Online Game: My Decay Drives the Entire Server Crazy

Chapter 103 Helping an elderly person recover their swindled money; a stroke of bad luck leads to a scam.On the day Grandpa Zhang came to the door, Lin Ye was squatting by the coffee table in the first-floor lobby of the studio, eating takeout. Fatty Wang had ordered him a portion of pickled fish with double chili, and the heat made sweat bead on his forehead. Su Qinghan was nearby organizing the weekly order schedule, and Ghost was huddled in a corner workstation typing code at three holographic screens; the only sounds in the lobby were the clicking of the keyboard and the slurping of Lin Ye eating fish slices.

When Old Sun led Grandpa Zhang inside, Lin Ye still had half a piece of pickled cabbage in his mouth. Grandpa Zhang looked to be in his early seventies, his hair completely white, wearing a faded deep blue work jacket with frayed cuffs. He stood at the door, not daring to step further in, clutching a peeling old brown faux-leather briefcase with both hands; his eyes were red, looking as if he had already cried several rounds.

Old Sun guided Grandpa Zhang to sit on the sofa and turned to Lin Ye, saying, ”Brother Ye, this is Grandpa Zhang from the twelfth floor of Building 2. He was a machinist at a state-owned enterprise before retiring. His wife passed away early, and he lives alone. Two days ago, he was scammed out of five hundred thousand yuan by a telecom fraudster; that was the retirement money he’d saved his whole life. He reported it to the police, and they opened a case, but this kind of case is too difficult to trace. Grandpa was so anxious he hasn’t eaten for two days and almost did something drastic.”

Grandpa Zhang pulled a stack of bank transfer vouchers from his briefcase, his hands shaking violently; the thin slips of paper rustled like leaves in an autumn wind. He handed the vouchers to Lin Ye, his voice as raspy as sandpaper on sheet metal: ”Little Lin, I’m not here to beg you to definitely get the money back; I just can’t accept it. That scammer called me ’Uncle Zhang’ on the phone, said he was a staff member from the Social Security Bureau, and that someone had stolen my social security card, so he needed me to cooperate with the Public Security Bureau for a fund audit. He knew my social security number, ID number, and even my record of getting medicine from the community hospital last month, so I believed him. I transferred the five hundred thousand in five installments to the ’secure account’ he mentioned. After the last transfer, when I called back, the number was out of service.”

He paused for a moment, his lips trembling for a long time before he squeezed out the next sentence: ”Of that five hundred thousand, two hundred thousand was what I saved over my retirement years, and the remaining three hundred thousand was the compensation from my son’s death in a work accident last year. My son was only thirty-five when he passed, leaving behind a granddaughter who just started elementary school. This money was for my granddaughter’s future university tuition, and now it’s all gone.”

The lobby fell silent for several seconds. Fatty Wang set his chopsticks on the coffee table; a few drops of the pickled fish broth splashed out, but he didn’t wipe them away. Su Qinghan stopped her pen, and Ghost’s fingers hovered over the keyboard, not descending for a long time.

Lin Ye swallowed the last piece of pickled cabbage, wiped his mouth, and picked up the stack of transfer vouchers, examining them carefully from beginning to end. The recipient account for all five transfers was the same, with the bank located in a small county under a remote prefecture-level city in another province. The transfers all took place between 2:00 PM and 4:00 PM the day before yesterday, one hundred thousand each; all five hundred thousand was drained within two hours. It was a standard telecom fraud tactic—fast in, fast out; once the money hits the account, it’s usually quickly transferred and withdrawn.

”Grandpa Zhang, give me that scammer’s phone number.” Lin Ye handed the vouchers back to the old man, his tone very calm.