Chapter 12 - 1.11 The Hunter and the Prey

In the distant city of Bangkok, Thailand, the head of the fraud syndicate, Dan Tun, was reviewing the latest list of "goods." Chen Yu's name was prominently featured, with detailed information next to it: Male, 22 years old, junior college degree, handsome features, height 172cm, poor family, in urgent need of work, introverted personality, no social connections."This one is good," Dan Tun said to himself, nodding. "Zhang Qinsheng's selection this time is indeed good. Meets all our requirements."Dan Tun's criminal empire had strict "product" standards. Young men had to be good-looking and of medium build, to facilitate later "modifications." A junior college degree ensured a basic level of education, suitable for telephone fraud. And a background of poverty and urgent need for work made them more susceptible to the lure of money and less likely to be noticed if they disappeared.In this era of nascent globalization, crime was also becoming internationalized. Criminal groups like Dan Tun's exploited the information asymmetry and regulatory gaps between countries to weave a huge criminal network across different nations. Their business model was simple: recruit young men from China, transport them to Thailand for "modification," and then have them engage in telephone fraud, ladyboy performances, and sex work. One person could generate multiple values, and the return on investment far exceeded that of traditional human trafficking.And young people like Chen Yu were the prey in this network. Their poverty, their desires, their naivety—all became tools for the criminals to exploit.Tomorrow's sun would still rise, but for Chen Yu, it would be a new beginning—a beginning leading to hell.And at this moment, Chen Yu was still looking forward to tomorrow's interview, completely unaware that he had already become the prey. He even began to plan that if he got this job, he would send half of his first month's salary home to make his parents happy. In his imagination, working overseas meant a high salary and respectability, meaning he could finally change his family's fate.In 1997 China, working abroad was still a very remarkable thing. Those who returned from overseas always wore decent clothes and spoke new words, making people envious. For a rural youth like Chen Yu, being able to work abroad was simply a great fortune.How could he know that this seeming fortune was actually a carefully designed trap?