Chapter 623: Chapter 620: Fake Chapter 623: Chapter 620: Fake “Is this really my fault? Society is such that the strong prey on the weak. If I don’t show my strength, they will think I’m easy to manipulate and bully.”

“It was their fault to begin with, but the moment I show any weakness, they’ll take a mile. There’s an old saying: ‘A good person is bullied, a nice horse is ridden.’ If I don’t take action, who knows how many more people they’ll scam!”

Huo Sining calmly explained.

Ouyang Jun fell silent. Huo Sining’s words were understandable to most, but there were very few who dared to act this way.

Having considerable financial resources was one thing, but having the courage to offend people was another. In such a society, there were few who, like Huo Sining, wouldn’t stand for any sand in their eyes.

Meanwhile, the Zhou Family also took part in the jewelry exhibition, but Zhou Zhen was irate to find that their booth was placed in a very inconspicuous location. After displaying their products for several hours, there were few visitors.

Seeing this, Zhou Zhen lost his temper, unable to restrain himself, he lashed out at Secretary Liu, who was in charge of the exhibition:
“Didn’t I tell you to use your connections to secure a better booth? Why did we still end up with such a terrible spot? Is the Zhou Family just feeding a pack of idlers who don’t do any work? Do you not want your job anymore?”

Secretary Liu was immediately intimidated by Zhou Zhen’s tirade, but his assistant, who was standing by, was dissatisfied and retorted:
“Young Master Zhou, you can’t blame Secretary Liu for this. We had people from the Jade Association help us, and the booth was all set up originally. But a couple of days ago, the Jade Association suddenly changed the plan, and our booth got bumped.”

“So it’s not Secretary Liu’s fault. With such short notice, we’ve already pulled many strings to get this spot–it wasn’t easy.”

Zhou Zhen frowned upon hearing this, “How could someone bump our booth? Didn’t you guys ask for help?”

Secretary Liu gave a wry smile, “The order came directly from the president of the Jade Association. It’s not just the staff; even the people we looked to for help said they couldn’t do anything. They wouldn’t dare go against the president.”

“So we just have to swallow this loss?” Zhou Zhen was infuriated, “Did you find out which company took our place?”

Secretary Liu’s expression became unnatural, and after hesitating for a while, he murmured, “It was… Jade Beauty.”

“What?!” Zhou Zhen’s face turned ashen when he heard this.

Zhou Zhen knew very well whose company Jade Beauty was; the little studio in S City had risen by stepping on the Zhou Family.

Zhou Zhen had once organized a public jade gambling competition to revive the reputation of Zhou’s Jewelry, even inviting TV stations to broadcast and publicize the event. But after all his careful planning, he ended up making wedding clothes for someone else.

Not only did the competition fail to enhance the reputation of Zhou’s Jewelry, but it also cost them over a million in funds. On the other hand, the local media extensively covered Jade Beauty, and in a matter of months, a little-known workshop became a sensation.

Zhou Zhen had always been deeply aggrieved by Jade Beauty, and after repeated setbacks at the hands of that woman Huo Sining, his resentment had been simmering, itchy for retaliation. Now, hearing that the company’s exhibitor application had been bumped by Jade Beauty only fueled his rage.

What Zhou Zhen didn’t know was that the exhibition space had initially been applied for by Bai Yishan, but it was later replaced by Jade Beauty due to Manager Liu pulling some strings.

Since it was time to sign the agreement, Manager Liu was confident that everything was under control. He didn’t expect that Huo Sining would directly seek Qin Lianshan’s help and manage to reclaim their rightful place.

Zhou Zhen was oblivious to the reasons behind this, but even if he knew, he wouldn’t consider it their fault. Instead, he would be even more jealous of Huo Sining, believing that if it weren’t for her connections, that exhibition space would have been his.

Zhou Zhen was not someone easy to deal with, especially after seeing Huo Sining’s exhibit bustling with visitors while his own was deserted and dismal. Zhou Zhen’s face darkened completely, and after staring menacingly at the No. 12 exhibition space for a long while, he turned and left without a word.

Meanwhile, Huo Sining and Ouyang Jun had visited several places and finally found the perfect jewelry for Ouyang Jun’s mother. As Ouyang Jun was filling out the paperwork to make the purchase, Huo Sining received a call from Bai Yishan, “Ningning, there’s trouble at the exhibit!”

Startled, Huo Sining’s expression quickly turned stern. She said to Ouyang Jun, “I have an urgent matter to handle, I must go ahead.”

With that, she didn’t wait for Ouyang’s response and ran straight to her family’s exhibition area.

Seeing Huo Sining rushing off, Ouyang paused for a second, then quickly realized something must have happened at Jade Beauty. He hurriedly settled the bill, grabbed his purchases, and rushed after Huo Sining to the No. 12 exhibition space.

“What’s going on with your store, huh? Is this how you deceive customers? We’re in the middle of an exhibition, and you dare to fake products so openly. How can the Jade Association allow such an uncredible studio to participate in the jewelery exhibition? It’s utterly shameful!”

Huo Sining had just arrived at her exhibit when she heard a woman’s cursing voice.

While Huo Sining was with Ouyang Jun looking at diamond exhibits, Su Qingqing and Jiang Xiaoqin had also arrived at the jewelry exhibition to help, but what they didn’t expect was to encounter a problem just a few minutes after reaching the booth.

Su Qingqing had a fiery temper. Hearing such harsh words from the woman, she immediately exploded, furrowing her brows and retorting, “Who are you calling shameful?”

“I’m talking about you! You don’t like being called out while you’re selling fakes, and you think you’re in the right? If that’s the case, let’s have the organizers come and judge this!”

The woman was not someone to be trifled with either. Seeing Su Qingqing talk back, she immediately got angrier, seemingly ready to escalate the situation.

Witnessing this, Huo Sining subconsciously furrowed her brows and pushed into the booth, coldly demanding, “What happened here?”

Hearing Huo Sining’s voice, Su Qingqing and Jiang Xiaoqin quickly looked up, both showing aggrieved expressions, “This woman came over with a piece of jewelry claiming that we sold her fake goods and is threatening to report us to the commercial authorities!”

“Fake products?” Huo Sining raised her eyebrows, turned around, and looked at the woman half-smiling, “Madam, are you certain that the fake product you’re referring to is from our Jade Beauty’s booth?”

The woman, swept by Huo Sining’s gaze, felt an unaccountable skip in her heartbeat, a mix of guilt and nervousness. But remembering the 10,000 yuan reward she was promised by someone with the last name Liu for creating this issue, she steeled herself again.