"I can't believe it, 315 is targeting my Italian leather shoes. What the heck!" Huang He's expression was one of utter consternation.
Although Jiangnan had indeed started with the Jiangnan Leather Factory when it was founded, as the Jiangnan Group's industries gradually shifted towards blind boxes and online platforms, the profit from the Jiangnan Leather Factory now only constituted a very small portion of the Jiangnan Group. The Italian leather shoes segment, in particular, was a mere fraction.
After all, these were limited edition products sold through blind boxes, meaning their cost was infinitely close to zero. However, sales were also very low, with production capped at around 1,000 pairs annually. The actual profit was integrated with the blind box sales and couldn't be calculated separately.
If one were to calculate the profit, assuming a price of 1,000 yuan per pair, the annual profit would be at most around a million yuan.
For such a meager industry to become the target of CCTV's 315 program was simply preposterous.
"There's something fishy going on!" Huang He's mind raced, and he quickly spotted the unusual aspect of the situation.
While the profit from Italian leather shoes was already very low, thanks to extensive media promotion, almost everyone knew that the Jiangnan Group had started with leather. Moreover, the famous slogan "Jiangnan Leather Factory has gone bankrupt" had been heard countless times by the public. Thus, people would instinctively associate Jiangnan leather shoes with the Jiangnan Group.
Even though the overall profit of the Jiangnan Leather Factory was extremely low, in the eyes of the public, Jiangnan leather shoes represented the entire Jiangnan Group.
If 315 were to expose that Jiangnan's Italian leather shoes were fake, it might be perceived by the public as the entire Jiangnan Group, and all its products, being fake and shoddy.
This would then lead to a series of quality inspections for the Jiangnan Group, along with immense reputational damage. It was even possible that the entire group could suffer a severe blow as a result.
After all, over the years, Huang He had witnessed far too many companies go bankrupt directly because of a single report; such occurrences were all too common, and he couldn't afford to be careless!
Moreover, the crucial question was, why would CCTV target Italian leather shoes, such a niche product that wasn't even publicly sold in the market?
This did not align with the principles of the 315 Gala. The program typically focused on products directly relevant to people's lives.
Even if this year's 315 Gala intended to feature a special segment on imported foreign goods, a single pair of Italian leather shoes seemed completely out of place. In layman's terms, it was like using a bazooka to swat a fly.
Furthermore, the relationship between the Jiangnan Group and CCTV was excellent, and their cooperation had never ceased. The Jiangnan Group invested hundreds of millions of yuan annually in advertising on CCTV, which was also its sole platform for television advertising, precisely to maintain a good relationship with CCTV.
Now, for CCTV to target him over a small pair of Italian leather shoes made Huang He inevitably consider and suspect that there might be other malicious forces at play.
For instance, someone might be envious of the staggering profits from the Jiangnan Group's blind boxes and wish to use this opportunity to attack the Jiangnan Group's market share, thereby creating an opening for themselves.
Although Huang He had no evidence to support this claim, considering the incredibly absurd and unscrupulous tactics employed by various domestic companies over the past twenty years, it was perfectly reasonable to think of his opponents with the lowest possible estimations of their integrity.
Frankly speaking, compared to most domestic companies, Tengda was as pure as a white lotus.
In a flash, Huang He had thought through many possibilities and made a decision: he absolutely could not allow the matter of the Italian leather shoes to be exposed, otherwise, the Jiangnan Group would be in serious trouble.
"I need to start making arrangements!" Huang He impatiently tapped the armrest. It was March 2nd, leaving only thirteen days until the 315 Gala.
The two members who had gone to the United States had already returned, so the film crew heading to Italy had likely already departed.
However, according to those two individuals, their tasks had gone exceptionally smoothly, allowing them to return early. Therefore, if the Italian film crew was not as efficient, there was a high probability they were still in Italy, continuing their filming and interviews.
"No, I must contact my people immediately and have them launch an intelligence investigation. However, Mr. Huang is currently on a plane, and there are still a full 19 hours until landing."
While 19 hours might not sound like a long time, if the Italian film crew completed their investigation within these 19 hours and prepared to return, everything would be very difficult to salvage!
He had to seize every minute and every second.
"Excuse me!" Huang He raised his hand. Soon, an American flight attendant walked over to him and asked if he required any service.
"I wish to make a phone call to China!" Huang He said directly.
"I'm sorry..." the flight attendant shook her head, indicating that this flight did not support satellite phone services.
"I know that all flights must be equipped with satellite phones; it's a necessary preparation for flight safety. This flight must have one, but I simply don't have the authorization to use it!" Huang He stated calmly, then took out his wallet and said to the flight attendant, "Here's $10,000 in cash. If you let me make a phone call, all this money is yours!"
"So..." the flight attendant swallowed. Although she was American, Americans also needed money, especially flight attendants.
Unlike flight attendants in China, who belonged to a high-income profession, American flight attendants were actually in the middle-income bracket. Consequently, many of the flight attendants in the US were middle-aged women.
Furthermore, although the company had regulations prohibiting satellite phones from being used by passengers, at this altitude of tens of thousands of meters, if one truly wanted to make a call, no one would say anything.
Even if the company detected it, as long as the call had no adverse impact, the company would likely turn a blind eye. After all, long-haul flights were the most demanding, and assembling a full crew was difficult. They wouldn't want to dismiss valuable crew members for such trivial reasons.
The only potential issue was that this matter couldn't be kept from other crew members. However, that was not a problem; if this $10,000 were divided equally among them, everyone would naturally agree.
Moreover, since everyone would receive money, the company would be even less likely to make trouble for any individual.
In fact, similar incidents were not uncommon on long-haul flights, as many company executives often traveled on such flights and sometimes needed to contact their companies urgently.
They typically offered only two to three thousand dollars as a tip, so someone like Huang He giving $10,000 at once was undoubtedly a sign of great wealth.
Thus, the flight attendant smiled, accepted the money, and led Huang He to the middle section of the cabin. After speaking with the chief flight attendant, she handed Huang He a locked telephone handset from a cabinet.
"Hello, this is Huang He!" Huang He said into the phone. On the other end was Leng Zhiruo.
"Brother-in-law, why are you calling? Aren't you on a plane right now?" Leng Zhiruo asked in surprise.
"That's right, I'm on a plane, so I need to keep this brief. Just follow my orders!" Huang He said quickly. "First, immediately have the public relations department mobilize and do everything they can to find out if CCTV's 315 Gala has sent a team to Italy to investigate our Italian leather shoes."
"If so, you must find out the progress of their investigation. If they have already returned to China, then forget about it. But if they are still in Italy, find out their specific investigation progress."
"Have they not started investigating, are they already in the process, or, in the worst-case scenario, have they completed their investigation and are preparing to leave Italy? In that case, you should contact my friends in Italy. On my desk, in the very bottom drawer, there is a small red-covered notebook containing many phone numbers. Find the page marked 'Europe' and locate the phone number for the 'Italy – Intermediary.' You can call that number directly."
"Tell them to find a way to intercept the film crew at the airport. Find an excuse, such as visa issues, to detain them at the airport. Everything will be handled after I land!"
"Yes... I understand, brother-in-law..." Leng Zhiruo nodded continuously. Although she didn't know exactly what had happened, judging by Huang He's demeanor, she understood that this matter was quite serious, and she wasn't someone who lacked discretion.
Soon, the call ended, and Leng Zhiruo immediately followed Huang He's instructions and requirements to carry out the orders.
\---
After a somewhat anxious 19-hour flight, the plane landed punctually at Guangzhou International Airport. The moment Huang He disembarked, he confirmed the situation with Leng Zhiruo once more.
The results were a mix of good and bad news.
The bad news was that Huang He had guessed correctly; a film crew had indeed gone to Italy to investigate Jiangnan Group's Italian leather shoes.
The good news, however, was that the film crew's departure had been delayed by ten days due to visa issues. Therefore, when Huang He landed, they were still in China waiting for their flight, and Huang He still had time.
"Damn it, they won't even give me a moment to breathe!" Huang He grumbled, then, accompanied by Hu Jing, he immediately purchased two plane tickets to Italy.
At that time, international tourism in China had not yet become a major trend, and most travelers to Italy were for business purposes, so the number of passengers on the flights was not large.
There was also only one flight from China to Italy every two days. This particular flight departed from Guangzhou International Airport in the morning, had a layover at Beijing Airport, and then flew directly to Italy.
So, as Huang He boarded the plane and settled into the business class cabin, and while transiting at Beijing Airport, the three members of the film crew, laden with equipment, boarded the plane and took seats in the economy class.
Huang He knew of their presence, but they were unaware that Huang He and Hu Jing were comfortably seated in the business class cabin, occasionally lifting the curtain to glance at them.