novelhk Chapter 306 The Connection
Chapter 306 The Connection
I have already forwarded the message you sent to Tekken to him, and I will also forward his reply to you through me.
Xu Xiaoyan stared at the text, her brows slowly furrowing.
A middleman relaying a message?
Everything is relayed through the introducer?
She thought for a moment, then typed a reply: Is everyone on this website like this? Is it necessary to have an intermediary as a communication bridge? What if the middleman leaks the secrets of both parties? Wouldn't we be trapped like fish in a barrel?
send.
The reply came very quickly, in just a minute or two.
Old Zhou: Don't worry about that. Our website is fully encrypted, and the chat history is automatically cleared after the chat ends, so there will be no record.
Including our current conversation, once you exit the private messaging interface and come back in, you won't be able to see anything. So you need to remember some important information offline and don't try to find the chat history through the website.
As Xu Xiaoyan read this passage, something suddenly popped into her head.
She didn't think much of Lao Zhou's notebook back then, but now she understands.
That notebook must contain all sorts of transaction information, contact details, and agreed-upon locations.
Because websites don't keep records and chat history is cleared when you log out, you have to use the most primitive method to write it down—paper and pen.
Everything fits together.
Xu Xiaoyan leaned back in her chair, staring at her phone screen, and suddenly realized that this website was more cautious than she had imagined.
There are no records or files; everything is relayed through intermediaries.
Even if someone wanted to investigate, they wouldn't find anything.
The buyer and seller are unaware of each other's true identities and cannot even communicate directly. All information must go through the intermediary, who acts as a firewall, separating the two sides so that neither can find out the other's background.
This method is indeed safe, but it's also quite troublesome.
She thought for a moment, then sent another message: What was the price quote for Iron Fist? How did he reply?
Before sending, she paused, then added: "It's settled with points, right? I see that the website uses points for pricing."
send.
The reply came very quickly, in just a minute or two.
Old Zhou: Yes, the website uses points for settlement. To avoid supervision from higher authorities, if a large amount of points is involved in a transaction on the website, the system will automatically break it down into smaller transaction records, so you don't have to worry about it being discovered by certain people.
Iron Fist's price is 2 points per lesson, 18 points for 10 lessons. He can come to your home, and you'll get an extra 2 points for that. If you want to book a venue, a gym session usually costs 0.2 points per hour, but you'll have to pay for the venue fee. If you're sure you want to learn, he'll be available tomorrow night.
Xu Xiaoyan looked at the price and thought it was acceptable.
She replied: I'm sure I'll study, but I'd like to schedule it during the day, preferably between 10 am and 4 pm. It's not convenient to do it in the evening.
After sending the message, she thought for a moment and added another message: Also, I live in the East District of the city, and I hope that the gym is located in this area, otherwise it will be too time-consuming to run around.
Old Zhou replied quickly: Okay, I'll contact them for you. A gym in the East District, during the daytime, right? Any other requirements?
Xu Xiaoyan thought for a moment: That's all for now. Does he have any requirements? For example, what should I prepare? What clothes should I wear? Are there any things to be aware of on our first meeting?
Old Zhou: You two can discuss these things when you meet. I'm only responsible for relaying messages and collecting the intermediary fee. Oh, I forgot to tell you, this type of transaction requires an additional intermediary fee.
Since after this contact, it is highly likely that both parties will bypass the platform and communicate on their own, and will no longer use me as a messenger, a 3-point intermediary fee will be charged as a buyout price. We hope you understand.
She thought about it and felt it made sense. After all, Lao Zhou was the matchmaker who helped her make the connection, so it was only right that he would charge her a commission.
More importantly, not having to go through a middleman means that communication is more efficient and safer. Every time we have to wait for Lao Zhou to relay the message, what if he relays the wrong message or is too slow? It would cause a lot of trouble.
She replied: Sure. How do I pay?
Old Zhou: If you go to my homepage, there is a "Pay the intermediary fee" button. Just select 3 points to pay.
Following his instructions, Xu Xiaoyan clicked on Lao Zhou's homepage and indeed saw a "Pay the agency fee" button at the bottom.
She clicked on it, and a confirmation box popped up: Confirm payment of 3 points as a brokerage fee to [Old Zhou]? This transaction is a buyout; after payment, your subsequent communication with [Iron Fist] will no longer be through this introducer.
She clicked "confirm".
The page flashed and displayed "Payment successful".
Then Lao Zhou's message came: Received. Write down the time and place: 9 a.m. the day after tomorrow, at the Pioneer Gym in the east of the city. He'll be waiting for you at the main entrance.
Wear a black jacket, just go over and say hello. Oh, by the way, he paused and then sent another message: you'd better write it down on paper and make it a habit. I used to rely on my good memory and didn't use notes, and then I suffered a great loss.
Xu Xiaoyan stared at the last sentence and thought it made a lot of sense. On this website that leaves no records, memory is the most unreliable thing.
She glanced around instinctively; thankfully, she had paper and pen. She bit off the pen cap and began to write:
The day after tomorrow at 9 a.m., at the Pioneer Gym in the east of the city, wearing a black jacket, to learn self-defense techniques.
After doing all that, she picked up her phone and sent Lao Zhou one last message: "I've written it down. Thanks for reminding me."
Old Zhou: You're welcome.
After saying goodbye to Lao Zhou, she exited the private messaging app and then went back in. Sure enough, there was nothing left; not a single message from the exchange she had just had with Lao Zhou remained.
She paused for a moment, then clicked into the weapons category, found the post about Tekken, and clicked into the private messages. She noticed a small message: You have established a direct contact channel with [Tekken] without needing an introducer.
A thought struck her.
Direct communication channel?
She tried sending two words: Hello?
send.
This time, Lao Zhou didn't relay the message; it was directly displayed as "sent".
The other party replied quickly, briefly discussed the precautions, and then fell silent, indicating that the other party was not a talkative person.
She couldn't help but wonder, who exactly was behind this website?
The person who can create such a system is definitely not an ordinary programmer. It requires technology, organization, and a complete set of rules and credit system.
Moreover, judging from the number of posts and the frequency of updates, there must be quite a few users. The fact that so many people have not been taken down for so long indicates that the person behind it either has a powerful background or is very resourceful.
Who? She didn't know.
But she had a vague feeling that there might be much more to this website than she thought.
But there's no use thinking about these things now. She's just an ordinary person who wants to learn self-defense. She'll meet Iron Fist the day after tomorrow, attend classes on time, pay her points on time, and learn things on time. She doesn't need to worry about or ask about anything else.
The less trouble, the better.
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