Seeing that she was listening, Wendy Lynch immediately struck while the iron was hot, tossing out the excuse she had prepared long in advance.
"We were having a family dinner tonight, and I heard him mention some inside information while chatting with my parents," she said. "He said a government document came down ordering a massive, surprise crackdown on all these P2P financial platforms currently on the market! And Coin Harvest is on the very first list of targets!"
She deliberately emphasized the phrases "surprise crackdown" and "first list of targets."
"I didn’t think much of it at the time," Wendy continued. "But tonight, I was scrolling through Instagram to see how you’ve been doing, and I saw your post about Coin Harvest! It finally clicked, and I was so terrified that I rushed right over to find you!"
"Inside information? Government crackdown? Target list?" These phrases felt like a basin of ice water poured directly over Jean Sutton’s head.
The alcohol-induced flush on her cheeks faded at a visible rate, replaced by a deathly pallor. Compared to vague warnings about scams, official inside information carried a mysterious, terrifying weight that instantly crushed any lingering delusions she had.
"Could it be a platform with the same name? This Coin Harvest has been operating for a long time, and it even has government backing. It can’t possibly be a fake, right? It has to be a coincidence!" Jean Sutton’s voice began to tremble. Her lips quivered, and even the hand gripping her phone began to shake.
"Why would I lie to you about something like this?" Wendy shot back. "How could this kind of thing possibly have government backing? In all likelihood, they just tricked some minor official into taking a photo with them.
"Don’t you remember that diner next to our university? They had a whole wall covered in photos of the owner posing with celebrities. Later, it came out that they were all Photoshopped, and none of those stars had ever even set foot in the place!"
Wendy’s expression was dead serious.
"Think about it," she urged. "Why would they conveniently throw an ’anniversary event’ right now and offer ’double returns’? It’s because they caught wind of the crackdown and want to make one last massive cash grab before they get shut down and run away! It’s still not too late to withdraw your money. Once the news breaks tomorrow, the website is shut down, and the servers are unplugged, it will be completely over! You won’t be able to get a single cent back!"
Jean Sutton was completely stunned by this barrage of information. Words like "shut down," "run away," and "not a single cent back" swirled around in her head. Gripped by overwhelming fear, she completely abandoned her dreams of striking it rich.
Frantic, she pulled out her phone. Her hands were trembling so badly that it took her two tries to unlock the screen. She shakily tapped the bright green app icon and practically sprinted to the withdrawal page.
Right at that moment, the door to the private room was pushed open. The guy with the earring and a few other friends poked their heads out, looking curious.
"Justin, what are you two doing sneaking around out here?" the earring guy asked. "Why haven’t you come back in? It’s your turn to sing!"
As he spoke, his gaze fell on Jean Sutton’s deathly pale face and her frantic swiping on her phone. The teasing smile instantly froze on his face. "...What’s wrong? Are you feeling sick? Why are you so pale?"
Jean didn’t hear a word he said. All of her attention was fixed on her phone screen. She found the [Withdraw All] button and tapped it with all her might.
Her initial principal, combined with the "returns" she had earned over the past few days, totaled over about 7,000 dollars. It was all the money she had saved up from working part-time jobs throughout her entire college career.
On the screen, a loading circle spun endlessly. Jean held her breath and stared intensely at the display, her heart in her throat.
However, the familiar "Withdrawal Successful" prompt never appeared. A second later, a cold system pop-up abruptly materialized in the center of the screen.
[System Announcement: Due to a surge in transaction volume during the Anniversary Event, and to ensure the security of our users’ funds and prevent malicious activity, all large-sum withdrawal channels will temporarily enter a 48-hour system review state. Funds will automatically be credited to your account upon approval. Please wait patiently.]
BUZZ—
Jean’s brain felt like it had been violently struck by a heavy hammer, instantly going blank.
She thought, "A forty-eight-hour review? Wait patiently?"
If it hadn’t been for Wendy’s warning just moments ago, Jean would have definitely believed this announcement. After all, she had successfully withdrawn over 1,666 dollars in cash from Coin Harvest just two days prior. However, now that Wendy had planted the seed of doubt, no matter how authentic this announcement appeared, Jean found it completely full of holes.
"How could this happen..." she muttered to herself, her face paler than the hallway walls. At this moment, she fully believed everything Wendy had told her.
"What’s going on?" The guy with the earring noticed Jean’s phone screen, and the color drained from his face as well. Immediately realizing something was wrong, he whipped out his own phone and navigated to the withdrawal page.
He had invested even more money than Jean—a whopping 25,000 dollars. A few seconds later, he received the exact same system prompt.
"Damn it! What’s happening? Why can’t I withdraw anything?!" the guy with the earring cursed, all the color instantly vanishing from his face.
His words were like a stone tossed into a calm lake, stirring up a thousand ripples. The friends who had followed him out to watch the commotion could no longer maintain their composure. Like a disturbed hive of bees, the group instantly exploded into chaos. One by one, they whipped out their phones and frantically attempted to withdraw their funds.
"I can’t withdraw mine either! It also says it needs a forty-eight-hour review!"
"Same here! What is going on?"
"No way! I was able to withdraw about 1,700 dollars just the day before yesterday!"
"We’re doomed... Did something really happen?"
Continuous gasps and murmurs of disbelief wove together into a symphony of panic in the hallway. The deafening music from the private room seemed to be blocked by an invisible wall, suddenly feeling distant and unreal. The corridor, which had been bustling and noisy just moments ago, now fell into an eerie, deathly silence.
Everyone held up their phones, staring blankly at the cold text on their screens. Their expressions shifted from shock, to doubt, and finally, to unconcealed terror. Their beautiful dreams of getting rich were thoroughly shattered in this instant.
Jean abruptly snapped back to reality. Like clutching at a final lifeline, she grabbed Wendy’s arm.
"Wendy..." she begged in despair. "Don’t you have inside information? Tell me... this is just temporary, right? The system is really just undergoing maintenance, right?
"We... we can still get our money back, right?"
Looking at Jean’s despairing face, Wendy mercilessly shook her head.
"How is that possible?" she said. "Like I just told you, this is a variation of a Ponzi scheme. The game of hot potato can’t go on any longer, and the mastermind behind the scenes is definitely preparing to bolt. There is absolutely no way you are getting this money back."
Hearing Wendy’s words, Jean’s legs gave out, and she slumped directly onto the floor.
"How could this happen?! How could it be like this?!" she wailed. "That was over 7,000 dollars! The money I saved up for so long is just gone!"
[Author’s Note: Darlings, please use your lucky hands to leave some monthly passes and recommendation tickets. Thank you!]