Stay Home Daddy: I Was Reborn After My Daughter Passed Away
Chapter 274 Let’s go to the amusement park!_1

Chapter 274: 274 Let’s go to the amusement park!_1

His cheap suit had already split open, exposing the gray lining inside.

Apart from bloodstains, there were also footprints on it, filthy beyond words.

The bruises on his mouth and face were blackened, his beard was unkempt, and his tortured face was etched with pain.

The man looked miserable and pitiful.

He had been there for a week, and that week had opened his eyes to the viciousness of the world.

Honestly, he wasn’t a fool—he had really just wanted to make money, and those people had painted him a beautiful blueprint.

He had believed them, but as time went on, he felt that things weren’t right.

The dream was full of promise, but reality was skeletal.

Recruiting others was truly difficult; not to mention anything else, in the village, a hundred yuan was a family’s monthly living expense. Asking for five hundred or a thousand yuan to join him in the shoe polish business was like talking in one’s sleep.

Many people simply didn’t trust him. Not only did they not trust him, but they also scoffed at him behind his back.

But there was no choice, he had already paid a franchise fee of two thousand yuan, so he gritted his teeth and went around to promote it.

First, he recruited two carpenters who worked with him at the furniture factory, both from the city with relatively better circumstances—one invested one thousand, the other three thousand.

But afterward, it became truly difficult. In order to recruit people, he even went to their homes to help with chores, introducing the business while working.

Going from one household to another, after a month he had somehow coaxed more than a dozen people and sent a total of fifteen thousand yuan to the so-called Vice President of the company!

He did earn some money, and he thought life would get better, that he had moved a step closer to his dream.

But the following days were unbearable.

Not being able to sell the shoe polish was a minor issue; the key problem was that he couldn’t recruit anyone anymore.

No one could bring in new recruits. Some even began to waver and wanted to return the shoe polish and get their money back.

Where would Gu Zhigang get the money to refund them? All the money had gone into Chengguang Shoe Polish Company.

Gradually, he realized a problem—that he might have been scammed. This business was nothing like what those people had said; it was likely just a pyramid scheme.

It was a complete vicious cycle from which there was no escape.

He locked himself in a room and thought for two whole days and nights, and finally decided to go to the head office to demand his money.

He wanted out!

With the intention of getting back everyone’s money.

And so, he set off for Huacheng.

At first, the so-called Vice President of the company was extraordinarily warm to him, taking him to eat as soon as he got off the vehicle. But as soon as he mentioned wanting his money, the Vice President’s face turned cold on the spot.

Getting the money back was impossible; he could either go back to work or bear all the losses himself.

Gu Zhigang became desperate then.

A loss of over ten thousand yuan was something he simply couldn’t afford, not to mention himself—his parents couldn’t come up with that much even if they sold their house!

The houses in the village weren’t valuable. Although they occupied a large area, counting the yard, each house was around two hundred square meters, yet if sold, they would only fetch three to four thousand yuan.

His monthly salary was barely over two hundred yuan. If he had to carry a debt of over ten thousand yuan, his life would be over.

Of course, Gu Zhigang refused to give in and entangled himself with them.

He had no idea how dangerous pyramid schemes could be. Many organizations those days had no clean hands, and it wasn’t uncommon for people to lose their lives to pyramid schemes.

The so-called Vice President took him to a room, claiming to give him the money, but who knew that once he entered, he would never leave again.

He was trapped there for six whole days, a place without a bathroom.

There wasn’t even a bed, just two wobbly stools. In fact, these stools had been fine originally, but there had been too many people like Gu Zhigang, and after being used to beat so many, they had become deformed.

During the days he was confined, other than getting beaten, he got beaten.

He truly felt he was going to be beaten to death.

At first, he had the energy to argue stubbornly, wanting to hold out and get his ten thousand yuan back.

Later, he pretended to give in, hoping to leave and call the police.

After another two days, he lost all plans and thoughts; he just wanted to go out, to go home!

But these people simply wouldn’t release him.

In fact, the pyramid scheme organization was not foolish. For people like Gu Zhigang, who valued money more than life itself, letting him go would absolutely be looking for trouble.

Better to keep him locked up for a few more months until he was completely tamed, and then it wouldn’t be too late to let him go.

By then, he would not only avoid going to the police, but he would also continue to make money for them. How much more profitable that would be.

Seeing Gu Zhigang beg for mercy, the man sitting on the rickety stool waved his hand, signaling the burly men to stop.

He walked up to Gu Zhigang leisurely, squatted down in front of him, and revealed a smug smile at the corner of his mouth.

He said calmly, "Brother, do you know why you’re being beaten? Don’t bring up going home again. Just stay here nicely, and when it’s time to let you go, you’ll naturally be let go."

After finishing his words, he even stretched out his hand to wipe the blood from the corner of Gu Zhigang’s mouth.

"Don’t overthink it. Look at all these injuries on you. Take some time to heal, and tonight, I’ll get you a chicken leg."

Initially, it was his own decision to come here. Since he had come, it wouldn’t be so easy to leave.

If he was at home, helping himself to an extra chicken leg might even make him secretly thrilled.

But now, he didn’t want to eat at all!

He wanted to go home.

Seeing the man get up to leave, he reached out and tightly hugged the man’s leg, pleading, "Please, President Huang, I beg you... let me go back, I promise I won’t call the police."

Hearing this, the man known as President Huang kicked Gu Zhigang away with his foot.

"What are you thinking, kid? You don’t know how high the sky is, or how deep the earth is!"

After saying that, he left with his entourage, striding away.

Gu Zhigang lay on the ground, despair in his eyes fixed on the ceiling, and after a long while, tears streamed down, stinging the corners of his eyes.

...

In the amusement park, Tiantian rode on her father’s neck, giggling happily.

Ji Pianran linked arms with Gu Zhi, her beautiful eyes filled with curiosity as she looked around non-stop. In previous years, she had been to amusement parks, but this was her first time at Huacheng’s amusement park, which was bigger and had more facilities.

The Pirate Ship, Drop Tower, Roller Coaster, Bumper Cars, Merry-Go-Round, and so many more rides that she couldn’t even name.

It was truly a wide variety.

Because of the good weather, there were a lot of people: young couples, middle-aged couples with children, and elderly people sitting on the concrete seating in the park square singing revolutionary songs.

Everyone was chatting and laughing; the atmosphere was lively.

Gu Zhi pointed to the bumper cars not far ahead and smiled at Tiantian on top of his head, "Do you want to try it out?’

The little one had become a curious baby by now; she had seen nothing and wanted to try everything.

Upon hearing her father’s suggestion, she immediately agreed, "Yes, yes, yes!"

Seeing his daughter’s consent, Gu Zhi then turned to Ji Pianran beside him, "Shall we go together?"

His daughter had never ridden before, and neither had his wife, surely.

A rare outing, the true joy is when the whole family plays together!

Gu Zhi questioned himself, and after hesitating, Ji Pianran glanced inside and nodded hesitantly, "Mhm, okay."

Gu Zhi knew how to drive, but she did not, and although she did not want to learn to drive, she also wanted to experience the feeling of driving.

She had no idea that this kind of car was different from normal driving; it was meant for bumping!

Bumper cars, bumper cars, the fun was in the bumping.