CH 95

Amy: The chapter title is chóu mǎ which translates to bargaining chip/gaming chip/casino token. I’ve just used the term “chips” throughout the chapter, but please keep in mind that these are casino tokens. It’s pretty obvious, but just in case.

This type of game was too psychologically demanding for the participants, and Fang Qi had not recovered even after a long time. 

Shen Dongqing and Zhou Wenyan, on the other hand, remained indifferent and continued to eat melon seeds in their seats.

Shen Dongqing was particularly skilled at shelling the melon seeds. He grabbed the melon seeds, jammed them in his teeth, and ‘crack!’ extracted the kernel of the melon seeds one by one. For a brief while, the ‘crack crack’ noises of melon seeds being shelled filled their side of the gaming tables.

“Brother Shen, how did you guys come up with this kind of manipulation?” Fang Qi was oddly no longer terrified and even had the mood to ask the other party.

Fang Qi thought he was dead meat when the one-eyed guy drew the last card, never expecting a spectacular reversal at the conclusion. Even as he was dragged to his death, the one-eyed man had probably never considered that there existed a trick where the Joker card would be thrown at him. 

“Bah!” Shen Dongqing raised his eyelids and spit out the skin of a melon seed: “I was only experimenting.”

“…Did you guys consider what if it doesn’t work?” Fang Qi asked.

If the process of forcibly exchanging the cards had failed, wouldn’t he be finished?

Fang Qi’s hands and feet turned ice-cold when he remembered the evil clown who had emerged from the Joker card.

“Ah.” Shen Dongqing replied airily, “No big deal.”

Fang Qi: “?”

Shen Dongqing: “Then we would have played games with the clown.”

However, when that moment came, it was unclear whether they or the clown would get played. 

Fang Qi: …as one would expect from a bigshot. This type of operation is not something one can learn.

The other players had likely finished their games as well. The wall lamps in the hall lit up one by one, and it was clear that each table had only one person remaining.

In just one night, the clown took half of the players away, and the other half of the players were obviously in a bad mood.

Fang Qi: “If the following events are all Old Maid, then won’t…” 

Then wouldn’t there be only a few players left soon?

“Clank clank clank—”

Without anybody noticing, the sexy woman emcee returned to the stage and addressed the players below: “Ladies and Gentlemen, are you enjoying yourselves to the fullest tonight?”

The players responded with silence. 

The hottie asked suspiciously: “Did you not have a good time? Then…”

The players were afraid she would propose some new gameplay, so they promptly said: “Enjoying, enjoying.”

It was just that their expressions didn’t appear to be happy.

The hottie clasped her hands together and said happily: “That’s good, since we don’t have many customers left. We need to take care of you properly!” 

Players: “Hehe.”

Don’t you know in your heart why there aren’t many left?

The hottie lied with her eyes wide open, as if she hadn’t noticed the blood on the floor: “Mr. Clown stated he was having a great time too, and he doesn’t plan to come out for the time being, so this Old Maid round has come to an end, and we will launch a more thrilling and engaging game!”

Fang Qi begged in a hushed voice, “Please don’t…” 

Playing Old Maid was already thrilling, and now they wanted something much more thrilling?

What kind of a hellish game would that be?

The sexy lady smiled and said: “The casino will go into park mode, which means that the entire casino will be open to guests. Slot machines, Sic Bo, blackjack… all kinds of gambling are included.”

Although it did not appear to be dangerous, the players did not dare to relax their guard. 

“But—” The sexy girl changed the subject “Each customer will only receive 100 free chips. If you use them all up, you’ll have to use something else as collateral.”

“For example, hands, feet, heart, liver, spleen, lungs, kidneys, and so on. We guarantee a fair price.”

“What happens if I lose all my chips?” a player inquired, raising his hand weakly.

“That’s a good question!” The smile on the sexy girl’s face vanished. “The casino does not welcome customers who do not have chips. If you lose them all, I recommend that guests promptly get some chips by mortgaging, otherwise… I can’t guarantee what will happen.” 

In other words, they needed to trade their internal organs or their hands and feet after losing a hundred chips. Whatever the game, the ultimate goal was to murder the players.

Fang Qi instantly had an idea. Because there was no mandatory requirement, he could play a game every day and then run away to avoid losing all of his chips at once.

Fang Qi was not the only one who had this thought; other players did as well.

The hottie cocked her head: “You’re all such unenthusiastic guests. If that’s how you want to play, I can’t stop you.” 

Before the players could exhale a sigh of relief, the hot girl added: “To leave the casino town, guests simply need to win a thousand chips. However, we have prepared a total of 10,000 chips, and once we have used them all, we will no longer have any.”

In other words, with so many players present, just ten may be able to leave the game instance, leaving the remainder trapped within, playing round after round of gambling games.

So the casino personnel didn’t even need to encourage players to gamble; they couldn’t stop themselves.

After all, the chips were limited, and there were a lot of players. 

“Oh! That’s right,” The sexy girl winked playfully. “There is a special guest who has brought two friends over. His friends are not casino guests, and this is against the rules, so… ”

“This guest must obtain 3,000 chips before leaving the casino town.”

Fang Qi, who needed to win 3,000 chips, was frantic: “But I can’t play!”

What slot machines, Sic Bo, blackjack, blah blah? He’d never heard of them before! 

“I can’t play either,” Shen Dongqing said, nodding.

Zhou Wenyan: “I’ve played a little bit, but I’m not very good.”

Fang Qi: “Then aren’t we giving the chips away for free?”

And while other players simply needed to win a thousand chips, which wouldn’t be a problem if they were lucky, he had to earn three thousand chips, which made it much more difficult. 

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“Oh! First is not being able to eat, and another is…nope, that’s all.” 

Maybe this is the difference between a bigshot and an ordinary person, Fang Qi thought.

The players arrived at the casino on schedule the next day.

The hall was transformed beyond recognition, with a plethora of new features. The slot machines were positioned near the entrance. There were many types of gambling facilities after passing through. Although the players had not yet arrived, there were already folks having fun at the gambling tables. Those were the fake customers of the casino.

Staff in Western suits shuttled among them, while stunning mixed-race bunny girls served alongside the clients. It was dazzling because the sounds of talking, dice rolls, cheering, and other loud noises were mingled together. 

Magnificent crystal chandeliers were suspended from the ceiling, lighting the opulent decadence underneath.

The players had some reservations at first, but after spending a long time inside, they were progressively infected by the surrounding environment and rapidly became a member of the gambling table.

Some smoked expensive cigars, wrapped their arms around bunny girls, and gambled recklessly; some were dismayed after losing their chips and wanted to reverse their fortunes and win everything back in the next round; and some had completely lost their heads, not hesitating to put their limbs as collateral…

“It stinks,” said Shen Dongqing, covering his nose. 

The odor within was truly horrible. Tobacco and alcohol were the most effective stimulants under these conditions. The strong aroma of cigars floated out, making Shen Dongqing feel a little out of sorts.

“Just smell this,” Zhou Wenyan said as he peeled an orange and handed it over.

Shen Dongqing sniffed. The sweet scent of the orange quickly overpowered the smell of tobacco, making him feel a little more at ease. He grew interested after he recovered: “Let’s go have some fun!”

“Take it easy, I just have a hundred chips here,” Fang Qi said as he followed them. 

Shen Dongqing and Zhou Wenyan were not counted as guests and did not receive any free chips, therefore the three of them had only one hundred chips.

And with just 100 chips, they needed to win 3,000 chips.

Other players recognized Fang Qi as the unfortunate bastard and looked at him with pity.

“It’s okay to play a little,” Shen Dongqing said, reaching out his hand to Fang Qi. 

Fang Qi could only take out his chips, carefully count them, and give Shen Dongqing ten.

Shen Dongqing went to the slot machine with ten chips to test the waters.

The slot machines were the most basic. Simply insert a chip and pull the lever to revolve the reel. The machine would spew out coins if there were three identical patterns, and the payout would be doubled if the specified pattern was turned.

Shen Dongqing glanced at the instructions quickly before inserting a chip and pulling the lever. 

The slot machine’s patterns changed swiftly.

Click—

The first reel stopped with a strawberry as the pattern, followed by bananas and grapes on the second and third reels respectively.

The three patterns that resulted were totally distinct, which was equivalent to wasting the chip. 

Shen Dongqing couldn’t believe it and tried again. Twice. The outcome was the same. There were no matching patterns, and no chips were won back.

Shen Dongqing pouted: “How the hell is this fun?”

“I’ll try it,” Zhou Wenyan said, taking a chip in his hand. He inserted the chip and yanked on the lever.

Shen Dongqing watched the slot machine’s screen with bated breath. 

Click—

On the screen, three distinct designs appeared.

It appeared that Zhou Wenyan’s luck was also not very good.

“Let’s play something different,” he coughed softly. 

The slot machine was based purely on luck, and the casino could surreptitiously adjust the odds, making it difficult to win back chips.

Shen Dongqing examined the slot machine and the chips in his hand.

There were only six chips left after such a short time.

Shen Dongqing refused to be reconciled. He took out the ultimate chip and solemnly declared, “The last one.” 

“…Okay,” Zhou Wenyan answered helplessly.

It was merely that this final chip was still useless.

Shen Dongqing had been alive for so long, but he kept tripping over the same thing. He rose up and smacked the slot machine angrily: “I’m not playing anymore.”

Shen Dongqing had just stood up when he heard a beeping sound from the slot machine. He turned around to see a red light on the slot machine, and then “crash,” it spat out a significant number of chips. 

Shen Dongqing: “?”

What’s going on?

He asked Zhou Wenyan with his eyes.

“Probably… it was short-circuited by your swat?” Zhou Wenyan wondered. 

“I didn’t exert any strength at all,” Shen Dongqing whispered, his eyelashes fluttering.

He hadn’t expected this slot machine to be so susceptible to a hit that it abruptly short-circuited and even insisted on spitting chips for him.

To make carrying chips easier, the bunny girls each carried a small basket and trailed behind the guests to assist in chip collection.

When the bunny girl over there noticed Shen Dongqing had so many chips here, she came over and sweetly inquired, “Can I assist you?” 

Shen Dongqing was squatting there picking up chips when he noticed the bunny girl and his eyes lit up: “Give me the basket.”

The bunny girl froze for a moment and handed over the small basket.

The small basket was especially delicate. There was also a rabbit clutching a carrot on it to complement the bunny girl theme.

The bunny girl bent down, exposing her alluring curves, and inquired, sweetly and unctuously, “Do you need help?” Her voice was smooth and lovely, and people couldn’t help but relax when they heard it. 

But Shen Dongqing was busy collecting the tokens, and he rejected without looking at her: “No need.” He raised his head and looked about after a while.

The bunny girl complacently stuck out her chest.

“You don’t want to take my chips, do you?” asked Shen Dongqing. “This is what I earned, it’s legitimate,” he jerked and averted his head.

The bunny girl’s smile turned a touch rigid. 

Shen Dongqing and Zhou Wenyan discovered they’d won a hundred chips after counting the chips spewed out by the slot machine they’d placed in the tiny basket. They had 105 chips in hand after adding the remaining five.

It was a baby step toward the objective.

Shen Dongqing rose up, saw the bunny girl still there, and inquired, perplexed, “Why are you still here?”

The bunny girl couldn’t keep her smile any longer: … 

“Lend me the basket for a while,” Shen Dongqing said, looking at the basket and then at the bunny girl. “I’ll get it back to you later.”

The bunny girl stepped aside in frustration, believing she was only casting coquettish glances at a blind man.

Shen Dongqing strolled around with the small basket, even swatting other slot machines, but the other slot machines were more solid, and no matter how he ‘patted’ them, they couldn’t gain chips.

He had to abandon this plan and shift his focus to other areas with the chips. 

Fang Qi held 90 chips in his hand, which were neither too many nor too few. However, putting them on the gambling table was not something he desired to see. He was a rookie and couldn’t figure out the rules, so he stood aside honestly and observed where others were playing.

After a period of observation, he witnessed someone lose three hands in a row, then close their eyes and gamble, winning not only the previous losses, but also three hundred extra chips.

The entire gaming table was in an uproar.

As he raised his hands and cheered, the lucky guy flushed. This kind of atmosphere made bystanders couldn’t help but feel that the next lucky fellow might be them, and they couldn’t help but join in. 

Fang Qi, too, had lost control of himself. He was ready to head to the gambling table when he noticed two familiar people approaching him from a distance.

“Here!” Fang Qi raised his hand and waved at them.

Shen Dongqing and Zhou Wenyan walked around the corner.

Fang Qi initially believed that Shen Dongqing was always unreliable, and that the ten chips had been lost long ago. He did not have high hopes. As a result, as the men approached and he looked, oh boy! Shen Dongqing’s basket was filled with chips. 

“How many of these do you have?” Fang Qi had a dreamlike feeling.

“One hundred and five,” Shen Dongqing gestured.

“Awesome,” Fang Qi said as he swallowed his saliva and gave a thumbs up.

He reflected to himself: a bigshot is a bigshot. He can make a fortune no matter where he is. So, with a “please” gesture, he gave up his seat at the gambling table to Shen Dongqing. 

On this table, the game was betting between big and small. It was really straightforward, and even a layman could grasp it at a glance.

The dealer would roll the dice at the start of each round. Following the roll, the guests would place their bets, predicting the outcome. Small was a number between 4 and 10, and big was a number between 11 and 17. The dealer would open the dice cup and pay out when the bets were placed.

Shen Dongqing studied it for a while and then stated, “I got it.” He carried the small basket and was getting ready to place a wager in the next round.

The dealer threw the dice into a black dice cup while wearing white gloves. The numbers on them were obscured to the guests. After displaying the three dice inside, he picked up the dice cup and shook it more than ten times before returning it to the table. 

“Please make your wagers.”

The guests bet one after the other, big or small. A lot of chips were heaped on the table in a short period of time. Some belonged to the players, while others belonged to the casino’s bogus customers.

Shen Dongqing thought for a moment, then took a bunch of chips and placed them on “small” without counting them.

After ascertaining that no customers wished to wager, the dealer declared clearly, “Open!” 

The dice cup opened, revealing three dice with the numbers 5, 3, and 6 on their faces, which belonged to “big.”

Fang Qi was dumbfounded.

What about winning the chips?

He cast a glance at Shen Dongqing. He was glad to see that he was not nervous at all and relaxed. 

Perhaps the bigshot was just getting warmed up. Didn’t he watch the boss win 105 chips with ten chips?

Fang Qi would have cried on the spot if he had known Shen Dongqing had smacked the slot machine and had it spew out 105 chips.

Fortunately, he didn’t know, so he regained his expectations and looked forward to the following round’s results.

Shen Dongqing took another handful of chips and placed them on “big.” 

When the dice cup was opened, the results were 1, 4, 2; small.

Fang Qi noticed that his breathing was becoming more rapid.

Shen Dongqing took another handful of chips and placed them on “small.”

After these two rounds, bystanders saw that this person knew nothing and was just playing with a lot of chips. 

Initially, the newcomer had the good fortune of a blind cat running into a dead mouse. But this person was always out of luck and lost. The observers couldn’t stop themselves from laughing and placed their chips opposite his stake.

The dice cup was opened by the dealer; 6, 5, 3; big.

Shen Dongqing lost once more.

Fang Qi felt he was out of breath. “Brother Shen, brother, are you okay?” he asked, clutching the table. 

“Not bad,” remarked Shen Dongqing. “I just don’t have any chips,” he said as he paused, turned his head, and grinned at Fang Qi. “Give me some.”

Fang Qi: …

“Brother, I’m timid. Can you please not scare me like this?”

Shen Dongqing flashed a bright smile: “Don’t worry, I’m going to win the next round.” 

“That’s what every gambler says,” Fang Qi muttered as he handed over all the chips to him.

He had no other option. Even if he didn’t want to hand them over, there was still Zhou Wenyan standing beside him!

Plink, plink, plink—

Fang Qi tossed all of the chips into the little basket. 

“I’ll certainly win the next round!” Shen Dongqing exclaimed confidently.

Then he bet the majority of his chips on “small.”

“Is there some metaphysics behind it?” Fang Qi asked, clutching his little heart.

Shen Dongqing proudly declared, “Isn’t his rhythm big, small, big, small? The previous one was big, so this one must be…” 

The dealer opened the dice cup before he could finish speaking, exposing 5, 2, 5, still big.

The other customers were roaring with laughter.

“Why isn’t it small?” Shen Dongqing wondered.

“I’ll do it,” Zhou Wenyan said as he smiled and rubbed Shen Dongqing’s hair. 

There were barely a few chips left in the basket at this point.

Shen Dongqing withdrew and gave Zhou Wenyan his spot before standing behind him to observe. He stood on tiptoes, his chin resting on Zhou Wenyan’s shoulder.

Zhou Wenyan appeared to be more professional than Shen Dongqing, possibly due to his noble appearance. His rolled-up sleeves displayed his powerful forearms, and he loomed over the gaming table.

He took a few chips and placed them on “small.” 

This assured demeanor effectively bluffed the other guests. Some people followed Zhou Wenyan to gamble after a brief hesitation.

This confidence was maintained until the dice cup was opened by the dealer.

It was the reverse this time as well.

“Gone, it’s all gone,” Fang Qi was about to cry. 

Zhou Wenyan gave a quiet “tsk” and stated in a low voice, “I don’t play much either.”

Shen Dongqing, who had just lost multiple rounds, expressed his understanding.

But Fang Qi didn’t understand. “Let me play the last round,” he murmured, staring at the few remaining chips.

Zhou Wenyan and Shen Dongqing exchanged glances before moving out of the way. 

In any case, there weren’t many chips left. Fang Qi simply grabbed them all and bet them lock, stock, and barrel with a “facing death in the face” attitude.

He couldn’t possibly be so unlucky with a 50% chance…

Then…

Three minutes later, the three men sat outside the casino, the air conditioner blasting, and calmed down. 

Shen Dongqing’s little basket was completely empty, and all he could do was play with the little bunny that was hanging on it.

Fang Qi remained silent for a long time before standing up and said, “…Why don’t I mortgage something?”

After all, even if he felt like crying, the foreign aid he had solicited had to be acknowledged. Anyway, he’d already lost his hands and feet once, so it was not a big deal to put them up as collateral again.

Shen Dongqing stopped Fang Qi: “No need.” 

Fang Qi: “But we don’t have any chips.”

There was not a single chip remaining.

The casino personnel made it clear yesterday that those without chips were not welcome. This was not the kind of unwelcome that would force them to leave the casino, but rather the kind that would force them to leave their little life behind.

“It’s ok even if you don’t have any chips,” Shen Dongqing said nonchalantly. 

Fang Qi pondered it once more.

That’s correct, with these two bosses present, if the casino operators sent someone to deal with him, that someone would almost certainly be dealt with instead. If they sent a pair, this pair would handle them. Whatever was sent would be rendered useless in the face of these two bigshots.

Fang Qi was relieved, even rolling up his sleeves and asking, “When shall we wreak havoc in the casino?”

“Huh?” blinked Shen Dongqing. 

“Aren’t you planning to wreck the casino?” Fang Qi hesitated.

“But…we have to obey the law,” Shen Dongqing argued.

Screw obeying the law!

What law are you talking about while you’re already inside the casino?! And this isn’t real life. 

Fang Qi desperately resisted the impulse to ridicule.

They’d been sitting for a bit when a guest emerged from the casino. He was not a player, but rather a bogus customer set up by the casino. Their role was not limited to simply improving the environment. These phonies likewise had the prepared 10,000 chips mentioned by the sexy lady, and players needed to win chips from their hands.

A quick glimpse at this guest’s reddened face as he held a bunny girl with an absolutely thrilled expression told them he had won a lot of chips tonight. His persona was comparable to that of an NPC, but much more humanized.

He scoffed at the three individuals on the doorstep and casually threw down a few chips, as if giving alms to beggars. 

Given the circumstances, Fang Qi couldn’t care less about appearances and grabbed the chips. After scooping them up, he discovered that the bigwigs who had been sitting next to him had vanished.

When he looked up again, he noticed Zhou Wenyan and Shen Dongqing approaching the paunchy customer.

“They are not going to beat him, are they?” Fang Qi hurriedly pursued them.

Fang Qi turned a corner and saw the guy who had just told him to “abide by the law” cornering the guest in a nook, rolling up his sleeves with a smile and said, “Don’t move, it’s a robbery!” 

Fang Qi: ???