Chapter 146 Pyramid Scheme (ETL) Part 1
Chapter 146 Dig a hole and push the MF in!
[Banana: Good news~ We are officially 20 chapters away from the end~]
The old lady took Gu Ye to a residential area a few miles away. There were many shops around the residential area, and on the least bustling side of the area, there was an inconspicuous little shop called the Elderly Health Management Center, a rather formal-sounding name.
The old lady pointed to the shop and said, “It’s right here. I live in this neighborhood. I often come here to listen to their lectures, and they’re quite effective. Sometimes they even give away eggs, oil, rice, and noodles. The lecturers are all very nice. Just come find them tomorrow.”
Gu Ye smiled and said, “Okay, I’ll remember that. Do you still have any stock (of the putuan)?”
“Yes, just one left.” The old lady held up the cushion for Gu Ye to see.
Gu Ye narrowed his eyes. “How much is one?”
“3500.”
For such a cushion, it’s sure not cheap, Gu Ye thought to himself and asked, “In RMB1?”
“Hell notes. I can’t spend it if it’s in RMB.” The old lady explained, “Though it used to be in RMB 2.”
Hearing that, Gu Ye blinked. Then his eyes lit up, “Grandma, I’ll take this one. I’ll order 10 more from you to give to my ghost friends.”
The old lady was overjoyed. “You want so many!”
Gu Ye nodded with a smile. “I have many ghost friends,” he encouraged. “Go ask your supplier for them. If he gets more stocks, I’ll buy them. At least 10.”
The old lady happily said, “Okay, I’ll go order from him in a bit.” She handed the last cushion to Gu Ye and showed him how to use it, “There’s mugwort inside. There’s a button here; it’s a power bank. Plug it in, and it’ll heat up, allowing the mugwort’s benefits to enter your body through your pores. Just sit on it for an hour a day. When you’re not using it, just turn off the power; it’s just a regular cushion.”
Gu Ye asked curiously, “Is it really that amazing? Can it even cure cancer?”
The old lady said earnestly, “Yes, it really can cure anything. You just have to be persistent and consistent. This mat can be reused; it should last for 3 years without any problem. Isn’t that a good deal?”
The question made Gu Ye’s lips twitch. “Yes, it’s a good deal.” He readily handed over the money. A single hell money note was worth tens of thousands, so 4 would be enough. “Grandma, I’ll pay you in full and keep the change. You’re so old; it must be hard for you to travel back and forth like this. Consider it a token of my appreciation for your trouble.”
The old lady said gratefully, “Young man, you trust me too much. Don’t worry, I won’t run away.”
Gu Ye nodded, “En en, I don’t think you’d lie to me.”
The old lady put the money away and said happily, “Then I’m off.”
Gu Ye waved with a smile, “Grandma, see you tomorrow! Looking forward to your goods oh! I’ll come look for you at that place again tomorrow!”
“Okay! See you there!”
Watching the old lady’s departing figure, Gu Ye couldn’t help but let out a ‘pfft!’
…
The old woman arrived at the home of her former supervisor, where a young man in his late twenties was fast asleep on the bed. The old woman floated over without touching the ground and gave him a nudge. “Supervisor Li? Supervisor Li, I’ve come to place an order.”
Li Yandong was suddenly awakened from his sleep. Opening his eyes, he saw a pale, ghostly face. “Oh my god!” He screamed in terror, all sleepiness vanishing. In a panic, he rolled off the bed on the other side, landing with a dull thud.
Li Yandong lay on the ground, his heart pounding as if it would stop at any moment. After regaining his senses, he nearly went crazy, “Grandma, why are you here again?! Didn’t I just deliver the goods to you?”
The old lady happily replied, “They’re all sold out. I need to restock.”
Upon hearing they were sold out, Li Yandong felt like dying. “Please, I don’t have any more! Please don’t come looking for me again!”
“No, that won’t do. A person should be honest. It was agreed that I could buy goods from you, and I brought the money.” The old lady took the hell money Gu Ye had given her out of her pocket. “Brand new notes, I’ll pay in full.”
Upon seeing what the old lady pulled out, Li Yandong broke down and said, “What do I need hell money for? I need RMB!”
The old woman said innocently, “But I don’t have RMB. Right now, I use hell money where I’m from.”
Li Yandong cried, “Grandma, I’m kneeling down and kowtowing to you, please spare me! Hell money… I have no way to spend the hell money!”
At this point, the old lady was getting angry. “How can you go back on your word? We had an agreement, a signed contract. I buy from you, and if I sell 10, you give me 5% profit. If I sell 20, you give me 10%. If I sell 100, you’ll let me buy the stock at the original price, and whatever I make is mine. Isn’t that what we agreed on? Isn’t that what the contract says? Young people need to be honest, especially in business. Don’t you have a conscience? I ordered goods from you; did I break the contract?”
Li Yandong said in despair, “You didn’t, but you are not a human3.”
“Who isn’t a human?” the old woman snapped angrily. “Young man, not only are you dishonest in business, but you also swear at people! Didn’t your parents and teachers teach you basic manners? If you were my son, I would definitely beat you!”
Li Yandong collapsed and said, “Old lady, I will give you the goods, but can you give me RMB? You give me RMB, and I will give you as many goods as you want.”
The old lady replied angrily, “I don’t have RMB. Why don’t you go find a place that sells hell money to exchange it? Isn’t that how banks exchange money? They exchange even damaged notes.”
Li Yandong really wanted to kowtow to the old lady. “People will think I’m crazy! Besides, hell money is inflated these days! A single hell money note is worth tens of thousands, and you can buy a bundle for 2 yuan. Right now, you give me 3500 in hell money to buy a 3500 yuan worth of cushion from me! This business is losing my money like crazy! How much extra I’ll have to chip in?!”
[Banana: For reference, in case someone wants to know, a bundle of 10pcs of 50mil hell notes costs about over a quarter cent in USD XD]
The old lady stubbornly said, “I don’t care, you can’t refuse to sell just because you’re losing money. We have a contract, so we’ll stick to the contract.”
Li Yandong frantically grabbed his hair. “Why are you so stubborn?! You should go reincarnate! Why are you still doing business?!”
Hearing that, the old woman’s expression changed, and she became angry. “I’ll beat you to death, you heartless bastard! Do you really think I wouldn’t dare sue you? I’m going to show this contract to the King of Hell and let him punish you! Let the ghost officers take your soul away!”
Seeing the old woman’s deathly pale face, Li Yandong was terrified and frantically backed away. “No! Old lady! I’ll sell it to you, I’ll sell it to you, please go!”
Li Yandong was also working for someone else. He had a superior, and he got his goods from them. He did the math: each cushion cost 2,000 yuan, so 10 would cost 20,000 yuan. How many people would he have to scam to earn back that 20,000 yuan? This isn’t burning cushions4, it’s burning money!
The old lady’s expression softened. “Don’t say Grandma is heartless. Grandma gave you time to prepare. You must burn it for me tomorrow night. I’ve already promised the customer, and I’ve given you the money.” The old lady pointed to the hell money on the table, and another bill which she had already exchanged for smaller change. “I gave you a thousand too much, so I’ll take note of it. Next time I’ll give you a thousand less. Don’t try to renege on your promise.”
Li Yandong cried, “There’s a next time?!”
The old woman confidently replied, “Of course. I sell them very quickly.”
After dawn, Gu Ye drove to the shop the old woman had mentioned. It was closed in the morning. When Gu Ye arrived, there were many elderly people playing with children nearby. Gu Ye parked his car some distance away and went over to ask, “Auntie, do you know when this shop opens?”
The auntie kindly replied, “It only opens in the afternoon for 3 hours, which is from 2.00 pm to 5.00 pm. Young man, if you have something to do with the shop, come back in the afternoon.”
Gu Ye asked curiously, “Do you know what they sell here?”
Gu Ye’s question made the people playing there laugh. “They don’t sell anything here; they just give lectures.”
Seeing Gu Ye’s curious expression, the group of kind elderly people explained, “They talk about health and wellness for the elderly, things to pay attention to in daily life. The lectures are free, no charge.”
“Yes, I come here often. They even give away freebies. If you come for half a month straight, they give you 20 eggs. I just got mine yesterday.”
Gu Ye looked at the elderly man attending the class. “Did your family let you come here?”
The old man chuckled and said, “I’m just idling at home anyway. The teacher is excellent, and he even brought gifts, so why shouldn’t I come? My son said it’s good to get out and about; it’s better for my health than staying cooped up at home.”
Gu Ye nodded. “That makes sense. Getting out and about is perfectly fine. Are they just giving away free gifts for now?”
An auntie laughed and said, “I heard that if you attend the lectures for a long time and perform well, you’ll be taken on a free trip. Someone went before and didn’t spend a single penny. However, only those who do well on the exams are allowed to go.”
Gu Ye exclaimed in surprise, “That’s so formal! What kind of tests are they? Have you heard?”
“Just tests on what the teacher teaches.”
Gu Ye exclaimed in amazement, “That sounds impressive! Now I want to come too.”
The old man and woman laughed. “They don’t let young men like you in.”
Gu Ye asked, feeling wronged, “Why?”
An old man said, “They used to let them in, but recently they stopped. I saw a young man come here the other day. I heard he just moved to this neighborhood, and he seems to be a doctor. Anyway, they wouldn’t let him in. I heard they don’t want young people.”
“There’s an age limit? How old is he?”
“Around 30, I guess. His mother used to come to their lectures often.”
His mother passed away, and this son is following in her footsteps, coming to these lectures too? Gu Ye was puzzled. Doctors are professionally trained; they wouldn’t believe in this stuff. After thinking it over, Gu Ye smiled and said, “Thank you, I’ll come again this afternoon.”
After finding out the information, Gu Ye went to Yu Ze’s company. Lying down and playing on his phone, he casually asked Xia Xiang and Zhao Pengyu: [How are you two doing?]
Both were crying. Xia Xiang said wearily: [I’m officially working at the company now, living a 9-to-5 life every day.]
Zhao Pengyu: [At least you still have a 9-to-5 job. I was directly demoted. I had to climb my way up from the bottom! Everyone says mothers are soft-hearted, but my mother is too ruthless!]
Gu Ye comforts sympathetically: [You all have to be strong, you have to live bravely!]
Zhao Pengyu: [Gu Ye, what are you doing now? Just tell me, what have you been doing at my uncle’s company?]
Lying on the sofa with a lollipop in his mouth, Gu Ye replied: [I’m busy every day.]
Zhao Pengyu: [Bullshit, I don’t believe you!]
Gu Ye says seriously: [It’s true! Come find me if you don’t believe me.]
Zhao Pengyu replied in despair: [If I had the time to come find you, I would have run away long ago!]
Gu Ye replies sympathetically: [So you all must be strong. I have another case today, I can’t talk to you now, but I’ll come see you after I’m done. Kids, you have to live!]
Xia Xiang: [Dare to video chat? Let us see what you’re doing?]
Gu Ye: [You guys have no idea how busy I am! Goodbye!]
Zhao Pengyu: […]
Raw word count: 6664 (whole chapter)
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