Chapter 436: Another Uproar at the Refund Scene

The notice stated the known harms of pyramid selling and promised not to participate in such organizations in the future.

Of course, such a pledge has little binding force; it mainly lets them know they were wrong.

Chen Jinfa glanced at it twice, signed, then after counting the money he was about to leave.

"What, you're not even going to thank the police? If it weren't for them, your 40,000 yuan would have gone down the drain." Ye Cheng said from the side.

Now that Chen Jinfa had the money, he immediately changed his attitude.

"What thanks? If they had discovered it earlier, I wouldn't have been scammed, really."

Having said that, Chen Jinfa took the money and left, not lingering in the ceremonial hall at all.

This Chen Jinfa left Ye Cheng speechless; he was a typical two-faced person.

Fortunately, the few after him were fine; they obediently took the money and then thanked him happily—this time not losing money was truly a stroke of luck.

Next came those who had lost money; they weren't so pleasant, coming up with black faces, taking the money, and leaving unwillingly.

Eight hundred yuan— that's a month's wages for them.

Chen Jinhai also collected his money; he too had lost 800, looking at the 3,200 yuan left in his hand, he shook his head and then said to the crowd below,

"Alright, alright, take the money and disperse."

"You decide what to say on stage, and dispersing is always up to you."

Seeing there was nothing more to watch, everyone stood up and prepared to leave.

Ye Cheng exchanged a glance with Xiao Wang and the others, also preparing to go down.

Just then, someone suddenly shouted,

"Unfair! Why should we lose money? We were scammed."

Immediately afterward, a person stepped onto the stage— it was Chen Houda.

He snatched the microphone from the table and addressed the crowd below,

"Everyone, don't leave yet; some things still need to be clarified."

Ye Cheng stood behind him and said calmly,

"Uncle, what else is unclear? The documents clearly state everything."

Xiao Wang also stepped forward, looking at Chen Houda and said,

"Comrade, if you have any problems, you can raise them with us; we will forward them."

Chen Houda glanced at Xiao Wang and replied irritably,

"It's none of your business; it's an internal matter of our village."

Having said that, he began speaking to the crowd below,

"Fellow villagers, we are victims too; why should we lose 800 yuan? Don't you think it's unfair?"

The dozen or so people below, who had been silently fuming, now that someone had taken the lead, naturally joined in shouting,

"Unfair! Unfair!"

A dozen or so people shouted together, their voices echoing in the ceremonial hall.

Seeing the situation turning bad, Xiao Hu hurriedly came up from the side, stood beside Ye Cheng, and whispered,

"Brother, I feel they're going to ask you to compensate again."

"What compensation? I didn't scam them."

"Look, these white-eyed wolves—I told you not to help them." Xiao Hu muttered under his breath.

And indeed, Xiao Hu was right this time.

Chen Houda then turned his accusations toward Ye Cheng,

"The second son of the Ye family already knew pyramid selling was a scam, yet he never warned us— does he bear responsibility?"

"Yes!" a crowd below shouted, raising their arms.

"What the hell!" Ye Cheng cursed back, stepped forward to the front of the stage, pointed at the crowd below, and said,

"Didn't I tell you? Can you hear me?"

"You didn't tell us; you said it during the lecture in the ceremonial hall, but anyway you didn't tell me." Chen Houda said righteously.

"You're old enough to have a beard— shouldn't you feel ashamed saying that? Besides, being scammed is your own greed; it's none of my business." Ye Cheng flared up.

Chen Houda ignored him and continued shouting at the crowd below,

"And what about He Feiyang? He's the one who scammed us; he should also bear responsibility, right?"

"Exactly! It's him; he must bear responsibility!"

When they were shouting about Ye Cheng, it wasn't this loud, but as soon as they mentioned He Feiyang, the shouts from below immediately rose several notches.

This is only natural; even though I'm stupid, it doesn't mean you can scam me.

Initially, many people believed him just because they saw He Feiyang wearing a suit and speaking fluently.

Speaking of which, He Feiyang does bear some responsibility.

Seeing the loud response below, Chen Houda felt pleased; he glanced at Xiao Wang,

"Police comrade, He Feiyang scammed us; can we seek compensation from him?"

Xiao Wang furrowed his brow, walked up to take the microphone, and then said to the crowd below,

"The compensation issue raised by that elder just now does exist. However, this is a civil claim; you must produce evidence proving that He Feiyang concealed the truth about pyramid selling and induced you to join, which is fairly difficult. You can file a lawsuit, but the court looks at evidence— mere verbal claims won't be accepted."

This is a legal matter; he still needs to make it clear to everyone.

Ye Cheng also understood; in short, if you have evidence, you can claim compensation.

But ordinary people usually find it hard to provide a complete chain of evidence.

Moreover, just mentioning going to court will likely make many people lose heart.

As the saying goes, 'never enter officialdom alive, never enter a hospital dead'— many people still hold this old mindset.

Indeed, as soon as Xiao Wang finished speaking, the crowd below began to find it hard to bear.

"What? We still have to go to court?"

"How do we handle this? I heard people say that going to court also requires hiring a lawyer, and lawyers are expensive."

"I heard from my son that lawyers charge by the hour, they're damn expensive, and even if you lose you still have to pay."

"Exactly, the money we might get back later may not even be enough to cover the lawyer fees."

"Eight hundred yuan won't do, let's just forget it."

A group of people chuckled and muttered, this is just the typical mindset of our countrymen.

People are unwilling to go to court; even if the economy improves later, unless it's absolutely necessary, they still don't want to sue.

Seeing this, Chen Houda realized things were getting awkward; he immediately snatched the microphone from Xiao Wang's hand and shouted loudly,

""What the hell lawsuit, this is in the village; the village has its own rules. If they won't compensate us, we'll block their doors and throw feces at them!"

What Chen Houda said is indeed the truth; without going to court, people naturally have their own ways—smashing others' windows, dumping feces, poisoning dogs and chickens with rat poison, and so on—none of which are good deeds.

Upon hearing this, Xiao Wang said, "That's not okay; that's illegal. Even if it doesn't reach criminal law, it's at least a public security offense."

He was just about to grab the microphone from Chen Houda to explain when a loud female voice came from below,

""We'll compensate! We'll compensate!"

Immediately, the crowd made way, and Qian Shen and her husband entered with He Feiyang, who wore an embarrassed expression.

Seeing the main parties arrive, Chen Houda immediately said,

""What you said, you said you'd compensate—everyone heard it."