The reason I suspected it was a setup for a scam was due to an inexplicable intuition I had about the tall, leggy woman.
I recalled Uncle Tuo once mentioning that "pig-butchering" scams that occurred on trains were highly successful.
And a significant portion of this success could be attributed to women!
Women of all kinds, whether tall or short, fat or thin, beautiful or plain…
As the old saying goes: "Men and women working together, less tiring."
During a tedious and monotonous long journey, a stranger of the same sex striking up a conversation might raise your guard, but a woman… that's different.
After all, what cat doesn't like fish?
Especially when a charming young woman is standing right before your eyes, how many men can truly remain unfazed?
In the past, these train-based scams were quite simple and crude.
Once a target was selected, a young woman would approach them.
If the approach was successful, the young woman would, depending on the situation, invite the target.
By "depending on the situation," I mean considering the target's level of vigilance and caution.
If the target's defenses were low, the young women would generally extend a direct invitation.
The reason given would be that they were out with friends, bored on the train, and happened to be short a player for a card game.
Once the target agreed to join, the "pig-butchering" was essentially half-done!
If the target was more cautious and guarded, the approach would be seduction first, then setting the trap.
Why seduction? Because lustful men are generally prone to gambling.
Want to know why? It's actually quite simple.
To put it bluntly, lustful men usually possess a predatory instinct.
And this predatory instinct is, in essence, a form of gambling psychology.
Lustful men are gambling that the object of their pursuit is solely interested in a fleeting pleasure.
After a night of enjoyment, they would go their separate ways, perhaps meeting again by chance.
Little do they know that the most sophisticated hunters often appear as prey.
To completely ensnare their targets, these young women never hesitated to sacrifice their bodies.
Compared to their own bodies, the target's money, or even their bank cards… that's what they truly valued!
Of course, this was the popular scam tactic on trains a couple of years ago; it doesn't work as well now.
With the public's increasing awareness of property security, the "qian tuan" (gambling syndicates) have revamped their scams, specifically targeting the "pig-butchering" methods.
In the upgraded scams, the young women controlled by these syndicates can now easily lure targets into their meticulously designed traps without having to pay any price themselves! I'll elaborate on how they design these traps when I discuss rescuing Han Jinlun…
…
Realizing that Han Jinlun might have been led into a scam by the leggy woman, I didn't act immediately.
Han Jinlun, who failed in his pursuit and became the prey, didn't deserve my sympathy!
Honestly, if it weren't for Han Qingmei, I wouldn't even bother rescuing him.
Lust is a double-edged sword!
A man like Han Jinlun, who can't move when he sees a woman, needs to truly experience the venom of a woman's heart.
He wouldn't learn his lesson without suffering a few harsh blows from society and experiencing the pain of being hurt by women.
Therefore, I decided to observe for a while before making my move…
It was late at night, and most of the passengers in the carriage had already fallen asleep.
Only in the area where Han Jinlun and the leggy woman were, a few passengers dressed in various ways were sitting in empty seats, engrossed in a game of "Zha Jinhua" (a card game).
After watching for about three or four rounds, I immediately assessed the situation.
Heh, interesting!
A six-player game, with five players against one.
Although in the rounds I observed, no one was cheating, nor were they exchanging glances, everyone was playing by the rules.
But I knew this was all an illusion, a facade created by the syndicate to deceive Han Jinlun and outsiders.
Now, with the revamped and upgraded "pig-butchering" scams, the young women involved no longer need to sacrifice their bodies, and the targets are no longer few but many.
Moreover, it's a case of willingly walking into the trap!
As for why I say that…
Don't worry, just keep reading…
In the six-player "Jinhua" game, besides Han Jinlun, the biggest loser was a middle-aged man wearing Mizuno sportswear and a thick gold chain.
This fellow seemed wealthy and carried himself with an air of importance.
With his slicked-back hair, briefcase in hand, and a soft cigarette in his mouth, he exuded the presence of a big boss.
However, his luck was abysmal, forming a stark contrast to his ostentatious demeanor.
To be precise, from the moment I started watching, the middle-aged man with the gold chain was losing money almost every hand.
What's more, whenever he lost, he would continuously pull out hundred-yuan bills from the briefcase tucked under his arm.
He seemed indifferent to winning or losing, truly embodying the image of a complete fool.
Silly and rich… and small!
In less than ten minutes, a stack of money he had just taken out was already on the table.
As for the biggest winners, besides the leggy woman, there was also an unremarkable middle-aged man dressed in work clothes.
After losing money, the middle-aged man didn't show any change in his expression. Instead, he kept muttering complaints about Cheng Minglang and the leggy woman, saying that his luck had plummeted since they arrived.
He suggested finding a couple more people to join the game, saying it would be livelier and might help him turn his luck around.
Hearing this, a faint, almost imperceptible cold smile crept onto my lips.
As expected, it was pretty much in line with my earlier deductions.
This was a new type of "pig-butchering" scam, revamped and upgraded by the syndicate, using women and money as bait, employing a dual approach to lure people in!
In recent years, for various reasons, simple "pig-butchering" scams that relied solely on various women to cheat people out of money have not been as effective.
Therefore, the "qian tuan" have decisively changed their strategy, shifting the focus from women to making them supporting roles in the scam.
Then, utilizing women's inherent advantages, they draw multiple targeted individuals into the gambling game.
Although these men fall prey due to their lust and curiosity, what truly causes them to sink deeper is greed!
Desire, which devours people!
The losers were the middle-aged man with the boss-like demeanor, while the winners were those considered vulnerable in many people's eyes – women and migrant workers.
This stark contrast in identities is bound to spark curiosity, impulse, and even eagerness in everyone, including the target!
People with such thoughts are all driven by one notion: They can win, so why can't I?