Thirty Years of Deception and Enlightenment: May No One Be Fooled Again

Based on the author's own experience of being scammed, this novel spans the years 1992 to 2025. It tells the story of Chen Li, who turns to fraud out of desperation because of his family's poverty. In the 1990s, he starts with street cons involving guessing which shell hides a seed and staged accidents. In the 2000s, he rents storefronts to pose as a miracle doctor and sets up contract traps. After 2010, he scales up his operation and amasses wealth through investment platforms and livestreamed counterfeit goods. At his peak, he swindles an 800,000-yuan retirement fund from an elderly retiree. For thirty years, he repeatedly evades the police, until an accomplice turns him in. In prison, seeing the devastation suffered by his victims finally opens his eyes. He writes an anti-fraud guide, then spends the rest of his life after release educating the public for free, using his own descent into crime to warn people: “Don’t chase petty gains. There’s no such thing as a free lunch.” Every additional view and share could mean one fewer person getting scammed.