Chapter 33 - 1#
Zhang Aode didn’t take Chi Gui’s words to heart. “Ji Er, get a dealer to deal the cards.”
He took a sip of whiskey and made demands as if Ji Tianheng weren’t the second young master of the Ji family, but a waiter he could summon and dismiss at will.
Ji Tianheng maintained an impeccable smile on the surface, his gaze scanning the surroundings for a server.
Suddenly, Qin Ye, who usually only liked to watch from the sidelines, spoke up. “Since everyone’s so interested, how about I act as the dealer?”
The moment he spoke, the onlookers showed expressions of surprise—
Macau’s gambling industry was thriving; if the Qin family claimed second place, no one dared to claim first.
As the current head of the Qin family, Qin Ye had grown up in a sea of cards and gambling tables. Not only did he possess astounding card skills, but he also had a pair of sharp eagle eyes.
If he wanted fairness, no one dared to cheat under his watch.
Likewise, if he intentionally favored one side, the other could end up at a major disadvantage.
Jing Shun frowned slightly.
To be honest, he wasn’t sure about the relationship between Chi Gui and Qin Ye. If the latter deliberately sided with Zhang Aode, the situation ahead would be hard to control.
Jing Shun’s hand, hidden beneath the table, tapped Chi Gui. He pursed his lips and murmured vaguely, “Chi Gui?”
Chi Gui understood his unspoken meaning and replied at the same volume, “It’s fine.”
Zhang Aode, sitting across from them, seemed to have considered Qin Ye’s status as well and warned, “Being the dealer at this table isn’t easy. Do you know how to write the word ‘fairness’?”
“Chairman Zhang, rest assured.”
Qin Ye approached and casually pulled a brand-new deck of playing cards from under the table. “Chairman Zhang, you and I have no conflicts of interest. Whether you win or lose, it’s all the same to me.”
He stopped in the middle, opened the new deck, and removed the jokers.
“Chairman Chi, Mr. Jing, if you have no objections, shall I begin?”
Jing Shun and Chi Gui exchanged a glance and nodded. “If Master Qin is the dealer, who could possibly distrust that?”
Qin Ye smirked and deftly shuffled the deck.
His hands moved quickly, the cards nearly blurring into afterimages.
Jing Shun sighed inwardly.
To each their own expertise—that saying wasn’t an exaggeration at all.
After shuffling the deck three times within the allotted time, Qin Ye said, “Both sides can place their stakes now.”
Zhang Aode had the server set up the chips and pushed them all forward at once. “Nine thousand.”
Nine thousand, with the unit being ten thousand yuan.
“…”
Chi Gui and Jing Shun realized at the same time.
The other side was clearly trying to reclaim the auction fee they had been tricked into paying yesterday!
Zhang Aode provoked, “Chairman Chi, is it too much?”
“How could it be.”
Chi Gui followed suit without hesitation.
Qin Ye dealt two cards to each side, left and right. Jing Shun reached for them, but Qin Ye gently pressed down on the cards. “Mr. Jing hasn’t played before, has he? Our rules here—”
“Without a banker, the initial two cards can be one open and one hidden.”
Simply put, you could reveal one card first and conceal the other.
This meant both sides had to guess and probe each other’s card values, adding uncertainty and excitement to the game.
Jing Shun met Qin Ye’s unfathomable gaze, showing the nervousness and caution of a first-timer. “Thank you, I understand.”
Zhang Aode dismissed it and directly flipped open his two cards.
Red diamond 10, black club 6, totaling 16 points.
“…”
Jing Shun took a deep breath and silently confirmed the two cards in his hand.
His uncertain gaze darted back and forth between his own cards and the opponent’s, mimicking a novice, and he revealed both as well.
Red heart 9, red diamond 7—also 16 points!
That meant the next drawn card would be crucial.
“Same initial points?”
“Do you think this is accidental or coincidental?”
“Who knows? Can anyone really predict Master Qin’s card skills?”
Zhang Aode was impatient at the card table. He immediately curled his finger, signaling Qin Ye to deal another card.
Qin Ye complied and dealt in order.
He looked at Jing Shun and Chi Gui. “What about you?”
“Hit.”
Jing Shun took the card. The moment he got it, Zhang Aode and Zheng Ying on the opposite side laughed out loud. Zhang Aode tossed his third card onto the table. “Alright, stand.”
Third card: red diamond 5. Added to the previous 16 points, it was exactly 21 points.
Unless Jing Shun’s drawn card was also a lucky 5, resulting in a tie, this round was a sure loss.
“…”
Jing Shun’s fingers tightened around his card. A glance at the third card in his hand.
Suddenly, Chi Gui spoke, as if soothing him. “Don’t be nervous. Just play casually.”
Jing Shun rubbed the edge of the card with his fingertip. Instead of revealing it, he looked at Qin Ye. “Mr. Qin, I’d like another card.”
Qin Ye raised an eyebrow in surprise. “Are you sure?”
Without going bust (exceeding 21), the player had the right to keep drawing.
“I’m sure.”
Jing Shun took another card from Qin Ye.
Then, full of hope and caution, he lifted a corner. A few seconds later, he showed a disappointed expression.
Zhang Aode caught his real expression and laughed. “Looks like I’ve won this round?”
“Chairman Chi, you ought to teach your little lover. Blindly drawing more cards isn’t necessarily a good thing. If you lose, you lose—no need to struggle pointlessly.”
“…”
Jing Shun said nothing, tossing both drawn cards onto the table.
Spade 2 and black club 5, totaling 7 points.
Added to the initial 16 points, he had busted.
Zheng Ying lit a cigarette for Zhang Aode and snickered. “I told you, luck picks its people. Not everyone can have the good fortune of hitting the mark.”
Zhang Aode took a drag of his cigarette, satisfied with his luck today. “Chairman Chi, I accept your concession.”
“A loss is a loss.”
Chi Gui remained calm. “Continue.”
Qin Ye discarded the used cards and reshuffled the remaining deck. “Gentlemen, what’s the stake for this round?”
Zhang Aode, playing around, deliberately dropped just one chip.
“…”
“…”
Jing Shun caught Zhang Aode’s expression and thought to himself:
What a sly old fox.
First round recouped the money, second round tightened the belt?
With this kind of play, even if he lost the second round, it wouldn’t affect him much.
Chi Gui also picked out a chip and pushed it forward. “Call.”
The initial two cards were dealt again.
Red diamond 9, red heart 5, totaling 14 points.
This time, Jing Shun only flipped one of them, the red diamond 9. After a moment’s thought, he said, “Stand, no more cards.”
“…”
Qin Ye rubbed the remaining cards in his hand, raising an eyebrow.
On the other side, Zhang Aode looked at his own cards: spade 8, red heart 7, 15 points.
He hadn’t expected Jing Shun to be so decisive and felt suspicious.
But he still thought his hand wasn’t safe enough. After a moment’s thought, he signaled Qin Ye for another card.
He stood and revealed his cards.
Zhang Aode’s third card was black club 4, totaling 19 points for three cards.
In less than three minutes, he had beaten Jing Shun again. The onlooking guests murmured among themselves.
“But Chairman Zhang’s luck these two rounds is really good.”
“More than that—didn’t you see? He’s had great luck all day.”
“I thought Mr. Jing’s ‘stand’ was so decisive because his two cards were high. Turns out it was only 14 points, and he didn’t dare push further?”
“Probably affected by the first round? Newcomers don’t know how to play; it’s normal.”
“Not knowing how to play? He’s just a rookie. Chairman Chi sure is willing to let him gamble recklessly.”
Jing Shun was drowned in the chatter. His drooping eyelashes cast a faint shadow. He seemed trapped in the shadow of the first two rounds, enveloped in guilt.
Zhang Aode laughed. “Chairman Chi, don’t say I’m bullying the youngsters. Want to play a third round?”
Chi Gui took a sip of the whiskey beside him, then pushed the remaining chips at the corner of the table forward. “Chairman Zhang, dare to follow?”
Jing Shun’s eyes widened. “Chi Gui?”
Chi Gui said, “Don’t worry about it. Just play.”
“…”
All of them?
Zhang Aode estimated the amount represented by the stack of chips, then heard Ji Tianheng advise, “Mr. Chi, let’s keep it light for fun, just small bets.”
Some guests muttered, “So he’s already lost his head and gotten carried away?”
“Luck in cards is unpredictable. I don’t think that side has any winning fate today. I bet Chairman Zhang will win consecutively—after all, no matter what, he won’t lose to a newcomer.”
Zhang Aode heard these remarks, took a puff with a tipsy haze, and said, “Tsk, Ji Er, that’s just being small-minded. What’s this little money to Chairman Chi?”
He tilted his head to signal Zheng Ying beside him. “Since Chairman Chi can afford it, I can too, obviously.”
“…”
Zheng Ying was startled. “You really want to go all in too?”
“What’s there to be afraid of? Stop dawdling.”
Zhang Aode crushed his cigarette butt on the table and pushed all his chips forward. “Come on, since we said three rounds, let’s do three rounds.”
The long card table was already surrounded by guests.
Even though everyone was used to grand spectacles, both sides throwing nine-digit sums onto the table—this was playing too big!
Qin Ye toyed with the remaining cards in his hand and suddenly suggested, “For this last round, why not just shuffle the deck, spread it out, and you draw as you please? I won’t deal.”
There were always winners and losers at the table.
With such a huge stake, no matter who won or lost, he didn’t want to deal with accusations of cheating as the “dealer” later on.
Qin Ye shuffled the cards cleanly and thoroughly, then spread them evenly across the table. He glanced at Zhang Aode, exchanged a look with Chi Gui, and took a half-step back:
“Please.”
Zhang Aode rubbed his hands together and carefully chose two cards.
Jing Shun didn’t act rashly. Instead, he turned to Chi Gui. “Two cards, or should I draw?”
“How about you draw one, and I draw one?”
Chi Gui drew a card first, without rushing to look at it.
He showed no displeasure at losing money. Instead, he gave his companion a reassuring look and whispered, “We’re at this point. We have to keep playing along.”
“…”
Indeed.
The stakes were already huge.
Jing Shun stared at the remaining cards and drew one based on instinct.
He didn’t check the card’s value immediately. Instead, he asked Chi Gui again, very seriously, “What kind of card do you want?”
Chi Gui handed over his own card without hurrying to reveal it. “What I want—can you really give it to me?”