Episode 048: A Good Hold
Qi Yu had asked Wang Meng to rent a car in advance and all this while, the other party had been waiting for Qi Yu’s instructions in the hotel’s underground parking lot.
When he got downstairs, the two went straight to the address of the location sent by Reporter Yang.
They didn’t go to the villa, but rather a guest house near the villa — Just like the Zhuo Shi investigators, Reporter Yang’s people also rented two rooms here to act as a surveillance base.
It took an hour to get there.
The guest house had simple facilities. Qi Yu entered the room where Reporter Yang was and saw that they were using the bed as a table. They covered the beds with cardboard and placed several laptops on them.
“Is this the car?” Reporter Yang pointed to the video on one of the computer screens.
Qi Yu turned on his phone and checked it against the photos sent by Wei Tianrui. He said, “This is the one.”
“That seals it then.” Reporter Yang used another computer to show him the map. “After Qiu Rusong separated from you last week, he came to this place three times. There was once that he stayed in there for most of the day. — It’s a remote location. The price of land here is cheap. According to our investigation, most of the white billet villas inside are rented as temporary warehouses by trading companies. The goods dispatched from the garment factory today should be directly related to Qiu Rusong.”
“Do we have any recording of the situation inside that villa?” Qi Yu asked.
“Not yet.” A printed layout of the villas within the community was placed in front of Reporter Yang. He specially used a red circle to mark Qiu Rusong’s building, and then marked the house facing the villa with a red cross. “I just found out that this villa happens to be vacant. My people have contacted the owner and are negotiating a short-term rental contract. If we get that rental contract we can have eyes on that villa.”
As he said that, he suddenly thought of something. He got up and picked up a black courier pack from the bed and threw it to Qi Yu. He smiled, “Take a look at this first.”
“What’s this?” Qi Yu curiously turned it in his hands. He saw that the package bag had been opened, revealing a rust colored low-necked ladies silk shirt inside.
Qi Yu’s eyes widened slightly. He recognized it immediately. This was an imitation of an item from E’lite, another brand owned by Mei Wei.
E’lite was a brand that specialized in professional women’s clothing. Its design, fabrics, and craftsmanship were all higher than that of ME·WE.
This shirt had a slightly different style, but its material and the special dyeing used on it were exactly the same as E’lite’s best-selling silk low-neck shirt from this summer’s collection!
“How did you get this shirt?” Qi Yu frowned and asked Reporter Yang.
Reporter Yang: “My people have been on stakeout here for a few days. Yesterday evening, they were lying in wait for a courier who went to the villa to pick up goods. After he came out, we deliberately stages a collision and knocked down his courier trike. We compensated him with a little money and swiped this one.”
Qi Yu: “……”
That’s right. He should have thought of it. Since Qiu Rusong’s shipment had arrived, it needed to be sold.
He turned over the tag on his collar and saw an elegant logo printed on it.
…Ivy! ?
There was also a QR code on the tag. Qi Yu immediately scanned it with his mobile phone and he was directed to the online store of the brand.
After a quick glance, Qi Yu saw that the shirt was actually displayed in the store. The price was 388 yuan, three times lower than the price of the original item from E’lite.
Aside from this, there were many other imitations of Mei Wei’s items, including the beaded sweater that Li Guang had photographed. The price of that item was only 228 in the online store, and its sales have reached more than two thousand per month.
A rough calculation already put the combined monthly sales of these suspected imitation clothing as high as 10 million.
If this store were to continue stealing fake clothing from Mei Wei in this way, Qi Yu couldn’t imagine the loss it would cause to the company!
However, Qi Yu was also quite puzzled — Mei Wei’s annual capital investment in production was clearly shown on the financial statement. The price per catty of thread going into the weaving factory was also registered. — How exactly did Qiu Rusong rope in Finance into making this huge loss of materials disappear?
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
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“I got recommended this brand called Ivy. The designs are good and the price is affordable. The key is quality. For 368 yuan you could buy clothes prices at more than a thousand in the stores. It’s super value for money!”
“I wore Ivy’s clothes to go to work today. My sisters at the office asked me if I was wearing a big brand item. I told them that it was 289 yuan from an online store and they didn’t believe me haha!”
……
Of course, there were also sharp-eyed netizens who had noticed that this shop was imitating Mei Wei’s design, but Qi Yu rarely saw anyone speaking up for Mei Wei.
“I don’t know if you beauties have caught on to this niche brand called Ivy. It only came out during the past two years. It has the same style as ME·WE. But their cost-performance ratio is much higher than Mei Wei!”
“I know, when it first came out, I thought it was another brand under Mei Wei. I didn’t expect it to be an independent brand. Although the style somewhat copied, there’s really nothing you can fault with the quality of the clothes!”
……
Qi Yu snorted coldly. Their design is stolen, their raw materials are stolen and they even get to use their equipment for free. How could their cost-performance ratio not be good?
He thought about the bad reviews for ME·WE that he saw in the online shopping mall last year and he suddenly had a terrible conjecture——
Was it possible that Qiu Rusong had manipulated the textile mills and garment factories to make Mei Wei’s clothes with crude and cheap raw materials? He then mixes these inferior clothes with Mei Wei’s goods in a certain proportion and sells them through the online sales department? The material left over are then used for Ivy that he had opened outside?
That’s right. In this way, wouldn’t the accounts come out even?
Even the obvious increase in after-sales expenses of Mei Wei’s online sales department could fully support this possibility!
Qi Yu’s hands clenched into fists. His complexion grew pale.
Back at the hotel, completely disregarding the time difference between Haicheng and Newtown, he immediately called his father and told him about his recent investigation and his conjectures.
After Qi Yuancheng listened to it, he grew a bit restless. He pondered for a moment and said, “Tell me the name of that online store and I’ll have a professional team investigate further. However, this matter involves some human relations. For the time being, it’s inconvenient for me to come forward… Later, I will ask them to contact you directly. I’m asking you to be fully responsible for this matter, how about it?”
Hearing that Qi Yuancheng was entrusting such a big task to him, a sense of responsibility surged in his heart. “No problem.”
Qi Yuancheng asked again, “By the way, have you found out the relationship between Qiu Rusong and Fia?”
“…Not yet.” There might not be any way to find out about this for a while. After all, it was only the tip of the iceberg that has surfaced.
“But Qiu Rusong did this and I don’t think Uncle Qiu was completely unaware,” Qi Yu said.
Qi Yuancheng sighed. He asked him once again to pay attention to his own safety before he changed the subject and asked, “Are your mom and brother doing well?”
“They’re doing really well.” Qi Yu said with a smile, “Xiao Feng even went to the office for me today.”
Qi Yuancheng was surprised, “He went to the office for you?”
“Yeah.” Qi Yu also told Qi Yuancheng about his situation and the reason for seeking out Qi Feng to act as his double.
Alright, Qi Yuancheng said, gratified. “You should persuade your brother to do more things with you. Your father only has you two. Although I’m divorced from your mom, you are equally important in my heart. If Xiao Feng would be willing to come join the company and help you after he graduates, dad would be very happy.”
Qi Yu let out a “chi”. “Forget it, dad. if it weren’t for me threatening and bribing him this time, do you think he would have agreed to come?”
“If there’s a first, there’ll be a second, right?” Qi Yuancheng smiled, and then asked, “What about that Teacher Fu of yours? Are you two still in contact?”
Qi Yu was choked by his dad’s question. Thinking of the ambiguous relationship between himself and Fu Yansheng, he suddenly felt a little guilty. “En, we are…Speaking of, he’s helped me a lot in this investigation…”
Qi Yuancheng: “Oh?”
Qi Yu honestly told him of how Fu Yansheng had helped him find the investigation company. He also frankly admitted to his father that many of his current practices were deeply inspired by the other party.
Qi Yuancheng commented, “He has indeed led you to grow up a lot. You should keep a good hold of this person.”
Qi Yu: “……”
Qi Yuancheng said again, “By the way, I might be going back to Haicheng for a business trip at the end of the month.”
Qi Yu was surprised. “You’re coming back?”
Qi Yuancheng: “En, but my schedule is going to be relatively packed. I’ll tell you the specific arrangements when the time comes.”
Qi Yu: “Okay.”
The father and son were so engrossed in conversation that they actually talked for two hours. Qi Yu hung up the phone and recalled the words his father had commented about Fu Yansheng. His face was suddenly filled with embarrassment.
Keep a good hold of him? But how was he supposed to hold him…
He had to admit that he was indeed greedy for Fu Yansheng’s resourcefulness. Even without his dad saying it, he too wanted to do everything possible to keep this person by his side.
But what the other party wanted was not money or status, but his feelings.
……
If his father had known of this, would he still have told him to keep a hold of him?
After realizing the other party’s intentions, Qi Yu also struggled with what kind of relationship he could accept with Fu Yansheng.
He wasn’t as emotional and impulsive as Qi Feng. It was impossible for him to easily promise others a lifetime at the age of twenty. Not to mention that the other party in this case was also a man.
Thinking of his father’s attitude towards the relationship between Qi Feng and Ling Ke, he also knew how difficult this road was going to be for him.
Therefore, whether it was as a short-term lover, or a three-year, five-year or even longer-term partner, he wanted to make clear whether Fu Yansheng was worth taking this crucial step.
This was why he was repeatedly sounding out the other during this period.
He wanted to know how much Fu Yansheng liked him. He wanted to control himself well. Even if Fu Yansheng had a brain that was a hundred times smarter than his own, he didn’t want to be passive in this relationship.
Qi Yu sighed lightly, remembering Fu Yansheng’s suspected jealousy from last night, he couldn’t help but smile.
He hadn’t heard from the other party for the whole day and I had no idea what Fu Yansheng was calling him for last night… Adding the weekend, he hadn’t hung out with the other for almost four days.
Almost there.
Qi Yu hesitated for a moment, then opened WeChat and sent a message to the other party. “Teacher Fu, are you free tonight?”
It was half an hour later before Fu Yansheng answer, “What is it?”
Qi Yu chuckled. Was that still jealousy in his tone?
He said: “I want to introduce you to a friend. Let’s have dinner together tonight?”
F1S: “What friend?”
Yu: “You won’t know if you don’t come.”
F1S: “I see you’ve mastered how to keep people in suspense.”
Yu: “Are you coming or not?”
F1S: “Where?”
Yu: “My hotel room.”
F1S: “…………”
After setting the meeting time with Fu Yansheng, Qi Yu called the hotel room service and ordered three classic French meals. He also asked the server to come to the room in advance to set up a table for three.
After finishing these arrangements, Qi Feng also came back from work.
“How was it? Did everything go well afterwards?” Qi Yu looked at him.
“My God, I’m exhausted!” After Qi Feng came in, he tossed his briefcase and without any regard for his image, lay askew on the sofa.
“No one came to cause trouble for you, right?” Qi Yu asked.
“Yeah,” Qi Feng said, rubbing his stiff face with his hands. “In the morning I looked through your company’s employee data on your computer and watched a movie in the afternoon. Someone sent a few documents in the middle of that and told you to have a look. I brought it back for you. Just take it from the bag.”
“Then why are you tired?” Qi Yu asked as he took out a stack of neatly-arranged A4 documents from his briefcase, flipping through them.
“F*ck, I had to keep a straight face all day, I could even smile. I also couldn’t call Ling Ke. I had to sit there like a tool man. How can I not be tired!?”
While he was complaining, the waiter who came to set up the table came in, Qi Feng watched them busy around. He sat up straight and asked curiously, “What’s this for?”
Qi Yu raised his eyes and glanced at him. He said, “A friend will be coming over for dinner in a while, and I want you to pretend to be me for a little bit.”
Qi Feng: “???”
Qi Feng said blankly, “No, won’t you be here then? Why do I still have to pretend to be you?”
Qi Yu quickly went through the documents, signed the documents that needed to be signed, and said, “I just want him to recognize us. Don’t be too nervous, just think of it as a game.”
Qi Feng understood what his brother intended and said, a speechless expression on his face, “Ge, who do you want to trick?”
“A teacher who treats me very well.” Qi Yu stuffed the documents back into his briefcase and said after looking at the time, “He’s probably going to be here soon. I’ll just take a shower. If he arrives, you can talk to him first. Just call him Teacher Fu.”
Qi Feng said “Oh”, and wondered why was his brother even making fun of a “teacher”? It was a bit excessive.
————
【Little Theater】
Qi Yu (to Fu Yansheng): Don’t you want to know who was with me last night? I’ll let you see.
Qi Yu (to Qi Feng): Continue to pretend to be me for a while.
Qi Feng:? ? ?
I thought I was already off work. I didn’t think I was going to have to work overtime?
————
Haha I think tomorrow’s chapter is going to be fun!
+1 heheh boyy (｡•̀ᴗ-)✧
+2 hehehehe it’ll be funny if FYS actually realise that QF isnt QY
im jittering just thinking of having an FYS remix of LK rejecting QY :))
Suspense! Thanks for sharing! Cannot wait for the next chapters. 😍
No, won’t Teacher Fu immediately realize? And I doubt Qi Feng will be able to smoothly act as Qi Yu in front of this „Teacher“…
HAHAHAAHAHAHHA QI YU YOU NAUGHTY FISH
You little fish you want to deceive your teacher fu….🤣🤣🤣 Thank you for the chapter~
thanks for the chapter!
Keke can differentiate between his bf and QY in a blink of an eye. I’m sure Fu laoshi can do even better and faster than that, maybe he already knew since that diverted call. hehe
Oooohhh, it’s gonna be fun….