“If he’s not selling jade, then who is he?” Helian Wei Wei raised her eyebrows.
The middle-aged man and his old mother exchanged glances, everyone’s eyes were filled with exhaustion.
His wife even sighed and shook her head, “It’s all my fault.”
“This has nothing to do with you. Who would have thought that they would be so deceiving.” The middle-aged man turned his head and said to Helian Wei Wei, “The story goes like this. My mother is too long in the tooth, and my daughter is but a child. My wife and I thought about going on a trip but we decided to bring them along this time, because people said that the scenery in Li City is amazing. After we arrived in Kunming, we took a train to get here. Everything was fine. After we arrived in Li City, there were very few standard taxis near the train station when most of them were taxis doing business. We truly felt the warmth of Li City as we got in a taxi. The driver didn’t ask for more money, he was even kind enough to introduce quite a few landscapes along the way. Then, he asked if we had booked a hotel. He said that if there was no place for us to stay, he could always give some recommendations. I saw that he was a good man and had even chatted a few words with him. I also let him know that we had booked a hotel in advance and planned to enjoy ourselves here. The driver did not push us into staying with him. Instead, he added enthusiastically that it was good to live inside of the ancient city. In the evening, we could go shopping in the street mainly for foreigners. But judging from the four of us, and with my elderly mother tagging along, it would be best if we were to join a tour. There were some places in Li City that could be taxing on us, such as going to Cang Mountain and around Erhai Lake, which was not very convenient. In the beginning, I planned to rent a car to drive around Erhai Lake after we arrived in Li City. In fact, it was better to join a tour of the scenic spots in Cang Mountain. And so we followed the driver to the travel agency he recommended. The place was packed with people, no doubt they were there to sign themselves up for a tour as well. I felt reassured when seeing this, so I handed the fee to one of the tour guides. The tour guide was none other than Guide Liu who was having a conflict with me a while ago. At first, he was very thoughtful and spoke like a native. He even reassured us not to worry about the following day as he would notify the driver to pick us up and take us to the tourist bus. There were many individual tourist groups like this in Li City. Usually, there would be two attractions arranged in one day. One of them was an introduction to the culture of the White Clan, and the other was a visit to Nanzhao Amorous Island, and no shopping was included.
My wife and I did not think much about it. The driver that picked us up the next day and sent us directly to the tourist bus was the same person who had picked us up from the train station.
There were more than 30 people on a tourist bus, and they were mostly individual travelers.
Along the way, Guide Liu introduced us to the customs of Li City. He also told us stories about his experiences in guiding tours, where some random man or woman who had bought an emerald bracelet joked that since Li City was very close to Myanmar, raw materials were just a step away, so the prices of emeralds and jades were quite inexpensive. There was a possibility that it would rise in value after one has purchased it. He told us that we would soon be at the ethnic area and everyone could take a look. After he finished speaking, he took all of us as a group to a mall that sold jewelry. The mall looked rather informal. Originally, I had no desire to buy anything. My wife has always been good to my mother, and she mentioned that mother’s birthday is right around the corner. Everyone knew the worth of jades, and so she wanted to buy one for her. However, when we saw that the price of the jade bracelet was unusually high, about 20,000 yuan, I became slightly hesitant. Albeit, the sales manager was really professional. With a mobile phone in hand, he taught us how to judge a jade’s quality and transparency. He even prompted that if I did not feel assured, I could go to the validation office on the first floor to have them evaluated. The jades that they sold were all Grade A’s. After the purchase, a first-class national certificate would be issued. I was tempted by the sales manager’s words. After all, this area is situated quite close to the manufacturing site of jades. I thought that there shouldn’t be any problem, and so I let my wife handle the payment. After all, it was her filial piety. At that time, mother kept turning us down, but I could see that she liked it very much. My mother did not have many good days throughout her life, and since she is no longer young now, we just want to make her happy.
After we came out of the jewelry store, the tour guide took us to a silverware shop.
I knew afterward that something was starting to go sideways.
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They said that there would be no shopping throughout the tour, but we did not get to visit the culture of the White Clan. Why were we always buying things?
After the silverware shop, we went for tea. There, he did talk a little about the culture of the White Clan, saying that the local young ladies were given the name ‘Golden Flowers’. However, after we were finished with our tea, the few girls who had steeped the tea also persuaded us to buy some tea leaves.
Doubt started to arise in my heart, I did not feel like going on board the cruise ship anymore. I did not dare tell my mother and wife about it before having some confirmation. Nonetheless, throughout the whole trip, spending money was a trivial matter, but mother was already exhausted.
No one could bear such excessive shopping.
The first thing I did when I got back to the hotel was to pick up the phone and make a few calls. I asked if any of my friends knew about jades and if they could help me evaluate an emerald.
After about an hour, a friend called me and said that if I had bought this jade bracelet in a mall, it would be worth up to 3,000 yuan at most. When I heard such a reply, I was stunned. I thought that the marked price would be two or three thousand higher, but I did not expect that the bracelet was not worth even a fraction of what we had paid. I really could not accept that the actual value was a far cry from the marked price. I recalled back when they were doing the introductions, I saw that the official website of Grand Jubilee Jewelry had stated that normally a return of a good could be requested within 30 days and it could be handled in accordance with the procedures. So I immediately contacted the after-sales staff of Grand Jubilee Jewelry Mall. The first words that came out of their mouths were ‘no returns of goods’. They asked that I find the tour guide who had taken me to the mall for shopping so he could act as a liaison for me. The official website stated that one could normally request a return of goods within 30 days, though it may seem in name only.
Feeling rather helpless, I called Guide Liu on the very same night. When he heard that I wanted to return the goods, he had a complete change of attitude. He became satirizing and mocking, saying that if I did not have money to spare, then I shouldn’t even be traveling. There was no such thing as returning what I have bought.
My mother became upset because of this. She felt that it was because of her that we had wasted our hard-earned money. Our original intention of buying the emerald was to be given to mother as a gift, lightening up her frame of mind, but I did not expect my plan to be counterproductive.
As my family listened to the tour guide speaking over the phone, my heart was hammered with annoyance and misery. We were here to have a contented trip, not to spend money to get a scolding. My heart was filled with so much wrath that I told him I would file a complaint against him. Who knew that he wasn’t afraid at all and on top of that, he sneered at me, telling me that I could complain to my heart’s desire. I really didn’t expect that there would still be such unreasonable people in this world. I felt my chest growing tight, I wanted justice, but who knew that…”