usenovelgroup Chapter 6: Language Traps on the Border
Chapter 6: Language Traps on the Border
Muse, Myanmar.
This is the largest land border crossing between China and Myanmar. The air is thick with the smells of curry, dust, and an indescribable heat. The streets are lined with typical Southeast Asian buildings, colorful yet somewhat dilapidated, and the roar of tuk-tuks is constant.
As soon as Lin Yu and Su Yuqing stepped out of customs, they were hit by a wave of heat.
"Lin Yu, it's so chaotic here." Su Yuqing gripped her backpack strap tightly, looking around anxiously. Although this place was only separated from Ruili by a river, the sense of order amidst the chaos was completely different.
"It's alright, just follow me," Lin Yu reassured him.
Just then, my phone vibrated.
[Ding! Host detected in a multilingual environment. Quest reward activated: "Language Proficiency" (Burmese, English).]
A surge of information flooded his brain. Lin Yu felt that the Burmese conversations he had previously been unable to understand suddenly became clear.
"Are you two here for tourism? Do you need a car?"
A middle-aged man wearing a floral shirt and speaking broken Mandarin approached. His name was Amin, a typical "black market tour guide" who specialized in swindling Chinese tourists at the border.
"We're going to Mandalay, and we'll check out the jade markets along the way," Lin Yu said calmly.
"Oh dear, Mandalay is a long way! Taking the bus is such a hassle." Amin enthusiastically patted his chest, "I have a car, an SUV, it's safe! And I know a lot of local business owners, I can take you to buy good things."
Lin Yu glanced at Amin, and the system's prompt was: greedy and cunning.
"Okay," Lin Yu said, feigning ignorance of the market rate. "How much?"
"I won't charge you much, just five hundred dollars each, and I'll take you to Mandalay. I'll even take you to a few 'hidden gem' boutiques along the way." Amin smiled, his eyes narrowing into slits.
Lin Yu and Su Yuqing exchanged a glance and got into Amin's dilapidated SUV.
The car drove out of the city and into increasingly remote areas. As he drove, Amin spoke into the walkie-talkie in Burmese.
"What is he saying?" Su Yuqing asked in a low voice.
Lin Yu's lips curled into a cold smile: "He's tipping off the people in front, saying that two fat sheep have arrived and that we should go to a place called 'Golden Buddha Temple'."
Sure enough, the car stopped in front of a temple that looked quite grand but had few tourists.
"Gentlemen, please get out of the car. This is the most famous temple in Myanmar, housing a thousand-year-old jade Buddha. Drawing a fortune stick here is especially effective," Amin said earnestly.
Lin Yu nodded and got out of the car.
Inside the temple, incense smoke filled the air. A man dressed in monk's robes (actually a fake monk) came up and greeted Amin warmly in Burmese.
"The master said that today is an auspicious day, and the two of you may go in to pray for blessings," Amin translated.
Upon entering the main hall, a jade Buddha, about half a person's height, was indeed enshrined on the altar. The jade Buddha appeared entirely green, radiating an alluring luster.
"The master said that both of you have evil spirits between your brows and need to bring back a 'Luck-Changing Buddha' to worship in order to ward off the disaster." Ah Ming pointed to a row of small jade Buddhas on the shelf next to him and said, "These only cost five thousand yuan each."
Su Yuqing frowned and took a closer look at the jade Buddhas: "Lin Yu, this...this jade quality is wrong. The luster is that of a B+C grade jade that has been injected with resin and dyed; it only costs a few dozen yuan."
"Shh." Lin Yu gestured for her to keep quiet. "Let me see what the system says."
Lin Yu activated the "Intermediate Treasure Appraisal Eye".
The view penetrates the jade Buddha.
[Test Results: Modern industrial synthesis, dyeing treatment; Value: 50 yuan/piece.]
"It was fake after all," Lin Yu thought with a sneer. This was a typical "burning incense and inviting a jade Buddha" scam. Once you bought it, there would be various fees to pay later, and you might even be detained and extorted.
"I want to treat you," Lin Yu suddenly said loudly.
Amin and the fake monk exchanged a glance, a hint of greed flashing in their eyes.
"However," Lin Yu changed the subject, "I don't just want to invite one. I want to invite a hundred!"
"One hundred?" Amin was stunned. "That'll cost five hundred thousand!"
"What's 500,000?" Lin Yu pulled out his wallet, deliberately showing off a wad of cash inside. "I still want to buy that big jade Buddha! I'll pay a high price to worship it!"
The fake monk was so excited that he kept chanting Buddhist mantras and quickly brought out a contract.
"The master said that to enshrine the large jade Buddha, a 'merit agreement' needs to be signed to guarantee the safety of the jade Buddha and the duration of the enshrinement. This is the rule." Amin handed over the contract.
Su Yuqing took the contract and her expression changed drastically. The contract was entirely in Burmese, and the terms were extremely unfair. Once signed, the fake jade Buddha would become Lin Yu's "private property," but if it was damaged, he would have to pay an exorbitant penalty; if he didn't buy it, he would be disrespectful to Buddha and would be "detained for education."
"Lin Yu, we can't sign! This is an unfair contract!" Su Yuqing said urgently.
Lin Yu took the contract and quickly skimmed through it. Although it was entirely in Burmese, his "language fluency" allowed him to understand it perfectly.
"No problem, I'll sign it." Lin Yu picked up the pen and signed his name on the contract in a flourish.
Amin and the fake monk were grinning from ear to ear. This was a real fat sheep!
"Where's the money?" Amin asked impatiently, reaching out his hand.
"The money's in the car." Lin Yu pointed outside. "And I have one more request. I want to 'invite' this large jade Buddha away on the spot. You guys help me load it into the car."
"No problem, no problem!" Ah Ming waved his hand and called over a few thugs who hurriedly carried out the large jade Buddha statue, which was about half the height of a person.
Upon reaching the car, Lin Yu suddenly said, "Wait. This jade Buddha doesn't look very stable. I need to check it to make sure it doesn't get bumped or scratched on the road. I can't afford to pay for that."
As he spoke, Lin Yu reached out and gently tapped the base of the jade Buddha.
"Empty."
The sound was crisp and clear.
Lin Yu's lips curled up: "Master, why is this Buddha statue hollow? And... this tastes wrong."
He snapped it open with force.
With a "crack," the base of the seemingly solemn and sacred "Millennial Jade Buddha" suddenly split open!
There were no relics or scriptures inside, only a bunch of messy wires and batteries, and a buzzing heating lamp!
It turns out that this jade Buddha was made of plastic and fiberglass, and contained a heating lamp, specifically designed to create the illusion of "jade's warm and lustrous texture"!
"This..." The fake monk's face turned deathly pale instantly.
"This is a scam!" Su Yuqing realized what was happening and immediately took out her phone to record a video. "I'm calling the police!"
Amin's face changed drastically, and he slapped Su Yuqing's phone away: "Call the police? Here, Sister Mu, what can the police do to us? Kid, you've broken the rules; you're not leaving this temple alive today!"
Several thugs surrounded them, brandishing daggers.
The atmosphere instantly became tense.
Lin Yu remained standing there, holding the half-finished fake jade Buddha in his hand, without a trace of fear on his face.
"Amin, do you think I don't know this is a setup?" Lin Yu said coldly in fluent Burmese. "The contract states that if the offerings are damaged, a penalty will be imposed. Now, your 'Buddha' has cracked on its own. According to the contract, who should pay for the damages?"
Amin was stunned: "You...you can speak Burmese?"
"Not only that," Lin Yu pointed to the pile of wires, "according to Article 37 of Myanmar's Consumer Rights Protection Law, using counterfeit religious items to commit fraud is punishable by up to 10 years in prison. And this temple doesn't seem to have a valid religious business license, does it?"
With each sentence Lin Yu spoke, Amin's face paled a little more. He hadn't expected this seemingly young Chinese man to know so much!
"What...what do you want?" Amin asked, his voice trembling with fear.
"I don't want anything." Lin Yu threw the half-fake jade Buddha on the ground. "I'm taking this 'Buddha' as compensation for my emotional distress. Also, when I signed the contract, I sent the coordinates of this place to my friend. If I don't leave within an hour, the video of this scam targeting Chinese tourists will spread all over the internet."
Amin and the fake monk exchanged a glance, both seeing the fear in each other's eyes. This was the internet age; if this went viral, their hideout would be completely ruined.
"Get out!" Lin Yu shouted in a low voice.
Amin gritted his teeth and waved for his men to make way.
Lin Yu picked up Su Yuqing's phone, grabbed her hand, and swaggered out of the temple.
Back in the car, Su Yuqing was still in shock: "Lin Yu, you...when did you learn Burmese? And you even know about the law?"
"It's a secret." Lin Yu smiled and started the car. "But this trip wasn't in vain."
He pointed to the half-finished jade Buddha on the back seat.
"Although it's fake, I smelled a distinctive mineral powder odor in the filler inside. That's a by-product of the Hpakant mining area. This suggests that the raw materials used to make this fake Buddha likely came from the vicinity of the mining area we're looking for."
Lin Yu looked at the winding mountain road ahead, a glint of light flashing in his eyes.
"System, what is the task completion rate?"
[Ding! Scam successfully exposed, first inflow of funds obtained (intangible asset: clues).]
Task progress: 100%.
[Reward: Unlock the "Junior Negotiation Expert" skill and receive a cash reward of 50,000 yuan (already transferred to an overseas account).]
Lin Yu's lips curled up.
"Let's go, Yuqing. Our treasure hunt has officially begun."
The car sped away, disappearing into the depths of the Burmese jungle. Behind them, in the fake temple, Amin was roaring into the phone: "Find out! Find out who that kid named Lin Yu is!"
Lin Yu had no idea that he had just offended the Myanmar partner of the financial group behind Zhao Kun. A much bigger storm was brewing ahead of him.