Chapter 252: Rich and Poor
Qi Xia was momentarily stunned—he had finally found the rule behind Di Yang's lies.
"Supplementary fans."
Strictly speaking, Di Yang hadn't completely lied. These were indeed supplementary fans, just that many people couldn't afford to supplement them.
As he himself had said, everyone had the "opportunity" to supplement their fans, but it didn't mean everyone had the "ability" to do so.
"Hey, referee, what does this mean?" an old man asked.
Di Yang reached out and tapped the small blackboard. "It means exactly what it says."
Qi Xia saw many people wearing expressions of distress.
It wasn't surprising. After all, this was the very first day of the entire cycle. Anyone who could cough up five Dao just to cover the entry fee could already be considered outstanding. Trying to pull out another three Dao to buy fans was naturally a bit of a stretch.
This was clearly a sure-win deal—a fan costing three Dao could be exchanged for five Dao—yet the crowd could only watch the opportunity slip away, powerless to participate.
It felt a lot like life itself. Every time you wanted to use money to make more money, you just happened to have none.
But the reason Di Yang was doing this puzzled Qi Xia.
Even if Di Yang didn't care about Dao and only cared about lives, how would selling fans cause anyone to lose their life?
A young man carrying a briefcase slowly walked up and tossed his bag onto the table.
Several others with briefcases also stepped forward, opening them up.
Each person's bag held twenty or thirty Dao.
Qi Xia now understood what Qin Dingdong meant by "speculation." This was a very simple, violent investment game—as long as your capital was enough, you could earn plenty of Dao.
A faint smile tugged at Qi Xia's lips. He finally understood how this game could lead to death.
"Excellent." Di Yang nodded at the briefcases. "Please feel free to choose."
Choose?
The crowd froze. This time, the supplementary fans weren't random—they could actually be selected?
The five men carrying briefcases stepped forward. Four of them began picking out fans, while the onlookers started whispering among themselves.
"No wonder that woman named Qin Dingdong tried to give me three Dao earlier..." Qi Xia patted his pocket. "Were you trying to test my capabilities?"
The four men with briefcases each obtained nearly ten fans. The fifth man stood there dumbfounded, unsure how to choose.
Seeing that the fans on the table had dwindled by more than half, Qi Xia silently walked up and handed his three Dao to Di Yang.
"Please choose."
For Qi Xia, this was an excellent opportunity. If he could select a folding fan, he naturally needed the one besides "Sorrow" to ensure he could match with someone else.
"Qi Xia, which one are you buying?" Qin Dingdong suddenly appeared beside him and asked.
Qi Xia glanced at her and replied, "Of course, the one I'm missing."
He opened a paper fan and looked—it was "Joy."
With this "Joy" in hand, Qi Xia's chances of getting out would skyrocket.
But... given Di Yang's devious game, should he really take this "Joy" now?
Since he intended to win all of the referee's Dao, there was no rush to leave.
Qi Xia thought for a moment, set down "Joy," and picked up another fan—"Sorrow."
"I'll take this one."
He tucked the fan into his pocket and gave Qin Dingdong a cool glance over his shoulder.
"Oh?" Qin Dingdong smiled and nodded. "With this 'Sorrow' added, do you have enough fans to leave?"
"Thanks to your kindness, I can barely make it out."
Qin Dingdong shrugged and turned away.
But Qi Xia stared at the "Sorrow" fan for a long time, then walked over to a man nearby.
This man had also come with a briefcase, but he was still hesitating in front of the fans.
"Brother, what are you hesitating about?" Qi Xia asked.
The man saw Qi Xia approach and immediately wore a wary expression. "Why are you asking?"
"I want to make a deal with you." Qi Xia said. "A deal that guarantees you'll profit without any risk."
"A deal...?" The man looked somewhat interested, but still cautious.
Qi Xia nodded and stepped closer. "Brother, I'm going to give you a fan, but you'll need to do me a small favor."
Then he whispered a few words into the man's ear, which finally relaxed the man's tense expression.
"That's all?"
Qi Xia nodded. "Yeah, that's all."
The man thought for a moment, glanced at the fan in Qi Xia's hand, and finally agreed to his proposal.
He paid all of his Dao, then bought up all eight remaining "Sorrow" fans from Di Yang's table.
With that, Qi Xia's initial goal was achieved.
For the next half hour, no one could obtain a new "Sorrow" fan—it had temporarily become a limited edition.
No matter how many participants left later, the "Sorrow" fans in their hands would either be taken away or consumed. The quantity would only decrease, never increase.
At the very end, about seven or eight people slowly came forward, pulling Dao from their pockets to buy folding fans.
Most bought only one. A middle-aged woman with some spare change bought the last two on the table.
Now only one final step remained in the plan.
Qi Xia turned to look at the man who had bought all the "Sorrow" fans. For the time being, he had to ensure that man could leave safely.
There were currently two most pressing problems.
First, a "wealth gap" had emerged. In the room there were now five "rich people" and a crowd of "poor people." Even worse, the only law enforcement here would not interfere with violent incidents. Therefore, the "rich" had to flee as soon as possible—the longer they delayed, the more dangerous it became.
Second, the number of "rich people" was odd. In theory, to be safe, the "rich" should pair up in twos to escape, which inevitably meant one of the five would be left alone.
No matter what, Qi Xia had to ensure the "rich man" beside him could escape. If that man was unfortunately left behind, Qi Xia's entire situation would collapse.
Sure enough, two "rich men" in the distance had clearly thought of a plan in advance. They stuck close together and strode quickly toward the "matching machine" against the wall.
The other two "rich men," apparently strangers to each other, were wary of each other and hadn't partnered up immediately.
Qi Xia was quickly contemplating a countermeasure when he saw the first pair of "rich men" already pressing the buttons on the machine.
They were about to run.
This kind of "strong-strong alliance" meant that ordinary "poor people" would normally have no say... but—
As Qi Xia had predicted, a burly man stepped in front of the two "rich men," blocking the matching machine with his bulky frame.
This was the same man who had snatched a fan from a skinny man earlier.
"What are you doing?" one of the "rich men" asked.
"Brothers, you're eating meat—I need to drink some soup too..." the big man said with a grin. "I'm taking over this matching machine now. If you want to use it, you'll have to pay a toll."
The two "rich men" exchanged glances, then asked, "How much do you want?"
It seemed their main strategy was to "spend money to avoid disaster."
"I want half of the fans you're holding." the big man replied.