Gu Qianxue finally left, and that gave Xiao Luo some relief. However, he also felt an emptiness within and found it hard to describe how he was feeling at the moment. He seemed to enjoy Gu Qianxue's hug, and he had to admit that, sometimes, he did come across as quite a Cassanova.
When he was back to the Crescent Bay Condominium, Xiao Luo received two calls. The first call was from Qiu Yuanjie, and he said that his informant had reported to him that there will be an unprecedented large-scale operation by the MLM company in Xiahai City. The funds they expected to generate were three hundred million, and the venue of the event would be at the Trade Building's main hall. This was the perfect chance to destroy the MLM company in Xiahai City once and for all.
The second phone call was from Zhang Dashan. Luo Workshop would be opening in Xiahai City in some twenty days' time, and he had called to catch up with Xiao Luo and seek advice.
"The business in Jiangcheng has been improving steadily and is stable. After your side kicks off operations, I'll fly over to manage the company with you at Xiahai," Zhang Dashan said.
Xiao Luo poured himself a cup of hot tea and sat on the sofa. "You should have come a long time ago, I want to introduce you to a woman," he said.
"Save it, I don't plan to marry anyone else besides Ruoran. If I really cannot date her, I would rather spend the rest of my life with my right hand," Zhang Dashan replied.
"Bullshit!"
Xiao Luo took a sip of the hot tea and asked, "By the way, how are Feng Wuheng and the rest?"
"As you suggested, they have signed themselves up for the factory management classes and have been upgrading their skills and are progressing well. Now, their public speaking skills have been polished and refined, and they even sound quite intellectual," Zhang Dashan said, "When they are in high spirits, they even come up with a few English phrases. They would always show off to me and damn it, it really drives me crazy! But thinking that I couldn't face them all at once, I decided to swallow my unhappiness and continue to put up with them."
"Let them come to Xiahai after they are done with the learning, I am going to let them take over the factory here." Xiao Luo saw Feng Wuheng and the rest as his own brothers. Since they decided to follow him and he was really close to them, he would not mistreat them for sure.
"Sure!"
Zhang Dashan then expressed his most profound views and said, "Damn it, I have come to realize that studying is still quite useful after all, just like the five of them, or the prostitutes offering their bodies for service. Those who only had middle school and high school education, they could at most earn a hundred bucks per customer. If they have at least a university degree, then their prices would skyrocket, it would cost five hundred bucks to pick them and minimally two thousand bucks to buy their nights. Studying is such a useful skill."
"You went to them again?" Xiao Luo asked, rolling his eyes.
"F*ck, can you be more civilized in your choice of words? They are my escort, do you even know what is an escort? It means that she can accompany me for my emotional and physical needs. On top of that, this is a normal matter of bodily needs, what is so surprising," Zhang Dashan retorted.
Xiao Luo shook his head and said, "You better cut down on the number of times you patronize the escorts, if you ever contract any disease, then you are doomed for life."
"Fine, fine, fine, as you wish. Look at you, aren't you quite fluent with the term 'escort' now, instead of prostitutes, hahaha..."
"F*ck off!"
Xiao Luo ended the call.
******
******
Xiao Luo went to the Trade Building in the afternoon the following day.
Qiu Yuanjie and his teammates had been waiting for him for some time, and he briefed Xiao Luo on the plan. "This operation is a joint-initiative with different departments such as the Provincial Public Security Bureau and the Trade and Commerce Bureau. All the MLM guys are present in the hall and there are already more than three thousand members from all around the country in there with them. These are the middle-tier members and are mostly retired or laid off middle-age or elderly victims. They have some savings but are unwilling to fall back and be a burden to society—anyway, that's what the MLM company told them as part of their brainwashing process. Each of them planned to invest one hundred thousand and the MLM speaker will be brainwashing them for the last time."
"These people here are the officers who will arrest the people inside, right?"
Xiao Luo glanced at the countless undercover police officers who had surrounded the Trade Building. These people looked very sharp and alert, and it wouldn't have been too difficult to guess their identities even when they were in plain clothes.
"Yep, this is a perfect opportunity to get rid of the entire MLM network in Xiahai City. Nobody here is going to let this slip by easily." Qiu Yuanjie said.
"Have you found out who the Fog is?" Xiao Luo asked.
Qiu Yuanjie shook his head and said, "About this... nope. But I am sure that the people inside will know, so we just have to interrogate them one by one."
"That's probably the only way."
Xiao Luo had quite some respect for the Fog as he could execute such a large-scale MLM event without even showing himself at all. He was indeed a genius.
******
******
The MLM company was not aware that it was being surrounded by the government departments. Both Xiao Luo and Qiu Yuanjie had attended the gathering as ordinary civilians, so the MLM staff did not detect anything suspicious. Instead, they had very passionate smiles on their faces when greeting them.
"They promoted and built the image of the speaker as a successful world-class public figure and even photoshopped him with the leaders of various countries for authenticity. There are twenty-six MLM people who are involved in this scam here and they are all at managerial levels. If we can arrest them, we will be able to trace their downlines and arrest every one of them. After today, there will not be any more MLM personnel in Xiahai City." Qiu Yuanjie said to Xiao Luo with high confidence.
"Hopefully."
Xiao Luo found a spot to sit down.
At this time, a group of men in suits emerged from backstage to the podium.
"Allow me to introduce everyone to this very special man—here he is, Mr. Guan, the managing director in charge of the Southeast Asia branch of the Atlantic Business Investment Group. Now, we are honored to have Mr. Guan to give us a few words and you can ask him any questions that you have. He is the expert of this industry when it comes to investments," the master of ceremony made the introduction to the three thousand people in the hall.
Some applauses were heard, but they were not too enthusiastic. It could be due to Mr. Guan, who looked relatively young, making the audience feeling unconvinced. After all, there were many stories about self-made millionaires these days, so it was difficult to tell if these people were telling the truth or not. Some people had already started to question if they have been scammed.
As for Xiao Luo, he was utterly shocked because Mr. Guan was none other than his old classmate, Guan Tong.
He donned in a suit and wore a tie, looking very sharp like a genuinely successful member of society!
"What's he doing here?" Xiao Luo questioned.
"Mr. Xiao, do you know him?" Qiu Yuanjie was caught off-guard.
Xiao Luo nodded. "I do," he said.
Qiu Yuanjie looked around briefly, and after ensuring that nobody was looking at them, he whispered into Xiao Luo's ears, "Actually, he is our informant. He started the anti-MLM operations eight years ago. He told us that his parents had divorced because of MLM activities, so he hated them very much. He even gave up the opportunity to attend a university and became our informant directly. He had infiltrated into the core of the MLM company successfully and have become their star speaker, which enabled him to provide information for our every operation."
Xiao Luo was thoroughly stunned. Was this the same Guan Tong, who once claimed that he was only interested in talents instead of education, who started this anti-MLM operation eight years ago? He actually managed to rise up his ranks to become the company's star speaker and provide insiders' information and evidence to the police.
This was totally out of his expectation!
No wonder Guan Tong could acquire the news of Guo Qinghe getting jailed so quickly. And it was also how he knew that Zhao Mengqi was manipulated by Guo Qinghe.
This was the actual reason how he knew. Guan Tong was the police's informant, the star speaker of the MLM company!
"This dude is really good at disguising."
Xiao Luo muttered as he stared at Guan Tong in bewilderment. He was on stage and looking successful and energetic at the podium. Xiao Luo could only smile to himself.
*****
"Since you have already known that these guys are all MLM members, why don't you arrest them at once?" Xiao Luo asked.
Qiu Yuanjie said with a wry smile, "It is true that MLM an illegal activity, but it is unique since the victims who had been indoctrinated do not realize that they are being cheated. Instead, they think that we prevent them from getting rich, so it is impossible to expect them to accuse the MLM members independently. The only way to implicate them is to catch them in the act and seize any compelling evidence we find.
"And the evidence you're referring to is the defrauding money?" Xiao Luo asked.
Qiu Yuanjie nodded and replied, "Right."
"But the gold star lecturer who is convincing them to invest is also your informer. Can't this sort of illicit money be used to charge them legally?" Xiao Luo said wonderingly.
"Yes, the materials that the informer was provided with for his lectures were provided by the MLM members. So the informer, who is also a witness, can appear in court to accuse those MLM members, along with the huge illicit money. So, that's enough to convict them."
Xiao Luo stopped saying anything else and cast his eyes over the platform.
Guan Tong, who was holding a microphone, acted like he disdained to be there. "Don't listen to their babbling, everyone," he said, referring to the MLM master of ceremony who introduced him to the public. "There are a lot of exaggerated descriptions of the stories you have heard about me. The marketing pitch is one thing, but the reality is quite another. Just like advertising, the selling point is the most crucial."
Humm?
Interesting!
Xiao Luo was a little surprised. The audience here was doubtful about Guan Tong at the beginning. Still, when that statement was uttered, he naturally broke down any emotional barriers and made them feel much warmer, which brought their relationship to the next level.
"It is simply ridiculous to make 10 million in six months unless we are the children of power and wealth, holding a strong network of venture capital connections. But then again, if you guys are the children of power and wealth, there's no need for all of you to come here and invest in what I'm selling you, right?"
The audience burst into laughter since they thought that his words were both funny and also trustworthy. They warmed further toward Guan Tong, and he now had them exactly where he wanted.
Guan Tong continued and said, "To be honest, the most important thing for all of you to take note of—all business activities are inherently risky. It is said in business that 'same industry, different profits.' In the same kind of business, while someone can make a lot of money, somebody else can also lose the shirt off his back. It is actually a reality that none of us can ignore, so when we are going to invest in a particular industry, we must have the ability to identify the risks!"
His tone was firm and serious, and his words were convincing.
The more than 3,000 people in the audience immediately perked up. They felt that this guy, Mr. Guan, was trustworthy since he was unlike others who would vow that they'd definitely make a lot of money. Instead, he clearly mentioned the potential risks involved, and it was more like a sharing of experience with everyone, allowing them to feel his sincerity.
"Secondly, you have to consider your own abilities when making a particular investment. In other words, you have to assess your own knowledge and skills. Do not try to do more than you can. You should be concerned about these two things—the first is whether the investment is safe enough, and the second is whether you can make money. About the security of investment, as I just said earlier, any investment will involve an element of risk; however, risks and opportunities in the market exist simultaneously."
"So can we earn money? The answer is, of course! But 10 million would be too much; earning millions is still possible. However, that depends on one prerequisite, and that's what connections you have. After several years of expansion, my network comprises of people ranging from foreign presidents to the owner of a shopping mall in a small town in our country, allowing me to access people on different levels easily. And that's the reason why I can achieve such success today. But, in my opinion, some of you are not suitable to invest in my project. Even if you do, you won't make any money at all because your connections don't work."
When Guan Tong's words came out, the crowd in the venue were looking at each other with judging eyes, as if they were trying to ascertain who didn't have the qualifications, or in other words, they were wondering if they're qualified enough. But after looking around, they still failed to find the answer, which made them a little uneasy, since none of them wanted to be the one who didn't have the qualifications.
Xiao Luo was amazed. Guan Tong has been saying that he wanted to be a talented person for years, and now Xiao Luo thought this guy already was.
The statements he made were full of traps. In the beginning, he bonded with the audience, telling everyone the truth to gain everyone's trust. And then he stated that the investment project was profitable, but not as much as 10 million as they claimed before. Instead, he lowered the standard to mere millions, which strengthened his credibility again. Finally, he judged everyone on whether they were qualified or not, which stirred something in their subconscious and convinced them that they were well-connected and qualified to invest.
He worked on the audience step by step, deepening and solidifying the determination of over the 3,000 who were present to invest!
If Qiu Yuanjie hadn't told him that Guan Tong was their informant, he would have believed that the guy was a real gold medal lecturer in MLM!
...
...
"Time and tide wait for no man. Seize the opportunity!"
"Take the initiative! Take preemptive steps to make opportunities!"
"We'll make money together and be successful together!"
After half an hour of speeches, the whole audience got very excited. Guan Tong stimulated the greed, desire, and ambition of more than three thousand people eager to earn money. With fists high over their heads, they kept chanting slogans with him, rhythmically and massively.
"They have been completely indoctrinated!"
Even Xiao Luo admired him inwardly, let alone the whole audience, and he was convinced by Guan Tong's words. If he didn't know that it was actually an MLM activity in advance, he probably wouldn't be able to resist the temptation of such an investment as well, if he had 100,000.
"Not only Guan Tong is an informant, but he is also an expert in indoctrinating. Fortunately, he's on the same side as the police. I can't even imagine how dire it will be if he is on the opposite. He has made more than 3,000 people mad like crazy in such a short time." Qiu Yuanjie said, both in admiration and relief.
"Exactly," Xiao Luo said, totally agreeing with him.
When Guan Tong's speech ended, more than 3,000 people were scrambling to pay up and invest. Since the MLM members had POS devices, it was very convenient to settle payments online.
Some people did not pay just 100,000, but 500,000 and even 1,000,000. These investors spent almost all of the money they had believing that the more they invested, the more they'd get back.
Looking at the audience scrambling to pay up, Xiao Luo and Qiu Yuanjie shook their heads and sighed. If the police hadn't gotten involved this time, over 3,000 people would've lost all the money they invested. And those who had invested all their money would possibly end up ruining their families.
After all, money is not everything, but without money, one couldn't do anything. A lot of problems would be caused when there was a lack of it.