Chapter 42: Games of Class (Part 8)

Yun Xueqing was stunned. “Acquire a casino?”

Just with the over 10,000 gold coins they had earned at the casino?

Fu Wuxuan wore a smile of certain victory on his face. “This casino is extremely quiet, with few customers and high operating costs. It must be bleeding money.”

He said meaningfully, “A casino that’s hopeless no matter how you run it needs a sucker to take over and shoulder the losses.”

After hearing his words, Yun Xueqing fell into thought.

The two entered the deserted casino and, led by a server, walked into the casino owner’s office.

This boss was not like the other casino owners—a fat, balding middle-aged Mediterranean type—but a refined young man. He wore glasses and looked less like a casino operator and more like a top-performing college student.

When Fu Wuxuan stated his request and conditions, the refined boss rejected him outright. “You’re right that our casino is hemorrhaging money, but I absolutely will not sell it.”

Fu Wuxuan raised an eyebrow. “Why?”

Was the money not enough?

But stubbornly keeping open an unprofitable casino did him no good. Selling was the best choice.

As he guessed at the man’s intentions, the casino boss’s eyes suddenly grew wet, and hot tears streamed down his face in an instant. “This casino has been passed down through generations, traceable back to the Taizong era…”

Fu Wuxuan kept a smile on his face while enduring his irritation and listened to the end.

The refined casino boss rambled on endlessly for half an hour, growing parched before pausing to take a sip of water. Worry etched his face. “But my father died young, and I’m no good at management. The casino’s location is remote, unable to compete with the others, and it gradually declined into this state.”

Fu Wuxuan caught his meaning. “Because it’s a family heirloom, you’ll never sell it no matter what?”

“Exactly,” the casino boss nodded. “Even if it goes bankrupt in the end and I become a lowly slave, I won’t sell off our ancestral property.”

Rejected so firmly, Fu Wuxuan grew irritated. Reasoning with this stubborn type was the least efficient way—there was no moving him.

Yun Xueqing watched the casino boss and suddenly spoke up. “Selling the ancestral property and squandering it are essentially no different. Your forebears would blame you either way, but at least selling benefits the living.”

The casino boss gave a bitter smile. “I know it’s self-defeating, but I just can’t get past that hurdle in my heart.”

Yun Xueqing fell silent and said no more.

With the plan on the verge of collapse, Fu Wuxuan’s previously sullen expression brightened into a brilliant smile. “Since you won’t sell the casino to us, what if we come to you instead?”

The casino boss didn’t understand his meaning. He didn’t ask but waited quietly for what came next.

Fu Wuxuan smiled. “You just hand over operations to me, and I’ll turn things around for you.”

The casino boss’s eyes widened in surprise. “You… why would you help me?”

Fu Wuxuan looked at the naive, refined boss. This kind of person was stubborn but also the easiest to fool. He hooked the corner of his mouth into a smile and said softly, “It’s not just helping you. Once the casino turns a profit, we split all the gold coins fifty-fifty.”

The boss nodded, thinking it through openly. A casino already in the red—if it could profit, giving half to the other side was fine.

Fu Wuxuan smiled. “You’re willing to trust me?”

“I don’t know your abilities,” the casino boss adjusted his glasses, his gaze clear. “But from your words and demeanor, you don’t seem like an ordinary person.”

Indeed not ordinary—in his current state, he wasn’t even fully human, half-human half-fish.

The boss sighed. “If you really revive the casino, forget fifty percent; seventy percent is negotiable.”

He knew he was bad at management. To keep the casino afloat, he’d tried everything—copying other casinos’ models, even hiring professional managers—but nothing worked.

He was at the end of his rope. He wouldn’t pass up any opportunity. Fu Wuxuan might just be his lifeline.

Fu Wuxuan ignored his desperate, pained gaze and continued, “Besides that condition, I have one more requirement.”

“What?”

Fu Wuxuan paused, then stated his ultimate goal. “Even if you haven’t truly sold the casino to me, you must announce publicly that you have, and that I’m the backer.”

The casino boss was stunned, never expecting such a request.

It was so bizarre that he couldn’t help wondering if there was some scheme behind it.

But it was just a matter of reputation—no real impact, and a mere announcement wouldn’t let them steal the casino.

The casino boss kept convincing himself, but worry lingered in his heart. He couldn’t help asking, “Why do you want me to do that?”

Fu Wuxuan sneered. “I don’t want to say.”

The casino boss: “…”

Seeing his grave expression, Fu Wuxuan softened his tone reassuringly. “Rest assured, though I have my reasons, it won’t implicate you or affect the casino’s true ownership.”

The casino boss shook his head. “Even if it implicates me, that’s fine… but this casino must survive…”

Fu Wuxuan smiled faintly. “Then take a look at this.”

He pulled a white-paper plan from his Storage Space.

The casino boss took it. The cover bore bold letters: Casino Rescue Plan.

He flipped to the first page and glanced at the table of contents.

[1. Ramp up promotion.

2. Host events.

3. Offer other services, like bunny boys.

4. …]

The casino boss skimmed it and understood. “This is practical, except for item three… But previous managers tried similar methods, with minimal results.”

They’d poured money into promotion, drawing more people, but revenue never covered costs.

Fu Wuxuan quirked his lips. “The playbook is the same, but who plays it makes all the difference.”

He said meaningfully, “Your promotions lack hype.”

“Lack hype means…”

The casino boss was baffled, but Yun Xueqing instantly got it. “If we link up with other casinos…”

“Exactly. No hype? We’ll create it,” Fu Wuxuan laughed. “Claim we’re a branch of a major casino—brand power, you get it.”

The casino boss’s eyes bulged. “Won’t that get us hunted down?”

Fu Wuxuan pondered. “No problem. Say you’re a branch of Three Branches Casino—they won’t touch you.”

Three Branches Casino was new in the past month, now booming as the only one allowing silver-coin bets. The boss had followed it.

He hesitated. “May I ask your relation to that Noble sir?”

Fu Wuxuan raised a brow. “No relation.”

His smile faded as he pointed to Yun Xueqing beside him. “I have none with him, but this one… who knows.”

Called out, Yun Xueqing blinked instinctively. Meeting the casino boss’s gaze, he said flatly, “I have no relation with him either.”

Not even friends—more like mortal enemies.

But that clearly didn’t convince them. Yun Xueqing gritted his teeth, face expressionless. “If I had to say, we’re comrades who lived and died together.”

The casino boss’s eyes lit with awe. “If you’re that close, surely that Noble sir won’t hold it against a small fry like me.”

Saving on promo costs, joy lit his face, but worry returned. “Still, this alone probably won’t save us.”

Fu Wuxuan smiled. “How did Three Branches rise?”

The casino boss had studied it. After hesitating, he spilled all his past analyses.

As he spoke, awe filled his face. “That Noble lord is brilliant—thinking of the one-silver-coin strategy, low margin high volume.”

“Right, he’s set the precedent; we can’t copy,” Fu Wuxuan laughed. “To win, we do what others can’t imagine—or won’t dare.”

The casino boss was stunned. “What’s your strategy?”

Fu Wuxuan didn’t answer directly but asked something else. “Do you know why it’s easy for commoners to become Gentry, but so hard for Gentry to become Nobles?”

It was obvious, but precisely because it was, the casino boss hesitated to say it.

Yun Xueqing drawled slowly, “Naturally, higher class jumps require more gold coins.”

Slave to commoner: as little as one copper.

Commoner to Gentry: a few gold if lucky.

Gentry to Noble: at least 1.1 million gold.

Commoner and Gentry slots were plentiful, barely restricted. Noble slots were scarce, for the elite only.

Fu Wuxuan’s tone was leisurely. “Becoming Noble takes massive gold. Where from? Casinos.”

“Some strike rich overnight, making tens of thousands in gold—but that’s rare. Why no tales of millions won in a night?”

Even a master gambler like Yun Xueqing, after a day at casinos, barely hit 10,000+ gold.

Yun Xueqing suddenly understood and played along. “Because all casinos in this town have bet limits.”

He’d played many rounds, even switched casinos later. Everywhere, max per bet was 10 gold.

Even super doubles yielded maybe 100 gold a hand—too slow, nothing like real-world casinos with million-gold thrills.

Yun Xueqing drawled on, “Some power doesn’t want anyone jumping classes overnight with millions in gold.”

That power: most Nobles on their list.

From Three Branches, they’d learned most town casinos were Noble-owned, profiting to secure status.

To block class-jumps stealing spots, they capped bets. Gentry casinos followed the unspoken rule to avoid offending Nobles.

The casino boss finally got it, face stiffening. “So you mean…?”

Fu Wuxuan smiled lazily. “This town needs a shake-up.”

They were declaring war on all the Nobles.