Card Room

Chapter 42 - Financial Crisis 2: Ways to Make Money

They finished lunch and it was just before noon. The three people left the restaurant and looked around the city.

The hot noon sun was hanging overhead and the streets were almost melting. Their feet touching the ground was hot and Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang wearing sweaters frequently attracted the attention of passersby. Xiao Lou felt they were going to be sun-baked and hurried with Group Leader Yu to find a clothing store in order to buy cheap and cool summer clothes.

Shao Qingge was wearing a long-sleeved shirt and also bought a set of short-sleeved shirts.

They changed clothes and Xiao Lou counted the balance in his pocket. He had 185,000 gold coins left.

After entering the secret room, A of Clubs had sponsored 100,000 gold coins per challenger, which was equivalent to 1,000 yuan. In a world with normal prices, they would have no problem surviving on this amount for a week. if they were a good saver, they would even last half a month.

The financial crisis wouldn’t break out until tomorrow morning. The challengers had all of today to be prepared.

The roadside small supermarkets, cigarette and alcohol stores and 24 hour convenience stores were open. Xiao Lou went in to look at all types of goods and his mind automatically converted the gold coins to yuan. One bottle of mineral water was two yuan, meaning the prices were normal.

In any case, there was still an abundant amount of time. Xiao Lou whispered in Yu Hanjiang’s ears, “We should follow Shao Qingge to see how he makes money.”

Yu Hanjiang had no opinion and together, they went with Shao Qingge to find an underground money house.

The best way to inquire about local news was to ask a taxi driver. Most taxi drivers would warmly introduce the city when encountering foreign tourists. The street was too hot and the three people simply stopped a taxi, getting inside to experience the blowing air conditioner.

Xiao Lou politely said, “Master, we are foreigners. Please take us around the city so we can become familiar with it.”

The driver smiled. “Hello! Would you like me to recommend some special snacks to you?”

Xiao Lou told him, “No need.”

They didn’t come here for sightseeing.

The driver took the three people for a ride. They stared out the window intently as they became familiar with the environment.

The world of 3 of Spades was a small city. The main roads were four cross-shaped roads: East Street, West Street, South Street and North Street. There was a central square at the intersection of these four streets, as well as a department store and ‘Big Cross Supermarket.’

The four main roads were two-way, four lane roads and were very wide. The other streets were two-way single lanes that connected to the four main roads. The entire city was square and easy to recognize.

The driver enthusiastically introduced the place. “The prices here are the lowest in the world, life is very leisurely, the pressure on young people is low and 80% of the mortgage can be paid off with the surplus from wages.”

Shao Qingge pretended to casually ask, “Are there no underground money houses, casinos or similar places?”

The driver snorted. “No! We are suitable for old age care here. At most, the old ladies set up a few tables of mahjong. If you want to gamble, you can go to the City of the Moon. There are many rich people there and very professional large-scale casinos.”

Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang glanced at each other. They hadn’t expected to get so much information from riding a taxi.

City of the Moon? Xiao Lou couldn’t help asking, “What is the City of the Moon?”

The driver turned to look at him in disbelief, as if he was a monster. “The world’s largest city, you don’t even know this? Where did you come from?” His expression seemed to be saying, ‘The three of you have never seen the world.’

The trio who were being despised, “......”

They really didn’t know. Not only were they foreigners, they were also aliens.

Xiao Lou replied cheekily, “The conditions at home aren’t very good and us three brothers usually don’t go outside. This is our first time.”

“Oh, no wonder. The City of the Moon is a good place. A big city with tens of millions of people is prosperous but the prices there are very expensive. It should be three or four times this place. Still, if there is a chance, you should go and look.”

A concept suddenly flashed in Xiao Lou’s heart: a main city.

This world had a gamer’s main city?

He chatted with the taxi driver, inquiring about things like local prices, wages, house prices, etc. before getting off new the downtown supermarket.

Xiao Lou opened his mouth. “The City of the Mon is likely to be the challengers’ main city or the &#k2018;central capital’ of the secret rooms world. Since the driver dared to reveal the information to us, this shows that it isn’t a secret.”

Yu Hanjiang said, “We temporarily can’t go there. Later we will find opportunities and perhaps there will be people we know there.”

Xiao Lou made a sound of agreement and glanced at Shao Qingge. “There are no casinos. Mr Shao, what is your plan?”

Shao Qingge looked up at a skyscraper not far away and narrowed his eyes. “It seems I can only go back to the old business.”

Xiao Lou reacted quickly. “Buying stocks?”

The place where Shao Qingge’s eyes were focused was a building with the words ‘Stock Trading Centre’. In addition, his occupation was a trader so Xiao Lou naturally thought he would use professional means to make money.

However, there wasn’t much time until the stock market crashed. Wasn’t there only half a day left?

Shao Qingge saw Xiao Lou’s doubts and explained, “I have to figure out fi the stock market in this world is the same as the real world. If it is a T+1 trading system then it is too late. If it is T+0, there is still room to play. Would you like to go and see?”

Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang glanced at each other before following.

They didn’t understand stocks but this world had a stock trading market and when they entered 3 of Spades, they were given the tip that the ‘stocks would plummet at 8 o’clock tomorrow morning. Perhaps Shao Qingge’s expertise would come in handy in this economic secret room.

The three people entered the stocks hall and saw many residents engaged in stocks trading.

Shao Qingge directly looked for a computer and observed the rise and fall curves of several stocks on the screen. Then he went to ask the staff some questions before going to Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang.

He spoke in a light voice, trying not to attract the attention of others. “The stock market here is the T+0 trading system, similar to the US stocks in the real world. It can be bought and sold on the same day. The stocks can be shorted and there is no limit on the amount of the transaction and the number of times.” He turned to look at the wall clock. “The closing time is five in the afternoon and there are three hours left.”

Xiao Lou asked, “Does that mean you can buy some stocks that have gained a good momentum and sell them before closing to earn money?”

“Yes, I have t’ make ‘fast money’ now. This means finding stocks that are stable and fast-moving. By holding a lot of rising stocks and selling them quickly, I can earn some money.”

Xiao Lou thought about it. “Your initial capital is 100,000 gold coins and there are three hours left. How much can you earn?”

Shao Qingge observed the stock market curve. “Doubling it should be no problem.”

Xiao Lou, “......”

This person’s expression was very confident as he stared at the stocks curve, his entire body glowing with a type of light. Xiao Lou glanced at Yu Hanjiang and whispered, “Do you want to give him some money to try?”

Yu Hanjiang replied, “You decide.”

The financial power was in Xiao Lou’s hand and Yu Hanjiang was completely insensitive to money anyway.

Xiao Lou smiled and handed half of the gold coins in his pocket to Shao Qingge. “Then do you want to help us speculate on stocks?”

“No problem.” Shao Qingge smiled. “However, I am a brother who knows how to settle accounts. I don’t want to owe you anything and you don’t want to owe me money. For the money that I help you earn, the profit will be split 4:6. I want 40% of the hard work.”

“Okay.” Xiao Lou readily agreed and gave him 100,000.

As long as he could make money, giving him 40% of the profit wasn’t a loss at all.

Shao Qingge quickly registered an account on the stock market and used a public computer in the hall to log in. His hands and fingers flew as he tapped on the keyboard. In the blink of an eye, he bought a lot of stocks. Each share he bought wasn’t much but he quickly picked out the stable stocks from the massive trading market. This guy was truly a professional and his eyes were sharp.

The Card World’s stocks could be bought and sold on the same day. The total number of transactions of a single account was also unrestricted, which gave Shao Qingge great convenience.

Xiao Lou looked at the various red and green curves on the computer screen and got a headache. He said, “Mr Shao, you are busy and we will come back before closing. We will first go to a nearby place to find a place to settle down.”

Shao Qingge looked back at Xiao Lou. “Aren’t you worried that I will run off with the money?”

Xiao Lou stared back with mild eyes. “I believe that Mr Shao is a smart person.”

Shao Qingge and Xiao Lou stared at each other for a moment, lips slightly raised. “You go and come back before 6 o’clock. I will invite you to dinner.”

Xiao Lou turned and left with confidence.

As they walked out of the trading floor, Yu Hanjiang asked doubtfully, “Do you trust him so much?” Although Yu Hanjiang also felt that this person wasn’t courageous enough to take their money. After all, they had repeatedly refreshed the world record and their names announced. Anyone who was smart would know it was better to make friends and have a long-term cooperation with them instead of offending them over 100,000 gold coins.

Xiao Lou spoke softly, “Shao Qingge, have you heard of this person before?”

Yu Hanjiang frowned for a moment before concluding, “I don’t know.”

Xiao Lou explained, “He is Chief Shao of the Tianhuan Fund. At a young age, he personally created a very large fund company and became the entrepreneurial representative of Jiang. His name often appears on the news of the financial channel.”

Xiao Lou added, “I am usually a bit concerned with financial management so I saw him several times on TV. that’s why I dared to give him our money. I believe that with his knowledge, he won’t dare covet our small amount of money. He wants to make money from trading stocks in this world and it won’t harm us to ride off him.”

Yu Hanjiang was thoughtful. “No wonder why your expression was somewhat wrong when you heard his name.”

Xiao Lou laughed. “That’s why when I heard his name, I thought we could lie down in this secret room and win.”

Yu Hanjiang knew how cool it was to lie down and win.

If Shao Qingge really doubled their money, wouldn’t clearing the instance be much easier?

Just... this was the Spade secret room. Was it really that simple?

Yu Hanjiang always felt that there would be other things in addition to the financial crisis.

Of course, it was important to find a place to live first.

***

There was a five star hotel in the city centre and this was naturally affordable.

They looked for accommodation in the surrounding area and found a small inn with a good environment. It was two storeys high and the double standard room with a kitchenette and bathroom only needed 10,000 gold coins a night. It was good quality and cheap.

Today, they ate lunch and also bought two sets of clothing. They spent nearly 20,000 and gave 100,000 to Shao Qingge. This meant that Xiao Lou still had 80,000 left.

He went to the front desk. “Boss, give us a standard room. We want to stay here for a week.”

The boss was a middle-aged uncle who was slightly fat. “Okay, there is only one left. I will give you a preferential price!”

Xiao Lou wondered, “Can I pay for the week all at once?”

“We receive the payment by day. Our city’s wages are also paid by the day.”

It was a daily basis and this was definitely a big pit. Once the financial crisis broke out, prices would rise across the board and gold coins would depreciate day by day. People who didn’t have much savings would fall into the abyss in an instant. Maybe even food and clothing would become a problem.

Xiao Lou suggested, “If I pay directly for a week and give you an extra 10,000 gold coins, is it okay?”

The boss looked at him incredulously. “Give me an extra 10,000? Handsome guy, did you make a mistake?”

Xiao Lou replied with a good temper. “We are out of town visitors and it is too much trouble to find a hotel. We like the decorations of your place and want to settle the accommodation at once. Is it okay?”

Giving an extra 10,00 was a good thing and naturally wasn’t a problem. The boss readily agreed. “No problem, the accommodation fee is 80,000 a week.”

Just then, a voice was heard from behind them. “Boss, do you still have a room available?”

Xiao Lou looked back and saw it was actually the hooded boy who lined up at the bank today.

The other person had changed into refreshing short-sleeved shirt and shorts and he carried a guitar behind him. He was surprised after seeing Xiao Lou and then moved his gaze away, staring seriously at the boss.

The fat boss smiled. “Yes, it is the last room and I will give you a preferential price!”

Xiao Lou, “...”

Didn’t he say there was only one room left?

This was just like a clothing store on the street. It would repeatedly play ‘Last three days, clearance processing, price sale’. The result was three days later, it was still shouting ‘Last three days, clearance processing.’ Then one month later, the clothing store was still standing.

It was estimated that every time a guest arrived, the boss would say ‘the last room.’

A free person in the Card World really didn’t have credibility.

Xiao Lou seriously had doubts. If he gave money for seven days, would this boss take back his words? Therefore, he stated, “Boss, we will pay seven days first and give us a receipt. This means the seven-day accommodation fee has been settled.”

The boss nodded “Good! I will do this for you!”

The Card World’s residents didn’t know that the financial crisis was about to break out. In the boss’ opinion, it was normal for Xiao Lou to get a receipt.

The body next to them heard this and spoke softly, “That, I will also live for seven days. Please give me a receipt as well.”

The boss said, “If you pay for seven days, the price will increase and you have to give me an extra 10,000 coins. Right now, the rooms are very tight. I don’t know why there are so many foreign tourists today. Are you discussing it together?”

Xiao Lou and Group Leader Yu glanced at each other.

There were many foreign tourists. Perhaps there were many challengers in this inn.

This was the cheapest local hotel in the area. Xiao Lou glanced at the hooded tee and the other person quickly turned away.

Once he finished his check-in, the boy hurried up the stairs with a small suitcase in his hand. It was unknown what he bought but Xiao Lou didn’t care. Since this was a temporary concentration camp for challengers, it was fine as long as a person didn’t commit crimes.

However, the boy hadn’t been carrying anything at the self-service machine and in the blink of an eye, he had a guitar. Had he spent his money to buy a guitar? It looked very old and was perhaps from a second-hand market.

Xiao Lou whispered in Yu Hanjiang’s ear. “This guy, does he want to go to the street to play the guitar and earn money?”

Yu Hanjiang nodded solemnly. “It is possible.”

Xiao Lou thoughtfully touched his chin. “It is a good idea.”

Many north drifters loved music and relied on this type of street singing to earn living expenses. Shao Qingge was a stock trader and could make a large amount of money in a short period of time. The hooded teenager could play the guitar and sing, earning small amounts of money little by little.

Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang glanced at each other and found they didn’t seem to have any special talent in making money.

The two people had to go upstairs silently.

In the Hearts and Diamonds room, they directly refreshed the world record. In the Spades room was a pure fighting room, Yu Hanjiang wasn’t afraid. However, encountering such a secret room that needed to be resolved by money, the two people really had a headache.