THD Chapter 13

Of course, neither Lu Jing'an nor his father took Ye Xiqing's few provocative words seriously.

In this world, strength spoke louder than anything else. Did these two naïve girls truly understand what they were up against?

Compared to the Lu family, they were insignificant.

So insignificant that they could be crushed with a single finger.

...

In an era with little entertainment, the Spring Festival Gala was arguably the biggest event of the year, and people paid close attention to it.

Miao Shuangshuang was currently at the peak of her popularity and naturally a favorite subject of gossip magazines. Rumors that she would appear on the Spring Festival Gala had been circulating for some time, yet in the end, she never made it onto the stage.

It wasn't because the organizers hadn't invited her. In fact, she had already participated in rehearsals.

The problem arose when the event's "investors" demanded that she promote their brand during her performance.

Miao Shuangshuang refused without hesitation.

Sitting nearby, Lu Jing'an smiled slyly.

"Miss Miao doesn't endorse any alcohol brands anyway, so why not?"

Miao Shuangshuang couldn't even be bothered to look at him. She picked up her car keys and walked out.

Who cares whether I have endorsements or not?

Who would want anything to do with your company's trash?

Thus, when Lu Jing'an smugly revoked her qualification to perform at the Spring Festival Gala, believing he had dealt her a heavy blow, Miao Shuangshuang was comfortably lounging at home, watching the broadcast like any other viewer.

While watching, she casually asked, "How's the lawsuit going?"

In Ye Xiqing's previous life, people no longer paid much attention to the Spring Festival Gala. Watching it again in this era felt surprisingly novel, so she watched with genuine interest.

"The case will continue after the New Year," she replied casually.

Miao Shuangshuang shrugged.

"It's fine. Don't worry. I'm sure we'll win."

Ye Xiqing smiled faintly.

She thought so too.

The two younger women remained completely unconcerned, but their mothers were worried sick.

How could they be so calm?

The Lu family intended to crush Qingqing Winery. Surely they wouldn't let the matter end with a few harsh words exchanged at the wedding.

Before long, a court summons arrived for Ye Xiqing.

Aunt Cai, the liquor distributor, rushed over in a panic. Gone was the confidence and swagger she had displayed when they first met. Instead, she paced back and forth anxiously.

The Cai family's so-called liquor business was, to put it bluntly, counterfeiting.

She bought cheap liquor from various sources, slapped counterfeit labels of famous brands on the bottles, and sold them at discounted prices. Since the liquor itself was often of decent quality, customers rarely became suspicious. The profits from the price difference alone had made her extremely wealthy.

For years, her cooperation with Ye Xiqing had gone smoothly.

Ye Xiqing's liquor was genuinely excellent. Even when sold under counterfeit labels as premium brands, nobody could tell the difference.

Aunt Cai had originally intended to continue this business for the rest of her life.

Unfortunately, fate had other plans.

Counterfeiting was a risky business. If nobody reported it, the authorities generally turned a blind eye. But once an investigation began, everything was over.

The largest liquor brand in the region was, naturally, Lu Family Liquor.

And every counterfeit label Aunt Cai used was an imitation of theirs.

Now, the Lu family had set their sights on her.

Or rather, not on her.

Aunt Cai was just a small fry.

The real target was Ye Xiqing, whose newly established winery had begun attracting attention.

Of course, nobody expected someone involved in counterfeit liquor to possess much of a conscience.

If protecting herself required dragging Ye Xiqing down with her, Aunt Cai would do it without hesitation.

Yet despite her lack of principles, she still felt some affection toward Ye Xiqing. Before shifting the blame, she came to ask for her opinion first.

Ye Xiqing hadn't expected such consideration from her.

After a brief pause, she nodded.

"It's fine. Just put all the blame on me."

Aunt Cai, who had never intended to shoulder the responsibility herself, immediately brightened.

Feeling completely justified now, she happily left to drag Ye Xiqing into the mess.

Qingqing Winery had only recently opened its doors.

Before the business had even properly gotten started, it had already become entangled in a major lawsuit.

Ye Shiying owned five percent of the company, so she worried herself sick, developing painful mouth ulcers from stress.

As for Ye Shimei, watching her daughter fight legal battles day after day naturally left her anxious as well.

Seeing both of her mothers so distressed, Ye Xiqing—who usually played the role of caretaker within the family—couldn't simply ignore them.

"Auntie, Mom, let's just enjoy the New Year."

"There's no point thinking about unpleasant things right now."

"Everything will be resolved by next spring."

Whether her words actually comforted them was hard to say.

But they did cause Miao Shuangshuang, who was standing nearby, to pause.

She turned to look at Ye Xiqing.

That calmness didn't seem forced.

It was as though Ye Xiqing was absolutely certain of the outcome.

Miao Shuangshuang's own confidence came from knowing that the Lu family was like a grasshopper after autumn—unable to jump around for much longer.

But what was Ye Xiqing relying on?

What gave her such confidence?

The question occupied Miao Shuangshuang's thoughts for so long that she failed to notice Ye Xiqing nudging her with an elbow.

"Didn't like that candied fruit?" Ye Xiqing asked. "Try this one instead."

Only then did Miao Shuangshuang realize she had been staring into space for quite some time. The piece of fruit in her mouth hadn't even been swallowed yet.

Feeling oddly irritated, she snatched the new piece from Ye Xiqing's hand.

Whatever.

Things would sort themselves out eventually.

Instead of wasting time worrying about it, she'd rather sit back and watch the Lu family's downfall unfold.

After the New Year, life returned to normal.

Businesses resumed operations, factories restarted production, and every industry threw itself back into work. Everywhere, there was a sense of prosperity and renewal.

Then, on the very day of consumer rights day, a bombshell exploded.

The Consumer Association announced that a regional Administration for Industry and Commerce had discovered excessive levels of fusell alcohols and aldehydes in Lu Family Liquor during a routine inspection.

Subsequent testing revealed the same problem in products sold across multiple regions.

Food safety was no trivial matter. It was one of the nation's highest priorities.

And Lu Family Liquor had just spent a fortune sponsoring a Spring Festival Gala event. Their catchy advertising slogan had become familiar to people everywhere.

The result was immediate.

The entire country erupted.

At first, the Lu family tried to suppress the story.

Soon, however, they realized something was terribly wrong.

The administration that uncovered the problem wasn't local.

Neither were the reporters covering it.

No matter how extensive their connections were, they couldn't interfere.

This wasn't merely a local scandal anymore.

It had become national news.

The fame they had hoped to gain from sponsoring the Spring Festival Gala hadn't translated into profits. Instead, it had made them the star attraction of Consumer Rights Day.

Now that things had reached this level, nobody dared show the Lu family any favoritism.

The reputation of Lu Family Liquor collapsed overnight.

Some people worried.

Others celebrated.

While the Lu family descended into chaos, many others seized the opportunity.

Not long ago, rumors had circulated that a famous actress had behaved arrogantly during Spring Festival Gala rehearsals and had subsequently been removed from the program.

Now a different story emerged.

The actress hadn't been difficult at all.

She had simply refused to promote Lu Family Liquor and had willingly given up her chance to appear on the Gala.

Public opinion instantly reversed.

The actress who had supposedly "failed to recognize her place" suddenly became a symbol of integrity.

A role model.

A champion of consumer rights.

Meanwhile, Ye Xiqing, who had recently been sued by the Lu family for trademark infringement, also found herself featured on a nationally popular interview program.

Unlike formal news broadcasts, the program was lively and entertaining.

In an era with limited entertainment options, many people watched it daily as part of their routine.

Given the seriousness of the Lu Family Liquor scandal, the show naturally devoted an entire segment to it.

The title was bizarre enough to attract immediate attention:

"Fake Real Liquor and Real Fake Liquor."

The program opened inside an elderly man's home.

His family was desperately trying to stop him from drinking a bottle of counterfeit Lu Family Liquor.

"They said it'll poison you!"

"You could go blind!"

But the old man stubbornly clutched the bottle.

"Nonsense!"

"How could this liquor be fake?"

"It's the best liquor I've ever tasted!"

Concerned for her father's health, his daughter hired professionals to test the liquor.

The result shocked everyone.

The liquor passed every safety inspection.

It was perfectly genuine.

The daughter was stunned.

Viewers frowned.

Was this program actually trying to clear Lu Family Liquor's name?

Before anyone could draw conclusions, an elderly woman nearby suddenly spoke up while rubbing corn.

"What are you testing for?"

"That was never Lu Family Liquor in the first place!"

"It was counterfeit when he bought it!"

Everyone froze.

The reporter hurried over.

The old woman continued complaining.

"He came home showing off that bottle like he'd found treasure."

"So I asked how much he paid."

"He said seventy-eight yuan."

The old woman rolled her eyes.

"Seventy-eight yuan for Lu Family Liquor?"

"You couldn't even buy the empty bottle for that price!"

The audience burst into laughter.

"So when people said Lu Family Liquor had problems, I wasn't worried at all."

"It was fake from the beginning."

"What does that have to do with him?"

The unexpected twist left both viewers and reporters struggling to contain their amusement.

The reporter quickly tracked down the source of the counterfeit liquor.

Standing inside a small distillery, the owner appeared on screen with her face blurred and voice altered.

After all, he was technically a lawbreaker.

The reporter asked,

"We've learned that Old Wang's 'counterfeit Lu Family Liquor' came from your distillery."

"You're currently being sued by the Lu family, correct?"

The woman lowered his head apologetically.

"Yes."

The reporter laughed.

"So who's fighting whom now?"

"Them fighting you, or you fighting them?"

The woman answered honestly.

"They're fighting me."

The reporter pressed on.

"After learning about the quality problems with Lu Family Liquor, how do you feel?"

The woman sighed deeply.

"I regret it."

The reporter nodded.

"You regret counterfeiting liquor and using fake labels?"

The woman immediately shook his head.

Looking directly at the camera, she declared:

"I regret putting their fake label on my genuine liquor."

The entire studio erupted.

Even the usually serious host couldn't suppress a smile.

At the conclusion of the segment, the host summarized:

"Our investigation found that counterfeit Lu Family Liquor flooding the market contained excessive harmful substances."

"The only products that passed inspection were, ironically, counterfeit bottles filled with genuine liquor."

"Some consumers unknowingly escaped harm because they purchased counterfeit liquor rather than the authentic product."

"A truly absurd situation."

"However, we do not endorse fraudulent business practices."

"Ms. Ye, producer of the so-called 'fake genuine liquor,' has already received administrative penalties and publicly apologized."

"She has promised never again to place counterfeit labels on her products."

"Genuine liquor should bear genuine labels."

The host paused before delivering the final line.

"Now that the 'fake genuine liquor' has been punished, what consequences await the 'genuine fake liquor'?"

"We will continue following this story."

...

Not long after the broadcast aired, the court delivered its verdict.

Ye Xiqing's actions technically constituted trademark infringement.

Ordinarily, such a minor violation might have received little attention.

However, because the incident had attracted nationwide publicity, the authorities could not simply overlook it.

Qingqing Winery was ordered to pay the Lu family 35,800 yuan in compensation.

Additionally, it received a 10,000-yuan administrative fine.

In those days, that was a considerable sum.

Yet every cloud had a silver lining.

For food companies, peak publicity often came during food-safety scandals.

The Lu family's notoriety had inadvertently elevated Ye Xiqing's name as well.

In an era when information traveled slowly, this kind of exposure was worth more than endless television advertisements.

Anyone who learned about the Lu family's "real fake liquor" inevitably learned about Ye Xiqing's "fake real liquor."

For an ambitious company seeking recognition, controversy was preferable to obscurity.

Completely unbothered by the outcome, Ye Xiqing carefully folded the judgment document and put it away.

Then she looked at Aunt Cai, who had emerged from the affair largely unscathed, and smiled.

"I've already been fined once."

"Aunt Cai, please don't do this again."

Aunt Cai nodded so vigorously her head nearly fell off.

This incident had genuinely frightened her.

Thankfully, Ye Xiqing had taken full responsibility for the situation; otherwise, Aunt Cai would have borne the brunt of the cost. Still, given her age and years in the industry, finding a new job felt nearly impossible.

Aunt Cai’s worried expression caught Ye Xiqing’s eye, and she offered a reassuring smile.

"Why not become my distributor instead?" Ye Xiqing proposed. "We've worked together for years, so I can offer you an excellent rate. Besides, Aunt Cai, you know the local wine industry inside out. Just how many business connections does the Lu family actually have?"

"No matter the number," she continued, "I intend to secure all of them. Let's set the base price for our first batch of wine at 78."

...

Loading navigation...