"You country bumpkin, don't you understand science? Digging wells is illegal, and even if you dig, there's no water. Wells draw from underground water, alright?
But my distiller extracts moisture from the air. If it can get water from the desert, don't you think it'll work here? It's cheap, efficient, easy to use, and works fast. Isn't it better than digging a well? If we weren't classmates, I wouldn't even be giving you this deal."
Everyone did some quick calculations and realized they only needed to introduce ten people to break even. If those ten each brought in one more person, they'd earn ten work points—equal to five bottles of water. And if each of those ten people introduced ten more, they could earn a hundred work points.
Greed and desire clouded their minds. What could a hundred work points buy? Fifty bottles of water, fifty servings of white rice. No more eating maggots. If they worked hard, they could drink as much as they wanted every day, eat real rice, live like kings. The thought alone was intoxicating.
Jing Shu saw in their eyes the same look she once had in her past life. Even though they might worry about scams or suspect it was too good to be true, Zhang Lingling's next words wiped away all doubt.
Zhang Lingling took out her phone and opened the app "Baping Tianxia."
What are you hesitating for? Our company is legitimate. Download this app and register. There are just over twenty of you here; we can split into five groups. One person buys first and sends invitation codes to the rest. You save four work points that way. Anyone without enough points can write me an IOU. I'll front it, but with one point of interest."
That offer made the skeptics relax. They crowded around, asking Zhang Lingling about the process.
"Just scan my invitation code and download the app. Then we'll go to the supermarket to deduct the points from your account. If you don't have enough, I'll lend you the rest. After that, you come to my place to get your distillers. Once you have them, you can invite others. Any successful purchase will automatically record the bonus points in the app."
If she were a scammer, would she lend them points? And they were all longtime classmates; surely she wouldn't lie.
Due to rampant inflation, the government had introduced virtual currency for purchasing water and food. Recently, limited trade had been allowed, but only within designated supermarket trading zones.
Wang Chao spoke up. "But this virtual currency is only recorded in the app. It doesn't work in supermarkets or for meals."
Zhang Lingling explained, "That's because the government hasn't officially opened virtual currency trading yet. By next year, it will. Once you've accumulated ten work points, come find me. I'll take you to the supermarket to cash them out."
With that, Zhang Lingling's plan was complete. Everyone was convinced it was a guaranteed way to earn points. They downloaded the app she mentioned. Money had no value now, so they didn't even worry about viruses. They followed her instructions step by step.
The app was simple: a list of people you invited, how many virtual points they earned you, your current balance, and a withdrawal request button. It was basic but gave everyone the illusion of money multiplying itself.
Then the group headed to the supermarket to transfer their points to Zhang Lingling.
For an ordinary household, having a few virtual points was already good. These classmates each had around seven or eight, planning to borrow more to make up the sixteen-point payment Zhang Lingling asked for.
"Jing Shu, Yao Zixin, you two aren't buying?" Zhang Lingling asked after tallying everyone up and realizing only they hadn't purchased. Her brow furrowed. "Everyone else got one. Why aren't you? What's that supposed to mean?"
This was social pressure through peer influence. Yao Zixin coughed softly. "A-alright, I'll take one too."
The group fell silent, then all eyes turned to Jing Shu—some curious, some envious, some disdainful.
In her past life, Jing Shu had dreamed of earning virtual points, of drinking as much water as she wanted, of eating white rice. What happened?
She roped in her uncle's family and Su Meimei's family, each of them buying distillers at sixty work points for their three-person households. They then dragged in more relatives and friends.
After much effort, they finally earned twenty virtual points back. The problem? The distillers barely produced enough water to wet their lips.
When her uncle and Su Meimei realized this, they still claimed their distillers worked fine. They kept pulling others in to cover their own losses.
Jing Shu stood up and called it a pyramid scheme, a scam. The others attacked her viciously, swearing their distillers worked fine, ganging up on her until she left the group entirely.
Later, two things happened:
First, the artificial sun had been activated long enough that water was no longer scarce.
Second, the scheme collapsed. Too many people had been tricked, spending twenty points each to rope others in. When water became plentiful, there was no one left to recruit, and they all lost their points.
The government eventually traced the fraud ring and shut it down, but it was too late.
One percent of people earned thousands of points. Ten percent barely broke even. The rest were scammed. Those who had made money spent it long ago on water and food.
Su Meimei's family and her uncle's family even blamed Jing Shu, saying, "Why would you trick your own relatives? We spent sixty points and didn't even get it back."
And now, in this life, Zhang Lingling dared to ask, what's that supposed to mean?
"This distiller barely produces any water a day. I won't buy it. If I introduce it to friends and they're disappointed, they'll blame me," Jing Shu said calmly. She wanted to expose the scam, but were there no clever people here? Of course there were.
Some people weren't short on water, but they still chose to buy distillers to recruit others and earn two points per person. She remembered how aggressive people had been last time when she called it a scam.
This was all she could say.
"Jing Shu's right. I heard solar distillers need sunlight and moisture in the air. There's no sunlight now, and barely any moisture. How will it work? Forget it, I don't want one," Mu Xiaoxuan said.
Zhang Lingling's smile stiffened. "Mu Xiaoxuan, you already registered on the app. I've reported your details, and the twenty points have been transferred to me. You can't back out. Just invite others."
"But if it doesn't work, wouldn't I be scamming them?" Mu Xiaoxuan shook her head. "I don't have points to begin with. Forget it."
Wang Chao scolded him, "Mu Xiaoxuan, if you back out, I'll lose two points, and Xie Zihao will lose one. How could you do this?"