Sent to the countryside, I turned the health center into a top-tier hospital.

"Zhao Dezhu, you fucking brought a stranger here?"

The man with the buzz cut flicked his cigarette butt to the ground and looked Chen Ping up and down.

Zhao Dezhu's leg trembled slightly. He glanced back at Chen Ping, then turned back and forced a smile: "Brother Li, this is my cousin. He's from the city, he's rich, and he wanted to come over and have some fun."

The man with the buzz cut didn't say anything, but circled around Chen Ping, looking him up and down.

Chen Ping stood there, hands in his pockets, his face expressionless.

"From the city?"

The man with the buzz cut squinted and said, "City folks coming to play in this remote mountain village?"

"My cousin was visiting relatives in Siping Township when he heard there was a party here, so he insisted on coming to see it."

Zhao Dezhu smiled ingratiatingly, "Brother Li, don't worry, the men I brought won't get into trouble."

The man with the buzz cut glanced at Chen Ping again, reached out and patted him all over, but didn't find anything.

He nodded to Changfa, who then opened the iron gate. A cloud of smoke billowed out, a mixture of sweat, cigarette smoke, and alcohol that made it hard to open one's eyes.

"Go in. You know the rules: no photos or videos with your phone. If you lose, don't mess around." The man with the buzz cut stepped aside.

Chen Ping followed Zhao Dezhu inside.

The duck shed was much larger inside than it appeared from the outside. The wall in the middle had been removed, and three or four tables were set up, with people gathered around each table.

There were a dozen or so people, some shirtless, some wearing vests, some smoking, and some chewing betel nuts.

There was a thick stack of money on the table, red and green.

Two energy-saving light bulbs hung overhead, their bulbs covered in dust, casting a yellowish light that made people's faces appear ashen.

The air was filled with smoke, which stung people's eyes.

The ground was littered with cigarette butts, betel nut residue, beer cans, and instant noodle boxes, so dirty that you couldn't even step on it.

"Deok-joo is here?"

A bald man peeked out from behind the table, clutching a deck of cards. "Want a couple of hands? I'm on a winning streak today."

Zhao Dezhu shook his head, squeezing out two words: "No money."

The bald man laughed, a malicious laugh: "What are you doing here if you have no money? How about I lend you some, and you let me sleep with your wife for one night?"

Zhao Dezhu didn't respond, clearly somewhat afraid of the bald man.

If it were an ordinary man, he would have already attacked after hearing such insults directed at his wife. But Zhao Dezhu shrank into a corner, squatted down, and stared at the money on the table without even blinking.

Chen Ping stood at the doorway, his gaze sweeping around.

In the corner, a table was set up where several old men were playing dominoes. There wasn't much money on the table, just a few tens or hundreds of yuan.

The middle table was the liveliest, with five or six people gathered around it, playing dice and guessing whether the dice would go up or down.

There were several stacks of money piled on the table, at least twenty or thirty thousand.

His gaze fell on a person leaning against the wall, and he paused for a moment.

Liu Mazi.

Liu Mazi wasn't gambling. He was leaning against the wall, a cigarette between his fingers, a bottle of mineral water beside him, watching the game with a bored expression.

He saw Chen Ping too, and was stunned for a moment before his expression changed, and he almost dropped his cigarette.

He stubbed out his cigarette, strode over, grabbed Chen Ping's arm, and pulled him into a corner.

"Dr. Chen? What brings you here?"

Liu Mazi's voice was low, his face full of anxiety, "Are you crazy? You can't come to this place!"

"Let me take a look," Chen Ping said.

"have a look?"

Liu Mazi got anxious. "Do you know what kind of place this is? This is Tiger's place, his real name is Ma Hu. He's a gangster in Cangyang County, with connections in both the legitimate and underworld. This casino has been open for over a year, and nobody dares to touch it."

Chen Ping looked at him and asked, "What are you doing here?"

Liu Mazi's face stiffened for a moment, and his voice lowered: "I... I just look after the place, keep watch, and guard the entrance. I get three thousand a month. Tiger's men asked me to come, so I couldn't refuse..."

Liu Mazi was a big hoodlum, so when some big shots in the city and county had any problems in Siping Township, they would go to Liu Mazi.

This guy makes a little money from these things; otherwise, he and his mother would have trouble even putting food on the table.

"Dr. Chen, listen to me, leave now. This is not a place for you. Those people are ruthless; if you win money, you won't be able to take it with you."

If you lose money, they'll lend it to you, but the interest will compound, and you'll never be able to pay it back. Zhao Dezhu borrowed money from them, which is why he's in this mess now.

"I know. I came here to take it down," Chen Ping nodded and said.

Liu Mazi's face turned pale, and his lips trembled slightly: "You... what did you say?"

"Call the police."

"Call the police?"

Liu Mazi almost shouted it out, but he forced it back down. "Dr. Chen, the signal is blocked here, there's no cell phone signal at all. And there are lookouts outside. The police didn't even reach the foot of the mountain before everyone ran away. Ma Hu has people on this route, he even has people in the police station."

Chen Ping took out his phone and glanced at it; sure enough, there wasn't a single bar of signal.

He frowned and put his phone away.

"Dr. Chen, don't worry about it, let's go."

Liu Mazi grew anxious. "I'll try to figure out Zhao Dezhu's situation. I'll talk to Brother Hu and ask him not to lend money to Zhao Dezhu anymore..."

"Do you have the final say?" Chen Ping asked, looking at him.

Liu Mazi stopped talking, lowered his head, and rubbed his fingers together along the seam of his pants.

"Liu Mazi, your mother is still waiting for you to take care of her," Chen Ping said softly. "If you hang around in a place like this and something happens to you, what will happen to your mother?"

Liu Mazi's body trembled, and he looked up at Chen Ping, his eyes a little red.

"You should leave. Don't work here anymore," Chen Ping said.

"But what about Tiger..."

"I'll handle it."

Liu Mazi stared at him for a while, gritted his teeth, took out his keychain, put it on the ground, and turned to leave.

As he reached the door, he turned back to look at Chen Ping and mouthed two words: "Be careful."

Chen Ping nodded.

Liu Mazi pushed open the door and disappeared into the twilight.

Chen Ping turned around and walked to Zhao Dezhu's side.

Zhao Dezhu was still squatting in the corner, his eyes fixed on the money on the table, his Adam's apple bobbing up and down.

"Come on, let's go play a couple of rounds." Chen Ping patted him on the shoulder.

Zhao Dezhu was stunned for a moment: "You...you have money?"

Chen Ping pulled out a dozen or so crumpled coins from his pocket; they were leftovers from breakfast a couple of days ago.

Zhao Dezhu glanced at it, his face turning green: "A dozen yuan? You're betting this?"

"That's enough." Chen Ping walked to the dice table and found a seat.

Several people at the table looked up at him, then at the dozen or so yuan in his hand. Someone laughed, "Dezhu, are the people you brought here just for laughs? They think they can play around with a dozen yuan?"

Zhao Dezhu's face flushed red and then turned pale, wishing he could disappear into the ground.

Chen Ping ignored him, slapped a dozen yuan on the table, and pointed to the dice cup: "How do we play?"

"Guess high or low, three dice, four or less is low, ten or more is high, and any dice that go around the top wins."

The dealer was a fat man with a menacing face and three gold rings on his fingers. "How much are you betting?"