Chapter 126: Direct and Mysterious

"You— " Shen Qui's words were enough to make Ben frown. That was right. With the current technology that they had, there was no way that someone like Shen Qui would be able to get inside. He cleared his throat and was about to say something when Lyca's voice echoed. 

"Just do it." She uttered, impatience laced her tone. Lyca stood next to Shen Qui. In her eyes, all these squabbles were nothing but an easy way to establish herself in this dirty little world. Her eyes soon focused on Mr. Li before she looked at the guests below the stage. These were supposedly the influential people in the Shun Regions and the neighboring cities.

Right now, most of these people were giving them dirty looks. The disgust in their eyes was too apparent it would make anyone tremble in fear. But to Lyca, this was another thing that would prolong their stay here. Such a hassle.

Hearing this, Ben signaled his people to inform the people behind the CCTV to scanned both Shen Qui and Lyca. The task didn't even last two minutes before he receive a call stating that the couple didn't bring any wireless device or anything that would have scanned the ores. 

It was the same exact thing that Ben feared. There was nothing in them. He immediately blamed himself for being easily swayed by Mr. Li's claims.

"So? How is it, Ben? Did they— " 

"No." Ben interrupted the man. "They don't have anything on them."

A long stretch of silence was followed by whispers.

"Of course, we don't." Shen Qui sneered. "How could we get inside with all the scanning in this underground facility? I wasn't expecting that a VIP member didn't actually know this. How embarrassing. This makes me wonder how does this facility choose its members. Was it all because they frequent this place? Was it because of the amount of money that they spent here? Or perhaps… " Shen Qui turned his head towards Ben. "Just by drawing lots."

"Mr. Q— "

"Let's continue." Shen Qui interrupted Ben before looking at Mr. Li. "Apology accepted. Wire the money to me before leaving this place. Thank you."

"…" Mr, Li opened his mouth to say something but the warning gaze that Ben gave him was enough to shut him up. 

"Alright… since it's all settled. Since there was a betting earlier and most people lost… the facility would surely assist everyone in transferring the money to Mr. Q." Ben couldn't help but feel morose. It seems that he had misjudged this young man's character. Clearly, Mr. Q looked young and naive but his words and mannerisms were different. He gritted his teeth but was forced to maintain a cordial attitude.

So, he let out a huge smile and instructed his assistant to continue opening the ores. To his surprise, another one of the smaller ores had another white nephrite. While the quality was not that good, Shen Qui's total numbers of nephrite were enough for him to win the gambling tonight. 

Ben could only sigh after he announced the winner. This was truly a taxing night for him. He immediately escorted Shen Qui and Lyca towards the VVIP room that was intended to make transactions for the winners. This room was located on the second floor of the gambling hall. The walls of the room were upholstered with black velvet that helped mask the noise from the outside. An elegant chandelier hung on the wall, that somehow reminded Lyca of a chandelier that she saw when she was studying abroad. 

Now that she thought about it, most of the things inside this gambling hall were from abroad. The huge statues that lined the wall, the paintings, architecture and the style of chairs and tables looked like a high-end restaurant from the west. She wondered if the owner of this place was a foreigner. Sadly, that information was above Tang Ruyi's paygrade. It was actually a piece of confidential information.

"Please… take your seats." Ben smiled as he eyed the woman carrying Shen Qui's box that contained his bet. The agreement was to double whatever it was that was inside the box. So, it was important to maintain its security. "Well… that was fun." As the manager of this facility, it was Ben's task to maintain good relationships with the patrons. "Please… this is an expensive wine that we got three years ago. Before that, this wine had been in the market for nearly ten years. It was made fifty years ago and there were only two bottles of this wine left in this country." He slowly poured some wine for both Shen Qui and Lyca. 

"Mr. Ben…." Shen Qui looked at Ben before looking at the woman with the box. "Forgive my impatience but… shouldn't we open the box now?"

"Mr. Q is a very direct man." Ben's motive was actually quite simple. He was here to build relationships and obtain some information. After all, Shen Qui was a newbie and it would take them a few hours before they could get ahold of Shen Qui's background. At the same time, Ben wasn't willing to offend Shen Qui this time. So, he motioned the woman to put the box in front of them. Using his ring as a way to open the box, Ben immediately got ahold of the paper that contained Shen Qui's bets. "Eh?" For a few seconds, his eyes went wide before he managed to compose himself again. "A club and five million worth of diamonds?" 

That was a very extravagant bet! Most people here would only bet their cars and some ancient jewelry, maybe some extra properties and antique things. Of course, there are always crazy folks that would bet with tens of millions of diamonds. But to bet a club and five hundred million worth of diamonds….

Shen Qui only pursed his lips in response was Lyca was already holding the wine glass. Her eyes were closed as she started inhaling the scent of the wine, trying to identify its properties. She was still acting coyly, smiling, and widening her eyes at the chandelier as if it truly impressed her. Because of this, Ben didn't even bother looking at Lyca and had his focus towards the direct and mysterious… Mr. Q.