Rumors say that before A came to Menghai to chase his dream, he was broadcasting jade in Ruili and made a fortune. Hearing that selling Pu'er tea via live stream was even more profitable, he arrived in Menghai in style with several luxury cars and a team of over a dozen people.
First, he organized supply sources. He put on airs, was generous in treating guests to good food and wine, and within a few days, he got to know a large number of tea farmers and tea merchants. At dinner tables, tea tables, and barbecue tables, A began to boast about how awesome he was, how capable his team was, and how abundant his funds were... The impression he gave was that he was professional and wealthy, and following him would lead to great fortune.
In less than a week, A rented a large warehouse and had it renovated within a few days. It was very professional, divided into live-streaming area, shipping area, reception area, and storage area. Dozens of tea merchants and farmers delivered dozens of tons of various teas to the warehouse in less than a day.
In the second week, A's team started live streaming, launching three live-stream rooms at once. One persona was the son-in-law of Laobanzhang, another was the cousin (female) of Laobanzhang, and the third was the cousin (male) of Laobanzhang. The fact that they spoke with various non-local accents from different provinces did not affect the persona of being tea farmers or relatives of tea farmers. Advertising fees were pumped in as if there were prizes for consumption. The scripts were professional, and the personas were well-established. The streamers, reportedly tour guides by background, were eloquent. All three rooms sold massively, shipping thousands of orders a day, sometimes over ten thousand on certain days, with daily sales averaging 2 million RMB.
A and his team became famous in Menghai. Those seeking cooperation came like a tide, overwhelming them. A had the demeanor of a general, was amiable, and paid promptly. By the beginning of the next month, the previous month's tea payments were always settled. For a time, A's reputation soared even higher.
A also had a killer move: he was generous with tea samples. Buying tea came with dozens of grams of samples. If the sample tea was not good, customers could return the tea directly, and the samples were given to tea friends as gifts.
In the fourth month, A's return rate gradually rose from 20% to around 50%.
At the end of the month, A announced a one-week suspension of streaming, saying the team was going abroad for expansion and team building.
In the fifth month, the warehouse in Menghai remained, but A did not return.
By mid-month, the tea farmers and merchants in Menghai realized that A and his team had absconded. Their phones were unreachable. A few days later, news came from Ruili that no such person existed.
A's company's legal representative and shareholders were several elderly people thousands of miles away, unrelated, with no repayment ability. The warehouse rent was only paid for half a year. The unpaid tea payments amounted to tens of millions, and the remaining tea in the warehouse was less than one ton.
On a certain platform, a large number of exposure videos began to appear, all saying that the tea samples and the actual tea from A's live-stream rooms did not match. After trying the samples and finding them good, customers would store the tea away. By the time they discovered the tea did not match the samples, the return period had passed. Now even the live-stream rooms were shut down.
A mess.
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