money player

Chen Hua stared at Chen Azhu for a while, and under the pressure of the dealer's "place your bets now" order, he placed both stacks of money on Tianmen.

The dealer threw the dice, which spun around a few times before coming to rest on the table.

"Two five, seven, opposite hall."

Upon hearing this, the gambler standing at the top of the gate showed joy on his face.

Gamblers are often superstitious, believing that some ethereal things can enhance their luck, and also believing that some taboos will destroy their luck. The same is true for Pai Gow, where the top card is usually considered to have the strongest fire element.

The gambler from Tianmen grabbed two cards, rubbed them together, and his smile grew even wider. After grabbing the other two cards, he picked them up with great effort.

His cards were crucial to Chen Hua's win or loss, but Chen Hua didn't care. She stared at the dealer's hand for a while, and when she saw him put his cards face down on the table, she looked away, leaned against Xian Yaowen, and whispered, "There's news from the Highway Bureau."

Sin Yiu-man replied softly, "I'll talk about it later."

"Ah."

The gambler from Tianmen dawdled for a long time, waiting for the dealer to urge him before revealing his four cards. The first card was a pair of three of a kind with an eight, and the last card was a pair of plums. The hand was already quite good. According to the gambler, he was qualified to get an unsecured loan from a bank with this hand.

As expected, the dealer's surname is not Zhou, and he does not have the nicknames of "God of Gamblers" or "Saint of Gamblers." The "Supreme Treasure" card was not drawn, but the "Heavenly Gate" card was drawn, and Chen Hua's bet of 2,000 became 4,000.

After taking the money back, Chen Hua asked Xian Yaowen, "Do we have to pass three tests?"

"According to your."

"Let's try our luck." With that, Chen Hua put the four stacks of money back into the Tianmen position.

At another table, Chen Azhu placed four cards face down and shouted, "May all the world rejoice and have everything!"

As soon as he finished speaking, stacks of money were quickly tossed out.

"Five hundred, let's go."

"Two thousand, that's all."

After losing the money, she reshuffled the cards, shouting as she did so, "These two have terrible luck, take advantage of the opportunity to bet more, and when my luck turns around, I'll take them all!"

Seeing Chen Azhu's calm demeanor and hearing her tempting calls, Xian Yaowen immediately guessed that she was raising fish. He walked over and observed the stakes of each gambler. On the surface, they totaled around 110,000 to 120,000. Looking at the bets, they were around 40,000. He estimated that this hand would be a complete wipeout, otherwise some gamblers would quit.

Chen Azhu shuffled the cards without any fancy tricks, simply arranging them in a standard layout. Seeing that the gamblers had already placed their bets, she shouted, "Anyone else want to bet? Once the dice are rolled, the gold is gone!"

After waiting a while and seeing that no new people were betting, she tossed the dice in her hand a few times, then suddenly threw them onto the table.

"Four, five, yourself, kill!"

She gathered the cards, stacked them on the table, and smiled at Xian Yaowen, saying, "Master, don't stand there, come and collect the money."

"okay."

Sin Yiu-man came to Chan Ah-chu's side, placed his right hand on the money, and slapped Chan Ah-chu's buttocks with his left hand.

Chen Azhu glanced at him, then looked back at the table, staring at the gambler's hand holding the cards.

A deck of Pai Gow has a total of 32 cards. 16 cards are dealt each time, leaving 16 cards. Since the deck is shuffled every time a round is played, it is unlikely that the non-player can get several cards of the same type out of thin air. They can only exchange cards among the three players. However, if anyone dares to take the cards under the table to avoid the prying eyes of others while playing Pai Gow, you can immediately take out a dagger and chop off two of their fingers.

Therefore, it's not easy for a player to cheat in Pai Gow unless they encounter a cheater who only knows how to play their own four cards and ignores the other players' moves.

It's not easy for the dealer to cheat either. The easiest way to cheat is to shuffle the cards, get a good hand, and then roll the dice to get the desired number.

However, this tactic can only be used unexpectedly once or twice. Once the non-dealers feel that the dealer has good luck or is suspected of cheating, they will ask to pass the trick, such as passing one trick or three tricks, which means cutting 4 or 12 cards. The card order is shuffled, and it is useless for the dealer to roll the desired number.

For this reason, the dealer usually doesn't use a set of winning hands, but rather mixes high-value hands, low-value hands, and winning hands to ensure that they win one suit or only lose one suit, while the other two suits lose. The goal is not to win all the hands at once, but to disrupt the gambler's mindset.

Gamblers are usually afraid of winning but not losing. If they win two hands in a row, they dare not bet heavily on the third hand, fearing that the money they have already won will be lost. But if they lose two hands in a row, they dare to bet their wife and daughters on the third hand, thinking that they can win back everything they have lost in one hand.

Facing a group of high-rolling gamblers, there's no need to cheat. As long as the house has enough capital, a hundred millionaire can sit on the side of winnings and losses of tens of thousands. Over a long period, this is more reliable than investing in stocks that fluctuate wildly.

Chen Azhu, with 100,000 chips as the dealer and no pressure to win or lose, is facing 11 gamblers with a total of 120,000 chips. At most, he has 30,000 chips left, and at least only two or three thousand. Moreover, he is likely to lose big time, or even his whole family will go hungry. He will lose his composure after one round, and will be at a loss after two rounds.

Chen Azhu has a very high chance of winning, or even a sure win.

After carefully considering the intricacies of the situation, Sin Yiu-man began to daydream.

In Taiwan, spirit mediumship is prevalent, and various psychics swindle and deceive people. Britain passed the False Medium Act, abolishing the ancient Witchcraft Act, which means that since 1735, admitting to having magic or psychic abilities is no longer a capital offense, unless used for fraud.

There is a Dr. Joseph Lane at Duke University who has been researching extrasensory perception for over twenty years, and his book "The Realm of the Mind" is a bestseller.

Against this historical backdrop, it seems appropriate to release a gambling film that uses supernatural abilities as a gimmick.

With a quick thought, Sin Yiu-man came up with the outline for a gambling film script featuring a strong female lead.

While he was racking his brains, the cards were already being dealt on the table. The top card was a Heavenly card paired with a Human card, a worthless ten, and the dealer had the highest score. The worthless ten was doomed. The bottom card was a miscellaneous five paired with a miscellaneous eight, a three-point hand. The hand was terrible.

Coincidentally, Tianmen was also the gatekeeper with the heaviest bets, and Chen Azhu was confident that she could win this gate.

The front of the gate is a plum blossom with a bench, four dots, and the back is a ground tile with a long three, eight dots. The tiles are neither too big nor too small, so generally speaking, the possibility of losing is relatively high.

The front of the gate is a miscellaneous five with a red head ten, five points; the back is a heavenly card with a miscellaneous seven, nine points, and a loan card.

Chen Azhu glanced at the three players' cards, uttered a "Damn it" and flipped over her own hand with great displeasure. She had a long three with a miscellaneous eight, a four, which was higher than the Heavenly Gate and Earthly Gate, but lower than the Exit Gate. Then she flipped over her own hand with a club with a two and a four, a six, which was higher than the Heavenly Gate, but lower than the Earthly Gate and the Exit Gate.

Chen Azhu shouted, "Eat at the Heavenly Gate, lose money at the Door, and suffer a fire at the Earthly Gate."

Upon hearing this, Xian Yaowen shoved the money from the Earth Gate outwards, shouting, "Go, go!" He piled up the money from the Heaven Gate, saying, "Sorry, sorry, good luck next time!" He then threw stacks of money out the door, shouting, "Five hundred, go; two thousand, go; eight hundred, go..."

"Down, down, down more! This old lady's 'powerful' move will wipe out everything!"

When Chan Ah-chu shuffled the cards, Sin Yiu-man gave her a rough estimate of the money, which was about 106,000, and she had already made a profit.

After waiting a while and seeing no one come to pump water, he pointed out 1600 yuan and put it aside.

The gambler from Tianmen watched as his ten thousand yuan was oppressed and trampled by Xian Yaowen. The fat on his face twitched. He took out a handkerchief to wipe the sweat from his forehead and muttered, "Bad luck, really bad luck. I lost ten on the first round. The feng shui is bad tonight."

The gambler at the bottom gate breathed a sigh of relief. Although he hadn't won any money with his betting, in this kind of tense and dangerous game, not losing was winning. He pushed up his gold-rimmed glasses, picked up his teacup and took a sip, but his eyes secretly glanced at the gambler who had won money and was leaving.

The gambler didn't show the slightest smile despite winning. He simply stacked the wad of banknotes he'd won on the "wall" in front of him, expressionless, like laying bricks. His hands were steady, and there were calluses on the base of his thumb from years of holding a gun.

"Again." The gambler's voice was as hard as cast iron.

Chen Azhu was shuffling the cards when she heard those two words. She raised her eyelids and took a deep look at the gambler leaving through the swirling smoke. She had a bad feeling about this gambler. He didn't have the anxiousness of a gambler who was always worried about winning or losing. Instead, he had the calmness of someone ambushing the enemy on the battlefield.

"Okay, let's play again." Chen Azhu said in a magnetic and lazy voice, "Everyone is in a good mood, I'll keep you company to the end, next and next."

Chen Azhu shuffled the 32 dominoes on the table with a loud clatter, like a downpour hitting roof tiles.

This time, her shuffling motion changed. In the previous round, she shuffled very vigorously, like a storm; this time, she shuffled very slowly and heavily, her fingers sliding over the back of each card as if she were talking to the dominoes.

A short while later, the eight tiles were shuffled, and Chen Azhu made a gesture of invitation.

The gamblers at Tianmen pressed their hands on the stack of money, their thumbnails digging into the edges of the banknotes, seemingly hesitating about how much to bet. The Tianmen supporters were equally conflicted, none of them placing a bet, probably considering whether to switch to another gambler and to what extent.

The gambler who went out was very decisive; he put all the money he won in the previous round, along with his initial capital, into the new round, determined to protect his interests.

The entire venue fell silent, and the hands of the fans who were about to place their bets froze in mid-air.

Chen Azhu looked at the pile of money, a smile spreading across her eyes. No one had passed the trick in this hand. The result of the cards being dealt was: take one and get two, pass one trick, take one and get one, pass two tricks, take two and get one, pass three tricks, and win all the cards. All 32 cards were arranged in a specific order. Tonight's wins and losses depended on this one hand.

Sin Yiu-man was replaying the process of Chan Ah-chu shuffling the cards. She shuffled them a bit slowly, and she should have already memorized the cards face up. As for the cards face down, she made a "dragging" motion when stacking them, and the dominoes rubbed against the table for a distance.

He thought of mahjong. When Fei Baoqi and the others played, they basically didn't look at the cards when they picked them up. They could tell what kind of cards they were just by touching them with their fingers. Sometimes they wouldn't even touch them, but would just gently rub the cards on the table and recognize what kind of cards they were by the different tactile sensations.

For example, the White Dragon, One of Bamboo, and Two of Sticks have a very different feel from other tiles. An experienced mahjong player can basically recognize them, and a more skilled player can recognize even more tiles, like him, who can recognize about seventy or eighty of them.

Chen Azhu is a professional; she probably has the ability to recognize 32 dominoes. So, the fact that the cards were shuffled so slowly means she must have already dug the trap.

More than thirty seconds had passed, and the gamblers had all made their life-or-death decisions. Tianmen's bet was no less than the previous one, about 46,000 or 47,000. Chumen's bet was a little more, estimated to be over 50,000. Dimen's bet was the least, but it was still 12,000 or 13,000. The total amount was quite interesting. It was estimated that some "sane" gamblers were betting on the "money," fearing that the house couldn't afford to lose.

"Is everything settled?" Chen Azhu looked around with the dice in hand, paused for a moment, and seeing that no one else was betting, threw the dice. "Four, five, nine, my hand, I'll draw first."

"Wait a minute." The gambler who was leaving called out to Chen Azhu, stopping her hand from drawing cards, and said in a muffled voice, "Pass three rounds."

Chen Azhu remained expressionless and gave no response. She simply moved the first three stacks of cards to the side, picked up the fourth stack of cards and placed it in front of her, and then dealt cards to the three players in order.

As soon as the dominoes reached the entrance, the air in the casino seemed to be sucked out, leaving only the buzzing sound of the ceiling fan blades cutting through the air.

After receiving his cards, the gambler didn't try to trick the dealer this time. He seemed to want to overwhelm the dealer with his aura. He simply flipped open the four cards a crack, glanced at them, and then quickly divided them into two groups, slamming them heavily onto the table.

"Open!" he roared, veins bulging on his forehead, showing he was very confident in his hand.

Chen Azhu smiled calmly, not flustered at all. She knew what cards the gambler who went out had, as well as the cards of the other two hands. The gambler who went out had cleverly set up a winning hand for her, which displeased her.

We agreed to come and support each other, and the point is to keep the atmosphere lively with wins and losses. If we win all of them this time, this stage is going to be shut down.

She glanced at Sin Yiu-man beside her, turned to the side, and whispered behind his head, "Tong Sha, should we go easy on him?"

Sin Yiu-man didn't reply, but patted Chan Ah-chu's shapely buttocks and looked at the water dispenser in the corner.

kill!

Since a complete wipeout is about to happen, it's inevitable that the game will be shut down. Taking the path of losing first and then winning is too slow. It's better to use a complete wipeout to push certain gamblers to borrow money, thus creating the greatest profit for Cai Jintu.

Chen Azhu saw Xian Yaowen's gaze and immediately understood: this was a sure win, but she would accept the banker's offer if things didn't look good.

As soon as the two finished their conversation, Xian Yaowen felt a surge of heat. It turned out that Chen Hua had stood beside him, holding a wad of cash in his hand, which, judging by its thickness, should be 16,000 yuan.

"Passed four levels?"

Chen Hua laughed and said, "After passing three tests, I waited a long time before making my move."

"It's okay to gamble with a little money."

Chen Hua said what Xian Yaowen wanted to hear: "I'm just playing around."

Sin Yiu-man nodded slightly, looking down at the cards Chan Ah-chu had revealed. The head was a three-of-a-kind with a miscellaneous eight, a four-point hand, and the tail was a pair of earth tiles and human tiles, a kong. It was a very ordinary hand, not some rare hand that appeared only once in a while.

Chen Azhu shouted, "Kill them all!"

The gambler looked at her cards as he left, his face turning ashen. He deeply regretted his earlier outburst of three tricks. If he hadn't, he would have taken the dealer's cards, and who knows... he might have been in deep trouble!

While saying "bad luck," Xian Yaowen quickly collected the bets from the three shopkeepers, then put the 6000 yuan together with the 1600 yuan from before.

"Down, down, down, take revenge for every grudge, take revenge for every grievance."

The gambler, his face dark, said as he left, "Not betting on the banker?"

Chen Azhu chuckled and said, "I'm here to support you. I won't leave the game until I've lost everything."

"You wait here." With that, the gambler walked towards the gambling den, clearly intending to borrow money from loan sharks.

"You be the advisor."

Xian Yaowen said something to Chen Hua, picked up the water bill, and walked towards the door.

He opened the door and saw Cai Jintu standing with one of his men smoking. He walked over and handed him the money. "Brother Cheng, your men aren't very skilled yet. They don't even know how to take advantage of the money."

Cai Jintu responded with a smile, "Mr. Xian is here to support us, how could I accept your generous donation?"

Sin Yiu-man waved his hand, "Eat if you want to. I can't break Brother Cheng's rules. Besides, I don't like gambling, so I can't come here often."

Cai Jintu didn't haggle over the small amount of money. He handed the payment to his subordinate and told him to leave. "Mr. Xian, we've already acquired most of the easy land in Taipei. What's left are the tough nuts to crack."

"I've already handed over the land acquisition to Amei and Manager Lu. Brother Cheng can talk to them. I'm here today not only to show my support, but also to talk to Brother Cheng about something else."

"Mr. Xian, please speak."

"How many trucks does Brother Cheng own for freight transport?"

"More than a dozen vehicles were used to travel between the docks and the train stations."

"Business is alright?"

"not bad."

“I plan to start a passenger transport business, as big as I can, and also do freight transport, specializing in hauling building materials for government projects. Freight transport is relatively simple; once you have the connections, you can get business. Passenger transport is more complicated; you have to deal with local tycoons. I would like to ask Brother Cheng to cooperate with me on this business.”

"How to cooperate?"

"Brother Cheng's contribution is limited and can be converted into corresponding shares. If you want more shares, Brother Cheng can provide a sum of money."

After thinking for a moment, Cai Jintu said, "Not every gang leader only cares about immediate interests. You can't just beat them up with money."

“I’ve always believed in sharing the profits. If you can’t win me over, I won’t take your money. If you just want shares, that’s fine too. I’ll give you whatever they’re worth.” Xian Yaowen stared at Cai Jintu’s face. “If you’re trying to extort money from me, Brother Cheng, I don’t run the underworld and I don’t follow its rules. You’d better not drag this out until I have to deal with it personally.”

Cai Jintu nodded. "I can handle things on the sidelines."

"Okay, I'll have someone else discuss the details with Brother Cheng, so that Brother Cheng won't be too embarrassed to ask for a higher price."

Cai Jintu chuckled and said, "I believe Mr. Xian will not treat me unfairly."

Sin Yiu-man waved his hand, “It’s perfectly normal to haggle in business. After all, everyone wants to do less and get more. Just state how much you want, make sure everything is clear, and come up with a number that both parties can accept. It’s better to be a little timid first and a gentleman later.”

Cai Jintu nodded in agreement, "That's a good idea."

"It's a bit stuffy inside, I'm going to go for a walk on the street. Brother Cheng, please keep an eye on the two of them."

"Mr. Xian, please go with peace of mind."

Sin Yiu-man didn't want to go shopping; he simply didn't want to stay in the casino. He walked to the Taipei Bridge, the bridge that got its name from, and stood at the sunset over the iron bridge, one of the eight scenic spots of Taipei, enjoying the river breeze.

at this time.

Near the Wanshan Islands, south of Hong Kong and east of Macau, in a sea area called Garbage Bay, a no-man's-land, a 10,000-ton cargo ship flying the Liberian flag was anchored, and six or seven large-eyed ships swarmed around it like locusts, ready to take delivery of the cargo.

Hong Yingdong was on a large cargo ship, holding a flashlight and exchanging secret signals with the people on board.

On the other side of the cargo ship, underwater, Pheasant Plate and Guzi Drunken Swordsman sat on the back of an Italian pig (Maiale, underwater propulsion device) and slowly approached the cargo ship.

Just a few seconds later, the pig surfaced from the water, and the two removed their oxygen masks, opened their waterproof bags, and hung their equipment on their bodies.

"Theater, theater, the actors have arrived backstage, Over."

"Received, two-minute countdown, Over."

“Copy.”

Shanji Panzi glanced at his watch, picked up his lasso gun, and aimed it at the side of the ship.

On a speedboat, Shuangying put down his walkie-talkie, picked up another, and said, "Mr. Hong, Mr. Hong, this is the company's security guard."

“I am Hung Ying-tung, I am Hung Ying-tung.”

“Mr. Hong, we are going to take action against the cargo ship. We are going to take action against the cargo ship. You can leave or stay and watch the show. You can leave or stay and watch the show, but please do not interfere. Do not interfere. This is a warning. This is a warning.”

Upon hearing this, Hong Yingdong's hand fell limply to his side, and his face turned extremely pale. After a moment, he raised his hand again and said into the walkie-talkie, "Sister-in-law, are you online?"

The walkie-talkie was silent for four or five seconds. The voice that Hong Yingdong wanted to hear did not come out. Instead, another woman's voice came out, "Mr. Hong, in order to save face for him, the business has been turning a blind eye to your behavior. You have crossed the line. Please come to my office tomorrow. There are some things we need to talk about."

Hong Yingdong stood there frozen, with only the sound of the whistling sea breeze making a slight noise.

The countdown is over.

Pheasant Plate pulled the trigger, the lasso shot out, and the grappling hook gripped the ship's side firmly. Guzi Zuixia grabbed the rope and climbed up with his bare hands.

At the same time, two speedboats approached the cargo ship in a pincer formation. The speedboats carried armed personnel dressed in various colors and holding all sorts of guns.

Uniforms and standard firearms are very intimidating, but they can also provoke those in power. Disorder is a mob, while uniformity is an armed force, which has completely different meanings. Today's operation cannot eliminate witnesses, and there are some things to be careful about.

About a minute later, a specially made signal flare rose from the cargo ship, indicating that Shanji and Panzi had taken control of the bridge and the two speedboats increased their speed.

Three minutes later, the horn of a thousand-ton cargo ship sounded; the ship carrying goods for Jinji Trading Company had arrived.

The Xian family's study.

Wang Xiamin put down the walkie-talkie, picked up the rook on the chessboard, and captured a cannon.

Sitting opposite her, Cen Peipei chuckled and said, "You really want to take my hits? You won't regret it?"

Upon hearing this, Wang Xiamin stared intently at the chessboard, trying to find the hidden killing intent lurking in Cen Peipei's mind.

Cen Peipei smiled and picked up her teacup. "No need to look anymore. Pao is deliberately giving you something to eat. You only have five moves left."

Wang Xiamin pouted, indicating her disbelief. Both of them were terrible chess players, but she was even worse than Cen Peipei. It was normal for her to lose to Cen Peipei, but she didn't believe that Cen Peipei could calculate five moves ahead.

Seeing this, Cen Peipei stopped talking about the chess game, took a sip of tea, and said, "Tell Chen Yan to watch out for the Northeastern accents in the fortress. Don't let them leave the fortress for half a month. If they don't listen to advice, deal with them directly."

What about airports and ports?

"The Sin family doesn't have the capability to keep an eye on every suspicious person who comes to Hong Kong. We can only strengthen security at home and tell everyone to try to stay home as much as possible recently, especially Zhou Ruoyun. The master's child must not be harmed."

"it is good."

"There will be a lot of activity in the city later. It's too troublesome to drag the corpses out of the city. We'll open a small slaughterhouse, install an incinerator, and deal with them on the spot."

"Slaughter what?"

"The master likes hot pot with mutton."

"clear."

Redlands, California, the last rest stop on the way from Mexicali to Los Angeles.

Mei Zhidan and several team members stopped to rest in an orange orchard stretching for dozens of miles. The team members gathered around a juice stand, drinking freshly squeezed summer orange juice, while Mei Zhidan leaned against the car, studying the map in her hand.

They were going to buy an insurance policy, and if Yu Fengzhi wasn't good at negotiating, then they might as well not discuss it at all. (End of Chapter)