The woman had a beautiful face. If one were to give her a score then she could get up to eighty points. She wasn't the prettiest among all the contestants, nor was she the most dazzling, but in other places she would be considered a big beauty.
At this time, the young woman tugged hard on the man. There was a ruthlessness to her gaze as she spoke fiercely to the man, "Big Brother, where's the money? In the end did you prepare money for me?"
The man's expression lacked confidence, clearly showing that he was unwilling.
The woman forcefully tugged at him twice. "Tell me the truth. Otherwise, once I gain wealth and fame, don't even think of getting any benefits from me!"
"Don't, don't, don't!" The man immediately became anxious.
"Then quickly give me fifty silvers." The woman spread out her hand towards the man. Her expression was particularly impatient. But at this moment, her expression contrarily seemed very malevolent.
The man hesitantly spoke, "Don't… don't have…"
The woman's eyes widened. "How could you not have? Yesterday, didn't you say you were going to go out and gather fifty silvers for me, so that I could participate in the talent competition of the Beautiful People Building? Now, the competition is about to start, and you're telling me you don't have the money?"
"Little Sister, Brother has wronged you. The five silvers… I lost all of it." The man said remorsefully.
He originally wanted to go to the casino to test his luck, and see if he could turn five silvers into fifty silvers. But he didn't expect that his luck was particularly poor. He played ten rounds, lost ten rounds, and all the money was lost. Now, he only had a hundred or so copper coins left. But this money was to pay for their accommodations and food for the next few days. If he lost even that, then they would have to sleep on the streets.
The woman stared at him incredulously.
"All… all lost?"
The man did not dare to look at her.
The woman inhaled sharply. "You pile of waste. Don't show up in front of me these next two days. And also, give me the money that you have left."
The man dithered for a moment, but still gave her the pouch of money.
The woman grabbed the purse, turned and melted into the crowd, no longer caring about the man.
The man stood there facing the direction of the Beautiful People Building for a while. Suddenly he took out another pouch from the bosom of his clothes and smiled wretchedly. "Fortunately, I am resourceful, otherwise these coppers would also be taken away. Let's go try my luck again. Maybe this time I will earn everything back."
After he finished speaking, he put the pouch away and ran in the opposite direction of the Beautiful People Building.
This kind of situation often happened, and it was not news to many people.
An Zi Ran also left the Beautiful People Building accompanied by Fu Wu Tian. The two of them went in the same direction as the man. It was the capital's most famous money-squandering establishment. The capital did not lack for such places: there was the dazzling red-light district and extravagant gambling houses where people threw their money away recklessly. These were all well known places in Jun Zi City.
The so-called money-squandering establishment was not the same as An Zi Ran had imagined.
In his impression, it was a place of chaotic disorder, where people of all backgrounds would gather, and there would often be conflict.
But when he and Fu Wu Tian arrived at that street, the situation of the place was beyond his expectation. Rather, it was bustling with noise and excitement.
There were people coming and going on the streets. Restaurants, buildings, gambling houses, shops, etc, were all very proper.
An Zi Ran looked towards Fu Wu Tian with puzzlement. "Isn't gambling banned in Da Ya?"
He'd always thought that Da Ya was a country that banned gambling. He had never seen gambling houses in An Yuan County, and he also saw no traces of such establishments in other counties, so he had always thought that was the case.
Fu Wu Tian was not at all surprised by his words. "Wang fei does not know, Da Ya indeed does not prohibit gambling, but it is very strict about gambling. This was decreed by the previous emperor when he was alive."
"How is it strict?"
"If you want to open a gambling house, you need to get the authorization of the royal family. Then you can justifiably open up a gambling house. If not, the whole family would be executed when caught. However, the profits of gambling houses are indeed very large, so there are many places that would take the risk of opening underground gambling dens even if they do not have permission."
An Zi Ran immediately understood. In fact, it was a business license. "Are brothels and male brothels the same as gambling houses?"
Fu Wu Tian said, "No, although the nature of the two is similar, the authorizer is different, only local officials need to approve."
Unexpectedly, Da Ya was stricter in this regard.
As they walked and talked, they arrived before a casino without realizing it. The outside of the establishment was very clean, and there was a faint noise coming from the inside.
Just as An Zi Ran was debating whether or not to go inside, two hired thugs suddenly threw a person out the door. That person fell right in front of him.
One of the thugs spat in his direction. "You don't have money yet you dare to cause a scene in the casino? Look well at what kind of place this is. Be more mindful next time!"
After that, the two turned back to the gambling house and ignored the person.
An Ziran looked down at the person who was thrown out. He couldn't help but arch his eyebrow. It was the brother of the brother-sister pair they saw outside the Beautiful People Building not long ago.
The man climbed up from the ground, wiped the corner of the broken lip, muttered darkly 'bad luck,' and got ready to leave. He suddenly found that An Ziran was watching him and said, "What are you looking at, huh? Never seen… Ah!"
The man had not finished speaking yet when he let out a miserable shriek. He cradled his mouth and fell on the ground again. Blood seeped out between the gaps of his fingers. There were subtle cracking sounds as if some bone was broken.
The murderous weapon that had struck the man slammed into the steps of the gambling house, rolled along the ground, and stopped moving. It was a piece of silver.
An Zi Ran turned his head and looked at Fu Wu Tian. Unexpectedly he also had this skill!
Fu Wu Tian came over and took his hand. “Let’s go in and take a look.”
The two did not pay attention to the man on the ground, nor did they bother to pick up the silver. It was stained with the man's saliva. Just thinking about it was gross. And they did not lack for money. After the two of them entered the gambling house, a quick-witted little beggar seized the opportunity to snatch up the money and took off with it.
The man who fell on the ground also noticed that he was struck with a piece of silver. Although he didn't know what was going on, when he saw the little beggar scoop up the money and run off, he could care less about the injury to his mouth.
"You stinky beggar! Return the money to me!"
The little beggar ran very fast. The man just broke a bone. He had trouble breathing and could not catch up at all. Seeing his appearance, the little beggar actually stopped and stuck his tongue out at the man.
The man got extremely angry. He disregarded his injury and strove to catch up.
But no matter how fast he ran, he could not match up to the little beggar. Not long after, he lost sight of the little beggar.