"Huh? Is this related to Xinxing Agricultural Science College? This sounds a bit mysterious..."
Ansheng, who was perched on the balcony's sewage pipe, ready to sneak into He Ying's house, couldn't help but pause slightly upon hearing the conversation between He Ying's mom and He Ying, several question marks slowly emerging above his head.
Ansheng didn't know how much money He Ying's mom had been scammed out of.
But judging by He Ying's attire and the car she drove, even if she was good at making money, her total assets could not possibly reach tens of millions. Although Ansheng had never dealt with Xinxing Agricultural Science College, he had truly seen the ferocious posture of Spirit Beasts during a woodcutter's pursuit.
Like chasing after the Fungal Parasitic Beast, directly sealing off a nearly completed municipal road project; if the capture failed, they used small land-based missiles to send off the parasitic beast.
Moreover, they deployed two missiles at once, something Ansheng witnessed firsthand.
From Feng Wenyu or Bai Tao's mouth, it's very clear that Xia Country's investment in Spiritual Power revival is vast and comprehensive, covering all research and talent cultivation single-handedly.
They're really not short of money; what they lack are talents and super geniuses with pioneering minds.
Would a vice-president from Xinxing Agricultural Science College, who oversees Spiritual Particles industry talent training, fraudulently raise money?
Frankly speaking, a high-level figure like the vice-president of the College of Agriculture, if determined to make money, could easily sell Spiritual Particles research data from the lab, or sell it as a form of allegiance, easily achieving semi-financial freedom.
Not something like scamming a retired elderly worker.
That's just too low; Ansheng couldn't believe that such a high-level figure could do something like this.
Not much to gain, prone to exposure, and the cost-effectiveness of illegal activity is too low.
Even A-Bai knows to avoid all cameras when going out at night, or else if caught, there won't be any fun.
"Mom! Just because someone says something, does it have to be true?"
He Ying looked exasperated and said, "I could claim I'm the CEO of Yinfu Platform too! Do you believe that? If not, I'll block your Yinfu account tomorrow to prove it."
Ma Cuifeng rolled her eyes and said, "Don't talk nonsense. Professor Ge has abilities. He showed us his work ID, personally issued by the nation as an honorary dean—how could that be fake? Plus, we don't have to pay when we ask Professor Ge for medicine."
"Professor Ge doesn't lack money. Things like Lingzhi mushrooms and ginseng are specially sourced from Shennongjia, brought from deep mountains and forests. Professor Ge holds classes to impart knowledge and teach the essence of traditional medicine to talented students."
"How could Professor Ge be a scammer? You keep talking with no filter, one day when I'm acquainted with the professor, he might give your travel agency business a boost."
"......"
He Ying's face changed numerous times upon hearing this. Eventually, she waved a hand helplessly, "Alright, alright! If you feel it works, go ahead and buy it! But let's agree, if you buy any ingestible medicine, you must first check if it has a national drug approval number. Don't just put anything in your mouth."
"A medicine is three parts poison; indiscriminate consumption only increases your liver burden. You could be fine initially, only for problems to arise from eating things recklessly."
Seeing her mom's voice growing louder with a displeased look, He Ying didn't want to argue further over this issue.
She knew after her dad passed away due to illness years ago, her mom felt quite bored with life, didn't enjoy playing mahjong with the local elderly women, while He Ying was busy with work, often so much so she had to stay at hotels.
As long as her mom was happy, spending a few thousand a month on this was no burden to He Ying—just like skipping one travel tour.
"What do you know, the professor talks about traditional medicine. Do you know what Inner Scripture of the Master of Purity means?"
Seeing He Ying speechless, Ma Cuifeng's face showed a hint of pride, like a rooster who just won a fight.
"Come wash your hands and eat! Mom made your favorite gourd chicken today."
"Eating is fine, but listen up—it's the last time. Don't keep buying health products until you've spent your retirement savings and then start using the grocery money I give you..." He Ying quipped:
"Your precious daughter isn't married yet. It's the best time to save for dowries and hire male models. You wouldn't exchange my male model for health products, would you......"
"Nonsense! What's with your silly talk? A young lady talking about male models daily—isn't that shameful...."
As He Ying washed her hands and sat at the dining table, she entirely missed the stealthily creeping little fox on her home's ceiling. Its claws hooked onto the ornate dragon and phoenix plaster line, shifting towards the living room like a rock climber.
"Fingerprint unlocks are good, but elderly people's phones are truly the best, heh, all come without locks."
Lightly touching down, Ansheng jumped onto the coffee table, confidently swiping the cellphone screen on the table. The phone gently vibrated, unlocking smoothly.
As a seasoned salesperson, Ansheng had experienced the health product craze in a previous life before.
He heard societal aging was worsening, and the company launched a consumer-oriented health tea in response.
But events transpired.
Seniors blocking the entrance demanding eggs, almost willing to pluck two hairy eggs from Ansheng too, or meeting elders wielding phones showing "memory full" or "too much trash," asking market researchers like him for help with phone repairs.
During that period, Ansheng also noticed elders' phones generally lacked locks.
Even with fingerprint unlock, they found it troublesome, or fingerprints seemed unrecognizable for some reason.
"Click—"
First, Ansheng opened the phone screen, took out his phone from the bag, snapped pictures of all marketing or surnamed Ge phone numbers in the contact list, then opened WeChat to find and save the WeChat name of Professor Ge.
After wrapping up all tasks, Ansheng leapt from the fifth-floor window, arms outstretched, mimicking a flying squirrel gliding through the air for dozens of meters.
"To understand the Way in the morning, to be able to die in the evening..."
"Let me, Ansheng, test the value of the saying 'physician cannot heal oneself'."
The little fox landed and stood up, walking towards the worker building community, meanwhile adding Professor Ge on WeChat and immediately dialing Wang Qiqi.
"Hey...."
On the other end, Wang Qiqi sounded slightly groggy upon answering as if awakened from sleep.
"It's me. I'm wondering, is there an honorary dean named Ge at your Xinxing Agricultural Science College? I've come across someone claiming to be an honorary dean, scamming elderly ladies' savings on the streets, and I'm about to give him a good swipe."
"Honorary... dean?"
Wang Qiqi, recently in bed, paused, then laughed dryly with faint sarcasm:
"Whether there's someone surnamed Ge, I don't know, but the term 'honorary dean,' to quote Southern films, they're considered one of the fiercest wielders of dual flower red sticks at our Xinxing Agricultural Science College..."
"Saying that, you should understand, right?"
"?"
Honorary dean ≈ dual flower red stick?
What a straightforward explanation; Ansheng silently muttered inwardly.
"Master Fox, where are you now? That scammer has broken the law! I'll send... Never mind, I'll come by personally and give him two electric sticks!"
Originally planning to alert security personnel to have them catch the fraudster, Wang Qiqi reconsidered knowing Master Fox was involved; the matter concerning Spirit Beasts warranted her, the woodcutter, to go too.
"I don't know yet! I'm hanging up now to deceive an address on WeChat first, then I'll share the location with you later...."
"Deceive?"