"Hello, this is Guo Qifeng speaking, ah, you're from market regulation, right? You're coming over later? That...is there something wrong? OK, OK."
After hanging up the phone, Guo Qifeng wore a puzzled look on his face. What was going on with these market regulation guys now, suddenly saying they wanted to come over? Without any reason, what could be the matter?
He had long since forgotten about the incident with Tang Fangjing. These days, there were plenty of people making threats, and most of them were just looking for a way to save face; it wasn't a big deal.
Well, might as well wait for the people from the market regulation department to come.
After about an hour, the staff from market regulation entered the company, followed by a camera crew.
If there was a chance to be in the spotlight, the propaganda work had to keep up, right? After all, someone had already done the toughest part...
"Mr. Guo Qifeng, you are the boss here, right? I am from the Jingzhou City Market Regulation Bureau. This is the administrative penalty decision that our bureau has made against Hua Shi Real Estate!"
"Take a look, and if you have any objections, you may apply for administrative reconsideration to the people's government at this level or the superior market regulatory department, or you may file an administrative lawsuit with the people's court..."
While the official was still talking about the relief channels, Guo over here was already dumbfounded looking at the penalty decision in front of him.
Just like that, a fine of three hundred thousand, right?
"No, comrade, could there be some mistake? How can we be penalized for no reason, and ordered to rectify within a time limit...on what basis?"
Of course, he saw that the reason for the penalty was the company's use of fake housing listings and false prices for false advertising, deceiving consumers.
But it didn't make sense. Every agency in Jingzhou was doing the same thing; why single us out?
Naturally, he didn't dare say this in front of the staffer.
Especially now, with the camera rolling. Who knew how they would broadcast it? The impact on the company's reputation would be too great—he had to clear this up!
On the other side, the employee directly said, "The penalty decision clearly states that Hua Shi Real Estate Company posted fake listings and false prices on platforms like Anke, Bailiufive...among six second-hand housing platforms to drive traffic and mislead consumers into viewing homes."
"Moreover, all the listing information published by your company was fake!"
Guo wanted to object when he heard the first part, but hearing the second part, he couldn't help but shout, "Comrade, you can't be making baseless accusations. How can you say that all the listings our company posted are fake?"
"Even though you work for market regulation, surely we need to talk about evidence, right?"
In that moment, Guo felt like someone was targeting him and he began to recall if he had offended any major figure within the regulatory department that could lead them to slander him ...
Of course, he was well aware of the company's affairs. Whether there really were genuine listings or not, perhaps there might be some...
After all, the method of attracting consumers with fake listings and fake prices was something he had emphasized in meetings.
Only, he believed that even if all were fake, the market regulation department couldn't possibly have investigated them all, right? They couldn't be so free.
The market supervision department had too much to handle; they simply couldn't have the time to investigate each case in detail.
So, without hesitation, he countered the claims—a clear shot for the camera was a must!
The official on the other side wore a fleeting smile upon hearing this. If it were any other penalty, no one would have responded this way—after all, once there's evidence, the penalty follows.
But this case was just magical, someone had taken the time to thoroughly investigate all these details.
Just the electronic evidence alone had taken their staffers countless extra hours to review!
Afterwards, some people were so exhausted from the relentless review, day and night, that their eyes started to blur…
So before coming here, a leader specifically said that we must make everything clear!
With this in mind, the staff took out another report and began showing it to the camera, starting to explain, "If we say that not a single property listed by Huashi Real Estate is genuine, then it's because we've investigated."
"Investigations revealed that Huashi Real Estate posted a total of three thousand six hundred and eighty-two property listings on six platforms, of which two thousand three hundred and fifty-nine used both fake photos and fake prices, while the remaining one thousand three hundred and twenty-three only used fake prices."
"When we say fake prices here, we mean significantly below the market rate!"
"And for all these investigations, we have evidence."
We must clarify this, otherwise, we will surely be refuted with claims that prices below market rates were set at the landlord's request, and so on…
But it's difficult to justify the prices being significantly below market rates.
Would a landlord be out of their mind to rent out a property for seven or eight hundred bucks when the market rental price is fifteen hundred… it's obviously unreasonable just to think about it.
Listening to the string of numbers, Guo Qifeng went blank—he could only think, did our company really list so many properties?
But soon, another thought crossed his mind—have these people got nothing better to do, to have actually gone through all of these?
This must be someone targeting me; otherwise, I wouldn't be so unaware of these circumstances!
It's not that Guo Qifeng, having been a boss for so many years, can't keep his cool, but this situation is just too outrageous!
That's several thousand property listings we're talking about, to check each one for authenticity definitely means someone higher up has given the order!
The camera was still rolling, and in his frustration, Guo Qifeng blurted out, "So you've investigated my company all over, haven't you? Are all the other agencies in Jingzhou City angels? Am I the only one doing this?"
"Ah? Do you want me to show you?"
He was really anxious—this leak could spell disaster for his agency.
After all, one hundred percent fake is a bit too much…
But actually, this is quite normal. His agency couldn't compete with those national, or even publicly listed, big companies in terms of the number and quality of listings available.
To get business, you'd have to resort to fakery, it seems… and apparently, that's what everyone at each branch was thinking.
Of course, even in a state of urgency, what Guo Qifeng was ready to show the other party on his phone was from another local small company with poor relations. This update is available on n͟o͟v͟e͟l͟f͟i͟r͟e͟.net
However, the staff member on the other side didn't even look at it and instead took out another notice, saying, "Mr. Guo, please wait a moment, our bureau has today imposed administrative penalties on some twenty-plus agencies in Jingzhou."
"Presumably, the others have received theirs too. Additionally, this is a notification of industry rectification. Your false advertising went too far, with one set of photos being used for over a hundred property listings. What kind of behavior is that?"
Guo Qifeng was left speechless, completely unable to reply. This was targeting the entire agency industry. Had the market supervision authorities gone mad?
All these properties, you really investigated them?
The staff member was about to speak when the company's door was pushed open. Someone came in and asked, "Who is Guo Qifeng, the legal representative of Huashi Real Estate?"
"Oh, that's you? I'm from Jingzhou Court. The Handong Province Consumer Association has brought a public interest lawsuit against Huashi Real Estate and twenty-eight other agencies in Handong Province. This is the summons. Please sign to acknowledge receipt."
Guo Qifeng stared blankly at the summons, then back at the guy in front of him, his expression one of bewilderment. Have you guys coordinated this?