TPW – Chapter 82

In the blink of an eye, the spring breeze faded in Quyang. The weather turned hot, and no one could bear wearing jackets anymore—they all switched to breezy short sleeves and long dresses.

By late June, they had earned back the renovation costs. The two men discussed that once Li Hongjun saved up another two months of salary, they’d buy an apartment in the Nanhu Garden complex and then pool their money to open a small factory together.

They would be both business partners and neighbors.

Their shop’s business was booming. The name “Purple Dragonfly” had become wildly popular among the young crowd, and everything was progressing in an orderly fashion.

Li Hongjun liked to keep tabs on how many of their styles the rival shop had sold.

This habit was fine—until it made him furious again.

“Eighteen times four, that’s seventy-two. Seventeen times three, fifty-one… Dammit, if it weren’t for them, we’d make at least seven or eight hundred more a month!”

“You don’t get tired constantly watching them?” Xu Haizhou said as he handed him a glass of water to calm down. “If you’ve got a solution, go ahead and try it. Just complaining about it will only make you angry and add to your stress. Stop paying attention to them so much—it’s your own health you’re messing with.”

“We sell at a higher price. Even if there were no counterfeits, people might still not buy from us. A lot of them buy knockoffs just to save money.”

You had to look on the bright side of things, otherwise you’d just stay mad forever.

Li Hongjun clicked his tongue and pressed down on Xu Haizhou’s shoulder. Their eyes met.

“No, seriously, Haizhou, how come you seem like a whole different person after getting married? Before, when something like this happened, you were even less chill than me.”

Xu Haizhou always came off as gentle—that was his upbringing.

But in truth, he didn’t have a high tolerance. Back when he first came to Lian to start a business, he got into quite a few fights with competitors.

Of course, he never started trouble. But if someone crossed him, he’d definitely retaliate.

The two of them had actually met due to a misunderstanding. A fight brought them together, and they ended up doing business together, slowly becoming close friends.

Xu Haizhou chuckled and swatted his hand away. “You hit the nail on the head. That’s why you need to find someone. Then you won’t have time to care about all this nonsense.”

Then he teased, “Want me to give you a day off to go find a date?”

Li Hongjun’s eyes went round, and he instinctively glanced in Yu Fan’s direction.

“Oh please, like I’d find a girlfriend just because I got a day off.” Besides, that’d leave the shop short-staffed. Nothing was more important than making money.

Once he had money, the pretty girls would come flocking on their own.

At least, that was Li Hongjun’s logic.

“Go hang around places where there are lots of women. Or… should I ask Sister Liu to introduce you to someone?”

Oh right! There was always Liu Xiaohong!

Look at how happy Xu Haizhou was—she was clearly a great matchmaker!

“Alright, I’ll come with you this afternoon to talk to Sister Liu.”

The two of them joked and chatted for a while, when suddenly a young woman walked into the alleyway, clutching a pale yellow long dress. She slammed it down on the bench.

“Boss, I want a refund!”

The two men immediately straightened up.

“Refund? We don’t offer refunds. Why do you want to return it?” Li Hongjun picked up the dress, confused.

“I wore it for just two days and it’s already falling apart. And didn’t you guys always advertise that you refund for quality issues?” The young woman looked pretty angry, arms crossed and lips pouted high in defiance.

“That’s impossible. We’ve never had a quality issue with this dress. Could it be you got a bad batch?” Li Hongjun muttered while examining the seams. “Also, what we advertise is an exchange for quality issues, not a refund, miss.”

As he spoke, Xu Haizhou reached out and felt the fabric, noticing something off.

“This dress isn’t even from our shop. Why are you returning it here?”

“Exactly,” Li Hongjun agreed. “This isn’t from our store at all. Why would you come to us for a refund?”

This dress was different from typical long dresses. Qiao Lu had used high-quality silk for this design. The cost was high, so the retail price was high too, but she personally oversaw the production, so quality issues were nearly impossible.

The counterfeiters, eager to grab market share, had rushed to replicate it with shoddy workmanship. To cut costs, they hadn’t used silk at all—they used ramie fabric instead.

To the eye, it looked similar to silk, but the feel on the skin was leagues apart.

“What do you mean it’s not? I bought it from your store!” the woman snapped, getting worked up. “I’ve bought clothes from you three or four times before. I trusted you guys—that’s why I came back!”

Li Hongjun burst out laughing. “Ma’am, come on now—don’t joke with me. Here, come take a look and feel for yourself.”

He pulled her over to the clothing rack and casually grabbed a real silk dress.

“See? All our current stock has our brand’s logo stitched on—specifically to prevent confusion with fakes. The one you brought has no logo. This design is exclusive to us. Our boss personally selected the fabric, and it cost a fortune. Ours is silk. The one you bought? Clearly isn’t. Just feel the difference yourself—can they really be the same?”

Same design—but totally different texture. On top of that, the ones in Xu Haizhou’s store had a vibrant Purple Dragonfly logo embroidered on the chest. It was impossible to miss. Trying to scam them with such a low-effort fake was almost insulting.

The woman started touching the two dresses—pinching, rubbing—and within two seconds, she felt the stark difference between them.

Her cheeks turned bright red, like she’d just been slapped twice.

“…You’re right… I—I didn’t know. My boyfriend bought it for me. He said it was from the shop I always buy from, so I thought it was yours…”

“Goodness, you still came back for a return? What do you mean you thought? If everything goes by what you think, how can we do business at all?”

“Purple Dragonfly releases a new batch every two months. The dresses on this wall are all designs by my wife. Except for our store, everything else being sold out there is an imitation. Actually, the damage on your piece isn’t too bad. The seam that’s come undone can be stitched up, but the hole in the middle—even if sewn—will affect the appearance.”

“Exactly, the tear is in such an awkward spot, I really can’t accept it. Then I remembered you allow returns… a dress isn’t cheap, so I figured I’d just return it…”

“See what I mean? If you’re after cheap deals, that’s one thing. But to come to my store and ask for a return? You really gave me a fright.” Li Hongjun patted his chest and gave her a sidelong glance, full of mock complaint.

“Sorry…” the woman bit her lip, picked up the dress, and left awkwardly.

Misfortunes never come alone—when there’s one, there’s always more.

For an entire week, customers kept coming to Purple Dragonfly asking for exchanges or refunds over quality issues.

And the kicker? None of the dresses were even bought from Xu Haizhou’s store—they were all cheap knock-offs from elsewhere!

Some buyers came themselves and knew to find the right seller. But others had received them as gifts, and when issues arose, the recipients went straight to Xu Haizhou, insisting the dresses were bought from his store.

Unfortunately, having a prime location is a double-edged sword. As soon as people walked onto Baiyun Street, they saw the same silk dresses hanging outside Xu Haizhou’s shop and assumed that’s where they’d been purchased.

It took some effort to clarify that this was a counterfeit issue—and then, lo and behold, that sly moneygrubber Qian Donglei had even copied the Purple Dragonfly logo exactly!

But blessings often come in disguise. Although the brand name got dragged through the mud, the knock-off vendors selling “Purple Dragonfly” dresses actually boosted the store’s reputation immensely.

As the saying goes: Even infamy is still fame.

Every day, after finishing business, the two men had to take time explaining things to confused customers.

“Fake, fake, fake! None of those are ours. Just look closely—feel the fabric—it’s completely different!” Li Hongjun was utterly exasperated.

“What? We bought fakes?”

“What do you mean ‘fake’? Are you just trying to weasel out of this?”

“Isn’t this Purple Dragonfly? Isn’t your store called Purple Dragonfly too?” Look at that little dragonfly—it’s exactly the same!

“Right? Everyone on Baiyun Street is selling the same clothes. Aren’t they all from the same supplier?” What’s this talk about real and fake—why’s the quality so different?

“No, no, no. Our supply chain is completely different. All our dresses are designed by the boss lady. The other stores are selling knockoffs. Knockoffs—you know what that means, right?”

Knockoffs? Copycats? Not original?

No wonder they were so cheap.

They’d already dealt with who-knows-how-many of these cases this month. It was always: “for my girlfriend,” “for my sister,” “for my wife,” “for a relative”… Everyone had heard Purple Dragonfly was a great brand, so they all flocked to Baiyun Street.

The sentiment behind giving gifts was good, but Chinese shoppers love comparing prices across stores. The problem was, many weren’t comparing quality—just price.

Since Xu Haizhou’s dresses were expensive, people naturally went to other stores for cheaper options. But when the gifts had problems, the recipients—thinking they came from Purple Dragonfly—brought their complaints to Xu Haizhou. It was ridiculous.

Li Hongjun grabbed a sample dress and had everyone feel the difference between the genuine and fake versions: “Come on, everyone—touch and compare. The feel is completely different! Ours are silk—that’s why they’re expensive!”

“It’s fine if you went after a bargain and bought knockoffs—we get it, earning money’s not easy. We understand. But buying fakes and then blaming us for poor quality? That’s just not right.”

“Uh…”

Everyone looked at each other. They touched the fabric. The difference in feel was obvious. Plus, the dragonfly on the fake labels didn’t even have stitched eyes!

Embarrassed, the crowd headed to the other shops across the street, demanding answers—only to be met with total denial. Each store claimed the defective dresses weren’t theirs.

Everyone was selling fakes—so how could you prove which store yours came from? No one was admitting anything.

“You’re just trying to scam me. Everyone’s selling the same dress, why are you coming after me? Think I’m an easy target?”

“Oh, so I’m bullying you? Sounds like you’re bullying me!”

“I’m just a dress seller—why would I bully anyone?”

“I’m just a dress buyer—why would I bully anyone?”

While the argument raged on that side, over here, Li Hongjun’s matchmaking efforts were going well.

No matter what type he said he wanted, Liu Xiaohong said it was no problem—until he said: “Can I find someone like Qiao Lu?”

Clever, gentle, good-tempered, pretty, and great at making money.

Liu Xiaohong was speechless: “Someone with Qiao Lu’s looks and skills? Not easy to find. But single moms with kids—those are much easier.”

“No, no, no! Just find me someone normal, please! Normal!” Single moms are hard to handle for most people. And someone like Qiao Lu—she’s a once-in-a-century type.

Forget it. He wasn’t that lucky anyway.

Xu Haizhou added, “My wife is one of a kind. Irreplaceable.”

Later, he told Qiao Lu about Li Hongjun’s request. After a laugh or two, the couple began talking about Qiao An’s schooling.

“I’ve been thinking… maybe we should send him to kindergarten soon? After all, in a year he’ll be starting primary school. If we don’t, I’m worried he won’t be able to adjust to kids his age.”

“Sure. Leave it to me.”

Xu Haizhou had plenty of connections—if he agreed, it probably wouldn’t be a problem.

Qiao Lu happily started making a schoolbag for the little one. Qiao An saw and curiously asked:

“Mama, are you making another pretty dress?” It looked so cool—this time the material was labor cloth mixed with leather!

Qiao Lu smiled and pinched his cheek. “Nope. Mama’s making a new schoolbag for you.”

“Schoolbag?”

“Yep. I’ve already asked Daddy to find a kindergarten for you. Once we find one, you’ll start school in September!”

Qiao An was horrified: “I don’t want to go to kindergarten! I want to stay with Mama forever!”

“You can’t. All kids have to go to kindergarten. Besides, Mama’s going to be very busy making money—she won’t have time to play with you anymore.”

The little guy clutched her hand urgently: “I don’t need Mama to play with me—I’ll just stay with you! I’ll be good, I won’t make trouble, I’ll behave, Mama…”