"These are the eight shoemaking masters you found for me!" Seeing the eight people before him, Huang He felt a tightness in his chest.
Among these eight people, three were mere children who hadn't even grown facial hair, two were women, one was a disheveled madman, and the remaining two appeared somewhat normal: a middle-aged man in a suit, and an elderly man on the verge of death.
However, none of these eight looked like shoemaking masters!
"Ahem, to be frank, these are the only eight people left in our village who know how to make shoes!" Leonardo's expression was somewhat embarrassed as he explained.
"Isn't this the center of Italian counterfeit shoes?" Huang He rolled his eyes.
"That's right, it's the center, but who says people in the center must know how to make shoes? Do people in a commercial center have to understand every aspect of manufacturing?" Leonardo retorted.
"Actually, people here used to know how to make shoes. But everything changed after we started sourcing from your Wenzhou. It costs us $50 to make a pair of counterfeit leather shoes, but only $20 if we buy them from Wenzhou. Our own production cost is much higher than buying from you, so naturally, no one is willing to make shoes themselves anymore."
"Over time, the old folks in the village who knew shoemaking techniques have all passed away. Young people with some skills have either forgotten most of their knowledge or gone to work for legitimate luxury brands. What's left in the village are almost all people who don't know these techniques but understand import-export regulations!" Leonardo explained. "Don't think I'm not taking this seriously just because there are only eight people here. I've found everyone in the village who knows these techniques for you. There are only these eight in total, not one more, not one less."
"Uh!" Huang He rubbed his forehead, feeling a headache coming on. After pondering for a moment, he asked, "Among these eight people, who has the highest shoemaking skill?"
The eight people exchanged glances, and then one of them stepped forward and stood before Huang He.
"It's you!" Huang He looked at the person standing before him in shock. It was a child of about ten years old, barely reaching Huang He's waist. This person was supposedly the most skilled among the eight!
"Kordov is indeed the most skilled among all of us!" said the most beautiful woman among the eight. "Seven of us learned shoemaking out of necessity, but only Kordov learned it out of interest."
"He started learning from Mr. Codomo, the village's former top shoemaker, when he was three years old. After Mr. Codomo passed away, Kordov became the most skilled among us. It is said that he has inherited 80% of Mr. Codomo's techniques!"
"So that's how it is!" Huang He nodded. Indeed, interest is the best teacher.
"Then how about you stay and help me put on a show?" Huang He asked with a smile. Kordov naturally nodded vigorously because Leonardo had promised them $3,000 in reward if they completed this task. He certainly didn't want to miss this opportunity.
The other seven people around him also showed envious expressions. $3,000! That was a very rare income for them. And the price they had to pay was merely to act in a show, which was incredibly simple.
Of course, if Huang He knew this information, he would have rolled his eyes a thousand times. He had already paid $800,000 to the intermediary. So, the intermediary was bound to take a cut, but Leonardo would have received at least $500,000.
The result was that each person received only $3,000, totaling just $24,000. This was truly too generous.
"Well then, Miss, what is your name, and how are your skills?" Huang He asked the beautiful lady who had just spoken.
"My name is Yaquoin, I'm 24 years old, and my skills are average. At least I can make a complete pair of shoes!" the woman said.
"Alright, you're in!" Huang He nodded. Yaquoin's face broke into a smile.
After that, Huang He selected the oldest man and the guy who looked like a madman, and finally said, "I'm very sorry, but I only need these four masters!"
"Why didn't you pick me?" Hearing Huang He say this, the man in the suit, who looked the most normal among the eight, became angry. He pointed at Huang He's nose and demanded, "I am the second best skilled person here, second only to Kordov. On what grounds are you not picking me?"
He never imagined that he would be the one not chosen, which made him furious.
"Uh, sir, the reason I didn't pick you is not because of your skills, but because I don't see any selling points in you!" Huang He said.
"Selling points?" The man's mouth opened in surprise.
"Exactly. This Kordov is a child + high skill, which is the biggest selling point! And this beautiful lady, her beauty is her biggest selling point."
"And this old man, his age is his biggest selling point. As for this performance artist, his entire being exudes selling points."
"As for you, I'm very sorry, you are too normal. I don't see any selling points in you!" Huang He stated frankly.
"I'm too normal... so I have no selling points..." The man was stunned. His spirit seemed to have suffered a severe blow, and it would likely take him a long time to regain his confidence.
"Mr. Leonardo, could you please give these gentlemen a small tip? After all, they came all this way, and I feel bad about it. We'll settle this expense later!" Huang He said.
"You are truly lucky to have met such a generous and kind person as Mr. Huang!" Leonardo said with a laugh, then handed each person a $100 bill. The people then left happily.
"Boss, didn't we need eight masters? Now there are only four. What about the remaining four?" Hu Jing asked softly.
"Don't you know? The other four are in our country, at our factory!" Huang He asked in surprise.
"Ah!" Hu Jing's mouth gaped open. She really didn't know!
"Yes, actually, a little over a year ago, all eight of them were at our factory. It's just that these four missed their hometown and have returned to continue working for us in Italy, while the other four remained at the Wenzhou headquarters. Is there a problem with that?" Huang He blinked his eyes, and Hu Jing nodded thoughtfully.
Indeed, having all eight masters in Italy was a bit excessive. Having four in the domestic headquarters for communication was very reasonable. Moreover, the more people there were, the higher the chance of being exposed. Keeping only four was indeed the best choice.
"Alright, the CCTV people will probably arrive soon. We don't have much time. Let's start arranging the scene and conducting on-site training immediately. We must not leave any loopholes!" Huang He said nervously, glancing at his watch. There were only about three hours left until the CCTV train arrived, and time was very tight!
"Um... Mr. Huang, I have some news for you!" Ricci, standing nearby, heard Huang He and immediately started to laugh.
"What news?"
"The train from Rome to Florence is delayed!" Ricci said. "This train has been parked at the Baski station for over an hour now. If nothing unexpected happens, they will probably have to stop for another three hours."
"Why?" Huang He asked in surprise.
"I heard that it seems the Grand Duke of Liechtenstein is coming to attend our celebration of the 60th anniversary of the victory against the *******. He needs to pass through Baski station, so the station has implemented temporary controls. This train has been asked to stop at the platform, and people on the train are not allowed to leave!" Ricci chuckled.
"Oh!" Huang He nodded, but he still felt something was wrong with that statement.
"Wait... Italy celebrating the 60th anniversary of the victory against the *******? This... this..." Seeing Huang He's expression turn very strange, Ricci chuckled, "Yes, that's right. In fact, Italy imprisoned the fascist dictator Mussolini in 1943, defeated the ******* in the country, and bravely joined the Allied forces as one of the victors. This is a history acknowledged by all of Europe. Do you think there's a problem?"
"No! Not at all!" Huang He shook his head vigorously. The Italians won. Really, they won in both World War I and World War II. They had won it all.
This was not a joke. The miraculous thing about Italy was that they joined the Allied Powers at the very beginning of World War I, and at the beginning of World War II, they were the instigators of the Axis powers and the birthplace of *******ism.
The amazing thing was that in both World War I and World War II, Italy switched sides early, initiated uprisings, and ultimately escaped post-war sanctions without any losses. Hadn't they won it all?
Cough, let's get back to the point. Thanks to the visit of this Grand Duke, Huang He was granted an extra four hours to train these four masters and arrange the village scenes.
However, no one expected that when the train finally arrived in Florence, it was already 10 PM, four hours later than expected.
But there was nothing that could be done. Whose fault was it that the Grand Duke's train was delayed for a full four hours? This caused the CCTV crew to be delayed by another four hours. By the time they wearily disembarked, it was impossible to continue working. It was better to find a hotel and sleep.