Guo Yuxi almost choked on her words.

If I were your biological son, wouldn't I be in deep trouble?

Xue Ran continued talking to himself, instructing Xue Yuyu to cut and arrange the cooked food on the plate, and then asked Guo Yuxi to call Li Xiangdong and the others to the banquet.

In order not to alert the enemy, this play must continue.

Li Xiangdong, Li Guoqing, Zhao Xiaojun, and others came happily, and none of them came empty-handed.

Some brought beer, some brought liquor, and some even brought roast duck.

During the meal, Xue Ran boasted loudly, downed a glass of beer in one go, and let out a satisfying burp.

"Hiccup~ Woo~"

"Kids, don't think I'm being mean! It's not that I look down on you, but even though you're rich now, you've never really seen the world since you were kids!"

"Uncle, I'm different. My ancestors have lived in the capital for eight generations! We're native Beijingers!"

Li Xiangdong smiled and poured him a drink, "You're absolutely right! You're clearly not an ordinary person!"

Zhao Xiaojun chimed in, "That's right! Just look at your bearing; if the Qing Dynasty hadn't fallen, you would definitely have come from a prestigious family!"

"Oh, oh, oh~ We are truly honored to be on your side! Come, come, let us toast you!"

"..."

Xue Ran, flattered and elated, waved her hand dismissively, "That's all in the past! Let's not talk about it anymore!"

As he spoke, he looked around again, then leaned close to Li Xiangdong in a mysterious manner and said, "Don't think that just because I haven't done anything successful these past few years, I still have a lot of connections! The reason I invited you all to dinner today is for a serious matter!"

Li Xiangdong's eyes sparkled with interest as he asked, "What serious business is it?"

"What a wonderful thing!"

It turns out that Xue Ran was actually going to introduce a big business deal to Lijiapo!

"A good friend of mine is currently doing trading business. He wants all sorts of things, from food and seafood to medicinal herbs and clothes!"

Li Xiangdong raised an eyebrow and asked, "Oh! What a coincidence! The things your friend is selling are all produced in our village!"

Xue Ran nodded proudly, "That's right! I only thought of helping you because I saw that your village has these things."

He spoke sincerely, but secretly he was laughing to himself. Silly boy, what a coincidence!

This is exactly what we made for you!

"Oh?! You're playing matchmaker? Your friend wants to buy things from our village!"

Xue Ran slammed his hand on the table. "That's it! That's exactly it!"

Li Xiangdong didn't even ask who the other party was, what company they owned, or any other such details.

"Then I really thank you! You have no idea, the government is now emphasizing revitalizing the economy, and while the economy has been revitalized, it's making business in Lijiapo increasingly difficult!"

Xue Ran affectionately put his arm around Li Xiangdong's shoulder, "Uncle is here to help you out of your troubles!"

To make a long story short, a few days later, Xue Ran brought a man who looked like a boss to Lijiapo.

The man was wearing a suit, white sneakers, a gold chain about the thickness of his little finger around his neck, and black sunglasses.

He speaks with a Hong Kong accent that has a strong Northeastern Chinese flavor.

The boss's name is Men Shifang.

It is said that the name was given by the grandfather of the family, meaning that wealth would come from all directions to the family.

Men Shifang received a warm welcome from the people of Lijiapo, and business went exceptionally smoothly.

Within two days, the two parties signed a three million dollar deal!

One million herbs.

One million worth of food.

One million worth of seafood.

After both parties signed the contract and pressed their red fingerprints, Men Shifang and Xue Ran were overjoyed. Looking at Li Jin next to them, he was grinning so hard that his teeth were showing.

In the middle of the night, Men Shifang secretly found Xue Ran. The two closed the bedroom door and checked that no one was around before whispering to each other.

"Little Panzi said that Li Jin and his son are as cunning as foxes, but I think they're nothing special!"

Men Shifang's tone was full of contempt.

Xue Ran nodded in agreement, her tone slightly sour.

"Indeed! I didn't think they were particularly smart. They were just a bunch of peasants who happened to be born in a good era, which made them rich!"

Speaking of being rich, Li Jiapo is indeed quite wealthy.

"If it weren't for the boss telling us to process the tickets quickly, I really wanted to stay and slowly work on the big picture."

Men Shifang was quite certain that if he were given six months, he could swindle every household in Lijiapo out of their entire fortune.

Xue Ran asked curiously, "Really?"

"Hey, you still don't believe me! Let me tell you, this trick is called 'Swallows Carrying Mud'..."

Xue Ran was taken aback by what he said.

"Whoa!"

"Really?!"

"This works?"

"..."

In fact, the so-called "new swallows carrying mud" is a Ponzi scheme.

First, they attract villagers by giving away free eggs or small gifts, and then they sell high-return financial products, or what they call fundraising products.

At first, they would pay out small amounts in full. Once the villagers started to trust them, they could begin setting up the scheme.

The method of setting up the scheme is very simple: first, raise the interest rate, and then limit the number of people who can buy.

At that point, without any other means, greed will drive them to invest all their money.

Of course, some people might say that the villagers aren't stupid; why don't they deposit their money in the bank?

In fact, as long as the interest rate is slightly higher than that of the bank, and a fake bank employee is used to endorse the scam, this kind of fraud can easily succeed.

Xue Ran said with a hint of regret, "This is much better; you get real money here!"

Men Shifang laughed, "Once this round of harvesting is successful, we'll have someone else come and do it again."

My dear reader, there's more to this chapter! Please click the next page to continue reading—even more exciting content awaits!