Insights Chapter 97: Undercover

Chapter 97: Undercover

Translated by Addis of Exiled Rebels Scanlations

Editor: Karai

The afternoon of the second day.

Outside an office building in Penang North, people gradually gathered.

Gu Yanchen and Shen Junci stood under a nearby tree observing the situation. They had made some preparations today, carrying spare phones with them.

Gu Yanchen wore a listening button and a miniature earphone, while Shen Junci wore a pair of glasses with surveillance devices on them, capable of real-time monitoring, recording, and connecting to the City Bureau.

Both of them were dressed in lightweight clothing and shoes.

Gu Yanchen tested the microphone first, “Hello, Lu Ying, can you hear us?”

Lu Ying’s voice came through, “Yes! Everything is normal. The visuals are clear too.”

Bai Meng also added, “Don’t worry, Director Ding is with us. The special police team is also on standby. If support is needed, they will be ready to depart at any time.”

This time, they were definitely conducting a high-level operation. Although it seemed not very dangerous, they still made comprehensive arrangements.

By half-past two in the afternoon, more people had gathered nearby.

Several people with black masks stood at the entrance of the office building, registering and checking the incoming people.

Gu Yanchen and Shen Junci watched for a while, pretending not to know each other, and walked towards the entrance one after the other.

The first checkpoint required filling out a form with basic information provided during the interview. Both of them filled it out according to what they had previously provided.

As Gu Yanchen filled out the form, he glanced at what others had written. Most of the people who came this afternoon had low education levels; basically, they were high school graduates. There were only sporadic mentions of associate degrees, and there were even some middle-aged people who listed junior high school as their education level.

It was easy to imagine that these people would find it difficult to seek other jobs, especially those around forty years old. It would be good enough for them to find ordinary jobs, let alone easy part-time jobs that could make them rich.

The second checkpoint was to check bags and personal belongings. Fortunately, the devices they brought were well hidden and not discovered by the other party.

The third checkpoint was to surrender their phones.

Gu Yanchen pretended to be somewhat unwilling, “Do we really have to surrender them?”

The staff member replied, “Our presentation may involve trade secrets, so phones are collected uniformly. The mentors should have mentioned this during the interview.”

There was also a young girl beside them, with long hair and patterned nails, who was also asking the staff, “Will we get our phones back later?”

The staff member assured her, “Certainly, you’ll get them back after the seminar ends.”

Shen Junci glanced back at Gu Yanchen, indicating that he was well-prepared and had foresight.

They put their spare phones in their bags. Even if they couldn’t retrieve them later, they wouldn’t feel too sorry.

After completing all the procedures, someone led them into a room.

The room was filled with chairs, accommodating around two hundred people. There was a small podium at the front with a whiteboard and projector, making it look like a small classroom.

Many people were already seated inside, both men and women, mostly under fifty years old.

Most of them didn’t know each other, and the room was very quiet.

Gu Yanchen and Shen Junci exchanged glances without speaking, understanding each other’s thoughts through eye contact alone.

Shen Junci walked to the window and looked out. The windows were double-layered tempered glass. This was the second floor, not very high, with flower beds below.

The girl with the painted nails seemed a bit nervous. She walked over and greeted Gu Yanchen, “Excuse me, is this your first time here too?”

Gu Yanchen nodded.

The girl said, “I’ve been unemployed for three months. I stumbled upon a part-time job recruitment and unexpectedly passed the interview. Do you know what this job is about?”

Gu Yanchen shook his head, “I stumbled upon it too.”

It seemed that most of the people who came here tonight had the same mindset and thoughts. They also had no idea what they were going to face next.

Just as they were chatting, Shen Junci nudged Gu Yanchen, “It’s starting soon.”

Gu Yanchen looked to the front, where someone stepped onto the podium.

They both sat in the back near the window. The girl with the painted nails saw there were still seats in the front row and sat there.

About half of the seats were filled, totaling around a hundred people.

Without much delay, the new employee training began.

First, a man who looked like a manager took the stage. He introduced himself to everyone, stating that they were a legitimate elderly care company.

Then he showed everyone the company’s website. The website seemed quite authentic, with pictures and text, presenting a generous and attractive image. It showed images of elderly people enjoying various services, such as having their blood pressure and blood sugar measured by a family doctor, and relaxing on the balcony of a villa in a picturesque setting.

There were services like procurement, integrated medical care, and retirement living.

Since most of them were not elderly, many were seeing such introductions for the first time.

Beside them, a middle-aged man read the fine print aloud, “Professional family doctors, nutritionists, and housekeepers provide comprehensive services? Enjoying five-star treatment without leaving home? A winter vacation in Hainan, how much does that cost?”

An aunt nearby commented, “At first glance at this website, I envy the projects they offer.”

Gu Yanchen recalled that Zhao Chuanwen’s neighbor had mentioned attending similar lectures frequently, and there were also photos of them participating in similar activities on Wei Sen’s phone.

Everything seemed to fit together again.

Later, the manager mentioned that they needed to recruit some business promoters responsible for company promotion and maintenance, recommending their service projects to the elderly. 

This job could be part-time, with commission earned after each successful deal. 

Naturally, the prices for these projects were not low. The commission for sales ranged from 10% to 30%. 

So far, everything they said seemed legal.

The level of the lecturers was not high; most of them just read off the content from the PowerPoint slides, without anything particularly novel.

They began calling these…

Gu Yanchen found himself feeling a bit drowsy, but Director Ding on the other end of the line seemed interested.

Director Ding said, “This project sounds interesting. I’ll go back and inquire about its reliability. Maybe I’ll give it a try after retirement.”

Bai Meng quickly intervened, “Wait, Director Ding, think twice. Other projects cost money, but this one might cost lives!”

Gu Yanchen thought to himself that this didn’t seem like a regular job training or a learning class. It felt more like publicity and screening for potential downstream personnel.

After one round of talks, the manager-like person told everyone, “That’s all for today’s seminar. Those who have other plans tonight can leave. For those who have time, you can stay to exchange ideas or ask our mentors questions.”

Gu Yanchen checked the time; it was already five o’clock in the afternoon. People began leaving one after another, but quite a few stayed back, gathering around the mentors to ask questions.

The staff didn’t seem to be in a hurry to dismiss anyone. They went up to listen to what others were asking, but it was hard to pass the time without using their phones.

At half-past five, several more staff members entered.

The manager said, “Hello, everyone. It’s fate that brought you all here today. Our company would like to invite you to a buffet dinner, so those who are staying need to change locations. We’ve arranged buses to take you there.”

Gu Yanchen and Shen Junci exchanged glances; it turned out that what happened earlier was just a prelude and a test. They deliberately brushed off those who weren’t very interested in the job.

Someone asked, “Is it far?”

The manager replied, “Not far, just a twenty-minute drive from here.”

Another person asked, “What about our phones?”

The staff smiled and answered, “You’ll get them back after the event ends.”

At this point, there were only about fifty people left. They were arranged by the staff and boarded one of the buses.

Shen Junci sat by the window and noticed that the windows were covered with a film. Looking out from inside the bus, it seemed like they were looking through a layer of mist.

No one had their phones on them.

It was obvious they didn’t want these people to know where they were being taken.

Gu Yanchen became alert too and whispered to the others, “Get us a location.”

Bai Meng quickly responded, “You’re heading outside the city…”

Although they said it was a twenty-minute journey, it actually took more than forty minutes.

The sky outside gradually darkened. The bus took several turns, left the city, and finally arrived at a villa area, parking inside.

Everyone got off the bus.

Inside the villa’s hall, a buffet dinner was already laid out, looking quite sumptuous. There were chicken, duck, fish, shrimp, and some seafood.

Many of the people who came today were ordinary workers, and seeing these delicacies, they eagerly started eating.

Gu Yanchen and Shen Junci were afraid the food might be tampered with, so they only ate a little.

After dinner, everyone was led into another hall. The environment here was much better, with fragrant air, and the chairs looked very comfortable.

The second floor of the hall was high-ceilinged, with a larger podium inside.

Everyone sat on the chairs.

Once again, the manager-like person took the stage and said through the microphone, “Today, you’ve all been lucky. Tonight, we have one of the leaders from our company, Teacher Pang, here to share his experience with you.”

The spotlight projected down from above, causing some echo when the microphone was used here.

Amidst the applause from the audience, a man in his forties, thin and wearing a suit, walked onto the stage.

Gu Yanchen looked at him.

Shen Junci whispered to him, “Could it be Master Meng?”

Gu Yanchen shook his head, indicating that he wasn’t sure. The person in front of him didn’t quite resemble the image he had of Master Meng.

Teacher Pang cleared his throat and began, “Today, all of you are here. Most of you are newcomers, but that’s okay. You’ll soon integrate into our big family.”

“The ancients said, there’s a way to make money. For thousands of years, humans have been searching for ways to make a living. You may have experienced success and failures in life…”

After this brief introduction, he began randomly asking questions to people in the front row.

He asked a woman sitting in the front row, “What did you do before?”

The woman replied, “I used to be a salesperson, selling cell phones.”

“That must have been tiring.”

“Yes, I had to work for more than ten hours a day.”

“What was your monthly salary back then?”

The woman whispered, “3000 plus commission. Sometimes I could earn up to 6000, but it was very tiring, and I had to work overtime every day.”

Teacher Pang then turned to a man sitting beside her and asked, “What did you do before?”

The man said, “I used to run a bubble tea shop, but it ended up losing money, so I closed it.”

“May I ask, have you paid off your debts?”

The man paused awkwardly for a moment and said, “Still paying off the debts…”

Teacher Pang then asked two older-looking individuals, one was a 38-year-old housemaid, and the other was a 45-year-old water delivery worker.

They both looked perplexed.

After setting the stage, Teacher Pang sighed and said, “This is the current situation for most of you. Are you prepared to do your current jobs for the rest of your lives? Your lives, you can see the end at a glance.”

Someone remarked, “Making money is never easy.”

Teacher Pang smiled but didn’t say anything. He pointed to a cheerful staff member nearby and said, “Zhang Yi, tell them how much you earned last year?”

The staff member took the microphone and announced loudly, “I earned 2.5 million last year.”

“Wow…” came the collective response.

That was almost the price of a house, and the woman didn’t seem to have any special skills or higher education.

Teacher Pang continued, “No need to envy. After listening to my words today, you can also achieve this.”