Just because prison was boring, was it right to deceive others?
Yang Yi would obviously find that unacceptable, especially when he was the person being deceived. Yang Yi was still respectful to Chris in the beginning since he was the senior. However, he couldn’t have imagined that Chris would dare to deceive him.
“You were bored, so you decided to have a good time deceiving me?” Yang Yi erupted in anger. He took off his shoe and started hitting Chris in the forehead with it.
“Who said you could deceive me?! Damn you for lying to me!”
While being struck, Chris was wailing in pain. He started screaming, “Don’t hit me anymore! Enough, stop hitting! It was just a prank. It's not like I scammed any money from you. Don’t you think it’s enough now that you’ve hit me so many times?”
Yang Yi stopped hitting Chris and dropped the shoe he was holding. He then sneered, “It was just a prank?”
“Of course, it was just a prank. What can I scam out of you? There’s nothing I can scam from you when you don’t have anything. So, please stop hitting me. It was just a prank, ok?”
The prior Chris always looked pensive and sullen. He seemed like someone who was difficult to understand. Now that Yang Yi saw through the act to Chris’s true face, he suddenly felt that the young man was an eyesore.
“Ah, you must be delusional. You lied to me and you think it can be settled after I’ve hit you a few times?”
Chris lowered the hands protecting his face as he cautiously asked, “What are you going to do? What else are you planning?”
Yang Yi hadn’t really considered how he should deal with Chris yet. He felt that beating Chris a bit wasn’t adequate but stabbing him seemed excessive. As Chris had pointed out, Yang Yi didn’t actually lose anything.
“You’re only twenty-eight years old? Are you really that young? You look like someone in their forties.”
“I’m really twenty-eight years old. I have a mustache so I can look older. A lot of times, it’s important to look older. Otherwise, it would be harder to scam…”
Yang Yi bent his head and got lost in his thoughts for a short time before he looked at Chris again, “I will consider letting you off if you answer my questions honestly.”
Chris was rather vigilant when he asked, “What do you want to know?”
Yang Yi exhaled and asked with sincerity, “When you were scamming people in the past, did you succeed more or fail more?”
“That isn’t an easy question to answer. A telephone or e-mail scam nowadays has a very low success rate. Those foolish enough to fall for those types of scam are a minority. I don’t want to brag but I have never failed in my scams as long as I got to meet my victims face to face. You need the talent to lie convincingly and I’m a genius at it.”
“A genius?”
“That’s right. I’m a genius amongst liars. As I have said before, my scams always succeed once I meet my victims. You think that’s easy? Nope, it’s actually very difficult. Most swindlers actually fail at that stage. It’s also quite normal for some of them get apprehended at that stage. It’s very rare you meet someone like me who doesn’t overlook anything.”
Yang Yi sincerely asked, “Are there some important tricks of the trade?”
Yang Yi didn’t hesitate to take off his shoes again when he saw Chris’s reluctance. Chris immediately started talking, “Wait, wait, there’s no need to hit me. I’ll talk. There are some tricks. I’ve never told anyone the secret to my success but I will tell you. So, can I sit up now?”
Yang Yi took a step backward and said, “You better be honest. I won’t smack you with just a shoe if I find out you lied to me again.”
Chris exhaled as he sat up and took out a box of cigarettes from his pocket. He then took out a cigarette, “There’s one thing I didn’t lie to you about. I did bet on you because I had confidence in you. I’m very good at judging people. Do you want a smoke?”
Yang Yi shook his head, “Just get straight to the point.”
Chris lit his cigarette and took a long deep puff. He then started rubbing the part of his face that had been hit and said, “Understanding psychology is very important for a swindler. A lot of them con themselves. It’s a type of hypnotism that allows them to believe the lies they tell are in fact the truth. That’s how they make their act work. However, I don’t use this method since I have my own trick.”
Chris paused for a moment and looked at Yang Yi expecting him to ask about the trick. However, Yang Yi only glared at him coldly. Chris trembled and quickly said, “My trick lies in treating all my intended victims like fools.”
“What the fuck are you saying? Fuck! It seems like you haven’t been hit enough yet.”
Chris whined and hurriedly spoke, “Wait, wait! I’m just telling the truth. There are a lot of fools in the world and I treat those I want to deceive as such. It’s easy to succeed if you target a victim’s weakness after coming up with a detailed plan. I don’t think everyone is a fool but it’s important to treat them as such when you act out a scam. What’s the benefit of such thinking? First, you will be bolder and you won’t stumble when you are scamming because of higher confidence. A lot of swindlers fail just because they aren’t confident enough. Do you understand what I’m trying to say?”
Yang Yi coldly said, “What you just said is full of contradictions.”
“How should I explain it to you? You should pay attention to the person you want to deceive and understand them but you must treat the person as a fool. Fuck! I have I no idea how I can clearly explain this point to you.”
Yang Yi coldly said, “Show contempt in the enemy’s strategy but show esteem to their tactics.”
Chris was astonished and answered while waving his hands, “Yes! That’s it. Bro, you’re very knowledgeable. There’s no way I could use such phrases.”
Yang Yi laughed as he said, “Is that all?”
Chris hurriedly exclaimed, “Is that still not enough? Bro, it’s not easy being a swindler. Whenever you deal with a rich man or someone with higher social standing, deep down you will feel inferior. It’s not easy to scam them when this feeling sets in. However, you will no longer be afraid if you see them as mere fools. You will be confident and thus unafraid. That’s why I’m always full of confidence regardless of who I am dealing with. I act like someone with high social standing. My victims trust me and don't doubt my fabricated identity due to my imposing manner. You do get what I’m trying to say, right?”
Yang Yi nodded and said, “What you said is very sensible but don’t expect me to believe everything you have said. By the way, I have good news for you. I will be moving to the felony section tomorrow.”
Chris was surprised and sympathetically said, “Is that, right? That’s just too bad.”
Yang Yi gave a feeble smile as he replied, “You can’t stop telling lies. I might as well tell you the bad news as well. Although I will be changing cells, you’re still going to be my cellmate. So, you’ll be transferring over to the felony section with me.”
The color of Chris’s face immediately changed. He then jumped up and started screaming, “Fuck! You can’t do that to me!”
Just because prison was boring, was it right to deceive others?
Yang Yi would obviously find that unacceptable, especially when he was the person being deceived. Yang Yi was still respectful to Chris in the beginning since he was the senior. However, he couldn’t have imagined that Chris would dare to deceive him.
“You were bored, so you decided to have a good time deceiving me?” Yang Yi erupted in anger. He took off his shoe and started hitting Chris in the forehead with it.
“Who said you could deceive me?! Damn you for lying to me!”
While being struck, Chris was wailing in pain. He started screaming, “Don’t hit me anymore! Enough, stop hitting! It was just a prank. It's not like I scammed any money from you. Don’t you think it’s enough now that you’ve hit me so many times?”
Yang Yi stopped hitting Chris and dropped the shoe he was holding. He then sneered, “It was just a prank?”
“Of course, it was just a prank. What can I scam out of you? There’s nothing I can scam from you when you don’t have anything. So, please stop hitting me. It was just a prank, ok?”
The prior Chris always looked pensive and sullen. He seemed like someone who was difficult to understand. Now that Yang Yi saw through the act to Chris’s true face, he suddenly felt that the young man was an eyesore.
“Ah, you must be delusional. You lied to me and you think it can be settled after I’ve hit you a few times?”
Chris lowered the hands protecting his face as he cautiously asked, “What are you going to do? What else are you planning?”
Yang Yi hadn’t really considered how he should deal with Chris yet. He felt that beating Chris a bit wasn’t adequate but stabbing him seemed excessive. As Chris had pointed out, Yang Yi didn’t actually lose anything.
“You’re only twenty-eight years old? Are you really that young? You look like someone in their forties.”
“I’m really twenty-eight years old. I have a mustache so I can look older. A lot of times, it’s important to look older. Otherwise, it would be harder to scam…”
Yang Yi bent his head and got lost in his thoughts for a short time before he looked at Chris again, “I will consider letting you off if you answer my questions honestly.”
Chris was rather vigilant when he asked, “What do you want to know?”
Yang Yi exhaled and asked with sincerity, “When you were scamming people in the past, did you succeed more or fail more?”
“That isn’t an easy question to answer. A telephone or e-mail scam nowadays has a very low success rate. Those foolish enough to fall for those types of scam are a minority. I don’t want to brag but I have never failed in my scams as long as I got to meet my victims face to face. You need the talent to lie convincingly and I’m a genius at it.”
“A genius?”
“That’s right. I’m a genius amongst liars. As I have said before, my scams always succeed once I meet my victims. You think that’s easy? Nope, it’s actually very difficult. Most swindlers actually fail at that stage. It’s also quite normal for some of them get apprehended at that stage. It’s very rare you meet someone like me who doesn’t overlook anything.”
Yang Yi sincerely asked, “Are there some important tricks of the trade?”
Yang Yi didn’t hesitate to take off his shoes again when he saw Chris’s reluctance. Chris immediately started talking, “Wait, wait, there’s no need to hit me. I’ll talk. There are some tricks. I’ve never told anyone the secret to my success but I will tell you. So, can I sit up now?”
Yang Yi took a step backward and said, “You better be honest. I won’t smack you with just a shoe if I find out you lied to me again.”
Chris exhaled as he sat up and took out a box of cigarettes from his pocket. He then took out a cigarette, “There’s one thing I didn’t lie to you about. I did bet on you because I had confidence in you. I’m very good at judging people. Do you want a smoke?”
Yang Yi shook his head, “Just get straight to the point.”
Chris lit his cigarette and took a long deep puff. He then started rubbing the part of his face that had been hit and said, “Understanding psychology is very important for a swindler. A lot of them con themselves. It’s a type of hypnotism that allows them to believe the lies they tell are in fact the truth. That’s how they make their act work. However, I don’t use this method since I have my own trick.”
Chris paused for a moment and looked at Yang Yi expecting him to ask about the trick. However, Yang Yi only glared at him coldly. Chris trembled and quickly said, “My trick lies in treating all my intended victims like fools.”
“What the fuck are you saying? Fuck! It seems like you haven’t been hit enough yet.”
Chris whined and hurriedly spoke, “Wait, wait! I’m just telling the truth. There are a lot of fools in the world and I treat those I want to deceive as such. It’s easy to succeed if you target a victim’s weakness after coming up with a detailed plan. I don’t think everyone is a fool but it’s important to treat them as such when you act out a scam. What’s the benefit of such thinking? First, you will be bolder and you won’t stumble when you are scamming because of higher confidence. A lot of swindlers fail just because they aren’t confident enough. Do you understand what I’m trying to say?”
Yang Yi coldly said, “What you just said is full of contradictions.”
“How should I explain it to you? You should pay attention to the person you want to deceive and understand them but you must treat the person as a fool. Fuck! I have I no idea how I can clearly explain this point to you.”
Yang Yi coldly said, “Show contempt in the enemy’s strategy but show esteem to their tactics.”
Chris was astonished and answered while waving his hands, “Yes! That’s it. Bro, you’re very knowledgeable. There’s no way I could use such phrases.”
Yang Yi laughed as he said, “Is that all?”
Chris hurriedly exclaimed, “Is that still not enough? Bro, it’s not easy being a swindler. Whenever you deal with a rich man or someone with higher social standing, deep down you will feel inferior. It’s not easy to scam them when this feeling sets in. However, you will no longer be afraid if you see them as mere fools. You will be confident and thus unafraid. That’s why I’m always full of confidence regardless of who I am dealing with. I act like someone with high social standing. My victims trust me and don't doubt my fabricated identity due to my imposing manner. You do get what I’m trying to say, right?”
Yang Yi nodded and said, “What you said is very sensible but don’t expect me to believe everything you have said. By the way, I have good news for you. I will be moving to the felony section tomorrow.”
Chris was surprised and sympathetically said, “Is that, right? That’s just too bad.”
Yang Yi gave a feeble smile as he replied, “You can’t stop telling lies. I might as well tell you the bad news as well. Although I will be changing cells, you’re still going to be my cellmate. So, you’ll be transferring over to the felony section with me.”
The color of Chris’s face immediately changed. He then jumped up and started screaming, “Fuck! You can’t do that to me!”
