Chapter 14: Gathering Enough People

“He's already been there; there's no chance now.”

“Are you guys trying to play tricks on me?” Fang Gaochang squinted, probing cautiously.

“There are no tricks. If you want to know whether it’s a scam, why not try it yourself?”

Fang Gaochang raised an eyebrow. “Makes sense. Then I'll give it a shot. If they don’t take me to the Qin Dynasty, I’m keeping the 100,000 yuan. Don’t try to fool me—I have plenty of friends.”

“Don’t worry! We definitely won’t cheat you!” Jiang Ye swiftly pulled a contract from her backpack, and both parties signed it happily.

“When do we set off?” Fang Gaochang asked.

“Tomorrow at noon,” Jiang Ye added, “but if we get eight people today, we can leave immediately.”

“That’s easy. I’ll help you gather people,” Fang Gaochang said, taking out his phone and opening his contacts.

Jiang Ye quickly added, “Brother, are the people you’re calling from the Happiness Lane community?”

“What? They have to be from that community?” Fang Gaochang raised his brow.

“Yes.”

Sigh, it’s a long story.

Fang Gaochang looked incredulous. “Your business is really something else.”

No, it’s not him—it’s the system’s rules that are bizarre.

“Brother, do you have any close buddies or neighbors in your community who happen to be free?”

“Alright, I’ll find some for you.”

Fang Gaochang took out his phone, opened WeChat, and directly entered the community group chat. In front of Jiang Ye, he sent a voice message.

“Guys, here’s a chance to get rich. There’s a tour guide from ‘One Leaf Travel Agency’ at the community gate who says they can take us to the Qin Dynasty for a day. If they can’t deliver, each person gets 100,000 yuan, contracts signed. Anyone want to make some money together?”

As soon as the message went out, he tagged all the members repeatedly, ruthlessly waking a bunch of slackers still half-asleep.

Li Jun: “Damn it! Fang Gaochang, what the hell are you doing this early? You ruined my beautiful dream.”

Zheng Chen: “Damn! I thought something serious happened, and it’s just this nonsense.”

Wu Xiaoshi: “Are you kidding? This looks like a scam.”

Jiang Kai: “Fang Gaochang, damn you! I just went to sleep!”

Shi Xiaoyu: “Old Fang, did a donkey kick you in the forehead? This is obviously a scam. You believe in time travel to the Qin Dynasty? I might as well travel back to the prehistoric era.”

...

Fang Gaochang ignored their barking and kept messaging.

“I'm trying to make you rich, and you’re still yelling!”

“Yesterday, I saw a TikTok blogger claiming he traveled to the Qin Dynasty and even posted videos. The person who took him there is right in front of me now, recruiting customers. I just want to see if it’s real. If it’s not, well, I get 100,000 yuan for free.”

“If it is real, then we’re going to the Qin Dynasty! That’s actual time travel—how exciting! No matter what, we won’t lose out. You guys have nothing else to do; why not give it a try?”

“You don’t seriously lack that little courage, do you?”

After his encouragement, the mood in the group shifted.

Wu Xiaoshi: “Suddenly, I think Gaochang isn’t wrong. There’s no downside either way.”

Li Jun: “How about we try it?”

Zheng Chen: “I’m in!”

Wu Xiaoshi: “My girlfriend’s off work recently; I’ll bring her along.”

Fang Gaochang: “No! The guide said only residents from our community can go. Others aren’t eligible.”

Wu Xiaoshi: “What the hell! What kind of weird rule is that? Who does business like that?”

Jiang Kai: “Such a strange rule. We have to try it ourselves.”

Zheng Chen: “Honestly, this rule makes sense. It’s time travel—if there were no rules, anyone could go. This just shows we’re special.”

Jiang Kai: “Haha, Zheng Chen, you sure like giving yourself compliments. I was about to invite my rich buddy, but now... (shrugs).”

Fang Gaochang quickly steered the topic back; with these guys, the conversation would wander everywhere.

“Zhao Lei, Li Lin, are you coming?”

Zhao Lei & Li Lin: “Of course!”

“Come downstairs and sign the contract quickly. Once we have eight people, we leave today.”

Fang Gaochang sent several urging messages in quick succession. Seeing everyone respond, he finally stopped.

Jiang Ye listened to Fang Gaochang’s voice messages the whole time. He didn’t treat Jiang Ye like an outsider at all; the brothers’ voices were played out loud for him to hear clearly.

He put away his phone and made an ‘all set’ gesture to Jiang Ye. “Done!”

“Thanks, brother.” Jiang Ye gave Fang Gaochang a thumbs-up.

See how important it is to choose the right clients.

In less than half an hour, the recruitment task was successfully completed.

Fang Gaochang’s friends gradually emerged from the community. Upon meeting Jiang Ye, they asked if they didn’t actually go to the Qin Dynasty, would they still get the 100,000 yuan.

After Jiang Ye confirmed yes and they saw the contract, they signed it decisively and paid 2,000 yuan each as a travel fee.

Jiang Ye looked at the eight assembled travelers; this time there was a young woman in her early twenties, so it wasn’t a bachelor group anymore.

“Guide Jiang, are we leaving now?” Fang Gaochang was eager.

The other seven also looked at Jiang Ye curiously.

“Are you all ready?”

Jiang Kai cast a sidelong glance. “Pfft, do you really need to ask?”

Before departure, some things had to be made clear.

“This trip to the Qin Dynasty lasts 24 hours. That means we’ll stay overnight there. After arriving, you must follow my instructions strictly. The Qin Dynasty isn’t modern times; one wrong move, and you’ll end up in jail.”

Mentioning “ending up in jail” made Fang Gaochang think of Zhang Tao. His eyes lit up, and with curiosity, he asked, “Guide Jiang, in the video, there was chaos later on—did someone get arrested?”

That question...

Jiang Ye paused for two seconds, then nodded. Before Fang Gaochang could ask more, he quickly said, “I’ve asked the driver to bring the vehicle here. Get ready.”

He took out his phone, pretending to make a call, but was actually using his mind to control the system panel and clicked ‘Start Travel.’

At the same time, he purchased nine sets of Qin Dynasty clothing from the mall. Seeing their colorful hair, he decisively ordered eight wigs and, most importantly, identity stickers.

Purchase complete, the next moment, Jiang Ye saw an 18-seat Coaster minibus slowly approaching and pulling over.

The door opened. Jiang Ye glanced inside and confirmed it was a real person conjured by Tong Ge’s magic. He called to Fang Gaochang and the others, “Get on.”

Once aboard, Jiang Ye’s eyes immediately went to the driver’s seat, where a middle-aged man sat. Seeing Jiang Ye look his way, he nodded slightly.

Was this a real person? Or just a dummy created by Tong Ge’s magic?