Xingzhou City (4)
The world’s four major gambling cities each have their own distinctive character. Singapore only opened its gambling industry in recent years, but it has managed to catch up with the others, and has developed into quite a thriving scene.
Compared with the dreamlike madness of Las Vegas, the classical luxury of Monaco, and the dazzling glamour of Atlantic City, the casinos of Xingzhou City have always been known for their elegance and decorum. Greenery screened the interior, the surroundings were beautiful, smoking was completely prohibited, and security and order were well maintained. Guests were also required to dress appropriately, and anyone improperly dressed was forbidden from entering.
Without clouds of smoke, shouting, or angry curses, the casinos may have lost some of the rough-and-tumble atmosphere of ordinary street life, but the scene remained grand and spectacular, with people coming and going and a lively bustle everywhere.
Liang Jiaxing exchanged his chips at the service counter and said to Tan Guhong, “Since you don’t want to go over that early, why don’t we play a couple of rounds out here?”
“Me? Forget it. I’m not very good at it, and I’ve never had much luck gambling.” Tan Guhong shook her head.
She had played a few times when she went to Macau before. Nine times out of ten she lost, and her luck was even worse than most people’s.
But Liang Jiaxing urged her, “Give it a try. Just for fun. If you win, it’s yours. If you lose, it’s on me.”
“Did Monica give you a commission for bringing in customers?” Tan Guhong said with a laugh, walking straight to the service counter to exchange for a pile of small-denomination chips. “Fine, I’ll give you a demonstration.”
Unlike the slot machines popular in American casinos, the most popular attraction in Asian casinos was always the gaming table. Perhaps only by sitting leisurely at the table and letting the croupier deal and arrange the cards with courteous politeness could one find that calm, unhurried feeling of Chow Yun-Fat, the God of Gamblers from old Hong Kong movies.
Xingzhou City was no exception. Tan Guhong and Liang Jiaxing came to a dice table and played high or low with two dice. It was the simplest game in the whole casino, with small bets and low odds, so few people were interested. Most of the customers playing were elderly grandmas who had bought their groceries, then come to collect the free chips the casino gave out every day and have a little fun here.
Tan Guhong said to the croupier, “I’ll be the banker.”
The croupier shrugged and pushed the two dice toward her.
Tan Guhong put a chip on “Big,” took the two crystal dice in her hand, drew a deep breath, her expression solemn, and threw them out with force.
“One and one. Small.”
Everyone at the table except Tan Guhong won!
But that was only the beginning. Over the next ten throws, every time she bet Big, Small came up, and every time she bet Small, Big came up. The grandmas and uncles from the surrounding tables all gathered around, each of them winning until their faces lit up with delight. One grandma even hit “hard eight,” doubling the payout, and excitedly shrieked like a young girl, drawing frequent glances from across the casino. The security guards almost came over as well.
Finally, on the eleventh throw, the dice flew out, only to hit the corner of the table and bounce away. The grandmas and uncles around the table let out a collective groan, and the round was voided.
Tan Guhong spread her hands at Liang Jiaxing. “See?”
Then she lowered her head and helped the croupier search for the dice that had bounced away. A red die on a carpet patterned in red and gold was, for a moment, genuinely difficult to see.
Suddenly, a hand reached out in front of her. Resting in a long, slender palm with sharply defined knuckles was a crystal-clear red die. A voice so familiar it could hardly have been more so said with a smile,
“Miss Tan, is this what you’re looking for?”
Tan Guhong looked up. Perhaps because she had gotten up too quickly and the blood had not reached her head properly, her vision went black for a moment, and her heart seemed to stop along with it.
The man standing before her in a suit and tie, wearing gold-rimmed glasses and looking the very picture of courtesy and refinement, was none other than Luo Jingming.
He was staying in Xingzhou City too, but these past few days Huo Sixuan had been dragging her out every day, leaving early and returning late, while he had also been nowhere to be seen, busy with who knew what. Since they parted that day, the two of them had not had a chance to meet again.
“Mr. Luo, what a coincidence.”
Tan Guhong lowered her eyes and reached out to take the die.
At the instant they touched, his fingers gave the palm of her hand a light, deliberate scratch. A tingling sensation shot from her palm all the way up to her spine, raising every hair on her back.
She suppressed the urge to shiver and gave him a subtle glare.
Luo Jingming acted as though nothing had happened and looked past her.
“Fourth Uncle, you’re here too.”
Liang Jiaxing walked over and said with a smile, “I accompanied Miss Tan to have dinner with Dad. We just got back and thought we’d take a look around the casino while we were here.”
The smile on Luo Jingming’s face did not change. He said slowly, “Fourth Uncle and Miss Tan seem to know each other quite well.”
“Although we only just met, we hit it off.”
Liang Jiaxing gave an ambiguous answer and said no more, only asking, “I heard A-Ming that you came back a few days ago. How come I’m only seeing you now? Dad was still talking about you this morning. You’ve been away for so long, and you haven’t even gone to see your maternal grandfather.”
Luo Jingming said half-jokingly, “Monica sent me off to pick someone up. I made one trip to Hong Kong, then another to Taipei. She was afraid I might actually have some free time.”
As he said this, his gaze swept unobtrusively over Tan Guhong.
Tan Guhong’s heart gave a little jump. She avoided his gaze, turned around, and planned to go back to the gaming table and lose another round.
But Luo Jingming followed her over and asked,
“Miss Tan, you’re playing dice?”
“Yes, Mr. Luo.”
“How are you doing?”
“Ten bets, ten losses.” Tan Guhong sounded somewhat helpless.
“That’s a good thing...” Luo Jingming gave a soft laugh and drawled, “After all, when you lose in love, you win at gambling.”
“It doesn’t matter. I don’t have much to lose anyway.” Tan Guhong gave him a smile that was not quite a smile. “Mr. Luo, want to play a round?”
Luo Jingming shook his head.
“What, Mr. Luo, afraid of losing?”
“No, Miss Tan. I’m afraid of winning.” His words carried a deeper meaning.
Tch, liar.
She cast him a light glance and made no comment.
“Miss Tan, there’s no need to worry. A-Ming was only joking.” Liang Jiaxing came over at an unhurried pace. “As far as I know, he was a regular at the casinos when he was in San Francisco. There’s no way he’d lose that easily. Isn’t that right, A-Ming?”
He smiled at Luo Jingming as though there were something more behind his words.
Luo Jingming said calmly, “Regular is a bit of a stretch. I only went to Atlantic City and Vegas a few times. If Fourth Uncle is interested, why don’t we play a round?”
“Why not?” Liang Jiaxing readily agreed, then turned to Tan Guhong. “I wonder if Miss Tan minds?”
Tan Guhong naturally knew that the two of them were as hostile toward each other as fire and water. Whatever Old Master Liang’s attitude might be for the time being, Liang Jiaguo was, after all, the eldest son, and his position could not easily be shaken. That left these two as the ones directly pitted against each other, did it not?
So she smiled. “Please, go ahead.”
Before long, a table was cleared for the two of them. They were playing stud poker.
Stud Poker, also known as Hong Kong five-card poker, was one of the most popular poker gambling games in Asia. It relied on luck and memory, analysis and judgment, but more often than not, it was a battle of wits.
The two took their seats. The croupier took her place at the center of the round table and began shuffling and dealing the cards in an orderly fashion.
The first three rounds were similar. After the hole cards were dealt, Liang Jiaxing acted first and called the bet, while Luo Jingming folded and conceded without exception.
But beginning with the fourth round, the two sides began to stalemate, and the bets rose. Once all five cards had been dealt, their face-up cards were close, and every time Luo Jingming narrowly won with his hole card at the very last moment. After several consecutive rounds of this, Liang Jiaxing’s expression gradually darkened.
Losing money was secondary. Being toyed with like a cat playing with a mouse, manipulated in the palm of someone else’s hand, would put anyone in a bad mood.
Another new round began. After the hole cards were dealt, Luo Jingming had an A, while Liang Jiaxing had a Q. Luo Jingming acted first and called the bet, stacking two gold-colored chips in front of him. He said calmly,
“Two million.”
Liang Jiaxing glanced at his hole card and called.
In the second round, Luo Jingming had a K, while Liang Jiaxing had a 9. Luo Jingming doubled the chips, and Liang Jiaxing called again.
In the third round, Luo Jingming still had an A, while Liang Jiaxing still had a Q.
Luo Jingming laughed softly. “A rare situation.”
Liang Jiaxing smiled too. “A pair of aces against a pair of queens. The odds are really too low.”
“Could it be that Fourth Uncle is afraid?”
“It’s too early to talk about winning or losing...” Liang Jiaxing said meaningfully. “A person can’t be lucky forever.”
“Very well. Let’s wait and see.”
In the fourth round, Luo Jingming actually still had an A, and Liang Jiaxing still had a Q. Even the expressionless croupier showed a flicker of surprise.
Tan Guhong laughed. “I never thought I’d actually get to see three aces with my own eyes.”
“Four aces isn’t unheard of either.” Luo Jingming smiled faintly. “Monica once drew four aces at the highland casino. It was a ten-million-yuan game that stunned everyone present.”
“That impressive?”
“You have to understand, the title of ‘Queen of Gambling’ isn’t undeserved. After all, she was personally taught by Long Wentai.”
Tan Guhong knew that Long Wentai was the owner of the highland casino in Malaysia, the famous Gambling King of Southeast Asia. He had died of illness five years ago and had once had a brief relationship with Huo Sixuan. The reason Huo Sixuan had been able to enter Singapore’s gambling industry was precisely because Long Wentai had helped make the necessary connections.
“But I’ve never seen Monica sit down at a table.”
“That’s because ever since Long Wentai died, Monica swore never to gamble again.” Liang Jiaxing smiled and tapped the table. “A-Ming, it’s your turn to call.”
Luo Jingming held the chips in his hand, playing with them absentmindedly. “Fourth Uncle really is the sort to know there’s a tiger on the mountain and still head straight for the mountain?”
Liang Jiaxing remained unmoved. “Monica is the Gambling King’s star pupil. Even if she draws a straight flush, it wouldn’t be surprising. Other people probably don’t have such good luck.”
“Unfortunately, I happen to be someone who doesn’t believe in fate.”
Luo Jingming smiled faintly and pushed all the chips in front of him into the center of the table.
“Show hand.”
The total value of all the chips on the table came close to eight figures. It was no small sum.
Liang Jiaxing gave a derisive laugh. “A-Ming, why be so impulsive? Why play for such a huge stake just to prove a point? In the end, when you lose, you’ll only make yourself a laughingstock for nothing.”
“Fourth Uncle, you’ve misunderstood.”
Luo Jingming said unhurriedly, “When I say ‘Show hand,’ I’m not referring only to what’s on the table. I mean everything under the table too. All the money in the accounts under my name, my real estate, cars and boats, equity, funds, bonds, everything added together. This round decides the winner and loser.”
As he spoke, he took out a checkbook from inside his jacket, smoothly wrote down a number, tore off the check, and tossed it in front of the croupier.
The croupier cautiously glanced at it, and cold sweat immediately began to bead on her forehead.
“Oh, right...” Luo Jingming put away the checkbook as he spoke, his tone as light and unconcerned as ever. “You should know that ten years ago, when I entered the Liang family’s door, I had nothing. Except this life of mine. So ten years from now, as long as I still have this life, anything I have beyond that counts as a win.”
“Fourth Uncle, are you calling or not?”
Liang Jiaxing’s expression finally changed. He stared unblinkingly at the person before him.
At that instant, even Tan Guhong’s heart gave a little jump.
That so-called gentleness and refinement was nothing more than a human-skin mask. If this were truly the world of Liaozhai, with fox spirits and ghosts running rampant, this man could probably put on quite a performance as Painted Skin. Beneath that beautiful face, he was still a demon from hell, an asura reborn, born through blood, a desperado.
After a moment of stalemate, Liang Jiaxing slowly turned his cards face down on the table and said in a low voice,
“You win.”
Tan Guhong discreetly let out a sigh of relief.
Luo Jingming, however, showed little sign of triumph. He merely curved his lips slightly, adjusted his glasses, and gave a light nod.
“Thank you for yielding.”
The two stared into each other’s eyes, locked in a silent confrontation.
At that moment, Tan Guhong’s phone chimed with a message. She lowered her head to glance at it, then said with a smile,
“Monica is getting anxious upstairs. She wants us to hurry over.”
The tense atmosphere instantly melted away. The two answered her and rose from the gaming table one after another, leaving without so much as another glance at the cards on the table, as though the astonishing high-stakes gamble just now, with its killing intent lurking everywhere, had never existed.
Before leaving, Tan Guhong could not resist taking a look at their hole cards. Liang Jiaxing’s was a Q, while Luo Jingming’s was actually the lowest card, the 2 of diamonds.
She could not help laughing in disbelief.
Offer a brick to attract jade, turn the tables and take the initiative, pull the firewood from beneath the cauldron, burn the boats, and even play the Empty City Strategy.
In war, deception is the way of things. What a liar!
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