"Yes, yes, Fei Yang, listen to me." Even Old He, who usually doesn't say a word, couldn't help but chime in.
"Dad, what do you know? How many times have you been to the city? This is an opportunity to make money. If you don't understand, fine, but don't stop me."
After saying that, He Feiyang stood up angrily and went straight back into the house.
Uncle He and Aunt Qian were left looking embarrassed.
Aunt Qian sighed, looked at Jiang Yunxiang, and gave a bitter smile.
"Guowei, Yunxiang, please excuse my poor appearance."
Ye Guowei remained calm.
"It's okay, it's all the same. Ah Cheng used to be just as much of a jerk, but he's better now. All young people go through a phase like this."
Thinking about Ye Cheng's past behavior, Aunt Qian suddenly felt that her son was much better now, at least he hadn't climbed over Zhang the widow's wall.
......
As for Ye Cheng and his group, the atmosphere was a bit cold when they came out.
Han Xiaotao went to take the child back. Widow Zhang looked at Ye Cheng timidly and asked,
"Ah Cheng, what's this pyramid scheme you're talking about? Is it really illegal? I think it's just selling some stuff, right?"
Duan Chunsheng and Xiao Hu didn't quite understand either; they only trusted Ye Cheng.
"In a bit, when Sister-in-law Han comes over, I'll tell you all the details."
Han Xiaotao returned quickly. Ye Cheng first took everyone onto the boat to go out to sea. Since they would be sailing at sea for quite a while anyway, Ye Cheng took the opportunity to educate everyone about pyramid schemes.
“Pyramid schemes, to put it bluntly, are all about spreading the word; the sales aspect is just a side effect.”
“The thing Fei Yang brought back might actually only cost less than 100 yuan. You buy one and enter the so-called network, but you actually pay 4,000 yuan upfront. Then you have to pass it down to others one by one. You make 200 yuan when you sell one, and you break even after selling 20, right?”
Everyone nodded, as if that was how the accounts were calculated.
Ye Cheng shook his head and smiled.
“Everyone thinks the same way, they all think they can sell 20 units, that’s his brilliance. Everyone knows this thing isn’t worth 4,000 yuan, but everyone thinks they can earn back that 4,000 yuan.”
"But in reality, it's not that easy to sell. What can we do?"
Ye Cheng paused for a moment,
"First they tried to sell to relatives, then they started lying, and then they even started threatening people."
"If this network is large enough, the whole society will become very unstable."
"And most importantly, it doesn't care what the product is, it doesn't even need a physical product. All it wants is to pass the buck, so it's very harmful to the whole society."
The government has already classified pyramid schemes as illegal, but the crackdown is not very strong at the moment.
Several people listened in a daze, feeling like they only understood about half of it.
"Second brother, I think I understand now. This thing doesn't really care what you're selling; it's just a way to trick people into jumping into a fire pit, right?" Duan Chunsheng was considered to have a relatively high level of understanding.
"Yes, it means that if you fall into a pit yourself, you'll drag others into it too. You're making money here, but I don't want you to fall into the pit. It's no joke if your family is ruined and your life is destroyed."
Hearing Ye Cheng describe the situation as so serious, the group nodded solemnly.
"Then, what should we do about Aunt Qian?" Widow Zhang was now starting to worry about Aunt Qian.
"What can I do? If it were someone else, I would have called the police immediately," Ye Cheng said helplessly.
Now that he's Aunt Qian's son, he feels a little embarrassed. He hopes He Feiyang can come to his senses on his own, otherwise he can't guarantee he won't call the police to arrest him later.
Moreover, the later pyramid schemes were even more terrifying; they couldn't even be called pyramid schemes anymore—they involved imprisonment, kidnapping, and even murder.
They were all brainwashed.
Actually, there was a period of direct selling that skirted the edge of legality interspersed within the pyramid scheme, namely Mouli, a very famous brand. This had nothing to do with He Feiyang, and Ye Cheng didn't mention it either.
That night, while everyone was working, they were all talking about He Feiyang's situation, truly living up to the saying "whoever's feast you're eating at, you're gossiping about whoever's family you're eating at."
Ye Cheng didn't return to the dock until around 7 a.m., and because there was one less person, the crab-tying speed slowed down.
When they returned, many boats had come back to the dock, including the Chen family's boat, but all the people were gone; they must have gone back.
While selling crabs, Ye Cheng inquired and learned that the Chen family had caught less than 30 baskets last night and sold them for over 7,000 yuan.
Ye Cheng still had over 240 baskets, but only sold over 80,000 yuan worth. The main reason was that the price had plummeted, and the first wave of people who tried it had almost finished eating it, so everyone wanted to switch to something else.
If the total was over 80,000, Ye Cheng reduced the wages by 1,000, and no one objected.
After a day's work, Ye Cheng checked the system:
Points: 2100
Deposits: 425,000; Foreign debt: 10,000; Mortgage: 300,000
After working for several days in a row, Ye Cheng decided to take a two-day break, as everyone was exhausted from staying up so late.
Ye Cheng slept all day at home on the first day. Anyway, young people can eat and sleep well. He was much more energetic on the second day. Only then did he go out for a walk to relax his muscles and bones, which were a little sore from sleeping. Working all night is really not easy.
As they walked, they ended up at Li the Cripple's place.
"Oh, what a rare guest! You don't have some big business to offer me again, do you?" Li the Cripple stood up as soon as he saw Ye Cheng. Ye Cheng had been going out to sea at night lately, so he hadn't seen him much.
"Where would I get so many big orders? I'll just buy some snacks. I've been too tired lately, so I need to relax." Ye Cheng casually grabbed some small snacks like preserved plums, potato chips, and dried tofu, and also a few bottles of beer. He'd drink some alcohol to relax when he wasn't sailing.
Li the Cripple skillfully packed Ye Cheng's package, then looked at Ye Cheng with a mysterious smile and remained silent.
Judging from his arrogant demeanor, Ye Cheng knew there was some gossip going on, but this gossip would cost money.
"Damn it, all you ever think about is money. Fine, give me a pack of cigarettes. Just say what you want, or forget it." This Li the Cripple is obsessed with money.
Li the Cripple put Hua Zi on the table and began to speak in a low voice.
"I heard you had a fight with Aunt Qian's son the other day?"
Ye Cheng pushed Hua Zi in front of Li the Cripple.
"I don't want the cigarette anymore."
This is utterly worthless intelligence; everyone already knows it.
"No, no, no, I haven't finished yet." Li the Cripple quickly shoved the cigarette back into Ye Cheng's hand.
"These past two days, He Feiyang from the He family has been selling things in the village?"
Ye Cheng frowned.
"His foot-washing contraption?"
"Well, he said it was some kind of high-tech thing, and that it could get into some kind of sales network, but I was completely confused."
"You bought it?"
“How could I?” Li the Cripple protested loudly. “Making money isn’t that easy; it’s all bullshit.”
"You're smart not to have bought it." Ye Cheng took Hua Zi from him.
“However, I heard that a few people in the village bought them, and some members of the Chen family also bought them,” Li the Cripple continued.
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