Chapter 20: The Mad Machine

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“Yes, I understand. I guarantee to carry out the company’s orders!” After hanging up, Shen Yuequn’s expression became rather odd.

“What’s wrong? What did the company say?” his wife asked curiously.

“The company has given out a very strange order!” Shen Yuequn’s face was still written with confusion.

“What do you mean, strange?”

“They want us to actively give money away!”

“Has Huang He lost his mind?” his wife exclaimed, mouth agape. “So, are you going out to sell today?”

“Of course I am!” Shen Yuequn nodded. “Even though I can’t make sense of the company’s directive, I do know how to handle the problem from yesterday now!”

At ten in the morning, Shen Yuequn appeared in the market again with his tricycle. As the loudspeakers of Zhejiang Wenzhou blared, crowds gathered once more around Shen’s little stall, and many people eagerly began opening their mystery boxes.

The allure of the mystery box was, without question, undiminished.

In the blink of an eye, over a hundred boxes were sold. But what must come will come; soon enough, people arrived carrying shoeboxes—mostly the same faces as yesterday—demanding refunds or exchanges, grumbling loudly about Shen’s escape the day before.

“Sir, I’m just a vendor. Everything must be approved by those above me. I understand your troubles, so as soon as I got back yesterday, I reported everything to my superiors!” Shen explained hurriedly. “They thought it over and admitted they hadn’t considered the sizing problem thoroughly. But our rule of no refunds or exchanges can’t be changed; otherwise, a mystery box isn’t a mystery box anymore!”

“So you’re just spouting nonsense!” the man snapped.

“But the company has offered another solution—they’ll let us sell your shoes on your behalf!” Shen said with a smile. “You can leave your shoes here at my stall, set your own price, and if someone else wants them, I’ll sell them and return the money to you. Who knows, maybe you’ll fetch a hundred yuan or more. That’s much better than me refunding you ten yuan.”

“What if you run off with my shoes?” the man asked, still wary.

“Running off isn’t going to happen. But we’re just small-time vendors, not always in the same place. So, we can give you a ten-yuan deposit. But I must make this clear: if you take the deposit, then if the shoes are lost or for any reason can’t be returned, we’re not responsible!” Shen said.

“Alright, I get it. It’s basically a disguised refund, just saving face. Fine, I’ll consign my shoes with you. Give me the ten-yuan deposit,” the man said, tossing his shoes onto the cart and leaving without a backward glance.

“Wait, you haven’t set a price for them yet!” Shen called after him.

“Whatever, you decide!” the man replied.

“I really don’t know what the chairman is thinking!” Shen sighed, shaking his head. He turned the shoes over, examined the soles, and his face lit up with surprise. He immediately stuck a five-hundred-yuan price tag on them and placed them prominently on the stall for consignment.

“Boss, five hundred? That’s way too expensive! Even shoes from Old Man’s Head don’t go for that much!” someone nearby exclaimed in shock.

“You think Old Man’s Head is a good brand?” Shen spat. “Don’t be fooled by the foreign-looking face and the string of English letters on the label. Truth is, it’s just another Wenzhou factory, right next door to ours. Their craft is worse than ours, and their quality can’t compare. Their shoes aren’t worth two hundred, maybe not even a hundred!”

“Damn! I always thought Old Man’s Head was a foreign brand and felt proud wearing them—damn it!” Several people nearby looked crestfallen. People these days were still too naive; see a label in English and a foreign face, and they really think it’s an imported brand.

“But even if Old Man’s Head isn’t worth much, why are you asking five hundred for these?” another person questioned.

“Because these shoes were made by a true top-tier foreign shoemaker!” Shen announced proudly. “Italy, you know—the world’s shoe capital. The world’s ten most expensive shoe brands are all from Italy. Our Jiangnan Leather Factory wanted to raise China’s shoemaking skills and create a high-end domestic brand, so they specially brought in eight master shoemakers from Italy. They don’t use any machines, only handcraft; each makes just one pair a day. Their monthly salary was five thousand—but in US dollars! Do you know what that means? That’s forty thousand yuan a month. Add in the top-quality materials, and the average cost per pair was two thousand yuan!”

“This pair was made by one of those masters, named Kaka. See the KK mark on the sole? That’s his personal signature—I recognized it instantly!”

Shen turned the shoe over, and sure enough, there was a hidden KK stamp on the sole, clearly machine-printed.

“These shoes were meant for the high-end market, and each pair was to sell for five thousand yuan. But the company went under, and these expensive shoes ended up in mystery boxes—a true waste! I can only price them at five hundred now. If anyone buys them, it’s their lucky day,” Shen said, shaking his head and returning to his sales.

The other onlookers couldn’t help but keep glancing at the shoes, their eyes full of suspicion.

“Ha! I got a pair of leather shoes too!” Suddenly, someone opened a box to find a pair.

“Quick, check the soles for any marks!” the crowd urged excitedly.

“Let me see!” The man inspected the soles but found only the JN factory stamp and nothing else.

“That’s just one of our regular factory shoes, no mark. Do they fit? If not, you can leave them here for consignment. I’d suggest pricing them at fifty yuan—easier to sell,” Shen advised with a smile.

“No need, I wear size thirty-nine, these fit,” the man replied. Seeing there was no KK mark, many people started to believe Shen’s story.

Of course, expecting anyone to pay five hundred for those shoes was wishful thinking. Only a fool would pay so much!

Later, three more people came to return shoes, and Shen had them consign them as well. None could be priced at five hundred; all were set at fifty.

When all the mystery boxes had finally been sold and Shen headed home with an empty cart and four pairs of shoes, his wife asked curiously, “Honey, how come I never knew there were eight Italians in our factory?”

“Nonsense. Have you ever seen a foreigner in our plant?” Shen rolled his eyes.

“Then what about what you just told them…”

“That’s just a story the chairman made up for us to tell!” Shen replied earnestly.

“What about the KK mark?”

“Oh, remember the five sole-molding machines the company has? They’re all supposed to stamp JN on the soles, but one machine had a problem for a few days—started stamping all sorts of things, KK, KJ, JY…eight different wrong marks in total. Normally, they’d scrap those soles, but the plant manager was too stingy and decided the buyers wouldn’t notice, so they used them anyway!” Shen shook his head. What started as a machine glitch has n