Chapter 5 part 1
Jin Youqian, at 22 years old, possessed far more experience being scammed than the average person.
His name, ironically, sounds humorous when he’s broke, but when he’s wealthy, it takes on a different meaning – a kind of minimalist elegance, a return to simplicity, the ultimate trend after reaching the pinnacle of earthiness.
Jin Youqian, of course, belonged to the latter category. His family was genuinely quite wealthy.
When he was young, his father, Jin Ping’an, and his mother, Qian Xiaoli, ran small businesses.
Later, the couple earned some money, bought a large plot of land, built factories, and expanded their operations.
They ran the business for two years, making some profit, but still far from recouping their initial investment.
The couple weren’t worried; they took it slow.
No one could have predicted that they would soon encounter demolition.
The location of Jin Youqian’s family factory was in the heart of what is now Chunsan City’s most prosperous commercial district.
To this day, no one knows exactly how much compensation they received, only that they were rich, exceptionally rich, incredibly rich.
At that time, the entire Jinjiabawan area was slated for demolition, overnight creating countless millionaires.
Immediately, scammers from all over flocked to the area.
That’s when Jin Youqian started frequently encountering various scammers.
The same happened to others in the village.
As time went on, many of their demolition-era neighbors fell victim to elaborate scams, involving gambling, drugs, and other illicit activities.
The lucky ones woke up in time, managing to salvage a house or two, though not as much as before, at least they weren’t burdened by mortgages.
The unlucky ones lost everything, ending up destitute and with their families destroyed.
Those who, like Jin Youqian, remained unscathed until now were few and far between.
His parents were already quite satisfied, not expecting their son to achieve great things; maintaining the status quo was enough.
Jin Youqian was also content with his life. Sometimes he even thought the police should hire him as an anti-fraud ambassador, as his experiences over the years were more than enough to write a comprehensive guide to scams.
Therefore, he was extremely confident in his ability to spot scammers.
He’d seen countless so-called “masters,” the less sophisticated ones were practically illiterate, misspelling even simple characters like writing “招財童子” (Zhaocái tóngzi – lucky child) as “招財重子” (Zhaocái chóngzi).
The more advanced ones seemed more convincing, analyzing faces and palm readings to reveal details about your family, seemingly quite believable, but it was all an act; they had already gathered this information before targeting you.
In short, Jin Youqian never believed in them.
But at this very moment, after witnessing the series of actions performed by the beautiful woman before him, his seemingly unbreakable belief wavered slightly.
He tried to dismiss it as a staged performance, but on second thought, it seemed highly improbable; it was too risky, a gamble with their lives.
The timing had to be perfect; even a second or two off would ruin the impact.
And most importantly, after the series of incidents, the police arrived promptly.
As a witness, the beautiful woman had to go with them to give a statement.
Driven by intense curiosity, Jin Youqian followed.
That’s when he learned the woman’s name and a crucial detail: the knife-wielding thug she had kicked was a wanted fugitive!
In other words, what he had witnessed was real!
By the time they left the police station, it was noon.
Jin Youqian, with his spiky yellow hair, stared at the beautiful woman beside him with a cautious yet fervent gaze, stammering, “That, beautiful, uh, Master, Master Luo, may I ask about…the amulet you mentioned…”
Although amulets were often associated with scams, coming from her, it was different.
And at only 19,888 yuan, it was nothing to Jin Youqian; a worthwhile purchase without hesitation!
“I have the amulet,” Luo Wenshu nodded.
Jin Youqian’s eyes lit up. “I’ll buy it! Master Luo, WeChat or Alipay?”
Luo Wenshu didn’t respond but looked down at the child beside her and asked, “Do you have your phone?”
The events of the past few hours were more exciting than the previous five years combined for Luo Xingyu, leaving him slightly dazed.
Upon hearing Luo Wenshu’s question, although puzzled, he instinctively nodded, “Yes.”
“Open WeChat, show me the payment code,” Luo Wenshu instructed.
Luo Xingyu obediently complied.
Luo Wenshu turned to Jin Youqian, “It’s 19,888 yuan, scan here.”
Without a word, Jin Youqian scanned the code.
“WeChat payment received, 19,888 yuan…”
Luo Xingyu’s mind was slowly piecing itself back together, but hearing the payment notification, he was dumbfounded again.
He was young but understood money; 19,888 yuan was a significant amount – enough for kindergarten tuition, rent, utilities, and lots of groceries…
Now, this huge sum was in his phone.
Luo Xingyu looked at his balance: 19,938 yuan. The extra 50 yuan was from his mother; she gave it to him to buy whatever he liked, but he hadn’t spent it, saving it until now.
Luo Xingyu stood there for a moment before looking up at Luo Wenshu, “Mom…”
He whispered, unsure what to say next.
“Let’s go,” Luo Wenshu took his hand and walked into the tree-lined path outside the police station.
Jin Youqian stood there, watching their backs, feeling something was amiss.
He paid, waited, but…he didn’t receive the amulet?
At that moment, the Master stopped, turned, and said calmly, “Follow me.”
Of course the Master wouldn’t leave without the amulet!
Jin Youqian eagerly followed.
He followed them to a nearby elementary school. It was summer vacation, the school gate was quiet, but a couple of small shops were still open.
Luo Wenshu led Luo Xingyu into a stationery store, browsing for a while before buying a pack of colored paper, a red pen, and a thin red thread.
Jin Youqian offered to pay, but was stopped.
“You already paid,” Luo Wenshu said, looking at Luo Xingyu, and simply instructed, “Pay.”
Jin Youqian watched the Master’s young son pay with his phone, marveling at how principled the Master was; not even taking advantage of an eight-yuan discount.
The three left the stationery store and came to the side of the school’s fence.
Lush plants overhung the ornate iron railings.
A faint floral scent filled the air.
Jin Youqian watched the Master open the package, take out a sheet of yellow colored paper, her slender, elegant fingers slowly folding it into a rectangle, then tearing it.
Then she opened the red pen.
This color, this shape…
Jin Youqian suddenly had a bad feeling.
The next second, his feeling was confirmed.
The Master used the colored paper as a backing for the torn yellow rectangle, using the school wall as a desk, and started writing with the red pen.
Jin Youqian: Σ(⊙▽⊙”a！！！