Reborn in the red age

"Beep~beep"

A burst of rapid beeps ended, and the flashing lights on the screen stopped. The points in the upper right corner were reset to zero, which meant that Li Qingfeng had lost all the 100 coins he had bought for 50 yuan.

Li Qingfeng, who was a little drunk, came to his senses, raised his wrist to check the time, touched his chin and murmured softly: "The odds set by this boss are a bit low. It's only been more than 20 minutes, and I've already lost all 100 coins."

Turning around to ask the spectators behind him, he learned that the machine had not paid out the jackpot for several hours this afternoon. Li Qingfeng thought that according to the odds, the jackpot should be coming soon, so he called the boss to exchange the coins for fifty yuan.

"Beep~beep"

"Come again"

"Beep~beep"

"Hey, shit, why aren't you coming yet? Come again."

After losing nearly three hundred yuan and seeing the machine show no sign of spitting out coins, Qingfeng Li's face darkened.

Damn, this boss is a bit shady, setting the odds so low.

Looking at the last 3,000 points in the upper right corner, Li Qingfeng thought for a moment and felt that he should teach this black-hearted boss a lesson.

He bet all 3,000 points on the 'BAR' with the highest odds. When the machine started to work, Li Qingfeng knocked hard on the casing of the slot machine a few times.

In the early days, due to the crude circuits, they were prone to malfunction when hit hard, such as spitting out coins directly, or having a certain chance of winning a jackpot.

There was a "click" sound from the slot machine, and the marquee stopped accurately on the 'BAR' icon.

'BAR' is the highest jackpot with a payout of fifty times on slot machines. After hitting it, you can run one more time, which is commonly known as running a train.

The grand prize was announced and the music started to blast, attracting the attention of everyone in the small room.

The ticker on the page continued to flash, hitting the 'BAR' icon several times in a row. The multiples added up to a terrifying effect.

"Oh my, brother, you're the winner."

"Brother, how much money do you have?"

The crowd was even more excited than Li Qingfeng, the winner. They looked envious and asked Li Qingfeng excitedly.

Li Qingfeng shrugged and said casually, "Not much. I bet 3,000 points. I should be able to win a few hundred dollars this time."

Just at this moment, the points settlement was completed, and the points won were displayed on the panel in the upper left corner.

The crowd watching behind was in an uproar again, and their eyes turned red when they saw the 450,000 points calculated on the machine.

The bald man heard the noise and hurried over. When he saw the astonishing winning amount on the screen, his face turned a little ugly.

Li Qingfeng saw the bald man coming in, pointed to the points waiting to be settled in the upper left corner, and said with a smile: "One coin is 100 points, and the recycling is 900 cents per coin, a total of yuan, please settle it."

"Brother, you just won the jackpot. Now is your time of good luck. Let's play for a while," said the bald boss, rubbing his hands with a cunning gleam in his eyes.

"No, Boss, my luck has run out today, and I don't want to give up my winnings again."

Li Qingfeng sneered in his heart, forget it, with the odds you set, if it weren’t for my buddy’s tricks, I wouldn’t even be able to recover my costs.

The bald boss was displeased to see Qingfeng Li's firm attitude, but he continued to persuade him without giving up:
"Brother, you have no courage now. Look at your momentum just now. If you play a few more times, you might win more. Gambling luck is like a gust of wind. You have to take advantage of the wind to make more money."

"No thanks, just settle the bill, I want to go home."

Under the watchful eyes of the crowd, no matter how reluctant they were to let Li Qingfeng go after winning the money, they could only convert the points on the account into cash according to the rules.

Painfully, he counted out nine hundred yuan from his wallet and reluctantly handed it to Qingfeng Li.

If it was a local, the bald man would not even blink an eye when giving the 900 yuan. After all, the odds of the machine are there. He is not afraid of you winning money, but he is afraid that you will not come.

As long as you come again, the money you win will be lost back sooner or later.

However, Li Qingfeng, a foreigner, is obviously one of those players who will not come back after winning money.

"Thanks"

Li Qingfeng took the money, put it in his pocket without counting it, and walked away without any reluctance.

Before getting in the car, Li Qingfeng glanced at the sign hanging on the other party's door, curled his lips, and drove away.

After leaving, Li Qingfeng did not call the police. Slot machines are legal these days and are classified as game machines, so they can be operated openly.

Even if you report the other party to the police for gambling, it will be useless because the police station will not accept it.

It was not until more than a decade later that this thing was clearly identified as a gambling tool and was cracked down by the authorities.

When Li Qingfeng returned home, Hu Jiabao had already woken up and was negotiating with the technician who came to install the air conditioner.

Seeing Li Qingfeng coming back, he said unhappily: "Didn't you say you would wait until I woke up before talking to me? You acted so quickly."

"Go early and install it early, you won't even know what time it is when you wake up"

Li Qingfeng shrugged and handed the ice soda he had bought when he went upstairs to the installation masters.

After a brief chat with his master, Qingfeng Li looked around the house and asked curiously, "Where are my parents and the children? Why aren't they at home?"

"Where have you been? Why is there such a strong smell of smoke?" As Li Qingfeng approached him, Hu Jiabao quickly covered his nose, took two steps back, and looked at Li Qingfeng with a frown.

"Oh, I passed by a game room and went in to play a few games."

"Those are places for kids. How dare you go there, at your age?"

"What's there to be embarrassed about? Let's have fun."

After avoiding the smell on Qingfeng Li, Hu Jiabao rolled his eyes at Qingfeng Li. "On the first and fifteenth day of the lunar month, the two kids woke up and clamored to go out and play. My parents took them out for boating."

Li Qingfeng nodded in understanding, and stepped forward to help the master who climbed out to install the external unit to pull the safety rope.

The Hu family’s house is on the third floor, and when installing the external unit, they need to go to the outer wall to install the external unit rack.

These days, construction work is not standardized and the protection measures for workers are not complete. When working at heights, people in the house have to pull the nylon ropes tied to the workers.

After a lot of trouble that made Li Qingfeng feel scared, the air conditioner outdoor unit was installed without any problems. Looking at the installation masters who were working hard, Li Qingfeng felt a little uncomfortable and stuffed 100 yuan into the hands of each of the two masters as hard work fee.

The two masters were stunned at first, then quickly declined.

One of the older masters said, "Comrade, this is not acceptable. We are paid by the shop, so how can we ask you for money?"

I sighed in my heart at the honesty of the workers these days and forced the money into the other party's hand.

He said sincerely: "Master, your job is too dangerous. Just consider this little money as a token of my appreciation. You can take it and go out for a nice meal in the evening."

Under Li Qingfeng's insistence, the two installation masters finally accepted the money.

After thanking Qingfeng profusely, he packed up and left.

In the evening, after having fun all afternoon, Fifteen, covered in mud, was brought back by the old couple. Hu Jiabao looked at Fifteen with disgust and sent him to the bathroom to take a shower.

The old couple went out for an afternoon and when they came back they found that the air conditioner in their bedroom had been replaced. After looking at the brand of the air conditioner and estimating the price in his mind, the father-in-law went to the room to get the money for Li Qingfeng.

There was no way Li Qingfeng could take the money, so he started arguing with his father-in-law about the money.

Seeing that Li Qingfeng really didn't want it, Hu Yuanshan turned his attention to the two children and divided the money into two parts, giving one to the first and the fifteenth respectively.

This time, Li Qingfeng did not stop him. He had no reason to stop his grandfather from giving money to his grandson.

Li Qingfeng agrees very much with the idea of ​​raising boys in poverty and girls in wealth, and he usually follows this principle when educating his children at home.

Chuyi, who grew up under this family education concept, has seen a lot of money. She never handed over the New Year's money she received. In addition to a small treasury in her room, Hu Jiabao also opened an account for Chuyi in the bank.

It is said that over the years, she has saved tens of thousands of yuan, making her a wealthy woman.
As a wealthy woman, she didn't have any special feelings about the two thousand yuan. She just thanked her grandfather politely and then casually put the money into her small bag.

Fifteen, who had just come out of the shower, was different. His eyes were shining and he held the two thousand yuan tightly in his hand.

Upon seeing this, Hu Jiabao immediately took out twenty yuan from his pocket and wanted to exchange it for Fifteen.

As a poor guy with only a hundred dollars in his piggy bank, how could he be willing to exchange such a large sum of money after finally seeing it?

Fifteen hid the money behind him, his mind racing, thinking about how to keep the two thousand dollars.

Fifteen couldn't think of a good solution after thinking about it, so he looked up at Hu Yuanshan pitifully and said, "Grandpa, is this money for me?"

"Now, it's all in your hands. Of course it's for you," Hu Yuanshan said kindly, touching Fifteen's wet head.

"Then can I control it myself, and not give it to my mother?"

Hu Yuanshan shook his head and spoke earnestly, "This...this fifteenth, you are still young now. Although grandpa gave you this money, you don't have enough ability to manage it. Now, you should give the money to mom and let her keep it for you. When you really need something, discuss it with mom and let her buy it for you."

"No, the money is not mine anymore after I hand it over."

"How could it be possible that your parents would be greedy for your little money?"

"Why not? When I was a kid, my dad pretended to be unemployed and swindled all my money away. I asked him for it but he refused."

As soon as Fifteen's words came out, the old couple, who were unaware of the inside story, were stunned. They turned their heads and looked strangely at Li Qingfeng, who was sitting on the sofa watching the fun.

Being looked at by the old couple with such strange eyes, Li Qingfeng smiled awkwardly: "Hehe, just kidding, just joking with Fifteen"

"How can you cheat children out of their money for fun? You're such a big boss, and you still lack those little things?" the mother-in-law said speechlessly.

"No, I'm just teasing Fifteen. While the child is still young, you shouldn't lie to him too much. Once he grows up, you won't be able to lie to him anymore." Li Qingfeng said this with full of confidence.

"."

Despite Shiwu's strenuous struggle, the money ultimately could not escape the fate of being forcibly replaced by Hu Jiabao.

Fifteen watched helplessly as her mother took away the two thousand yuan, leaving only the twenty yuan in her hand. She curled her lips, sighed deeply, and looked up at the ceiling at a forty-five degree angle, trying hard not to let her tears fall.

The old couple saw that Fifteen was about to cry and were about to comfort him, but Li Qingfeng, who was standing nearby, quickly stopped them.

He gave Chuyi a wink, and Chuyi immediately understood.

He took out a ten-dollar bill from his pocket and waved it at Fifteen: "Fifteen, I want to drink an iced Coke. Go to the store downstairs and buy me one. The rest of the money is your errand fee."

"Okay, I'll go right away."

The tears that had not yet flowed out of her eyes were held back by this sudden surprise. She excitedly snatched the ten-dollar bill, opened the door and ran downstairs.

Listening to the footsteps going away, Chuyi shrugged at the old couple who hadn't reacted yet: "See, it's that easy to control a brat like Shiwu."

"."

The night of his return was uneventful. Only Hu Jiadong came with his family, saying that he had booked a banquet at a Shandong restaurant outside, and as the elder brother-in-law, he wanted to welcome Li Qingfeng, his younger brother-in-law.

Li Qingfeng had no objection. He was not used to the overly sweet Gusu cuisine, and he didn't want to eat the leftover Gusu cuisine from lunch, so he agreed immediately.

It was their son's suggestion, and their son-in-law had agreed, so the old couple didn't know what to say. After simply packing up, they followed him downstairs.

Anyway, we have a refrigerator at home, so if we don’t eat the leftovers today, they won’t be wasted tomorrow.

Hu Jiadong had become wealthy in recent years, so he was naturally not stingy at Qingfeng Li's welcoming banquet. He ordered a large table full of dishes, which made his mother-in-law scold him.

There were so many dishes that the family couldn't finish them all. When they paid the bill and left, Hu Jiabao and his sister-in-law each carried a bag of dishes.

"Brother, do you know about fruit machines?"

As they were walking out of the restaurant, Qingfeng Li suddenly had an idea and asked Boss Hu next to him about the slot machines.

Hu Jiadong was stunned, obviously not expecting Li Qingfeng to ask this question. After he realized what was going on, he quickly said, "I know. People from Taiwan made this. It's been a few years. It was first popular in the Special Administrative Region, and now it's spreading across the country. In the past two years, quite a few of these machines have flowed into Shanghai."

"Oh, you seem to know a lot about it. You're not selling this machine, are you?" Li Qingfeng looked at Hu Jiadong in surprise and asked doubtfully.

"This thing is completely a gambling machine. How can I do this business?" Hu Jiadong waved his hands and explained:

"I have many clients who are from Hujian. I also heard from them that the people of Hujian dare to do any business, and they are also united. Fellow villagers bring fellow villagers. I heard that the people of Hujian are about to monopolize the slot machine industry in the Special Administrative Region."

After listening to Hu Jiadong's evaluation of Hu Jianren, Li Qingfeng laughed in his heart. What's the point of monopolizing the slot machine industry in the Special Administrative Region?
In less than two years, they will be able to monopolize the electronic gambling machine industry in Shanghai. (End of this chapter)