I was forced to start the second round because I was raised in poverty

Chapter 328 Zhang Yangwen's Outburst

After Su Cheng returned, she sat on the sofa and waited for Zhang Yangwen to reply.

He had eaten something a bit too salty at Jiang Shuyue's house and asked Zhang Yangwen if he wanted to go out for a drink.

After waiting for several minutes without Zhang Yangwen replying, Su Cheng went downstairs and knocked on the door.

But no one answered the door when I knocked.

"He doesn't seem to be home?"

Su Cheng wondered if Zhang Yangwen had gone out again that night. He probably hadn't gone to the gym, right?
Back upstairs, Su Cheng took a shower and had just finished getting dressed when she heard a knock on the door.

Su Cheng peeked through the peephole first, and only opened the door after confirming it was Zhang Yangwen: "You lost your phone? You haven't been replying to messages?"

Zhang Yangwen looked very discouraged, listless, and seemed to be in a bad state.

Su Cheng guessed that something must have happened to him, otherwise he wouldn't be like this.

Did Zhang Yangwen get rejected after confessing his feelings to Ma Shuning?

That's a good thing.

Su Cheng didn't ask, so Zhang Yangwen didn't say anything either.

Su Cheng offered him a cigarette, intending to comfort Zhang Yangwen.

Because the two of them weren't really a good match to begin with, it was just Zhang Yangwen's wishful thinking that made Su Cheng hesitant to persuade him. She could only speak up after Zhang Yangwen hit a wall.

Never thought about it.

That's not the reason I was rejected at all.

Zhang Yangwen's next words kept Su Cheng under control for half a minute.

"Brother Cheng."

"Ok?"

"I went to the arcade and played for a while, but I lost money."

Su Cheng: ? ? ? ? ?
My grass?

Did Zhang Yangwen's mother go to the Ma family's entertainment hall?

Su Cheng immediately recalled the scene of his first research trip with Zhang Yangwen in the entertainment hall. He had taken good precautions!
Why would Zhang Yangwen still be attracted to that side?
Don't you know there are many traps designed to exploit human weaknesses?
Why would you knowingly walk into a trap?

Su Cheng hurriedly asked him what was going on.

“It was Ma Shuning who invited me. She said she was going to have some fun with some friends and asked if I wanted to come. I was too embarrassed to refuse, so I said I would go and see.”

"Where? Diamond Casino?"

"Hmm... but it was a VIP room reserved for their private party, for their private card game."

"How much money did you lose?"

"I still have a little over three thousand left."

"I'm asking you how much you lost."

"I didn't dare to calculate it carefully... it seems to be a little over one hundred but less than two hundred."

"Ten thousand?"

"Um……"

"Where the hell did you get two million?"

"The IOU I wrote."

Su Cheng couldn't hold back any longer and started cursing. How the hell did they even produce an IOU?

"Dollar or what?"

"Not in US dollars, just cash."

Zhang Yangwen made a request to Su Cheng, hoping that Su Cheng could use his mathematical card-counting skills to help him win back some of the winnings.

With Su Cheng's memory and math skills, she'd definitely win a lot back playing blackjack.

Su Cheng, having reached his limit, swung his arm and slapped Zhang Yangwen across the face.

Snapped!
The crisp sound of a slap echoed in the living room.

This is just making trouble out of nothing.

Zhang Yangwen thinks he's the God of Gamblers?

He won it back through his own abilities, he won a damn thing.

Is it really that easy to win money at a casino?
The only purely luck-based game is European Roulette, where the odds are higher.

The win rate for betting on red/black is 48.65%, the house advantage is 2.7%, and the win rate for a single bet is 46-49%.

The odds of winning in Baccarat are even lower; the odds of winning when betting on the Banker are 45.86%, while the odds of winning when betting on the Player are 44.62%.

Let's not even talk about Tiger; its win rate is suppressed to 30-40%.

Zhang Yangwen was considerate enough to let Su Cheng play blackjack, a game with the greatest mathematical influence, instead of a purely luck-based game.

Even if you are proficient in mathematics and can perfectly count cards, the probability of winning money is only 55-60%, and the probability of winning money without perfect card counting is only 45-50%.

Theoretically, the win rate can be consistently 60% within 200 moves, but this requires the perfect execution of a mathematical model.

In practice, it's not like that at all; the dealer has countermeasures.

With eight decks of cards plus a shuffling machine, even if Su Cheng possesses the card-counting ability of a computer, his win rate is still 0% in the long run.

This is because the mathematical model needs to complete the probability calculation within 0.5 to 2 seconds.

At the same time, Su Cheng also needs to manage her facial expressions and fake the bet.

For every 1% increase in the error rate, the advantage decreases by 0.8%.

How the hell do you calculate eight decks of cards in 2 seconds?

No human being could process such an exponentially large decision tree in real time.

Do you really think Su Cheng is a computer?

He has six eyes, but damn it, he doesn't have X-ray vision.

Su Cheng can see through people's hearts, but he can't see through playing cards and dice cups at all!

Modern casino games are all verified by mathematical statistics. Mathematicians, such as those using the Kelly criterion, discovered all the loopholes they could find decades ago.

Take European roulette as an example; the table is equipped with anti-tilt gyroscopes for calculation.

Each card in a playing card set contains an RFID chip.

Vulnerabilities and bugs are no longer just mathematical probabilities on paper.

Who among those truly proficient in mathematics would do this? It's risky and unstable; most of them end up on Wall Street handling quantitative finance cases.

Using the same mathematical model, a quantitative hedge fund position can start with an annual salary of 150 million yuan, plus dividends, and the fund's annualized return can reach 10%.

The returns are higher than those of casinos, and they are also more stable.

Zhang Yangwen cried when he heard this.

He wasn't made to cry by Su Cheng's slap; he was truly at his wit's end, and tears streamed down his face.

If my dad knew he lost over a million dollars in Macau, he might break his own hand.

"Alright, stop crying now."

Su Cheng asked Zhang Yangwen to calm down first.

He calmed himself down.

"Now tell me the whole story, from the beginning, without missing a single detail."

Zhang Yangwen began to recount what had happened that day.

After listening, Su Cheng understood.

Actually, this isn't Zhang Yangwen's fault.

The instigator was Ma Shuning.

It's obvious today that someone set a trap for Zhang Yangwen.

Ma Shuning first gathered a few of her girlfriends to go out with Zhang Yangwen. Uncharacteristically, she acted coquettishly and tried to win Zhang Yangwen over. Then, during a casual chat, she praised Su Cheng's excellent math skills, which ignited Zhang Yangwen's competitive spirit.

Later, when the idea of ​​playing cards came up, Zhang Yangwen obediently followed their instructions.

The more you try to prove yourself, the deeper you get caught up in it.

That woman is so vicious!

Su Cheng knew long ago that Ma Shuning wanted the two of them to compete, but he didn't fall for it. He assumed it was a consensus between him and Zhang Yangwen that they didn't need to compete, so he didn't remind them.

Just because he didn't say one more word, Zhang Yangwen fell into the trap.

Zhang Yangwen definitely can't solve the problem; he just wants Su Cheng to show up.

Considering all these factors...

Su Cheng and Zhang Yangwen now have several options.

First, confess to your family.

Two million is just a drop in the ocean for Lao Zhang, but it signifies the failure of his "poor upbringing" education.

The result was that Lao Zhang paid back the money to Zhang Yangwen, then beat Zhang Yangwen up, and then removed Zhang Yangwen from the old man's place, declaring that Zhang Yangwen's attempt to raise him frugally had failed.

Later on, Su Cheng also tended to let Lao Zhang's expectation of raising his child in poverty fail.

But this time, although he failed, he can forget about inheriting the family fortune.

Because the failure was caused by "gambling," it is a very serious and egregious offense.

Su Cheng estimated that Zhang Yangwen wouldn't know his family was very wealthy for several years, fearing that once Zhang Yangwen had money, he would be unwilling to give up and would gamble again, because that stuff is a bottomless pit.

It's possible that Old Zhang wouldn't let Zhang Yangwen take over the Jin Hong Group's business before he passed away.

Finally, they might find a professional agent to set up a trust fund for Zhang Yangwen, giving him some living expenses and pocket money each year.

Therefore, Su Cheng cannot make Zhang Yangwen confess.

Zhang Yangwen didn't want to be honest with his family, partly because he thought his family was poor and he didn't want to cause them trouble, and partly because he was afraid his father would break his arms and legs.

We need to find another way to solve this.

At the same time, Su Cheng also made a hypothesis: if Lao Zhang were to repay Zhang Yangwen, the Ma family might be able to trace Zhang Yangwen's true identity through the source of the funds.

Perhaps this was one of Ma Shuning's goals?

Besides confessing, the second option is to try your luck at an arcade.

But it's not like Zhang Yangwen said, where Su Cheng uses her "superpowers" to count cards, play poker, or blackjack.

This method involves playing only one round, without considering situations like 100 or 200 rounds.

In European roulette, betting on red or black has the highest probability of success, with a winning rate of 48.65%.

The advantage is that you don't have to be affected by the psychological designs and biological weaknesses of people found in entertainment halls.

From an investment perspective, a win rate of 48.65% is already quite high.

Many startup plans don't guarantee a 48% success rate. Entrepreneurs who can consistently achieve a 48% success rate are already incredibly successful in the business world.

However, the risks are also significant, and there are two main problems to be faced.

What should I do if I lose?
The debt of two million has doubled to four million, which will be even more troublesome and difficult to handle.

If Old Deng found out about his gambling, he might also be labeled a "gambling addict".

Even if the old man knew he was helping Zhang Yangwen pay off his debts, he would still feel like a stupid idiot.

My fate might be similar to Zhang Yangwen's; I might never be able to touch the Emperor Group, and I might not even have a trust fund to provide me with living expenses and pocket money.

Therefore, this method is a last resort and an alternative plan.

Or it could be the third option.

Su Cheng directly returned the money to Zhang Yangwen.

This solution is much better than the previous two.

The only risk is that the old guys can easily detect large fluctuations in funds.

If the old man manages to get the Ministry of Internal Affairs to trace all his assets, shares, and other property, and then deduce the truth about "I Tell You" and "Heart Signal," then he's doomed.

Besides this, Su Cheng also had to consider something else.

That's Zhang Yangwen.

If he still harbors wicked intentions and secretly goes to the arcade again, creating a psychological dependence on Su Cheng to cover for him, then all his efforts will be in vain.

Upon hearing this, Zhang Yangwen immediately raised his hand and swore to Su Cheng that if he ever gambled again, he would be hit by a car and killed as soon as he stepped outside.

"I don't believe what gambling addicts say."

What won't a gambler say or do in order to gamble again?
Zhang Yangwen immediately wilted, looking pitifully at Su Cheng, and repeatedly assured Su Cheng that he would never touch this thing.

Strictly speaking, Zhang Yangwen wasn't a gambler; he was outmaneuvered by Ma Shuning.

Therefore, his words still have some credibility.

"Then I'll trust you just this once, just this once."

"If there's a second time, don't bother looking for me anymore, I don't know you."

Zhang Yangwen nodded vigorously, and then made a solemn oath.

"Brother Cheng, do you have a solution?"

Su Cheng is still considering it.

All three methods carry risks.

He decided to take the safest approach first and talk to Ma Shuning to see if he could get Zhang Yangwen's debt cleared.

It might not be that easy, but Su Cheng wants to give it a try.

Ma Shuning tethered Zhang Yangwen, wasn't she just trying to get Su Cheng to step in and help solve the problem?
She's probably waiting for me to ask her out.

What Su Cheng didn't know was what conditions Ma Shuning would offer.

Su Cheng will help whenever she can, as long as it does not harm the interests of the group.

Even if it infringes on the group's interests, Su Cheng has to grit her teeth and help Zhang Yangwen get rid of this mess.

He personally bore the portion of the group's losses.

What's done is done. If Su Cheng doesn't help Zhang Yangwen, he might jump off a building tomorrow.

Although this matter has nothing to do with Su Cheng, if you insist on saying it is related, there are some intricate connections.

But the vast majority of the responsibility lies with Ma Shuning; she is the root cause.

Zhang Yangwen also bears secondary responsibility.

That kid is utterly useless!
You walk right into someone's trap.

"Brother Cheng, I owe money to her two girlfriends. Will she agree to this, or is it up to her?"

"It doesn't matter what, but don't even think about getting your share of the profits this time. You'll definitely have to pay that money."

Zhang Yangwen also thought about his share of the dividends, but he was worried: "But the dividends might not come for several months, and what about the interest in between..."

"I'm just going over there to help you negotiate, what's the rush?"

Zhang Yangwen knew that there was no use in being anxious now, so he had no choice but to shut up.

Su Cheng took out her phone and sent a message to Ma Shuning. The last time the two talked was on the day they went sea fishing.

Instead of using work as an excuse to extend the invitation, he said he was on vacation the next day and asked Ma Shuning if there were any activities they could do together.

After sending the message, Su Cheng put her phone on the coffee table, and the two of them waited for Ma Shuning to reply.

A dozen minutes later, my phone rang.

Clare: [Sure, how about playing tennis?]
"Brother Cheng, she replied."

"I'm not blind."

Su Cheng picked up her phone again and typed: [Where can I type this?]
Clare: [Come to my house, I have a tennis court in my backyard]
Su Cheng: [Okay, what time?]
Clare: [10 AM? Too early for me to get up]
Su Cheng: [Okay!]
Clare: [See you tomorrow]
Su Cheng ended the chat with an emoji.

Zhang Yangwen watched from the sidelines the whole time.

"Brother Cheng, do you need me to come with you?"

"Need not."

Su Cheng refused, and with Zhang Yangwen present, he felt it was inappropriate to discuss this matter with Ma Shuning.

"Go outside and buy me a tennis outfit, a tennis racket, a sweat-absorbing tennis cap, a thick towel to wipe away sweat, and a sports bag."

Su Cheng took a bank card out of her wallet and tossed it to Zhang Yangwen.

"The password is eight zeros."

"Tennis outfits must be all white, and I wear size M."

(End of this chapter)