Chapter 262: Song Qi

The skinny man was slightly stunned, as if pondering Qi Xia's motives.

Qi Xia had been holding his two "Le" fans up in mid-air for a while, and he said with a hint of impatience:

"How about it? I'm offering two for your one and a half. How long do you need to think about it?"

The skinny man was indeed troubled.

After all, the two identical fans Qi Xia was offering wouldn't help him escape at all.

"You... could you trade for a different one?" The skinny man pointed to the "Xi" on the ground and asked tentatively, "How about one 'Le' and one 'Xi'?"

"Of course not." Qi Xia replied without hesitation, "I make the rules in my deals. Take it or leave it."

"Ah?"

Qi Xia knew the man was extremely indecisive, so to get him to decide, he couldn't give him any time to think.

"Not interested? Fine then." Qi Xia nodded and started to put the fans away, but the skinny man grabbed his arm.

Having dealt with Qi Xia once before, the skinny man knew he was a man of his word and wouldn't back down, so he had to make a quick decision.

"I'll take it... I'll take it..."

With a hesitant expression, he pulled another fan from his pocket and handed it along with the damaged one to Qi Xia.

Qi Xia didn't hesitate either and handed over the two "Le" fans.

After receiving the fans, the skinny man nodded in thanks and then asked the crowd, "Is anyone willing to trade with me for one 'Le'? Any fan will do."

"Hey!" Qi Xia immediately stopped him.

"Ah?"

"Take your business elsewhere." Qi Xia waved his hand, "Not here."

"But... but there are more people here."

Qi Xia nodded and picked up the sharp knife from the ground: "Got it. I'll see you off then."

"Ah, no..." The skinny man was frightened, knowing this man could talk to the Cai Pan and wasn't someone to mess with, so he quickly turned and walked away.

Seeing him leave, Qi Xia breathed a sigh of relief.

After all, no one here would trade "Le" with him, and he would eventually figure that out.

With the onlookers falling silent, Qi Xia tucked the damaged fan into his pocket and picked up the other one to examine.

Everyone was gathered around, but Qi Xia only opened the fan a tiny bit.

Before anyone could see clearly, he snapped it shut.

Was it "Yun"?

No, it was a scheme.

It was another "Ai".

In everyone's eyes, every fan was worth five Dao, but to Qi Xia, they were different.

The damaged fan the skinny man had was a rare "Nu" on the market, and now this second fan was "Ai". The man had no idea he was secretly wealthy.

Trading two "Le" for one "Ai" and one "Nu" was like a windfall.

The man's fans were exactly as Qi Xia had predicted. That's why he had boldly come to trade—he was about to get out.

So, the fan he had left couldn't be "Le" or "Xi", or he wouldn't have traded and still left.

Since he offered a "Nu" for trade, his second fan had to be "Ai".

Qi Xia tucked the "Ai" into his pocket and placed the damaged fan on the ground.

Seeing Qi Xia set out the damaged fan, the crowd expressed confusion.

"Young man, why are you putting out that damaged fan?" an aunt asked. "What character was on that good fan just now? Show us!"

"Yeah, yeah!" several people echoed.

"Do I have an obligation to show you?" Qi Xia said coolly. "These are the two I have now. It's up to you if you want them."

The crowd looked down—one was the damaged fan, the other was "Xi"—and they all hesitated.

Qi Xia didn't mind. He took out some chalk and added a line on the ground:

"Damaged fan: Trade two fans for one."

Seeing this, the crowd thought Qi Xia had gone mad.

Who would trade two fans for one? That was as ridiculous as with Di Yang.

And besides, Di Yang at least had good fans.

As the onlookers gradually dispersed, Qi Xia took the opportunity to count the people left in the area.

Only twenty-two remained—unexpectedly, ten had escaped during his trading session.

Qi Xia had helped quite a few of them.

Without his stall, they probably would have had to wait another half hour to get out.

Those people had used up five "Ai", so at most, fifteen "Ai" were left on the market.

During his trading, Qi Xia had taken in two "Ai" from the market, and once they were in his hands, they couldn't re-enter circulation, so at most, thirteen were left.

Considering the trading situation, the number of "Ai" was probably far less than thirteen; otherwise, someone would have traded an "Ai" for other fans.

After all, for everyone, escaping was the best choice right now.

Both Di Yang and Qi Xia required two fans for a trade, so waiting longer served no purpose.

But why hadn't anyone escaped?

Where were they stuck?

Qi Xia wasn't in a hurry; he just sat quietly, waiting.

The remaining twenty people started chatting with each other, but as one group after another failed to form, everyone seemed to sense something was wrong.

A man in a leather jacket approached Qi Xia. He glanced at the stall and asked, "Bro, what character is on this damaged fan?"

Qi Xia looked down and carefully opened the damaged fan—it was a torn "Nu".

The leather jacket man raised an eyebrow and said quietly, "Can I make a deal with you?"

"Oh?" Qi Xia looked at him. "What kind of deal?"

"I'll trade you two fans, but after the game ends, you give me back five Dao from it."

Qi Xia stroked his chin slightly; he didn't find the proposal too hard to accept—it was a form of cooperation.

"Two questions." Qi Xia said. "First, it's two fans either way, so why not trade with Di Yang?"

"Because he definitely wouldn't give me the Dao back." The leather jacket man replied. "And I feel like you've been playing some tricks in this game, so you probably need fans more than Dao right now. That's why I want to work with you."

Qi Xia nodded and asked again: "Then how can you be sure I'll give you the Dao after we get out?"

"Because my name is Song Qi."

"Song Qi?" Qi Xia had never heard the name. "So what if you're Song Qi?"

"My reputation is enough to ensure a fair deal in Zhong Yan Zhi Di."

Qi Xia understood the statement had two meanings—it carried a hint of threat and a hint of fairness.

The man's tone didn't sound like a lie; he was probably a well-known figure in Zhong Yan Zhi Di, like Lin Geng.

"Alright, Song Qi, I agree." Qi Xia said. "If you're not lying, then this 'Nu' is yours."

"Straightforward." Song Qi nodded. As he turned to pull out his fans, he asked, "Do you have any specific characters you want?"

"Of course." Qi Xia replied. "I want 'Ai'."