Abstract Art Award Winner

The reason Meng Ziyi went to Zhou Le's side was simply to avoid work.

In her opinion, it was incredibly easy for her to simply hand Zhou Le water or give him a back massage under the guise of being his assistant.

Even among all the celebrities she knew in the entertainment industry, Zhou Le was one of the least troublesome.

When I had an assistant, my job was basically just to book tickets and drive.

When they get tired from filming, I'll hand them some water and help them unpack their things at the hotel.

These tasks are so competitive that everyone has to compete for them; if you're not careful, Zhou Le will have finished them all by himself.

"Brother Le, you're going against the country."

Meng Ziyi suddenly said.

Zhou Le was startled: "What are you talking about? When did I ever go against the country? You can't say things like that. I've always been honest and law-abiding."

"What? I didn't say you were dishonest. What I mean is that other people go out with makeup artists, work assistants, and personal assistants, followed by a whole bunch of people, but you always go out alone. You're completely not responding to the country's call. Think about it, how many jobs have been lost because of your maturity and independence?"

"Oh, you mean this? You startled me. I was wondering what you had on me that you could have caught me doing something wrong. But nobody's money grows on trees. I barely have enough for myself. Besides, I'm not old enough yet. I don't need someone to take care of everything for me. And usually, when I go out, everything is arranged for me. I don't need to worry about anything."

"Okay, fine, you're independent now. But, Brother Le, are you really going to become a director?"

"You've heard about it too? Actually, I just talked to Brother Zheng. The main thing is that there aren't any suitable roles for you guys. Only Brother Zheng can get one."

“I’m fine with playing a small role, I’m not picky.”

"It's a minor character, but there is one character who has a really tragic fate. He's already dead at the beginning, but there will be flashback scenes and photos of him."

"A little misery is acceptable, right?"

"Are you sure? Because the setting is Shanghai in the 20s, and this character is a dancer, so..."

"So he was tortured to death?"

"Yes, in the end she was hung up."

Meng Ziyi quickly recalled the scene, but finally shook her head: "Forget it, this role is too tragic. But if there is a suitable role in the future, you must look for me."

"Don't worry, I'll definitely side with my own people. If there are suitable roles, I'll definitely invite you to play them."

While we were chatting, my phone suddenly rang.

I thought it was someone calling me again, but when I checked the number, it was a stranger.

Hello.

"Hello, is this Zhou Le? I'm a bank employee. This system shows you have a large overseas expenditure. Did you make that purchase?"

Upon hearing about the overseas expenditures, Zhou Le knew he might have been scammed.

The other person's accent was also very classic.

Zhou Le did indeed go to Japan recently, but his spending wasn't particularly large.

Since becoming an artist, Zhou Le has never received such a call, nor even a text message, and he has no idea where his personal information was leaked.

But since he had finally received such a call and didn't have anything else to do at the moment, Zhou Le thought for a moment and decided to have a good talk with the other party.

"Which expense was it? I did go to Japan recently, but it was all normal spending."

"It's no use telling me this. Did you keep your bank card safe over there?"

"I've always kept my bank card safe. Were the transactions you found made in Japan?"

"Yes, it's Japan. You've been to Tokyo, haven't you?"

"It was Tokyo. I didn't go anywhere else at the time." As an actor, Zhou Le's acting skills are naturally beyond question.

"So you've definitely been scammed, and the police contacted us first to verify this. Now your actions are suspected of money laundering. Even if you were unaware of it, you could be charged with aiding and abetting fraud, and you could spend at least 1-2 years in jail."

"That's impossible. How could I launder money? I never do such things. This has nothing to do with me. If anyone's going to arrest someone, it's not me."

"It's no use explaining to me, because the chain of evidence is already very complete. You'd better figure out a solution yourself. As a bank, all we can do is notify you and verify the situation."

"Impossible. Which police station contacted you? Do you have a phone number here? I want to verify with them again."

"Yes, I'll tell you to write it down."

The other party then gave a phone number, which Zhou Le saved on his phone.

He quickly hung up and called the other end.

Zhou Le reiterated that he could not possibly be involved in money laundering.

But the accent here is similar to that of the person who claimed to be from the bank.

During the conversation, Zhou Le "accidentally" let slip that when he was in Japan, he had lent money to a friend so that the friend could help him buy some things.

The other side seized on this point and began to apply pressure.

After chatting for a while, the other party felt that the time was right, so they asked Zhou Le to transfer that part of the money to a fixed bank account as a deposit.

They will continue to conduct verification.

If this is true, the deposit will be returned.

If it really involves money laundering, then it's not just about the money.

Zhou Le felt he had acted out his part.

"Brother, after I transfer this money to you, is the next step to transfer the 20 yuan I used for money laundering back to you? Isn't it better to just make money honestly? Why do you have to do this?"

After Zhou Le finished speaking, the other side fell silent.

He thought the other person would hang up immediately because they felt exposed, but after a moment of silence, the other person suddenly said slowly:
"Can not go back……"

Zhou Le was surprised that the other party would actually respond to him.

"Why? Where are you from?"

"In northern Myanmar..."

"So you were tricked?"

"Yes, I came here just to find a job, but I can't go back."

Judging from the other person's tone, Zhou Le asked, "Would calling the police do any good? I can call the police for you." "It's useless. We have no freedom. If we don't meet our performance targets, we'll be beaten, and in more serious cases, they might even sell our organs."

The call was disconnected as soon as the other party finished speaking.

Zhou Le stared at his phone in disbelief. He had only meant to tease the other person, but the other person had actually said all this to him.

"What's wrong? Did you break down that conman?"

Zhou Le held his phone, forgetting to put it down for a moment: "The call just now was from northern Myanmar. He said they were all tricked into going there."

Meng Ziyi also panicked: "Then let's call the police right away."

"Even if we want to call the police, we can only call the local police. Cross-border arrests are very difficult."

But just as Zhou Le finished speaking, his phone rang again; it was another number calling.

"Hello, is this Zhou Le?"

I didn't recognize the number either, but this time the person on the other end spoke standard Mandarin.

"It's me, may I ask who you are...?"

"Oh, I'm that person's boss. I know who you are and I know you're a celebrity. He didn't recognize your voice just now, but I recognized you after looking at your information. But could you please not call the police?"

Zhou Le: "???"

What is this? A blatant threat?
But Zhou Le wasn't afraid of any of that.

I'm all alone now, and I won't go to those places again. Even if I go abroad, I'll basically not wander around on my own. If I do go anywhere, I'll stick with the group.

"why?"

“Because we are from the same hometown, if you call the police, he will die.”

"Are you threatening me?"

"This is not a threat, it's a request. Not everyone here was tricked into coming. Some people came because they found out about high-paying jobs here through job websites, and some were tricked into coming by relatives and friends, but that's only a part of the story."

There are also some people who come here on their own initiative. They know what this place is for, but they only want to be thugs or security guards. But where are there so many security guard positions for them?

The guy who just called you was a tourist who got kidnapped. He was lucky; he got some money from his family and managed to stay safe. Now he's involved in telecom fraud, but if he doesn't do it right, he could still lose his life.

The other party said a lot, leaving Zhou Le even more confused.

Why are you telling me all this? You shouldn't be in this position to do so, should you?

"I'm telling you all this because I can't go back either, but compared to him, I'm a technician here, so I can make phone calls and even tell you these things. After all, I have no one else to talk to."

"So even if you reach a high-level position, you can't come back?"

“Although I’m in a high-level position, my only area of ​​activity is the office and dormitory; I can’t leave the park. I really hope you can use your influence to tell people there not to come over unless necessary, and not to believe others here who say it’s safe or that there are many opportunities to make money here, because it’s really dangerous.”

"Okay, I understand. Can I still contact you in the future? If there's a chance to save you."

"Of course I can. They usually don't care much about me, as long as I can finish the task. Besides, you're a celebrity. I've seen your movies online before. If I had the chance, I would love to go back and take a picture with you and ask for your autograph, but that's impossible. Given what I've done, I would be sentenced even if I went back."

The other party hung up the phone after speaking.

Zhou Le felt a pang of sadness, because according to the other party, the people who went there were indeed very diverse, including all sorts of people: some were deceived, some were simply victims, and some went there voluntarily.

He had never paid attention to these things before, only occasionally hearing news of people being scammed, but he never imagined that the environment there was so terrible.

"Sister Meng, do you know about those scam industrial parks overseas?"

Meng Ziyi nodded: "I know. My dad told me before that he had a business partner who met a woman at a party. She was very well-presented, and he was deceived by her."

The stewards demanded tens of millions of yuan but never saw the person. Finally, through connections, they managed to find someone there, and they did manage to locate the person, but then the other side demanded 50 yuan.

Zhou Le's heart skipped a beat when he heard this. They had asked for tens of millions before, but now they would release the person for only 50?
“50 doesn’t sound like the price of a living person.”

"Yes, 500,000 isn't a living person, but in the end they still gave it to him. The person came back, but all that came back was a person; they emptied him out of everything they could, leaving only an empty shell."

So my dad told me that I absolutely shouldn't go to any activities there, and it's best not to go abroad if possible. He didn't care how much money I made; the most important thing was that I stay safe.

"Hmm, so there really are such things around us."

Zhou Le felt a lump in his throat.

It sounds like that place is completely lawless. Now that I think about it, what the other party and I said might not be entirely true. If what Meng Ziyi said is true, then men who go there will either be treated as easy targets, first asking their families for money and then being squeezed dry; or they will be involved in telecom fraud and then drained dry when they have no more value to be used.

For women, it's even more unthinkable; those sexy dealers dealing cards online are probably the luckiest group.

But as Zhou Le thought about it, he suddenly had an idea: the leader who had called him earlier actually hoped that he could promote himself properly.

It just so happens that there has been a lot of anti-fraud propaganda in China during this period, so could I make a movie about that?

The subject matter is definitely not a problem; it's similar in nature to "Dying to Survive," but what it reveals is even darker and more cruel.

Thinking of this, Zhou Le opened WeChat and hesitated for a while between Han Han, Xu Zheng, Da Peng, and Ning Hao, but finally called Ning Hao.

"Hey, Hao-ge, are you busy?"

Ning Hao didn't know why Zhou Le had called, but he did have some free time, so he said he wasn't busy.

"Here's the thing, I have an idea, I wonder if it could be made into a movie."

"Wow, Le'er, you've got another idea so quickly? I remember you already have two projects on hand."

"The two I have here are actually other people's scripts, but I'm planning to put together this one myself."

“Sure, tell me your ideas. Don’t worry, I’m your brother, I definitely won’t betray you. I won’t just listen to your ideas and then start my own project.”

"Brother Hao, I definitely believe you, otherwise I wouldn't have told you."

After that, Zhou Le recounted the events at the fraud park.

However, he omitted the two people who called him, only saying that he had seen it by chance online, which is why he had the idea.

Ning Hao was greatly shocked after hearing this!

"Wow, you've got a great subject to work with! But you have to be careful about one thing: if you make it too realistic, some viewers won't be able to accept it, and it won't pass censorship either; but if you don't make it realistic enough, the audience will definitely be disappointed."

"Brother Hao, do you have any good suggestions?"

"I suggest you find someone influential to endorse you first. If you really want to do this, you need someone to back you up, otherwise it's normal for you to be stuck in the censorship for three to five years. My 'No Man's Land' is a cautionary tale for you." (End of Chapter)