Chapter 88

Chapter 88: Fang Zhe never thought he would...

A group of martial arts experts disguised as scam victims, blending in among university students, surprisingly looked quite harmonious.

Mi Chengzhi prided himself on being a senior here. Although he wasn't too fond of the new arrivals, he still responsibly made introductions.

"Quick, eat while it's hot! Don’t be fooled by the potatoes and cabbage, they’re delicious! Out there, you may have big fish and meat, but none of that can beat our potatoes and cabbage."

The anti-scam expert Da Yong on the opposite side patted his stomach and nodded vigorously.

"Really delicious. I don’t know where they found this cook," Da Yong sighed, "How did such a talented cook end up in this scam den? Once I get out of here..."

He almost caught himself saying too much!

Da Yong originally wanted to say that such a good cook was really wasted here. When he broke up this scam ring, he’d have to introduce this cook to a hotel!

Embarrassed, he swallowed the words about the hotel and started chatting with a new recruit nearby, using the delicious food as a conversation starter while also conducting an interview:

"Young man, don’t you think so? The potatoes and eggplants are so fragrant. If we had some meat dishes, it would be even better, right?"

The young monk, disguised as a motorcycle rider, was holding the plate of vegetarian eggplant fritters, thoroughly entranced.

In the two dishes made by Chen Ran, one had dried shrimp and the other had scallions. Taking advantage of some leftover boiled potatoes, she quickly made a version of the eggplant fritters without scallions for the young monk.

Even the version without scallions was delicious!

He was savoring the charm of the carbs when suddenly he heard a chubby uncle next to him asking if he wanted some meat...

The young monk panicked. He was about to raise his hand to chant a mantra but quickly remembered his current identity. In embarrassment, he could only continue eating with his head down.

Da Yong was stunned. Why were these new recruits so cold?

He turned to the old man beside him and tried to strike up a conversation: "This young chef is really talented. Once I make money with Manager Liu, I’m definitely going to invite this chef to open a restaurant! At least one hundred square meters!"

Old Master Cheng was savoring the crab meat with great pleasure.

The previous dish, Dinghu Shangsu, had inspired him, and while it hadn’t drastically increased his skill, it had connected his thoughts and allowed his lifelong learning to come together in a flash.

Now, with these two dishes, he was carefully tasting them, trying to gain some new insight.

But Da Yong interrupted, which made him slightly unhappy.

In these past few days, he had fought tooth and nail at the抢菜大會 (Dish Grabbers’ Competition) to get just a few bites. The opportunity to come here and rescue Chen Ran was also something he had to argue fiercely for!

This young man really didn’t know his place.

"Open a restaurant? One hundred square meters? You’re daydreaming!"

If a one-hundred-square-meter restaurant could hire Chen Ran, then who would need him? Everyone in line would be out of their minds!

"Eat! If you don’t want to, just give me one!"

Ever since his enlightenment after eating the Dinghu Shangsu, Old Master Cheng's thoughts had become clearer, and he fully utilized the characteristic of being "gossipy."

Before Da Yong could react, one of the eggplant fritters on his plate had already disappeared! He was about to snatch it back but saw that every eggplant fritter on Old Master Cheng's plate had already been bitten into!

Da Yong took a deep breath, his expression slightly gloomy.It's so difficult to find someone to talk about their journey!

At the beginning, it was a bunch of university students, and the conversation always went the same: "Well, can't find a job, this place provides food and accommodation, and the food is really good, so I’ll just stay here!"

Now, finally, some working professionals have come...

Da Yong took a deep breath. Finally, he was undercover at a pyramid scheme, and he needed to gather more material! He wanted to talk to more people, understand what everyone was thinking.

He leaned over to the side, noticing a guy who was eating his meal, his arm exposed and especially white, looking like he came from a wealthy family. How did he end up here?

Just as he was about to get closer, the guy finished his plate and casually nudged Da Yong aside. Then, he smoothly spoke a string of fluent English.

Da Yong was gently nudged, causing him to stumble back, but someone quickly steadied him.

He looked down at his plate of food.

Forget it, better finish eating quickly! Based on his understanding of these university students, if he didn’t finish now, he wouldn’t be getting a second serving!

The interview? That’s still far off!

Da Yong sighed, picked up his plate, and dug into a big mouthful of food.

The familiar taste...

Although it was just potatoes, eggplants, and cabbage, and the menu was the same every day, after eating it for so many days, he still couldn’t get enough!

Moreover, he was amazed to find that the chef's skills were improving!

The vegetarian eggplant fritters from the first day were just crispy, but today, the fritters had a light, effortless feel to them.

He kept talking for so long, and the fritters had already cooled down!

Normally, fried food gets greasier when it cools, but these vegetarian eggplant fritters, when cold, actually had a flavor that was harder to detect when hot.

Da Yong silently made a mental note!

Although this public welfare initiative was stronger, after so many years as a self-media blogger, he had saved up a decent sum of money.

With 500,000, he could invest in a small restaurant, and then hire this young lady to be the chef. That would definitely lead to wealth, right?

With this thought in mind, Da Yong took a big bite of the eggplant fritter, feeling that its deliciousness now came with a hint of financial temptation!

"Newcomers are here, let’s welcome them!"

Liu Chenyang had brought people back.

According to the usual practices of a pyramid scheme, when new people joined, there had to be a big welcoming ceremony. This was also the easiest time to establish a sense of team belonging.

However, today’s welcome was a little lackluster...

Liu Chenyang was not surprised at all.

— They must be eating!

He slapped the back of the young man he just recruited: "Come on, eat! The food here is really good!"

Shao Yuxun reluctantly followed Liu Chenyang, carrying his tray to line up for food.

In order to get Chen Ran to cook at his place, he had been watching the Tang Martial Arts School for many days and had finally discovered Chen Ran’s latest job location!Over these many days, he had also gathered information about this amazing chef’s various feats.

From turning a KTV business from loss to profit, to strengthening and expanding a haunted house, to getting every school-age child in a certain city hooked just to eat lion’s head meatballs in kindergarten...

He had even prepared to search for this chef in some strange, unusual places, but he never expected to find her in the pyramid scheme’s den!

Shao Yuxun silently picked up his plate and followed the fat man ahead of him. He overheard the man ask Chen Ran in a low voice while serving food:

"Hey, little girl, do you ever think about opening a restaurant in the future?"

Hearing Da Yong's question, everyone, except for him, had a rather strange expression.

Especially Shao Yuxun behind him.

Chen Ran didn’t pay much attention to it. She smiled and replied, "Maybe in the future."

After she finished her work here, she would definitely open a restaurant. The system had even prepared a sign for her restaurant.

However, this was not something to discuss with outsiders.

After serving the meal, she extended her hand to take the next tray, pressing the food down firmly as usual, then handed it over.

Fang Zhe looked on with a slightly pained expression.

He sighed, then sized up Shao Yuxun’s clothes before pulling Liu Chenyang aside, who was eating heartily.

“Liu Ge... We still haven’t hit any sales targets yet. What should we do?”

Just now, when Chen Ran was serving food, Fang Zhe went into the kitchen for a quick check, and the potatoes and cabbage they had bought earlier were almost gone!

"Should we start some forced measures?" he asked.

"Already considering forced measures this early?" Liu Chenyang frowned. "Let’s wait a couple more days. In five or six days, Mr. Lou will be here. He’s bringing a lot of people..."

Fang Zhe almost cried!

He pulled out his phone and showed Liu Chenyang: "Look! I only have fifty bucks left! If we keep going like this... how about you just front me the money for the meals?"

Liu Chenyang refused to chip in.

This den was Fang Zhe's responsibility. He was Liu Chenyang's downline and only earned money from giving lectures.

Besides, just looking at the university students and the newcomers, Fang Zhe wouldn't be able to hold on much longer either! They ate so much!

The team was small, most of them were with Mr. Lou. If they really upset these people, no one knew who would strike first!

"Think of something, think of something," Liu Chenyang comforted Fang Zhe. "You’re the one in charge here. You put in the start-up money, and you’ll get the lion's share later. If I pitch in now, when it comes time to split the profits, it might get tricky, right?"

Fang Zhe took a deep breath, fighting the urge to start a fight, and stormed off.

As he passed the kitchen, he saw the new recruit, Tang Yang, peeling potatoes with lightning speed. The last few potatoes were almost gone.

They were going to run out of food again!

Fang Zhe's expression twisted for a moment before he quickly left.

That would be the last time anyone saw him that night. It wasn’t until the next day at noon, when Liu Chenyang was starting to worry that Fang Zhe had run off, that he finally came back.His condition had worsened.

His face was bruised, his steps were unsteady, and his voice was hoarse.

"Come downstairs and help me carry the vegetables!"

Liu Chenyang didn’t dare provoke Fang Zhe. He followed him downstairs to carry the vegetables. Halfway through, he couldn't help but ask him.

"What did you go do?"

Fang Zhe’s expression was a mix of near tears. He turned his face to glare at Liu Chenyang for five seconds before cracking a grin and continuing to speak.

"I worked a day sorting deliveries..."

Liu Chenyang silently lowered his head, not daring to say another word, afraid of provoking this guy.

Sorting deliveries was the most exhausting job, supposedly one that could make you lose ten pounds in a month!

Looking at the time Fang Zhe had disappeared, it was most likely he had worked a late shift that ended the next morning.

Seeing Liu Chenyang stay silent, Fang Zhe shot him a resentful glare before continuing to walk upstairs with heavy steps.

If he had another chance, he would never have joined this pyramid scheme!

Carrying a bag of cabbage, Fang Zhe panted as he trudged upstairs, feeling like everything in front of him was starting to blur.

After finally bringing up the cabbage and potatoes, and seeing Chen Ran cook a meal, he realized that half of the vegetables he had worked all night to get were gone again. Fang Zhe was about to snap.

With bloodshot eyes, he couldn’t help but seek out Liu Chenyang. "We need to open the orders! Hurry up and open the orders! Where’s Mr. Lou? Is he coming or not? If he’s not coming, I’ll do it myself!"

Fang Zhe, seemingly mad, made Liu Chenyang shudder.

"Calm down..."

"I want to open the orders! I want money! Who does pyramid schemes like this where you end up working just to pay for vegetables?!"

Fang Zhe grabbed Liu Chenyang by the collar, not letting go until Liu Chenyang pulled out his phone and began contacting Mr. Lou.

Only then did Fang Zhe release him.

Liu Chenyang watched Fang Zhe panting on the sofa, and he also felt a bit afraid.

"Mr. Lou, we can almost start killing the orders here..."

"Indeed, we haven’t opened the orders yet..."

Mr. Lou sounded a bit impatient.

He was running a northern-style pyramid scheme, not one of those southern schemes that involved marketing and psychology. No money? Then no sleep! If anyone disagrees, just get physical!

"Alright, I got it. I’ll bring people over. But, the money we earn after this... it won’t be much your concern anymore."

After hanging up, he gave a mocking smile to his subordinate next to him.

"These two, Liu and Fang, are useless. This round's nearly done, let’s sell them off. They’re so deep in now, they won’t dare report us even if we send them to Southeast Asia."

"Heh, Mr. Lou, you’re so smart! Two birds with one stone!"

"Alright, let’s go. I heard these two are good at recruiting... they brought in more than thirty people?"

A subordinate leaned in to light a cigarette for Mr. Lou. "Didn’t expect it, huh? These two idiots haven’t opened a single order, but they’ve tricked quite a few people. We might actually make a big profit this time!"Luo Dongcheng took a deep puff of smoke, blowing the smoke in his subordinate’s face. He watched as the subordinate didn’t dare show any anger, and then he continued speaking with satisfaction.

"There are a lot of people, but bring me some strong and capable ones. Don't let the few people we can’t control mess everything up. If over thirty people turn against us, it could get quite troublesome."

"Don’t worry, Mr. Luo, our people are capable too!"

The subordinate patted his chest loudly.

"We’ve got quite a few who practice Taekwondo! Some of them even did a live-stream where they kicked bricks, tons of people watched!"

Mr. Luo nodded, waving his hand as someone draped a coat over him.

"Alright, let’s go!"

As they moved into action, Fang Zhe also received the news.

He, who had been holding his breath, finally relaxed.

Since Mr. Luo was coming, that meant they would definitely get the money!

When he had tricked his own father into coming, his father had been reluctant to part with the money at first. But after Mr. Luo spoke with him for a while, his father handed over the money!

With a sigh of relief, he suddenly felt that everyone around him was more familiar and friendly.

Those students who only knew how to eat, whom he had found annoying before, now seemed quite adorable!

"Hahaha, isn’t it delicious? Everyone, eat more! Eat more!"

Fang Zhe even patted Chen Ran on the shoulder. "Chef, you’ve worked hard these past few days. Why don’t you sit with everyone and eat some? I’ll serve the food."

He wasn’t about to let the chef off the hook! If it wasn’t for her cooking being so delicious, he wouldn’t have been forced to work just to earn enough for vegetables!

However, Fang Zhe didn’t notice that the moment his hand touched Chen Ran’s shoulder, an air of hostility immediately filled the room.

Old Master Cheng seemed to grow a full twenty centimeters taller, transforming from a rural old man into a terrifying killing god!

It wasn’t until they heard what he said that everyone exchanged a knowing look and returned to their previous, weary expressions.

Chen Ran threw the spoon at Fang Zhe and went to queue up. Originally, she would’ve stood at the very end, but the others insisted on letting her go first.

This made Fang Zhe even more irritated.

When he served food to Chen Ran, he deliberately only gave her half of the usual portion.

The second person was Mi Chengzhi.

While serving food, Fang Zhe thought to himself, "This kid who once snatched my stuffed eggplant will not be spared either!"

Especially when he saw Mi Chengzhi generously share half of his food with Chen Ran.

It wasn’t just Mi Chengzhi...

Almost every student who lined up to get their food quietly shared a portion of their meal with Chen Ran.

The food, which barely covered the bottom of the plate before, now piled up like a small mountain.

Fang Zhe stared in disbelief, even doubting his own eyes.

When did these students, who only knew how to eat, become so generous? Usually, they fought over food like wolves, and just a single bite would feel like life and death to them.Why are they being so generous to the chef now?

Fang Zhe sneered coldly in his heart: They only know how to eat. Once Mr. Luo arrives, we’ll see if they can still eat!

Finally, after serving the food, everyone gathered back in the room to eat. Chen Ran sat on the clean cushion that everyone had given her, listening to their kind questions and concerns.

She couldn’t help but quietly ask Tang Yang, “Sister Tang, do you think Fang Zhe is up to something?”

Tang Yang smiled lightly, “It’s fine, just eat. Whatever they’re planning, we’re not afraid.”

“How can you not be afraid? Aren’t you afraid of them killing someone?” Old Master Cheng said seriously, lowering his voice. “Everyone needs to be careful later. Let them make the first move!”

“Right, right!” The old Taoist, who practiced praying mantis kung fu, didn’t seem to be a soft touch either. “Let them make the first move, then we strike hard. But remember, if they run, don’t chase them. Once you chase, it changes everything!”

“Impressive!”

Tang Yang’s eyes showed a change when she looked at the old Taoist. “How about we exchange some tips later?”

The old Taoist modestly replied, “It’s nothing, nothing. But if I had to say one thing—read more of the Criminal Code! That’s the supreme principle!”

Fan Zayong, who had been involved in anti-fraud work, also sensed the atmosphere was off. As they were eating, he heard dog barks outside, three short and one long.

That was the prearranged signal! Mr. Luo was coming!

He started to feel a bit nervous.

From his understanding of Mr. Luo’s group, these people were supposedly just doing pyramid schemes, but in reality, they were ruthless and had many thugs under their control.

He looked at the crowd in the room...

There were elderly men around eighty, kids with shaved heads who looked a bit dazed, and mostly university students who were blushing with fullness after eating.

He had been a soldier before! When things go down, he needed to be at the front!

Before going undercover, Fan Zayong had gone through some files, and some people had even been beaten so badly they’d suffered fractures.

He heard heavy footsteps in the hallway outside, took a deep breath, and finished the second plate of food he had grabbed earlier in one go.

He bitterly smiled, patting his stomach.

He had been undercover for over a week, expecting to lose weight, but instead, he’d gained a lot.

A little extra weight was good for enduring beatings!

Outside, Fang Zhe excitedly rushed over to open the door, “Mr. Luo! You’re finally here!”

He had expected a warm welcome from the organization, but to his surprise, as soon as he rushed over, someone slapped him so hard that he was stunned.

Luo Dongcheng glanced at him with disdain and snorted coldly through his nose, “This useless fool is done for, shut his mouth, and send him off this afternoon.”

He didn’t bother to look at Fang Zhe again, and with a chuckle, he turned his gaze to the people in the room.

“Oh? I didn’t expect this, looks like you’ve been living quite well, huh?”

Luo Dongcheng had visited several of his pyramid scheme spots in the past few days. Nearly everyone in those places had dark circles under their eyes, looking like they hadn’t slept for days.

But here?

Ha! This group of people looked well-fed with rosy cheeks and round faces!"Alright, the good times are over. Everyone, get ready."

He waved his hand, and the fierce thugs around him charged forward!

Having been involved in so many schemes domestically, Luo Dongcheng wasn’t planning to stay any longer. Once he finished squeezing everything he could out of this group, he was going to escape the country.

"No need to hold back, this is the last deal. Squeeze every penny out of them!"

Fan Zayong’s heart sank.

There was still some time before the police arrived. Could he really protect these people by himself before that?

He took a deep breath and was about to charge at the group of brawny thugs.

But just as he moved, someone grabbed him.

When Fan Zayong looked, it was the elderly man, over eighty years old.

He bitterly smiled and said, "Grandpa, don’t take this lightly, these are real criminals!"

Luo Dongcheng grinned. "Oh, looks like you’ve even developed brotherly bonds here at your pyramid scheme training center? Alright then, how about I sell you both together later, to Laos? What do you think?"

He looked at Old Master Cheng’s trembling hands and couldn’t help but laugh.

"Alright, stop staring. Go! The organization doesn’t feed you for nothing. Hurry up and tie up these people!"

Seeing that this group still had some backbone, Luo Dongcheng’s own hands itched to act.

He kicked at Old Master Cheng.

"What do you think you’re doing?!"

But as soon as the kick landed, Luo Dongcheng suddenly felt the world spin around him.

—He was being lifted by the neck, just like a chicken being grabbed by its feet!