Chapter 254: Stop Fighting, That Won’t Kill Anyone Anyway
What in the world was that?
It made Lin Yibai think of that famous saying, ‘Sleep on the floor today, become the boss tomorrow!’
But the situation didn’t quite fit. These were just a bunch of university students who hadn’t even entered the real world yet, what could anyone really gain from them?
The person in the meeting room was already calling them in, and Lin Yibai was one of the people named. She had no choice but to go in with Zhou Ling and the others.
As soon as they opened the glass door to the meeting room, they heard “Teacher Liu” say cheerfully, “Let me introduce you all! These are the future pillars of our company. Please stand in two lines and greet our investors.”
Investors?
Lin Yibai looked at the people sitting on chairs. They were whispering to each other in the local dialect of Fucheng and looked like rich, leisurely locals.
At that moment, Lin Yibai seemed to realize something.
Just as she guessed, there was nothing to gain from students like them. So if anyone was going to be tricked, it would be the wealthy locals from Fucheng.
“Teacher Liu” was clearly playing his role very well. He skillfully used smooth talk to stir up the feelings of those local investors, and even got the lined-up students involved.
Like a professional speaker, “Teacher Liu” passionately said, “Aren’t you all excited to see our company grow and become successful in the future?”
Zhou Ling: “Yes, yes, yes!”
Other students: “Yes, yes, yes!”
Lin Yibai: “......”
Then “Teacher Liu” shouted again, full of energy, “Do you believe in the future of our company?”
Zhou Ling: “Yes, yes, yes!”
Other students: “Yes, yes, yes!”
Wow… they really were innocent and inexperienced college students.
Zhou Ling and the others, including students from other schools, were all trying hard to get “Teacher Liu” to notice them and think they were useful.
Luckily, Lin Yibai had done many part-time jobs before. She had even experienced times where the job agency took the money and disappeared. Because of that, she had learned to always stay cautious.
She was more careful and mature about things like this.
Now, “Teacher Liu” was reaching the most exciting part of his speech. He loudly asked, “Tell me loudly, what should we do now?”
[Keep going! Keep going! Keep going!]
“What is our slogan?”
[Confidence! Confidence! Confidence!]
Lin Yibai raised her right hand and shouted along, “Oh yeah!”
She didn’t have a choice. Everyone else was shouting. If she didn’t join in, she’d stand out too much. But right after shouting, she felt really embarrassed.
It also seemed like that was the only use they had here.
“Teacher Liu” didn’t bother talking to the students much after that. All his attention was on the rich local people from Fucheng. He was busy trying to figure out how to get their money!
After leaving the meeting room, Lin Yibai already wanted to go home.
If it weren’t for the fact that Zhou Ling was her classmate, she would’ve left right away.
But since they were in the same major and had no conflict, Lin Yibai didn’t want to just watch them get tricked for no reason.
She saw that Zhou Ling and the others were still excited, talking about how they did in the meeting room. They were guessing whether “Teacher Liu” noticed them and might give them important jobs.
(In fact, the foolish Zhou Ling is based on the author’s real experience, back when they were young and didn’t know better. Even if the silly things they did can’t be changed, maybe writing this in a story can be a kind of rescue? Save the foolish kids, even if it’s just in fiction.)
Lin Yibai frowned a little, then gently broke the happy mood with a quiet voice, “Xiao Ling, how do you feel about all this?”
Zhou Ling said, “Teacher Liu is amazing! His speech was so good!”
Lin Yibai shook her head and said, “That’s not what I meant. I wasn’t asking about his speech.”
Zhou Ling: “Huh?”
Lin Yibai said, “I mean, when we were in the meeting room… didn’t it feel kind of familiar? Like you’ve seen something like that before?”
Zhou Ling scratched her head and asked in confusion, “Baiyi, what do you mean?”
Just talking about it wouldn’t help.
Lin Yibai directly pulled up some classic scam videos about pyramid schemes. A few girls from the class came over and started watching together in secret.
Especially when the people in the videos started shouting slogans, Zhou Ling and the others slowly turned pale. When they thought about the slogans they had just been shouting themselves...
It wasn’t just similar. It was almost exactly the same.
But still, some of them weren’t fully convinced.
They were kind-hearted, inexperienced college students. Some of them still wanted to believe there were good people out there.
One of the girls asked quietly, “Baiyi, you don’t think Teacher Liu is really like those people, right?”
Lin Yibai shrugged. “Who knows?”
Zhou Ling added, “But Teacher Liu’s company had a spot at our school’s job fair. If the school let him join, doesn’t that mean he’s legit? The school is basically supporting him, right?”
Lin Yibai gave a small smile and said, “There was also a local Fucheng company called Yongda at that job fair. Everyone here knows they’re about to shut down. A while back, they even made the news for not paying their employees. So why did the school let them in too?”
The other girls looked unsure and mumbled, “But… um… I think… maybe… possibly… don’t you think?”
So many “maybes” and “ifs.”
Lin Yibai knew that no matter how much sense she made, it wouldn’t help. But she wasn’t mad. She just didn’t feel like wasting more energy talking.
Saying a thousand words isn’t as useful as showing the truth once.
Back inside, “Teacher Liu” had just seen the rich investors off and came back in acting all warm and friendly.
Some students from other schools quickly got close to him again. The room felt cheerful and united. They looked like they were ready to give everything for the cause.
Teacher Liu was very pleased with everyone’s attitude and said with a big smile, “Thank you, thank you for your support. But I’ll have to ask for your help again this afternoon.”
What? There’s still something this afternoon?
Lin Yibai, being practical, walked up and asked, “Teacher Liu, will lunch be provided?”
Teacher Liu paused, then gave an awkward smile and said, “Ah, sorry. Since you’re not official employees yet, lunch isn’t included. But don’t worry! Once you join us, we’ll be colleagues. I can’t promise free housing, but I’ll try hard to get you free meals at the company!”
Wow… not even a free lunch.
And now they wanted free help again in the afternoon?
To be fair, “Teacher Liu” really was a good speaker, and he looked friendly too. Even Zhou Ling and the others almost got pulled back in.
So what should they do? Fight head-on? Lin Yibai knew she wasn’t strong enough for that. Which is exactly why there's no point in fighting.
She seriously suspected this was one of those fake companies, just register a random business, make up a nonsense project, and trick people into giving them money.
So what now?
Lin Yibai pressed her lips together and looked around. The office still looked half-finished and very unprofessional. She gave a small smile and said, “This kind of company? Don’t even think about it. Just do a quick background check, you’ll find tons of problems.”
In short, they can’t survive any real investigation. That made things easier.
In the afternoon, Lin Yibai said she felt sick and refused to join the group cheering for “Teacher Liu” again.
After collecting enough proof, she felt the time had come.
She remembered a video of people fighting in the rain, where one person said. ‘If you still don’t wake up, then let me knock some sense into you.’
Stop fighting. That kind of fighting won’t wake people up.
Lin Yibai looked at Zhou Ling and the others, who were back in the meeting room, clapping and shouting slogans just like those people in the scam videos.
She gave a mysterious smile.
Beep, beep, beep—
“Hello, is this the police?”
Lin Yibai was making a report.
There was a suspicious group that looked like a pyramid scheme in the Dongbai Building on East Street.
If you still won’t wake up, then let me wake you up by calling the police.