CHAPTER 142: HOW COULD YOU DO THIS?

"Do you bumpkins even understand science? Drilling wells is illegal, and even if you do it, there’s no water to be found nowadays. That’s groundwater, okay? But what I’m selling is a distiller that extracts water from the air. I can even get water in the desert with it. Do you think I can’t distill water here? My method is cost-effective, quick, convenient, and produces fast results. It’s much better than drilling wells. I wouldn’t share this benefit with you all if we weren’t classmates."

The classmates did their calculations and realized that by introducing just 10 people, they could break even. Moreover, if those 10 people each introduced one more person, they could earn 10 work points, equivalent to five bottles of water. If each of those 10 people then introduced 10 more, they could earn 100 work points...

Greed and desire took over their minds. What could 100 work points do? They could buy 50 bottles of water, 50 servings of white rice, and never have to eat maggots again. If they worked hard, they could drink as much water as they wanted every day and even have white rice. Oh, how wonderful would that life be?

Jing Shu saw her past self in their eyes, a familiar worry surfacing. Could this be a scam? Good things don’t just fall into your lap for free... But Zhang Lingling’s next words dispelled everyone’s concerns.

Zhang Lingling pulled out her phone and opened the ’Screen Dominator’ app. "What’s the hesitation? Our company is legit. Start by downloading this APP, then register... There are about 20 of you, right? You can form five groups. One person buys first, then sends the invite code to the others—that saves you 4 work points, doesn’t it? For those without work points, just write an IOU. I’ll cover you for now, but there’s an interest of 1 work point."

Zhang Lingling’s words once again eased the suspicions of some, who began asking her about the process and how to proceed.

"Just scan my invite code and download it right away. Then, later, we’ll go to the supermarket to deduct the work points from your accounts. If you don’t have enough, I’ll lend them to you. After that, you can pick up the distiller from my place. Finally, you can start sharing your own invite codes and introduce others. Whenever a purchase is successful, the rebated work points will be recorded in the app."

Hearing that even work points could be borrowed now, they thought, if she were a scammer, why would she lend them work points? Besides, they’ve been classmates for years; she wouldn’t scam them, right?

Due to severe inflation, the country had implemented Virtual Coin solely for purchasing food and water. However, a small amount of trading had recently been permitted, but only at the designated trade area in the supermarket.

At this moment, Wang Chao asked, "The Virtual Coin is just recorded in the APP, right? It can’t be used in supermarkets, nor can it buy food."

Zhang Lingling said, "The national policy for Virtual Coin trading hasn’t been opened yet. It will be by next year. So, once you accumulate 10 work points, come to me, and I’ll take you to the supermarket to convert them."

Thus, Zhang Lingling had everything arranged. Everyone calculated that it was a 100% profitable venture for earning work points. So, they all downloaded the app Zhang Lingling recommended. Money was practically useless anyway, and they weren’t afraid of viruses, so they just followed Zhang Lingling’s instructions.

The APP was simple, mainly showing who the user had introduced, how much Virtual Coin those introductions had earned for them, their current Virtual Coin balance, and an option to schedule a Virtual Coin withdrawal. Although simple, it was clear at a glance, giving everyone the illusion of Qian Shengqian.

Then, the group prepared to go to the supermarket to transfer their Virtual Coins to Zhang Lingling’s account.

It was quite impressive for an average family to have even a few Virtual Coins, but these classmates each had about seven or eight. They were ready to borrow more to gather the full 16 Virtual Coins to hand over to Zhang Lingling.

"Jing Shu, Yao Zixin, aren’t you buying?" After counting everyone, Zhang Lingling realized only these two hadn’t bought in. She couldn’t help but frown. "Everyone else is in on this. What’s wrong with you two?"

This was peer pressure, an appeal to herd mentality. Yao Zixin coughed weakly and said, "Well, alright then, sign me up for one too."

The crowd quieted down and turned their gazes towards Jing Shu, their expressions a mixture of confusion, jealousy, and disdain.

In my past life, I too dreamed of earning Virtual Coins, of being able to drink water and eat white rice. And the result?

The result was I roped in my Uncle’s family and Su Meimei’s family. One such family, a household of three, each bought one of these distillers, spending 60 work points. Then they, in turn, roped in their relatives and friends to buy this thing.

It took a lot of effort, roping in many people, just to earn back the 20 Virtual Coins for my own distiller. But the problem was the distiller barely produced more water in a day than saliva.

My Uncle, Su Meimei, and their families also realized there was a problem with the distiller. However, for their own benefit, they insisted it was fine and kept roping more people in.

When I stood up and called it a pyramid scam, I was attacked by those who wanted to protect their own interests. They all claimed their distillers worked fine and ganged up on me, so I just left the group.

Later, partly because the Artificial Sun had been active for a while and water wasn’t scarce anymore, and partly because so many were involved, many people in Wu City had spent their 20 work points trying to recruit others. But once water wasn’t an issue, they couldn’t find new buyers and ended up losing those 20 work points for nothing.

The whole thing blew up, and the government tracked down the source and dealt with them. But by then, it was too late.

One percent of the participants earned thousands of work points, and ten percent managed to make back their initial 20 work points. The rest were all victims. And those who did earn Virtual Coins had already spent them on water and food long ago.

Because of this, Su Meimei and my Aunt blamed me, asking why I would drag my own family into such a scam. Their family had spent 60 work points and hadn’t even broken even.

In this life, Zhang Lingling actually asked her, "What’s that supposed to mean?"

"That kind of distiller hardly produces any water daily, so I won’t buy it. If I introduce it to friends and they aren’t satisfied, they’ll blame me." Jing Shu wanted to expose the scam. But weren’t there any smart people present? Of course, there were. Some people here weren’t even short of water, yet they still chose to buy the distiller to introduce more people and earn those 2 work points. Besides, I remembered how violently people reacted when I called it a scam in my previous life. That was all I could do to warn them.

Mu Xiaoxuan said, "What Jing Shu said makes sense. I’ve heard that solar distillers need sunlight and moisture from the air. Without sunlight, and with so little moisture in the air, how can it distill anything? Never mind, I’ll pass."

Zhang Lingling revealed a rigid smile. "Mu Xiaoxuan, you’ve already registered on the APP, and I’ve already submitted your information. The 20 Virtual Coins have also been deducted from my side, so you can’t just back out now. You can introduce others to buy, can’t you?"

"But if the product is no good, isn’t getting them to buy it the same as tricking them?" Mu Xiaoxuan shook her head. "I don’t have the work points right now, so I don’t want it."

Wang Chao reproached, "Mu Xiaoxuan, if you don’t take it, I’ll be out 2 more work points, and Xie Zihao will be out 1 work point! How can you do this?"