On March 15, 2003, the 3.15 Gala commenced precisely at 8:00 PM. From the outset, the evening's theme was clearly stated: cracking down on cross-border counterfeiting, fraud, and deceptive practices.
Consequently, six companies were blacklisted.
Among them were three foreign enterprises, including an international importer of vehicles accused of selling refurbished used cars as new imports.
There were also cosmetics manufacturers who disguised and repackaged products that had been explicitly banned in their countries of origin due to safety concerns, only to import them into China.
And then there were the fake foreign teachers. In response to the growing trend of schools hiring foreign educators, a reporter investigated some of the foreign teachers with the highest complaint volumes.
The investigation revealed that these foreign teachers lacked any educational qualifications in their home countries. While simply being foreigners might have been acceptable, the findings included two individuals with criminal records for drug use and addiction.
These reports sent shockwaves through the audience, leaving everyone in an uproar.
With three foreign entities held accountable, there were naturally domestic culprits as well.
Foremost among them was a fertilizer manufacturer, touting a product developed and produced in Santiago, which allegedly absorbed nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium from the soil up to two meters deep. This "Jin Kela" fertilizer, the story humorously pointed out, had people in Africa and Japan vying for it.
The most amusing aspect of this segment was their advertisement, filmed entirely with foreign actors. Investigations later uncovered that the Caucasians and African individuals were actually foreign students, while the Japanese person was, in fact, a Chinese national in disguise.
As for the image of a blonde foreigner pasted on the packaging, it was simply a photograph of an ordinary British professor found online.
Following this, the report focused on a domestic milk powder factory that claimed to sell imported milk powder. In reality, it was domestic milk powder that had been shipped abroad and then resold in China, a standard practice of private labeling.
By the time these five cases had been presented, it was around 10:00 PM. However, the audience remained highly engaged, anticipating that the final report would reveal the most significant and astonishing case.
"Mr. Chen, this is our pre-edited version. Do you find it satisfactory?" At that same moment, in the viewing stands at the gala venue, the two individuals who had met in the KTV were seated side-by-side, watching the investigative documentary currently being broadcast.
"Hello everyone, I am CCTV reporter Li Sisi. We are currently in Italy with the objective of finding eight legendary Italian shoemaking masters. However, our schedule is tighter than anticipated. For reasons unknown, our visas were delayed by a full eight days. Only after eight days did the Italian government approve our visas, something that has never happened before. I don't know why the Italian government would hold up our visas for eight days!"
"Alright, we are now disembarking. As long as we can pass through security, our Italian exploration journey can commence!"
"Uh, it appears our Italian journey won't be so easy. We've been stopped again at customs. Our crew member was carrying a bottle of Laoganma chili sauce, and they suspect it's a dangerous item and want to confiscate it..."
"Excellent, this is good!" Mr. Chen nodded repeatedly, a sense of familiarity washing over him as he watched the opening. It felt akin to watching a BBC news report.
"Was your film crew really delayed by eight days for visas by the Jiangnan Group?" Mr. Chen, almost believing it, asked curiously.
"No, it was the team leader, Wang Dafu, whose visa expired. We urgently processed a new visa for him, which caused the eight-day delay," the leader from the TV station replied with a smile.
"And what about being stopped at customs?"
"That did happen, but we were only held up for a few hours. And it's quite normal for foreign customs to stop people. Our reporters are often stopped, but they usually don't mention it in their documentaries!"
"I see. Indeed, you people in the news business are remarkable. With a little editing, the entire feel changes!" Mr. Chen nodded with satisfaction and then added, "However, the reporter's voice sounds a bit off to me?"
"Uh, this voice was dubbed later. Li Sisi speaks quite cautiously, and it was difficult to capture the desired feel during editing, so I simply found someone to re-dub it. This makes things much easier to manage!" the leader explained.
"Professional!" Mr. Chen exclaimed once more, before asking, "If that's the case, would the film crew members, like reporter Li Sisi and Wang Dafu, have any objections?"
"Li Sisi? She's just a newcomer. Whatever the higher-ups decide for editing and dubbing, she wouldn't dare question it!" the leader said dismissively. "As for Liu Xiang, I know him well. Despite his seniority, he's a real weather vane, always bending with the wind. He wouldn't raise any objections!"
"The only potential trouble is Wang Dafu, but he's my man. Secondly, he's close to retirement, so there's no need for him to stir up any trouble right before he retires!"
"Rest assured about these matters. Even if someone foolishly decides to cause trouble, it will happen before the program airs. Once it's broadcast, the station absolutely forbids anyone from making waves. After all, that would be a direct slap in the face for the station!" the leader stated confidently.
Did they expect the station to admit fault in the 3.15 program?
That was absurd. It was absolutely impossible.
Mr. Chen nodded in satisfaction, and the documentary continued.
"We never expected that our journey to Italy would be so unhindered from the moment we decided to go. We chose to travel to our destination, Florence, by train. However, the train has now stopped at the station. It's been over three hours, and the station staff outside aren't allowing us to disembark. We have no idea what's happening!"
"So, while we have this opportunity, let me explain our purpose in coming to Italy, which is also one of the targets of this 3.15 operation: the Jiangnan Group's blind boxes!"
"As everyone knows, Jiangnan Group's blind boxes are currently extremely popular in the market. At 10 yuan each, they are quite expensive, equivalent to a day's wages for many ordinary people."
"At the same time, we noticed that on Jiangnan Group's website, Jiangnan Mall, there are items priced as high as 100,000 yuan. For example, these leather shoes, claimed to be handcrafted by Italian masters!"
"These shoes piqued our curiosity, so we began searching for detailed information about these Italian leather shoes. However, we found that apart from listing the names of these eight Italian masters on the official website, no further information could be found. We also contacted the Jiangnan Group's official customer service to request detailed information about these Italian masters, but unfortunately, Jiangnan Group refused to answer our questions."
Following this was a segment of a phone recording, where the reporter asked questions and was repeatedly refused by the Jiangnan Group's customer service. Notably, the caller never revealed their identity as a reporter, nor as a CCTV reporter.
"Later, we contacted our colleagues working in Italy, and they also couldn't find any information about these eight masters. Even the Italian official shoemakers' association had no relevant records. It appears these eight Italian masters are non-existent."
"However, in the spirit of seeking truth, we decided to travel to Italy ourselves and find these eight Italian masters. Based on the limited information we have, we surmise that these eight masters might be located in Florence, Italy. That is our objective. Wish us luck!"
"Brilliant!" Mr. Chen couldn't help but start applauding and then asked, "Is this also dubbed?"
"Yes, it is dubbed, but for the sake of coherence. Actually, the dubbed dialogue says the same thing as the original audio. They were indeed delayed at the train station for eight hours!"
"As expected, a mix of truth and falsehood is most convincing!" Mr. Chen laughed heartily, while the documentary continued.
"We met a young girl on the train, Vivian. She's a cute little girl who, according to her, ran away from home due to family issues. We chatted a lot, and then parted ways. Little did we know we would meet again later."
"After waiting for eight hours, the train finally resumed its journey. We were then informed that the Royal Family of Liechtenstein was attending the opening ceremony for Italy's 60th anniversary of the victory against something. Liechtenstein is the smallest country in Europe but also the wealthiest. It's unexpected that we would cross paths under these circumstances."
"We arrived in Florence at 10 PM that evening, having lost another day. However, early the next morning, we rushed to the entrance of the Shoemakers' Association, hoping to find any trace of these eight masters."
"But what no one expected was to be met with a locked door. An elderly gentleman passing by told us that the association usually opens at 6:00 AM, and it has always been open to all citizens of Florence free of charge. It has never changed."
"However, today, even at 10 AM, it remained closed. No one knows why. It feels as though our arrival has been detected, and they are resisting us."
"We sense a hint of danger. Some have advised us to stop this investigation. But the truth is just a stone's throw away, how can we give up?"
"Huh? In that case, wouldn't the evidence be comprehensive enough to prove that Jiangnan Group is fabricating things? Why did you tell me it still needed editing?" Mr. Chen asked, confused. He felt that these visuals alone were sufficient to prove the falsehood.
"It's not like that!" The leader awkwardly explained the situation, telling Mr. Chen that he had only used snippets of footage, and the dubbing had largely altered the original audio to create this effect.
In reality, they had already found information about the eight masters within the association and even met with the association's president. All of this had been cut out.
"Thank you for your hard work!" Mr. Chen exclaimed with emotion. The one million yuan was definitely well spent!