Reborn Cat Sheriff

Chapter 597 High-end products are often made using only the simplest techniques.

"What I want to buy is a high-end graphics card, the GeForce RTX 3090 US version, which is only sold overseas. This graphics card is quite different from the current domestic version. It is very powerful and can greatly improve computer performance and efficiency. However, due to some high-end product control measures by the US government, it may be banned from export at any time. The price of this thing is about to rise steadily. I searched for a long time before I found it in stock in this store, and the price is still reasonable."

Li Yiduo showed everyone the graphics card box in his hand, then shook his head helplessly, saying, "But who would have thought that the 'affordable' price was just a gimmick? He showed me an RTX 3090 graphics card, but actually installed an RTX 2080. This is an older graphics card, and its price is vastly different from the 3090, not to mention that the US version is even more expensive. In short, I was ripped off by him for over ten thousand yuan in one go. This isn't something that can be resolved by simply saying it's not his fault."

"Ten thousand yuan? This thing?"

Nie Guoqiang was somewhat surprised, not expecting that the contents of such a square cardboard box would be worth ten thousand yuan.

No wonder Yu Zhengwei never agreed to upgrade the computers in the police station; these specialized gadgets are really expensive! This 8090 graphics card alone costs over ten thousand yuan, and the rest of the components inside the case add up…

"Ten thousand yuan, isn't that enough to constitute a criminal offense?"

Xie Changjun became interested and looked at the shop owner standing next to him.

"What crime is this? This is an economic dispute, don't you understand? Don't make a big deal out of this! Besides, I've already made it very clear: once the goods have left the store and the packaging has been opened, they cannot be returned or exchanged. Who told you not to check them beforehand?"

The shop owner, whose face was covered in fat, spoke with great conviction. The arrival of Nie Guoqiang and Xie Changjun did not frighten him; he even waved his hand dismissively.

"In short, don't give me all that nonsense! If you have a problem with this, if you think it's my store's fault, then go ahead and sue me! It's ridiculous, you think you can just say whatever you want? You put a crappy 2080 graphics card in my new box and call it a switcheroo? Where's the evidence? These days you need to provide evidence to support your claims, you don't even have an unboxing video, so what are you arguing with me about!"

"Watch your language!"

Nie Guoqiang frowned and glared at the shop owner with displeasure.

"What, you're resorting to bullying just because you can't win an argument? I just heard him say you're all police officers? Haha, what, you want to bully me? Come on! Try it! I have security cameras in my shop, I want to see who's afraid of whom!"

The shop owner spoke arrogantly, and Lin Ge finally understood why Li Yiduo was so angry and why he had called Nie Guoqiang for help.

This guy is really infuriating and despicable.

"The biggest problem now is that we don't have time to argue with him here."

Lin Ge frowned as he stood to the side. Even as a policeman, there was really nothing he could do with such a stubborn person. This kind of person was all about bullying the weak and fearing the strong, and was shameless when it came to money; unless they could find evidence, there was really no way to deal with him.

"However... I'm afraid he's not satisfied with just fooling Li Yiduo, is he?"

With a quick glance, Lin Ge took advantage of the moment when the man and the shop assistants were blocking Nie Guoqiang and his two companions, and quietly slipped into the shop from behind him.

The lights were off in the shop, with only a few LED lights flashing from computer cases and water-cooling components. To be honest, the shop's decor and the products on display looked high-end and classy. There were even authorization certificates from several major chip companies hanging on the wall, neatly arranged, giving no reason to doubt its professionalism. Yet, this seemingly legitimate shop was engaged in such unethical business practices.

Since it was nighttime and the shop was closed, there was no one else inside. Lin Ge glanced back at the two people standing outside the door, then carefully pushed open the glass door and entered the interior area.

Once here, there was no need to worry about being discovered beforehand. Lin Ge looked around and found that this was a room shared by a warehouse and an operating area. It was quite large and filled with all sorts of computer equipment. In addition, there were three computers that seemed to be testing 3D effects; the colorful patterns made Lin Ge a little dizzy. However, thanks to the light from these three computers, Lin Ge could clearly see the complete graphics cards displayed in the glass cabinets on the wall. They had everything from entry-level to high-end professional-grade. There were even two boxes of the 3090 graphics cards that Li Yiduo needed, placed on the top of the cabinet, but in a very conspicuous place.

"If I were him, counterfeit goods wouldn't be displayed in a place like this. In fact, based on basic psychological common sense, fakes are much better hidden, but they also need to be easy to replace without too much hassle, so..."

Lin Ge didn't even need to lower his head; he went straight to the bottom door of the container.

The metal cabinet door was closed, but the key was still in the lock. Lin Ge could smell a lot of tactile odor coming from the door, meaning it was frequently opened and contained items that needed to be accessed regularly but couldn't be seen.

"Let me see just how much incriminating evidence is hidden inside."

Lingo tried to turn the key with his paws, but found it was too small and difficult to grip with his paws. Even if he managed to grab it, he couldn't turn it. Helpless, he could only turn his head to the side and bite the key with his teeth, then turn his head to open the cabinet door.

Upon opening the cabinet, I was immediately struck by its contents: perfectly packaged graphics cards! There were over ten different models, each one brand new with anti-counterfeiting codes and import labels.

However, Lin Ge identified the boxes by smell; they all had a chemical odor from being cleaned and then resealed. One box, in particular, labeled "3080Ti," clearly showed a counterfeit barcode coating on one corner. The coating's thickness and uniformity differed slightly from the genuine product. The particles in the coating were very noticeable, and the label font was also slightly different, making it immediately obvious that it was fake.

However, the entire graphics card box was indistinguishable from the genuine product displayed on top of the cabinet. Lin Ge couldn't find any difference in either the color or the pattern.

He suspected that this guy might have acquired second-hand graphics card boxes through some channels, removed the surface and anti-counterfeiting labels, and then reprocessed them to sell as genuine products.

As for what's inside, that's definitely not right.

But just as Lin Ge predicted, this guy will most likely target customers based on their perceived status. These counterfeit graphics cards will probably only be sold to customers who look like they're from out of town.

Most people, upon receiving a graphics card in its original packaging, wouldn't immediately open it or verify it on a machine. They'd likely wait until they've left Baiyan City and returned home before unpacking and enjoying it. But by then, even if problems are discovered, there's no time to make another trip.
Even if someone discovers a problem like Li Yiduo, they can always find a reason to shirk responsibility once they leave the house.

If the customer hasn't left the store or is particularly aggressive or ruthless, the store can use excuses like "the wrong item was taken" or "this is someone else's return/exchange" to smooth things over.

In short, that's basically it. It's not a particularly sophisticated scam. It's basically a gamble that out-of-towners who get scammed won't easily come back to settle accounts, or a gamble on the cost of litigation and arguing about the truth.

But right now, Lin Ge has discovered all of these graphics cards!

If all these graphics cards are determined to be counterfeit, this store will undoubtedly be charged with selling counterfeit and substandard goods. If the interrogation is more rigorous and further investigation is conducted, they might even be able to uncover a fraud charge. Considering that each of Li Yiduo's graphics cards costs over ten thousand yuan, the graphics cards in this cabinet alone, whether low-end or high-end, are estimated to be worth hundreds of thousands of yuan – a truly substantial sum.

By turning on the camera on the collar, Lin Ge clearly filmed the entire room and all the real and fake cards.

He walked around the room for a while and soon found a cabinet full of boxed CPUs, as well as a number of loose CPU components, in another cabinet. To Lin Ge's even greater surprise, he found a laser printer in the next room! Next to the printer were several CPUs that had been printed; the printed text on them was noticeably thicker and much blurrier than on genuine CPUs. But unless you actually use a computer, who can distinguish a genuine CPU from a fake one with the naked eye?
This store even had its own counterfeit workshop, which was an unexpected surprise for Lin Ge.

"The idea is to put fake CPUs in real boxes and sell the real CPUs as bulk products; or sell the real CPUs to local customers who come to the store to build computers, and keep the boxes intact to use as boxes to sell fake products to people from other places. Is that the general idea?"

Lin Ge quickly figured out how this shop operated these fake CPUs.

He didn't know where this store got these counterfeit CPUs from, but he guessed it was just like Li Yiduo had said earlier: they took old models, printed new ones on them, and used them to fool unlucky people from out of town.

In any case, in terms of the strength and methods of safeguarding rights, outsiders really don't have much of a way to deal with him.

Of course, things are different now.

Taking advantage of the moment when no one was looking, Lin Ge photographed all the evidence clearly. He even found WeChat messages on the laptop on the table between Lin Ge and secondhand sellers on Taobao, who were buying various pin types at extremely low prices…

These were all irrefutable pieces of evidence, so Lin Ge leaned close to the computer screen and photographed the entire chat.

At this moment, the arguing outside grew louder. It turned out that the shop owner was getting impatient and wanted to go back into the shop, but Li Yiduo stopped him by raising his voice and arguing loudly.

Lin Ge immediately understood that Li Yiduo was warning him. Looking around, he saw that a considerable amount of incriminating evidence had already been photographed inside the shop. Judging from the current situation, the fat shop owner was almost certain to go to jail; it was just a matter of how long.

That's enough; at least it's enough to help Li Yiduo vent his anger.

As for completely eradicating the problems of counterfeit and substandard computer parts, including the substitution of old for new and inferior products, that's beyond Lin Ge's capabilities. China has a long history of counterfeiting, and to some extent, the country's past tolerance of piracy has led to the current rampant counterfeiting market. This may require a long time and significant progress in the nation's moral and cultural development before it can shed its reputation as a country of counterfeiting.

"Get the hell out of here! If you keep acting like a scoundrel, believe me, I'll make sure you never leave Baiyan City alive!"

The shop owner outside also got angry and even made a direct threat. Of course, he didn't think there was anything wrong with what he said. What could a mere out-of-towner do, even if he was a policeman?
Can you really lock yourself up just because of a single sentence?
"Ha ha……"

Nie Guoqiang smiled without saying a word, only to see a cat finally sneak out of the shop from behind the man. The cat's tail was held high and slightly curved, seemingly in a very good mood.

"Let's go first, there's no need to bother with this kind of thing."

Xie Changjun joined in the performance with a smile.

"..."

Li Yiduo shook his head, wanting to throw away the graphics card box but also feeling reluctant. After being persuaded by Nie Guoqiang and Xie Changjun, he could only leave the street in a disheveled state, looking annoyed, amidst the shop owner's disdainful mockery.

"Mimi, how is she?"

The three of them soon spotted a cat standing on a chair in front of a KFC. It was rubbing its tail against Colonel Sanders' butt while yawning.

"What problems could there be with my handling of affairs?"

Lin Ge tugged at the collar around his neck with his paw, acknowledging Li Yiduo's question. As for anything else, he didn't need to do anything more. The evidence already gathered was sufficient to punish that person.

As for Lin Ge himself, he was already feeling very tired. After all, he had been busy from day to night, climbing mountains, encountering a hit-and-run while eating, and then running here. He had barely closed his eyes all day.

"Wow! Counterfeiting, huh? And so much of it?"

Nie Guoqiang was looking at what Lin Ge had filmed on his phone. When Xie Changjun came over, he moved the phone a little so that all three of them could see it.

To his surprise, shortly after the camera focused on the laser printer, the video suddenly went black. Only a faint hum from the machine could be heard, but no image appeared on the screen.

"broken?"

Nie Guoqiang was stunned for a moment, then pulled up the video progress bar and found that, sure enough, everything after that point was black.

"It's probably a problem with the camera. Should we get it repaired or replaced?"

Li Yiduo beckoned to Lin Ge, picked him up, and checked his collar, but found nothing unusual. He could only conclude it was a problem with the electronic device's lifespan; they would have to find a solution back in Zhang City.

"Hmm, let me call someone over first."

Nie Guoqiang then called Wu Dapeng.

"Old Nie, what's going on?"

Wu Dapeng sounded to be in fairly good spirits. The successful cracking of the Guan Er case brought a sigh of relief to the entire police force in Baiyan City, from top to bottom.

"We out-of-towners are being bullied in your Baiyan City. Does your city bureau care about this?"

Nie Guoqiang laughed and joked, telling Li Yiduo what had happened, and then sending him the video footage that Lin Ge had taken.

"..."

Wu Dapeng remained silent for a long time.

Perhaps feeling somewhat ashamed, he hesitated for a while before saying he would come over immediately and asked Nie Guoqiang and the others to wait a moment, promising a satisfactory answer.

"If we treat this as a criminal case, we probably won't get the money back anytime soon, right?"

Xie Changjun looked at Nie Guoqiang, then at Li Yiduo.

"It's okay, I'm not in a hurry."

Li Yiduo waved his hand dismissively, focusing intently on inspecting Lin Ge's collar. After a while, he suspected a short circuit caused by water seepage, which had burned out the camera lens. There was no other solution besides replacement.

"The procedural complexities are also why many people are reluctant to report minor losses to the police. Take Li Yiduo's case, for example. From filing a case to closing it, it's never a matter of just one or two days. Even if victims from out of town patiently report the crime and cooperate with the police to arrest the suspect, getting their losses back or cooperating with the police investigation is still a long process. Locals are fine; it's just a matter of walking a few steps. But how can out-of-towners stay here and wait? Time and transportation costs need to be considered. If the amount is large, it's fine, but if it's only a few hundred or a thousand yuan, many people will choose to give up."

Xie Changjun shook his head and sighed, feeling that it wasn't easy for ordinary people to cooperate with the police in solving cases. Often, it's not fair to blame the victims for not cooperating; everyone has their own lives and is busy, and who would willingly do something that isn't worthwhile?
"That's why these kinds of people are so rampant! Because they know that outsiders don't have the cost of arguing with them. Or even if they do, they won't suffer any losses. The huge profits from forgery, coupled with the almost negligible cost of apologizing, no wonder they are so unscrupulous. Of course, this time is different. Mimi has found so much evidence of forgery and criminal facts, and the nature of the whole case is completely different."

Nie Guoqiang sneered.

Although it's impossible to completely eliminate this kind of fraudulent business practice that preys on tourists from other places, Nie Guoqiang felt that since it had come to his attention, he had to do something about it no matter what.

Now we just have to see if the Baiyan Municipal Bureau will abandon them after they've served their purpose and refuse to give them any face.

Nie Guoqiang waited quietly.

Fortunately, Wu Dapeng was a relatively reliable squadron leader, and soon he led two cars of police officers over in a grand manner.

After greeting Nie Guoqiang and the other two, as well as Lin Ge, Wu Dapeng subdued the unsuspecting shop owner without saying a word, handcuffed him, and then conducted a thorough search of the entire shop, leaving no detail unchecked.

Even though the shop owner kept claiming to know so-and-so, who cares about these genuine or fake relationships when something really happens?
This scoundrel made me lose face in front of my colleagues from out of town, and he even dared to bully the police!

He even dared to be arrogant and domineering, not taking the police seriously at all.

Can we just leave this kind of person untouched?
Thinking about the hardships and dangers faced by Nie Guoqiang and the others in the Guan Er case, and considering the different opinions they had about the city bureau, Wu Dapeng felt increasingly ashamed and became increasingly rude to the shop owner.

(End of this chapter)