Chapter 577: Let the Show Begin
Chapter 577: Let the Show Begin
Lin Xuan Qi got temporary labor to be the workers in charge of the tickets and ushering of the crowd.
As for the bookmaking, he got some of the staff from the retail stores to be in charge of it.
He was more comfortable with them being involved with the money.
While he was at it, he also asked the rest of the retail staff to man some makeshift stores at the arena to sell the soap and other products.
Then, it was time to get his food franchise involved.
Sima Long and the others including Old Heng and Master Chew were invited to set up food carts at the surroundings of the arena.
He even allowed them to have other stalls of their own to increase the variety of things that the spectators could have.
Sima Long and the others were more than happy to be invited.
Being able to make something out of the tournament was an extra bonus for them.
There were many who had arrived at Hong Feng City for it and their sales in the franchise stores rose due to it.
And this made them anxious to be involved as the days went by.
With everything settled, Lin Xuan Qi was able to let out a sigh of relief.
What was left for him was to wait for the tournament to start.
...
The day for it arrived after a few days when the arena was finally completed.
Lin Xuan Qi was at the ticketing booth in the morning to see how it went.
The tickets were sold at thirty copper coins each and there were premium rooms with seats that sold for a tael of silver each.
The capacity of the arena was three thousand so he expected to make some money back if it was able to be at full capacity.
"Master Lin, would they be willing to pay for this?" One of the workers asked, as this was something that had never been done before.
Even the workers tending to the food carts weren’t too confident they would make much money for the day.
But Lin Xuan Qi was confident in it.
Old Feng had been hyping the tournament up at the inn and the words spread quickly.
"Here they come." He glanced into the distance and pointed at the path leading to the arena.
"Where? I don’t see any." The workers couldn’t see as far as he could and it took them a while before they saw crowds of people coming towards the arena.
Some were on foot while some were on their horse carriages.
"Get ready. Remember your training and do what you are supposed to do." Lin Xuan Qi said and the workers who were crowded around him nodded their heads.
They scattered back to their positions to get ready for the crowd.
"Look, there’s some rice noodle soup and spring rolls."
"There’s also more over there."
"Let’s get something to eat first. I’m hungry after traveling all the way here from the city."
Some of the crowd saw the food carts and they bought something to fill their stomachs.
Others went over to buy the tickets to get into the arena.
They weren’t used to spending money for something like this but it was a once-in-a-lifetime experience for them.
Most of them paid for the thirty copper coins while the young masters and young mistresses who could afford it paid for the premium rooms.
"Thank you for the purchase. If you would like to wager on the matches, there’s a booth right over there."
The worker selling the ticket pointed at a booth to the side and said this when one of the young masters finished buying his ticket.
"I can make a bet? Interesting." That got the young master intrigued and he quickly went over to check it out.
There was a board with the matches for the day and the odds for each match.
"Just what I want." The young master smirked when he saw the odds for the opening match.
It was a match between Sima Yi and Lu from the Qing Feng Sect with the odds at one to three for them respectively.
He didn’t hesitate and paid a wager of a tael of silver on Lu to win.
After all the rumors he had heard about the Sima Family, he thought that it would be dumb of him to bet on the Sima Family winning.
"Who did you bet on to win?" Other young masters who had come over asked and he replied, "Who else but the Qing Feng Sect?"
"Yeah. That is what I’m going to do." The other young masters nodded their heads and queued up to place their bets.
All of them except one or two stubborn ones bet on the Sima Family’s competitor to win.
Lin Xuan Qi saw everything and he was glad that things were working out as he had thought.
More and more of the crowd arrived and there was soon a long queue of people trying to buy the tickets and place their bets.
And out of the crowd of people, he finally saw two familiar faces.
It was Lao Er and Ling Er.
No one paid them much attention and everyone else went past them without giving them a look.
Lin Xuan Qi would have liked to go up to them and give them more Spirit Stones if he could.
But he couldn’t.
The members from the Sima Family, Qing Feng Sect and the other sects and clans arrived.
He ushered them into the arena and led them to their respective seats.
Each of them was seated far apart from the others so that he wouldn’t have to be constantly on high alert just in case they broke out into a fight.
Even though the atmosphere at the arena was like a carnival with the crowd chattering and enjoying their food, the stakes were high for the Sima Family, Qing Feng Sect and the others.
One match lost meant that they would have to shoulder the consequences from it.
Finally, when the competitors for the first match were ready, Sima Yu went up to the competition stage to give his opening speech.