Chapter 166 Something Is Wrong

"That is three hundred."

"This money is..."

Xu Fei smiled and said, "I was hoping my young friend here would help me out as an intelligence gatherer."

"An intelligence gatherer?"

Feng Lun grew more and more confused the more he listened.

"My good Brother Xu, just spell it out for me. You know I'm a bit slow on the uptake."

"Well, it's like this..."

Xu Fei recounted what Zhang Mingyang had told him to Feng Lun.

"What on earth is the background of this place? Three hundred for a television set—did they steal these things?"

Old Man An muttered with a cold face.

Feng Lun also shook his head.

"My family has been meaning to buy a TV set anyway? This is so cheap, I..."

He had wanted to say he would go buy one, but seeing Xu Fei right in front of him, it didn't feel quite right to say that.

He gave an awkward chuckle.

With a look of embarrassment, he pushed Xu Fei's money back.

"Brother Xu, you take this money back. I'm going to buy a TV anyway, so I might as well just go buy one myself."

Seeing him say this, Old Man An laughed and said, "You rascal!"

Feng Lun chuckled and rubbed the back of his head.

"Master, look at you. Weren't I just trying to save a little money?"

With that, he turned to look at Xu Fei.

"Brother Xu, your televisions are indeed a well-known brand, but a television is a television, right? Even if this three-hundred-yuan one doesn't last as long, I figure it should be good for a few years."

Seeing him insist, Xu Fei had no choice but to take the money back.

"Alright, since you say so, Little Feng, I won't stand on ceremony. To be honest, I wanted to buy one just to take it apart and see why on earth they can sell these televisions so cheaply."

"Ah?!"

Hearing that Xu Fei intended to take the television apart, Feng Lun's expression turned somewhat troubled.

"This... won't that break the television?"

Hearing this, Old Man An glared at Feng Lun in exasperation and said,

"Are you too clever for your own good or what? You calculate every little thing. Taking a television apart doesn't mean smashing it to pieces—how could it break just by opening it up unless it's made of paper?"

Seeing Feng Lun's anxiety, Xu Fei smiled and said, "Don't worry, Little Feng. If I break the television while taking it apart, I'll compensate you with a brand new one—and a Nanjing brand television that I sell, how about that?"

Relieved by Xu Fei's promise, Feng Lun nodded with a smile, "Brother Xu, listen to you! No problem at all, isn't it just opening it up to take a look? It's not like it's going to actually break. Take it, take it, go right ahead and take it apart."

Hearing him say that, Old Man An let out a sudden burst of laughter.

"Master, what are you laughing at?"

"I'm just completely impressed with you. A moment ago you were worried it would get broken, but the second Xu Fei says he'll give you a new one if it breaks, your tune changes really fast."

Feng Lun lowered his head in embarrassment.

"Master, look at you..."

Xu Fei waved his hand and said, "Third Brother, it's only right."

Sensing that if he stayed any longer, his master Old Man An would only keep teasing him, Feng Lun stood up immediately, pointed outside, and said, "Brother Xu, wait here for a moment. I'll go buy the television right now."

Xu Fei nodded.

Old Man An watched with a smile as Feng Lun left the room.

"Fei, what kind of tea would you like? I have some Jinjunmei from Mount Wuyi here, and also some Maojian that a former colleague brought back from a trip to Mount Huang a few days ago."

"Let's go with the Maojian."

Old Man An went off to boil the water.

While the two of them brewed their tea, they chatted casually as they waited for Feng Lun to return.

Meanwhile, Feng Lun had entered an appliance store named Chunguang.

After waiting in line for a full three hours, it was finally his turn. He looked at the television set in front of him.

The color and exterior design were both quite nice.

They looked far better than the ones he had seen in the department store.

"Comrade, give me one."

Feng Lun paid the bill and got his receipt.

He walked out of the Chunguang store cradling the television set.

His face beamed with joy. A television was a major household purchase for these years, and in this era, very few families could afford to own one.

He loaded the television into a vehicle and drove it back to the cinema.

Seeing the vehicle enter the courtyard, Old Man An stood up with a smile.

"Let's go take a look at what this paper television set is actually like."

Xu Fei set down his teacup.

He followed Old Man An out to meet him.

They saw Feng Lun walking toward them, carefully carrying the television set.

"Master, Brother Xu..."

Xu Fei stepped forward to take the television from his hands.

*It's a bit light.*

That was his immediate reaction upon taking hold of the television.

Though the weight of a television couldn't tell the whole story, still...

Xu Fei kept his thoughts to himself.

After all, Feng Lun was in high spirits right now, and saying something like that would feel a bit like pouring cold water on his excitement.

The three of them carried the television into the room.

Old Man An cleared off a table.

Xu Fei then opened the packaging.

"Little Feng, I'm going to take it apart now, okay?"

Xu Fei asked, looking at Feng Lun.

"Take it apart, Brother Xu, go right ahead."

Though Feng Lun said that, his expression betrayed him; the slight hesitation lingering at the corner of his mouth revealed his true feelings.

"Alright, don't be scared. Didn't Brother Xu promise you that if it breaks, he'll compensate you with a Nanjing brand television?"

"Yeah."

By this time, Xu Fei had already placed the Ball-brand television onto the table.

Old Man An had long since prepared tools like screwdrivers.

After examining it briefly, Xu Fei removed the back casing of the television, exposing the picture tube inside. Xu Fei's brow furrowed slightly.

Old Man An noticed the change in Xu Fei's expression.

"What is it?"

Xu Fei pointed to the picture tube and said, "Look at this, Third Brother. This component clearly shows signs of being refurbished."

"What?"

Hearing this, Feng Lun hurriedly leaned in closer, following the direction of Xu Fei's finger.

Sure enough.

All three of them could see several obvious places on the television's picture tube that bore traces of having been tampered with.

"This is..."

Feng Lun pointed at the television in shock, rendered speechless.

"What do you mean, *this is*? This is outright fraud! I never imagined anyone would pull a stunt like this—aren't they afraid of getting caught and executed?"

Xu Fei, however, shook his head.

He thought to himself: *Things like this are only going to become more common in the future. In fact, in a certain southern city in the years to come, this will become a nationwide counterfeiting hub.*

"How could something like this happen?"

Feng Lun stamped his foot in frustration.

"Brother Xu, can a television like this even be watched?"

Xu Fei nodded.

"Watching it is fine for now, but there's no telling when it will break down. When that happens, it might not even be fixable."

"It's that serious?"

Xu Fei nodded.

"These televisions are actually items other people have already used, and some are even defective products, so..."

"Hmph! Who on earth runs this Chunguang store anyway? How can they scam people so blatantly? Do they think they can just run wild in Donghai?"

At that moment, Xu Fei reassembled the television.

He placed it back inside its box.

"Brother Xu, can I return this?"

"On what grounds?"

"I... I'll just say the television is defective."

Xu Fei smiled and shook his head.

"Little Feng, if you go in with that, I'm afraid they'll definitely have ways to deal with you."

"Right, right. These bastards wouldn't be doing this so openly if they hadn't prepared countermeasures." Old Man An looked at Xu Fei and asked, "Fei, are we just going to let this slide?"

Xu Fei's expression grew dark.

"Of course not."