about to walk around, but his footsteps paused slightly.

He looked down at the device interface by the coffee table, and then at the new version of the micro Virtual Helmet device on Su Qingxue's head, the corners of his lips lifted slightly.

"Shopping again."

To outsiders, people in the Virtual Helmet era often look like they are just leaning there asleep.

Because what is actually operating is not the hands, not the body.

It is consciousness.

Mind connection, sensory connection, consciousness control.

What the outside world sees is silence.

In the virtual world, people have already walked back and forth several times on another street, in another shop, or in another fitting room.

Of course, if one is willing, they can also connect to an external screen to share their perspective, which can be a traditional TV or an air-imaging device.

Obviously, Lu Li's family wouldn't use a traditional TV.

Su Qingxue obviously had this function turned on.

Lu Li sat by the sofa and casually pulled the shared projection to his side.

In the next second, the semi-transparent virtual mall interface unfolded silently in the living room.

It was not a traditional e-commerce page.

It was not a dense list of products.

It was an entire "enterable" virtual commercial district.

The two main streets of Taobao and JD were lined up side by side; the streets, shops, storefronts, light and shadow were almost indistinguishable from a physical mall. It's just that behind every shop here, it corresponded to a real online shop and inventory.

This was the direction of cooperation that Lu Li had decided on at the beginning.

The platform was responsible for the merchant ecosystem and transaction links.

Guanghui Technology was responsible for building the platform, the Virtual Helmet, consciousness interaction, and the underlying layer of the immersive mall.

The result was—

The traditional online shopping logic of "looking at pictures and guessing the actual product" was completely overturned.

Su Qingxue was clearly in a luxury women's clothing store at this moment.

In her conscious perspective, she was still wearing her home clothes from reality, but as soon as the mirror system unfolded, she only needed to have a thought, and the clothes, makeup, jewelry, and shoes would be replaced on her in real-time.

A light gray coat was switched onto her body; the shoulder line, the drape, the reflection of the fabric, and the arc of the hem when walking were all accurately terrifying.

Beside her, the AI store manager, dressed in black silk professional attire, stood smiling; she looked very beautiful, and her tone was extremely natural.

"Ms. Su, this set is more suitable for your current body proportions and skin tone; would you like me to synchronize shoes and bags for you?"

Su Qingxue's tone was flat.

"Change to another set."

In the next second, the clothes in the mirror changed again.

Lu Li sat by the sofa, watching the rows of changing try-on effects, and suddenly became a little distracted.

In the past, when buying things, one had to specially set aside time to go to the mall.

Now it's better; one leans at home, connects their consciousness to the virtual mall, and the whole street, the whole row of shops, all the fitting mirrors and counters are right in front of them.

When he created this system, he wanted to push the online shopping experience forward significantly.

But really watching Su Qingxue shop like this, he realized belatedly—

This is not just a step forward.

This has directly changed the very act of "shopping."

I don't know if those traditional malls will be hurt a bit by this blow in the future.

He was thinking this, and casually called her.

"Ms. Su."

"Hmm?"

In the shared consciousness, Su Qingxue's perspective paused slightly, as if she had turned her head to look at him.

Lu Li looked at the pair of earrings she had just switched to in the mirror, and spoke lazily:

"You're now so lazy that you don't even want to go out to buy things?"

Su Qingxue clearly knew he was watching from the side, her tone indifferent.

"If it can be solved at home, why make a special trip?"

"The malls will be sad if they hear that."

"If they really had the ability to make me willing to go out, it's not like I couldn't go."

Lu Li: "..."

That sounded surprisingly reasonable.

He leaned back, casually finding a more comfortable position for himself.

"So is this shopping, or inspecting the market?"

"Both."

"Then you're quite busy."

"Better than someone who shouts about being tired every day, but actually lies down for half an hour."

Lu Li clicked his tongue lightly.

"That's a personal attack, Ms. Su."

Su Qingxue ignored him and continued shopping.

This time she clicked into a jewelry store; earrings, necklaces, and bracelets were stacked on her one by one, and even her makeup and hairstyle could be previewed synchronously; the person in the mirror was even more exquisite than in reality.

After trying a few items, she casually switched to a dessert shop.

Lu Li watched her click on "Tasting Mode" and couldn't help but raise an eyebrow.

He was the one who personally decided to push this thing at the beginning.

Consciousness taste mapping, texture restoration, scent simulation—originally, it was just to make the virtual mall more complete.

But now, it has instead rolled the entire online shopping industry into another species.

Whether it's sweet, greasy, or if the taste is acceptable, many things can be experienced quite well before placing an order.

So that big chunk that used to give e-commerce the most headaches—

"Finding it doesn't fit after buying it," "Finding it's completely different after receiving it," "Finding it doesn't suit your taste after eating it," has been completely cut off.

The return rate has been kept extremely low.

The no-reason return policy is still there.

But its presence is pitifully low.

Because the vast majority of people already know what they are buying before they click pay.

Now the average return rate of the entire industry has been pressed to around zero point one.

In the virtual world of consciousness, Su Qingxue cut off a cake that looked good but was judged by her as "too sweet" after tasting, and then casually tried on a pair of shoes.

Then she said flatly:

"When you made this, did you not intend to leave a way out for those counterfeit and inferior goods?"

Lu Li leaned in the sofa, hearing this, he raised an eyebrow lightly:

"That sounds more pleasant than before."