Rebirth: Fan Debiao rises from the Liaobei land

Old Qian sat in a private room on the third floor of the magnificent building, the ashtray in front of him overflowing with cigarette butts.

Outside the window, the neon signs of Victoria were visible, dazzlingly bright at night. Ever since Fan Debiao became the vice president and opened Dexing Communications, Wu Derong's business had been booming day by day. As for his own side? Last month, his turnover dropped by 30%, and at this rate, his business would be bankrupt in less than six months.

"Mr. Qian, are we just going to stand by and watch?" The speaker was the head of security at the place, surnamed Li, nicknamed Li the Gap-toothed because he was missing half of his front tooth. "Fan Debiao's mobile phone shop is incredibly popular right now, it's packed with people all day long."

Old Qian glanced at him, didn't say anything, and puffed on his cigarette.

"If you ask me, we should find a few brothers to 'renovate' his shop..." Before Li Huoya could finish speaking, Lao Qian stubbed out his cigarette in the ashtray.

"Renovation? Is your head full of soybean paste?" Old Qian glanced at him sideways. "Brother Liu is a big shot right there. Have you forgotten what happened last time? He almost put out the fire for me. And Gangzi and his gang are following Fan Debiao now. If a fight really breaks out, who will take care of whom?"

Li, who had a gap in his teeth, shrank his neck and remained silent.

A thin man wearing glasses on the sofa next to them spoke up. This man was Lao Qian's newly recruited "planner," surnamed Zhou. He said he had a college education and was full of ideas: "Mr. Qian, if we don't use force, we have to use a softer approach."

"What's soft?"

"Official channels," Zhou, the planner, pushed up his glasses. "Where do Fan Debiao's phones come from that? They're probably all grey market imports. Let's report him for selling grey market phones and get the industry and commerce bureau to investigate. Even if they don't find anything, it'll still annoy him and disrupt his business."

Old Qian squinted: "You think you can figure out a cell phone? We run a karaoke bar, we don't understand the ins and outs of this stuff."

"I don't understand, but some people do," Zhou, the planner, laughed. "I have a cousin who deals in mobile phones in Shenyang. He says this industry is murky; refurbished phones, phones sold as counterfeit goods, and phones sold after only 14 days are all mixed together for huge profits. Let's buy a phone from Fan Debiao, switch it out as a counterfeit, and then report it. We'll win every time."

Li with the gap-toothed grin perked up: "That works! He sells so many every day, he can't even remember which one is which!"

Old Qian pondered for a moment: "Will it work?"

"It'll definitely work!" Zhou, the planner, patted his chest confidently. "I'll have my cousin send a grey market Motorola V8088 from Shenyang, the latest model. We'll buy a real one from Fan Debiao, then switch it out. Once the Industry and Commerce Bureau investigates, he'll be finished!"

Old Qian remained silent for a long time before finally nodding: "Make it quick and easy."

Three days later, at 10 a.m.

Inside Dexing Communications, Xiaojuan was introducing the Nokia 8250 to a customer when Gangzi came in from outside and whispered in Fan Debiao's ear, "Brother Biao, there's a new face outside who's been wandering around for ages."

Fan Debiao peeked out from behind the counter. A man in a leather jacket, around thirty years old, was smoking at the entrance, glancing into the store every now and then.

"Keep an eye on it," Fan Debiao said, then continued looking down at the purchase order.

At 10:30, the man came in and went straight to the counter.

"Boss, do you have a Motorola V8088 in stock?"

Xiao Juan looked up: "Yes, 5880."

"Give me one." The man readily agreed and pulled out a wad of cash from his bag.

Xiao Juan issued the receipt and collected the money, then took out a brand new box from under the counter. Upon opening it, she found a phone, battery, charger, and instruction manual—everything was there.

"Keep the invoice safe; it's covered by nationwide warranty." Xiao Juan handed over the box.

The man took the box, looked at it, and left.

Gangzi followed the man to the door and watched him get on his motorcycle and leave. He then returned to Fan Debiao and said, "Brother Biao, that man looks familiar. I think I've seen him at Jinbihuihuang before."

Fan Debiao frowned: "Old Qian's men?"

"Most likely."

Be careful.

At 2:30 p.m., the people from the Industry and Commerce Bureau arrived.

The three men were in uniform. The one in the lead was a dark-skinned man surnamed Wang, the deputy head of the Economic Inspection Section.

"Is Fan Debiao here?" Section Chief Wang's voice was loud, and the whole store could hear him as soon as he entered.

Fan Debiao came out from behind: "Section Chief Wang, what's going on here...?"

"Someone reported that your store is selling counterfeit mobile phones." Section Chief Wang flashed his badge. "This is the informant, and this is the Motorola V8088 he bought from you this morning."

The man who bought the phone stood behind, holding the phone box in his hand.

All the customers in the store gathered around.

Fan Debiao glanced at the man, then at Gangzi. Gangzi nodded slightly.

"Section Chief Wang, all the mobile phones in our store come from legitimate channels; there's no way we have any grey market goods," Fan Debiao said.

"Whether it's a counterfeit or not isn't up to you to decide." Section Chief Wang took the phone box. "This is your store's receipt, right? It's stamped with your store's seal, isn't it? And the phone box is yours too, isn't it?"

"It's ours."

"Alright." Section Chief Wang opened the box, took out the phone, and said, "The whistleblower said that this phone is a grey market import and the network access license is fake."

Fan Debiao took the phone and looked at it, then looked at the man: "Tiezi, are you sure you bought this phone from me?"

"I bought it this morning, the ticket is still here!" the man said matter-of-factly.

"Okay." Fan Debiao handed his phone to Xiao Juan. "Xiao Juan, check the sales records."

Xiao Juan opened the ledger and wrote, "At 10:32 a.m., a Motorola V8088 was sold for 5880 yuan. The serial number is 354893024765812."

Section Chief Wang took the ledger, looked at it, and then compared it with the serial number on the phone box: "It matches."

"That matches up!" The man who reported it got excited. "Section Chief Wang, you have to stand up for us consumers! We bought a phone for over five thousand yuan, and it's a counterfeit! Isn't this a rip-off?"

The onlookers began to discuss it.

Fan Debiao calmly took the phone from the man's hand, opened the back cover, and removed the battery.

"Section Chief Wang, look here." He pointed his phone's battery compartment at Section Chief Wang.

Everyone crowded around to look.

The battery compartment was completely empty.

"Where's the laser anti-counterfeiting sticker?" Fan Debiao looked up at the man. "Every phone we receive has a laser anti-counterfeiting sticker on the screw hole of the battery compartment back cover. Why doesn't yours have one?"

The man was taken aback, stammering, "I...how should I know? It was like this when you sold it to me!"

"That's it?" Fan Debiao chuckled, turned around and took out an unopened Motorola V8088 from the counter, opened it on the spot, removed the back cover and took out the battery.

There is a small red round sticker on the screws of the battery compartment back cover, with "Dexing Communications" and a string of anti-counterfeiting codes printed on it.

"See this?" Fan Debiao placed the two phones side by side on the counter. "All the phones in our store have this sticker. Yours doesn't have it, so what does that mean?"

The man's face turned pale, and he stammered, "I...I might have accidentally dropped it..."

"Did you get rid of it?" Fan Debiao put the battery back in the phone used for the report, turned it on, and pressed *#06#.

A string of numbers appeared on the screen: 354893024766923.

"Section Chief Wang, look," Fan Debiao said, holding up his phone screen. "This is the phone's IMEI code. Now look at the serial number on the box; it's 354893024765812. They don't match."

He then took the sales ledger: "The serial number registered in our store is this one on the box. In other words, the phone you have in your hand is not the one we sold at all."

The entire room fell silent.

Section Chief Wang's face darkened as he stared at the man: "What's going on?"

"I...I don't know..." The man's forehead was sweating. "It was like this when I bought it..."

"It's like this after you bought it?" Fan Debiao laughed. "That's even more wrong. The IMEI code is burned into the motherboard when the phone leaves the factory, and no one can change it. The IMEI code of your phone doesn't match the one we sold in our store, which can only mean—you switched it."

He turned to Section Chief Wang: "Section Chief Wang, this is quite obvious. Someone bought a mobile phone from my store, took the genuine phone home, and replaced it with a grey market phone, trying to extort money from us. In the industry, this tactic is called 'phone swapping scam'."

Section Chief Wang stared at the man for a full ten seconds.

"Take him away," he said to the two officers behind him.

"Section Chief Wang! Section Chief Wang, I'm innocent!" the man shouted as he was being led away.

Section Chief Wang ignored him and turned to Fan Debiao, saying, "Boss Fan, we apologize for the trouble caused today because our work wasn't thorough enough."

"I understand, I understand." Fan Debiao offered a cigarette. "Enforcement by the Industry and Commerce Bureau isn't easy either. But Section Chief Wang, you should know who's behind this whistleblower. Dexing Communications operates with integrity; all our mobile phones are guaranteed authentic. You're welcome to inspect us anytime."

"Boss Fan, we will definitely investigate this matter thoroughly. Your method of using anti-counterfeiting labels is very standardized and deserves praise."

"We were forced into this situation," Fan Debiao said with a wry smile. "This industry is treacherous, we have to be careful. Section Chief Wang, please rest assured, all mobile phones from Dexing Communications are genuine and authentic, and you are welcome to inspect them at any time."

"Okay." Section Chief Wang nodded, then glanced at the customers gathered in the store and raised his voice: "Dexing Communications operates with integrity and is a role model for the communications industry in Kaiyuan! Everyone can buy with confidence!"

A round of applause erupted.

The business administration staff left.

Customers swarmed around the store, asking about the anti-counterfeiting stickers and IMEI codes, making it as lively as a vegetable market.

Fan Debiao cupped his hands in thanks: "Thank you all for your trust! Everyone who purchases a phone today will receive a free original charger!"

On the magnificent third floor, Old Qian smashed a teacup to pieces with a loud "crack".

"Useless! They're all fucking useless!"

Li, with his gap-toothed jaw, kept his head down, while Zhou, the planner, stood beside him, his glasses reflecting the light.

"You think you can detect a switch? Are your brains filled with shit?" Old Qian was furious, his face red and neck bulging. "Laser anti-counterfeiting stickers? IMEI codes? What the hell are these?"

"Mr. Qian, we didn't know he had this trick up his sleeve..." Zhou, the planner, said in a low voice.

"I don't know! I don't know! All you do is say you don't know!" Old Qian slammed his hand on the table again. "Now look what's happened, the Industry and Commerce Bureau will definitely hold me accountable. Fan Debiao, on the other hand, got a windfall of goodwill! And he's even become an industry role model!"

The office was deathly silent.

After a moment, Zhou, the planner, adjusted his glasses and said, "Mr. Qian, I have another idea."

Old Qian glanced at him sideways: "Spit it out."