Five minutes passed quickly.
A mechanical voice echoed from the ceiling:
"Number one starts exchanging balls. The exchange time is ten minutes. Within these ten minutes, you may make a ball exchange request with others. Please note, you can only request once from each person. You may end the exchange early by saying 'end'."
The elderly man who took number one trembled as he stood up, then suddenly kneeled in front of Yu Tu:
"Young man, please, have pity on my granddaughter who is on the sickbed. She is only three years old. Please, save her; give me two balls!"
Yu Tu sneered coldly in his heart. Would anyone pity you in front of death?
"If you feel comfortable kneeling on the ground, you can kneel longer. But old man, I'm only 29, and I'm in the late stages of lung cancer. Do you think I will pity you?"
Before Yu Tu could even say the word "no," the old man interrupted him, continuing to kowtow as he said,
"Please, you have more balls; you're going to die anyway. Since you have to give them away, giving them to me is the same, and you'll be doing a good deed. I swear by my granddaughter, I'll burn incense and pray for you!"
Yu Tu sneered, gritting his teeth:
"Haha, old man, I have no sympathy. No one cares for me when I'm sick, so why should anyone care for your granddaughter? The thought of your granddaughter dying makes me feel great! So, I refuse to exchange balls!"
Yu Tu refused, and the old man stood up in despair, adjusted his clothes, and sat back down, speaking to the ceiling:
"End, exchange of balls ends."
"Number one exchange ends, number two starts exchanging balls. The exchange time is ten minutes."
The tattooed man continued with his usual threats, and Yu Tu waved his hand dismissively: "I refuse!"
"You... I'll see what you do in the end! End, end the exchange of balls!"
"Number two exchange ends, number three starts exchanging balls. The exchange time is ten minutes."
The fashionable woman walked over, swaying her hips, and knelt on Yu Tu's legs.
"Good brother, I'll trade you two balls for two balls, okay? You can do whatever you want!"
I have to admit, the fashionable woman had a good figure: "Right here?"
"Right here~ Don't mind them."
"Haha, too bad, in front of death, these things aren't worth mentioning!"
The fashionable woman didn't give up: "We're all going to die anyway; let's have some fun. Whether you give me the balls or not, it's up to you."
Yu Tu looked at the fashionable woman in front of him. Probably, in real life, she had plenty of followers who would do anything for her.
Unfortunately, when faced with life and death, everything can be abandoned: "Haha, I'm not like that! I refuse!"
The fashionable woman's face changed drastically. This loser Yu Tu had been able to summon her at will before, but now, she realized, he wasn't the same.
However, knowing Yu Tu still had one more chance to exchange balls, she put on a forced smile.
"Alright, but brother, when you're giving balls away later, think about me. They can only offer you invisible promises, but I can deliver right now! Exchange ends."
"Number three exchange ends, number four starts exchanging balls. The exchange time is ten minutes."
Yu Tu disdainfully glanced at the fashionable woman and then saw the approaching old woman. His scalp tingled.
Damn, this old woman was bound to give a long speech. Before she could speak, Yu Tu quickly said:
"I refuse; I refuse to exchange balls. I'll divide the balls myself later!"
The old woman saw Yu Tu's firm attitude and sighed:
"Son, I'm about the same age as your mother, and my son is about your age. Please, have some compassion for all parents. Help me help my son. Exchange ends."
"Number four exchange ends, number five starts exchanging balls. The exchange time is ten minutes."
Everyone's eyes were fixed on Yu Tu. They all knew he had to divide the balls now. The fashionable woman even took off her outer garment, revealing her shapely figure.
Only the old man closed his eyes, furrowing his brow, as though he was thinking about something.
Yu Tu didn't hurry to exchange balls, lightly tapping the table with his fingers, running through his entire thought process one last time.
Half a minute later, under everyone's gaze, Yu Tu took three balls and held them in his hand: "I have three balls here; who wants to exchange?"
After asking, Yu Tu subtly made eye contact with number six, the man in glasses.
The man in glasses flashed a small smile and nodded in response.
Although he still didn't know what Yu Tu was planning, he knew these three balls weren't for him.
The tattooed man slammed the table: "Damn it, do you think we're all idiots? Whoever takes these three balls is dead! No one take them! At worst, we all die together!"
The old woman and the fashionable woman also showed disdain but remained silent.
Just as Yu Tu was about to continue speaking, the old man suddenly opened his eyes, exclaiming in surprise, "I'll exchange! I'll exchange!"
Yu Tu gave him an appreciative glance. At least he had fought for a chance at life: "So, number one, I'll exchange three balls for zero balls from you. Do you agree?"
"I agree!"
Yu Tu handed the three balls to the old man, who returned to his seat with a glimmer of hope, then closed his eyes again, muttering to himself as if praying.
The tattooed man roared, "Old man, you didn't take the three balls when I offered them before; now you're going to die? Fine, you sickly bastard, someone took three balls. Now, give one to that old woman; the rest we'll split equally."
The old woman immediately rebutted, "Why give me one? I don't want it! If you're going to give, give me two!"
The old man with his eyes closed smiled. Yes, if no one takes a single ball, then there's only one possibility: the one with 0 balls will die.
If 0 balls means death, then his three balls are probably safe. Although he didn't know what Yu Tu would do next, he could see hope.
The tattooed man started shouting again, assigning one ball to this person, then another to that person.
Yu Tu looked at the tattooed man and grinned: "Hey, bro, can we have a private chat?"
"A private chat?"
"Yeah, the rules didn't say we can't have a private chat, right? Let's go to the corner."
The tattooed man was overjoyed: "Great! We'll have a private chat!"
The fashionable woman and the old woman immediately panicked: "Brother!" "Young man!"
"Don't come over, okay? Whoever comes over, I'll make them die!"
The fashionable woman and the old woman were scared and retreated, not daring to anger Yu Tu at this moment, standing still without moving.
Only number six, the man with glasses, showed a pleased smile. He figured out what Yu Tu was planning to do. Regardless of what happens, he would come out on top!
Now, it was up to Yu Tu's silver tongue.
In the corner, Yu Tu whispered into the tattooed man's ear,
"I'll give you four balls!"
The tattooed man immediately grew angry: "Do you think
I'm an idiot?"
Everyone heard that outburst, and Yu Tu gestured for the tattooed man to be quiet, then continued softly:
"Don't rush. Let me explain."
"Go ahead."
"First, look, I'm number five, and there's also number six. If
I give you four balls, and number six asks you for two, then you're set, aren't you?"
"But why would number six ask me for two balls?"
"After you take four balls, I'll give three balls to either number three or number four. Let's assume I give them to number three."
"Now, number six will only have the choice to ask you or either number one or number three for balls."
"If number six asks you for two balls, the situation would be three people die, and we three will split the 100 exchange points."
"But if number six asks the other two for balls, then only two people die, and the 100 exchange points will be split between four people."
"Do you think number six will choose?"
The tattooed man gritted his teeth: "He'll ask me for two, and then the three of us will split the exchange points!"
"See? There's no problem now, right?"
"No, wait!" The tattooed man squinted his eyes: "If it's certain death, then why would those two women take your three balls?"
Yu Tu lowered his voice again:
"Think about it. Once you have four balls, it's already certain that the one with 0 balls will die!"
"So if they don't take the balls, they'll definitely die! But if they do take them, there's still a chance they could survive. Although the chance is small, there's still a chance to live."
"Between certain death and having a chance to survive, what do you think they'll choose?"
"So, if they don't take them, they're definitely dead! If they take them, there's a chance to live!"
"Right! So, they'll definitely take them!"
The tattooed man seemed a bit tempted. Yu Tu's reasoning sounded right:
"Hold on, let me calculate. If number one gets three balls, I get four, and you get five, then I'll give three balls to number three or number four... Wait! What if you give three balls to number six?"
Faced with the tattooed man's sharp gaze, Yu Tu secretly sighed. The tattooed man wasn't stupid; he hadn't been led astray. Yu Tu had to use a different argument.
Yu Tu's eyes darkened with hatred:
"I told you, I want the old man's granddaughter to die! No one cares about me, so no one should care about her either. Heh!"
Seeing that the tattooed man didn't believe him, Yu Tu continued:
"And also, I took the first ball because I don't want to give others a choice! If I give balls to number six, there could still be a change. If I don't give him any, then he has no choice and will have to come to you for an exchange!
Besides, I came to you because I need your help!"
"Oh? What help?"
Yu Tu's hatred deepened.
"I got sick, and my girlfriend left me. You give me a phone number, and I'll let you live. When you get back, I want you to kill her for me!"
The tattooed man's proudest position was being a gangster. Hearing this, he felt a bit smug, then started calculating:
"Let the old man's granddaughter die... don't give number six a chance... help me kill my girlfriend..."
"Yeah, think about it. You live, and there are all these benefits for me! But if you die, I gain nothing!"
The tattooed man hesitated a little: "Hold on, hold on, this is still a bit unreliable. Why don't you just give me two balls and then give number six two balls? Isn't that fine?"
Yu Tu emphasized, "If I give you two balls, number three and number four won't accept three balls!"
Seeing that the tattooed man was still hesitating, Yu Tu used his trump card:
"Think carefully. If you take my four balls, you might survive. And like I said, the chances of survival are higher!"
"If you don't take them, I'll go to number three and number four with the same argument. They'll definitely agree! By then, you'll be at 0, and you'll definitely die!"
Finally, Yu Tu emphasized:
"If you take them, you have more than a 50% chance of surviving. If you don't take them, you'll definitely die, 100%! Time's running out; think it over. I'm going back!"
Without waiting for the tattooed man to say anything, Yu
Tu turned around and walked back to the table.
In the corner, the tattooed man muttered to himself:
"If I don't take them, I'll die for sure; if I take them, there's a 50% chance of surviving!"
"He hates number one!"
"He wants to control everything!"
"And he needs something from me!"
"There should be no problem..."
"... There should be no problem. I have no choice, no choice..."
After the tattooed man returned to the table, Yu Tu took out four balls: "Number two, I'll trade you four balls for zero. Do you agree?"
The old man (Number One) and the man with glasses (Number Six) immediately widened their eyes, waiting for the tattooed man's decision.