Chapter 1 — Sister's Fake Revenue

My parents transferred two hundred thousand yuan to me and my sister each. "The two of us each open a store. Every night we have to take pictures of the day's sales and expenses and send them to the family group." “During summer vacation, whoever earns more, the big family restaurant will belong to that person.” Dad stipulates that the actual amount received minus expenses during the day will be calculated as that day's profit. I surveyed the market for half a month, and finally went to a family restaurant next to the university area. My sister, Vuong Khai Tam, only surveyed one afternoon, pointed to the empty store next to the funeral home and said: "I will open a barbecue restaurant here, this place has a more human atmosphere." It sells lamb skewers cheaper than the imported price, saying this is called the mindset of attracting customers online. I thought it would definitely lose. But every night the profit it reported in the group was several thousand yuan more than mine. I really thought I wasn't good enough. Until that day, I sat across from my sister's store, continuously counting customers for three days. In three days, its store only had a total of seventeen customers. However, the revenue it reported in the group was thirty-six thousand yuan, minus all expenses, there was still a profit of sixteen thousand. I stared at that number, feeling for the first time that something wasn't right. Seventeen tables of guests, how did they end up eating for thirty-six thousand yuan? …… Seventeen guest tables. There were five tables that only ordered beer and a few vegetable skewers. Even if each table is calculated at five hundred yuan, the restaurant's revenue in three days is less than nine thousand. However, the revenue Vuong Khai Tam reported in the group was thirty-six thousand eight hundred. The difference is nearly twenty-eight thousand. I looked at the computer for a long time, and finally asked in the group: 【Khai Tam, in addition to customers eating at the restaurant in the past three days, do you have any other orders?】 Vuong Khai Tam answered almost immediately. 【Of course there is.】 Immediately after, more than ten screenshots appeared in the group. There are baked goods gift boxes, prepaid cards, college acceptance party deposits and online pre-sale packages. Combined, it's just over twenty-eight thousand yuan. Each photo has the payment time, amount and transaction code, and the receiving account is also its barbecue shop. Vuong Khai Tam sent another voice message. “Sister, if you don't know how to do marketing, you can't assume that my sales are all fake.” I hadn't answered yet, my father spoke first. 【Nowadays, businesses can't just stare at the tables in the store.】 【Khai Tam knows how to sell pre-orders and prepaid cards, that's also his ability.】 Mom immediately stepped in to mediate. 【My Le is just being careful, after all, this competition is about money, there's nothing wrong with asking about the books.】 【But you two are siblings, don't hurt your feelings because of business.】 One person vouches for Vuong Khai Tam, one person finds a way out for me. In the end, the opposite made me look like an overly calculating person. In the afternoon, my mother brought a jar of green bean juice to my store. It was rush hour at noon, and it was extremely hot in the kitchen. She scooped me a bowl and added rock sugar inside. “Look at you, opening a store and turning yourself into a hard laborer.” "Khai Tam records videos and broadcasts live every day. It looks light but his mind also has to work a lot." "I'm not saying you're not as good as your brother. You're stable, your mind is flexible, each of you has your own strengths." I bowed my head and took a sip, it was very sweet. “But its lamb skewers are sold cheaper than the imported price, how can the cost be so low?” The smile on mother's face stopped for a moment. "When you first open, sell a little cheaper to attract customers first. Your father said this is called creating consumption habits." “So who bought the five thousand yuan prepaid card?” She bowed her head and arranged the bowls and spoons. “How do you know? Maybe he has a lot of friends.” Before leaving, my mother also helped me move a few bags of rice from the kitchen to the corner of the wall. I suddenly doubted whether I was thinking too much. The payment photo is real, the amount also matches. Whether the location chosen by Vuong Khai Tam c

No matter how wild it is, perhaps it really has its own way. At nine thirty at night, I finished checking the books and passed by his barbecue shop. There were no more customers inside, the staff were taking the tables and chairs inside. The funeral home across the street had just sent off the last car, the white wreaths in front of the door swaying gently in the night wind. Vuong Khai Tam sat behind the cashier counter scrolling through his phone, saw me and waved. "Sister, do you want to eat some? There are a lot of skewers left today." There are still two floors full of lamb in the refrigerator. “No need, how is your business today?” “It's okay, it sells quite well.” I didn't ask any more questions, turned around and walked towards the parking lot. As soon as I sat in the car, a new message from the family group suddenly appeared. 【Twenty gift boxes of baked goods for corporate team building activities, 6,888 yuan, paid.】 Payment time is nine forty-two p.m. Just when I left. I raised my head and looked towards its store. No one came in, nor was there a delivery staff. The staff in the shop pulled the rolling door down halfway. The photo of the order it sent in the group has no delivery address, the status is displayed waiting for the customer to pick it up themselves. In the note there were only four words: 【Temporary hold at the shop.】 Spent 6,888 yuan to buy twenty boxes of baked goods, but no delivery, and no indication of when to pick them up. I looked at the funeral home opposite, which had just turned off the lights, and a wild thought suddenly appeared in my mind. Do Vuong Khai Tam's online customers not need an address at all? Or do they not need to come get it? 2 Early the next morning, I went to Vuong Khai Tam's barbecue restaurant first. “Let me see the gift box order from last night.” “Didn't you already post it in the group?” “I want to see the order management system.” Vuong Khai Tam looked at me for a few seconds then passed the phone over. The order actually exists. 6,888 yuan went into the account, no refund history, neither the payer nor it. "Do you believe it now? Sister, do you think I even faked this?" I didn't answer, my eyes fell on the same store. Twenty red gift boxes are stacked neatly against the wall. The four words "Smoke and Fire of Humanity" are embossed on the front, through the glass, just opposite the row of white flowers in front of the funeral home. “Is this the number from last night?” "That's right." I picked up the top box. Very light, not like there's baked goods inside. It's July now, it's hot in the store, but these gift boxes weren't put in the refrigerator, and there wasn't any smell of meat around. “What's inside?” “Eating utensils, bamboo skewers and dipping sauce packets.” “Where is the barbecue?” “Wait until customers come to pick it up before baking.” It snatched the box back. “Do I have to bake it a day in advance and wait for people to come pick it up and the food will already be rotten?” Its explanation sounds reasonable. But when I wanted to open the box, it immediately stopped me. "This is an item that the customer ordered, please don't open it casually." The more he didn't show me, the more I felt like there was a problem inside. Furthermore, does anyone really buy gift boxes of baked goods? When he turned around to answer the phone, I used my fingernail to make a crescent-shaped mark on the bottom of the top box. At that moment, Dad came in holding a few import orders. “Why are you here?” “I want to see what's in the gift box of over six thousand yuan.” Dad looked at the order management system. “The money has actually entered the account, the order is also real.” "Buying in groups is to collect money first and then prepare the goods. You cannot confirm that Khai Tam falsified the books." His tone was very natural, as if he really felt that I was worried. I don't continue to argue. That night, after I finished work, Khai Tam's barbecue restaurant still hadn't closed. So, I sat in the convenience store across from his shop. At nine o'clock in the evening, a white minivan stopped in front of the door. A middle-aged woman dressed in black walked into the shop, and the staff quickly transferred all twenty gift boxes to the car. I originally assumed that the kitchen would start preparing the grilled food. But until the car left, the oven was still empty

The fire was lit, and the lamb in the refrigerator did not decrease. That night, Vuong Khai Tam's profit was still more than a thousand yuan more than mine. Dad complimented his sister in the group. 【Khai Tam still did very well today.】 Mom also sent a smiley face. 【Two sisters progress together.】 The next morning, I went to Vuong Khai Tam's store again. Through the crack of the warehouse door, a corner of familiar red packaging was revealed. I pushed the door open, the twenty gift boxes that were taken away yesterday were shuffled and rearranged inside. Vuong Khai Tam stopped in front of me. “This is the number of new packaging that was delivered.” I didn't pay attention to it, I turned the bottom of each box up one by one to check. On the thirteenth one, I found that crescent moon mark. “Is this a new box too?” Its face stiffened. “What's strange about the packaging boxes being the same?” His phone suddenly rang. In the family group, a new payment photo appears. 【Eight gift boxes of corporate baked goods, 2,888 yuan, paid.】 The note is still: 【Temporary hold at the shop.】 Vuong Khai Tam counted eight out of twenty boxes, placing them behind the cashier. The box I marked is also in there. The gift box was sold yesterday, but today it was repackaged and put into another order. The money from both applications actually goes into the account. Yet the same empty box can be sold over and over again. It's like the people who bought it didn't intend to open it in the first place. I stroked the crescent moon mark on the bottom of the box, and my heart suddenly felt cold. Who are Vuong Khai Tam's never-shown guests? 3 For now, I can't find evidence that Vuong Khai Tam falsified the books, so I can only focus my mind back on my store. The university area is about to enter summer vacation, with fewer and fewer students. I divided the previous large pot dishes into meals for one person, and added a dinner portion for 9.9 yuan. Business gradually stabilized. A week later, a nearby training center came to me, wanting to order group meals for three days for the summer camp. After deducting the raw materials, labor, and shipping fees, I was able to earn about eighteen thousand yuan. I took a photo of the contract and sent it to the family group. Dad quickly replied: 【Good job, just ask if you need anything.】 Mom also sent a voice message. “With so many meals, I can't make it alone.” "Tomorrow, mom will come over to help you pack the boxes, and tell your dad to drive the restaurant's refrigerated truck over." Parents always said that Vuong Khai Tam's abilities were weak and that he needed to help him a little more. But when it was my turn to have a big order, they didn't let it go. On the day of delivery, I was at the shop at four o'clock in the morning. Mom came at six o'clock, brought me soy milk and eggs, and helped me put each lunch box into the cooler. Seeing my arm get red with oil, she was so heartbroken that she kept frowning.