Chapter 125: Cheating

Even with the old man's accident, the gambling continued, until it was already Shen Qui's turn. Lyca immediately acted coyly, holding Shen Qui's hands as the two walked towards Ben. She turned her red lips up, as she whispered towards Shen Qui. 

Seeing this, Ben cleared his throat. "Mr. Q… "he gave a half-hearted smile. By now, everyone was already thinking that Mr. Li would win tonight. Because of this, not many people were paying attention to gambling anymore. Moreover, Shen Qui was a beginner, an unknown person who offended a patron. And no one really put their bets on him. The box with Shen Qui's name on it was empty. Thus, no one was really that interested to see his ores."Let's begin." Even Ben didn't think Shen Qui was anything special. To his eyes, he was nothing but another heir.

He then eyed his assistant who started opening the ores and couldn't help but sigh. As expected, the first batches of ten ores didn't have any ores in them. He looked at Shen Qui's placid face and couldn't help but shook his head inwardly. However, this expression didn't last too long when his assistant opened the eleventh ore."Eh? What- A black nephrite?" Ben uttered when his assistant started opening the first of the second batches of ores. His words were enough to gather the attention of other people. His eyes widened. A black nephrite is even rarer than a dark green one. 

Almost everyone looked at the eleventh ore, and slowly, their expressions changed. "Hah! A black nephrite!" Ben almost screamed. He immediately looked at the appraiser, gulping. "It's really a black one!"

"This— "

"He got a black nephrite? How lucky!"

"Could be a beginner's luck." Another one whispered.

"Mr. Li had two dark green nephrite so he would still win."

"Still, a black one is really rare, right?"

Ben looked at Shen Qui when the appraiser told him that this is indeed a black nephrite. However, it was small— too small. Everyone knew that Shen Qui and Lyca actually chose the smaller ores earlier.

"Oh? A black one is indeed rare. But it was too small." Mr. Li sneered." Unless he could—" a lump appeared on Mr. Li's throat when he saw the next ore. The dark green luster of the nephrite made his face dark. A black one and a dark green one? He blinked. Then he blinked again. Was he hallucinating? However, the silence in the crowd was enough to answer that question. 

He immediately stared at the ore.

"Does this mean… he will win?" Mr. Li heard someone behind him say. 

"He already had two rare ones."

When the thirteenth ore revealed the common white nephrite, the buzzed increased. Many immediately wondered if this was still luck. 

"He is cheating!" Mr. Li's voice echoed when he saw the white nephrite. How could someone be this lucky? "He should have a way to know that there is a nephrite inside the ores! I suggest we examine him and that woman. They are cheating!"

Everyone below the stage started whispering, some immediately nodded their heads, agreeing to Mr. Li's words. After all, the man is already a long time customer of this place. Seeing the crowd starting to agree with Mr. Li, Ben looked at Shen Qui before he asked, "This place doesn't allow cheating. Once we discover that someone is cheating, an instant banned is not the only punishment. Our other establishment would also get involved. And of course, the authority."

"You should check if he has something on him— perhaps a device that could identify if jade is inside an ore. Like a scanner!" someone from the crowd shouted. 

"I agree! There's no way that a first-timer could be that lucky!"

"But I thought everyone was scanned the moment they register?" The man was talking about a scanner that would scan record devices and even video device once your register. One needed to talk into an airport like a scanner every time they walked towards the registration platform. 

"Well… they must have missed it." Many people nodded. Because of this, Ben let out a sigh.

"Mr. Q… I am so sorry, but because of everyone's suspicion, we would have to check if you have something on you." Ben said, his words were apologetic, but the look on his eyes was enough to tell Lyca and Shen Qui that these words were nothing but some fakery. Ben clearly wanted to check them too.

"Are you sure this is necessary?" Shen Qui asked.

"Yes, to satisfy everyone's concern someone will scan you to determined that you are indeed not cheating."

"And If I prove that I am not cheating?"

"Well— " Ben looked at Mr. Li. "We will continue opening your ores."

"What about the embarrassment that you have caused us?" Lyca uttered. "If it was proven that we are not cheating then, you should compensate us for the emotional damages that you caused. After all, that man just slandered us because he was about to lose."

"Her words are reasonable." Mr. Li spoke. "I am willing to give you one million worth of cash if it was proven that you are not cheaters. But… if we found out that you are cheating… the consequences would be dreadful." Seeing the confidence in Lyca's eyes, made Mr. Li doubt his previous claims. However, he wouldn't dare back-out now. Moreover, having all that jade was truly making him doubt if it was because of luck. 

"One million…." Lyca smiled. "From everyone?" Her gaze soon roamed towards the people surrounding them. "Sounds fair."

"…" Mr. Li gulped. He only said that he would give them a million. Why is this woman involving everyone in this matter?

"How arrogant." A man chimed in. "Since you are so confident that you aren't cheating… then I agree. I, too, would give you a million. But if you lost… you already know what would happen, right?"

Shen Qui smiled in response. "Of course. But the fact that you think we can actually cheat under the scanning and all security protocol of the company is beyond me. Did you really think this company is a place where cheaters could come and go? My... my...." Shen Qui looked at Mr. Li. "I didn't know that a patron like you would look down on this place too much."