Legend Management Bureau Chapter 205

[ … words ]

At the first light of dawn, Du Yu opened his eyes.

The events of yesterday still left him with a lingering sense of dread. No matter how much he pondered, he simply could not make sense of it.

Xie Bi’an and Fan Wujiu had also roused from their sleep, preparing to head out to the streets to beg for some food.

Xiao Nian stood quietly behind them, watching Du Yu with a look of feigned nonchalance.

Du Yu had no choice but to play along and pretend that nothing had happened either.

“Little Du, are you coming to beg with us?” Xie Bi’an asked. “I know you used to be the young master of a wealthy household, but since you’ve fallen on hard times like the rest of us, you can’t afford to be so picky. If you don’t go out and beg for a bite to eat, you’ll be starving today.”

Du Yu slowly got to his feet. “Seventh Master, begging isn’t a long-term solution. I need to find a way to buy some medicine for Ah Can and Ah Kui, and begging on the streets won’t cover that.”

“Oh?” Xie Bi’an raised an eyebrow. “Then what exactly do you plan to do?”

“We need to figure out a way to make some real money.” Du Yu flashed a wicked grin. “I promised that as long as I’m here, I won’t let any of you go hungry.”

Du Yu pondered for a moment. He really wasn’t cut out for running a legitimate business; otherwise, he would have started his own company back in his past life instead of working a typical nine-to-five job.

However, there was a certain someone residing within him who was undoubtedly an expert at “making money.”

‘Chada, I need your help.’

‘Hm?’ Chada responded upon hearing Du Yu’s call. ‘What do you need me to do, Mr. Du?’

‘I want to make a large sum of money quickly without any initial capital.’

Chada pondered for a moment, looking out through Du Yu’s eyes. ‘Mr. Du, are you currently in a feudal society?’

‘Yes.’ Du Yu nodded.

‘That makes things very easy. A simple “Ponzi scheme” can sweep away a third of the wealth in this city. It doesn’t require a single cent from you, yields rapid results, and offers massive returns. Feudal societies lack the legal frameworks to regulate such things, so you can execute it without any worries.’

‘Holy crap…’ Du Yu was stunned. ‘A “Ponzi scheme”? Isn’t that basically a pyramid scheme? Sure, I’d make money and rob a third of the city’s wealth, but how would those people survive after losing everything? Wouldn’t I be driving them to their deaths?’

‘Mr. Du, there is a fitting saying in your homeland: “No merchant is without deceit.” If you worry that your profits will impoverish others, how can you ever make money? Everyone’s wealth is earned from someone else, is it not?’

‘Uh… that… no…’ Du Yu hesitated for a long time before replying. ‘Forget it. Let me rephrase. Is there a method that… doesn’t make money quite as fast and is a bit less destructive to innocent people?’

Chada thought for a moment before responding, ‘Yes. I know of a street scam that operates on the principles of probability. It should allow you to earn enough money to survive.’

‘Good grief, why is it another scam…’ Du Yu sighed. ‘Alright then… a street scam is still better than a “Ponzi scheme”…’

…

Du Yu’s expression suddenly shifted. He turned to the others and declared aloud, “Ladies and gentlemen, good morning. I am now going to lead you all out to make some money.”

“Uh…” Xie Bi’an and Fan Wujiu looked completely bewildered. “Why did your tone suddenly get so weird?”

“Pay no mind to that. Just do exactly as I say, and I guarantee that everyone will be drinking milk for dinner tonight.”

“Cow’s… milk?” Xie Bi’an scratched his head. “Is that stuff even drinkable?”

“Sir, could you please fetch twenty-four stones of identical size?” Du Yu asked politely.

Though Xie Bi’an found Du Yu’s behavior incredibly bizarre, the request was simple enough. He nodded and muttered, “Yeah… I’ll go get them…”

Du Yu then turned to Fan Wujiu. “My frail gentleman, could you go find a cloth bag for us?”

“Oh… sure…”

“And you, my filthy young lady,” Du Yu said to Xiao Nian. “Do you have any pigments?”

“Pigments? …The craftsmen who renovated the City God Temple a few days ago left behind some ink and cinnabar.”

“I’m not quite following. Are those two different colors?” Du Yu asked with a frown.

“Yes, black and red…” Xiao Nian nodded.

“Excellent. Please bring them to me.”

Under Du Yu’s direction, the group gathered all the materials he had requested.

Du Yu inspected the twenty-four stones. He took the oddly shaped ones and ground them against the floor to smooth out their edges, ensuring that they all felt as identical as possible to the touch.

“Now, I need to paint eight of these stones red, and eight of them black.”

Although the group didn’t understand his intentions, seeing how confident Du Yu was, they could only comply.

Soon enough, the twenty-four stones on the ground were divided into eight black stones, eight red stones, and eight uncolored stones.

“I have a question. Do you guys have any money?” Du Yu asked.

“Money?” The group instantly grew defensive.

Xie Bi’an asked warily, “Little Du, what do you need money for?”

“I need a little money for some starting capital. Not a lot, just a little bit.”

Xie Bi’an considered this for a moment before admitting, “We’ve scraped together twenty copper coins. We were saving them for Xiao Nian’s dowry in the future…”

“Copper coins? Excellent. With these twenty copper coins, we can go out and make a profit.” Du Yu smiled faintly. “Everyone, wash your faces and tidy up your clothes. If we look like absolute beggars, we won’t be able to trick anyone.”

“Trick anyone?” The group paused. “You can scam people with just these stones?”

Fan Wujiu nervously asked, “Brother, you’re not planning to do anything illegal, are you?”

“Of course not,” Du Yu replied with a reassuring smile. “Now, may I ask who here knows how to write?”

The group exchanged glances. Xiao Nian slowly spoke up, “I can… but I don’t know many words.”

“That’s perfectly fine.” Du Yu nodded and retrieved a battered wooden board. “It won’t be anything too complicated. I’ll dictate, and you write.”

“Oh… alright…” Xiao Nian nodded. She grabbed a handful of dried grass, twisted it into the shape of a brush, and dipped it into the ink. “Go ahead…”

“Game Rules: Draw twelve stones from the cloth bag at one time. Tally the score based on their different colors.”

Listening intently, Xiao Nian carefully wrote down the sentence. For the characters she didn’t know, she substituted simpler ones, but the overall meaning remained clear.

“The three colors of the stones are black, white, and red. The quantities of all three colors are calculated separately,” Du Yu continued. “If the drawn stones consist of five black, five white, and two red, it will be recorded as ‘five-five-two’. And so on.”

Xiao Nian scribbled this down as well, while Xie Bi’an and Fan Wujiu stood by with looks of sheer confusion on their faces.

“Then, based on the different combinations, you win money,” Du Yu instructed. “If the number of stones drawn is ‘eight-four-zero’—meaning eight of one color, four of another color, and zero of the third—you win one hundred copper coins.”

“Huh?!” Fan Wujiu was shocked. “Brother, what are you doing? Where are we going to get a hundred copper coins to pay them?”

Du Yu waved his hand dismissively, gesturing for Xiao Nian to keep writing regardless.

“If the result is ‘eight-three-one’, ‘eight-two-two’, ‘seven-three-two’, or ‘six-six-zero’, they win ten copper coins.”

Xiao Nian stared at Du Yu with eyes full of doubt as she wrote.

“For any other combination, they win one copper coin.” Du Yu looked at Xiao Nian with a bright smile. “Did you get all that down?”

“G-got it…” Xiao Nian nodded.

“Finally, add one last sentence: The sole exception is drawing a combination of ‘five-four-three’—five of one color, four of the second, and three of the third. In this scenario, they must pay us ten copper coins.”

Once the rules were fully written out, the others were thoroughly convinced that Du Yu had lost his mind.

Du Yu inspected the wooden board covered in the game’s rules and beamed. “Perfect. We’ll set the price at one copper coin per play. By tonight, we’ll be rolling in money.”

“Little Du…” Xie Bi’an furrowed his brow. “Are you insane? Isn’t this just gambling?”

“Gambling?” Du Yu blinked in surprise. “How is this gambling? This is a guaranteed, risk-free business.”

“Risk-free my foot!” Xie Bi’an snapped in frustration. “You wrote down so many different combinations, and only one of them makes us money! All the others result in the player winning. How could this possibly be risk-free?”

“Oh?” Du Yu looked at Xie Bi’an. “It seems you don’t believe me.”

“Of course I don’t!”

“Then how about this, sir.” Du Yu tossed all the stones into the cloth bag. “I won’t charge you a single coin. Play three rounds with me right now. Do you dare?”

“Why wouldn’t I dare?” Xie Bi’an rolled up his sleeves and marched over.

“Please.” Du Yu held the bag forward, allowing Xie Bi’an to rummage around inside.

In no time, Xie Bi’an pulled out twelve stones.

He placed them on the ground and counted: four red, four black, and four uncolored.

Xie Bi’an finished counting and declared proudly, “Look! This is ‘four-four-four’, right? I win one copper coin!”

“Indeed.” Du Yu nodded, his expression unreadable, and scooped all the stones back into the bag. “Congratulations. You have two more rounds. Let’s see how many copper coins you can win.”

Brimming with confidence, Xie Bi’an reached in again, pulled out a handful, and tallied them up.

Five black, four uncolored, and three red.

“This…”

“Sir, this is ‘five-four-three’. You owe me ten copper coins. Subtracting the one you just won, you currently owe me nine copper coins.”

Xie Bi’an sighed. “Isn’t this just blind luck? If I draw a few more times, you’ll be completely broke.”

“Don’t worry about me. Please, continue.”

Xie Bi’an reached in and grabbed twelve stones for the third time, laying them out on the ground.

Five uncolored, three black, and four red.

“Another ‘five-four-three’. You now owe me a total of nineteen copper coins,” Du Yu said with a pleasant smile.

“Huh?”

Fan Wujiu and Xiao Nian stared at each other in utter disbelief. They had begged on the streets for more than half a year to save up twenty copper coins. And Du Yu, with just a few casual draws, had put Xie Bi’an in debt for nineteen copper coins?

“I don’t believe it.” Fan Wujiu stepped forward. He scooped all the stones back into the bag himself and drew out twelve.

He placed them on the ground and counted. It was ‘five-four-three’ again.

The group looked at Du Yu suspiciously. “Did you cheat?”

“How could I?” Du Yu shrugged innocently. “The bag and the stones were in your hands the whole time. I didn’t even touch them. How could I have cheated?”

Refusing to accept this, Fan Wujiu threw all the stones back in, shook the bag vigorously, and grabbed another handful to count.

Once again, it was ‘five-four-three’.