Chapter 98: Chapter 97: How about we take down a fraud ring? (Please subscribe)

In Yundian University, inside a guesthouse B&B.

Lin Chuan was nestled in a comfortable rocking chair, watching the remarks of this group of “unlawful elements,” and couldn’t help but sit up suddenly.

It was as if a gravely ill person had shot up in shock!

His fingers swiftly pressed the phone’s keyboard, typing out a long string of information.

“This story is purely fictional. Any resemblance to actual events or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental. Also, the author solemnly declares that he is cooperating with the police station—beware of the green corpse of Handon!”

“You’re all smearing my reputation in the group chat; every single one of you must subscribe fully to console my injured soul!”

‘Mr. Lin, compared to a full subscription, how about this?’ A reader with the nickname ‘Old Bai’ sent a screenshot.

The image displayed a reward notification.

[You have rewarded ‘All-In’ with an Alliance Leader’s Treasure Chest*1, becoming the first Alliance Hierarch of ‘All-In’!]

Lin Chuan’s eyes lit up, and a smile appeared on his face, “This is strong! Super true fan!”

Old Bai asked again, “Will the author still be in Dali tonight?”

Lin Chuan thought about Xia Qingqing and Shen Qianqian’s travel plans and replied, “Yes.”

“I’ll arrive in Dali tonight. Let me treat you to dinner,” Old Bai sent another message.

The unlawful elements in the group started to caution one another.

‘Old Bai, don’t go, I’m afraid the author will sell you off as a piglet!’

‘Author, you’ve already taken his Alliance Leader’s Treasure Chest, just spare him this time.’

‘Author, you don’t want to be reported and end up in a cell, right?’

Unexpectedly, Old Bai replied, “Don’t worry, brothers. I have a master’s degree from a 985 university. The author can’t trick me with his little skills; I’ll share my journey of online romance turning into reality.”

Lin Chuan typed out a question mark.

Online romance turning into reality?

Having spent quite some time in the virtual factory area and coming into contact with fraud-related stuff, he subconsciously linked ‘online romance turning into reality’ with ‘pig-butchering scam’.

Meanwhile, the reader ‘Old Bai’ in the chat group had already started sharing with the group members.

‘Old Bai, is your online romance reliable?’

‘Of course, it is. We agreed to meet on May 2, but I want to surprise her, so I plan to arrive in ‘Dali’ the night before to get things ready.’

‘She asked to meet you?’

‘No, I asked her out. We’ve already video chatted; she’s pretty, considerate, and she’s always wanted to go to Dali, saying it’s beautiful with fresh breezes, so I asked her to meet in Dali.’

‘Ss! Romantic!’

‘I read some guides online, and they say Dali is a great place for lovebirds; wait for my good news, brothers!’

‘Online love has its risks, so be cautious when you meet up in person.’ someone reminded.

‘What risks? She’s just a frail girl, what could she possibly do to me?’ Old Bai retorted.

‘Did you not pay attention to the ‘pig-butchering scam’ conversation between the author and Feng?’

‘I know about that, but so far, she hasn’t spent a penny of my money nor asked for any gifts. I think she’s sincere, not a scammer.’

‘If I do run into a scam, I’ll drag Mr. Lin down with me, haha!’

‘…’

Lin Chuan watched the chat of these lawless elements in the group and shook his head.

There indeed were people who escaped from the virtual factory area.

There were also those heading to Dali for an online romance become reality.

Nevertheless, the public safety of Dali was rather good; there shouldn’t be any kidnapping or fraud.

At that moment.

‘Old Bai’ added Lin Chuan as a friend and sent a message: “Author, I’m preparing to fly to Dali now, I’ll come find you tonight for some fun.”

Lin Chuan smiled, “Sure.”

“We’ll talk tonight,” Old Bai replied.

Lin Chuan nodded and then closed the group chat.

9:00.

At the three-room inn, Shen Qianqian and Xia Qingqing were already up, each grooming and dressing themselves, looking beautiful as they appeared in the living room.

Shen Qianqian wore a moon-white dress, her hair draped over her shoulders, exuding an ethereal charm, and she carried a small pink backpack with a little yellow duck hanging from it.

Xia Qingqing chose a light pink chiffon blouse with khaki mermaid skirt, her short hair hanging down. She held a pair of sunglasses, with no additional decorations, embodying a pure and innocent charm.

“Let’s get going, Lin Chuan.”

Lin Chuan dressed simply, in a loose T-shirt and washed denim jeans, with a pair of sneakers. If he put on sunglasses, he would have looked somewhat rakishly handsome.

The three walked along the streets around Erhai Lake, attracting quite a few glances.

However,

once the girls started shopping, they became lively and energetic.

Boys, on the other hand, would quickly become tired and worn out.

Lin Chuan sat alone by the roadside, enjoying the unique atmosphere of Dali.

The sky was a clear and bright blue adorned with a few clouds, refreshing breezes blowing, causing the waves of Erhai Lake to bloom like flowers.

Seagulls flew past, emitting one or two crisp calls.

“Making money from writing indeed means one should get out more,” Lin Chuan mused, resting his hands on the stone chair.

Suddenly, a woman in eye-catching red clothes approached him.

“Handsome, are you alone? Are you interested in joining someone for a trip?” she asked.

“Not interested.”

Lin Chuan shook his head.

“Traveling alone is so dull. It’d be much more interesting together,” the woman said with a playful laugh.

“I have no money,” Lin Chuan said bluntly.

“I’m not after your money,” she laughed.

“I have called the police!” Lin Chuan said.

“No romance, no wonder you’ll be single for life!” the woman cursed as she collided head-on with Shen Qianqian and Xia Qingqing, who were returning to find Lin Chuan.

“Sister, who’s going to be single for life?” Xia Qingqing asked with a smile.

“Him!”

The woman pointed at Lin Chuan.

Lin Chuan helplessly waved his hands.

Xia Qingqing and Shen Qianqian sat down beside Lin Chuan, blinked their eyes, and looked at the woman.

The woman, seeing Lin Chuan with a beauty on each side, huffed in frustration and walked away, having been made a fool of herself.

At that moment, the two policewomen moved away from Lin Chuan’s side.

Shen Qianqian teased, “Writer Lin, you have quite the charm. It didn’t take long for a woman to hit on you.”

Lin Chuan shook his head helplessly, “That woman was a scam artist.”

Out of professional habit, the two policewomen immediately looked in the direction the woman had left, ready to take her to the local police station.

“How could you tell she was a scam artist?” Xia Qingqing asked curiously.

“She hit on me!”

“Do you have the ‘Fiery Eyes and Golden Pupils’ like the Great Sage Equalling Heaven, that you could see it?” Xia Qingqing was slightly taken aback.

“Have you ever heard of travel fraud?” Lin Chuan asked.

Both of them shook their heads.

Lin Chuan explained, “This kind of fraud is hard to guard against. She uses her beauty to strike up conversations with single people, suggesting they travel together as if by chance, but in reality, it’s a scam.”

“Like bar scams or food scams?” Shen Qianqian asked.

Lin Chuan nodded. “If she were enticing them to spend money, that would just be a monetary issue, but if she had ulterior motives, then it’s not just about the money.”

In the ‘Professional Scams’ skill, Lin Chuan knew how to trick people into the factory area.

Encounters like this during travel could be external operatives for the factory area, specifically targeting and deceiving people into going there.

So, Lin Chuan was extra careful.

Surely he wouldn’t end up in the factory area and become big and strong there, right?

That was too dreadful to contemplate!

“I’m a criminal police officer, and even I don’t know as much as you do,” Shen Qianqian said with a smile and a light scolding.

Lin Chuan laughed, “I’m a writer, I do a lot of research. It’s only reasonable that I know a little bit about fraud, isn’t it?”

“Next time I’ll lock you in a dark room and interrogate you thoroughly to see how many secrets you still have.”

The two police beauties laughed, their smiles as bright as blooming flowers.

…

Modu.

A soft light filtered through the linen curtains, spilling onto the white floor tiles of the room where Youyou, wearing a pink chiffon nightgown and barefoot, stepped into the sunlight and brought over a bowl of nourishing porridge to the computer desk.

Youyou had no travel plans for the May Day holiday.

‘Asking Lin Chuan if he was in Anling and then coincidentally passing by Anling’ was the strategy given to her by the editor-in-chief Ming Yue, flexible for any situation.

Hence, she stayed in her room, deliberating over this anti-fraud writing competition.

After all, her top general in writing – Lin Chuan – was participating in this competition.

On the Anti-Fraud Center’s webpage, one could see the reading index rankings of all the anti-fraud writing submissions.

The reading index was a composite of user clicks, reading duration, and levels of engagement, among other data.

Youyou was interested in the novels category.

Currently, at the start of the preliminary round, none of the novels had high popularity values.

Those in the lead were powerhouse authors from various novel platforms who brought their own followings.

For instance, big-name authors from Sailing Novel like Tianya and Guihai, as well as the ten-thousand-order author Handon, all ranked in the top ten.

The ranking for Lin Chuan’s “All-In” wasn’t low either.

It was currently at 16th place.

However, Youyou knew that this ranking could change at any time; maintaining a high popularity value was essential to come out on top in the end.

Besides solid content, another way to sustain popularity was ‘marketing tactics.’

Youyou scooped up a spoonful of the nourishing porridge and put it into her mouth while her other hand clicked the mouse to start reading other people’s novels.

She wasn’t much familiar with fraud and anti-fraud efforts, so she could only support Lin Chuan in this way.

Of course, she and Lin Chuan were on the same team.

They would share in both glory and adversity.

That’s when her computer suddenly popped up a push notification for a fast-trending video.

[Mistakenly swept into the Mekong in youth, a body wrapped in a sack drifts past nations, Ming tells you a true autobiographical tale of being tricked into a factory area.]

Youyou’s hand holding the spoonful of porridge paused as her other hand immediately clicked to enter.

The fast-trending video opened in the PC client, showing a video.

The video’s uploader was named ‘Ming.’

In the center of the video page, a man in blue clothing sat, his face hidden.

Above the video were several eye-catching words.

‘The Years I Was Tricked into the Factory Area’

‘Novel adapted from a true story.’

‘Author: Ming.’

The video did not yet have a high number of views.

Youyou’s left hand put down the spoon, her slender fingers pressing Alt+Tab on the keyboard to switch back to the reading index ranking on the Anti-Fraud Center’s webpage.

Her right hand scrolled the mouse wheel, pulling it downward.

Indeed.

Ranked 21st, “The Years I Was Tricked into the Factory Area” by Ming.

Also a novel participating in the anti-fraud writing competition.

Youyou switched back to the fast-trending videos on her computer, wanting to see how Ming told his autobiographical story.

In the video.

Ming, in blue, sat down without showing his face, and his voice was altered.

‘I hope that everyone who sees this video will not have the same experience as me.’

‘Also, I wrote this novel to fight against fraud and to promote awareness of anti-fraud.’

‘Do not be easily swayed by those false promises of high salaries and tens of thousands a month for easy work.’

‘And definitely do not cross borders without due caution.’

‘Because you never know what will happen to you.’

‘Now, I will use my own experiences to tell you how I was deceived into going to a factory area and how I narrowly escaped death and returned to my country.’

‘…’

Despite the voice alteration, Youyou could tell that his voice was very serious and empathetic.

And within his narration, the details were very clear.

Youyou slightly furrowed her brows.

Had he genuinely been to the factory area and engaged in online fraud activities?

No, it could be a tactic to drive traffic.

His book was already part of the anti-fraud writing competition, right when it needed a publicity drive to draw attention to the novel.

This video seemed poised to go viral.

Youyou made her first judgment.

As it turned out, she was correct; in just one hour, the video garnered two hundred thousand views.

Besides, Youyou noticed another video.

About the ten-thousand-order author Handon.

‘Observer News’ release: A well-known writer from Sailing Novel, Handon, was scammed out of three million and furiously turned his personal experience into a novel, with the sole wish of a world without fraud.

Youyou’s brow furrowed once more.

Handon’s work: “A World Without Fraud.”

One video after another related to anti-fraud novels popped up on fast-trending video, making anti-fraud the hottest topic overnight.

As time went by, with the creation of discussion points and video marketing, the novels started to climb rapidly to the top rankings.

By noon, Lin Chuan’s rank had dropped from the initial 16th place to 52nd.

Youyou’s expressive eyebrows knitted together, her hands rubbing her head, thinking of how to create even more explosive, more popular content than those videos for Lin Chuan.

What if we take down a fraud gang?