"Ah, so this leather product is still quite good. Although the leather used isn't top-grade, it's definitely genuine leather and can last for two to three years, which is sufficient! Besides, we won't be stuffing it into our mouths, and for a blind box costing only 10 yuan, we can't have excessively high expectations," Hei Mei summarized as she returned to the live broadcast.
"Yes, but Hei Mei, did you notice that at the blind box area, they were also selling shoes priced at 500 and 800 yuan a pair!" the male host asked again.
"Of course, I noticed. I heard they are the works of some master!"
"Precisely. After testing these leather goods, we revisited that stall and discovered that those two pairs of leather shoes priced at 500 and 800 yuan had already been sold."
"No way, shoes that expensive have been bought?"
"We were also very curious, so our reporter went through great lengths to find the buyer of these two pairs of leather shoes. Let's listen to his interview!" As he spoke, the old man from before appeared on the screen, with a wall filled with various leather products behind him.
Through self-introduction, the elder stated that he is the president of the National Leather Goods Association's Ln chapter and has over forty years of experience with leather goods. He then took out the two pairs of leather shoes he had purchased and began to introduce them at length.
The specific details of his description will be omitted, but suffice it to say, even Shen Yuequn himself couldn't help but want to buy a pair of these masterfully crafted leather shoes.
In short, this master claimed he had made a fortune, stating that these two pairs of shoes would have sold for at least tens of thousands of yuan in Italy.
This wasn't the end of it. The reporters later found the lucky young man and interviewed him at his workplace: the back kitchen of a hotel.
He said he was a vegetable washer at a hotel. On impulse, he bought quite a few blind boxes and ended up opening a pair of master shoes, earning 800 yuan, which was equivalent to a month's worth of dishwashing. In short, he was beaming with happiness.
"This is truly magical. I thought today's program was going to be an exposé, but it's actually turned into advertising for the blind boxes!"
"Yes, this is something our director didn't anticipate either. However, it's not exactly promoting a company, as those selling the items are workers who don't receive wages. If our program today can help these poor workers earn back their wages, then we've made some contribution."
The television program concluded, leaving Shen Yuequn and his wife, the subjects of the broadcast, stunned. After a while, his wife finally spoke, "They filmed us, and we had no idea?"
"Didn't you see they were using hidden cameras? With so many customers every day, how could we possibly notice a few reporters in disguise!" Shen Yuequn replied.
"Then, husband, did these reporters expose us? Should we stop setting up our stall? I'm afraid of the police..."
"What are you afraid of the police for? Didn't you hear the reporters say they had experts test the products? We definitely used real leather and did not use any prohibited additives. On what grounds would the police arrest us?"
"On the contrary, I can imagine how many people will come to our stall tomorrow. We'll be significantly busier tomorrow than we were today!" Shen Yuequn licked his lips.
"They are helping us? Is this just a coincidence? I feel like something is not right," his wife said.
"Of course, something is not right. When has the news media ever been kind to small vendors like us? Haven't they always been exposing and reporting us, finding fault even when there are none? Yet today, although the program didn't reveal any obvious problems, and even highlighted some of our issues, the overall impression was one of constant support. Do you think that's possible?"
"Rather than calling this news, it's more like an advertisement!" Shen Yuequn was very clear-headed.
"Then why are they advertising for us?"
"What do you need to advertise on television?"
"Money!"
"That's right. Someone paid money to advertise for us!" Shen Yuequn said.
"Who would pay for our advertisement without us even knowing..." his wife's mouth hung open.
"Do you even need to ask? Of course, it's that fellow from Wenzhou!" Shen Yuequn's gaze turned towards Wenzhou.
"The Chairman arranged this? Then all our actions are under the Chairman's surveillance?" his wife suddenly realized.
"That's right. So, you need to put away all your little schemes immediately. If you dare to do anything you shouldn't, the Chairman will know the first moment. I suspect he's already..."
"Ding dong!"
The doorbell rang, and both of them shivered. The doorbell continued to ring, and they were too afraid to open the door. Finally, Shen Yuequn mustered the courage and opened it.
"Hello, I'm from SF Express. The one hundred thousand blind boxes your company sent have arrived at our warehouse. Here is the list and pick-up address. Please come and collect them as soon as possible. Our company has just opened a branch in the Northeast, and our warehouse isn't very large. Your blind boxes are occupying a significant amount of our storage space, so we hope you can collect them quickly. Thank you!" The SF Express staff member pleaded repeatedly, indicating that these one hundred thousand blind boxes were indeed putting a considerable strain on their warehousing.
"Husband, when did you order a hundred thousand blind boxes? I didn't even know!" his wife asked in surprise from the side.
"I didn't order any..." Shen Yuequn wore a wry smile. "You wait at home. I'm going to find a public phone and call the Chairman. Isn't he playing games with me?"
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"Tsk, tsk, it seems these one hundred thousand yuan were well spent. Can you tell that this was our carefully designed advertisement?" Shen Yuequn didn't know that at this very moment, in Wenzhou, Huang He was also watching the Ln Satellite TV program.
This program was indeed arranged by Huang He. As a cost, he paid a local advertising company in SY a full one hundred thousand yuan for this single episode, a considerable sum.
"Brother-in-law, isn't this advertisement a bit much? Could this involve fraud?" Leng Zhiruo asked with some concern.
"How can this be considered fraud?" Huang He waved his hand. "This is a genuine news interview. All the news materials are real, and the content within is also true. All the products from our Jiangnan Leather Factory are indeed made from scraps of leather, and we genuinely use legal additives and adhesives. As long as you don't wear them for walking every day, they should last for two to three years without any problems."
"Even if I arranged for that old man to buy the leather shoes, and I paid for them myself, with 800 yuan given to a poor dishwasher, in what way am I committing fraud?"
"Furthermore, this elder is indeed the President of Ln Province of the China Leather Goods Association. Although this association was only established a few days ago, everything is genuine and will withstand any investigation!" Huang He patted his chest confidently.
"Don't worry, Zhiruo. I, Huang He, am the most law-abiding person. I never engage in any illegal activities. This time, no one can find any fault with me in terms of the law!"
"But this program, it's not a real news program!" Leng Zhiruo was still somewhat worried.
"Don't worry. He holds nine master titles: 'Senior Nutritionist', 'Freckle Removal Expert', 'Vice President of the Chinese Academy of Traditional Chinese Medicine for Cough Treatment and Concurrent Vice President of the Oriental Cough Research Institute', 'Heir to Miao Medicine', 'Peking University Expert for Curing Diabetes', 'Old Chinese Medicine Specialist for Insomnia', descendant of Mongolian medicine, 'Inheritor of Miao Medicine's Skill in Discharging Phlegm and Calming Asthma'."
"At the same time, Master Liu Hongbin, who practices Chinese, Miao, and Mongolian medicine, has participated in so many television programs without issue, and has been a respected master. The television station is also operating smoothly. We won't have any problems!" Huang He laughed. "This is the golden age of television advertising. Once the internet develops further in the future, this era will pass. If we don't seize this opportunity now, we might be turned into internet memes later!"