"Boss, what are we buying!" Wang Hai, a man in his forties, truly had no idea how to shop online. But it didn't matter, Wang Hai was now the boss of a company, with over a dozen employees. So, he decisively instructed one of his computer-savvy subordinates to buy things for him.
"See if you can find any drinks, food, furniture, or books. Just buy these four types of items!" Wang Hai gave the command decisively.
The reason for choosing these four types of products was that, based on Wang Hai's years of experience in cracking down on counterfeit goods, these four were the easiest to counterfeit.
Firstly, drinks and food were the simplest to manufacture. Basically, with a packaging line, one could produce counterfeits. The simplest example was when you went to buy a pack of Oreos, and you’d find "Yue Li Yue," "Ao Li Yue," and twenty to thirty other varieties that looked the same in packaging. This was the best proof.
Secondly, and most importantly, drinks and food were meant to be consumed, to be put into one's stomach. They had the potential to endanger human life. Once counterfeits were discovered in these items, the crackdown would be several times more intense than for other products, and it would easily ignite public anger. So, these items were a safe bet.
Then there was furniture. The reason for choosing furniture was that the hottest topic recently was formaldehyde. And according to Wang Hai's understanding, unless pure wood furniture was used, any furniture using boards like plywood would definitely contain formaldehyde in its adhesives. A quick check would confirm it.
And the state had strict standards for formaldehyde. So, if it was found to be exceeding the standard, it would also warrant a stricter crackdown.
Finally, books were about the problem of piracy. Currently, almost 90% of books and audio-visual products on the market were pirated. This was because the price of genuine products was simply too high, and most consumers could not afford them.
The various books and audio products in Jiangnan Mall were almost 40% cheaper than genuine books. This was undoubtedly pirated, and checking for it was foolproof.
Under Wang Hai's arrangements, his subordinates purchased over a hundred items in total, costing around two thousand yuan. Even if only 10% of the goods had issues, it would still be a significant blow to the Jiangnan Group.
When it came to cracking down on counterfeits, Wang Hai's experience was exceptionally rich.
Wang Hai's legendary life began on March 16, 1995. That day, to give a gift to a friend, he purchased a pair of Sony headphones for 85 yuan at Longfu Building.
85 yuan in 1995 was almost equivalent to the price of headphones in the 2000 yuan range in 2021. As a result, after Wang Hai bought such high-end headphones home, he discovered that the headphones produced by the famous Japanese company had burrs along the seams, even pricking Wang Hai's hand and drawing blood.
Wang Hai immediately concluded that these could not possibly be Sony headphones... As a result, after Wang Hai carefully examined the headphone's packaging box, he basically confirmed his judgment.
This was because although the headphone packaging box was written in Japanese, the manufacturer clearly stated it was a company named Nietzsche Corporation, which had nothing to do with Sony.
Therefore, Wang Hai decided to protect his rights and demanded double compensation from Longfu Building according to the Consumer Rights Protection Law, which stipulated compensation for counterfeits.
Longfu Building naturally refused to admit to such a thing. Outraged, Wang Hai bought ten identical headphones at once and then sought out all the appraisal institutions and consumer protection associations in Beijing. Finally, he had to approach the China headquarters of Sony for verification, ultimately obtaining a written confirmation that the headphones were fake.
Afterward, Longfu Building compensated Wang Hai with double the price for the first pair of headphones he purchased. However, the ten pairs bought later were considered as knowingly purchasing counterfeit goods, and no compensation was given, only a refund.
His story was published in the China Consumer News, and Wang Hai became instantly famous, becoming an idol in the hearts of all Chinese consumers who had been swindled by fake goods. The state also took this opportunity to launch a major crackdown and sweep of counterfeit products. Later, Wang Hai even appeared on CCTV's "Truth Be Told," truly making a name for himself.
Subsequently, Wang Hai decided to resign from his job and become a professional counterfeit investigator, specifically accepting letters from consumers across the country and helping them to expose fakes and obtain compensation.
The profession of a professional counterfeit investigator once became one of the registered professions in China's professional association.
At this point, Wang Hai could still be considered a "dragon slayer." However, as time went on and with various events wearing him down, Wang Hai gradually changed because he discovered a more lucrative tactic: threatening merchants.
Previously, Wang Hai's way of making money was by earning compensation through cracking down on counterfeits. This method was legal, but it had one drawback: it was slow to generate income.
Some people might say, "Wang Hai could buy fake products worth tens of thousands of yuan, and thus receive tens of thousands of yuan in compensation at once!"
While that might sound true, in reality, once a product's price reaches tens of thousands of yuan, you would basically not be able to find many counterfeits.
This is because if poor people buy products worth tens of thousands of yuan, they will meticulously investigate to ensure the item is genuine.
And wealthy people who buy products worth tens of thousands of yuan would not go to places where the authenticity is uncertain. Instead, they would choose places like specialty stores and flagship stores.
Lastly, and most importantly, 90% of counterfeit manufacturers couldn't even produce items worth tens of thousands of yuan. Even if they could, they wouldn't dare to sell them, because according to laws and regulations, once the amount reached that level, it wouldn't be as simple as "counterfeit one, compensate two"; it would lead to imprisonment.
In conclusion, Wang Hai's income from legitimate counterfeit investigations was very low, even lower than his income when he worked for others.
What was even more dire was that Wang Hai had become a thorn in the side of many companies. All sorts of death threats poured in. One day, Wang Hai's home received three pig heads, five pig hearts, and chopped pig trotters all at once. His doorstep was also doused with excrement. In short, during that period, Wang Hai lived a life of extreme hardship, as if his life was in danger at all times.
Later, someone by Wang Hai's side told him, "Why do you have to go all out against those manufacturers? Can't you find a way to settle with them and earn more?"
So, Wang Hai had an epiphany. After discovering a counterfeit, instead of reporting it immediately, he would start contacting the other party privately, revealing his identity. The other party would then understand Wang Hai's intentions and offer a bribe of ten to twenty thousand yuan, or even hundreds of thousands of yuan, and the matter would be settled.
After all, with Wang Hai's status and reputation at that time, if the matter escalated, the losses would not be just hundreds of thousands of yuan; he might even end up in jail.
Over time, Wang Hai found that this method not only allowed him to earn more money but also reduced the number of people threatening his life. Whether they were the ones being targeted or the ones targeting him, they seemed to be more accepting of this private resolution.
Thus, Wang Hai established his own Dahai Business Consulting Company. Not only did he investigate counterfeits himself, but he also led a team of employees to do so, aiming to make the counterfeit investigation business even more popular.
Of course, to maintain his reputation and buzz, Wang Hai would also conduct legitimate counterfeit investigations once or twice a month, showing that he was still a fighter against counterfeits.
This also had its advantages: some companies would proactively provide Wang Hai with leads, or even give him money to investigate counterfeits, but these would be against their competitors, not their own products.
Wang Hai was even more pleased with such actions. After all, this not only maintained his image as a fighter against counterfeits and continuously sustained his reputation but also allowed him to earn a substantial amount of extra money. Why wouldn't he?
Especially with this opportunity to target Jiangnan Mall, Wang Hai was determined to succeed.
Because Jiangnan Group was the hottest company right now, and Huang He was the hottest entrepreneur. If Wang Hai could take down Huang He, then Wang Hai would be able to reach the peak of his life again, just like when he appeared on "Truth Be Told" in '96.
That was the first episode hosted by Cui Yongyuan.
Soon, his subordinate brought the purchase list for Wang Hai to review. Wang Hai found no issues and directly instructed his subordinate to confirm the order.
However, shortly after, the subordinate discovered a problem.
"Boss, there are additional shipping fees for buying these items!" the subordinate said.
"What, there are shipping fees? Didn't I hear that online shopping used to be free of shipping fees and delivered directly to your door?" Wang Hai asked in surprise.
"That's right. It says that if you directly purchase products from Jiangnan Group's directly operated stores, you can still enjoy free shipping. However, currently, only Jiangnan Blind Box is a directly operated product. Others will incur shipping fees."
"Besides that, if you buy goods from other stores, you will have to pay shipping fees. It says that all express deliveries will be handled by Jiangnan Express. Jiangnan Express will automatically calculate the shipping fees based on the shipping address of the store and the receiving address."
"For example, this box of Coca-Cola shipped from Shanghai requires 8 yuan in shipping fees. And this Inner Mongolian yak jerky shipped from Ningxia requires 25 yuan in shipping fees!" the subordinate said.
"That much!" Wang Hai was shocked. "I remember this yak jerky sells for only 49 yuan. These shipping fees are almost half the price of the yak jerky itself!"
"Yes, if we include all the shipping fees, the total shipping cost is 600 yuan!" the subordinate muttered.
"Then the items in Jiangnan Mall are not cheap anymore!" Wang Hai muttered. If the shipping fees were included, the products in Jiangnan Mall didn't seem as cost-effective.
"No, even with shipping fees, it's still cheaper. I saw 2 jin of Inner Mongolian yak jerky in the supermarket selling for as high as 99 yuan. Even with shipping fees included, 2 jin here would cost only 73 yuan, which is still cheaper than the supermarket!" another subordinate of Wang Hai reported.
These people's daily work almost consisted of visiting supermarkets to see if there were any counterfeits or expired products.
This was to “earn some small change” from the supermarkets, and secondly, to hone their discerning eyes, so that they could spot counterfeit products at a glance in any store they passed by.
Therefore, Wang Hai's subordinates remembered the prices of almost all the products in supermarkets clearly. They even calculated the supermarket prices for 80% of the items on the shopping list.
Then, comparing these prices with the online shopping prices, including shipping fees, they were surprised to find that even with an additional 600 yuan in shipping fees, the total price was still about 20% cheaper than the supermarket price. This was still a very attractive price.
"Good heavens, how many counterfeit goods must be in here!" Wang Hai couldn't help but exclaim after seeing this data.
Even after accounting for the additional 600+ yuan in shipping fees, it was still 20% cheaper. These online shopping goods must be extremely fake, almost entirely counterfeit.
"Forget it, I'm paid to do this, so I'll buy them!" Wang Hai sighed and asked his subordinates to place the order. However, a few minutes later, the company's phone rang.
"Hello, this is Dahai Business Consulting!" Wang Hai instinctively answered the phone and his face turned bright red because the person on the other end claimed to be customer service from Jiangnan Mall.
"What's going on? Jiangnan Mall is calling again? Do they know I plan to scam them!" Wang Hai was greatly alarmed. Could it be that Jiangnan Mall had spies, otherwise how could they know this news so quickly?
Just as Wang Hai was pondering how to deal with Jiangnan Group's sudden call, the other party said on the phone, "Dear user, hello. The situation is as follows: we noticed that you have purchased 132 items at once, and all these items are being shipped to the same address without using the free shipping function of the shopping cart."
"Therefore, we believe you may not be aware of our free shipping function for shopping carts, so we are calling you specifically to inform you that you can actually use our free shipping function for shopping carts, which can reduce most of the shipping fees!" the customer service representative said with a smile.
"So that's how it is!" Wang Hai breathed a sigh of relief and then asked curiously, "I really didn't know about this free shipping function for shopping carts. What does it mean?"
"Oh, it's like this. Because we consider that shipping fees are currently quite expensive and greatly increase our users' purchasing costs, in order to help our customers save costs, and also to make better use of our express delivery system, we have designed the free shipping function for shopping carts."
"The specific method is as follows: you can select all the items you wish to purchase and add them to your shopping cart, and then use the unified checkout function of the shopping cart for unified settlement."
"This way, you can trigger the free shipping function for shopping carts. Our rule is that if the total amount of goods purchased in your shopping cart exceeds 100 yuan, then for every 100 yuan, 10 yuan will be deducted from the shipping fees. If it exceeds 1000 yuan, then for every 1000 yuan, 200 yuan will be deducted from the shipping fees."
"You have currently purchased a total of 2320 yuan worth of goods. According to our free shipping rules for shopping carts, you can get a total reduction of 430 yuan in shipping fees. This way, your original shipping fee of 618 yuan can be reduced to 188 yuan!"
"Of course, if you use the free shipping function for shopping carts, then you must accept our express delivery adjustment service. According to our original policy, except for the six remote provinces and autonomous regions such as Ningxia, Inner Mongolia, and Xinjiang, express delivery services in other regions are guaranteed to arrive at any major city in the country within 72 hours and be delivered to your hands immediately!"
"After accepting the express delivery adjustment service, we will store these packages in our warehouse first. Once most of the packages have arrived, we will deliver them all to your home at once. This can save us delivery personnel's labor costs and time costs, and you can also save a lot of fuel costs."
"However, this way, we cannot guarantee delivery within 72 hours, but we can guarantee delivery within 144 hours. Would you be willing to accept our free shipping function for shopping carts?"
"Of course, in reality, it won't be as long as 144 hours. Most of the time, it can be delivered to your home within 72 hours, but there is a certain time risk involved, which we cannot guarantee."
"If you are willing to accept it, I can directly operate it for you in the backend to automatically activate the free shipping function for your shopping cart. If you do not accept it, we will proceed with the original plan to provide you with service!" the customer service lady said patiently.
"I accept, of course, I accept!" Wang Hai immediately said. Who would refuse such a good thing that could save them over 400 yuan?
After the customer service representative from Jiangnan Group hung up the phone, Wang Hai was almost moved.
He had been investigating counterfeits for so many years and had interacted with merchants for so long. This was the first time he had encountered such a good merchant who was so considerate of customers.
He didn't know about this free shipping function for express deliveries and hadn't used it, so it was entirely his fault. Even if they shipped according to this plan, the extra 430 yuan earned would all belong to Jiangnan Group.
But upon discovering this issue, they did not hide it. Instead, they proactively called him within a short period and actively helped him save 430 yuan in shipping fees. Good heavens, there were still such conscientious merchants in China. Wang Hai was truly touched.
For a fleeting moment, Wang Hai even had an impulse to immediately refuse the deal, not wanting to harm such a simple and customer-oriented enterprise like Jiangnan Group.
Of course, such thoughts only lasted for a brief moment before Wang Hai discarded them. After all, this was related to tens of thousands of yuan in benefits, as well as Wang Hai's own reputation and future. Wang Hai quickly put aside his emotions.
Next, all that remained was to wait for the express delivery to automatically deliver the items he had purchased to the company, and then to screen and sample these products to find any problematic items.
During this time, Wang Hai still had his subordinates doing what they usually did: searching for problematic, counterfeit goods in supermarkets, department stores, and various shops, to continuously earn compensation for the company.
However, such a life was soon interrupted. With the outbreak of xx, the state introduced a large number of policies, factories ceased production, schools closed, and an invisible battle began.
And Beijing undoubtedly had the strictest restrictive measures. Wang Hai keenly perceived the risks involved and strictly ordered his subordinates not to go out unless it was to purchase daily necessities, and to stay in the company obediently.
But this made life very boring, and work even more so. After all, Wang Hai, who made a living by investigating counterfeits, spent 90% of his working hours outside the office, traveling all over the country. Now that he was restricted, he naturally felt exceptionally bored.
"Brother, did you watch the TV series on CCTV yesterday?"
"Yes, I did. This TV series is too..."
"But who would have thought, damn it, facing an enemy several times its size, and with orders to retreat from a weak point, Li Yunlong defied the conventional approach and chose to directly attack the powerful opponent. He even blew up the commander's headquarters of the Sakata regiment, forcefully breaking through from the enemy's strongest point, and completely disrupted the enemy's encirclement operation, achieving a great victory. It was so damn satisfying that I felt like I could fly!"
"Exactly. And some of the plot points in this TV series are also very funny, like the part with the uniform factory. I was laughing so hard my stomach hurt. It was so damn fun!"
"Me too, I was laughing like an idiot. I never thought a war drama could be filmed so interestingly and exhilaratingly. Ah, I really hope night comes quickly so I can watch the latest two episodes!" the two employees exclaimed, successfully capturing the attention of the bored Wang Hai.
In this time when one couldn't go out freely, there was no better way to pass the time than watching TV series. So, that night, Wang Hai returned home, turned on the TV, and pulled his family to watch the TV series called "Drawing Sword."
At first, his family was reluctant. For instance, his wife wanted to watch Qiong Yao dramas on Hunan Satellite TV, and his child only wanted to watch cartoons. However, Wang Hai held considerable authority at home. With a single command, his wife and child could only reluctantly and grudgingly watch "Drawing Sword" with him.
As a result, in just 10 minutes, all complaints vanished. The entire family of three sat attentively in front of the TV, not wanting to miss even a second. Even if they had to urinate, they would wait until the commercial break to relieve themselves and then quickly return, fearing that the commercial break would be too short and they would miss further viewing of the TV series.
And the same scenario was happening in almost every household across the country. The TV series "Drawing Sword," which originally debuted in 2005, appeared before the eyes of audiences nationwide at a most opportune time.