He obtained the God of All Laws from human skin.

Chapter 21 The Errand Service in the Gambling House

Fifteen minutes later,

Xiao Wu ran in from outside the gambling den, panting heavily. Fine beads of sweat hung on his forehead, and his collar was soaked.

He was clutching a palm-sized bamboo tube tightly in his hand, with a ring of water seeping from the seal. Inside was the snow-foamed plum blossom wine.

"Coming, coming..." Xiao Wu ran out of breath, handed the bamboo tube to Qin Chuan, and bent over, panting heavily.

Qin Chuan took the bamboo tube, his fingertips touching something icy cold.

He uncorked the bottle, and a sweet aroma of wine mixed with a slight coolness wafted out, causing several gamblers nearby to sniff involuntarily.

He turned and handed the bamboo tube to the gambler: "Brother, try it, is this plum blossom wine?"

The gambler took it, sniffed it closely, a satisfied look on his face, tilted his head back and took a swig, letting out a comfortable breath: "That's the taste, no doubt about it. You've got a good job."

Qin Chuan smiled and glanced at the table in front of the gamblers. He had more coins than before, and his luck had been good in the last fifteen minutes, winning quite a bit more.

He thought for a moment, then asked, "Brother, it's not good to drink without something to eat. Are you hungry? Is there anything you'd like to eat? The price is the same as before, just a one-copper-coin delivery fee, I'll go get it for you."

The gambler, who was holding the plum blossom wine, paused for a moment upon hearing this, then laughed: "You've got a knack for business, kid."

He took a sip, sipped it, pondered for a moment, and said, "Wine without meat just doesn't feel right. Alright, go to Wang's shop at the next street corner and get me half a pound of braised beef and a sesame seed cake. Here's the money, extra for you."

He pulled out a handful of copper coins from the table, didn't count them, and slapped them directly into Qin Chuan's hand.

Qin Chuan took the copper coin and glanced at it out of the corner of his eye. There were at least thirty coins, more than enough to buy braised beef and sesame cakes, and he estimated that he would still have five or six coins left over.

He didn't even order, but handed it directly to Xiao Wu: "Go again, remember, Wang's shop, half a jin of braised beef, and a sesame seed cake. Go and come back quickly."

Upon receiving the money, Xiao Wu's eyes lit up, and he felt most of his fatigue dissipate. After responding, he ran towards the door.

Qin Chuan and this guy didn't hide their conversation from others, and many people at the gambling table had noticed it early on.

As the old man drank plum blossom wine from the bamboo tube, the sweet aroma wafted on the wind, causing several people nearby to swallow hard.

With the sun blazing outside and the gambling den stuffy like a sauna, who wouldn't want a refreshing drink to cool off?

A moment later, a gambler next to him finally couldn't hold back any longer and walked over.

The man, in his forties, with a protruding belly and sweating profusely, clutched a handful of copper coins and said, "Young brother, I also want to drink that plum blossom wine. Could you run errands for me?"

Qin Chuan glanced at him, smiled, and nodded: "Brother, the rules are the same. One copper coin for the errand, the drink is extra. Pay first, and I'll have someone go buy it. I'll stay here with you; I won't run away."

The portly gambler readily pulled out a coin. Seeing this, Qin Chuan didn't rush to send someone to run an errand, but instead called out, "Gentlemen, does anyone else want a pot of plum blossom wine?"

At this shout, several more gamblers ran over.

"Young man, give me a pot too."

"Me too, I want some too."

......

In just a short while, three or four people had gathered in front of Qin Chuan.

He agreed to each request, took the money, remembered the names, and then turned around to give the coins to Wang the Cripple.

Upon receiving such a large sum of money, Wang the Cripple was stunned for a moment, but then he reacted quickly, solemnly put the money in his pocket, and then ran outside.

Watching Wang the Cripple's figure disappear,

to be frank,

This was the first time Qin Chuan had ever seen a cripple run so fast!

......

Once they became familiar with the gamblers at the casino, Qin Chuan and his two companions were extremely busy.

Running errands only costs a copper coin, which is really cheap!

From noon to evening,

Qin Chuan led Wang the Cripple and Xiao Wu back and forth in the gambling den.

As darkness fell, lanterns were lit inside the gambling den.

Qin Chuan finally collected the last sum of money and led Wang the Cripple and Xiao Wu out of the gambling den.

The three men stood on the steps at the entrance of the gambling den, none of them speaking, just breathing in the fresh air.

after awhile,

Xiao Wu let out a long breath, rubbed his hands together, and leaned over expectantly: "Brother Qin, how much did we earn today?"

Qin Chuan reached into his pocket, pulled out the heavy money bag, weighed it in his hand, and gestured with his chin towards the two men: "Let's go, find a place and split the money."

Qin Chuan led the two through two alleys back to their residence. After lighting the oil lamp, he opened the money bag and poured the copper coins onto the table with a clatter.

Under the dim light of the oil lamp, copper coins were piled up into a small mountain, gleaming with a dark light.

Xiao Wu's eyes were wide open like copper bells, and his mouth was agape.

Wang the Cripple also came over, squinting at the pile of copper coins, his lips trembling slightly.

Qin Chuan calmly began to count, moving each one aside while silently counting.

Xiao Wu and Wang the Cripple didn't dare to breathe, staring at his hand, their eyes following the copper coin around.

After counting for a while, Qin Chuan finally stopped and gave a number.

"We worked from noon to night today and made a net profit of 137 coins."

Xiao Wu gasped, "One hundred and thirty-seven coins? For a day?"

Wang the Cripple was also stunned. When he was a beggar, he could get five or six coins a day if he was lucky, and nothing if he was unlucky.

One hundred and thirty-seven coins, enough for him to beg for more than a month.

Qin Chuan replied, "Of course we can't run that many. A lot of these are tips from gamblers. It's their first time doing this kind of business, so they're looking for something new and they have extra money, so they gave more than they should."

As they spoke, Qin Chuan counted out two bundles from the pile of copper coins and handed them to the two men: "Crippled man, Xiao Wu, forty coins each."

"Forty...forty coins?" Xiao Wu's voice trembled, and he reached out his hand only to pull it back as if afraid the coins would bite him. "Brother Qin, isn't this too much? We just ran an errand..."

"Take it." Qin Chuan pushed the copper coins in front of them again. "It's only right to get paid for work."

Wang the Cripple reached out and gathered the copper coins in front of him, touching them one by one as if to confirm whether they were genuine.

His eyes reddened again, but this time he didn't lower his head. Instead, he looked up at Qin Chuan and said in a hoarse voice, "Brother Qin, for the first time, I feel that this lame leg of mine is still somewhat useful."

"It'll be useful." Qin Chuan patted him on the shoulder. "We'll need it more when we run a lot more."

Xiao Wu had already stuffed the copper coin into his pocket, clutching his chest, grinning from ear to ear.

He looked at Qin Chuan, his face full of longing, and exclaimed, "Brother Qin, if we could earn this much every day, wouldn't life be wonderful? Forty coins a day, that's four hundred coins in ten days, four thousand coins in a hundred days, which is more than four taels of silver! I've never even touched a piece of silver before..."

As he spoke, his eyes lit up, as if he could already see piles of gleaming silver in front of him.

Qin Chuan took a sip of tea and calmly poured cold water on him: "Don't get your hopes up. You made a lot today because it was the first time. The gamblers were looking forward to something new and were on a winning streak, so they were generous with their tips. Once the novelty wears off, or when they start losing, you'll be lucky to even cover your delivery fee."

He counted on his fingers as he explained to Xiao Wu: "Think about it, out of today's 137 coins, dozens of them are tips. Those gamblers who win money are in a good mood and will casually tip you a few coins without a second thought. But what kind of place is a gambling den? Nine out of ten gamblers lose. Those who win money today might lose everything tomorrow. At that point, forget about tips, they'll even haggle over the delivery fee."

Xiao Wu's smile froze for a moment.

Qin Chuan continued, "Also, we're new faces today, so the gambling den's thugs didn't notice us. Once they find out in a couple of days, they might try to take a cut. We'll have to deal with them then and give up some of our profits. So, this amount today might not be available every day in the future."

Wang the Cripple sighed, counted the coins again, stuffed them into his pocket, and patted them: "Brother Qin is right. There's no such thing as a free lunch. We should be grateful for this one time."

Xiao Wu pursed her lips, still somewhat disappointed, but she had finally come to terms with it and nodded: "Then... then let's make as much money as we can while we can, save up some money, and won't be worried in the future."

Qin Chuan glanced at him, smiled, and said nothing more.

For Wang the Cripple and Xiao Wu, running errands was a lucrative business.

A few dozen coins a day is equivalent to more than half a month's worth of begging in the past. It's enough to eat and drink, and you can even save a little.

In their eyes, this was already an immense blessing.

But Qin Chuan knew in his heart that...

This was just the first step in his plan.

Running errands is just a way of testing the waters.