"Old Six, where did you find such a sucker? We should invite him to eat again!" After his subordinate left, the man sitting next to Old Six, who had seemed like a subordinate earlier, asked with a smile.
"I met him when I was catching a cheating husband. I beat him up, and he started calling me Brother Liu. And today, he even treated me to a meal, hahahaha!" Old Six finished, and everyone laughed with him.
"Big brother, but what that guy said earlier, do you think it's reliable? Should we send someone to keep an eye on him?" Old Six asked curiously.
"Keep an eye on him? You tell him we'll send people tomorrow, but he has to pay first. Don't think about fooling us with empty promises. A thousand yuan a day for hard work, not a cent less, and we won't do it!" The boss said, letting out a satisfied burp.
"Then who will do the surveillance?" Old Six asked again.
"You took the job, so you're going!" The boss said with a pout. "But don't worry, you'll get the lion's share of this thousand yuan. You get 300, and the remaining 700 will be our public fund!" The boss said casually. Old Six smiled, but cursed in his heart, yet he obediently agreed.
The next day, Old Six woke up at past eleven in the morning, so it was time to go surveillance.
"Pfft, a college student, as timid as a tadpole. Is he going to run away? I'm not going to bother today, I'll just take a look tomorrow!" Old Six cursed lying in bed, then got dressed and went to the internet café to play Warcraft.
Little did they know, at this very moment, Tong He was enduring the torment of his life.
At this moment, Tong He hadn't slept all night. His eyes were bloodshot, and he stared fixedly at the chandelier on the dormitory ceiling. His stomach rumbled incessantly.
He hadn't eaten for a day and a night, but hunger was no longer the main issue. More importantly, he was struggling with his inner turmoil.
"What should I do?" Tong He kept asking himself this question.
Although Tong He was terrified by the prospect of over ten million yuan and the threat of going to prison, he also knew that this was illegal. If he did it, his life would truly be over.
But if he refused, it was over ten million yuan, and that fierce-looking Ke Xuedong would definitely not let him off.
Tong He felt an immense pain in his heart. He desperately wanted to find someone to discuss it with, but he didn't know who to turn to.
As a result, Tong He tossed and turned on his bed for an entire day without getting up, constantly wrestling with his inner conflict. Then, in the afternoon, Ke Xuedong called and asked how Tong He's preparations were going, and if he had managed to get 10,000 membership cards for Jiangnan.
Indeed, the phone was given to Tong He by Ke Xuedong, so that he could be contacted at any time.
"Boss Ke, how can I possibly get 10,000 Jiangnan membership cards by myself? There are only a dozen or so stores in Shanghai in total. If I apply three times at each store, it will probably arouse suspicion," Tong He said.
"Are you stupid? You can mobilize your classmates to help you!" Ke Xuedong scolded. "There must be many poor students like you among your classmates. You go and find them. They can collect Jiangnan membership cards at the entrances of the Jiangnan stores. If you offer five yuan per card, many people will be willing to sell their membership cards."
"Then you give each of your classmates fifty yuan a day for their hard work, and they'll happily work for you. In just over ten days, you can collect tens of thousands of membership cards!" Tong He gave Ke Xuedong a good idea and then said, "Don't worry, I'll send someone to deliver the money to you. I won't let you spend your own money!"
"I have a bank card, you don't need to deliver it yourself..."
"No, it must be in cash, it's safer. Do you understand?" Ke Xuedong said.
"Then, Boss Ke, there's another problem. The equipment here is from the school, and it might be inconvenient to use. Can you figure out how to get a set of equipment? I can give you a list, and you can just buy according to the list!" Tong He said.
"Why make it so complicated? Just use the equipment at your school!" Ke Xuedong said impatiently. "Where can I buy such professional equipment so quickly, and it's also risky. It's better to use your school's. Didn't you say you can use the laboratory freely? You can sneak in when no one is around and swipe a few hundred cards every day. In a month, you'll have ten thousand cards!"
"What we need now is to get things done quickly. Don't do anything unnecessary. It's settled, use your school's equipment!" Ke Xuedong said, and hung up the phone.
"This guy, does he think I'm an idiot?" Tong He gritted his teeth. Although he was very foolish when Ke Xuedong threatened him, his clever mind returned once he was in a safe place. He keenly sensed the huge risk involved.
Moreover, Ke Xuedong made him responsible for both buying and swiping the cards. Ke Xuedong only provided some funds, and even sent the cash by someone. That way, Ke Xuedong directly cut off financial ties with him. All the face-to-face work was done by him. If things went wrong in the future, he would be the first one caught.
Once Tong He figured this out, he understood Ke Xuedong's intentions clearly. Even through Ke Xuedong's strong Taiwanese accent, combined with the Taiwanese background of Da Run Fa, he guessed that Ke Xuedong was from Taiwan province. If Ke Xuedong fled to Taiwan, he would escape completely.
"I shouldn't have done this. I'm digging my own grave!" Tong He said to himself. But when he thought about the potential profit of over ten million yuan, it seemed that all these risks were bearable. He could also find a way to escape abroad.
As Tong He's anxiety grew, he endured until nightfall. The continuous sleepless nights made him suffer. He forced himself to sleep, but he couldn't sleep at all. So, he turned on his radio, plugged in his earphones, and tuned into Shanghai Music Radio.
"Dear listeners, welcome to 'Your Moon, My Heart.' The good man is me, and I am Zeng Xiaoxian!" A familiar, cheesy voice sounded in Tong He's ear.
[PS: A program from another world, purely fictional]
This was Tong He's favorite program. Although the host often spouted unreliable things and often showed his foolishness, he was undeniably a very interesting program.
The main content of the program was listeners calling in to chat with the host. Soon, a listener called in to ask Zeng Xiaoxian what to do about their child who loved playing computer games, and whether they should strongly prevent it.
In response, Zeng Xiaoxian said that blindly preventing it would not achieve the desired effect, but would instead stimulate the child's rebellious psychology. It would be better to try to let the child fall in love. Once they have a girlfriend, they won't have time to play games.
Then, the child's mother immediately hung up. This was probably why the program's ratings were always low.
However, Tong He was very excited after listening. He felt as if his emotions had been stirred. He hesitated for a moment, picked up the phone Ke Xuedong gave him, dialed the program's number, and said, "Teacher Zeng, I have an opportunity to make a fortune now, but it's very dangerous. Should I do it?"
"What does this danger mean? Does it mean you risk losing money, or you risk hurting others or yourself?" Zeng Xiaoxian immediately asked.
"It will hurt others and possibly myself, but I can earn tens of millions!" Tong He said.
"Okay, I won't ask you how high the risk of this matter is. I'll just ask you, if you don't do this, and you continue on your normal path, what kind of life will you have? How much can you earn per month?" Zeng Xiaoxian asked.
"I... I can probably finish my thesis, pass the exams, and find a decent job. It should be fine. The current monthly salary in our industry is about 5,000 yuan!" Tong He said. "Also, I have a discovery in my hand, though I don't know what it's useful for, it should be a discovery that no one in the world has ever made."
"That's right. Teacher Zeng, my current monthly salary is less than half of yours, and you already have a future that surpasses most people. So, do you need to risk destroying this future that could have surpassed everyone? Moreover, you possess something that others don't have. If you take the risk, then this thing won't be yours anymore." Zeng Xiaoxian said.
"But I have a chance to earn 10 million! That's money I can't earn even after working for hundreds of years," Tong He said hesitantly.
"Are you sure you have a chance to get this 10 million? Are you sure there won't be any unforeseen circumstances before you get the money? Are you sure?" Zeng Xiaoxian questioned.
"No... I'm not sure..." Thinking of Ke Xuedong's expression, Tong He was certain that the other party probably wouldn't give him the money.
"See, the thing you're doing already has huge risks, and now even getting the 10 million you mentioned has risks. So this is risk multiplied by risk. You should know your success rate clearly!" Zeng Xiaoxian said.
"But Teacher Zeng, someone has a handle on me. If I don't obey him, I might..." Tong He hesitated.
"You have a handle, right? Teacher Zeng, although I don't know who has your handle and what kind of person it is, what are the consequences of this handle? Are they as severe as the risks you're taking?" Teacher Zeng asked again.
"Probably only... 1/10, or even less than 1%..." This was the first time Tong He had considered this question. Thinking carefully, Ke Xuedong had already let him go, so there was no evidence of him using counterfeit money.
Furthermore, even if he had evidence, he hadn't taken anything from his supermarket. And he was also a victim of counterfeit money. In this case, even if Ke Xuedong told the school, at most he would get a demerit and stay at school for a year. He could still graduate smoothly and get his degree, which would have almost no impact on his future.
While Tong He was hesitating and thinking, Zeng Xiaoxian, perhaps afraid that he couldn't persuade this person walking on the edge of danger, said again, "I guess this person must have invited you to do something dangerous, or even illegal, right? Isn't his behavior itself a huge handle in your hands?"
"You can completely use this handle to threaten him back... Of course, I don't recommend you do that. Instead, you should immediately report to the police and bring such dangerous people to justice. In this way, you will also be credited for reporting. Even if there is a handle, your merits and demerits will offset each other, won't they?"
"Wow!" Zeng Xiaoxian's words made Tong He suddenly enlightened. He excitedly said on the phone, "Teacher Zeng, thank you. You've saved my confusion and my life. If I can succeed in the future, I must make a TV series to commemorate you!"
"Hey, dear listener, don't make it sound like I've sacrificed myself, okay? I don't even have a girlfriend yet!"
Before Zeng Xiaoxian could finish speaking, the call was directly hung up.