Chapter 60: Collecting Money! Closing the Net?

Looking at the bewildered old men and women, Lu Fan smiled and said, "Uncles and aunts, because our shirts were selling too well a while ago, we ran completely out of stock. That is why we gave out gifts as a sincere apology, just like we agreed upon a few days ago."

"Today, I finally managed to grab a batch of shirts from another market and brought them straight to you. I still remember you, sir; didn't you say you have a big family and three shirts wouldn't be enough to go around, which is why both of you signed up together?"

"Uh... Yes, we really like your shirts too. Where do we pay for them?"

Lu Fan waved at Bai Lu, and she immediately dashed over.

"Bai Lu, find a cardboard box and use it to hold the money. It'll be much more convenient."

"Got it!"

"These two elderly folks are taking six shirts. Calculate how much they should pay."

Bai Lu instantly flashed a sweet smile and extended her fair, delicate little hand toward the two seniors. "Two hundred and ninety-four!"

The old man let out a silent sigh, fished three hundred yuan from his pocket, and handed it to Bai Lu.

He had originally thought he could collect free gifts for a few more days, never expecting that yesterday's eggs would be the last batch.

Still, the quality of these shirts seemed quite decent, so it wasn't a total loss!

After paying, the elderly couple walked over to the area where the shirts were displayed and selected six items in the appropriate sizes, while Jiang Ermei and Shi Hu stood by to verify the counts.

Amidst all this, a few people who hadn't brought their money came over, hoping to ask if they could get their deposits refunded. Lu Fan directly refused them.

"Uncle, the ten yuan deposit you paid has already been turned over to the company headquarters. There is genuinely no way I can refund it. If I give it back to you, the company will just double-deduct it from my salary later. I am just a working stiff trying to earn a hard-earned living, so please don't make things difficult for me."

Over the past two days, Lu Fan had gotten along quite well with all of them.

Every day, they had happily collected gifts, chatting and laughing together.

At that moment, someone standing further back in the line spoke up in Lu Fan's defense, "What refund are you asking for? When you were taking the gifts earlier, why didn't you say you didn't want them? The man is here to sell shirts in the first place, so what are you causing a fuss for?"

The old man cared about his face, so he could only mutter, "Alright, alright, stop talking. I'm going home to get the money."

There were still plenty of fair-minded and righteous people around. Lu Fan quickly bowed to the person who had spoken up for him, then turned to a young girl selling ice cream nearby and said, "Push your entire freezer over here. It's too hot today; we can't let these uncles, aunts, grandpas, and grandmas stand around waiting dry-mouthed. Let them have some ice cream to cool down."

The young girl looked startled.

"All of them?"

"Just push the whole thing over. Give one stick to everyone waiting in line, and we'll settle the bill at the end."

Lu Fan made a victorious gesture with his fingers. The young girl caught on immediately—the two-cent ones!

After that, not a single person eating ice cream felt shameless enough to ask for a refund.

Collecting payments and selling merchandise proceeded exceptionally smoothly. Those who had gone home to get money returned and re-lined up.

This left the row of vendors and peddlers standing on the roadside, acting as an observation group, completely dumbfounded!

All of their minds were struck by wave after wave of intense shock. Can clothes actually be sold like this?

In just a brief span of time, dozens of people had paid, and there were even absolute fools buying six or nine shirts at once.

This was simply too insane!

Everyone's gaze toward Lu Fan burned with heat. This wasn't just a human being; this motherfucker was the God of Wealth incarnate!

Those who hadn't listened closely to the lecture earlier were now filled with regret, repeatedly asking the people next to them about the finer details of the marketing strategy and system.

Liu Yue'e crossed her arms and stood not far from Bai Lu, putting on an air of cold detachment.

While her exterior was icy and aloof, her heart was burning with fervor.

Right now, she wished she could instantly replace Bai Lu and collect the money herself.

Aside from the time she sold her daughter, she had never laid eyes on so much cash in her life.

Furthermore, she knew that almost all of this money was pure profit with virtually no production cost.

No, she couldn't say there was no cost—the cost was the five hundred thousand yuan she owed.

Lu Fan making money and Bai Lu collecting it were actually helping her pay off her debt. In other words, it was equivalent to earning money for herself.

Thinking of this, the restlessness within Liu Yue'e subsided somewhat. Wherever her gaze fell, her heart desired it.

It's all mine!

It's all mine!

The money is mine, Bai Lu is mine, and... the clothes are mine too!

...

When Lu Fan arrived earlier, he hadn't seen Xue Gang and Yi Yi, nor did he have the time to ask about them. He assumed that after listening to his lecture for a day, they must have been completely won over by him.

Meanwhile, the criminal investigation team's office remained brightly lit, with Xue Gang assigning tasks to his subordinates.

"Yi Yi, send Lu Fan's photo to all police substations across Jiangcheng City for a joint investigation. Check whether this man named Lu Fan is using his real name and which jurisdiction he belongs to. Based on his accent, he should be a local; he won't be able to escape the outskirts of Jiangcheng City.

As for that Bai Lu, she's from Xiaodian Village in Dongping District. Go check the corresponding police substation and investigate her family background. As for that President Liu, I couldn't place her accent, but she won't get away either."

"Yes!"

Yi Yi trotted off to the fax room to send out the joint investigation notices.

Xue Gang rolled his eyes thoughtfully and continued, "Today we've gathered a lot of crucial evidence. If my judgment is correct, they should be closing the net soon. They're going to use the bustling nighttime crowd to pressure the people who attended the lecture today into paying deposits and placing orders, and once they collect the money, they're going to bolt.

Xiao Liu, you stay behind. Listen to the recordings through the night and clip out the most useful segments; we'll need them during the interrogations.

Everyone else, gear up and follow me to the night market. Keep a close eye on the suspects."

Xue Gang paused for a moment before adding, "When executing the operation, you must secure the person known as President Liu at the very first moment. I believe she is the mastermind. In addition, Lu Fan and Bai Lu are prime suspects; we cannot let them get away either.

Also, this mission might be dangerous, so everyone must be extremely careful.

A little later, Yi Yi and I will return to that location to keep them confused. The rest of you will deploy a perimeter defense. That area is a bustling commercial district with far too large a pedestrian flow, so do not make a move there. You must wait until they wrap up and find a secluded spot before taking action."

"Understood!" shouted the other officers.

When Xue Gang walked out, Yi Yi quickly hurried after him.

Uh—

"Master, I've already handed the joint investigation notice to Sister Ma. She'll send out the faxes after she finishes eating. As for the police substation covering Bai Lu's hometown, the household registration department has already closed for the day, so I couldn't reach the relevant contact person."

"Alright, we'll talk about those things tomorrow! As long as we catch the suspects, that's what matters. Yi Yi, don't act rashly later. No unauthorized actions without my command."

"Yes!"

...

Having over five hundred people line up to buy clothes wasn't nearly as simple as Lu Fan had imagined.

Most people spent way too much time in the clothing selection phase.

First, they had to pick their sizes, and then they would unfold every single piece to inspect them for flaws.

Lu Fan discovered that the batch of shirts produced by Old Ding actually had a pretty damn high defect rate; they had barely sold two hundred pieces and already dug out several defective ones.

While they weren't major issues, nobody wants to buy flawed goods when they are shopping.

As it neared seven o'clock, the queue grew longer and longer.

Lu Fan stationed himself at the front of the line, only letting five or six people in at a time.

Seeing that the efficiency was far too low, he said to the vendors who were watching the spectacle, "Each of you carry another box down and let everyone pick from them."

"President Liu, grab a box and start collecting the money!"

"Yes!"

Liu Yue'e was rather excited. Her previous poised and aloof image instantly shattered as she happily scooped up the box and trotted over.