Fact is stranger than fiction. No one could make up the convoluted tale of an elder man who over the course of several years, succeeded in defrauding one lady out of ¥2.73 million. That the man fooled her 179 times now has many asking, “Was she in love?”.
事实比小说更离奇。没有人能编造出这样一个错综复杂的故事：一位老人在几年的时间里成功骗走了一位女士273万日元。这个男人愚弄了她179次，现在很多人都在问：“她恋爱了吗？”。
The story came to light on 2 June. A man in Anhui Province who was then 63 met a landlady back in 2014. Over the next 5 years, the man, named Zhang Bo, would conjure up any manner of stories in his deceit, everything from Nanjing real estate deals gone wrong to car accidents in Europe and even suicide.
这个故事于 6 月 2 日曝光。安徽省一名63岁的男子在2014年认识了一位女房东。在接下来的5年里，这名名叫张波的男子在欺骗中会编出各种各样的故事，从南京房地产交易出错到欧洲车祸甚至自杀。
Having allegedly originally opened a hotel in Huainan (淮南) in Anhui, Zhang came to Bengbu, also in Anhui, in 2014, planning another hotel. One day, he saw a real estate advertisement on a roadside telegraph pole. In responding to the ad, he had already lured in the landlady, surnamed Ding.
据称，张某最初在安徽淮南开设了一家酒店，随后于 2014 年来到同样位于安徽的蚌埠，计划再开一家酒店。有一天，他在路边的电线杆上看到一则房产广告。在回应广告时，他已经拉拢了丁姓房东。
Zhang claimed to be the top dog of a seafood business, reported The World Journal. Later, rather than renting one of Ding’s properties, Zhang made friends with her, snaring her in with his crooked plot.
据《世界日报》报道，张自称是一家海鲜企业的老大。后来，张某没有租用丁某的一处房产，而是与她交朋友，用他的不正当阴谋将她诱入圈套。
It all started with a loan of just ¥8,000. And where could be the harm in that?
这一切都是从一笔8000日元的贷款开始的。这有什么害处呢？
Things got going innocently enough, or so they seemed, with Zhang explaining to Ding that his business was having difficulty making ends meet. He asked Ding to lend him ¥8,000 to tide him over. And so she did; after all, her new friend needed help.
事情进展得很顺利，或者看起来是这样，张向丁解释说，他的生意难以维持收支平衡。他请求丁先生借给他8000元，以渡过难关。她确实这么做了；毕竟，她的新朋友需要帮助。
With the friendship now blossoming, Zhang pushed the boat out further each time. Claiming to have sold a real estate business in Hainan (海南), together with several properties in Nanjing, Zhang cited financial problems stemming from the sales.
随着友谊的开花结果，张每次都把船推得更远。张声称已出售海南的一项房地产业务以及南京的几处房产，并列举了出售过程中产生的财务问题。
Ding stepped in. After all, she was in the business herself.
丁介入了，毕竟她自己也是做生意的。
Then Zhang’s son was killed in a car crash in Germany. He was survived only by Zhang’s grand daughter. How could Ding possibly not want to help?
随后张的儿子在德国遭遇车祸身亡。他身后只剩下张的孙女。丁怎么可能不想帮忙呢？
Later, Zhang made up the story that his grand daughter, who was pregnant, had hanged herself. Zhang’s son had also left a lot of debt behind him. Once again, Ding coughed up.
后来，张某编造了自己怀孕的孙女上吊自杀的故事。张的儿子也留下了很多债务。丁再次咳嗽起来。
Fast forward to 2019, some 179 lies later, when Ding received a mysterious phone call. The women on the other end, surnamed Li, claimed to be Zhang’s girlfriend. They had been living together in Huainan and had never even been to Hainan.
快进到 2019 年，大约 179 个谎言之后，丁接到了一个神秘的电话。电话那头的女子姓李，自称是张某的女朋友。他们一直在淮南生活，甚至从未去过海南。
Zhang had used the similarity in the two place names to his advantage.
张利用这两个地名的相似性来发挥自己的优势。
In his recent confession, Zhang revealed that only a small part of Ding’s fortune had been used for living expenses. The rest had been blown on the stock market and gambling.
张在最近的供述中透露，丁的财产中只有一小部分用于生活费。剩下的都被吹在了股市和赌博上。
