TPW – Chapter 43

She had thought so! Although it had been a month or two since those few styles of handbags had gone on sale, Lian City had always been a city with a growing population. There was no way the market would be saturated so quickly. Selling eight bags a day could saturate it? That was underestimating the purchasing power of women way too much. Even though it was 1983, there were still plenty of people with money!

Xu Haizhou was momentarily stunned, then nodded and said, “You could say that.”

There wasn’t really a term like “pirated” back in those days, but the word Qiao Lu used was quite accurate — knockoffs were basically pirated goods, after all.

“I bought one. Take a look and see what’s different. I feel like they’re almost the same.” Xu Haizhou picked one of the remaining four fake bags, the one tied with a rose-pink silk scarf, and handed it over.

Qiao Lu was shocked. “Wow, if you hadn’t said anything, I would’ve thought this was one of our bags! This scarf… oh no, this scarf definitely isn’t from our store. I’ve never bought such tacky dye work…”

“Yeah, take a look.”

Qiao Lu took the fake bag and examined it carefully, her fingers lightly stroking the fabric. The more she looked, the deeper her frown became. “The style is identical, but if you look closely, the details are off. Feel it — the material is bad.”

Just by touching it, you could feel the difference. The fabric was rough, and the loose threads hadn’t even been trimmed properly.

“And the craftsmanship isn’t good either. The colors look similar at first glance, but there are differences. Mine is a true lake blue; this one is indigo. Much duller in color.”

“Yeah, it’s not the same. But do you know how much this fake sells for?” Xu Haizhou asked.

Qiao Lu shook her head. “How much?”

Xu Haizhou held up eight fingers.

Qiao Lu was astonished. “What? Eight yuan?!”

“Mm.”

“That’s nearly half the price of ours! No wonder our sales have dropped so much.” That’s just… dirt cheap.

“Yeah.” Xu Haizhou poured himself another glass of water. Sweat was dripping down his forehead — not just from the summer heat, but because he was extremely anxious.

“But… even though it’s cheap, their materials and workmanship can’t compare to ours. That means their cost is definitely lower. Even selling a bag at eight yuan still makes a profit. And if lots of people are buying them, selling in volume means even more profit.”

This kind of product didn’t have high costs, so if you sold a lot, you’d make a ton of money. But because things hadn’t been entirely safe this year, Qiao Lu hadn’t expanded production. Instead, she raised the price and went the premium route. Who could’ve known a knockoff competitor would pop up halfway?

Qiao Lu rubbed her temples, frustrated. “Ugh, this is so annoying. If they want to copy us, there’s nothing we can do. It’s not like we can refuse to sell to them. Besides, they send some young girl to buy — there’s no way we can tell who’s legit or not.”

Xu Haizhou nodded. “Yeah, nothing we can do.”

The problem was tricky. The couple was troubled for three whole days. On the third day, seeing their sales getting worse and worse, Li Hongjun couldn’t sit still any longer.

Taking advantage of a dark, windy night, he tailed the knockoff vendor and found his hideout.

When he came back, he was absolutely fuming.

“Haizhou, sis-in-law! Damn it all! I almost spat blood from anger today! That bastard copying our bags isn’t working alone — it’s a whole little gang!”

His upper body was soaked with sweat from rage. When he came inside, Qiao Lu poured him a glass of water. Qiao An, seeing Uncle Li Hongjun, instinctively pulled some brown sugar from the cupboard and handed it to her mom.

Qiao Lu was about to toss the sugar into the water and stir it into a drink, but before she could, he snatched it away, dumped it into the cup, stirred it twice with his finger, and, even though the sugar hadn’t dissolved, chugged it down.

After finishing, a layer of sugar sludge was left at the bottom of the cup. He quickly wiped the sugar water from the corner of his mouth and cursed, “Damn it! Do you know what? That bastard’s getting rich off copying our bags! It’s only been a few days, and he’s already bought two bicycles! That bastard, that bastard!”

Qiao Lu had been pretty anxious earlier, but seeing how furious Li Hongjun was — even more agitated than she was — she couldn’t help but be amused.

“How do you know he bought a new bicycle? What if he had it before?” Qiao Lu asked.

“How’s that possible!” Li Hongjun exclaimed, gesturing wildly with his hands. “That bastard used to dress in rags and carried his stall goods on foot. I’ve been dealing with him every day, how could I not know?”

Doing business by roaming the streets meant you often ran into the same people. Li Hongjun had noticed that guy since he first started setting up his stall. He was thin and small, barely over 1.5 meters tall — which was definitely “petite” for a man — so he left quite an impression.

Later on, once he started selling knockoffs of Qiao Lu’s bags, his appearance suddenly became more refined, even sporting two bicycles and some lackeys tagging along. How could Li Hongjun not be furious?

He picked up the cup again, only to find it had nothing left but sugar residue. Frustrated, he set it back down.

Xu Haizhou found his anxious and agitated state a bit amusing and personally poured him another glass of water.

After downing the drink, Li Hongjun smacked his lips and continued, “That bastard is sucking our blood! Not only did he copy all our bag designs, he even replicated our production model! He’s set up a small workshop and recruited a bunch of older women. Now they’re working overtime every day making bags. And it’s no joke — he’s got at least a dozen people. Their daily production equals our weekly output!”

Plus, he sold them cheap and made up for the low price with high volume. High profits, high sales — no wonder he could afford new bikes in just a month.

Qiao Lu gave a helpless smile, feeling quite uneasy inside. “Then what can we do? Go cause trouble for him?”

Xu Haizhou glanced at her, thoughtful, as if something had occurred to him.

Because piracy was never a simple one-sided issue. It was simple in that it could just be a matter of mindset, but also complex — complex enough to reflect human nature itself. If people had an awareness of supporting original works, they’d naturally be willing to spend a little more to buy the genuine product. But without that awareness, even if you begged them, they’d ignore you and think using knockoffs was perfectly reasonable.

Of course, even if Qiao Lu’s bags were well-made, without a known brand name, people would just think it was all the same. Who’s to say her version is the original?

Wasn’t it also made in a small workshop?

Ah yes — branding… While piracy couldn’t be entirely eliminated, there was a way to mitigate it: by building a well-reputed brand.

As Qiao Lu thought up a new idea, Li Hongjun was still scratching his head over the dropping profits.

“Sis-in-law, how about we lower the price too? I don’t believe we can’t beat that bastard!”

Qiao Lu looked at him, lips pressed together, and shook her head. “No. We’re the original — superior materials and craftsmanship. Why should we lower our price? I’ve seen their knockoff bags. The quality is awful. If someone used one daily, it wouldn’t last half a year. So even if it’s cheap at 8 yuan, what’s the point if it doesn’t last? Do you think people will come back for more?”

“Ah? That… that does make some sense,” Li Hongjun scratched his head.

“He probably doesn’t care about repeat customers — just trying to make a quick buck,” Xu Haizhou added. “But I don’t support lowering prices either.”

Real quality and materials — why lower the price? That would put them on the same level as the fakes. He never liked playing price wars.

And if knockoffs ruined the market reputation, cheaper prices would only make buyers more wary.

“Looks like we’re thinking along the same lines again,” Qiao Lu smiled. “I think our priority should be maintaining the quality of our materials and craftsmanship. Things are tense right now with all the crackdowns. Let’s not rush — we’ve got time to figure something out. A major storm is coming soon anyway.”

“Ah? A storm? You mean the crackdowns?” Li Hongjun asked.

“Haizhou, read him the news from the paper,” Qiao Lu said.

Li Hongjun looked confused as Xu Haizhou pulled out a newspaper from July and read aloud:

“We must crack down hard on all forms of crime and speculative profiteering. Heavy punishment, fast action, no tolerance!…”

After reading the key lines, Xu Haizhou folded the paper and said gravely, “It’s already begun in the capital. It’s only a matter of time before it reaches us.”

Li Hongjun’s face twisted in shock. “Oh damn, really? Good thing you read the papers! Then we better stop! We’ve got to lie low for now!”

Xu Haizhou nodded and put the newspaper away. “Yes, just sell off the current stock, then stop. When the crackdown ends, we’ll start again.”

Qiao Lu chuckled. “If that bastard’s still running such a large-scale operation, we should be even happier.”

After a moment’s pause, Li Hongjun slapped his thighs and laughed. “Right! Let him be cocky — the higher they climb, the harder they fall!”

Seeing him finally calm down, Qiao Lu asked with a smile, “Hongjun, did you use up all your savings?”

He quickly shook his head. “No, I’ve still got plenty.”

“Then there you go. You’ve got food, drink, and savings. So why the panic? You won’t find a solution overnight. Just head home and wait. I’ve already got an idea.” Then she turned to Xu Haizhou. “Let’s sell off the remaining bags and then shut it down. I have a feeling something big is going to happen soon.”

“What kind of big thing?” Li Hongjun asked.

“What else?” Xu Haizhou gave him a cold look, lips curling in a chilling arc. “The crackdown’s coming.”

In early August, just before the storm hit, Qiao Lu was lying on the bed blowing a fan with her son. Though the electricity bill was a bit steep, the breeze felt amazing. Finally, no more struggling with a hand fan.

The sky was overcast today, heavy with the promise of rain. The air was muggy, and mosquitoes buzzed low under the eaves — nobody wanted to go out unless they had to.

“Mama, aren’t we going out today? Let’s go to the park and watch the duckies take a bath!”

A flock of wild ducks had somehow made their home at Jiangbin Park and bathed in the lake every day. Recently, Qiao An’s favorite activity was bringing cornbread from home and crumbling it to feed the ducks.

“It’s hot out. We’ll go after dinner when it’s cooler.” She held her son and sat near the electric fan they’d bought last month, still sweating profusely. “This weather is just suffocating…”

Liu Xiaohong burst in from outside, holding a vegetable basket in her arm. She didn’t even set it down before calling everyone in the house.

“Hurry, hurry! Something big just happened!”

“What is it? What’s the big deal?” Aunt Chen asked lazily as she hung laundry in the courtyard.

Liu Xiaohong was so worked up she gestured with both hands and feet. “Oh my god! It’s serious! That new postman from a while ago — Xiao Gao — someone chopped him to death with a kitchen knife!”