Wen Siqiang came over from the front, looking flustered, and said, "There are many people at the gate, holding stones, saying they bought fake goods from us."
I asked, "How many people?"
Wen Siqiang: "Fifty or sixty, with more people rushing here from behind."
I said, "Notify security, don't let them in yet, we'll go take a look."
It was a bit far from the main gate, so Wen Siqiang called a security guard with a patrol car to take us.
It was a four-wheeled electric vehicle, open-top, with six seats, capable of carrying five people besides the driver.
Without a word, the security guard took us towards the gate.
From a distance, we saw a large crowd gathered outside the main gate, arguing with the security guards. Some were even trying to climb the iron grille gate, wanting to get over.
The security guards were at a loss. Seeing us approach, they acted as if they had seen saviors, frantically trying to stop the crowd and saying, "The boss is here, tell the boss what you need."
At this moment, they all turned their heads and loudly accused us of selling trash and cheating them. The clamor was so loud that no one could make out what was being said.
I took the loudspeaker from the security guard and said to them, "Do you want to solve the problem or cause trouble? If you're causing trouble, I'll call the police now. Do you know what kind of offense it is to surround a legally operating company? People like you could be sentenced to several years. Are you still going to make trouble? I'll accompany you!"
After I finished speaking, the crowd fell silent, looking at each other. It was clear they were a disorganized mob, incited to cause trouble. I continued, "Choose a few representatives, bring your stones inside, and the rest of you wait outside."
They looked at each other, none of them wanting to be the first to step forward.
I said, "Hurry up. If you can't choose someone, I'll have the police handle it. Do you know the consequences of gathering to cause trouble?"
First, surrounding a company, and then gathering to cause trouble, this struck fear into them.
At this point, they pushed someone out of the crowd, saying, "Let Old Li represent us. You cheated us, and you still have the nerve to talk back."
I said, "Don't jump to conclusions before the facts are clear. Once something leaves the premises, how can you prove it's ours? Let me tell you, there are rules for gambling on raw stones. Once it's out, we're not responsible, not even for fatalities. And you claim the raw stones are fake. However, out of a sense of responsibility, I promise to talk to you. If it's indeed from our place, we will compensate you threefold. But let me be clear, if someone is playing tricks, I will resort to legal means. You should weigh the legal responsibilities you might incur then!"
After I spoke, some people started to back away. I had already figured out a few things. I continued to use the loudspeaker to emphasize that they should send representatives. The previously mentioned Old Li was pushed forward by the crowd again, but he stubbornly refused to move.
I said, "Master Li, is it? Since everyone trusts you, please represent them and explain what's going on."
Old Li, seeing that I had called him out by name, had no choice but to say with a forced smile, "Yesterday, I spent several thousand yuan on stones from you. They were cut open, and I thought I had struck it rich. Today, they all said you sell fake stones, so we went to the gambling stone shops to open them. As a result, there was only a bit of color where it was cut, and the inside was all white meat."
As he spoke, he took out the stone in his hand and showed it to me.
I looked at the code. It was indeed one of our stones, a cut specimen, black outer layer. Below the cut, another cut was made. The lid had color, but the color hadn't penetrated. The larger part had no color at all, it was white meat. It had no good texture, nor color, just a white stone.
I looked at the material repeatedly and asked him, "Has this material been in your hands the whole time? Where did you cut it?"
He said, "Everyone was discussing it at a gambling stone shop. Some were holding their stones and saying they bought them from you. I thought I had one too, so I went back to get it and had them cut it, and sure enough, it was white meat."
I said, "Are you sure this piece in your hand is the one you originally had?"
He widened his eyes and said, "How could it not be? Look, it has your code on it, and they fit together as one piece. How could it be mistaken?"
I said, "Pens with numbers are sold in stationery stores, anyone can write our codes. But the handwriting cannot lie. Your code is indeed ours, but it wasn't written by our people. If you don't believe me, look at the stones of the people around you, remember the handwriting, and then look at our original raw stones' codes. See if the handwriting is the same."
As I spoke, I asked the security guards to bring a few raw stones from the original raw stone area and told them to wait here for a while.
At this moment, a few people started looking at the stones in their hands and suddenly said, "It seems a bit different. My original raw stone was supposed to have leaking color, but now this one doesn't show any at all? Was it really swapped by the gambling stone shop?"
With his words, everyone holding a raw stone picked them up and looked. Suddenly, everyone was confused and felt that something was not right.
In fact, among these fifty or sixty people, only a dozen or so had stones in their hands; the rest were just there to join the fun.
I asked Old Li, "Master Li, which gambling stone shop did you cut your stones at?"
Old Li: "Old Street. Yesterday, because your place opened, several of them didn't open. Today, I originally wanted to have experts appraise my stones, but I ran into this trouble."
I asked, "What's the name of that shop?"
Old Li: "Ruifeng Hao, an old establishment, the biggest one on Old Street."
I know Ruifeng Hao. I used to go there often when I skipped school. The owner is a local and has direct sourcing from Myanmar. His business is doing well, bigger than my master's shop.
I picked up my phone and walked aside to call my master. I explained the situation to him. He said this shop has connections with the Crown Prince, and he had seen the Crown Prince there several times.
I immediately understood. It was the Crown Prince causing trouble again. It seemed he was truly persistent.
I hung up the phone. Just then, the security guards brought over the raw stones.
I asked Old Li to bring a few people inside, along with their materials for comparison.
They seemed a bit apprehensive, glanced at Old Li. Old Li didn't say anything, and led them in through the side door.
I had them lay out the sides with the codes side by side, and ours were also placed there. They also saw the trick. Although the letter order of the codes on the two rows of stones was the same, the handwriting was very different. Our codes were elegant and smooth, with perfectly horizontal and vertical strokes. Theirs were crooked and uneven, not on a straight line, obviously written sloppily and perfunctorily.
I said, "Do I need to explain anything else?"
Old Li stomped his foot in anger, "Damn it! I've been cheated by a black-hearted shop owner! Let's go find that scoundrel!"
The people behind them were still confused and shouted, "Why? Aren't we supposed to get compensation from them? Why are you leaving?"
I watched them with a smile, not answering. I watched Master Li lead the people out, and the people behind them had no choice but to follow and run towards Old Street.