Chapter 263 The Plan Commences
"So, you're monopolizing them?" Song Seven broke into a smile. "Looks like you’ve really struck it big."
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"We should be friends," Song Seven said, "I’ll trade you one {Sorrow} and one {Happiness} for a {Anger}. Deal?"
Qi Xia hadn’t expected the trade to turn out .
"You still have {Sorrow}?"
Qi Xia thought for a moment, then let out a helpless sigh. "Xiōngdì, you're not playing a prank on me, right?"
"What's wrong, buddy?"
"I know, of course." Song Seven nodded. "But xiōngdì, what I want isn’t {Dào}. I just wanted to experience the feeling of teetering on the brink of death, but it seems this game isn’t for me."
"Oh?" Qi Xia furrowed his brows, sensing that this person seemed to be searching for the trigger to their {Reverberation}.
“Here, you either escape or meet a swift end,” Song Seven said with a shake of his head. "There’s no true taste of {teetering on the brink of death}. I’m planning to take my leave.”
"Yep," Song Seven nodded, then glanced at the time. "There’s not much time left. If you make it out alive… we’ll talk more outside."
Qi Xia paused for a moment, then nodded, "Alright."
He took out his {Anger} and exchanged it with Song Seven’s two fans.
There was no hesitation in the way he moved—quick, clean, and deliberate. This was someone with clear thoughts of his own.
Qi Xia watched as Song Seven, along with another man in a black leather jacket, made their escape.
The situation was now nearly perfect.
This man, Song Seven, had single-handedly reduced the number of {Sorrow} on the {market} by two.
Looking at the numbers, there were at most eleven {Sorrow} left on the {market}, but there were still twenty participants remaining.
Simply put, the thirty people who escaped could only have taken one {Sorrow} at most. If they took more, the remaining count would fall below ten, and some among the twenty still here would be doomed.
But could that really be the case?
Assuming each person took one extra fan, and the probability of each fan being {Sorrow} is one-quarter, the thirty people must have taken around seven and a half {Sorrow}.
With eleven {Sorrow} fans, subtracting seven and a half leaves only three to four {Sorrow} remaining in the arena.
If luck were on his side, there might not even be a single {Sorrow} left.
Now, if he didn't act... then when?
Qi Xia nodded, swiftly packing up his stall. He wiped away the words on the ground, and with his {Happiness} and {Joy} fans in hand, he walked straight over to Terrestrial Goat’s table.
Because Terrestrial Goat had been firm on the {two-for-one} exchange from the start, he’d yet to make even one successful trade.
"I want to exchange fans," Qi Xia said.
Upon hearing this, Terrestrial Goat furrowed his brow, sensing that things might be taking a turn for the worse.
"What?" Qi Xia continued, his tone firm, "As a just and impartial {umpire}, you refuse to swap fans with the {participants}?"
His words rang out with clarity and weight, reaching the ears of everyone present.
Not only did his statement press the moral blade to Terrestrial Goat’s throat, but it also bestowed upon Qi Xia an invincible token of immunity.
If someone were to be killed for merely asking to exchange a fan… would there be any other customers left?
After a moment of contemplation, Terrestrial Goat nodded and said, "Please... feel free to choose."
Qi Xia snorted coldly, tossing one {Joy} and one {Happiness} at Terrestrial Goat before picking up the {Sorrow} that lay on the table.
If things went as expected, this would likely be the last {Sorrow} not under Qi Xia's control.
The {market monopoly} had been fully established, and now, Qi Xia would reign supreme.
The crowd remained ensnared in the trap of {Normalcy bias}.
What they failed to realize was that exchanging two fans for one {Sorrow} was already the best possible deal available. Given that Qi Xia had always adhered to the {one-for-one} exchange, he had inadvertently conditioned the crowd to subconsciously believe that that fans weren’t worth much.
In the past thirty minutes, no one was willing to part with two fans to exchange for {Sorrow}. They all waited, anticipating an {opportunity} to appear at Qi Xia's stall.
When the final {Sorrow} was pocketed, Qi Xia let out a satisfied sigh. The next step was to wait for the final round of replenishment. If all went as expected, it would be a harvest season.
The ninety-minute mark approached, signaling the final opportunity for everyone to restock their fans.
Terrestrial Goat placed the three unsold fans to the side, then reached into a small bag and took out four more fans.
Once again, it was one each of {Joy}, {Anger}, {Sorrow}, and {Happiness}.
Now, seven fans lay on the table: two {Joy}, two {Anger}, one {Sorrow}, and two {Happiness}.
Terrestrial Goat picked up the small blackboard and pulled half a piece of chalk from his pocket, carefully contemplating what to write.
At this point, the two-for-one exchange was no longer feasible. The man before him was clearly monopolizing {Sorrow}... So, how could the situation be reversed?
Terrestrial Goat pondered for a moment before reaching out and writing: "One-for-one for each fan; price of {Sorrow} must be negotiated directly."
This was the best solution he could come up with.
Upon seeing this, a smirk tugged at the corner of Qi Xia's mouth. Terrestrial Goat’s mistake had been replenishing every half hour, leaving him now completely helpless.
"Ladies and gentlemen!" Qi Xia called out as he turned around.
At his words, everyone paused in their tracks.
"I’d like to ask, is there anyone here who has already formed their teams?" Qi Xia asked loudly.
The crowd was clueless about the intentions of the man before them, so naturally, no one responded to his question.
“So, here’s the deal…” Qi Xia slowly pulled out a {Sorrow} fan and said to the crowd, "I accidentally bought an extra {Sorrow}. Does anyone want it?"
These words immediately caused many expressions to shift.
"I’m only offering this to those who have already formed teams," Qi Xia continued, "This way, once I give you the fan, you can leave right away." He added with a hint of finality, "Those who are alone, please don't cause any more trouble."
The crowd began to murmur, a stir spreading through them as they seemingly rushed to {form teams}.
Since this {Sorrow} would only be given to those in teams, who would want to remain alone?
In just a minute, everyone had paired up, standing together in teams.
"Xiōngdì! We’ve formed a team!" one group called out eagerly. "Give it to us!"
"No!" another team interjected, "We’ve formed our team too. We’re just one {Sorrow} short before we can leave."