Chapter 148 Pyramid Scheme (ETL) Part 1
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Chapter 148 What a joyful parent-child game!
Gu Ye was so surprised because Weibo officially released a list of the most influential internet celebrities of the past year, and one of the ten names on the list was Gu Ye. He was warmly invited to attend an awards ceremony, a grand event involving people from all walks of life and all social strata. Held annually, the ceremony selects internet celebrities or individuals who have made outstanding contributions to society, aiming to inspire and educate netizens. The award recipients include businesspeople and celebrities.
Gu Ye’s first reaction was, “Is this for real? Is this a scam? When did he admit himself to being an internet celebrity?”
Gu Ye clicked on the profile and saw it was an officially verified account. Amused, he immediately shouted to Yu Ze, who was reading the news, “Yu Ze, Yu Ze, Weibo is asking me to accept an award! They’re inviting a fortune teller to accept an award?! Have they gone crazy?!”
Yu Ze said indulgently, “Go if you want, it’s just for fun.”
“I mean, the point is they invited a fortune teller, don’t you think that’s amazing?” Gu Ye found it increasingly hilarious. “No, I have to find out what’s going on.”
Yu Ze didn’t mind Gu Ye’s behavior and watched him fuss over the issue.
[Second Brother, did you see that list on Weibo? It’s about the most influential internet celebrities, and I’m on it!]
Gu Lin was amused by Gu Ye’s childlike excitement at discovering a new toy. He laughed and replied: [I saw it. For a fortune teller like you to be on this list shows your influence online. You have so many fans, and they’re growing so fast. I reckon this news might trend on social media.]
Gu Ye urged: [Brother, go find out. I’m really curious what they’re thinking.]
To be honest, Gu Lin was quite curious about how Gu Ye managed to be selected as well, so he had someone inquire about the inside information. Shortly afterward, he replied to Gu Ye: [You were actually nominated in the selection last year too, but because you’re just a fortune teller at that time and didn’t contribute much, you were ultimately eliminated. This time, you were awarded the prize because you did so many good deeds, plus your live stream promoting morality and civilization, which showed people your value.]
[Pfft! Okay, so that’s how it is. I thought they were crazy.] Gu Ye added regretfully: [It’s not funny at all.]
Gu Lin: [So, you only find it funny when they have gone crazy?]
Gu Ye said seriously: [Well, there has to be a reasonable reason.]
[And this reason isn’t reasonable?]
Gu Ye shook his head: [This reason isn’t bizarre enough.]
[Go play somewhere else!]
After that, Gu Lin ignored Gu Ye’s pleas and refused to reply to his messages.
Gu Ye showed his phone to Yu Ze, “My second brother is acting like a child now, ignoring people whenever he wants. How can older brothers act like this?”
Yu Ze thought for a moment and said seriously, “They sure don’t act like older brothers.”
Gu Ye slapped the table happily. “I just love it when you don’t distinguish right from wrong! It’s so cool!”
Yu Ze facepalmed. He seemed to be losing his moral compass more and more. This was a bad sign.
Gu Ye found comfort in Yu Ze’s words and happily checked Weibo again. He also retweeted a post summarizing scams targeting the elderly, which was now trending, albeit low on the list. Decided to give it a push, after retweeting it, Gu Ye told everyone: [Keep an eye on your parents, be careful not to get scammed, and visit them often.]
Gu Ye’s Weibo post quickly went viral. Gu Ye’s followers weren’t just young people, but mostly adults. So the older they were, the more likely they were to believe in feng shui and mystical arts. Many people of this age have elderly relatives, and they’ve all personally experienced these scams targeting the elderly. Seeing Gu Ye’s repost, everyone left comments: [Everyone, be careful! This kind of scammer is despicable!]
[My dad also encountered this! He was scammed out of tens of thousands of yuan, it’s really making him furious!]
[These health products don’t have such great effects, and the part about them curing cancer is utter nonsense.]
[These people target elderly people living alone more often, because those with children always have people watching them, preventing them from buying these things even if they want to. So paying more attention to your parents greatly reduces the chances of the elderly buying these products.]
[The elderly in my family probably don’t buy health supplements that cost 3,500 yuan. Some only sell for a few hundred yuan a bottle, but they still buy them frequently. For example, my mom bought 2 tael of tea (100 grams) for my dad to treat hair loss, which cost over 800 yuan. Heh, it tasted like ordinary oolong tea.]
[A couple of days ago, an exposé surfaced online about some kind of ‘miracle water’ that supposedly cures all diseases. Reporters exposed it as just mineral water. I don’t know why people believed it. Now the scammers come up with these mugwort cushions, which were sold for 99.9 yuan each on Taobao. During promotion time, these even have buy-one-get-one-free deals! The hell with over 3,000 yuan for a cushion?!]
[My parents also buy health supplements. If I didn’t monitor them for once, they would go and buy more. If I told them not to buy the supplements, they acted like I was harming them. I don’t know why they believe in these things; it’s driving me crazy.]
[When people get old and sick, they should go to the hospital. Don’t be greedy for cheap deals. There’s no such thing as a cure-all. All this money paid is just a tax money on their intelligence!]
[If you have elderly relatives at home, visit them often. You never know when they might be scammed without you even knowing. Those who sell this stuff are utterly despicable. Aren’t they afraid of retribution for ripping off elderly people?]
[There are also people selling health supplements on WeChat Moments, targeting only relatives and friends. But when you check the ingredients, they’re all preservatives! Won’t they cause any harm if you eat them?]
[Here’s a suggestion: if your parents buy health supplements again, just buy them some vitamin tablets, calcium tablets, or some Panax notoginseng powder1 to fool them. Whatever you do, don’t let them buy them themselves! They’ll really get scammed!]
[I have a college classmate who was tricked into doing this after graduation. They even gave them psychology training to teach them how to scam people—it’s terrifying!]
[Good thing the police caught them. All of them will be in court soon, serve you right for scamming people!]
Gu Ye saw a netizen named ‘Cucumber Isn’t a Melon’ summarize it very well: [I’ve summarized the tricks used to scam the elderly, and there are at least seven steps, each a trap to get elderly people who are usually reluctant to spend money to open their wallets.]
[First, they give you gifts, getting these idle elderly people to attend lectures for a few eggs, firewood/charcoal, oil, and salt. Second, they pretend to be offering free lectures under the guise of charity, finding an expert who seems legitimate, but it’s all just laying the groundwork for later. Third, they use high-tech methods to deceive and swindle you. Regardless of whether you’re actually sick or not, once you attend, you’ll be diagnosed with one. After the ‘expert’ finishes his lecture, you’ll be riddled with ailments. The high-tech equipment can also detect all your health problems, and if you don’t get treatment, you’ll be dead.]
[The fourth step is to enthusiastically promote their product. Most elderly people suffer from high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and other ailments. They’ll make exaggerated claims, promising it can cure all diseases at a much lower price than hospital treatment—a perk they claim is for sale only. If it doesn’t work, they’ll guarantee a refund and even have you sign a series of contracts. It all seems very legitimate to the elderly.]
[Fifth, they find a few people to impersonate patients and recount how they recovered, acting so convincingly that you can’t help but believe them. Sixth, they register the elderly person’s information, showing them concern and care, especially for those living alone. They visit the elderly person’s home to fetch water or deliver meals, making a concerted effort to build rapport. The elderly person’s lonely heart, which has never seen their children, finally finds comfort, and they are willing to spend money, thus becoming increasingly entangled in the scheme.]
[If the elderly still won’t buy it after all this, then comes step seven, which is to take them on a trip somewhere their children can’t see. There, they relentlessly persuade the elderly, treating them like a grandparent. As long as the elderly pay, they can have any kind of grandchild they want.]
[Another type is scams targeting the elderly through fundraising. You have insurance money, right? Want to live off the interest alone? We offer this service: you invest, we give you dividends, 10% interest every month. It’s a disguised form of illegal fundraising, constantly setting traps to get you deeper and deeper into the scheme. To get your money back, you have to keep investing. Even worse, once they’ve swindled the elderly out of their money, do you think you can get it back? Ha! They’ll be long gone!]
[In short, remind the elderly of three “don’ts”: Don’t pay attention, don’t send money, and don’t transfer funds!]
Gu Ye saw this summary and thought it was quite good, so he forwarded it and liked it. He was wondering what lessons this incident could teach people, how he would explain it during his live stream, but now it seems he doesn’t need to.
Upon the repost from Gu Ye, a row of people followed suit, frantically forwarding, liking, and commenting on the summary: [Congratulations, you’re now Master Gu’s personal class representative! A very good summary! Cucumber isn’t a melon, but when you summarize, it’s melon-tastic!]
Gu Ye couldn’t help but laugh at the amusing comments; these netizens were hilarious.
…
After Weibo posted the list of invitees, they were carefully and slowly manipulating it to make it a trending topic. Unexpectedly, the Weibo post about health products for the elderly skyrocketed in popularity, and it turned out that it was Gu Ye’s fans who pushed it to the top.
Gu Ye’s popularity is now comparable to that of a top-tier celebrity. His significant reposting of a Weibo post naturally attracted a lot of attention, including from casual observers. With increased discussion, the post quickly became the top trending topic. Weibo’s official staff were puzzled by Gu Ye’s reaction. “Why didn’t Gu Ye repost ours, but instead reposted that news article? Does he look down on our award?”
After hearing what the staff member said, the colleague who was also in charge of this matter looked at the others and felt uncertain. “Other celebrities and big V’s2 have all reposted it, but Gu Ye hasn’t. Does he want this award or not?”
At this moment, they regretted not contacting Gu Ye beforehand to ask if he wanted the award. Now that the list had been sent out, it would be incredibly embarrassing if he didn’t come to claim it. After much deliberation, they still felt uneasy. They discussed it briefly and decided, “Should we inquire about it?”
“Who should we inquire with?”
“President Gu.”
“Which President Gu?”
Indeed, the Gu family had 3 President Gu, each more powerful than the last. “Should we inquire with someone from Gu Lin’s company?”
“The people in his company who can get in touch with Gu Ye are A-list celebrities, with whom we don’t have much connection.” Left with no other option, the two staff members decided to report it.
After receiving this news, the higher-ups were also hesitant. They went through several layers of connections before finally getting through to Gu Lin’s secretary. The secretary then asked Gu Lin, who laughed and said, “If it’s fun there, he’ll definitely go. I’ll ask.”
Gu Lin took the initiative to text Gu Ye, who brought up old grudges: [You ignored me last night.]
Gu Lin immediately called, saying disdainfully, “What kind of temper is this? Speak properly!”
Hearing that, Gu Ye’s lips twitched. His second brother’s authority was off the charts today. He obediently replied, “Okay, brother, whatever you say is right.”
Gu Lin said helplessly, “Don’t give me that. Big brother might be okay with it, but I don’t. The official Weibo account wants to know if you’re going to their ceremony.”
Gu Ye thought for a moment, “I’ll go. Since they invited me, it wouldn’t be good not to attend. Aren’t there lots of handsome young men and beautiful young women there?”
Gu Lin suppressed a laugh, “The last sentence is the key point, isn’t it? Isn’t Yu Ze with you right now?”
Gu Ye chuckled, “He’s in a meeting.”
Gu Lin said disdainfully, “If Yu Ze were here, you wouldn’t dare say that. Anyway, I’m going too, so I’ll take you with me.”
“Huh?”
“What ‘huh’? The entertainment industry and Weibo are inseparable. They invited me to be a guest, to present an award, and many other celebrities will be there.”
Gu Ye imagined the scene and said with interest, “Then let’s go together, please bring me along. Brother, remind me in advance, so I won’t have to remember the date.”
Gu Lin was speechless, “Do you think I’d spoil you like that?”
Gu Ye said seriously, “Brother, I’m still young.”
Gu Lin was both amused and exasperated, “Yu Ze has spoiled you rotten.”
Gu Ye thought about it. Did Yu Ze spoil him? Yu Ze was just a little bit unprincipled; the so-called spoiling was just being unable to distinguish right from wrong, which Yu Ze definitely didn’t do!
After hanging up the phone, Gu Ye retweeted the official Weibo post: [Thanks~ Looks interesting.]
This reassured the people on the other end. It seemed Gu Ye was indeed coming. Many celebrities tagged Gu Ye to congratulate him and say see you that night; it looked like they would be there too. Gu Ye glanced at the list of celebrities; they all seemed familiar with him, though unfortunately, he didn’t recognize many of them.
After logging out of Weibo, Gu Ye went to read the books Elder Tang had given him. Recently, he had been researching a new formation. Formations had previously been Gu Ye’s weakness, but Elder Tang’s materials contained many records of formation setup methods and techniques. Gu Ye began studying it, and later he planned to teach it to Xie Cheng, that person who didn’t like to use his brain. Time is very precious.
Gu Ye didn’t expect that he would suddenly become a trending topic.
A fortune teller was going to accept an internet celebrity award; netizens only had 3 words to comment: [Ha, ha, ha!]
…
Raw word count: 7717 (whole chapter)
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