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They invited me through 104, presenting themselves as very respectable.

The first time I went for an interview, the girl who asked me to fill out the forms had a face as sour as a dead fish. Maybe she works for a scam operation and feels guilty about it all day.

Then they asked me to go into a room to film a short demo video, saying it would be sent to clients. Who knows whether they actually sent it?

As a result, the Mr. Zeng I had arranged to meet still hadn't shown up after making me wait an hour. Since I had other things to do, I told them I had to leave first.

I had brought a huge load of clothes with me, so they wasted my time and energy.

Later, Mr. Zeng texted me again saying they wanted me to come take photos, telling me to bring 4–5 outfits and that I could come without makeup. What's wrong with requiring me to be bare-faced for a photo shoot?

His tone on the phone sounded very crude and rude. I didn't suspect anything and still went, bringing another huge load of clothes, and they made me wait again.

In the end, he took me into a small room covered with revealing photo shoots of women, with an ashtray inside. It felt like I had no idea what kind of strange things this person did in that little room.

The first thing he asked was whether I had any questions. I thought, WTF? Aren't you going to introduce yourselves? Do you think I'm a mind reader who knows what the hell you people are doing?

I said, “Uh... I'd like to understand the pay situation.”

He impatiently gave me a brief explanation, rolling his eyes repeatedly throughout the process. What the hell was that attitude? You were the one who called me here. Is there something wrong with you?

Then he asked again whether I had any questions. I was so annoyed that I said, “No, I guess that's it.”

He then took out a simple contract and said that if I could accept it, I should sign it, after which they would start taking photos and helping me find gigs.

I thought: I'm just doing this part-time. If I get a gig, I earn money; if not, it doesn't matter. This is just how I look, and this isn't even my career goal. I have my own job anyway, so whatever.

But when I looked at the contract, one clause said that Party B had to bear the promotional printing costs. I asked him what that meant.

He rolled his eyes again and explained that they would take promotional photos, print them as small cards, and mail them to clients—about 1,200 copies (I think it used to be 500; now they're making a ridiculously high demand and treating people who don't know better like easy targets). I would also have to pay the postage: NT$7 per card plus NT$32 for registered mail. I did the mental math.

Holy crap, that comes to more than NT$40,000. I'm here for part-time work, and you're asking me to pay? Have you got it wrong? Do you think I'm an idiot?

I said I couldn't accept that part. He said I could pay in installments. I thought: What is this? Have I run into gangsters, where I can't get out of this door unless I sign and pay?

Later, I pretended to try to understand the industry and asked whether the small cards were sent to 1,200 companies or what. He said they were sent to 1,200 people.

He also said I could do only 1,000 copies. I thought: In this day and age, are people still mailing physical cards by registered post? Do you think I'm an idiot? If you're taking promotional photos, can't you put them on your own website for your clients to browse? Do you really have to mail physical promotional photos and waste the Earth's resources?

The main point is, I'm here for part-time work, and you're asking me to pay. That in itself makes no logical sense. He made it sound like an investment, but I had no idea when I would even break even after doing the math. Only an idiot would pay for this.

Later, he said, “What I'm more worried about is whether you can coordinate your schedule, because you've already paid this promotional fee. If I send you a gig but you have to work, then getting only 2–4 gigs a month would be pretty good. That's what I'm more worried about.” Then he said that a film company happened to be looking for four temporary actors that day, so he would recommend people from his roster to them. He even showed me his LINE chat history to create an impression of legitimacy.

I later asked whether there were people who had taken photos but rarely got gigs.

He said there were, basically because it depended on whether clients liked their appearance and whether they themselves could coordinate their schedules.

“Look at all the promotional cards taken by other people on the floor. They're stacked up in piles. All these people couldn't coordinate their schedules, so it was a waste too.”

Please. It's easy to trick other people, but if you want to trick me, dream on. You said we had to pay the printing and postage costs, and that you would mail the promotional cards to clients for us.

Aren't you contradicting yourself? You signed contracts with these people, and they paid you the printing and postage costs, yet you still haven't mailed the cards for them.

They're stacked on the floor. What are you doing? Aren't you supposed to be responsible for mailing their promotional cards to clients so the clients know that your company has these people available for gigs? Then what is that pile on the floor? Does that mean you took people's money and didn't do the work? You still have the nerve to argue with me?

This was unbelievably absurd. I didn't want to waste any more time listening to him spin stories, watching him roll his eyes, hearing his incredibly provincial Mandarin, and staying in that bizarre room. I told him I couldn't sign the contract and left. Once again, I had carried a huge load of clothes there for nothing, and I wasted time listening to all this. He kept telling me to think it over and consider it again. Are you kidding me? I'm here to make money, and you want me to pay you. Listen to yourself. Only an idiot would believe this lousy company. It's ridiculous.

I really advise everyone not to be fooled by the future of supposedly great income that they package and sell. All he wants is to make money from your promotional printing fees. That's all there is to it. Stop being foolish. Go home and Google it yourself—there are tons of similar experiences on PTT. I'm really glad I wasn't stupid enough to get scammed.