Chapter 8: The Gambling Addict Liu Dazhu

‘New mission: Find out why Wang Zhengyi refuses to go to school.
Reward: 50 points + 1 lottery spin.’

This time, the system had gotten smarter. It no longer revealed the rewards directly—when the rewards didn’t interest the host, she had zero motivation to do the task. Turning the prize into a random draw made the host far more eager to complete missions.

Hearing the familiar voice, Xiaojiu asked, “What kinds of things can you win in the lottery?”

The system replied: ‘No idea. Depends on your luck. The prizes are random.’

It was true—compared to fixed rewards, Xiaojiu was way more interested in a mysterious draw.

Determined to complete the mission quickly and claim her lottery spin, Xiaojiu glanced at Wang Zhengyi. Thinking back to her own school days, the answer seemed obvious: the kid simply hated studying.

So she declared, “He definitely just hates school. That’s why he won’t go.”

‘Please take the task seriously and stop making assumptions,’ the system said coldly before going offline.

Xiaojiu puffed up her cheeks in frustration.

She really didn’t want to investigate… but she really wanted to spin that lottery wheel.

So she turned to Da Ya and A Dou and said, “Let’s go to town tomorrow.”

A Dou perked up instantly, beyond excited. “Go? Go?! Yes, Village Chief, I want to go!”

Da Ya thought for a moment, then couldn’t help asking, “Village Chief, do you have money?”

In her mind, going to town meant spending money. People in the village only ever took the ox cart to town when they had things to buy. Normally, everyone just stayed in the village. In fact, in her whole life, Da Ya had only been to town once.

Xiaojiu honestly shook her head. “Not right now. But I’ll have some soon.”

She was super confident. After all, her candy was one-of-a-kind—way tastier than anything in town. She was sure she could make money.

“What are we going to do in town?” Da Ya asked.

Xiaojiu pointed to the little red panda pouch she always carried. “Sell candy. I’ve still got a bunch. I’ll take it to town and sell it to the kids there. I bet they’ve never tasted anything like mine.”

Hearing that, both Da Ya and A Dou’s eyes lit up. Of course! The Village Chief’s candy was delicious—of course it would sell.

From a distance, Zhao Hu saw Da Ya and A Dou clustered around the Village Chief chatting, and instantly panicked.

He rushed over and shoved his way between them, grinning obsequiously as he said to Xiaojiu, “Village Chief, whatever you need, just tell me—I can do it! I’ll do it well!”

Zhao Hu was determined to become the Village Chief’s right-hand man! These two had sneakily taken advantage of his absence to steal his spot as top bootlicker.

Hmph!

Luckily, he’d caught on early.

So their little huddle of three became a group of four, whispering and plotting.

After finalizing their money-making plan for town, Zhao Hu finally asked in a pitiful voice, “Village Chief, why did you give candy to them but not to me? Is it because you don’t like me?”

Xiaojiu: ?!

She was speechless.

“I didn’t see you!” she replied.

Zhao Hu thought: You totally saw me several times yesterday!

Hmph. It was clearly Da Ya and A Dou—they were always sticking close to the Village Chief, stealing his spot.

Xiaojiu quickly took a few pieces of candy from her pouch and handed them to Zhao Hu.

Then she asked, “Do any of you know someone who knows the road to town?”

Zhao Hu unwrapped a candy and popped it into his mouth. Muffled by the sweet, he said, “Liu Dazhu knows. He used to go to town all the time to gamble. Wow… this candy smells amazing… and it tastes so good!”

Zhao Hu had often heard his parents say that Liu Dazhu was a clever man—but his cleverness hadn’t been used in the right places. All the money he earned went into gambling. He was almost thirty and still no girl was willing to marry him, making him the village’s most eligible bachelor for all the wrong reasons.

Xiaojiu thought it was a good idea. “Then let’s go find Liu Dazhu and have him take us to town tomorrow.”

The group went to Liu Dazhu’s house. Only he and Granny Liu lived there. According to the villagers, Liu Dazhu had been adopted by Granny Liu and raised by her ever since he was little. In his younger years, he’d wanted to make a lot of money to give Granny Liu a better life, so he tried his luck at the gambling dens. But instead of getting rich, he got addicted and lost everything.

They knocked on the door, and after a long while, Granny Liu finally opened it. Seeing it was the village chief and a few others, she hurriedly invited them in.

“Granny Liu, is Brother Dazhu home?” someone asked.

“Yes, yes, he’s inside sleeping,” she replied. Then she called loudly into the house, “Dazhu! Dazhu, wake up! The village chief is here!”

Following Granny Liu inside, they saw Dazhu lying on a wooden bed, snoring loudly. Granny Liu quickly nudged him awake. “The village chief is here. Get up!”

Xiaojiu looked at Liu Dazhu seriously and asked, “Dazhu, are you still gambling these days?”

In Xiaojiu’s mind, gambling was a terrible thing. She’d heard one of the village aunties say that in the neighboring village, a man named Mazi had gambled away his entire family fortune. He even sold his son and daughter to other people. His wife ran off with another man, and Mazi himself had two fingers chopped off by debt collectors. He now lived a life worse than death.

She didn’t want anyone from her village to end up like that.

Liu Dazhu was startled awake by the question. He jumped up from his stool and waved his hands frantically. “Chief, I don’t gamble anymore—really!”

He had seen Mazi’s fingers being cut off with his own eyes. It had scared him so badly he didn’t dare gamble again.

“Good. If you gamble again, I’ll have the clan head kick you out of the village,” Xiaojiu said firmly. As the chief of Taoyuan Village, she had that kind of authority.

Liu Dazhu nearly dropped to his knees. “Chief, I swear I’ve stopped gambling. If you don’t believe me, ask my mother!”

Granny Liu finally spoke up. “Village Chief, it’s true. He hasn’t gone near the gambling den lately. Just been sleeping at home every day. If he gambles again, I’ll tell you and you can kick him out!”

Liu Dazhu didn’t know whether to sit or stand—he was completely bewildered. Why had the village chief come all the way here just to warn him about gambling?

Seeing that he didn’t look like he’d return to his old habits, Xiaojiu was satisfied. “Tomorrow we need to go to town. You’ll take us, okay?”

“I can’t, Chief. If I take you out of the village, the clan elders will think I’m trying to sell you off to a gambling den. They’ll never agree to it.” Liu Dazhu knew he wouldn’t do such a thing, but he also knew the whole village wouldn’t trust him.

“That’s easy. I’ll have my dad come along too,” Zhao Hu said casually. “You’re familiar with the town, Brother Liu—you just lead the way.”

Since they put it that way, Liu Dazhu couldn’t refuse.

Xiaojiu and the others confirmed the departure time with him, then said their goodbyes to him and Granny Liu.