Ever since he became lame, Zhang Haiqiang learned a new phrase, "enough is as good as a feast." Of course, this "enough is as good as a feast" wasn't the same as the usual one.
Once bitten, twice shy, he had also somewhat learned to use his brain. So when they arrived in a new city, he and his two younger brothers specifically targeted somewhat well-known yet image-conscious individuals. They schemed to obtain compromising photos of these people with their wives and extorted them monthly in batches.
To avoid driving anyone to desperation, they expanded the pool of victims. Each person's monthly payment ranged from two yuan in the eighties to fifty or a hundred yuan in the nineties. The price increase was orderly and in line with market trends, ensuring they never left anyone destitute.