Financial freedom starts from graduation

Chapter 644 Snow

The sky was overcast and cold, but the room was warm and cozy.

Several shacks were pieced together by knocking down the walls to create a long, narrow hall. In this space of about fifty or sixty square meters, twenty or thirty people were crammed together, mostly men and a few heavily made-up women. They were gathered around a gambling table, sometimes pounding their chests and sometimes shouting.

On the table was a simple game called "Baccarat". Cui Juncai, whom Cui Min'er had searched for all over Kowloon Village but couldn't find, was now sitting in the middle position with the best view of the dealer.

There were more than twenty gamblers inside, but only seven or eight seats. Those who could sit down were undoubtedly the ones who placed the most bets.

Choi Jun-jae's position symbolizes that he is the big brother among the players and has the only "card-swiping right".

The female dealer opposite him, who was wearing a low-cut tank top despite it being winter, winked at Cui Juncai and then pushed two cards, one facing up and one facing down, representing the player's points, in front of him.

At this point, the dealer has already revealed an 8, which is an extremely high number in Baccarat. Meanwhile, the player who has bet the most only has a King revealed, which represents 0 points.

This means that Choi Jun-jae must reveal another card with a score of 8 or higher to beat the dealer, which is highly unlikely.

As Cui Juncai took a deep breath and began to subtly peek at the cards on the table, the gamblers behind him, looking tense, began to shout in unison.

"9 o'clock, 9 o'clock, 9 o'clock..."

At this moment, Cui Juncai suddenly burst into laughter, forcefully flipped the card over, and slammed it onto the table.

It was a red 9.

"Banker gets 8 points, Player gets 9 points... Player wins!"

The dealer smiled and said something, then pushed the chips that everyone had won over.

Cheers erupted from the table as the gamblers who had placed their bets with Cui Juncai shouted excitedly.

"Jun Cai, you're amazing! You've won four games in a row..."

"Jun Cai, you've really had a stroke of good luck lately! Amazing!"

"Hurry up, keep going, Jun Cai! Today we're going to make the bookies sell their underwear!"

Sitting in the middle, enjoying everyone's praise, Cui Juncai was beaming. Although his eyes were bloodshot, his spirited appearance was a far cry from the dejected look Cui Min'er had when she first met him yesterday.

"Jun Cai, not bad. It seems you really have a chance to pay off your debts today."

A middle-aged man with a scar on his eyebrow stood behind Cui Juncai with a smile, patted him on the shoulder and said in a low voice.

When the scarred man slapped him, Cui Juncai instinctively flinched and gave an awkward laugh, but he quickly straightened his back.

"Brother Fengxian, don't worry, didn't I tell you? Even if I don't win today, I'll definitely pay off your debt. It's just 30 million won, I can afford it..."

Upon hearing Cui Juncai's words, the man named Cheng Fengxian was taken aback.

Since they were all residents of Kowloon Village, they saw each other all the time, and Cheng Fengxian knew Cui Juncai's character all too well.

Although Cui Juncai was timid and opportunistic and didn't have much ability, he was honest and rarely boasted. Even when he was driven to desperation by his own debt collection, he never dared to deceive himself, unlike other gamblers who would readily say things like "I'll definitely pay you tomorrow" or "I'll definitely have it next month."

So if Cui Juncai said that, it means he really has the confidence.

Considering that Choi Joon-jae had acquired over a million won in chips as soon as he entered the venue today, and that his betting stakes had clearly increased significantly, Sung Bong-hyun narrowed his eyes.

Where did that old bastard get such a large sum of money again?
While pondering this in his mind, Cheng Fengxian smiled and waved to a flamboyant young woman next to him, gesturing for her to sit down next to Cui Juncai.

These women usually solicit business in Kowloon Village. Although they are just ordinary women, they are open-minded and understand the needs of men from the lower class.

As soon as the young woman sat down next to Cui Juncai, she pulled his hand directly into the open neckline of her dress, looking like a little bird clinging to someone.

Cui Juncai had never experienced anything like this before, and it was the first time he had ever sat in the main seat at the gambling table. He was at a loss for what to do. He wanted to refuse but couldn't bear to give up the warmth coming from the woman's palm, so he half-heartedly gave in and let the woman lean on him.

Just as Cui Juncai was enjoying himself and casually tossing chips on the gambling table, the simple door of the shed was suddenly pushed open, and a tall girl who amazed all the men present barged in.

Just as the other man guarding the door was about to make a move, Cheng Fengxian stopped him with a look, and then smiled at the girl.

"Isn't this Miss Cui Min'er, the pearl of our Kowloon Village? When did you return?"

"It really is Choi Min-ah, wow, I didn't expect her to have grown into such a beautiful young woman..."

"Otherwise, how could she have caught the eye of a tycoon's son?"

"Cui Juncai has a good daughter. With just his daughter, he will never have to worry about food and drink for the rest of his life."

"Otherwise, why do you think Brother Fengxian dared to lend him so much money? Hehe..."

Upon seeing Choi Min-ah appear, various whispers began to circulate.

After a moment of surprise, Cui Juncai pushed away the woman next to him with a slight panic, quickly stood up, and said with a somewhat embarrassed smile:

"Min'er, you... how did you get here?"

"Dad...come home with me."

Choi Min-ah glanced at the smoky environment in the room, then bit her lip and looked at the heavily made-up woman. Her face turned pale as she walked up to Choi Joon-jae and grabbed his arm.

Out of shame and panic, Cui Juncai subconsciously followed Cui Min'er a few steps until Cheng Fengxian's indifferent voice came from the side:

“Brother Jun Cai, if you leave now, I’ll have to confiscate all the chips you’ve bet… Also, is there something you’ve forgotten?”

Reminded by Cheng Fengxian, Cui Juncai realized that the round was about to be revealed, and feeling that he was on a winning streak, he had just gone all in with all the chips in front of him under the encouragement of the others.

That's a whopping eight million Korean won (about 4 RMB)!

Cui Juncai quickly broke free from Cui Min'er's hand and, ignoring her attempts to stop him, sat back down at the gambling table.

"Min'er, wait a moment, let me see this hand of cards... it's crucial!"

"9 o'clock, 9 o'clock, 9 o'clock!"

The crowd shouted loudly again.

Because this situation is exactly the same as the previous round, the dealer has dealt an 8, and the player's first card is a 0. This means that Cui Juncai, who went all in on the player, needs to play a 9 to turn the tide.

Cui Juncai, whose face was gradually turning red, could vaguely see the edge of the card in his hand, which had four clubs.

In gamblers' jargon, this is called "four-sided," and only the 9 and 10 cards in a deck of cards are "four-sided."

So Cui Juncai threw the card out with great momentum, but to everyone's disappointment, the miracle did not happen again this time, and the card that fell on the table was a 10 of clubs.

"Player gets 0 points, Banker gets 8 points... Banker wins!"

Amidst the angry curses of the crowd and the incredulous gaze of Cui Juncai, the dealer collected all the chips placed on the table.

Cui Juncai has been sitting here since morning.

He felt incredibly lucky today—no, he'd never had such good fortune before. He'd only exchanged one million won in chips and won eight million won. He'd never won so much money before, and now, in less than a few seconds, it was all gone…

The imbalance in his mind caused Choi Joon-jae's face to contort. He turned to Sung Bong-hyeon almost without hesitation and shouted, "Bong-hyeon hyung, give me another million... no, two million won!"

"Dad, stop gambling! You promised me you'd come home with me!"

Startled, Choi Min-ah quickly stepped forward to stop her.

Cui Juncai shook off Cui Min'er's hand and forced a smile, "Dad will play a little longer, just a little longer, Min'er, be good, you go back first, okay? Dad will be back soon..."

With that, Cui Juncai sat back down in his original seat.

Choi Min-ah held back her tears for a long time before they finally fell. With red eyes, she grabbed Choi Jun-jae again.

"Dad, you don't have to come with me, but you have to give me back my bank card!"

"What bank card... I don't know what you're talking about."

Cui Juncai was taken aback, a hint of panic appearing deep in his eyes, but he quickly shook his head.

"It's the bank card I brought back. It's gone this morning... Mom told you, right? Give it back to me. That's my money. You can't just take it away like that!"

"Cui Min'er said loudly."

"Min'er, what nonsense are you talking about? I really don't know anything about bank cards. How could Daddy take your money?"

"Jun Cai, the cards are about to be revealed this round, aren't you going to place your bets?"

Just as Choi Min-ah was about to say something more, Sung Bong-hyun suddenly reminded her, and at the same time placed two million won in chips next to Choi Joon-jae.

Cui Juncai immediately forgot about Cui Min'er and turned around to push out the chips amidst the shouts of the crowd.

Cui Min'er said something else, but it was drowned out by the surrounding noise, and her slender figure was gradually squeezed out of the crowd.

Choi Min-ah stood on the periphery of the crowd, peering through the gaps at her father, who was focused solely on the card table and seemed completely unfamiliar to her. Gradually, her heart turned to ashes.

She didn't know how she left the casino. When she came to her senses, she was already standing on the largest main street in Kowloon Village.

Choi Min-ah squatted down, hugging her knees. At this moment, she finally couldn't control herself anymore. She first sobbed softly, and then gradually burst into loud crying. However, Choi Min-ah suppressed all the sounds in her arms, and only her body trembled.

After crying for an unknown amount of time, Choi Min-ah, her makeup slightly smudged, looked up. She instinctively reached for her phone, but after hesitating for a long time, she still didn't dare to make that call...

She wasn't too worried that Zhou Wang would blame her for losing the money; she was mainly afraid that Zhou Wang would look down on her. After all, her family situation was already bad enough, and now she had a gambling addict as her father.

Just as Cui Min'er was feeling confused, a surprised voice suddenly came from behind her:

"Oh, Min'er, so you're here... I went to your house but couldn't find you. I thought you had gone out."

Upon hearing the familiar voice, Cui Min'er was startled and quickly wiped her face. She turned around and stood up, only to see a beautiful girl standing in front of her.

The girl had a great natural look, and with her superb makeup skills, she was almost as beautiful as Choi Min-ah at first glance. She was just a little shorter, which is the normal height for Korean girls, and she was incomparable to Choi Min-ah.

"Nana?"

After a moment of surprise, Choi Min-ah's originally gloomy face couldn't help but show a hint of delight.

The girl in front of her was named Sun Nana, her childhood friend and high school classmate. However, as Sun Nana's modeling career flourished and she became busier, and with Cui Min'er going abroad, their contact became less frequent.

"How will you be here?"

"I came here specifically to find you. I couldn't get through to your number before, and I thought I'd made a wasted trip. Luckily, I ran into you here..."

Sun Nana laughed and seemed to have no sense of distance at all, and hugged Cui Min'er without saying a word.

"Looking for me? Is there something wrong?"

"It's been so long since we last got together. Didn't I tell you to contact me when you went back to China? You silly Min'er, you didn't take my words to heart at all!"

Sun Nana punched Cui Min'er on the shoulder, then pulled Cui Min'er forward without saying a word, "Perfect, since I've caught you, come with me somewhere."

"where to?"

Caught off guard, Choi Min-ah quickly asked.

"Of course I'll take you to freeload... There's a high-class banquet today, and I managed to get two invitations, but my other best friend bailed on me, so you'll have to take advantage of it."

"banquet?"

Knowing how Sun Nana became a top model, Cui Min'er immediately became wary and began to resist, saying, "Nana, I won't go to those parties in your circle... I have a boyfriend now."

"I know, I know, would I ever try to trick you?"

Sun Nana explained helplessly, "It's not the kind of private party you're thinking of. It's a proper banquet for the entertainment industry, hosted by YG Entertainment... You know YG Entertainment, right?"

"Of course I know, I'm a die-hard Somi fan."

Upon hearing this, Choi Min-ah breathed a sigh of relief and then became excited, "So, Somi will go too?"

"Of course, I heard that all the stars from YG Entertainment will be attending. I knew you're a fan of Jeon Somi, so I came to find you specifically. Isn't that good enough for you?"

Sun Nana chuckled, then pulled Cui Min'er forward, "While we still have time, let's get our hair done first. We can't be impolite in this kind of situation..."

This time, Choi Min-ah did not resist, thinking that it would be a good opportunity to relax.

"Hey, it's snowing."

After taking a few steps, Cui Min'er suddenly seemed to sense something, looked up at the sky, and was met with the drifting, crystalline specks of light.

……

"It's snowing..."

In the suite of the Shilla Hotel, Zhou Wang, who was letting Sura and Xu Wenqian fix his hair and clothes on his left and right, saw snowflakes suddenly falling outside the window and couldn't help but stand up and walk to the window to watch.

He was a true southerner, and always maintained a sense of wonder about snow.

Xu Wenqian also walked over with great interest, while Sura, who grew up in Northeast China, yawned out of boredom.

"Has the invitation to Charles been sent?"

While admiring the snowflakes, Zhou Wang casually asked a question.

Tonight is a welcome banquet specially hosted for him by YG Entertainment, a semi-public kind. They just invited Zhou Wang to lunch with Charles yesterday, which he had lost, and they thought they could make up for it with this banquet.

(End of this chapter)