Scamming like this, if you were lucky and found a soft target, you could extort a hefty sum. It would pretty much cover your monthly living expenses.
In a situation like today, all it took was a cheeky slap – it was the young man’s first time experiencing it, and he was momentarily unsure how to react.
Chinese people loved to watch a commotion. As expected, a crowd quickly gathered.
“The car owner is in trouble; he hit someone.”
“What kind of trouble? He’s probably a rich second generation. He’s got money, and this will be settled with money.”
“Money? I just saw the car owner slap that young man.”
“That’s impressive.”
“That young man is clearly a scammer. He’s met his match today.”
Amidst the chatter, Leo’s smile receded, and he calmly stated, “Ten thousand!”
Hearing these words and feeling the burning pain on his cheek, the young man immediately cried out in grievance, “Hit by a car, then physically assaulted. You rich folks are out of control!”
“Smack!”
Another resounding slap echoed.
Leo continued, “Twenty thousand!”
Now, both sides of the young man’s face were swollen.
Stunned, the young man cursed, “Holy crap, you’re a mad dog! Running me over in broad daylight and then slapping me? I’m reporting you to the police!”
As the young man ranted, he quickly fumbled for his phone.
It was quite rare for a scammer to willingly pull out their phone to call the police. But in this crowd of onlookers, no one was going to help him.
“Smack!”
Yet another slap hit the young man’s face.
“Thirty thousand!” Leo said casually.
“Damn it, I’ll kill you!”
“Smack!”
Just as he was about to get up, Leo slapped him back down and knocked the phone out of his hand.
“Forty thousand!”
“Police! Help, call the police!” The young man’s voice now carried a hint of sobbing. With both sides of his face swollen, his words were barely intelligible.
Feeling Leo’s strength in his grip, the young man wanted to fight back, but after being slapped repeatedly, he realized that getting up now would expose his scam.
Leo slapped him once more.
“Fifty thousand!” Leo spoke as if he were discussing something unrelated to himself.
Jennifer and Sarah, who had been watching, were dumbfounded. Was this the demeanor of a legendary domineering CEO? It was intoxicating!
The situation had spiraled far beyond the scammer’s companion’s expectations. If it continued like this, he would be beaten to death.
“Stop it! Is it okay for the rich to just hit people at will? Just because you drive a Mercedes doesn’t mean you can do whatever you want on the streets!”
The scammer’s accomplice stepped forward from the crowd, his gaze on Leo turning fierce. As he spoke, he lifted his foot to kick Leo.
Seeing the incoming kick, Jennifer and Sarah exclaimed, “Watch out, Leo!”
As if! Would Leo allow someone to kick him? He dodged sideways, narrowly avoiding the kick, and then launched a counter kick.
A loud thud followed.
The scammer’s accomplice was like a hammer-struck nail, flying backward and crashing onto the ground.
The crowd quickly dispersed, making way for the fallen accomplice who was now firmly grounded.
The intense pain in his abdomen left him curling up, gasping for air. He wanted to cry out in agony, but the pain rendered him speechless.
After kicking the accomplice away, Leo crouched in front of the scammer, his smile back. “How much more do you want? I can provide that too.”
Out of the corner of his eye, the scammer saw his fallen accomplice, resembling a shrimp on the ground. Fear was evident in his gaze when he looked at Leo.
“Why are you silent? Seems like you still want ten thousand.”
With those words, Leo slapped him again, causing blood to trickle from the scammer’s mouth.
At this point, the scammer was on the verge of tears. All he wanted to do was pull off a little scam, but did it have to involve such abuse?
“Bro, I was wrong. Please spare me,” the scammer pleaded hastily.
Leo replied calmly, “Knowing you’re wrong is enough. Let’s move on to the next step.”
The next step?
The scammer quickly covered his cheeks with both hands.
He couldn’t take any more hits, or his face might get disfigured. In this day and age, if you didn’t have money, it’d be tough to attract girls. He was banking everything on his looks.
“Now, I have a very serious question for you. Please answer honestly, from the bottom of your heart,” Leo’s expression turned serious. “Are you here to scam?”
“I…”
The young man hesitated. With so many people watching, if he confessed to being a scammer, not only would he get slapped for nothing, but he might also get drowned in spit.
A thought flashed through his mind – he could get up and try to even out the slap he’d received. But the scene where the car owner kicked his accomplice and his accomplice remained on the ground was still fresh in his memory. Combined with the fact that his accomplice couldn’t get up now, the young man’s resistance crumbled entirely.
Right now, he really wished the police would arrive quickly.
“Smack!”
Just as the young man hesitated, another slap landed on his face.
This time, he felt like his teeth had been knocked loose.
“Let’s continue with the previous question: are you a scammer?” Leo’s facial expression remained inquisitive, as if he were engaged in an ordinary conversation.
The scammer’s heart bled. He had only intended to pull a quick scam. Did it have to involve this kind of abuse?
Facing this lunatic, the scammer didn’t doubt that if his answer didn’t satisfy him, he might actually be slapped to death.
Seeing the car owner about to raise his right hand again, the young man’s last bit of stubbornness crumbled. He quickly mumbled with an unclear voice, “I… I’m a scammer.”
Leo nodded. “Knowing you’re a scammer is enough. Now, how do your legs feel? Are they alright?”
“No… no problem,” the scammer mumbled through his swollen cheeks, nodding repeatedly. Since he had confessed, surrendering was his only option.
Leo clapped his hands and stood up from the ground. “Very well, let’s turn the page on your situation.”
Leo then walked over to the person he had kicked away earlier and squatted down.
“Bro, spare me. I-I’m his accomplice,” the scammer’s accomplice quickly admitted. He didn’t want to end up looking like a pig’s head.
Leo nodded. “Correct, you’re quite smart.”
The reason Leo had acted this way today was to let these scammers know that while they might think scamming like this had a low criminal cost, encountering someone like him would make them soberly realize that scamming also carried the risk of losing their lives.