Chapter 45: Heartless

“Look at your steady posture. It seems that you are confident?”

Master Zhou took a sip of tea, holding half a tea stalk between his teeth as he spoke for the first time.

Xu Yi said, “I do not have a winning ticket, but I am open-minded. Since I cannot run from it, why not deal with it head on?”

“Then you still gave your kid 1000 Gold to bet that you would definitely win!”

“Master, think about it. If I lose, I will definitely die. There is no use leaving this money behind. If I somehow manage to emerge victorious, how can I let this opportunity to earn money go to waste?”

“Haha…good lad. Facing adversity head on, respect!”

After laughing, Master Zhou held the tea up and drank it. He said, “Now it seems that my worries are for nothing. Not only is your kid brilliant, he is also courageous. You can sit quietly and predict the outcomes. Why not share your worries with me?”

The glistening tea was poured into the porcelain cup once again as the smoke rose up. Xu Yi put the pot down and smiled. “I do not have any plans. Just use my strengths to compensate for my shortcomings.”

“I am relieved.” Master Zhou nodded. He said, “Some people have been struggling for half their lives and have yet to win a fight, but you have won it with your words. Initially, I was a little worried that you would not be here for the second half of my life. I feel a huge burden off my chest now.” After speaking, he stood up shakily as he mumbled inexplicable words under his breath and strode out.

Not long after Master Zhou had left, Yuan Qinghua came in dripping with sweat and placed one hand on his waist and squeezing a foot of thick paper in another hand.

He placed the stack of paper on the stone table and held the tea pot, infuriated. He then opened his waist pouch, took out two black tickets, scanned them, then placed one of them in front of Xu Yi. “Sir, I have already bought them. 1200 Gold placed on Yi Shenbu winning, with 2 to 1 odds.”

“Why are there two black tickets?” Xu Yi remembered that Yuan Qinghua’s original ticket was red.

Yuan Qinghua said, “Sir, you have no reason to ask this. Ask around Guang’an; am I one who is disloyal? Since you have already placed your life on the line, why would I not spare another 30 gold? I have already become your bookie. After getting the money, I place my faith in you. Take it as I am rooting for you.”

These generous words were actually hidden with meaning. The reason he turned and betted on Xu Yi was not because of loyalty, but after careful consideration, he was determined to be bolder.

Who was his boss to him? Although they barely knew each other, Yuan Qinghua knew him well.

This was definitely a guy who was calculative and haggled over every penny. He was definitely careful and could not afford to lose a little.

Seeing that the battle of life and death was imminent, this person sat firmly on the fishing platform and said nothing. However, he dared to spend thousands of gold to bet on him winning. If there were not a 90% chance of winning, who would do it?

In a nutshell, the reason why Yuan Qinghua turned was not because he knew that Xu Yi’s cultivation skills were profound, but it was to suppress Xu Yi’s unparalleled mind.

With regards to Yuan Qinghua’s calculations, Xu Yi could clearly see it. He secretly praised him for his extraordinary knowledge and showed a thumbs up.

Yuan Qinghua ignored Xu Yi as he grabbed the stack of paper and piled it in front of Xu Yi. “Sir, now is not the right time to pretend you are a celebrity. Going to the ring is a battle of life and death. Gao Pan has survived this eight times, and this is definitely not just based on luck. This is the information I’ve attained from Gao Pan’s past qualifications and news that I’ve found from his past eight fights.”

Talking business terms, Xu Yi was the boss and Yuan Qinghua naturally did not want him to lose and end up losing his life.

Speaking of personal relations, he could not let his rice bowl go down the drain. What’s more, he had bet heavily on Xu Yi. Although he believed in deceiving the boss, he definitely would not make a joke of his life. However, he had the ability of a man to increase the odds of the Business owner and bet on his own. Furthermore, this would increase his chances of winning, and he was naturally happy to do it.

“It has been hard on you. Let’s take it slow. Go and rest. The second room on the left is yours.”

After speaking, Xu Yi took the information and stood up.

At that moment, they returned to their rooms.

When he got to his room, Xu Yi threw the pile of information into the trash.

It was not that he was arrogant; it was about his self-confidence. He was confident that this terrifying body of his that had been tortured for the past two years would meet all the challenges of the forging period.

Furthermore, he had shocking defense power of a crocodile hide.

After closing the doors and windows, Xu Yi’s eyesight was amazing. He did not need to turn on the lights. He just took out the crocodile skin and rubbed it for a moment before it turned into various shapes in his hands.

Originally, he also thought about turning this crocodile skin into a set of leather armour. Who knew that this battle was so imminent.

Fortunately, although it had yet to become a set of armour, he thought of a way that was useful.

After glancing for a while, he retracted the leather material into the pouch, threw himself onto the bed, calmed himself down, and instantly fell asleep.

He fell into an extremely deep sleep, and the hours passed. He opened his eyes and stood up and stretched out before opening the window. He saw Uncle Mu holding a cane, slowly walking down to the flower pond.

Little Qiu was kicking a shuttlecock. The colourful shuttlecock flopped around on her small legs and lingered like a rainbow. It landed without much sound.

The sun was just right, and the air was clear. Taking a deep breath, one could smell the floral fragrance, and Xu Yi grew more fond of this tranquility.

If he was not so filled with hatred, he would not mind living on this plain site, feeling full, and truly enjoying the company of people.

“Boss, you have finally woken up!”

Yuan Qinghua, who had been squatting at the door and watching Little Qiu kick the shuttlecock, heard movement in the house and shouted. He carried a basin of water and toiletries and ran in.

Xu Yi first washed up, then went to get breakfast. Meat buns, rolls, dough fritters, pancakes, and fruits along with a carton of fresh milk. He asked for a lot at once as he was afraid that if he ate too little, he would have no energy to go up at noon.

This small gesture of his made the annoying Little Qiu rattle on.

Xu Yi did not hold back as he gobbled up the food. In an instant, all the food on the table, including the ten kilos of milk, had been swept up by him.

He had cleared all the food and lost a ten-gold ticket. He commanded Yuan Qinghua, “There is nothing to do. Go and find a better house and we will move over. This is a public place and would be uncomfortable to live in. In addition, we will hire a few more girls and an auntie. Although we have 3 meals a day, there is food in the store. Our masters also can’t handle the work at home.”

Although he had suffered a lot, Xu Yi was one who liked to enjoy life. Since he had the money and the qualifications, he was naturally willing to make himself comfortable.

Yuan Qinghua was in a daze for quite some time before reality hit. He did not know how to evaluate this boss of his. He was narrow-minded and did not have a big heart; he was simply heartless and inhumane.