The Chairman’s office at Pinduoduo.
KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK!
"Come in!"
Wang Hao walked in holding Wu Yun’s old phone. Seeing Wu Yun playing a game, he said, "President Wu, there’s a call from an unknown number. They’ve called many times, saying there’s an error with an account you registered and that a deduction will be made. I was worried it might be a misunderstanding, so I brought it in for you to handle."
Having experienced the endless barrage of scam calls and cases in his past life, Wu Yun recognized the script instantly. Combined with the fact that the number didn’t look like a domestic one, he knew it was a scam call.
Just then, his team in the game was eliminated, so he became interested in having a little chat with this scammer.
Wu Yun took the phone and put it on speaker.
"Hello? What’s this about?" Wu Yun asked curiously.
A calm voice, in the practiced tone of a customer service representative, immediately came from the other end: "Hello, sir. While reviewing customer data, we discovered that your personal details and purchase information have appeared on the list for our mall’s contracted annual dealership."
"After an investigation by our mall’s upper management, it was found that a new college student employee mistakenly uploaded your information to the UnionPay center and set up an automatic binding while archiving customer complaint data, which has caused you to—"
Before the scammer could finish, Wu Yun cut him off. "Wait, hold on a second!"
"Go ahead, sir!" The scammer was quite polite, sounding very much like a real customer service agent.
Wu Yun feigned confusion and asked, "What was that you just said about a college student?"
"It was one of our college student employees who uploaded your personal information to the UnionPay center and created an automatic binding. As a result, you’ve been upgraded from a regular user of our mall to an annual dealership user!"
"Sir, we are very sorry for the trouble this has caused you!"
The scammer-agent continued, "This dealership service allows you to enjoy a 10% to 30% discount when purchasing items in our mall, but it also has certain consequences."
"This is because our mall has signed an agreement with the UnionPay center—"
Hearing the scammer’s long-winded explanation, Wu Yun interrupted him again. "Just get to the point! Get to the point! Don’t waste time with all that useless stuff."
The scammer’s train of thought was broken, and some verbal filler slipped out. "Ah! Sir! What it means is that every month, the UnionPay center will automatically deduct an 800 yuan franchise fee from your bank account. This will continue for twelve months, for a total of 9,600 yuan."
"We’re calling you to prevent the UnionPay center from deducting these funds during this period!"
Wu Yun interrupted him yet again, making Wang Hao, who was standing nearby, struggle to hold back a laugh. He had also figured out that this was a scam call. After all, with Wu Yun’s status, would he really need to buy things from some unheard-of online mall?
Even the viewers in Susan’s livestream chat were amused, flooding the screen with comments telling Wu Yun to mess with the scammer.
"So what if I want to keep using it!?"
The scammer-agent was still talking, but since Wu Yun was also speaking, it was a bit noisy for a moment.
"You, stop for a second! Stop talking!" Wu Yun’s voice rang out with a commanding tone, and the scammer-agent immediately fell silent.
"I’ll just pay you for ten years’ worth of fees. That’s 98,000 in total, right?" Wu Yun said nonchalantly.
"How about I give you ninety-nine thousand!"
The scammer-agent was stunned. He repeated, "Sir?"
Wu Yun continued, "You said it’s 9,800 a year, right?"
The scammer-agent, very responsibly, corrected him, "It’s 9,600 yuan."
"Ah, ninety-six hundred yuan! In that case, I’ll pay for 10 years right now. I’ll give you ninety-six thousand! What card should I send it to?" Wu Yun said generously.
The scammer-agent had never encountered a situation like this before. "Ah! So, you wish to keep the service, is that right?"
Wu Yun repeated, "I’ll pay you for 10 years of fees right now. Ninety-six thousand! Just send me a card number."
The scammer-agent seemed to have a shred of conscience left, explaining, "It’s not ninety-six thousand! Sir, it’s nine thousand six hundred yuan!"
For some reason, Wu Yun thought of the people from his past life who had been imprisoned, beaten, and forced into scamming. A pang of sympathy hit him. "I know that on my end—"
The scammer-agent didn’t wait for Wu Yun to finish. "I will register this for you as a retained service. Any subsequent deductions of 800 yuan will be your personal responsibility. Is that acceptable, sir?"
Wu Yun once again insisted on activating the service for ten years.
The scammer-agent’s calm voice came through. "Sir, it’s not our mall making the deduction. It’s the UnionPay center."
Wu Yun then pretended not to know what the UnionPay center was, and the scammer-agent patiently explained it to him.
"So, the UnionPay center is the one making the deduction, not our mall. Our mall doesn’t have the authority to take your money."
Wu Yun gradually lost his patience and didn’t want to drag this out any longer. "Just tell me straight. How much are you trying to scam me out of?"
As Wu Yun’s words came out, the audience in Susan’s livestream went wild. Comments like "666" and "Awesome!" flew across the screen.
The scammer-agent knew he’d been exposed, but he remained calm. "You’re asking how much I’m trying to scam you out of, is that right?"
"I’ll send it directly to your card number!"
"Ah! Exactly ninety-six thousand would be acceptable, sir." The scammer-agent said this as if it were the most ordinary thing in the world, his tone completely flat.
Wu Yun laughed and said, "Let me tell you, you should go study in Main North for a few more years!"
But the scammer-agent’s next words nearly shattered Wu Yun’s composure. The same calm voice spoke, as if recounting facts that had nothing to do with him: "I’ve already been here for three years. I’m in Singapore."
Wu Yun asked, "Oh! So, is business busy for you guys?"
"Business isn’t too busy, but we make a sale every day." The two fell into a question-and-answer rhythm.
"So, is your commission high?" Wu Yun asked, curious.
The scammer-agent seemed to misunderstand. "Is the risk high, you mean?"
"Commission! Your cut!"
Wang Hao couldn’t help but chime in, "Your cut!"
"We don’t get a cut. We can’t go back. We’re forcibly bound here." The scammer-agent’s voice was still calm.
Wu Yun asked, "Would it be any use if I helped you call the police?"
This time, the scammer-agent’s tone finally carried a hint of emotion. "It’s useless. Fucking useless. We’ve tried. It does nothing."
"Then where in Huaxia are you from?"
"We’re from the Xishuangbanna area of Huaxia."
Wu Yun took a deep breath. "If you can give me your family’s contact information, I can try to get in touch with them for you."
The scammer-agent said, "If we say any phone numbers, we get beaten with an electric baton. We can’t say them."
Wu Yun was shocked. "Are your calls recorded?"
"Yes!"
"Then aren’t you afraid of getting beaten for telling me all this?" A bitter feeling welled up in Wu Yun’s heart.
The scammer-agent said dismissively, "It doesn’t really matter. As long as I don’t say any numbers, it’s fine."
Wu Yun thought of Morse code and asked, "Can you use Morse code? Do you know it?"
"I can’t, sir. Thank you very much for your help, but you should hang up the phone now, sir." The scammer’s voice had returned to its calm, customer-service tone.
"Otherwise, we’re going to get beaten again in a minute!"
"Thank you for your help. Thank you very much. I wish you a pleasant life."
A complex mix of emotions churned within Wu Yun as he hung up the phone.
He handed the phone back to Wang Hao and asked him to leave. After Wang Hao was gone, Wu Yun leaned back in his chair, his mind racing with new thoughts.