"Then you need to be careful when you're working, Lex. Don't get scammed."
Claire had never worked a part-time job herself, but she had heard the horror stories.
College students looking for extra cash were easy targets for scammers.
Groups like the Hometown Student Union Group weren't always filled with reliable peers; it was entirely possible to run into a con artist.
There was also the type who took a commission for referring jobs.
Taking a finder's fee was perfectly fine, but the fear was running into a shady middleman.
"Thanks, Claire. I'll be careful."
"Besides, I'm pretty strong. If I run into a creep, who knows who will end up regretting it."
Lex gave a goofy smile and threw a playful punch in the air.
She wasn't stupid. The jobs she took were the simplest ones, like wearing a mascot head and handing out flyers at an amusement park.
With the holiday break rolling in, the amusement park was guaranteed to be packed, so she figured she'd finish her flyer quota in no time.
Lex was full of optimism about her new gig.
But when Claire and the others returned from their trip to Apex, Lex was nowhere to be found.
It wasn't until late that evening that Lex finally dragged herself in.
She looked terrible—exhausted and utterly defeated.
"Lex, what's wrong?"
Claire had taken the two girls back to her hometown to forage for mushrooms.
The James Village rarely saw outsiders, but since the visitors were brought by Claire-the Clan Successor-everyone welcomed them warmly.
After spending three days in the countryside, Skye and Zara had had so much fun they almost didn't want to leave.
Neither of them had expected mushroom foraging to be so addictive.
Even though they had accidentally picked a bunch of poisonous ones at first.
But eventually, they learned which ones were safe to eat.
The two of them had even turned it into a competition to see who could gather more.
When they returned, they brought back a massive haul of the leftovers.
They were practically buzzing with excitement, so seeing Lex in such a state immediately sparked their concern.
"I think I really got scammed," Lex said, her voice sounding completely drained.
Huh?
Claire frowned.
Skye and Zara exchanged confused glances.
"How did you get scammed?"
"Didn't you say you found it through the Hometown Student Union Group?"
"Yeah, I joined the group and took the job based on a recommendation from another student."
"But I never got paid for my shifts!"
Lex let out a bitter laugh.
She had been so confident she wouldn't fall for a trick.
Who knew the trap would be this deep?
No, there wasn't even a complex trap. It was an incredibly simple scam, and she
just hadn't seen through it.
She was still far too naive!
"They didn't pay you? Then who got the money?"
None of the three girls could believe that Lex had worked for seven days, straight without seeing a sing dime.
"They gave it to the union's recruiter."
who
Lex had been waking up at the crack of dawn and working until late every day, and she looked visibly haggard.
She had no idea what she would do if she really couldn't get her money back.
"Then what about your union recruiter? Go get the money from him!"
No one could understand the problem.
How could she just not get paid?
"I can't get in touch with the recruiter anymore."
That was the part Lex couldn't figure
out. The recruiter had been super et
active in the group chat just a few days ago.
How could he just vanish?
Claire's frown deepened. "How is that possible? Isn't your union group supposed to use real names?"
"It is. The problem is, when we tracked down that student, he said he didn't arrange any jobs at all He claimed someone hijacked his identity."
"He said he never received any transfers from the boss."
That definitely sounded suspicious.
"If that student never got the transfer, doesn't he know who hijacked his account?"
Claire felt there was more to the story.
Were they just supposed to take that guy's word for it?
"Where is this student? Are you the only one who got scammed?"
"Did you try finding him in person?"
"I tried, but I couldn't find him. He said he was out of town," Lex said, a wave of
despair washing over her.