"You'll keep my secret just for clothes?" Huang He asked helplessly.
"I won't lie like you men, always full of lies. I swear to God, everything I say is the truth!" Vivian said.
"Alright!" Huang He sighed, "I understand. I'll give you the outfit, but you have to temporarily give me your phone to keep. I'll return it to you after I confirm they've returned to China!"
"Then I want those shoes too, the red high heels with the phoenix pattern!" Vivian upped her ante.
"Fine, take them, all of them!" Huang He said with a wry smile. The shoes were no big deal; they were a pair of Chinese-style high heels Leonardo had imported from China. Huang He had fancied them and bought them to go with the dress.
Although those beautiful leather shoes cost over a thousand dollars, they weren't his sister-in-law's, so giving them away was fine.
"Hmph!" Vivian finally nodded, satisfied, and handed her phone to Huang He. "Here, now give me my clothes."
"Hu Jing, give her the clothes," Huang He said with a helpless expression. Hu Jing smiled slightly and took the elated Vivian to get the clothes and the dress.
"As expected, still a virgin!" Huang He smiled as he looked at Vivian's phone in his hand. The young girl was too naive to hand over her phone to him now, without fear of him going back on his word.
Huang He muttered. Just then, the phone rang. Huang He instinctively pressed the answer button.
He remembered it wasn't his phone and heard a somewhat anxious shout from the other end, so he quickly hung up.
About ten minutes later, Huang He saw Vivian again. She was now wearing the Hanfu dress she had been longing for and showing it off in front of everyone.
It had to be said that Westerners had a natural genetic advantage in height. This Hanfu, designed for adult women, fit the barely-teenaged Vivian perfectly. The front of the dress even revealed a pair of developing but already quite substantial "white meat buns."
In the afternoon, Huang He had a business negotiation with Leonardo. They finally decided that Huang He would sign and hire all eight shoemakers Leonardo had recommended as contracted shoemakers for Jiangnan Group. They would all be brought back to China by Huang He to work at the Jiangnan Leather Factory, truly becoming Italian masters of the Jiangnan Leather Factory.
The purpose of this was to turn the lie into reality. By taking all the masters with him, he could also avoid future investigations by others that could lead to the matter being exposed.
At the same time, a strategic partnership was established with Jiangnan Group. Leonardo stated that he had abundant luxury resources in Europe.
Whether counterfeit or genuine, these goods could be resold to China through Huang He.
Huang He outwardly agreed to everything but inwardly rejected it.
While some shameless individuals would ship Chinese-made goods abroad, slap on foreign brand labels, and sell them back to countrymen at inflated prices, Huang He was not that kind of person. Why should he let others profit by reselling goods abroad when he could earn the money himself?
However, the business negotiation was a success, with both parties satisfied. That evening, Huang He paid for a bonfire party in the village. This was a local custom for celebrations, but this time Huang He was footing the bill.
Everyone in the village gathered in an open space filled with various Italian traditional foods and whole roasted animals. The atmosphere was very lively, and Huang He and Hu Jing were even pulled into dancing.
However, the most dazzling person at the event was the young Vivian. She performed a solo dance in the center, wearing her beloved red Hanfu. Combined with the fiery bonfire and a dance Huang He couldn't identify from any country, she was like a fire spirit, captivating Huang He.
Incidentally, Huang He remembered touching her thigh earlier that afternoon, and a small flame began to stir within him. His hand instinctively moved to Hu Jing's thigh behind him.
Suddenly, Huang He touched something cold and metallic.
"What is this?" Huang He was startled, then felt the metal press against his waist. Simultaneously, someone spoke a torrent of Italian.
"Who are you to be so arrogant!" Huang He grumbled as he turned his head. He saw three people behind him, all wearing identical black suits. Besides the object pressing against his waist, two dark muzzles were pointed at him.
Hu Jing was also being controlled by another person.
"I'm Chinese, I'm innocent. I have no relation to this family, I'm just a passerby!" Huang He immediately raised his hands.
Then, a person in a black suit briskly searched him and found Vivian's phone in his pocket.
"Glibberish..." The three muzzles were simultaneously pointed at Huang He's head. The leader of the black suits excitedly interrogated Huang He in Italian. Huang He was so scared he was about to cry.
He was eating barbecue and watching a dance, and now he was about to die. What kind of plot twist was this?
However, soon, someone shouted from the center of the party, and the three men in black suits stood up. The venue became chaotic.
Before Huang He could figure out what was happening, Vivian, escorted by a dozen men in black suits, walked up to him.
Vivian seemed to be their leader. She angrily reprimanded the men in black suits for a few words, and they quickly released Huang He. Vivian then helped Huang He up and said, "Mr. Huang, I'm very sorry. My parents' people have found me, and I have to go home!"
"It's me who should apologize for any rude behavior. Please forgive me!" Huang He wiped the sweat from his forehead.
"Yes, don't worry, I won't go back on my promise. We'll meet again! Goodbye!" Vivian waved goodbye cheerfully. Then, the men in black suits quickly left as if they had never been there.
"Huang, who are these people? Damn it, all my dozen brothers outside were taken down, and they're all the elites of the family!" Leonardo walked over, very angry but also somewhat fearful.
"They seem to be bodyguards sent by Vivian's family!" Huang He guessed. Then he turned to Ricci and said, "Mr. Ricci, weren't you the one who brought her here?"
"No, she's not someone I brought here. I don't know her. I saw her come with that film crew and thought she was part of it... Oh God, who is this person? She's too terrifying!" Ricci was also covered in sweat.
"She's probably a princess from a prominent family!" Leonardo sighed. "Her subordinates are very strong, capable of taking down my family members without harming them. Only the top families in Italy can have such members."
"And judging by their attitude of not harming my people, they should be well-intentioned, simply wanting to retrieve their beautiful princess. So, I won't hold them accountable this time. Otherwise, I'll kick their asses!" Leonardo said fiercely. Huang He inwardly scoffed, "You only have the courage to say that now."
After such an unexpected turn of events, the celebratory party naturally ended on a somber note.
The next day, Huang He also boarded a plane back to China. He was on the same flight as the film crew. However, unlike the film crew who traveled back by train the entire way, Huang He flew directly from the local airport in Florence to Rome International Airport, as time was tight.
Thus, Huang He observed the entire film crew's trip to Italy and their return to China, finally concluding this sudden Italian journey.
What surprised Huang He was that Leng Zhiwen came to pick him up at the airport. The moment she saw him, she immediately asked, "Where's my Hanfu dress?"
"Cough cough!" Huang He cleared his throat and said, "I've discarded that outfit!"
"You threw away my clothes!" Leng Zhiwen was furious, her expression changing drastically.
"That's right, because I felt that outfit was no longer worthy of you, Zhiwen!" Huang He said earnestly. "You don't know, for the sake of the effect, that dress was worn by an Italian woman. And you don't know, that woman was a shoemaker, and she smelled so bad. When she returned the clothes to me, I could still smell her foul odor."
"So, it might have been wearable after washing, but how could such clothes be worthy of my Zhiwen? That's why I simply threw them away. But don't worry, I've already asked Qu Wei to make a new one. This one will be a unique sea-blue gown, the only one of its kind in China... no, in the entire world. What do you think?"
"Hmph? Excuses!" Leng Zhiwen snorted, but she didn't dwell on Huang He's matter any further. The two then got into Huang He's business car alone, and the subsequent developments were not suitable for public viewing.
A few hours later, in a KTV room near CCTV.
"What! You only gave me these things!" a middle-aged man questioned angrily after watching the video a few times. "I spent so much money for you to handle this, and this is what you give me?"
"What else could be done? Who knew Jiangnan Group actually had eight masters." another person shook their head.
"But it doesn't matter. I heard videos can be edited and dubbed. Can you..." the middle-aged man said, a glint in his eye.
"It's possible, but it's very risky. I've already taken a huge risk helping you initiate this investigation. If it's discovered that there's malicious editing, I might not be able to stay at the station!" the other person hesitated.
"One million cash!" the man said decisively. "If there are any problems later, you can come to my company, and I'll give you a consultant position. You'll get a monthly salary of 20,000 yuan for doing nothing. You're almost retired, this is a pie falling from the sky!"
"I'll consider it..." the other person said hesitantly.