245: Nine out of ten gambling losses, not gambling is the best way to win

"Of course I'm taking it for real, did you think I was joking with you?"

Ye Su held the abacus in his left hand and used his right hand to flick the beads, making a [clatter], confirming that there were no issues with the abacus.

This time, even Wan Yuanliang could hear the sound of Ye Su's abacus.

Sitting back in his chair, Ye Su placed the abacus back on the table and asked, "I'll take this abacus; how much is it?"

"You're actually buying it?" Wan Yuanliang finally reacted.

"Otherwise what? Do you think I'm going to rob you or something?"

Seeing that Ye Su truly intended to buy this abacus, Wan Yuanliang was caught off guard.

In his impression, Ye Su was like a Pixiu that only took in and never gave out; every time he came, it was to sell something.

This was the first time he had made a purchase in his shop, allowing him to finally see some return money.

Could it be that this abacus had some secret that he couldn't see?

"Why are you buying this abacus?"

While asking tentatively, Wan Yuanliang picked up the abacus again, not very confidently, and examined it carefully, trying to find something special about it.

Unfortunately, even after staring at it until his eyes were practically blooming, Wan Yuanliang couldn't see any other secrets.

No matter how he looked at it, it was just an ordinary old abacus from the Republic of China era. What was Ye Su buying this thing for?

"What else? Just buying it to fiddle with."

Wan Yuanliang, however, was skeptical of this explanation.

He had seen plenty of people handling walnuts or prayer beads.

But handling an abacus? That was a first for him.

"Hey, tell your brother, does this abacus have any hidden secrets?"

After checking the abacus to no avail, Wan Yuanliang still couldn't believe Ye Su would buy this thing for no reason, so he had no choice but to ask him humbly.

Seeing Wan Yuanliang's actions just now, Ye Su knew what he was thinking. Hearing this, he shrugged:

"What kind of secrets could it have? It's just an ordinary yellow rosewood abacus from the Republic of China era."

"Really?"

In front of Ye Su, Wan Yuanliang had lost his usual confidence and asked uncertainly:

"Then you're really just buying it to handle for fun? Is this some new trend?"

Ye Su realized that he had been acting a bit too professional lately, which seemed to have given Wan Yuanliang some psychological trauma.

Seeing him like this, Ye Su had to make up another half-truthful reason:

"Actually, I took over a boutique Secondhand Shop yesterday and was thinking of getting something to work on the Feng Shui and such.

Before calculators, didn't everyone use an abacus when doing business? People even say, 'When the abacus clicks, gold flows in by the ten thousand.'

I just happened to see an abacus here, so I thought I'd buy it back to use as a decoration."

"So that's how it is."

Wan Yuanliang was clearly much more willing to accept this explanation.

It seemed this was just an ordinary abacus without anything special about it.

It wasn't because he was too unskilled that he couldn't see any secrets in it.

"You took over a boutique Secondhand Shop yesterday? Are you preparing to do business?"

"Just doing some small business. You saw it when you came to my place last time; I could only pile up the things I scavenged at home. It's better to have a shop so it's more convenient to sell things."

"Yeah, that's true."

Watching Ye Su, who was idly flicking the abacus, Wan Yuanliang asked:

"The boutique Secondhand Shop you took over yesterday, it wouldn't happen to be Boss Feng's [Echo Antiques], would it?"

Ye Su's hand paused, and he looked at Wan Yuanliang with surprise: "You know about this?"

"It really is." Wan Yuanliang took a sip of milk tea: "I heard his shop was taken over by someone yesterday; I didn't expect the person who took it over to be you."

"Your information really is well-informed."

Ye Su was actually a bit impressed by Wan Yuanliang.

He just watched the shop here every day, yet he was able to get wind of all sorts of gossip.

He could even get news about a minor matter like [Echo Antiques] being transferred.

However, this also proved from the side that [Echo Antiques] did indeed have some reputation in the secondhand industry.

Otherwise, no matter how well-informed Wan Yuanliang was, he wouldn't have paid attention to this matter.

"What's so well-informed about that." Wan Yuanliang dismissed it: "I just happened to hear about Boss Feng's family affairs, which is why I noticed his shop had been transferred."

"What's up with his family?" Ye Su asked curiously.

Judging from his contact with Feng Zhiquan over the past two days, he seemed quite reluctant about the matter of [Echo Antiques].

So Ye Su was curious about the reason why Feng Zhiquan had to transfer the shop.

It couldn't be something like someone in his family getting seriously ill and urgently needing medical expenses, right?

If that were the case, Ye Su's conscience would start hurting because he had haggled and pressured Feng Zhiquan into lowering the transfer fee by over 30,000 yesterday.

"What else could it be? He raised a 'good' son."

Fortunately, Wan Yuanliang's next words dispelled Ye Su's conscientious concerns.

"I heard his son, because of reckless gambling, owes a lot of gambling debts outside; it's said to be in the millions.

A while ago, the creditors came knocking, and that was when Boss Feng found out his son had been hiding a mountain of debt from the family.

So, to help his son pay off the debts, the old couple emptied out their life savings and even sold the shop in the end."

"So that's it."

Ye Su finally witnessed the harm brought by gambling.

Originally having millions in assets, even if not extremely wealthy, at least they could have been guaranteed a worry-free life.

Now that someone in the family got involved with the word "gambling," it almost caused the whole family to go bust, which really made Ye Su sigh.

Nine out of ten gamblers lose; not gambling is winning—it really is an eternal truth.

Ye Su felt that it would be best not to get involved with the word "gambling" in the future, otherwise no amount of money would be enough to lose.

Haven't you seen that certain mobile phone boss? Didn't he gamble until he lost his head and ended up gambling away a company with a market value of tens of billions?

Ye Su didn't want to work hard to build up a fortune of billions relying on the system, only for it to end up benefiting a casino.

Of course, for something like the [Lucky Dice], which required no cost to gamble, Ye Su was still very willing to have a go every day; it was beneficial to his physical and mental Health.

"If you really want this abacus, just take it for three thousand."

Wan Yuanliang didn't continue chatting about Feng Zhiquan's family affairs and brought the topic back on track.

This abacus was something he had bought for 2800 yesterday.

Selling it to Ye Su for 3000, back and forth, he was basically just working as a volunteer.

Ye Su didn't haggle either and nodded in agreement: "Deal, I'll transfer the money to you."

"Alright." Wan Yuanliang was tearful: "Finally, I've seen some return money from you!"

What Wan Yuanliang said was a fact, and Ye Su couldn't refute it, so he could only silently transfer three thousand yuan to him.

[Ding!]

Wan Yuanliang received the transfer, and the two completed the transaction.

As soon as the abacus was in his hands, the system's notification sound rang out.

[Congratulations to the Host for successfully purchasing the [Mysterious Surprise Item - abacus], gaining one opportunity to upgrade the [Item Appraisal] skill. Now beginning to upgrade the skill for the Host!]

[[Item Appraisal] skill upgrading, please wait...]

[[Item Appraisal] skill upgrade successful. Congratulations to the Host for unlocking the [Remote Appraisal] and [Monthly Subscription Service] features!]

"The skill has finally been upgraded!"

"Next, as long as I hire someone to watch the shop, [Echo Antiques] can open for business!"