Chapter 24: Deliberately Finding Faults and Being Sanctioned
Su Hexi's "limited edition of 99 pieces" marketing was a huge success, and the business in the shop became extremely popular again, even more so than before.
On the other hand, the imitation tailor shop was deserted.
The boss lady, Mrs. Sun, was not discouraged. She bought a new dress from Su Hexi and took it apart to try making it like the model. However, she found that the complicated tailoring, hidden darts, and special stitching techniques were impossible to imitate just by looking at it!
The things she made looked similar in form but not in spirit. They looked bulky and cheap when worn, and even she herself couldn't stand it.
"How did this damn girl do it?!" Sun's wife was filled with jealousy and resentment, and she ruined several pieces of fabric. She couldn't understand why the results were so different when they looked similar. There must be some secret hidden in the shop!
A vicious idea came to her mind. She found the dress she had imitated best, but still poorly, and called her niece, Xiao Cui, who was not very smart but had a loud voice. After giving her some instructions, she sent Xiao Cui to Su Hexi's shop.
There happened to be a few customers in Su Hexi's shop taking measurements and choosing fabrics, so business was good.
Suddenly, the door was violently pushed open with a bang!
Xiao Cui rushed in angrily, holding the crude imitation dress in her hand. Without saying a word, she threw the dress hard on the cutting table, put her hands on her hips, and screamed:
"Scam! A scam! Everyone, come and take a look! This is the clothes she made! What a piece of junk! The threads are unraveling and the buttons are falling off after only one day of wearing it! The material is terrible! And they're selling it so expensive! Give me back! You must give me back my money! And compensate me for my losses!"
She spoke so loudly that all the customers in the shop were stunned and all looked at Su Hexi.
Su Hexi was measuring a customer's waist when she paused. She glanced up at the skirt lying on the counter. The stitching was crooked, the threads were exposed, and the color was tacky, a stark contrast to the exquisitely crafted pieces in her shop. She immediately knew someone was looking for trouble.
Just as Zhou Lin was about to reason with Xiao Cui, he was stopped by Su Hexi. She signaled him to guard the door, and Zhou Lin understood and walked to the door to block it.
There was no panic on Su Hexi's face, but rather he was extremely calm.
She slowly walked to the front of the stage, picked up the dress, and casually glanced at it before speaking firmly, her voice clear enough for everyone to hear: "Miss, you're wrong. This dress is not made here."
Xiao Cui was stunned. She didn't expect the other party to be so calm. She immediately raised her voice and said, "Bullshit! If it's not made here, then where is it made? You are the only one in the town who makes such weird skirts! You want to shirk your responsibility? Everyone, please judge for yourself! You are making money with a dishonest heart!"
Xiao Cui started to make a fuss, trying to overwhelm the other party with her volume.
The customers around began to whisper, and some of them looked doubtful.
Su Hexi, however, was neither impatient nor anxious. She picked up the skirt, walked over to Xiao Cui, and turned the armpit area out to show everyone: "Everyone, look carefully. All the clothes I make, no matter the size, will be embroidered with a 'Xi' mark in the same color thread on this inconspicuous place under the armpit. It represents my credibility and responsibility. Excuse me, does your dress have it?"
Everyone's eyes instantly focused on the armpits of the imitation shirt, which was empty with only rough stitching.
Immediately, customers who had bought Su Hexi's clothes began to curiously look at the new clothes that were about to be delivered, or the ones they were wearing:
"Hey! It really is! There's a little 'stream' character!"
"I have one here too! It's so carefully embroidered!"
"Master Su has such skillful hands!"
The truth came to light in an instant!
Xiao Cui's face turned pale, her eyes were panicked, and she stammered as she tried to snatch the skirt back: "Then... maybe I remembered it wrongly... misunderstanding, misunderstanding..."
As she said this, she wanted to slip away.
"Stop!" Su Hexi's voice suddenly turned cold. "You've messed up my place and tarnished my reputation, and you want to leave just because of a misunderstanding? Am I, Su Hexi, so easy to bully?"
Zhou Lin had already tacitly blocked the doorway. His tall figure was like a wall. He looked at Xiao Cui calmly, not letting her leave.
Xiao Cui was a little panicked: "Then what do you want?"
"It's not that I want to do anything." Su Hexi's eyes were sharp, "but you brought this obviously shoddy clothing that deliberately imitates my style to my store to blackmail me and slander my reputation. This matter can't be let go like this. I think we need to report it to the authorities! Let the officials investigate. Where did this clothing come from? Who ordered you to do this immoral thing?"
When Xiao Cui heard that they were going to report the incident to the police, she was completely terrified. As a young girl, she had never experienced such a thing before.
At this moment, Mrs. Sun, who had been peeking outside, saw that the situation was not good and rushed in quickly with a fake smile on her face: "Oh my, Master Su, what a misunderstanding! What a huge misunderstanding! My niece must be ignorant and took the wrong clothes! I will definitely tell her off when I get back! I'm sorry to trouble you, we'll leave now, right away!"
"You took the wrong clothes?" Su Hexi wouldn't let her get away with it so easily. She picked up the imitation and sneered, "This 'wrong' clothes are so similar to my style, but they use inferior fabrics and such shoddy workmanship. They're trying to blackmail me with such a terrible imitation! This is no longer a misunderstanding, this is malicious competition, slander, and fraud!"
She pressed on, her tone stern. "I'm going to report your niece to the police. I'm going to sue her for extortion and infringement of my intellectual property rights! I'm going to make her compensate me for my reputation and business losses, and I'm going to sue her for manufacturing and selling counterfeit goods and defrauding customers! Combined, these charges will keep her in jail for decades!"
The word "jail" hit Xiao Cui's heart like a hammer. She was so frightened that her legs went limp. She pointed at Mrs. Sun with tears in her eyes, "It's none of my business! It's my aunt! It was my aunt who sent me here! She made the skirt too! She copied your clothes and couldn't sell them, so she sent me here to cause trouble and ruin your reputation! It was all her instructions! Master Su, go find her! Don't arrest me!"
"What nonsense are you talking about!" Mrs. Sun was so angry that she wanted to cover Xiao Cui's mouth, but it was too late.
The onlookers booed in uproar and contempt.
This was exactly the effect Su Hexi was aiming for. She glared coldly at the pale-faced Sun Sao: "Sun Sao, it turned out to be you. Now that we have the witnesses and evidence, what else do you have to say?"
Mrs. Sun was completely exhausted, cold sweat pouring down her face, her lips trembling and she couldn't utter a word, "I..."
"Apologize to me!" Su Hexi said succinctly. "In front of everyone, I solemnly apologize for your plagiarism and for instructing my niece to blackmail me! Your behavior has caused me great distress and potential losses. Compensation for infringement: ten yuan! And, sign a document here and now, clearly stating in black and white that you will never again plagiarize or imitate any of my shop's designs! Otherwise, I will report you to the police and have you and your niece go to jail together!"
"Ten yuan! Why don't you just go and rob me!" Ten yuan is not a small sum nowadays. Mrs. Sun felt so painful that she was naturally unwilling to give it. "Don't try to scare me by reporting me to the police. I can't stand being scared!"
"Alright! Since you don't want to settle this privately and insist on making a big deal out of it, then I'll oblige you! Wait for the police to come, and go talk to them!" Su Hexi looked at Zhou Lin at the door, "Zhou Lin, go report it to the police!"
Zhou Lin nodded vigorously and turned to report to the police. Xiao Cui quickly shouted, "Don't go!"
Xiao Cui was terrified and quickly grabbed Sun's hand. "Aunt, please apologize quickly. I don't want to go to jail... Please apologize quickly. It was you who asked me to come here. You are the culprit! I'm not married yet. Are you going to kill me before you stop? Besides, at your age, if you go to jail, how can you get out?"
Mrs. Sun was silent for a long while, then she lowered her head and said in a voice as thin as a mosquito: "I'm... I'm sorry..."
"Louder! Haven't you eaten?" Su Hexi shouted.
"I'm sorry! Master Su! I was bewildered! I shouldn't have imitated your clothes, and I shouldn't have let Xiao Cui cause trouble!" Mrs. Sun almost shouted, her face flushed red.
"An apology alone is not enough." Su Hexi said without mercy, "Ten dollars, give it to me!"
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