Volume VII

The ultimate showdown

Chapter Twenty-Five: The Devil of MLM

In Laiyang City, at 6 a.m. and 6 p.m., there is a large crowd of people in the streets, alleys, squares, parks, and open spaces by the river, like rushing to the market, but they do not buy or sell anything. Why do they gather together like ghosts? First, to jam traffic, and then to make people feel horrified.

This horrific image appears during the day.

Who are these people?

A group of people who eat cabbage all day long.

A group of people who mingle in the rural-urban area.

A collective where all members sleep on the floor.

An organization that does not dare to tell their loved ones about their true profession.

These numbers are in the tens of thousands, and they are convinced that they will become "millionaires" in a few years.

Because there are so many people, these millionaires line up to go to the toilet every morning, and their main job every day is to make phone calls. At the mouth of a dilapidated alley, there was a phone booth, and a man, dressed in a crumpled suit and a scarlet tie, made three calls.

1. "Hey, second uncle, I have opened an advertising company now, haven't you been a driver before, come and drive for me, 3,000 yuan a month, including food and accommodation...... Can I do you badly...... Yes, let's get a driver's license here...... Hey, don't hang up, wait, I'm not doing MLM...... Hey, hey, hey......"

2. "Uncle, how is your old health, call you to say hello, I am the boss and have opened an Internet company...... You come to invest in shares, which is investment...... It's okay if you don't understand the Internet, I didn't understand it at first...... If you can't get out, then sell the family's cattle, and make some sacrifices if you want to make a lot of money...... Okay, let's talk about it then. ”

3. "The stone is my ...... You forget, we used to be on a construction site, and I was in the electrician team...... Yes, I haven't been in touch for several years, and I'm doing real estate now, and I've enclosed a piece of land...... Yes, haha, I'm the contractor now...... It's ugly, let's call me Boss Wang, how much money can you earn by doing construction at home...... Come and help me, no less than 3000 ...... a month Okay, I'll pick you up when you get to the station, that's it. ”

Here comes the stone.

The nightmare began.

Stone was greeted warmly as soon as he got off the train. The electrician back then, now Boss Wang, gave him a hug as soon as they met, and another woman who called herself Director Miao helped him carry his luggage, which contained brick knives, hammers, and drills — he was a construction worker. They scurried into a cluttered residential area and into a dilapidated building.

When I entered the room, there were some people lying on the ground like corpses, and when I saw the stone come in, the "corpses" came back to life, shook hands with the stone, and said that it was hard work. The people in the house greeted him warmly, handed him towels, poured boiling water, and embarrassed the stones. Dinner in the evening, four dishes and one soup, there are chickens and fish, take the meaning of "opportunity". Shi later learned that chicken and fish would only be eaten when newcomers joined, and they usually ate cabbage and potatoes. More than a dozen bowls of rice, with chopsticks standing on them, brushed in two rows on the coffee table in the hall, they began to shout after they picked up the rice:

"The leader invites to eat, the boss invites to eat, everyone invites to eat, and I will also eat."

The slogan is neat and loud. The stone suddenly wanted to laugh, but he didn't hold back, and he laughed. He never imagined that in the future, he would also become a person who shouted slogans before eating. In order to show passion in front of the newcomers, the meal should be "grabbed", everyone rushed to serve the rice, rushed to add rice, rushed to serve the newcomers, and everyone ate with relish. Before eating, you should thank the leader, and when you say it, you should also cooperate with some gestures, and when it comes to the manager, president or something, you will also have a Chinese-style fist salute to show your admiration! After eating, everyone began to play games, rock-paper-scissors, idiom solitaire, guess the numbers, to tell the truth, they are all the kind of childish games played by kindergarten children, and those who lose have to perform a show, some sing a song, and some tell a story.

Stone lost, and everyone began to applaud rhythmically, asking him to perform the show.

The shy stone said that he didn't know anything, so he bowed to everyone.

When I sleep at night, one room for men and one room for women are all lined up in a row. Before going to bed, a very beautiful girl washed the feet of the stone, but the stone would not let him live.

The girl said, "We are not a family, but we are like a family." ”

The stone said, "Sweaty feet, smelly, I'll come myself." ”

The girl stubbornly held his foot and took off her shoes, a stench that gradually permeated the room. The stone's face was red, but the girl did not dislike it, and washed his feet very gently, and before he could finish washing, there was already a person standing next to him with a towel ready to wipe his feet. Stone is a construction worker, how can he receive such treatment, his heart is warm.

Boss Wang came over and said, "Stone, this is home." ”

Stone asked, "Where is our construction site?" ”

Boss Wang said, "Tomorrow, I'll take you over." ”

When we got up the next morning, we sang and dressed, and breakfast was rice porridge, which was characterized by the fact that rice could not be seen. After eating the so-called breakfast, Boss Wang said to take the stone out for a walk, on the way, Boss Wang solemnly said to the stone that he did not have any company at all, but he was engaged in an emerging industry, and he could earn 3.8 million in two years. The stone was not angry at this deception, but said lightly, "Oh. ”

They came to a small two-story building, and Boss Wang knocked on the door twice first, and then knocked again every once in a while, like a code. The door opened, and into a closed room with windows sealed with paper, and thick curtains. The room was full of people, all neatly seated on plastic benches.

Shi quietly asked his friend, "Do you want to play a pornographic video?" ”

The friend exclaimed, "I'm bringing a new friend, everyone is welcome." Everyone stood up and applauded.

A female lecturer in a suit walked in front of the blackboard, everyone quieted down, and Boss Wang also sat on a small bench with a stone and began to listen carefully.

The lecturer said: "When we came to this small class, it was nothing more than the word 'edge', a simple word 'edge', which closely connected our hearts from all over the world and other places. When I walked out of the house, someone asked me why, I said I was going to find the dream in my heart, and when I was baptized in the storm, someone asked me why, and I said I was going to fulfill the dream in my heart. Life has dreams, life is like a dream, but life is not a dream after all, we can turn dreams into reality here. A diploma is not equal to a level, and an academic qualification is not equal to an ability. It doesn't matter if you're a graduate student or a primary school graduate, we treat everyone equally. Each of us is equal, we come from all over the world, we form a big family, we have a common belief that we will definitely succeed. ”

The lecturer asked the stone, "This new friend, you were tricked, right?" ”

Stone replied in a whisper, "Yes." ”

The lecturer said: "When I was a child, my mother said that the injection didn't hurt, so why did my mother lie? Because by telling a beautiful lie, the child will be brave enough to accept it. If someone told you that there was a mountain of gold here, would you come? You'll ask him if he's taken his medicine and you're going to visit him in the hospital with a bag of fruit......"

The crowd burst into laughter.

The lecturer continued, "The first to spot a business opportunity is a genius, the second is a mediocre, and the third is a fool. Why are we all friends and family in this industry, because the more people know about this business opportunity, the fewer opportunities we have. We want to be geniuses, not stupid, we deceive our relatives and friends to come, just for their good, we have to dig up the first pot of gold with our relatives and friends to achieve our careers. If you don't believe in miracles, miracles won't happen. ”

The crowd applauded and cheered.

The lecturer motioned for everyone to be quiet and said, "Our chain sales is an emerging industry, and this model is imported from the United States. As long as you invest 3,800 yuan, develop three downlines, and finally successfully get out, you can earn 3.8 million. Our Swarm Biotech company is headquartered in South Korea, and we have a five-level and three-level system, E. salesman, D. team leader, C. director, B. manager, and A. president...... Although you are not a millionaire now, you will definitely be a millionaire in the future, although you are sleeping on the ground now, eating a big pot of rice, but those who will endure hardship will suffer for a while, and those who will not suffer will suffer for a lifetime. ”

A person came up to the stage and bowed and said to everyone, "I am getting 19,000 a month now, is 19,000 enough?" ”

The people below were full of spirits and shouted in unison: "Not enough!" ”

Another person took the stage and said, "I have now reached the director level, I feel fortunate to be in this great and noble direct selling industry, I want to thank my upline, and now I recommend myself to everyone for free." I'm from ...... Welcome all the millionaires and multimillionaires in the audience to take out of your busy schedules to visit my dormitory to guide ......"

Finally, the lecturer asked the stone: "This is a moment that will change your personal and family destiny, would you like to join the ranks of millionaires?" ”

The stone said, "Okay, I'll join." ”

Everyone stood up and gave a tidal wave of applause, and the female lecturer in a suit stepped forward to hug the stone, and the stone only felt that the blood was boiling and full of pride.

Stone began to ask for money from his family, his mother sold saltwater peanuts, and his sister ran a paint shop, and 3,800 yuan was not a small amount for his family. Before making the call, Director Miao helped him write a phone call, and Shi took a shoe brush to his ear and talked to himself, raising his tone from time to time, and then saying something in a gentle drizzle. He simulated playing a few times first, which would increase the success rate.

Stone finally mustered up the courage to call the village committee, and the village chief called his mother, who asked in a panic what was wrong.

Shi said, "Mom, my friend and I have contracted a road repair project and need money urgently. ”

The mother said, "There is no money at home, and your sister opened a store, and the money was all for her." ”

Shi said: "This is an opportunity to make a lot of money, and it will be too late to miss it." ”

The mother said, "We don't have the life to get rich, so you should be a plasterer, earn more and spend more, earn less and spend less." ”

The stone said, "Mom, please, I'll kneel down for you." ”

The phone call lasted more than 20 minutes, and he knelt on the ground during the whole process, pitying the hearts of his parents all over the world, and his mother finally agreed to lend him money and remit it to him.

A month later, Shi claimed that he had made a fortune contracting the project and deceived his brother-in-law.

The brother-in-law was suspicious that he could earn 3.8 million yuan by investing 3,800 yuan, and a room full of people took turns brainwashing him.

Brainwashing by illegal pyramid schemes is generally divided into three steps.

The first step is to answer questions and solve doubts, through mutual communication, in the form of questions and answers, to solve various obstacles to their actions, such as saying that "deception is good and malicious, deceiving people is to make them rich", to eliminate their guilt of deceiving people.

The second step is to sensationalize the lecture and go deep into brainwashing. In a closed environment, through lectures and the experience of successful people, a bright future can be depicted, and a high rate of return can be achieved in a short period of time, igniting the fanatical hope of newcomers to join illegal pyramid schemes.

The third step is to communicate after class and strengthen brainwashing. The main purpose is to create a "big family" atmosphere in the dormitory, and the "trainers" teach the members the communication skills with others and the strategies and tactics and means of MLM, repeatedly inculcate the concept of MLM to get rich quickly, emphasizing the path of getting rich by paying more at the beginning, and getting rich with less in the future, so as to further solidify and amplify the dream of members to get rich in MLM.

The stone persuaded his brother-in-law: "What can I lie to you?" You are my brother-in-law, I will cheat you on a train ticket at most, you first understand our industry, and carefully ponder whether this is an opportunity to make a fortune. ”

The brother-in-law said, "I don't believe it very much. ”

A bald man said to his brother-in-law: "I opened three agencies, and I gave up all of them, do you think I'm a fool?" ”

The brother-in-law smiled but did not answer.

A middle-aged woman said: "My aunt is in the front, my aunt's downline is my father, my younger daughter is below my father, and the eldest daughter is below the younger daughter, and I am now helping the younger daughter to do development." Next month, the youngest daughter will be paid. ”

The brother-in-law asked, "How much?" ”

The middle-aged woman said: "Three or four hundred yuan, you know, my youngest daughter is only 6 years old, and she will get a salary at the age of 6." ”

A young man with a small hair came over and said: "My cousin has been here for 11 months, he has earned more than 1 million, and now he has bought a car and a house, and he has dozens of acres of banana fields at home." ”

The brother-in-law said, "I'll think about it." ”

Scientists did an experiment in which six people were locked in a closed room, and there was an apple and an orange in the room, and five people said that the orange was bigger than the apple, and the rest of the people would believe it; Five people said that it was Tuesday, and the remaining one, even though he knew that it was not Tuesday, would also have doubts about himself and would eventually be persuaded by others. Human beings have a blind obedience mentality, and the popularity of chicken blood in the sixties and seventies of the 20th century is an example.

After a few lessons, Shi's brother-in-law fell into the abyss of pyramid schemes. He first developed his nephew into a downline, and his nephew Wang Yong used recruitment as an excuse to bring in a classmate.

This classmate's name is Chen Lei, and he felt wrong when he first arrived, many people were in the house, and they didn't talk about recruitment, they just kept asking for warmth, and Chen Lei became vigilant. After a while, a girl borrowed his phone. He didn't think too much about it at the time, and after a while, Wang Yong came, didn't mention the recruitment at all, but introduced the chain sales, talked for a long time, and then told him that he was actually deceived and asked him to do this sales.

Chen Lei felt very angry, he roared and said: "Wang Yong, we have been classmates since elementary school, we are so good that we wear a pair of pants, you actually deceived me and deceived me to engage in pyramid schemes." ”

Wang Yong eagerly confessed: "This is direct selling, not pyramid selling. ”

Chen Lei raised his fist and wanted to hit Wang Yong, but he couldn't do it, so he hit the wall with his fist, and the wall turned red in an instant, and Shi Shi's brother-in-law stepped forward to hug him.

Wang Yong cried and said, "You can beat me, don't torture yourself." ”

Chen Lei said: "This turned out to be true, our friend for many years, can you lie to me like this?" ”

Wang Yong said: "I deceived you for your own good, I just want the two of us to start a business together and make a fortune, don't we often say this in school, this is an opportunity, I use a lifetime of friendship, in exchange for your time these days." You stay, I don't force you to join this industry, you stay and help me see clearly, even if it's a fire pit, you can pull me out if you see it clearly. You've just arrived, and you haven't seen a lot of things, and you don't understand a lot of things clearly, so you jump to conclusions. For the sake of friendship, after all these years, you still don't know me? ”

Chen Lei also cried, thinking to himself, yes, even if it is a fire pit, I should pull him out! All the things he had heard about pyramid schemes before his eyes appeared.

Shi's brother-in-law saw that Chen Lei was in a very bad mental state, so he said that he should rest for a while, and then called a group of people to come in and watch him, afraid that he would be impulsive again. They also kept saying that they didn't have to worry about the safety of their personal and property, but they just stayed here for a few days to get a good understanding of the industry, and after a few days, they could do it or not. Chen Lei felt exhausted, took the train for nearly 30 hours, and encountered this kind of thing again, it was too painful. He sat there in a state of stupor, listening to their chatter incessantly.

After a while, a person came in from outside and called Chen Lei to another room, saying that his girlfriend had made dozens of calls and asked him to call his girlfriend back.

The phone was connected, and his girlfriend's crying words suddenly came into his ears, and she kept asking Chen Lei what was wrong, whether she didn't want her anymore, and if she had encountered something. The girlfriend said she had been sitting in front of the phone all day, making calls every ten minutes and was very worried. Chen Lei's nose was sour, he couldn't hold back the tears, and tried to say to his girlfriend calmly: "I'm fine, but I encountered something unexpected." ”

The girlfriend said, "Did you be kidnapped and deceived?" ”

Chen Lei said: "No. ”

The girlfriend asked, "Is it a pyramid scheme?" ”

Chen Lei replied: "Yes." ”

The girlfriend cried on the phone, and the people in the house were very angry when they heard the "pyramid scheme", and they rushed over and wanted to snatch Chen Lei's mobile phone. Chen Lei ran into the bathroom, pressed the door with the washing machine, and began to call relatives and friends, but the mobile phone was in arrears, he hurriedly wrote his location into a text message, and used the group sending function to send it over and over again, but it always failed to send. As the time passed, he was so anxious that he really heard his heartbeat, and the moment the toilet door was knocked open, the message was successfully sent!

Several people rushed in, pulled Chen Lei back to the room, grabbed the mobile phone alone, checked it, and found that he was in arrears, so he returned the mobile phone to him. Chen Lei said angrily: "Do you still have a conscience, my girlfriend is crying so much that her voice is hoarse, do you have a little sympathy, if so, you will let me out." ”

Wang Yong said: "You are emotionally unstable now, and when you calm down, we will let you go." ”

Chen Lei said: "Since you are a legitimate industry, why do you restrict my personal freedom? ”

Wang Yong said: "We are direct sales, you misunderstood it as a pyramid scheme, in case you go out to call the police, it will bring us trouble." ”

Chen Lei understands that his friends have been deeply involved, he thinks, for his parents, for his girlfriend, for his family, for himself, fight! He rushed to the door, only to find that the door was locked, several people tried to stop him, he ran to the balcony again, wanted to jump, the balcony was installed with a guardrail, he desperately faced the dark sky, pulled his neck like a wounded wolf and shouted his girlfriend's name.

That night, he suffered from insomnia and received two text messages the next morning. One is "The payment is successful, and the payment amount is 100 yuan", and the other is sent by my girlfriend: "Lei, although we are not married yet, I already regard you as my husband." I paid you the phone bill, I'm afraid that you will lose contact with your mobile phone arrears, now your father and my father, the whole family is out to rescue you, you have to take care of yourself in the past two days, don't force them to come, be calm, I love you forever! ”

Chen Lei held his mobile phone, a happy tremor spread all over his body, and his eyes were moist. He carefully examined his current dangerous situation, he did not dare to call the police rashly, because when he went to the toilet, someone followed him, so he could only wait quietly, he turned his phone to vibrate, and waited until the night when everyone was asleep, and secretly texted his father. The first step of pyramid schemes is often illegal detention, in this soul-twisted environment, no one can be trusted, don't think you can convince anyone, brainwashed people will not listen to reason, and there is no need to debate with a group of crazy people. They call the pyramid scheme dens "home", and many of them drag their families to take care of their families, sell cattle and houses, and even take out loans to engage in this industry, and there is no relationship between husband and wife in the pyramid scheme organization, and the husband must also call the boss when he sees his wife.

The essence of MLM is that one person's wealth is built on the basis that another person is poorer, and the other person is one's own relatives.

Chen Lei calmed down, pretended to cooperate with those MLM personnel, and also went to listen to a few classes, and two days later the MLM personnel held a large sharing meeting at Chaotian Cinema. More than a dozen successful people appeared to say, and it is not an exaggeration to describe the atmosphere with the word "crazy". Nearly 1,000 people applauded like thunder in the conference hall.

The host said to everyone: "Today, our President Ma also came to the sharing site, everyone is welcome. ”

In the midst of applause, a man in a black suit with a big back combed walked into the venue, followed by a female secretary with an extraordinary temperament, and the female secretary took out a stack of speeches, which he signaled not to use. He walked up to the stage and glanced around the venue, which fell silent.

"I'll just say one word," President Ma looked at everyone, "my today is your tomorrow!" ”

The room erupted in thunderous applause, and everyone stood up, raised their hands above their heads, and began to applaud rhythmically.

At this time, Chen Lei in the venue suddenly felt that someone had stabbed him in the back, and when he looked back, he was pleasantly surprised, it turned out to be his father. Dad put his finger to his lips, said "shhhh At that time, President Ma on the stage was handing out bonuses to B-level MLM people, and the bundles of RMB made the people in the venue look enthusiastic, and no one noticed that Chen Lei and his father sneaked out of the venue.

When he walked to the door, Chen Lei's father looked back and felt that President Ma standing on the stage was very familiar.

He said to his son, "I remember, I have seen this person, I have to call the police immediately." ”

Chen Lei's father is Dr. Chen from Yunling Town.

President Ma is the gunner.

An hour later, as soon as the cannon walked out of the venue, a pair of shiny handcuffs were cuffed to his wrists.

There is a wall near the square that has been around for more than 30 years.

For thirty years, every year that passed, the wall became a little shorter.

If a person stands in front of a wall, if he stands for thirty years, he approaches and moves away from something that can never be touched, that is the history recorded in the writing on this public wall, from the big-character poster of that year to the slogan of family planning.

This wall is connected to all the walls. The weathered, peeled, bullet holes recorded the range of the walls, and then sprawled, and for four years the walls were covered in green creepers, which became the initial motivation for some passers-by to plant flowers and trees in their yards.

In 1993, a rabies epidemic notice was posted on the wall, and the city's dog fighting team went around to catch stray dogs, and in that year, an old dog jumped over the wall with amazing force.

In 1996, a worker painted away the old days and replaced the walls with advertisements for an electrical appliance company, and from then on, the advertisements began to be covered with advertisements for the treatment of venereal diseases, licensing, public relations recruitment, selling kidneys, selling see-through poker psoriasis.

On 29 October 2001, a court notice was posted on the wall.

A primary school student stood in front of the notice and read earnestly:

Defendant Ma Youzhai, male, 53 years old, committed the crimes of drug trafficking and underworld organization, and was sentenced to death for immediate execution, deprived of political rights for life, and confiscated his personal property and turned over to the state treasury.

Defendant Ma Youcang, nicknamed "Paozi", male, 25 years old, committed the crimes of drug trafficking, underworld organizations, assembling a crowd to rob a prison with weapons, illegally possessing firearms and ammunition, and illegal business operations, and was sentenced to death for immediate execution, deprivation of political rights for life, and confiscation of all personal property.

Defendant Han Baosan, nicknamed "Sanwen Qian", male, 50 years old, committed the crime of drug trafficking, instigating minors to transport drugs, the circumstances were heinous, and was sentenced to death for immediate execution, deprivation of political rights for life, and confiscation of all personal property.

Zhang Mude, nicknamed "Big Monster", male, 34 years old, committed drug trafficking and intentional homicide, and was sentenced to death for immediate execution and deprived of political rights for life.

The court held a public sentencing rally at Xiangcheng Square to publicly pronounce sentences on more than 40 criminals in accordance with the law. Bai Jingyu came to the venue in person, and Hualong also made a wonderful speech. More than 1,000 people from all walks of life attended the public sentencing meeting, and the crowd at the intersection burst into cheers for each criminal sentenced. The prosecution authorities sentenced the other criminals:

Tie Junwu, nicknamed "Tiezui", Tu Chunming, nicknamed "Tu Laoye", committed robbery and escape, and were sentenced to death with a two-year reprieve.

Kuban was convicted of theft and drug trafficking and sentenced to 18 years in prison.

Ding Wanxiang, nicknamed "Old Man Ding", and Liu Chaoyang, nicknamed "Mouse", were sentenced to 13 years in prison for the crimes of stealing cultural relics and processing drugs.

Ma Youdao, nicknamed "Little Knife", committed the crime of organizing prostitution and was sentenced to 10 years in prison and fined.

Han Shaojie, nicknamed "Young Master Han", committed the crime of drug trafficking, and after he was caught, he was able to confess the facts of the crime, made meritorious contributions, and played a certain role in solving the case, so he was given a lenient punishment and sentenced to 10 years imprisonment.

So far, except for Brother Thumb, Ding Busi, and Gao Fei, who are at large, all the members of the criminal team in the No. 1 major case of the new century have been arrested.

That night, Bai Jingyu issued an A-level wanted warrant on TV, and he called on all public security departments to take active action, launch a national launch, launch an all-out attack, and lay a net of heaven and earth, so that criminals have no place to hide and no place to escape. For those who find clues to solve the case or directly capture a criminal suspect, the public security department will reward 100,000 yuan, and 300,000 yuan will be rewarded for all arrests. Bai Jingyu announced the hotline number for whistleblowing, and swore to reporters:

If the three criminal suspects are not arrested for a day, the major case command will not be revoked for a day!