Chapter 164: Dawn

Chapter 164: Chapter 164: Dawn

"Sir, is there a problem?"

The salesclerk heard Jiang Fan’s gasp and asked, standing at the doorway.

"No, it’s nothing. You can go on back."

Jiang Fan quickly shooed the salesclerk away.

He shook his head, trying to clear away the strange thoughts.

"Let’s put everything else aside for a moment. This product—what kind of scent does it have?"

Jiang Fan felt a faint flicker of excitement.

If he could really prove that the Fengming Group was using substandard materials, it would be a huge step toward turning the tables—half the battle would be won.

"I can’t quite put my finger on it. This set has it, but that one doesn’t."

Rong Anyao pouted and shook her head in frustration.

"I can’t remember where I’ve smelled it before."

"It’s okay, that’s not important right now. Are you sure this one has the smell?"

Jiang Fan asked, holding up the black set.

"Yes, the black one has it. The white one doesn’t."

"Good."

"Let’s go pay. We’ll leave the professional stuff to the professionals."

Jiang Fan pulled a somewhat bewildered Rong Anyao along with him to the front counter.

Under the two clerks’ slightly odd gazes, Jiang Fan paid for the items and left the store.

’That’s it? It wasn’t even two minutes.’

’Looks impressive, but he’s all for show!’

How could the two clerks’ hushed whispers possibly escape Jiang Fan’s ears?

He nearly stumbled. ’So they thought I was doing... *that*... in the fitting room?’ He decided not to bother with them for the time being.

Carrying the two sets, Jiang Fan visited several other stores.

He even checked out the two other Fengming Group stores on the seventh floor.

With the help of Rong Anyao’s nose, he picked out two more sets that carried the same faint scent.

It cost Jiang Fan a whopping 7,000 yuan!

"Damn, this stuff is expensive!"

Jiang Fan sighed, laden with bags of all sizes.

"Jiang, what are we doing now?"

Rong Anyao asked, rubbing her stomach with a pained expression.

"Now? Like I said, we leave the professional stuff to the professionals. So, we’re going to find one."

As he spoke, Jiang Fan pulled out his phone and called Li Muwan.

After getting the location of the Xuerong Group’s factory, the two of them floored it and sped over.

When they arrived at the factory entrance, a tall, beautiful woman was already there to greet them.

"Hello, you must be Mr. Jiang?"

"I’m the factory manager. You can just call me Wen Zhu."

"Hello, Miss Wen. I’m Jiang Fan. Time is tight and this is important. We’re going to need your help."

Jiang Fan shook her hand, and after a brief exchange of pleasantries, he pulled all the shopping bags out of the trunk.

"Manager Li already gave me a heads-up. Shall we head inside to talk?"

"Okay."

The three of them made their way to an office, where Jiang Fan got straight to the point.

"I’ve heard that there’s an old master here at the factory, and that all materials have to go through him. Is that right?"

"That’s right. Should I call him over now?"

Wen Zhu asked.

"Please."

She made a quick call, and a moment later, a stooped, elderly man wearing glasses walked in.

Rong Anyao sat to one side, watching everyone. She had no idea what was going on.

"Master Li, could you please take a look and see if there’s anything wrong with the materials in these products?"

"This is Assistant Jiang from headquarters."

Wen Zhu hurried forward to help the old master into a seat.

"Master Li, a pleasure."

Jiang Fan also stood, walking over to shake his hand.

"Likewise. No need for formalities, Assistant Jiang."

While the two were speaking, Wen Zhu had already opened all the packages.

She took out the lingerie, piece by piece, and laid it on a nearby table.

"These sets are fine... these are fine too."

"The black one and the brown one. Let me see those."

Master Li adjusted his glasses, and Jiang Fan could clearly feel his gaze sharpen in an instant.

It was like he’d become a different person.

"This is... recycled material mixed in with the good fabric?"

"A 4% ratio. Which bastard did this?"

Master Li held it up, observing it closely before sniffing it. Then, he slammed his hand on the table in a fury.

"Master Li, please calm down. This isn’t one of our company’s products."

"It’s from a competitor."

"What do you mean by ’recycled material’?"

The sudden outburst startled Jiang Fan, who quickly tried to placate him.

"A competitor? You mean the Fengming Group, don’t you?"

Jiang Fan was taken aback. "You know of the Fengming Group?"

"Hmph."

Master Li just snorted coldly, saying nothing more.

"Come back tonight for the results. I’m going to run a full analysis on this."

With that, the somewhat eccentric old man took the two sets of lingerie and left the office.

Wen Zhu quickly explained, "Assistant Jiang, please don’t mind him. Master Li has always been like that."

"He’s actually a good person, and when it comes to his professional expertise, he’s an absolute authority in the field."

"It’s just that he’s a perfectionist who can’t tolerate any deceit... In our industry, he especially despises products that try to pass off inferior materials as high-quality."

"He has a history with the Fengming Group. Otherwise, he never would have come to work for us."

"A history? What happened?"

Jiang Fan asked, a hint of curiosity in his voice.

Seeing his interest, Wen Zhu hesitated for a moment before slowly beginning to explain.

"Master Li was originally the head quality control engineer for the Fengming Group. But to cut costs and increase profits, they started mixing inferior materials in with the good ones."

"Master Li couldn’t stand for it, but he was powerless to stop them, so he left."

"But even after he left, the Fengming Group didn’t leave him alone. They hounded him at every turn."

"He had nowhere else to go, so he came to us. Our chairman personally went to his home to invite him."

Jiang Fan nodded slightly. ’Knowing Li Fengming’s character, that sounded exactly like something he would do.’

But that was all in the past, and he couldn’t concern himself with it now. All his thoughts were focused on saving the Xuerong Group’s six stores and seizing a larger share of the market.

"So, what’s the deal with this ’recycled material’?"