"Director, the interview tasks are all completed! What do we do next?" March 8, 2002, this day happened to be International Women's Day. After interviewing in Carbone Village for about three days, the film crew's mood was rather complicated, a mix of joy and sorrow.
The joy was that they had successfully completed the mission and the entire investigative interview work before the deadline. Now, only a few days of post-editing work were needed, and they would definitely make it for the 315 Gala.
But the sorrow was that the 315 Gala would probably not use their footage anymore. When they set out, they thought the results of this investigation were a sure thing, that the Jiangnan Group had fabricated eight masters. After all, the domestic investigations indicated as much.
However, after arriving at the actual location, they found a completely different situation. They only met four out of the eight masters, but each of these four left them in awe.
Although it was hard to judge if they were true masters, they were definitely not ordinary shoemakers.
"What else can we do? We'll return to China first and hand over the footage to the station. The rest is up to the station leaders to worry about; it has nothing to do with us!" Wang Dafu said calmly. He had encountered such situations many times before, and they were all minor matters.
He was nearing retirement and had a detached view of these things. However, Li Sisi was probably quite unlucky. She finally got a chance to interview abroad and appear on the 315 Gala, only to have it snatched away like this.
With this opportunity to go abroad, and to avoid creating imbalance among the other newcomers at the station, Li Sisi would likely not get any important new opportunities for quite some time. She might have to lie low for a while.
But none of this concerned him; he was just looking forward to a peaceful retirement.
The crew left in a hurry. Huang He, who had been hiding in the attic of a house, watched the crew's departing figures and breathed a sigh of relief. He then said to Richie beside him, "Mr. Richie, the rest is up to you. Their return flight to China is booked for tomorrow."
"It's possible they might try to investigate something in Florence tonight. Please make sure your people keep a close eye on them and prevent any new troubles!" Huang He instructed meticulously.
"Understood. It was a matter of time pressure earlier, so we had to resort to some minor tactics temporarily. However, with three days, our people have already handled the president of the Shoemakers' Association and officially added the names of those eight shoemakers to the association's roster. This way, even if they visit the Shoemakers' Association again, they won't be able to find any problems," Richie said proudly.
"We still need to keep a very close watch on them; we must not be careless," Huang He cautioned repeatedly, then he began to praise the other party. "However, Mr. Richie, your staff's performance was truly outstanding. So many actors, cooperating with such seamless skill that even I found it hard to spot any flaws. Especially that young girl named Vivian, she performed exceptionally well. Please thank her for me!"
"Ah!" Richie blinked in surprise. He didn't remember that Vivian was one of their people!
"How about this, you give me a list of everyone, and I'll give each of them an extra tip of $500!"
Huang He said generously, then added, "So, please ask them to remember today's events. If anyone asks them about today in the future, you must help me cover it up!"
"No problem! I'll report back immediately!" Richie said gleefully. Although Vivian seemed to be a genuine passerby, it was even better this way. He was getting $500 in tips for nothing, which made him very happy!
So, Richie happily went to organize the list, while Huang He looked out the window at the villagers who were packing up their equipment and moving it back into the hidden room. He pondered whether he should really sign contracts with those four masters and even give them new names to make them Italian masters of Jiangnan, thereby completely covering up the loopholes of this lie.
This would, of course, cost a considerable sum of money, but it was worth it; preserving the Jiangnan Group's brand was the most important thing.
"Alas, this is the curse of a lie. One lie needs a hundred more to conceal it. It's too difficult for me!" Huang He sighed, "I'll never lie again."
"My mother says that when a man swears he'll never lie again, he's already telling his next lie!" A clear, young girl's voice spoke from behind Huang He, in fluent Chinese.
"There are Chinese people here?" Huang He was taken aback. He turned around and saw that it was Vivian, who had spoken.
"I won't lie again!" Huang He raised his hand as if swearing to the heavens.
"The second lie!" Vivian rolled her eyes. Huang He smiled awkwardly and decided to change the subject.
"You speak Chinese?"
"Yes. When I was little, my mother wanted me to learn a foreign language. She actually wanted me to learn French or Spanish. If I didn't like her making decisions for me, I chose Chinese!" the girl said carelessly.
"Uh... alright. No wonder you were chosen to accompany Li Sisi and the others!" Huang He nodded thoughtfully. "Okay, thank you for your cooperation. Mr. Richie will give you your tips later, so remember to collect your money!"
As Huang He spoke, he patted the girl's head and prepared to leave.
"Huang He, I don't want any tips. Can you sell me the outfit that Miss Corgi is wearing?" Vivian chased after Huang He and said, "I really like that outfit!"
"Not selling!" Huang He shook his head decisively. Could this young actress really come up with 100,000 Euros? She must have gotten lost in her acting.
This outfit was something he had brought from China temporarily when he came to Italy.
Huang He needed such a magnificent Hanfu to implement his plan. He had chosen the "Dragon and Phoenix Present Auspiciousness" set, which was the latest creation from Liushang Qu Shuo Caiwei, designed by Qu Wei over three months. It was truly exquisitely beautiful, and everyone around Huang He fell in love with it at first sight.
However, this batch of 100 sets was either already sold to users or still hidden in blind boxes. Huang He had no choice but to borrow the set that Leng Zhiwen, who was closest to him, had given her, to use temporarily. He had to return it to Leng Zhiwen when he returned to China, so he couldn't sell it to anyone else.
"If you don't sell it to me, I'll call Sister Sisi right now and tell her that Jiangnan Group's chairman Huang He is here and has hired many actors. I'm sure she'll come back immediately!" Vivian threatened triumphantly, holding her phone.
"Little girl!" Huang He lunged towards Vivian and pinned her against the wall. Then, he said with a sinister tone, "You're playing with fire. You were hired by me, do you know the price of betraying your employer?"
"Ah!" Vivian was startled by Huang He's sudden action. Then Huang He continued, "By the way, you might not know who that Mr. Richie is, right? He's the person in charge of the local mafia. With just one phone call from him, you'll be put into a suitcase and shipped off to the red-light district in Holland!"
"There, you will disappear completely from the face of the earth, and your parents will never find you. You will lose all your friends and lovers, and become a flesh toy, beaten and tortured every day, living a life worse than death!"
"You're only in your teens, you certainly wouldn't want your entire future life to be shrouded in darkness!" Huang He's threat was like that of a devil. Vivian seemed to have never heard such a threat, and she began to tremble with fear.
She had to admit, when this little girl was scared, combined with her snow-white skin and dazzling blonde hair, she was quite beautiful and alluring.
"You're scaring me, you wouldn't dare touch me!" However, Vivian didn't yield. She tried to muster her courage and said, "I think you're a good person, you wouldn't hurt me!"
"Why?" Huang He was taken aback.
"I saw you secretly apologize to that cow!" Vivian said softly. "If you're willing to apologize to an animal, you must not be a bad person!"
"Nonsense, I gave the order to skin it. I am the most vicious one!" Huang He said, brandishing his arms. At the same time, as if to demonstrate his terror, Huang He suddenly reached down with one hand and grabbed Vivian's thigh.
Well, what a pair of elastic thighs, especially since Vivian was still wearing black stockings... He didn't know what material these stockings were made of, but they felt absolutely fantastic to the touch, making Huang He unable to resist pinching them again.
"How is it? Are you scared now?" Huang He asked threateningly while touching her.
"Not scared!" Vivian's nose turned red, but she still gritted her teeth, as if she were a martyr.
"Then I'm not afraid to eat you right now!" Huang He became a little anxious and threatened further.
"Then I'll have my father come and talk about you marrying into our family!" Vivian said through gritted teeth.
Good heavens, she was already talking about marrying into the family. Huang He's hand instinctively loosened, and then he heard another voice say, "Boss, do you need me to stand guard for you?"
Well, that was Hu Jing's voice.
As Huang He relaxed, Vivian immediately broke free from his grasp. Then, holding her phone, she displayed her screen and said, "Bad guy, if you don't agree to me, I'll press this button, and the text message I edited will be sent."
"..." Huang He was stunned for a moment, then he glanced at it. It did seem to be an Italian text message. "When did you type the message?"
"When you were pinning me down just now!" Vivian said, pouting. "You must not have imagined it, but I can actually text with one hand!"
"..." Huang He opened his mouth. He had been careless. He forgot that almost all women could master the skill of texting with one hand.