Ita Era

Chapter 6 Peach Blossom Village (Part 4)
After being hit twice by Ding Shi, A Cai spoke fluently: "Village chief, he, he knows magic."

There was a roar of laughter.

Ah Cai, his face flushed with anger, cried out, "It's true! Ah Wang and I saw it with our own eyes. He took our family's wood-chopping knife in his left hand, and suddenly the knife disappeared into thin air. When we caught up with him, he conjured the knife out of thin air again."

Players know these are item cards, skills exclusive to each player, but in Ah Cai's eyes, they are just sorcery.

The village chief said, "Impossible. There are no demons or monsters after the founding of the People's Republic of China."

Ding Shi reminded him: "Village Chief, we are in the Ita World, not on Earth. The local currency unit is 'dao', not 'yuan'."

The village chief thought this made sense and looked at Li Si warily: "Do you have any explanation for this?"

Li Si laughed and asked, "Isn't it just a wood-chopping knife?"

Village chief: "We're talking about sorcery now."

Li Si said, "Didn't the system block your perception? You are just NPCs; these are our players' skills."

Li Si looked at Ding Shi and said, "He can do it too, just like any other player. It's not some kind of sorcery."

Ding Shi argued, "I don't know how, I'm just a college student." Damn it. Trying to shift the blame and drag everyone down with him.

If a powerful alien came to Earth and took out a gold bar from space, would Earthlings automatically ignore the sudden appearance of the gold bar? Of course not, and Ita never mentioned the words "game" or "player".

The villagers and village chiefs could accept the idea of ​​ghosts and gods, but they didn't have the concept of players. Of course, they believed Ding Shi, since normal people wouldn't believe Li Si's explanation.

The village chief said, "Put the knife down first."

Li Si asked, "And then?" If returning the knife would settle the matter, he was willing to return it.

After a moment's hesitation, the village chief said, "Since you took Ah Cai's wood-chopping knife, it would be better if you left our village."

Someone chimed in, "We don't welcome thieves in Peach Blossom Village." He didn't believe in sorcery, but it was a fact that the woodcutter's knife was in Li Si's hands and that Li Si had taken Ah Cai's knife.

"Yes, yes." Some people are more inclined to believe in sorcery than not. Now that there's a reason, it would be best to get rid of the person.

Li Si looked around and saw that the villagers were quite unfriendly to him, so he gritted his teeth...

Ding Shi received a system message: Li Si has transferred two dao to you. Click to receive.

Sure, you've got the money; it's most likely stolen. Villagers can't see their personal system interface, and players can't see other players' system interfaces either.

Ding Shi accepted the money without hesitation and said, "Village Chief, I don't think he used sorcery."

The village chief asked suspiciously, "What is that?"

"Magic." Ding Shi rubbed his hands together, blew on his left hand, and a ball of earthworms appeared in his hand, which immediately startled everyone. Several young wives and girls who did not like soft-bodied animals screamed in fright.

Ding Shi raised his right hand to attract attention, then blew on his left hand, revealing only an earthworm inside. At this moment, a child exposed Ding Shi's magic trick: "There was an earthworm on the ground; he secretly threw it away."

Ding Shi chuckled and said, "This is magic, not some kind of sorcery."

The village chief believed him somewhat, after all, the 10% satisfaction rating was there. He hesitated, then said, "But the machete..."

Ding Shi whispered in the village chief's ear, "Village chief, we're short-handed for night patrols. Everyone's wary of him now; he can't steal anything. Rather than letting the thief go, let him do more work. If you really don't trust him, just search him before he leaves Taoyuan Village. The sacrifice is the most important thing, village chief." The village chief agreed wholeheartedly, nodded, and said, "Li Si, if you return the wood-chopping knife to A Cai, I'll trust you this time. But let me make this clear: if your hands and feet aren't clean, we'll break them."

The village chief wasn't joking. In those days, it was very common to catch thieves and beat them to death or maim them. Some were even thrown into rivers or cesspools to drown. The authorities couldn't catch them at all because thieves often appeared at market days. The people in the market would surround the thieves, and with everyone throwing punches and kicks, it was impossible to tell who killed the thief.

The reason the villagers only stopped them from attacking, and the reason the village chief was previously so amiable, was because they were worried about the so-called sorcery, not because they were afraid of thieves.

Li Si was a smart man, and he immediately returned the knife and apologized.

Ding Shi, the lackey, waved his hand and said, "Everyone, disperse."

The village chief looked at the departing crowd and nodded with satisfaction, then instructed, "Xiao Ding, come to my house for lunch, don't forget."

The village chief's satisfaction rating is 13.

Dispute task completed, rating A, earned 0.9 dollars.

Ding Shi was still thinking about the book "On Ghosts" in the library. He went up the steps and was heading towards the library when the village chief, who hadn't gone far, shouted, "Little Ding!"

Ding Shi quickly walked to the village chief's side: "Village chief, I'm here."

A woman standing next to the village chief said irritably, "Go and keep Aunt Wang company."

Ding Shi was shocked, and even more shocked when he saw Aunt Wang with her pockmarked face. Ding Shi immediately whispered, "Village Chief, isn't this inappropriate? It's immoral."

The village chief sighed and said in a low voice, "Aunt Wang has a real thing for this kind of food, she's too addicted. It's alright, I'll have my daughter-in-law bring you lunch."

Ding Shi's pupils dilated instantly. It was only a little past nine o'clock. Lunch? How long were they going to play? And his daughter-in-law was bringing him food? What did that mean?
Ding Shi hurriedly said, "Village Chief, whether I have morals or not is one thing, the key is that I have taste." If it were Haitang, it wouldn't be impossible, after all, she doesn't have a boyfriend, and he doesn't have a girlfriend, so there's no moral pressure.

The village chief thought for a moment, then took out a five-dollar bill from his pocket and slapped it into Ding Shi's hand: "It's on me."

Five rolls of toilet paper? Am I that cheap?

While Ding Shi was arguing with the village chief, Aunt Wang said impatiently, "Stop dawdling! My two female companions are getting annoyed waiting. Are you going to do it or not?"

A cold sweat trickled down Ding Shi's temples, and he suddenly understood why Li Si had stolen the wood-chopping knife.

He knew he couldn't do that, so he started considering the possibility of knocking Aunt Wang unconscious with a stone and running out of the village.

The village chief patted Ding Shi helplessly and said, "If you lose, it's on me; if you win, it's on you."

"Huh?" The village chief expected to win? Where did he get his confidence? Hadn't he heard of oxen dying from exhaustion?
When Ding Shi finally understood, he was already sitting at the mahjong table, cursing inwardly: "Damn it, can't we talk things out properly? We're only one player short, it scared the hell out of me!"

……

Aunt Wang introduced Aunt Li and Aunt Zhang, explaining the rules of mahjong, which use the Japanese scoring system. These included riichi, ichisai nissou, sansai tongsou, hunsai, qingsai, and so on.

Ding Shi really knew. Back when he was a petty thug, he managed an arcade for his gang. The arcade had mahjong machines, specifically Japanese-style mahjong. But playing against the computer wasn't just about skill and luck; the owner could adjust the odds, usually between 60% and 75%. For example, at 60%, if you bet 100 chips, the machine would give you 60. It was a losing proposition, yet it attracted many who considered themselves the chosen ones.

(This is not about stocks, absolutely not about stocks, please don't take it personally.)
When Ding Shi confirmed it was a regular mahjong table, not an automatic shuffling table, the three aunties became three easy targets in his eyes. He had managed gambling dens for the gang and had caught many cheaters. To sabotage his rivals' gambling operations, he learned many cheating techniques and practiced them in his spare time.

(End of this chapter)