"This..." The crew-haired man was suddenly a bit embarrassed. He subconsciously felt his pockets and said, "I don't have that much money. How about you give me 30,000 yuan, and you can go claim the prize!"
"I don't have any either! What should I do..." The pockmarked man said with a frown, "Do I look like someone who could afford 30,000 yuan?"
"Teacher, please think of a solution for us. Neither of us has that much money!" The pockmarked man again asked the man with glasses for help.
The man with glasses pondered for a moment, then tentatively said, "How about I give you all 30,000 yuan, and you give me the pull tab, and I'll go claim the prize?"
The pockmarked man and the crew-haired man looked at each other and decided that this way they could each get 30,000 yuan, so they agreed. "Okay, let's do it!"
The man with glasses immediately showed a look of smug delight. He then grabbed his briefcase and began looking for money. At first, he looked delighted. However, as he rummaged through the bag faster, his expression darkened, and beads of sweat began to form on his forehead. Finally, he sighed, "Oh no! I didn't bring much money with me when I left today. I only have 30,000 yuan! You guys definitely won't sell it, and now I see all this money gone. What bad luck!"
"Huh?" The pockmarked man and the crew-haired man were stunned. The man with the glasses had no money, and neither of them had any money either. How were they going to divide the prize? So, the pockmarked man couldn't sit still any longer: "Teacher, you're knowledgeable and cultured, can you help us think of a solution..."
"Well, how about this? Ask someone else..." the bespectacled man said, turning to Lin Yi, who was sitting next to him. "Brother, this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to make a fortune. Do you have any money? Give them each 30,000 yuan, and then you take the ring to claim the prize, and you'll make 20,000 yuan instantly! Is there a more lucrative way to make money than this? If I hadn't brought any money, I would have taken this opportunity myself..."
Until now, Lin Yi had been watching these three people's show with a cold eye. It was obvious that all three were in cahoots: the pockmarked man was the first party, the crew-haired man was the second party, and the bespectacled man was the shill.
Though Lin Yi grew up in the mountains, he was no fool. Despite his shabby clothes, few could rival him in terms of knowledge, let alone these three low-brow con men.
"Me?" Lin Yi pointed at himself, feigning surprise, then said, "Can I?"
"Sure, now this good thing has happened to you!" Hearing Lin Yi ask if he could, rather than saying he didn't have any money, the man with glasses was overjoyed. After all, if he said that, he probably had some stuff in his bag.
Lin Yi was about to say something else when he felt a kick on his leg. He glanced to his right and saw a beautiful girl, about his age.
Her hair was flowing like water, and her skin was fair. Although she hadn't stood up, Lin Yi estimated that she was at least 1.65 meters tall, which was considered tall.
Since boarding the train, she had been quietly listening to her MP3 player. Lin Yi had wanted to strike up a conversation with her to help him pass the time, but the girl was wearing earphones, making it difficult for him to do so.
At that moment, the girl looked at Lin Yi anxiously, wanting to say something but feeling hesitant. She could only hint at him with her eyes. Lin Yi naturally understood what the girl meant: she wanted him to avoid being deceived. Lin Yi's heart warmed instantly. Aren't people in big cities supposedly cold and indifferent? They tend to turn a blind eye to things that don't concern them. But the fact that the girl reminded him of this showed she had a kind heart.
And so, the girl's image in Lin Yi's mind instantly improved significantly. While beauty was important, a girl's beauty was meaningless if she had a vicious heart. This was Lin Yi's standard for judging a girl.
"Ahem!" The crew-haired man across from the girl seemed to have noticed her behavior and coughed loudly, glaring fiercely at her. The girl paled in fear and lowered her head.
Of course, these little details didn't escape Lin Yi's notice. However, Lin Yi was already bored on his journey, and he was fuming with his old man at home, with nowhere to vent his anger. And now, with a few idiots just knocking on his door, how could Lin Yi miss this opportunity to tease them?
Although the girl lowered her head, she continued to kick Lin Yi, giving him a warning. But Lin Yi seemed unmoved, unfazed.
"I only have 49,000! It's not that much!" Lin Yi feigned honesty and spoke truthfully.
The pockmarked man and the crew cut man across from him suddenly lit up when they heard Lin Yi had 49,000. However, their faces remained bitter. "Only 49,000! Isn't that a little too little? How much can each of us get?"
"49,000 divided by two is 24,500..." the crew cut man calculated.
"24,500? That's quite a bit. I agree. What about you?" The pockmarked man nodded quickly.
"Okay, since you agree, I agree too." The crew-haired man nodded and said, "Give me the money."
Lin Yi opened his backpack and pulled out a small package wrapped in newspaper. He unwrapped it layer by layer, revealing five bundles of bills.
"Forty-nine thousand, that's all... Count them," Lin Yi said simply. "Give me the pull tab!"
This money was the old man's living expenses for the next few years. Lin Yi had made a lot of money for the old man over the years. Take the last assassination mission in North Africa, for example. According to international practice, he must have been paid at least several hundred thousand.
However, just before he left, the old man rummaged through his belongings and found the forty-nine thousand yuan in a tattered bag. He claimed it was all the family's belongings and asked him to save it.
This made Lin Yi very depressed. Was the old man really broke, or was he just pretending to be poor? But it didn't seem like he was pretending. The old man ate the same food as himself every day, and he didn't seem to enjoy anything. Had he overestimated the rewards for those missions?
"Okay, okay!" The pockmarked man and the crew-cut man divvied up the bills in front of them like hungry wolves, then handed the pull ring to Lin Yi.
Lin Yi carefully tucked the pull ring away, fearing it might be lost, handling it with all the care it would a treasure.
Seeing the three scammers succeed, the girl sitting next to Lin Yi sighed helplessly. Seeing Lin Yi's excitement, as if he'd won a prize, the girl was at a loss for words.
With the money in hand, the three scammers returned to their previous composure, each going about their business as if they didn't know each other.