Chapter 13: Identifying Your Target Customers

As soon as he saw someone stepping out, Jiang Ye immediately called out, "Handsome guys, beautiful ladies, how about a day trip to the Qin Dynasty? Travel back two thousand years to the Qin era."

A few young office workers who had just left the neighborhood glanced at Jiang Ye briefly and hurried away without stopping.

Jiang Ye was not discouraged in the least. When he saw some elderly men and women coming out, he quickly approached them. "Sir, ma'am, how about a one-day tour to the Qin Dynasty two thousand years ago? If it turns out to be fake, we’ll compensate each person with 100,000 yuan."

Upon hearing the price of 100,000 yuan, several elderly men and women suddenly became interested.

"Young man, is what you’re saying true?"

"Absolutely true," Jiang Ye said, patting his chest confidently.

Before Jiang Ye could continue persuading them, a middle-aged woman came over fiercely, accompanied by two neighborhood security guards.

"That’s him! Quickly chase this scammer away before any residents get fooled," the woman pointed at Jiang Ye and said to the guards.

The two guards looked at the whiteboard Jiang Ye had written on, then glanced at the elderly crowd surrounding him. Their expressions changed drastically.

One guard ordered Jiang Ye to pack up. "Put everything away and leave immediately, or we’ll call the police."

The other guard tried to dissuade the tempted elderly folks, "Sir, ma’am, don’t believe this kind of person. He looks like a fraud."

Jiang Ye hurried to explain, "I’m not a scammer. I’m a licensed tour guide. Here’s my guide ID. Our travel agency is legitimate and can be verified."

The middle-aged woman put her hands on her hips, looking at Jiang Ye with contempt. "Nowadays, scammers use all kinds of tricks. Just because you can be checked doesn’t mean you’re genuine. Look at what you’ve written—it’s clearly nonsense. If you dare to scam people here again, I’ll make sure you regret it."

Jiang Ye was about to argue when the woman delivered her final blow.

"I’ve already posted this incident in the neighborhood owner’s group. Don’t even think about fooling the people here."

Damn!

Could she be any more ruthless?

She didn’t even give him a chance to defend himself, completely cutting off his escape.

The guards coldly told Jiang Ye, "This isn’t a place for street vendors. If you want to attract customers, don’t do it here. Go somewhere else; we won’t bother you there."

Thinking it better to avoid trouble, Jiang Ye didn’t want to make things difficult for them and packed up his stall.

As Jiang Ye was tidying his things, the middle-aged woman still wouldn’t let him off. She said to the elderly crowd, "Don’t believe this kind of person. Have you forgotten Aunt Wang from six months ago? She was tricked out of over a million yuan. People’s hearts are cruel nowadays. There’s no such thing as free lunch."

She pointed at Jiang Ye. "Using 100,000 yuan as bait, they lure you into traveling, then lock you in a dark room and force you to buy things. This kind of thing is often exposed online. If you don’t believe me, ask your children. These are common tricks used by travel agencies. Don’t get fooled."

The elderly who had been interested moments ago were instantly discouraged, whispering and pointing at Jiang Ye.

Arguing with them was pointless.

Jiang Ye put his things in the car and grabbed the flyers he had printed that morning, then crouched near the community gate, waiting.

The guard came over again, "Didn’t we tell you to leave? Why are you still here?"

Jiang Ye shrugged. "This is a public area, not part of your community. You don’t have jurisdiction here, right?"

The guard had no reply. "Alright, fine. Stay here then. Just don’t hang around the community entrance and make things difficult for us."

Jiang Ye gave an ‘OK’ sign. "Mutual understanding."

Someone from the Happy Neighborhood stepped out, and Jiang Ye hurried over, holding a flyer. "Beautiful lady, want to learn about a day trip two thousand years back to the Qin Dynasty? We really take you there. If fake, we compensate 100,000 yuan."

The young woman, seeing Jiang Ye was decent-looking, took the flyer but, after walking away, tossed it into a nearby trash bin.

That was considered good compared to most who simply ignored him.

Half an hour later, Jiang Ye gave up. The approach he used yesterday at the station wasn’t working here; he needed to change tactics.

He had to select customers more deliberately.

After the earlier incident, word of his scheme had surely spread among the elderly, making it difficult to attract them. Besides, their bodies might not endure traveling to the Qin era, and accidents could happen, so he decided to pass on that group.

Office workers had no time for his nonsense, so they were also out.

That left unemployed youths or middle-aged men without jobs.

The former were better suited.

Having identified his target, Jiang Ye stopped blindly soliciting.

He bought a hand-grabbed pancake from a nearby stall and crouched nearby, watching the flow of people in and out of Happy Neighborhood.

Two hours later, a youth with bright red hair and baggy clothes swaggered out of the community.

Jiang Ye immediately singled him out from the crowd.

This was the one!

Fang Gaochang had just left the neighborhood, wondering where to get breakfast, when a figure suddenly appeared in front of him.

"Who are you?" Fang Gaochang frowned, wary.

Jiang Ye smiled. "I’m Jiang Ye, a tour guide from One Leaf Travel. Our company just opened a new travel route—a one-day tour to the Qin Dynasty."

Fang Gaochang was about to say he wasn’t interested, but hearing "Qin Dynasty" made him look up and scrutinize Jiang Ye carefully.

He felt like he had seen this person somewhere before but couldn’t recall where.

Seizing the moment, Jiang Ye babbled on, "This is a real trip back two thousand years to the Qin Dynasty… If it’s fake, our travel agency will compensate each person 100,000 yuan."

Hearing this, Fang Gaochang’s eyes suddenly widened.

He finally remembered—this was the tour guide from that video blogger’s clip.

Damn, this guide actually came here to recruit customers.

"It’s you!" Fang Gaochang exclaimed in surprise.

"You know me?" Jiang Ye was a little taken aback.

Fang Gaochang nodded then shook his head. "Not exactly. I saw you in a video blogger’s clip."

Jiang Ye immediately understood—it must be Zhang Tao’s video.

"Brother, since you’ve seen Zhang Tao’s video, why not give it a try?" Jiang Ye sensed hope. Recruiting people like this was definitely the right move.

"This sounds unbelievable, but why not try? If it’s real, it’s a trip to the Qin Dynasty for two thousand yuan per person—an incredible deal. Many would beg for this chance."

"If it’s fake, I’ll pay you 100,000 yuan myself. You won’t lose either way."

"Such an opportunity doesn’t come often. Want to try?"

Fang Gaochang was tempted, then asked, "Why don’t you call that blogger?"