My dad just got back from Daraton with a huge bag of uncut jade.

I set them up in the store, and someone came in and smashed them all.

This guy was live-streaming, yelling into his phone, "Folks, send a gift and I'll smash once. Let's show this crooked shop owner what you've got."

During the live, he smashed every piece of jade in the display into dust.

Just then, I appeared at the doorway, casually puffing on a cigarette.

Calmly, I opened the bank app on my phone, flashed my account number to the camera, and said, "All these were worth 12 million dollars. Guys, you gonna help him foot the bill?"

***

Dad always brought back loads of gifts from his trips. This time from Daraton, known for its jade, it was a big bag of uncut jade.

Reluctantly, I ended up opening a jewelry store to offload them.

This was about the umpteenth store I'd opened because of Dad's impulse buys.

That day, I woke up without an alarm, ready to take the new business license to the store.

Waiting at a red light, I killed time scrolling through short videos on my phone.

After watching a couple of dance videos, one live stream grabbed my attention.

It was "Hammer," the anti-fraud streamer who'd recently risen to fame.

"Guys, today a loyal fan tipped me off about a jewelry store nearby selling fakes. Let's hit a million likes, and I'll take you all on a live fake-busting raid!" "Hammer" was rallying his viewers.

I even found myself hitting the like button.

Curiosity got the best of me, and I pulled out my phone again across the street to keep watching.

The whole anti-fraud scene was buzzing online. It had started with exposing food additives, now moved to smashing counterfeit goods.

Lots of people were jumping on the bandwagon to grab some attention.

Hammer had snagged a slice of fame from this anti-fraud wave, becoming somewhat of a local celeb.

But the street he was on looked just like mine.

With a growing suspicion, I watched even more closely.

"Guys, this is the shop we're hitting today. The loyal fan says it doesn't even have a proper license. Definitely a shady operation," "Hammer" announced.

He swung his camera around, and there was the sign for Dragon Jewelry.

"What the fuck? That's my new store!" I blurted out.

Right then, the live stream's chat was buzzing.

[Cut the talk, man. Get to it. I wanna see you bust some fakes.]

[My ex-husband left me last year because I bought a fake bracelet. I'm all for what you're doing!]

[Hey, to the comment above. Maybe your ex left because you're clueless. Has nothing to do with the store.]

[Host, got any proof this place is a scam?]

I tossed in a comment too, just to see how "Hammer" would tackle these doubts.

But he just kept thanking folks for their gifts, completely ignoring my question.

Deciding not to head back just yet, I grabbed a coffee at a nearby café and watched his next move.

"Thanks for all the gifts, folks. Haven't followed yet? Hit that follow button. We get to a million, and the fake busting begins," Hammer announced into his phone.

I glanced up just as his follower count was shooting through the roof, hitting a million in no time.

Just then, a young girl walked into frame, smoothly unlocking the shop door as if it was all rehearsed.

I recognized her instantly on the livestream. It was Alice, the clerk I had recently hired.

I had given her a spare key for convenience.

It never occurred to me that she was the loyal fan "Hammer" mentioned.

This made me even more puzzled.

"I've been nothing but good to her. Why would she turn on my store?" I wondered.

Lost in thought, I didn't even realize Hammer's stream had now reached 100,000 viewers.

The chat was so flooded I couldn't see anything. I turned off the chat overlay.

On the screen, "Hammer" actually pulled out a hammer from his bag.

Then, pointing at a jade piece, he said, "Look at this, folks. A damn stone marked up to over a million dollars. Isn't this a scam?"

With a loud crash, he smashed the display window.

Turning the camera back on himself, he egged on the viewers, "Folks, send a gift and I'll smash once. Let's show this crooked shop owner what you've got."

Instantly, the screen was flooded with gift animations.

Just on the say-so of the clerk, my new store got smashed up in front of a hundred thousand viewers.

I should be mad, but oddly enough, but oddly enough, I felt a bit of a thrill.

I had been stressing about how to sell all this jade, and then buyers just walked right in.

The best part? Those hundred thousand viewers in "Hammer's" livestream all saw the whole thing.

And "Hammer", who was busy smashing up the place, actually did me a favor.

"100 thousand, 1 million, 3 million, 5 million, 10 million..." I was doing the math in my head.

Hammer smashed the last piece of jade.

Just then, I appeared at the doorway, casually puffing on a cigarette.

Calmly, I opened the bank app on my phone, flashed my account number to the camera, and said, "All these were worth 12 million dollars. Guys, you gonna help him foot the bill?"

Alice saw me at the door. She pointed my way and shouted, "That's Warren Wilson, the crook running this scam shop!"

In no time, "Hammer" and his crew had me cornered.

And of course, now I had the attention of his hundred thousand viewers too.

Facing the camera, I coolly asked "Hammer", "Mr. Hammer, don't you think you should've done some checking before you started smashing?"

Seeing how calm I was, "Hammer" whipped up the viewers to start going after me.

Many chimed in on the livestream. [You don't have a business license, so how is this not a shady shop?]

[Hilarious, your own clerk ratted you out, and you still deny it? Shame on you.]

[This guy's a crook. Smashing his shop is too good for him. Hammer, you should call the cops on him.]

I kept my cool and explained on camera, "First off, the store just opened a few days ago. I've got the paper business license right here in my hand."

I held my business license up to the camera for a solid ten seconds before adding, "About that accusation from the clerk, why don't you ask her yourself?"

I gestured towards Alice. "Come on, tell them. Why do you think my store's a scam? Show us any proof you've got."

Alice's face flushed red as she pointed at me and accused, "On my first day, I accidentally broke a bracelet, and you threatened to dock my entire month's salary. That's 3000 dollars!"

"So that's what this is about." I realized.

Alice had been careless on her first day, breaking a bracelet.

I wasn't going to make her pay initially, but a friend said that would only encourage her carelessness, so I decided on a fine that would teach her a lesson: one month's salary.

I never thought she'd spin it into a story about my store being a scam.

"Well, if that’s the game, I'm not holding back," I thought.

"We're not just talking about a month's salary now. The piece you broke is valued at 30 thousand dollars," I clarified.

The crowd laughed when they heard the price.

"30,000 dollars for that damn rock? Ever seen that kind of money? Ridiculous," one person laughed.

"Man, I've never seen someone try to scam so hard," another chimed in.

The livestream's chat started siding with Alice.

[She's just a young girl, new to the workforce. Are you really trying to scam her?]

[30 thousand for that damn stone? This is obviously a scam.]

[Yeah, the boss is just trying to squeeze the young girl for all she's worth. What a shameless jerk.]

I couldn't help but chuckle at the comments.

I thought, "They think asking for 30,000 dollars is a scam?

If I told them it was the cheapest piece, they'd probably drown me in spit right here.

It's my property. I decide the compensation. That's my right.

Guess poverty limits your understanding."

Just as I was about to respond, "Hammer" turned the camera back on himself.

He said, "Folks, you all heard it, right? Because of one broken bracelet, this crook wants a month's salary from his employee. Now he's demanding 30 thousand dollars. It's clear he's trying to rob her blind.

Hit up the chat, show some support for me. Let's show him your power!"

Dad always said, "Don't get worked up over idiots."

So, I didn't waste my breath further and just called the cops.

"I'm curious to see if your fans can foot your bill," I mused.

There we were at the police station, "Hammer" and Alice sitting right across from me.

"Hammer" still had this smug look, even whipped out his phone to post some photos on Instagram, taunting me.

Alice looked pretty smug too, thinking she dodged paying me 3,000 dollars because of that live stream, maybe even picked up some new followers.

A police office walked in, notepad in hand, and asked "Hammer," "Why'd you smash his store?"

"Sir, I was just cleaning up the community. That shop's a scam. You guys should be thanking me," Hammer boasted.

It was only then, through the police questioning, that I found out "Hammer's" real name was Batter Lane.

I couldn't help but wonder if his parents had any clue he'd end up smashing other people's stuff when they named him.

The cop then turned to Batter. "You say his shop is a scam. Got any proof?"

"Absolutely," Batter replied, winking at Alice. "Alice, relax. Just tell the officer what you heard that day."

Alice glanced at the officer, then at me, and slowly started, "The day Warren's friend was at the store, I overheard his friend ask how much a piece of uncut jade was. Warren told him since it's you, just 200 dollars."

I couldn't help but laugh. "Alice, it's my stuff. I can sell it to a friend for whatever I want, right?"

Batter jumped in. "Sir, did you hear that? He's still making excuses. Just lock him up and shut his shop down."

The officer looked troubled. "Are you sure you weren't jacking up the prices for others?"

I looked him in the eye. "Completely sure."

Turning back to Alice, the officer asked, "Other than what you overheard, do you have any other evidence?"

Thinking he was helping, Batter chimed in, "Sir, what proof does Warren have that his story is true? Plus, all the jade is broken now."

I raised an eyebrow and said word by word, "I have the purchase records."

I laid out all the invoices right in front of the officer.

Batter started backpedaling, "Those invoices could be fake. How do we know they're legit?"

I stared at Batter coldly and said, "I'm open to any authorized verification."

At that, Batter and Alice visibly panicked, at a loss for words.

The officer declared, "Given the large sums involved, we need to wait for the results from the verification agency before taking further action."

He then warned Batter and Alice, "Don't leave town until we get those results."

Realizing there was no point in arguing further, the officer let us go, instructing us to wait for further instructions.

As we left the police station, Batter didn't seem the least bit sorry for smashing the wrong store.

Instead, he immediately went live again.

I ignored him and grabbed a cab back to my store.