Chapter 3 — Respect Has No Price

The male police officer squinted his eyes for a few seconds then nodded.

“It's true… quite smooth.”

“Next look at the bearing direction.”

I adjusted the magnifying glass slightly, so that the light was coming from the side.

"Everyone, look at the cross-section of this trench. One side is deep, one side is shallow. The deep part is inside, the shallow part is outside."

“What does this prove?”

I turned to look at the manager. Her eyes now began to avoid.

"Prove that the direction of force is from the inside out, not from the outside in."

I stood up straight, my voice was clear and coldly calm.

"If you use your hands to touch or scratch with your nails, the direction of force will definitely be from the outside pressing in. The nails will press down from the skin surface and then pull away, so the mark must be deep on the outside, shallow on the inside."

“But this stain is the exact opposite.”

“It comes from underneath the skin layer… then slits back out.”

I stopped for a beat. Then say the most important sentence.

"This mark could not have been caused by a fingernail."

I raised my head, my voice was terrifyingly calm.

"Clearly, this is an old cut formed while opening the box. When using a paper cutter to cut the packaging, the operator accidentally used too much force, causing the tip of the knife to cut through the inside of the skin."

The whole store immediately fell silent. So quiet that it makes people breathless. My mother behind me gently pulled my shirt and asked in a low voice:

“Girl… what do you mean by ‘old marks’?”

“It's a stain from a long time ago, Mom.”

I turned my head to look at her, my voice calming down.

"This stain has existed for at least a few months, it's not like it just appeared today."

My mother was stunned. Her eyes turned red again, but this time it wasn't fear anymore. It's self-pity... and relief.

“I told you… I really didn't…”

The female police officer gently patted her shoulder.

“Don't worry, aunt.”

I turned my head and my cold eyes landed on the manager's face.

"At the edge of this scratch, a very light layer of oxidation has appeared. Under a magnifying glass, it appears dark yellow."

“If it is a new stain, the skin fibers should be milky white or pale yellow.”

“The current color… will absolutely not form in three to six months.”

The manager's face instantly turned white as a sheet of paper. The two employees who had been following along with the slander earlier now had one of them bowing their heads and staring at the tips of their shoes. The other person secretly took two steps back, wishing he could get behind the shelf. I looked straight at the manager.

“So now there are only two possibilities.”

“First, you guys knew this bag already had old stains, so you deliberately blamed my mother.”

I prolonged my voice, my eyes slowly scanning each person in the store.

"This bag itself has problems. Don't you dare let the guests check it carefully."

“If it can be sold, it will be considered getting rid of the defective product.”

“But if it hasn't been sold yet, as long as someone touches it…”

“You guys immediately rushed out to attack.”

The manager's lips trembled violently.

“Wh…what are you talking about?!”

“I said miscellaneous?”

I laughed.

"Okay. If you still insist that this bag is completely intact, it's because we damaged it..."

“Then I'll check a few other places, surely there won't be any problems, right?”

"Impossible!"

Manager almost shouted.

“You can't touch that bag anymore!”

The female police officer immediately caught this unusual reaction, staring at her with cold eyes.

“B… because…”

Choking management speechless, stammering, unable to say a complete sentence. I didn't give her time to think of a reason. Walk directly to the display counter and pick up the bag again.

"Set down!"

The manager rushed forward and wanted to snatch it back. But the male police officer naturally took a step forward, cleverly blocking her and me. I turned the front of the bag over and pointed the magnifying glass straight at the metal buckle. The golden lock under the LED light looks shiny and extremely eye-catching. But under magnification…

“Really interesting.”

I smiled softly.

"What is up?"

The female police officer leaned closer.

“Everyone, look at the engraved logo on the lock.”

I shifted my glasses towards her.

"The genuine logo will have very light edges. When touched, it will be smooth, and under a magnifying glass, you will see uniform grinding patterns."

“But this…”

I used my fingernail to gently tap the lock.

"The edges of the letters are extremely sharp and have a grainy feel like metal burrs. The grinding marks are also rough and uneven."

I raised my head to look at the manager. Her lips had now lost all color.

“There's also this thread.”

I turned the bag sideways, pointing to the seams.

"Genuine products use waxed linen thread, the surface will have a light gloss layer, uniform stitching angle, fixed stitch density."

“But this one uses polyester thread.”

“Without the wax layer, the stitch spacing is also different.”

I brought the magnifying glass closer to a piece of thread.

“Besides, this place still has a ruffled thread.”

“Ragged polyester thread is an extremely typical feature of cheap counterfeit goods.”

I put the bag down. Then turned around, facing everyone in the store, his voice rang out clearly:

“All signs point to…”

“This limited bag model is listed at 300,000 yuan…”

“Your so-called ‘store town treasures’…”

“It's actually just a high-end fake product.”