Chapter 20: Drawing Lots to Fight

Seeing this, Chen Sheng grew a little anxious again. He wasn't stupid; he knew that if Liu Yong and his crew pulled any tricks, those pastries would get screwed over again. But right now Chen Sheng was waiting for Zhao Jin to speak up. He instinctively felt that Zhao Jin definitely had a plan.

"Everyone come draw a token from this clay pot. The black tokens and white tokens are both numbered one through thirty-two. After you draw, people with the same number fight each other. Once that's done, the thirty-two winners draw tokens again, black against white, all the way until the champion is decided." Zhao Jin kept shouting loudly from up there.

What Zhao Jin said was actually a bit complicated, and many of the boys couldn't wrap their heads around it for a moment. The area around the earthen platform fell somewhat quiet. Zhao Jin ignored that and shouted again, "Barehanded fighting. Knock your opponent to the ground and you win. No hitting after they're down, no striking the back of the head, no gouging eyes, no kicking below the belt. Hit any of those places and you lose."

A slight stir began among the boys below. A few whispered among themselves, then more and more started talking, and every boy's eyes grew intensely eager.

Zhao Jin looked down at the crowd, a smile spreading across his face. The intended effect had been achieved. He struck while the iron was hot and yelled, "Anyone willing to join the tournament, raise your hand!"

Without any pause, everyone scrambled to raise their hands. Zhao Jin set the clay pot forward and shouted, "Anyone who wants to join the tournament, come draw a token!"

With a roar, the boys surged forward. Mu Shulan and Chen Hong, who were standing beside Zhao Jin, hurriedly dodged backward. Chen Sheng was first startled by this fervent scene, then asked Zhao Jin in confusion, "Why didn't you say who's fighting me?"

"You come draw a token too. If you've got the skill, go win first place!" Zhao Jin shouted at Chen Hong. He had to shout, because the noise here was already deafening.

At least the authority Zhao Jin had earned yesterday by beating Liu Yong and kicking that runt still held, and the wooden sword in Chen Sheng's hand wasn't just for show, so order hadn't completely broken down. Still, a few steps in front of the earthen platform, jostling and even scuffling with each other was unavoidable.

Seeing this, Chen Sheng hastily reached into the clay pot and fished out a token. Zhao Jin also drew one from the pot. The tokens the two of them drew were both black.

With Zhao Jin and Chen Sheng both keeping an eye on things, the token drawing proceeded fairly smoothly. Though the kids in the goods yard looked numerous, there were fewer than a hundred, and not everyone was willing to fight in the tournament. Some were too young, some came from decent families, and some looked timid.

Liu Yong and his gang hadn't dared to come forward at first, but seeing that Zhao Jin wasn't stopping them, they all squeezed over and each drew a token. That stuttering Fatty Sun also pushed his way in and took a token.

At first, everyone had been very worried that the gangs of boys would control the tournament and turn it into their own private game. But drawing wooden tokens from that clay pot couldn't be rigged. Buddies who drew different colored tokens — moments ago they were friends and brothers, but the instant they saw the colors didn't match, the look in their eyes changed. They might very well end up as opponents.

Watching the heated atmosphere below, Chen Sheng was utterly stunned. In the past, he had hawked his pastries at the top of his lungs, but hardly anyone was willing to fight him. Why was the response so good today?

"Zhao Jin, what's going on here?" Chen Sheng asked, incredibly curious.

"You have to make every person feel like they have a chance to win, and then you set the grand prize to be incredibly generous." Zhao Jin explained with a smile.

Chen Sheng listened, half-understanding. What Zhao Jin was actually borrowing from was the concept of the lottery from later eras: a low barrier to entry, very little money needed to participate, an enormously rich grand prize — win it and your life changes. The rules were set up so that everyone felt they had a chance of winning, when in reality, winning was extremely difficult.

This tournament used a similar approach. Although he couldn't offer any huge prize, this many pastries were temptation enough for the boys. The token-drawing method made everyone feel they had a shot, and Zhao Jin had also specifically said to fight barehanded. Many kids thought Chen Sheng was only tough because he had that wooden sword and short club; empty-handed, their own chances were better.

There was another point: the actual act of drawing black and white tokens and fighting in a tournament was inherently fun. Everyone would have the desire to take part.

Even if this whole set of reasoning were laid out, Chen Sheng probably wouldn't get it. Right now, Chen Sheng was gleefully watching the crowd below the earthen platform, wondering who his opponent would be.

"When I call out 'one,' the two people holding that token step forward." Zhao Jin shouted from the earthen platform.

Two kids stepped out. As coincidence would have it, they were exactly two from Liu Yong's gang. These two were relatively tall and sturdy, both looking very confident. Before drawing tokens, the two had been laughing and joking around; after drawing, neither had a smile for the other.

He called out the numbers one by one. What made Zhao Jin not know whether to laugh or cry was that everyone could recognize one, two, and three, but not many people knew the rest of the numbers. Zhao Jin still had to write these numbers out on the side of the earthen platform for the boys to compare.

He had thought recognizing these numbers was perfectly normal. In that other life, even ten-year-old kids could mostly recognize them. But what Zhao Jin hadn't realized was that in this era, most people remained illiterate their entire lives; knowing numbers was a very remarkable thing.

Zhao Jin was deeply absorbed in his bustling work there, but he didn't notice that at the other end of the goods yard, two adults were watching this side. One was that servant from the Chen household, and the other was his uncle, Zhao Zhenxing.

"I never imagined your esteemed household's young master would be so clever and quick-witted. If I hadn't seen these methods with my own eyes, I could never have imagined a child could come up with them." The servant said very politely.

Zhao Zhenxing was also watching the goods yard. Hearing this, he answered with a smile, "What 'esteemed household'? Our Zhao family's good days have only been going for less than eight years."

The servant chuckled. Zhao Zhenxing continued slowly, "I know what you're implying with those words, but all these ideas of Xiao Jin's are his own. No one taught him. My elder brother and sister-in-law certainly don't have this kind of cunning, and as for me, I'm even more surprised than you are right now."

"Yesterday, the young grandson came back and told us about these methods. The household was busy until very late making them. Today, the Old Master ordered this humble one to come follow and take a look. It really wasn't a wasted trip." The servant said with a smile.

Zhao Zhenxing knew this servant was the personal attendant of Chen Sheng's grandfather, Chen Peng, and was now also the steward of the Chen household. The "Old Master" he mentioned was Chen Sheng's grandfather. Making black and white wooden tokens and bringing out so many pastries — the adults were bound to pay some attention and see what exactly was going on.

"The fighting's started." Zhao Zhenxing said.

The servant looked over and said with a laugh, "Young Master Jin's luck isn't too good. He's matched against a big kid!"

The token in Zhao Jin's hand was Black Number Five. When he called this number, a boy below also raised the token in his hand: White Number Five. Zhao Jin didn't know this opponent's name, but he had some impression of him. This boy was always hanging around with the kids who lived in Scissor Bend.

This boy was a bit taller than Zhao Jin and much sturdier, seeming about a year older. Seeing that his opponent was Zhao Jin, he spitefully spat on the ground. Over this period, Zhao Jin had knocked down Chen Sheng here and floored Liu Yong — his prestige was immense. Compared to this boy's reaction, everyone else breathed a sigh of relief.

The opponent Chen Sheng drew was a rather thin and weak little kid. That little kid wore a mournful face. Chen Sheng's expression wasn't good either; he had wanted to find a worthy opponent and have a satisfying fight.

That fatty surnamed Sun had also taken a token, and his opponent was Liu Yong. The two were about the same height, but Liu Yong was lean and tough, and usually aggressive and combative. Everyone figured Fatty Sun couldn't beat him.

Though the goods yard was large, to ensure fair contests, Zhao Jin currently had no way to start all thirty-two matches at once. They had to fight one match at a time. He drew a circle right beside the earthen platform as the arena. Everyone watched from there, so trying to cause trouble or cheat was impossible.

Zhao Jin kept looking up at the sky. He was getting a bit anxious. Practicing martial arts and learning combat was his top priority, and too much time had already been delayed now.

"Brother Xiao Jin, it's still early. Yesterday we left much later than this." Mu Shulan said crisply from the side.