After an argument with my family, my cousin called me and hoped that I would visit her and prove to my family that she was not a pyramid scheme. I only know that she works in Yiwu. It seems that she sells credit cards and other products, but I don't know anything else. At that time, I also heard about some MLM organizations. What impressed me the most was that once I entered this organization, I could never escape or contact with the outside world. But my cousin, she can contact her family at will, and she says she can come in and out freely.
I didn't think too much, nor did I tell my cousin to let me go to Yiwu. When we set out, I told one of my best classmates in the university that it was my cousin. If she really joined the MLM organization, I must bring her back. If not, so much the better. I can tell my family not to worry. I'm not afraid, because I'm a student, and the MLM organization won't want me to be a child who has neither money nor cheating.
The train from Chengdu to Yiwu passes through my hometown. After more than 30 hours by train, I met my cousin who came to meet me at the train station in the early morning of Yiwu. At this point, my inner doubts have been eliminated by more than half. Since she can come out to pick me up, it means that she didn't join the MLM organization as her family said. We stayed in a hotel near the railway station for one night, and the next day Sister Paradise took me to her home.
That's a very ordinary house in Yiwu. I remember it was a three-bedroom house. When my cousin took me to the house, many people had gone out and only a few people were idle in the house. Someone is talking in the room, but I can't hear you clearly. All the people who meet me are friendly to me, as if they were guests from afar.
After I took a shower, lunch was probably ready, and others went back to the house one after another. The food is simple, and a team of about ten people sit together. Two large plates are filled with vegetables such as potatoes and cucumbers, and there is some meat on the side. Everyone is very satisfied. Before eating, the head of the delegation needs to say a few words first, and then say let's eat. After picking up chopsticks, everyone will pick up food and greet each other with a smile. You will feel that the scene looks like a family, but it is actually very embarrassing.
After lunch, everyone has a lunch break. There are two rooms for boys and one room for girls, and the place where I just ate has become a place for lunch break. Nobody asked me where I came from, and nobody asked me what I was doing here. I want to ask them, but the other person shakes his head and doesn't talk, or looks at you and smiles.
After lunch break, everyone got together and listened to one of them. A small blackboard was carried into the dining area. Not everyone is listening to the class. Some people went out, only a few people who were not familiar with the course content stayed in the room to listen to the class. A young man began to give a lecture, and I remember the content very clearly.
He told a story first, which is said to have been personally experienced by Jing Yidan, a former host of CCTV. It is said that Jing Yidan once visited the grassland. There is a little boy herding sheep in Lu Yu. Jing Yidan asked him, "Why are you herding sheep?" "sell money!" The little boy said. "Why do you sell money?" Jing Yidan asked again. "marry a wife!" "What does a wife do?" "Have a baby!" "What should I do after giving birth?" "herding sheep!"
After telling this story, everyone in the class laughed. Later, I learned that they still laughed loudly after listening to it for more than five times. This story is not from Jing Yidan, but a short story circulating on the Internet.
After this story, the lecturer will ask, do you want to be such a shepherd boy? The answer is naturally not. So he began to analyze why the price of a commodity is so much higher than the cost price from the end of production to the hands of customers. That's because many dealers have passed by, and after each floor is divided, the price has gone up. Then he said that their organization sells goods directly from manufacturers to customers, eliminating the process of dealers, and all the profits are in their hands. This is the model of their team-direct sales.
After this matter was made clear, the course ended, but from beginning to end, the lecturer didn't say what he was selling. The purpose of the lecture is not only to let participants know that this is a direct selling model, but also to let participants finally learn this rhetoric and give lessons to new colleagues. So every time someone finishes class, someone will get up and go to the small blackboard to teach from a distance, just like the person who just gave a lecture. The sign of learning success is not only continuous content, but also speed. The sooner you finish these contents, the more applause you will get.
The first afternoon was spent in the process of listening to the class, and soon we had dinner together, the same lunch dishes and the same group of people sitting together. Every time before eating, the little head understands, tells a story, probably some inspirational stories, and then everyone applauds and starts eating. On the way to dinner, the little leader will let others share their stories, and the whole atmosphere can be described as enjoyable.
It was Yiwu in July, and the weather was very hot. After dinner, everyone will not go out, there is no TV in the room, and there is no other entertainment. After dinner, some people start washing dishes, while others have their own activities, such as playing chess, playing cards or going to bed early. At this time, Xiao tou understood that he had to talk to some of them alone, and some people began to talk to me on their own initiative. Because my cousin is here, the little leader gave everything to my cousin.
I have to admit that although I don't know what these people are doing, subconsciously, I don't think this kind of organization is also pyramid selling, because my life safety has not been damaged and my freedom of life has not been restricted.
On the third day when I was there, my cousin and the people in the house took me to another place. This is a big basement. Someone greeted guests outside, and hundreds of people gathered in a huge space. The content of the party is simple. After everyone sat down, the same lecturer gave a speech on it. The content is the same as what we heard in the room, there is no difference. Then, a row of newly joined colleagues came to the stage to talk about their past experiences, including many newly graduated college students. Everyone felt that they had come to the right place, and some even burst into tears.
At the end of the activity, all the new colleagues cheered on the stage with the music. Then the biggest leaders in the team will ask them one by one if they want to join, and others will shout wildly to join. My cousin pushed me onto the stage, but I didn't intend to join this organization in my heart. I just came to see her. Finally, when the man stood in front of me and asked me loudly if I wanted to join, I vaguely said yes and then hurried off the stage.
The normal party lasted less than an hour, and when I came out, I felt that my eardrum was about to burst. We didn't go back to our house, but went to another house in another community. This place is similar to the house I lived in except that it is a little brighter, except that there are so many people here.
A group of people gathered in the house. One of them is sitting and telling another the lesson we just heard. Seeing my new face, the person sitting let me pass. I sat face to face with him and he asked me if I knew what these people were doing. I don't know. I'm new here. Then, he went on to tell me the content of the course. I can't hear anything different except the tone, so that I still remember the contents of these courses clearly.
After that, the other party didn't ask anything, so we went back to the original house. Another night, we began to have dinner. Repeat the same process on the first day, and everyone is satisfied at the end of the day.
I must make it clear that although I am not sure whether this team is a pyramid scheme, I am sure that I am not interested in this model, so no matter how many times the other party talks to me, no matter whether I understand what the other party is doing, I am not interested. At that time, I was full of enthusiasm for news, and I just wanted to work in a newspaper after graduation. This is another story. I just want to say that I am not interested in those courses, and I am willing to join this team.
After about four days, I felt really bored, so I called my cousin home. Now that I see that she has not been bullied here, I feel that my task has been completed, and I tell myself for sure that she will not go back with me.
When I was at Yiwu Railway Station, my cousin finally told me about the goods they sold. That's a set of toiletries, and the price seems to be 2980 yuan. I have forgotten what she told me about how this set of things makes money. She just said that she could make a lot of money by selling one set, but she didn't say where the money came from, and I wasn't interested. In this way, after I refused to buy, I went home alone and told my family what I had seen and heard.
It didn't end like this. About half a year later, my family called and said that my cousin was still in that place and didn't come back. I probably know what's going on, but my family has made plans to call her back, even if she is tied up.
So that winter vacation, my uncle took me and another friend to Yiwu. We called my cousin and asked her out. After seeing her, we grabbed her, got on the bus and went straight to the train station. However, when the taxi passed a turntable, my cousin shouted for help and we were stopped by the police. Finally, everyone went to the local police station. Because my cousin didn't want to follow us home, my uncle and I finally had to go home, and my cousin went back to that place.
I still don't know how my cousin finally left the organization, and she never mentioned it. Now she has been upgraded to a mother, settled in Yiwu and lived a good life. Seeing the news of Li Wenxing these two days, I suddenly felt that she was very lucky. After all, not everyone can escape from that organization. Actually, I've always wanted to ask her why she didn't leave.
Part of the responsibility for the Li Wenxing incident is attributed to the recruitment website, but the culprit of this tragedy should be pyramid schemes. After what happened to my cousin, I heard many friends around me talk about pyramid schemes, which were extremely bad, and some even completely restricted the freedom of life. If you don't go offline, your life may be in danger. Besides Li Wenxing, there are thousands of people who can't escape from the MLM organization.
Many people say that the MLM organization is terrible, because there is no exit, and even if it comes out, it has to be skinned. However, in my cognition, what is more terrible than joining the MLM organization is that I don't know that I have become someone else's downline, and some even know that this is MLM and want to fight for it as a gamble. The former is brainwashed by ignorance, and the latter is too clever, and it is inevitable that it will be mistaken by cleverness in the end.
The MLM organization has penetrated into many fields, from the Guangxi 1040 Sunshine Project with the theme of economic development zone to the charity exchange which was disintegrated a few days ago. The popularity of internet technology has made this kind of fraud spread rapidly. In addition, the definition of pyramid schemes in China's current laws is too vague, and even in some places, it is allowed to develop, or it is "eat black" in the end, and multiple factors lead to the increasingly rampant pyramid schemes.
This gray area is expanding, and the consequences will be endless if it is not rectified. Some people say that this is a wonderful MLM era, even if it prevails for another ten years. There is no way to make a difference because of the prevailing factors of resisting pyramid schemes. In the era of rapid development, any reason may lead to fraud, from the lowest working class to the middle class, may be involved in various pyramid schemes. It's just that some people pull back from the brink and quit in time, while others don't want to play.