Madman!

Chapter 48: A Natural-Born Business Genius

Chen Wujun hopped down from the ring and tossed his gloves aside.

"Didn't control my strength well enough. How is he?"

"That elbow hit pretty hard. He'll need a few days to recover." Cun Bao glanced at Tommy Boy before answering.

Tommy Boy still hadn't recovered—most likely a hairline fracture.

Chen Wujun dug around in his pockets... He only had a little over five hundred on him. He handed it all to Cun Bao. "Buy the boys some tea. I'll have someone bring more money later—the medical bills are on me."

Cun Bao took the cash and tossed it to Saliva and Magic Lamp. "Well? Aren't you going to thank Jun?"

The way Chen Wujun handled things gave Cun Bao face both inside and out, leaving him with a favorable impression.

"Thanks, Brother Jun!" Magic Lamp and Saliva pocketed the money, their moods noticeably lifted.

"So, need any more sparring partners? If you want another round, I'll have to step in myself!" Cun Bao offered.

"In a few days, I really will need your help!" Chen Wujun nodded."When the time comes, I'm betting everything I've got on you!" Cun Bao clapped Chen Wujun on the back.

Chen Wujun left the martial arts gym, his heart still aching a little over the money.

He simply didn't have much.

Those tens of thousands stashed at home were hard-earned, every cent soaked in blood and sweat.

'Training in martial arts requires both money and power. You need influence—only then will these New Arts practitioners agree to spar with you. Otherwise, who'd bother? If you're not part of an organization and just show up out of nowhere, you'll get jumped on the spot.'

'But influence alone isn't enough either. Unless your power is so great that everyone's trying to curry favor with you, you still have to offer benefits. Sparring inevitably means injuries, and each session costs at least one or two thousand between treating the guys to tea and covering medical bills.'

'Or I could hide my identity and go pick fights with people from other gangs. But that only works once or twice—do it too often and it falls apart.'

'If we were at war with another gang, though, I could march right up to their door with full justification.'

'Right now I only have a tiny bit of influence. I can't go around stirring up trouble. Once I'm stronger and my power base is bigger, I can find any excuse to kick someone's door in, and they'll have to apologize to me and pay for my troubles.'

Chen Wujun quickly formulated his approach.

For now, he could only spend money to find sparring partners. Once his influence grew, he wouldn't need to pay anymore—others would be paying him.

'Still, there's an upside to this. Give and take builds real relationships. When you need help, people actually show up.'

Over these past days, Chen Wujun had been getting closer to both Ah Hao and Cun Bao, and the relationships were developing smoothly.

He returned to his place first to grab some cash, then walked along Longjin Street to the gambling den. Chen Wujun pushed the door open. Inside, only a scattering of gamblers remained.

"Brother Jun!" The underlings all rose to their feet.

Chen Wujun sensed low morale among them. He surveyed the nearly deserted den, then pulled Ah Fei aside.

"How's business been lately?"

"Not great." Ah Fei glanced at the few gamblers in the room. "Wen Long's den used to sell Wolf Drug and Number 4 on the side. Since we don't deal in that stuff, those customers stopped coming. On top of that, several of Lidong's gambling dens nearby have been giving out free snack platters, drawing crowds. The customers have all gone over there."

"Those few in here? They're plants we brought in to warm up the place. It's a bit better at night, but we're still not making money."

Chen Wujun's brow furrowed at the news.

The gambling den determined his income.

And if the den wasn't profitable, he couldn't make his payments to Shark Jiu, which would make him look bad.

They hand you a business to run, and after a month you've got nothing to show for it—what are people supposed to think?

Even if his senior sister said nothing, others certainly would.

He had to turn this place around.

Chen Wujun sat down to the side, his mind racing. He didn't know much about running a business, but he'd seen enough to have some idea.

Besides, his horizons had been broadening rapidly these days, sharpening his thinking. As he mulled over the gambling den's problems, ideas began flooding in.

After long deliberation, Chen Wujun spoke. "They're giving out snack platters? We'll give out money. Gamblers will skip meals before they stop chasing their losses. All they think about is winning it back."

"Anyone who loses in our den gets a 15% rebate in the form of credit vouchers. They can use them to keep betting, trade them for snacks, or even spend them on women."

"I'll talk to Karen later. We'll settle up with her through the den's accounts."

"I remember there's a job board in the Walled City where people look for work every day. Tear down the postings from that board, then set up a new board right next to our den with all those job listings on it. Those people might not gamble, but where there are crowds, some will inevitably wander in."

"Step out of the den and you've got a job board right there—when you think about it, we're actually doing them a favor!"

"Also, set up some micro-stakes tables. Two bucks gets you a seat. Let's heat this place up first."

Gambling dens in the Walled City came in several tiers. The highest tier was exactly the kind Chen Wujun ran now—a major den with an entry fee and a minimum bet of ten dollars per hand.

These major dens lined the main streets.

The most common type, however, were the tiny low-stakes joints where a few dozen dollars could last you all night.

Chen Wujun was certain these moves would bring the place to life.

"Brother Jun..." Ah Fei hesitated before speaking. "The gamblers aren't just losing to the house—a lot of them are losing to each other. When you factor it all in, our house take is only 8%. With a 15% voucher rebate..."

"They can't cash those vouchers out. It just means a few extra rounds of play. Plus, we can require that vouchers only cover a portion of each bet. Say someone wants to wager ten bucks—the voucher can only cover five, so he still has to dig into his own pocket. If he's tapped out, the voucher carries over to next time."

"They're going to gamble regardless—if not here, then somewhere else. But here, their vouchers offset their losses. Why wouldn't they come?"

"Same thing with the women. Vouchers cover half."

"Only for snack platters and the like can vouchers be redeemed at full value. But those gambling addicts couldn't care less about food."

The more Chen Wujun thought about it, the more brilliant his plan seemed.

He suddenly realized he was a genius—with a real knack for business, too.

"Do it the way I said. Get this place buzzing first."

"And remember—we don't encourage anyone to gamble. They're all here of their own free will."

"Got it!" Ah Fei thought it through carefully and agreed the plan was viable. Then he grinned.

"Brother Jun, who knew you had a head for business!"

"You've gotta use your brain out here! Otherwise, what's it for? Making you look taller?" Chen Wujun tapped the side of his own head.

Then he fished a wad of cash from his pocket and handed it to Ah Fei. "Get this to Cun Bao."

With his instructions given, Chen Wujun headed home.

Over the following days, his routine remained the same: train during the day—go home for dinner—head to Ah Yue's place for a second meal—practice on the rooftop—go back and "eat up" Ah Yue.

Meanwhile, the daily job seekers in the Walled City arrived at the usual job board only to find several tough-looking young men tearing down the postings.

"What are you doing?" someone couldn't help but ask.

"The job board's been moved. Head east along Lung Tsun Road, about 150 meters. You can't miss it," one of the tough youths explained.

"Why move it when it was perfectly fine here?" A young man looking for work wore a puzzled expression, grumbling under his breath as he followed the directions.

He soon discovered the job board had been relocated to the mouth of an alley, where a crowd was already jostling for a look.

"What's the point of moving it here? Everyone's crammed together—you can barely turn around," the young man muttered.

Then he glanced to the side and realized a gambling den sat right next door.

"Why'd they move the job board next to a gambling den?"

...

A few young men spotted the crowd gathered around the gambling den. After asking around, they immediately scoffed.

"That guy's den is dead as a doorknob, and he's so desperate he's pulling stunts like this. You can't make this stuff up."

The group headed to Jindi Finance, turning in the money they'd collected first.

"Ji Xiang, we got Niu Zhao's debt recovered."

Then one of them leaned on the desk. "Ji Xiang, guess what we saw on the way back?"

"Jun's gambling den has no customers, and you'll never guess what he did." Their faces were lit with mocking schadenfreude.

"He moved the job board right next to his den!"

"Now there's a mob outside the front door, but inside? A ghost town. Not a soul."

"Those laborers looking for work—even if they wanted to gamble, they'd hit up one of those little joints where a few dozen bucks lasts all night."

"The guy's grasping at straws!" Ji Xiang chuckled, a hint of derision in his heart. He didn't give it a second thought.

"Alright, get back to work."