When I saw that Ma the Cripple had brought up the matter of cooperation, I nodded hurriedly, pretending to be very eager: "That's right, now that our business has reopened, it's the perfect time to stock up on goods. If you're interested, Mr. Ma, I can completely hand over the Luoyang market to you, and I guarantee you the lowest wholesale price."
"Cooperation is negotiable, but Luoyang alone is not enough." Ma Quezi waved his hand: "If we cooperate, I will at least take over the East China and North China regions."
"Master Ma, you're not joking with me, are you?"
I looked at the cripple with a skeptical eye: "I remember when I first proposed the cooperation, you weren't interested in this kind of thing at all. Now you want such a big market all at once, can you handle it?"
The cripple grinned at me: "What, doubting my abilities?"
“Master Ma, I do have concerns about this, as I do not lie in front of the true God.”
I threw away my cigarette butt: "In our line of work, the worst thing is internal strife. So if I really hand over these two regions to you, it means I can't continue to place other distributors there. Although you're doing well in legitimate business, you don't have experience in the counterfeit industry. If the goods can't be sold, I can't afford the loss."
"Haha, do you know why I called you here today? It's to show you just how powerful I really am!"
After seeing the goods, Ma Quezi completely trusted me. He put his arm around my shoulder and walked towards the office building ahead.
"Hello, Mr. Ma!"
When the people from the media company saw the lame man, they all greeted him warmly.
I was quite surprised by this: "Master Ma, I didn't expect your business to be so extensive, even involving the internet industry."
"Of all the 360 trades in the world, antiques are the most profitable. In ancient times, even emperors were collectors. All my businesses have stayed within our core business. Come upstairs with me and you'll understand."
Ma Quezi led me up to the second floor, and then we wandered around in the corridor.
Both sides of this corridor are lined with individual live-streaming studios, and you can see what's happening inside through the glass in the doors.
This media company doesn't have any live streamers who sing or dance. Every live stream room has signs that say things like "Master XX Appraises Treasures," "Jade," "Antiques," or "Rare Stones," and there are even signs for antique shops in "XX Province" or "XX City."
Among those streamers, there were even some that I regularly followed and who were all quite well-known online. I never imagined that these people would be Ma Quezi's subordinates.
Seeing my surprised look, Ma Quezi smiled and said, "See? Seventy percent of the treasure appraisal live streams on the market are my business. These streamers use various names to help people appraise treasures, and they also trade with people behind the scenes or in private. If they encounter a real item, they can say it's fake, buy it at a low price, and then sell the fake item as real."
Some livestreaming rooms even use the guise of antique shops closing down to sell the lowest-grade imitations or even works of art, costing only a few dollars, as export goods from the 1950s or 60s; alloys as bronze; and stainless steel as Tibetan silver, selling them as bargain finds for tens or hundreds of dollars, generating hundreds of thousands of dollars in revenue every day.
I was a little surprised: "Uncle Ma, you're selling fakes online, and you're even using the name of an antique shop. Aren't you afraid they'll come knocking on your door?"
"What do I have to be afraid of? Those antique shops have real qualifications. I contracted their online operation rights, and these qualified live streaming rooms sell genuine items, just at high prices."
Ma the Cripple paused for a moment: "As for your accusation that I sell fakes, I can answer that for you. The streamers under my management all sell handicrafts, including the text in the chat logs between us, which are also sold as handicrafts. I'm not afraid of lawsuits! Besides, the suckers who buy antiques online basically don't have this circle around them. If they want to get it appraised, they just have to pay another streamer. As long as I have enough influence in this market, then my things are genuine! That's what it means to keep up with the times, understand?"
I was skeptical: "But won't things always go wrong eventually?"
"Haha, then I can just replace the streamer. These people all signed dual contracts with me, so if there are any problems, they won't be able to find me."
Ma the Cripple patted me on the shoulder: "The daily revenue of my live streaming base is an astronomical figure that you can't imagine. Just from online business alone, the number of foodies I cater to is a share that you can't even imagine, not to mention the offline business."
"Master Ma, your business acumen is truly refreshing! I've had so many distributors under my management, and none of them have ever dared to operate the counterfeit business openly. Based on your intelligence and boldness, I've decided to cooperate with you!"
Taking advantage of the situation, I extended my hand to Ma the Cripple: "Master Ma, now that our cooperation has been agreed upon, what do you think of my two friends...?"
The goods that Ma the Cripple had in my hands were already worth more than the money we had swindled from him before. Seeing that I agreed to cooperate, he did me a favor: "Of course! Tonight it's my treat, let's drink until we drop!"
...
That evening, Ma Quezi specially hosted a banquet for us at a private restaurant.
After meeting with Song Laosan, I made an excuse to go to an outer room to chat with him: "During the time you were detained, you didn't suffer, did you?"
"Don't worry, everything is fine. Ma Quezi is a shrewd person. Since he's considering cooperation, he won't go too far."
Seeing that no one was around, Song Laosan asked in a low voice, "The fact that he was able to bring us out to meet you means that things have been settled."
“This time I sent him eighty items, enough to feed him. Now, as long as we can get him away from Su Gouzi, our goal will be achieved.”
When I brought this up, I remembered what Qinghuai had told me: "There's another troublesome thing. The Qing family found out that Su Gouzi's business has been in big trouble recently. Several of his delivery routes have been raided by the police."
"Was it done by the Qu and Wei families?"
Old Song narrowed his eyes: "If this matter is really related to them, it means they've reached the point of closing in, which will be quite disadvantageous for us. We've only just gained Ma Quezi's trust, and it's difficult to get him to completely break with Su Gouzi in the short term. If he chooses to play both sides, this will be a tough situation!"
I shared my thoughts: "I think the other two sects are doing this to force Su Gouzi to seek revenge by sabotaging his business. If we can win over this hatred and make Su Gouzi think that we are the only ones opposing him, and their goal is to replace him by winning over people like Ma Quezi, then the efforts of the other two sects will be in vain."
Song Laosan was a little worried: "Isn't doing this a bit like playing with fire? Our original plan was to win over Ma Quezi and get him to fight Su Gouzi with us. If we take this hatred upon ourselves, it's like going into battle ourselves, which is too risky."
I took a deep breath: "The problem now is not how much risk we will take, but that we cannot let the other two schools gain the upper hand. I have already decided that I will confront Ma Quezi directly at the dinner table later."
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