As Xiao Jianying continued talking to Xiao Luo over the phone, it became harder for her to control her emotions, and she suddenly broke down. She recounted to him what had been happening of late. Whenever she received a call from Ding Zhenyun, he would ask her for money to make an investment. It started with a sum of 100 thousand, and later it came down to 30 thousand. It had come to a point where she was now afraid of receiving any calls from Ding Zhenyun.

  Aunt Jianying’s family wasn’t wealthy, and even the house loan they made a few years ago had not been entirely paid off. They simply didn’t have the money for Ding Zhenyun to make an investment.

  “I don’t know why he has become like this—he’s gone mad! If we don’t give him money, he’ll go borrow it from his friends and relatives. Your uncle said that he’s gotten into referral marketing and has been brainwashed, so he won’t listen to anyone. If we try to talk to him about it, he’ll get angry and scream at us. Even your uncle’s relationship with him has soured,” Xiao Jianying said.

  Xiao Luo frowned with mixed feelings, as he recalled that his cousin, Ding Zhenyun, was a filial son with a very gentle personality, and he was likable as a person. He could not imagine Ding Zhenyun yelling at his uncle; that would certainly be out of character. What made him change so drastically, was his freedom being restricted somehow? Was someone in front of him and guiding him when he made the call? Was his irascible display merely a disguise to obtain help from his family?

  It wasn’t surprising because some MLM organizations would use extreme methods to get results from their recruited members.

  He asked, “Have you called the police?”

  “We did, but the police can’t do anything and told us that since he can still be contacted, there is no way for them to record it as a case. The police told us that if we truly suspect that he has gone into referral marketing, we should just stop sending him money and then just go and get him back. But he won’t tell us where is he exactly in Xiahai,” Xiao Jianying said, calming down a little, but her words were filled with sorrow that reflected her sense of helplessness.

  “Aunt, he said he’ll make a trip back tomorrow,” said Xiao Luo.

  Xiao Jianying shook her head and said, “No, he won’t. Previously, your uncle tried to entice him by saying that he can apply for a loan if he comes back. He agreed at first, but later on, he asked your uncle to help him with the application and transfer the money to his account when the loan was approved.”

  Xiao Luo let out a long sigh. “Alright, don’t worry, Aunt. I have plans to go to Xiahai this year. Leave Zhenyun to me. If he’s really gotten into MLM, I’ll get him out for sure.”

  “Xiao Luo, thank you, aunt will remember this forever,” Xiao Jianying thanked him profusely.

  After ending the call, Xiao Luo raised his eyebrows. He thought to himself: It seems like I have a lot of things to do in Xiahai when I get back there!

  \r \r \r

  Turning to Ji Siying, he asked, “Are there a lot of MLM organizations in Xiahai?”

  Ji Siying considered for a moment and replied, “Yes, it seems that their numbers have been on the rise in recent years. Every once in awhile, there will be news of police raiding the bases of MLM organizations.”

  “Is that so? Looks like I’ll have to refresh myself on the latest developments in Xiahai.” Xiao Luo smiled gently.

  If Ding Zhenyun had been brainwashed, then saying anything to him now would serve no purpose. Ding Zhenyun would only see that person as someone getting in the way of his success and fortune. To save him, one had to get Ding Zhenyun to realize himself that this was a scam. Such things couldn’t be hurried, and locating him was all that mattered for the time being.

  The next day, as Aunt Jianying had predicted, Ding Zhenyun gave the excuse that he didn’t have the time to go home. He told Xiao Luo to go and seek him out whenever he was in Xiahai, and that he would take Xiao Luo along on a path to get rich together.

  While Xiao Luo’s first reaction was to scoff at such a hilarious suggestion, he sympathized with his cousin. Ding Zhenyun graduated from a polytechnic college and worked as a machine operator in a factory, earning around three thousand a month. He was filial, driven to find success, and eager to alter his destiny to give his parents a better life. Unfortunately, this was precisely the kind of mentality most prone to being manipulated by multi-level marketing agents.

  Xiao Luo was in no position to help out before, but now that he was able to, he would certainly do what he could for his aunt’s family.

  When they had just begun rebuilding the farm, he had discussed the business plan at length with his father, Xiao Zhiyuan. Then, Xiao Zhiyuan invited two of his aunts to join the venture and came up with a name for the farm project: Mount Luo Ranch.

  As soon as Xiao Luo’s fund was in place, excavators, bulldozers, concrete mixers, and a team of engineers were mobilized. An army of personnel and equipment converged on the village to begin the construction work.

  The entire Luo Village rippled with excitement, and in every household, stories about Xiao Luo were frequently told with enthusiasm.

  “How much is Xiao Luo actually earning out there? He’s transforming his father’s farm into a leisure farm.”

  “That is truly a generous sum of money!”

  “Looks like we’ve all underestimated Xiao Luo. He’s the most excellent youth in your village.”

  Everyone in the village praised Xiao Luo. To be so bold as to carry out a large-scale project to transform his father’s isolated farm signified his true capability and courage, as it was located at a deserted piece of land that was thousands of acres wide. When the news of the Mount Luo Ranch project and Xiao Luo’s capabilities spread, their family’s reputation soared to new heights, not only in their own but in all villages within ten miles of Luo Village. Instantly, Xiao Luo became a local celebrity in Gushan, and people delighted in talking about his achievements and exploits.

  But, there were some voices of dissent as well. Xiao Qiudong, who had already been discharged from the hospital, was among those who were perpetually bad-mouthing Xiao Luo. He kept telling everyone that Xiao Luo had managed to ensnare a rich girl, and it was her wealth that paid for the farm construction. Xiao Luo was nothing more than a gigolo.

  It came to the point that many of Luo’s Village villagers had had enough of him, and they simply told him off in his face.

  “So what if Xiao Luo’s a gigolo? If he has what it takes to be one, then good for him. If you’re capable enough, you should try and get yourself a rich girl as well.”

  “Yeah, your mouth is so full of crap, you jealous sod!”

  “In the past, I felt that Xiao Luo was inferior to you. But now, I realize that it is you that’s inferior to him, you can’t even be compared to even a single strand of his hair.”

  Xiao Qiudong was shocked by the support given to Xiao Luo and left speechless. He left his home at Luo Village, along with his wife and kids, to returned to Zhoukou City. Before leaving, he let loose his rage and shouted at everyone in the Village, “You’re all a bunch of imbeciles! Go ahead then, continue sucking up to Xiao Luo. Let me see if their family will reward you with even a spoonful of grain.”

  As soon as he said that, a sudden realization smacked him right back in his face.

  The land, spanning across a thousand acres, was a consolidation of land plots belonging to the villagers. And after it was converted into a leisure farm, every household would become a shareholder in the venture, and enjoy dividends from the farm’s year-end performance. Not surprisingly, only Xiao Qiudong was excluded–Xiao Luo made no plans to include the land that belonged to his family.

  Finally, realizing what was happening, Xiao Qiudong almost vomited blood……

  The plan to make every household a shareholder wasn’t Xiao Luo’s way of getting back at Xiao Qiudong; he wasn’t such a petty man. His motives were much more than that: to drive the enthusiasm and garner the Luo villagers’ support, thus preventing possible conflicts and making it easier to develop the leisure farm.

  With Xiao Luo’s legacy spreading far and wide, visits to his grandparents’ home now became more frequent. Many of them, friends and relatives who had not been in contact for several years, suddenly emerged like wild mushrooms after the rain.

  This certainly gave credence to an old saying: When you are poor, even if you live in a crowded city, you will be alone. But when you are rich, even if you live in the uninhabited mountains, the most distant relatives will come flocking to you!

  Xiao Luo’s uncle, who had once humiliated his father in his presence, also appeared one day to pay them a visit. He came with his son Hua Xiaorong, and they brought along some fine wine and other gifts. However, his uncle had barely spoken a few words before asking about a loan from Xiao Luo.

  “Xiao Luo, now that you’re rich, could you possibly lend me 400 thousand dollars? I have my eyes on a second-hand house in the county. I’ve already settled the deposit, I’m just waiting to pay off the full amount now.” His uncle, Hua Dexing, spoke with great enthusiasm as he tried to compel his nephew into making the loan.

  His cousin, Hua Xiaorong, leaned back on the sofa with his legs crossed, acting like he was in his own home. His shifty eyes kept roaming fleetingly to Ji Siying, who was sitting gracefully beside Xiao Luo. ……