The group hurriedly took a taxi to Carpi village. To their surprise, Vivian shamelessly squeezed into the car with them. Had this girl found something fun that made her unwilling to leave the film crew?
Vivian was quite a cute little girl, and at the same time, the film crew couldn't bear to let her wander around the streets alone. What if she was abducted by some bad guys?
Therefore, they decided to take Vivian along with them. Their plan was to send her to the police station after the interview to let them find her parents.
However, what they didn't know was that after they left the association's entrance by taxi, the former vice-president reappeared at the entrance. Annli opened the gate, and then more than a dozen people rushed into the association.
In no time, these people came out carrying a large pile of items.
These included many photos, posters, nameplates, a large amount of documents, tables, chairs, and benches.
Four people also went near the bulletin board. They glanced at each other, and without a word, they dug out the part of the bulletin board that was buried in the soil, then lifted the entire bulletin board and walked away.
It turned out that this bulletin board, which seemed to be fixed in the mud, was actually just for show and could be lifted and moved at any time.
Soon, the shoemakers' association returned to its original appearance.
---
"I understand!" Li Sisi exclaimed, slapping her thigh as everyone else rested their eyes in the taxi.
"Understand what?" Liu Xiang asked.
"I understand the whole story!" Li Sisi said. "This Jiangnan Group didn't find any masters at all, and these eight Italian shoemakers are not masters either. They are just ordinary shoemakers!"
"The evidence is that all eight of them are from the same village. Jiangnan Group must have recruited them directly from that village for convenience. That's definitely how it happened!"
"Sisi, how many times have I told you not to jump to conclusions so easily without proper investigation!" Wang Dafu sighed.
"Besides, even if everything you guessed is true, and those eight Italian shoemakers are not masters, so what? Just like the vice-president said earlier, there's no accurate standard for what constitutes a master. We can't produce any facts to prove that they are not masters. Moreover, Jiangnan Group is very cunning and has never released any actual titles or works of these eight masters. This means our usual methods of verifying their works and titles to prove fraud are also unworkable!"
"On the contrary, we have proven that Jiangnan Group did hire eight shoemakers in Italy to design and manufacture their leather shoes. In this case, Jiangnan Group is unlikely to be legally deemed as a counterfeit producer. And for caution's sake, the TV station will probably not broadcast our interview on the 315 Gala. After all, without conclusive proof of counterfeiting, it would also affect the credibility of our gala!"
"Is that so?" Hearing this, Li Sisi was very disappointed. It wasn't that she hoped Jiangnan Group would have problems, but she regretted that as a newcomer, her hard-earned opportunity to appear on a major platform would be gone just like that.
"Alright, things haven't reached the point I described. If our subsequent filming can prove that these eight masters have very ordinary skills and no outstanding titles, then the program might still be broadcast. After all, this situation is a bit special, someone..." Wang Dafu stopped himself mid-sentence.
"Director, what's special about it?" Li Sisi asked curiously.
"I don't know, I was just speaking casually!" Wang Dafu shook his head vigorously. He had only heard some unofficial news, but such matters absolutely could not be inquired about. Otherwise, in the battle between two giants, the first to die would always be a small fry like himself.
"Esteemed guests, are you going to Carpi village to buy shoes?" the taxi driver suddenly asked in Italian.
"Yes!" Wang Dafu's eyes darted, then he gave Liu Xiang a look to get the camera lens out. At the same time, he turned on the recorder and began recording, then said, "Mr. Driver, do you know about Carpi village?"
"Of course, I know. The shoes from there are extraordinary. I've heard they supply to royal families all over the world!" the driver said carelessly.
"Is that true?" Li Sisi exclaimed.
"Of course, it's true. The shoes made in our Carpi village are displayed in the palace of the old lady of Britain!" the driver said proudly.
"You're talking nonsense! There are no Italian leather shoes there! Grandma Elizabeth only wears ji-"
"Little girl, what nonsense are you spouting? How could you possibly know what the British royal family wears? Have you seen it with your own eyes?" the driver retorted. Vivian immediately countered, "Of course I have! Last year, my father took me to visit Buckingham Palace, and I personally saw their huge dressing room, filled with leather shoes of these three brands!"
"Cough, cough, that's just what you saw!" The driver coughed. "I also know the three brands you mentioned. They are the top handmade shoemaking brands in Britain, right?"
"Yes!" Vivian nodded.
"But think about it, these three brands claim to have only over 20 master shoemakers. Each master needs a month to craft a pair of shoes, yet they produce thousands of pairs of shoes annually. Don't you think these over 20 craftsmen are too busy to keep up?"
"..." Vivian fell silent. Her math was decent, and a little calculation made her feel that the numbers were indeed somewhat incorrect.
"Actually, besides the masters they have themselves, these brands also have cooperation agreements with some other shoemakers. These shoemakers are not employees of these brands, but they send some of their works to these brands for selection. If these brands deem the shoemakers' works to meet their brand requirements and standards, they are willing to pay a high price to purchase them and present them as their brand's unique handmade works!"
"These brands have over 300 such cooperating shoemakers worldwide, and in our Carpi village, there are five such shoemakers!" the driver said proudly. "Our Carpi village may not have the best master shoemakers in all of Italy, but we have the most low-key masters."
"Are what you're saying true?" Li Sisi asked curiously. "These things should be secrets, so how do you know them?"
"Because I'm from Carpi village. Otherwise, think about it, four or five cars refused you when you hailed a taxi, and only I agreed to take you to Carpi village because I could coincidentally go home. Otherwise, unless you're willing to pay for our return trip, who would want to go to such a remote village?" the driver said carelessly.
No wonder, when they tried to hail a taxi earlier, four or five drivers had shaken their heads and refused them. Only this driver immediately agreed upon hearing they were going to Carpi village. So, there was such a reason.
"Since you are a local, could you take us to find these masters?" Wang Dafu asked.
"Just pay me!" the driver said carelessly. "There's no one in the entire village I don't know. If you're willing to pay, I'll be your guide for the day and guarantee a smooth interview!"
"How much do you want?" Wang Dafu asked hesitantly. Due to the delay of two consecutive nights, their budget was a bit tight, and the money for hiring a guide was not included in their budget.
"Not much, 200,000 Lira or 50 Euros will do!" the driver said with a smile.
"Let's pay in Euros!" Wang Dafu was slightly relieved. If it were only 50 Euros, he could still manage it.
"Prompt! Give me those few names first!" the driver said with a smile. Wang Dafu immediately reported the eight names. After so many days of work, Wang Dafu had deeply ingrained these eight names into his memory.
"Oh, it's them. Of course, I know them!" the driver said with a smile. "However, you've come at an unlucky time today. Out of the eight, you can only meet four at most. The other four you won't be able to meet!"
"Why?" Li Sisi asked.
"Because four of them have gone abroad, it seems they were hired by a company from a certain country to work there, earning 5000 Euros a month. That's really enviable, much more than what I, a taxi driver, earn!" the driver, or rather, the new guide, said.
"They went abroad? Which country?" Wang Dafu pressed.
"It seems to be a country called Wenzhou... I'm not sure if I'm saying it correctly, but the country's name sounds like that!" the guide said.
"Cough, cough, I must correct you on one thing. Wenzhou is not a country, it's a city in China!" Wang Dafu coughed.
"Really? Then I apologize. So, those four have gone to China!" the guide said with a carefree smile. Everyone else had a wry smile on their faces, which further confirmed the matter.
"Then what about the four masters who are still in the village now? What are their situations? Why didn't they go to China with the other four?" Li Sisi asked.
"Two of them are the shoemakers I mentioned earlier who have contracts with those big brands. They cannot leave Italy, otherwise, they would lose their existing contracts."
"The other two actually went to China as well, but they returned later. As for the reasons, you can ask them yourself later. But I heard that the mosquitoes in your China are as big as cockroaches, which scared Kaka so much. That little brat only stayed in China for less than a month before returning, hahahaha!" The guide asked curiously, "Sir, are the mosquitoes in your China really that big?"
"Cough, cough, perhaps in the southern regions. I'm from the north, so I don't know much about southern matters!" Wang Dafu said with a wry smile.