bookbashuk Chapter 171 Small Commercial Disputes
Chapter 171 Small Commercial Disputes
"Hmm, and then?" Yan Shuo listened patiently, gesturing for him to continue.
"That's all fake alcohol! It's completely undrinkable!"
Sebastian gritted his teeth, his voice filled with regret. "The sample he showed me was a tampered fake bottle filled with real wine. I tasted it, thought it was good, and paid immediately. But when I brought all the wine back and opened them, I discovered that, apart from the sample, all the other bottles were filled with fake wine. It tasted awful, and you could tell at a glance. It was unsellable and could only be thrown away as garbage!"
"I just spent 20,000 silver dollars, a whole 20,000!"
Sebastian's eyes reddened, and his voice choked with emotion. "That was all my savings this year, plus some I borrowed from friends. I've lost it all on this batch of counterfeit alcohol, and now I can barely afford to pay the rent."
Seeing his frustrated expression, Yan Shuo's tone turned serious. He patted his shoulder and said firmly, "Poor Stefan. Don't worry, tell me who it is, and I'll get someone to take care of him for you, get your money back, and make sure he doesn't get away with it!"
Upon hearing this, Sebastian's eyes lit up instantly, his annoyance and grievance vanishing in a sly smile. He patted Yan Shuo's arm and said with a laugh, "I've been waiting for you to say that! Hehe, let me tell you, he's an American, a military attaché at the consulate, and a major at that!"
It turns out that Stewart met Jack Vaughn, the American military attaché, while playing cards at a casino.
That day, Stefan was having a great time and was enjoying himself when Jack walked in, nodded slightly to the people at the card table, and asked in a humble tone if he could join in the game.
They were playing Texas Hold'em, which allows multiple players. The people at the table exchanged glances and, seeing that Jack was well-dressed and had an impressive demeanor, they all nodded in agreement.
While playing cards and chatting, Stewart learned that the American in front of him was named Jack Vaughn and worked as a military attaché at the U.S. Embassy in Shanghai.
That day, Stefan had exceptionally good luck and won a lot of money, making him extremely happy.
After leaving the casino, Jack took the initiative to strike up a conversation and invited him to have a few drinks at a nearby bar. The two chatted happily and exchanged contact information before parting, thus officially becoming friends.
About three or four days later, Jack made a special trip to the Yipinxiang Restaurant in Stan for a meal.
During the meal, Jack ordered drinks, and Stewart introduced several of the restaurant's signature drinks. However, Jack either shook his head and frowned, or took a small sip and put the drink down, looking completely dissatisfied.
Left with no other choice, Stewart had to bring out a wine that was slightly better than the regular wine. Although Jack looked reluctant, he didn't complain and forced himself to finish the meal. His lack of appetite and his only concern for saving face for his host didn't arouse any suspicion from Stewart.
After the meal, Jack called Stewart to his table and said mysteriously that he had a batch of valuable white wine—Rhône Valley Twilight. The winery had produced too much last year and had a lot of surplus stock, which tied up the winery's working capital.
The winery's operations manager, a good friend of his, specially allocated a batch to him, asking him to inquire with wine merchants in Shanghai whether they were willing to take them at a low price. However, if retailing, he requested that the price be as close as possible to the suggested retail price, which was fifty yuan per bottle.
At this point, Jack changed the subject and said to Stewart with a smile, "If you're willing to take over, I'll give you ten dollars a bottle."
Upon hearing this, Stefan was instantly tempted.
Making a net profit of forty dollars from selling just one bottle is such a good thing, it's like a pie falling from the sky, and I was immediately hooked by the profit.
That afternoon, Stefan followed Jack to the warehouse he had mentioned to check on the wine.
The wine in the warehouse was indeed all Rhône Valley Twilight White Wine with red labels, each bottle beautifully packaged, exactly as Jack had described.
Jack casually picked up a bottle, opened it on the spot, and handed it to Stewart for tasting. The taste was mellow and the fruit aroma was rich, so it was definitely the real deal.
Stian was completely relieved and immediately decided to buy the entire batch of wine, paying 20,000 silver dollars in one go and taking all the fake wine back to the hotel.
But when he was about to put the bottles on the shelves to sell and opened one to taste it again, he realized something was wrong. Except for the bottle he had tasted, which was genuine, all the other bottles were fake. They tasted sour and astringent and were hard to swallow. One sip was enough to tell the difference between real and fake, so he couldn't sell them at all. His 20,000 yuan was just wasted, and he was stuck with it all.
Upon realizing he had been scammed, Stewart's first thought was to confront Jack, but Jack, as the military attaché at the U.S. consulate, rarely appeared in public and kept to himself.
He had also sought help from Lucas, who agreed to help him contact the German consul to coordinate, but also frankly told him that the chances were slim.
To put it bluntly, Stefan's matter is ultimately just a minor commercial dispute.
Although 20,000 silver dollars in the Republic of China in 1940 was equivalent to 4,000 pounds, more than 13,000 US dollars, or around 40,000 German marks, it was a huge sum of money in the eyes of ordinary people.
But for those foreign consuls, the benefits of any decision they made far exceeded the amount of money, so naturally no one would bother to deal with such a trivial matter.
Stefan dared not wait outside the American embassy for Jack, nor did he have the guts to have someone put a sack over his head in retaliation. He could only accept his bad luck and feel secretly annoyed.
Fortunately, he had known Yan Shuo for many years and had a good relationship with him. He also vaguely knew that Yan Shuo was quite capable and ruthless. However, Yan Shuo had gone to Hubei some time ago, so he had been too embarrassed to mention it.
Now that Yan Shuo has finally returned and offered to help him deal with Jack, Stefan was overjoyed. He immediately ordered Leah to cook several German home-style dishes that were not on the menu, all of which were his signature dishes that he usually couldn't bear to use.
Yan Shuo was very accommodating, nodding and praising each dish after tasting it. He said it tasted excellent, but in his heart he thought that the differences between Chinese and Western palates were too great, and these German dishes could only barely fill his stomach.
The meal was a pleasant one for both host and guests. After seeing off the grateful Stian, Yan Shuo went straight to the third floor of the hotel.
He has booked the third floor for three days, intending to arrange for his subordinates to hand over their work and to plan for the future.
Stefan was quick-witted and perceptive. He proactively assured that no one would disturb Yan Shuo during these three days, assuming that Yan Shuo was here to handle the business of the West American Trading Company.
After all, Yan Shuo is now a prominent figure in Shanghai, a true business tycoon with countless people under his command, numbering at least over ten thousand. His daily affairs, both trivial and important, are piling up like mountains.
His Fengming Film Company alone employs over two thousand people; his mines employ over two thousand workers on the payroll, and the number of temporary workers is countless; in addition, his beverage factory and garbage plant each employ several hundred people.