"One hundred yuan to start!"
The middle-aged man looked up at Su He and continued: "This handsome guy came first. You have to wait until he's done playing."
The young man was still on the phone borrowing money. Su He didn't say anything. He picked up the 10 yuan on the ground and squatted there pretending to think about how to play the game.
The young man had lost 1,500-1,600 yuan cumulatively. This time he put down 2,000 yuan directly, ready to go all in.
Su He took a careful look. Based on his elementary school skills, the game configuration was indeed tempting.
The young man didn't act rashly this time. He stared at the board steadily for five minutes before squatting down and slowly making the first move.
In less than two minutes, the young man plopped down on the ground, looking at the board in disbelief. The middle-aged man was still shaking the stack of money in his hand.
"Hey, you moved the cannon again...I told you to move the pawns first. Young people nowadays are too impetuous..."
"Young man, looks like you're out of luck today...why don't you come back another day..." The middle-aged man decided to quit while he was ahead.
The young man got up without saying anything, ready to leave.
"Wait...I haven't had my turn yet!"
Su He grabbed the young man's hand, "Bro, I'm not good at this. Can you coach me? I'll split the money with you if I win."
Hearing this, the young man squatted down again. He didn't need to put down money anyway and was curious to see what would happen.
"A true gentleman stays silent when watching a game. You can only play alone!" The middle-aged man immediately said.
Su He didn't say anything. After thinking for another two minutes, he started playing.
"Pawn..."
Su He lost in a minute.
"Damn it, one more game!" Su He pushed 100 yuan to the middle.
"Young man, first game 100 yuan, minimum bet for second game is 200 yuan. Those are the rules..." said the middle-aged man.
"Rules...Haha, then 200 it is. I don't believe in this stuff. Bro, I'll back you up this time!"
It was as if Su He had lost his mind. He stood behind the middle-aged man and continued, "It's on me if I lose. We split the money if I win! I'll watch your back so you can play with ease!"
Su He looked like he was going to chant mantras.
"Are we playing or not? If not, I'm closing up shop...remember, last game..." The middle-aged man was nervous seeing more and more people surrounding them.
"Of course we're playing. But shall we change venues?" Su He glanced at the undercover cops nearby and smiled.
"Change venues? To where?" The middle-aged man was puzzled.
"The police station!"
Suddenly, a roar came from the crowd, "Nobody move, police!"
A few men tried to run. Su He grabbed the middle-aged man, kicked his leg to trip him to the ground, and twisted his arms behind his back. "Want to run? Not getting out that door!"
The middle-aged man didn't expect to be taken down by a delivery man. He bared his teeth ferociously, "Brat, you wait. I'll take care of you when I get out!"
Slap! Su He slapped him hard across the face and glared at him, "Big words for someone so arrogant in front of the cops. Worry about yourself first!"
Despite the slap, the middle-aged man was still defiant, "You bastard, say your name! If I don't kill you, I'm not [his surname]!"
Slap!
Another hard slap from Su He, who laughed, "I'm Huang Huotu. Come kill me anytime!"
Zhou Bing didn't show up, but some detectives Su He knew arrived. Su He handed the middle-aged man to the police. The young man was still shaking on the ground.
After giving his statement, the police immediately returned Su He's 300 yuan. The young man was taken back to the station for "education". He would get his money back afterwards.
In addition to taking down a fraud ring and getting praise from residents, Su He also got a bonus from the system. Whenever he spoke with someone now, he would gain rapport. A very useful perk in daily life.
It didn't waste too much time. Around 5 pm Su He started taking orders again. The weather was nice today. He kept going until midnight when he stopped taking orders.
132 orders, topping the leaderboard. Second place was Qi Zhenguo with 98 orders.
The delivery riders were already used to Su He's freakish order volume. No one was shocked or jealous anymore. In their eyes, he had transformed and was a true master.
Back at the hostel, Ma Mingzhe and the other two were playing on their phones in bed.
"Yo, Dong Yong. You sure you got that right, meeting someone off the Internet? You just got here a few days ago...Not bad! Show us what she looks like!" Ma Mingzhe exclaimed in surprise.
Pan Zhigang also joined in, "You got yourself a girlfriend. You'll have to treat us to drinks..."
"She ain't my girlfriend...just a scam artist. We just met and she already said she was thirsty. I was gonna get her a milk tea. But she took me to a bar and ordered a 2000 yuan bottle of red wine right off the bat. I just walked out of there!"
Dong Yong complained indignantly. He thought it was the start of a romance but got scammed again.
"She can scam my feelings but not my money! I only got a few hundred on me. How was I gonna walk out that door after one drink cost that much?"
Su He was somewhat amused hearing this. One can love many people in life, but there's only so much money in your wallet. Lovers may come and go, but no money means nothing but instant noodles.
"Forget meeting people online. I don't bother with fake stuff!" Ma Mingzhe started boasting. From his phone came the voice of a female streamer, "Thanks Ma Ge for the roses!"
"Hear that? She's from the capital city. I've been working on her for days. Gonna sweep her off her feet next month when I get paid!"
"Not bad, Ma Ge, willing to spend money chasing her!"
Su He knew them all too well. Pan Zhigang was the only normal one, sending two-thirds of his money home to his family. His dad had racked up a buttload of debt from failed business ventures. The whole family was hiding out working odd jobs, afraid to go back home.
"Su He, I noticed you've been doing more and more deliveries lately. How are you so hard-core? Any tips you can share with us?" Pan Zhigang asked Su He as he emerged from the bathroom.
"Well...the platform does have a loophole..." Su He sighed and continued, "Since we are good bros, I'll let you in on it..."
Ma Mingzhe and Dong Yong instantly pricked up their ears.
"The better looking you are, the more orders you get...It's inevitable. With great power comes great responsibility. As the saying goes, 'If I don't enter hell, who will?'"
"Damn you!"
"Hold him down! Get the beer bottle!"
"Ma Ge, no more beer bottles. How about this steel pipe section..."