Chapter 23

"Handle it according to the law?" Yang Minxiong gave a forced smile as he sized up Jia Hongjian and Wang Danshui, then snorted and said with a laugh, "I'm afraid it can't be handled according to the law, can it? Not to mention that our large state-owned mall absolutely cannot sell counterfeit goods. Even if we take a step back and assume that there was a mistake in the procurement process, and we ended up with some substandard products, I doubt you, Mr. Su, have the right to seek legal action. The law clearly states that only consumers can claim compensation. The way you bought the item in the afternoon and got it appraised the next day, and even had an appraisal report made on the same day you bought it, this isn't something a normal consumer would do. This makes me suspect that someone knew about the quality issues and deliberately bought the product, trying to exploit a legal loophole... If the mall reports it, such people might be arrested as fraudsters..."

As Yang Minxiong spoke, he noticed Wang Danshui looking at Jia Hongjian with fear. He knew his strategy had worked. The idea of inferring that they knew about the fake goods and bought them anyway was just a suspicion, a bluff he used to test the two young people. As expected, someone had shown their true colors! The expression on Wang Danshui's face clearly confirmed his suspicions! It wasn't the tension of a normal person worried about being treated as a fraudster, but the fear of a secret being exposed!

"Are you trying to make things ugly, Mr. Yang?" Jia Hongjian remained calm. "Me making things ugly?" Yang Minxiong burst out laughing, as if he had just heard the funniest joke in the world. "Making things ugly? For scum like you, I'm already being merciful by not reporting you to the police and having you executed during the crackdown! You parasites of society, trying to defraud compensation through such means? Do you know what kind of place our mall is? We're not some roadside convenience store! We're a state-owned mall, a mall of the Party! If I agreed to compensate scum like you, it would be a public loss of state assets, and I would be committing a crime! Now, get out! Or I'll have the security guards take you to the police station!"

Jia Hongjian looked at Yang Minxiong with a mix of curiosity and sorrow. He couldn't understand how someone could be so twisted in their thinking! Clearly, their mall was selling fake goods, openly treating the public as fools for a bit of money. Yet, when faced with people fighting for their rights, they had the nerve to stand on a moral high ground and call them fraudsters?

If Yang Minxiong's logic held, then the executives of Sanlu wouldn't have been executed or sentenced to prison. The mothers of the babies with kidney stones wouldn't have been considered fraudsters for seeking compensation from Sanlu, and they wouldn't have been accused of openly seizing assets belonging to Sanlu's shareholders, or of committing a crime.

He couldn't believe that someone like Yang Minxiong, who had risen to the position of department head in a state-owned mall, could speak such shameless words, standing on a moral high ground and pointing fingers at all the critics.

"Is it true that light travels faster than sound? Before hearing Mr. Yang's words, I thought you seemed like a smart and principled person." Jia Hongjian maintained his composure, giving Yang Minxiong a cold, sarcastic remark before slowly standing up. "We'll see who can outdo whom. Don't blame me for making things ugly." With that, he turned and left the office with Wang Danshui.

After Jia Hongjian and Wang Danshui's figures disappeared from the office door, Yang Minxiong, still seething with anger, shouted at a young man in the office, "Xiao Zhang, go and get Li Yunliu for me! That bastard must have bought the fake goods from his relatives and had them put on the shelves!"

"Xiao Jian, what should we do? Are we really committing a crime?" In the elevator, Wang Danshui looked up with concern. Before Jia Hongjian could answer, she frowned and thought to herself, "If he really reports us, you can blame it all on me. Say I was the one who instructed you. You just turned in a blank paper for the high school entrance exam, and if you get into trouble again, your parents will surely be so angry they won't recognize you. I'm only 16, so even if I get caught, I won't go to prison. Do you hear me?"

At first, Jia Hongjian wanted to mock her for her first question, but her subsequent words touched him. Here was a girl, and how many girls would step forward to take all the blame in such a difficult situation? Not to mention, she was doing this because she was afraid of making her parents angry and being kicked out of the house... She was willing to take all the blame for such a small matter... Was she too naive or what?

Jia Hongjian wanted to say, "Sister, can you not be so helpful? You're making my eyes fill with sand, damn it!" But as he tried to keep his eyes from tearing up, he suddenly remembered something from his college days.

It was 1999, and during the May Day holiday, he had taken Wang Danshui, who had just returned from her school in another city, to an internet cafe to play "Counter-Strike" (CS). At first, they were playing against the computer bots together. But for some reason, Wang Danshui's character kept sticking to his, almost chest-to-back.

And she was acting crazy, always trying to get in front of his character, blocking his path and even his shots at distant enemies. Jia Hongjian was so frustrated he wanted to swear, thinking that Wang Danshui, who had always bullied him, didn't need to do this in the game too.

When he couldn't take it anymore and finally asked her, she explained with a pout, "I can't shoot accurately, so I thought I'd walk in front of you and be your shield, blocking the bullets for you so you can shoot them..."

At that moment, a bot appeared around a corner, and Jia Hongjian saw Wang Danshui sweeping her AK-47 and charging at the enemy, shouting, "Xiao Jian, I'll keep him busy, you shoot him, hurry!"

The scene was just like when she said she would take the blame for him, making Jia Hongjian feel as if sand was constantly getting into his eyes...

"Damn, can you not be so touching?" Jia Hongjian couldn't help but laugh and scold Wang Danshui, then, seeing her still worried and frowning, he smiled and said, "Don't worry, there's no need to be so innocent. He's just trying to scare us, thinking that standing on a moral high ground and yelling at us will make us run away. But he doesn't know that the higher you stand, the stronger the wind, and you might get blown off..."

"What do you mean?" Wang Danshui's eyes suddenly filled with hope. She now trusted Jia Hongjian completely, as if he were the most reliable and knowledgeable person in the world.

"I mean, your plan to take the blame and go to jail won't work. Save it for another life."

Although Jia Hongjian's words were harsh and even a bit teasing, Wang Danshui was so happy she jumped up! "Sister, sister, I know I was wrong, don't jump, we're in the elevator!" Her jump made the elevator sway slightly, scaring Jia Hongjian a bit.

"Hehe..." Wang Danshui was in a great mood, smiling sweetly and showing her white teeth and pink, inviting tongue. "That Yang guy is such a jerk, scaring me like that. Hongjian, what should we do? At least we should get a refund, right? Or should we find someone to block him, put a sack over his head, and beat him up? Or smash the glass of his house at night? Or put up big posters at the mall entrance?"

"Too young, too simple." Jia Hongjian laughed like a mature uncle. "To ruin a man's reputation, it's simple: just find a woman to claim she has his child, go to his office, and insist it's his. He won't be able to explain it away, like mud in his pants, it's not what it is, but it is..."

Hearing this, Wang Danshui's lips curled into an evil smile. She knew that in this era, issues of conduct were still taken seriously! If it was rumored that a leader in a state-owned mall had a mistress and a child, it wouldn't just be a matter of criticism; he might lose his job! This would be a violation of the national family planning policy!

"But, this move is too vicious and not in line with the greater good..." Jia Hongjian said with a sense of righteousness, but when he saw Wang Danshui's forced smile, he coughed. "Okay, the key is that this move is too powerful. If we use it, he'll be dismissed immediately, and we won't even get a chance for compensation. So, we'd be hurting ourselves for nothing."

"So, what do you mean?" The little fox spirit Wang Danshui, who had been a queen of the underworld for sixteen years, now completely relied on Jia Hongjian, even asking him for advice on how to get back at someone.

As the elevator door opened, Jia Hongjian smiled and said, "It wouldn't be interesting to say now. You'll know soon."

"Hey? Mr. Jia? What are you doing here?" Just as Jia Hongjian stepped out of the elevator, a young girl in the crowd waiting at the elevator door exclaimed in surprise.

"Xiao Zhang? What are you doing here?" Jia Hongjian looked closely and saw Xiao Zhang, the nanny from Old Mr. Luo's house, at the entrance of the elevator on the first floor of Ziyun Mall...

**************

Note: Counter-Strike = "Counter Strike," an old joke. When CS first came out, some unscrupulous vendors, not understanding English, translated it word by word. "Counter" means "counter," and "strike" can mean "strike" or "strike out." So, some naive vendors translated "Counter-Strike" as "Counter Strike" or "Counter Strike Out"...

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