Chapter 382 Provocation (Part 1)
"Miss Qin, I've invited you several times before, but you declined each time. This time, I'm going to show you around properly. I'm not exaggerating, there aren't many cruise ships in the world better than this..."
After greeting Zheng Hua, the man didn't even glance at Zhuang Rui. He went straight to Qin Xuanbing and started fawning over her. Zhuang Rui's face darkened. This arrogant young master was really too arrogant. Not only did he treat him like air, but he even tried to make a move on someone else's female companion.
"Damn it, how could I forget about that bastard..."
When Zheng Hua saw this scene, he almost slapped himself. He and Niu Hong had known each other since they were children. Niu Hong was an outlier in Hong Kong's wealthy circles. People in their circle, even if they didn't go abroad to get a PhD or MBA, were at least highly educated.
But this young master Niu was different. He was mischievous from a young age and was the most spoiled child of the old shipping magnate. After his death, he left him a large inheritance, more than his parents had. Young master Niu never liked studying; gambling and watching celebrities were his greatest hobbies.
In Hong Kong, apart from that old playboy who frequents the stock market, he is the most high-profile. Over the years, he has been rumored to have affairs with many female stars. Last year, he even overestimated himself and pursued Qin Xuanbing. The result? Of course, he was rejected and became a laughing stock in the industry.
This guy was quite talented. He wasn't good at studying, but he learned gambling very quickly. Niu Hong simply sold some of the shares his grandfather left him and bought a lot of shares in Macau casinos. When Zheng Daheng and others were building this luxury gambling ship, he also got involved.
The gambling ship had only been on the water for a little over a year, and Niu Hong hadn't received any dividends yet. However, he had found a good place to stay. With nothing to do all day, he simply stayed on the ship. When high rollers came, he would gamble against them and won more than he lost, having a great time.
After attending the charity gala the day before yesterday, Niu Hong returned to the gambling ship, and Zheng Hua asked him to entertain him. However, Zheng Hua had forgotten about it. Niu Hong had once pursued Qin Xuanbing, and that day he had deliberately targeted Zhuang Rui. What kind of pleasant scene could there be when these two met?
Zheng Hua was unaware that Niu Hong's actions were intentional; he wanted to embarrass Zhuang Rui. At the auction the day before yesterday, there were too many elders, so he didn't dare to act out of line, but he still lost face, and he held a grudge ever since.
Niu Hong didn't care much about Zhuang Rui's background. He had never been to the mainland. He understood very well that even if Zhuang Rui had immense power in the mainland, it was none of his business. With their wealth and businesses all over the world, they were no longer someone that could be suppressed by a single person. So, he deliberately ignored Zhuang Rui just now to embarrass him.
Seeing Zhuang Rui's gloomy expression beside him, Niu Hong almost burst out laughing. He planned to give Qin Xuanbing a hand kiss when she shook his hand, to properly humiliate this country bumpkin.
"Excuse me, I don't know you. Could you please move aside?"
Qin Xuanbing's words froze Niu Hong's smile on his face. His outstretched hand stopped in mid-air, unsure of what to do. He couldn't very well forcefully grab Qin Xuanbing's hand, could he? Although Niu Hong was domineering, he wouldn't stoop to such a despicable act.
"Zhuang Rui, let's go inside the boat. It's so windy outside and there are so many flies. It's really annoying."
Qin Xuanbing's next words almost made Niu Hong fall headfirst off the 10,000-ton cruise ship. He had known Qin Xuanbing for many years and had never heard her say so many words before. But the first time he heard it, he was so angry that he almost vomited blood. This woman could curse without using any swear words!
Although Qin Xuanbing doesn't particularly enjoy socializing, that doesn't mean she's clueless about human relationships. Niu Hong's attempt to humiliate Zhuang Rui through her will only backfire and bring shame upon himself.
Zhuang Rui, who was initially annoyed, was amused by Qin Xuanbing's words. He hadn't expected Qin Xuanbing to be so sharp-tongued when she turned hostile. After putting his arm around Qin Xuanbing's waist, Zhuang Rui glanced at Zheng Hua and said, "Mr. Zheng, let's go for a walk on the ship. There aren't many flies on the deck, but they're quite annoying."
After Zhuang Rui finished speaking, he nodded to Zheng Hua, and without even glancing at Niu Hong in front of him, he put his arm around Qin Xuanbing and walked towards the cabin. Zheng Hua originally wanted to follow, but when he turned around, he saw that Niu Hong's face was purple, and he was waving his fists as if he wanted to fight Zhuang Rui.
Startled, Zheng Hua quickly grabbed Niu Hong and dragged him in the opposite direction from Qin Xuanbing. He waved to his men to follow Zhuang Rui, saying, "Your Niu family doesn't need to deal with the mainland, but our family's business is focused there. If you're going to have a grudge against Zhuang Rui, don't do it now. Zhuang Rui is my guest right now."
After walking a little further, Qin Xuanbing looked up at Zhuang Rui's face and said, "Zhuang Rui, don't be angry. That's just how he is. He lacked discipline growing up. I'll go gamble with you a few times later. You'll feel better then."
Zhuang Rui laughed after hearing Qin Xuanbing's words and said, "It's okay, I won't bother with that kind of person. By the way, I didn't know you could gamble! Haha, when you play mahjong with your mother-in-law later, don't win all their money!"
"Mother-in-law? You're so mean! Who said they wanted to marry you?"
Qin Xuanbing was taken aback by Zhuang Rui's words, but she quickly recovered. She pinched Zhuang Rui hard on the waist, and the two of them playfully walked into the cabin, washing away the unpleasantness from earlier.
"Zhuang Sheng, let me take you to rest for a while. The gambling hall will not be open to the public until the ship reaches international waters."
Following behind Zhuang Rui was a young man named Liu Xiong. His family was in the food business and had close ties with the mainland, so he was very friendly to Zhuang Rui.
"Okay, thank you, Brother Liu."
Zhuang Rui nodded and followed Liu Xiong into an elevator. He glanced at the floor buttons; there were five numbers, one to five. Below the number one, there were also markings for negative one, negative two, and negative three. This meant that in addition to the five floors above the deck, there were three more floors below, demonstrating the sheer size of the cruise ship.
Zheng Hua arranged a room for Zhuang Rui on the fifth floor. There are only three suites on this floor, each with three sides facing the sun. Not only can you enjoy the sea view, but you can also have a panoramic view of the entire giant ship. Even though Niu Hong is one of the shareholders of this gambling ship, he is not qualified to stay on the fifth floor.
“Zhuang Sheng, you guys rest for a bit. I’ll come and get you when we get to international waters. By the way, don’t bother with Niu Hong. He’s just a jerk.”
After escorting Zhuang Rui and Qin Xuanbing to their room, Liu Xiong expressed his goodwill to Zhuang Rui, and also subtly reminded him that he knew Niu Hong very well, and that the kid would definitely cause some trouble later if he was ignored like this.
"Thank you. Brother Liu, I don't know that person. I'm really sorry to have troubled you today. Please keep in touch with me when you go to the mainland in the future."
Zhuang Rui nodded to Liu Xiong. He didn't want to cause any trouble in the first place, but what had he done to deserve this? This was purely an undeserved disaster.
After Liu Xiong left, Zhuang Rui closed the door and looked around the room. His eyes lit up. The living room alone was over a hundred square meters, and near the balcony, there was even a one-hole golf practice area. It was extremely luxurious.
Once he stepped onto the balcony, Zhuang Rui realized that the giant ship was already moving. However, he felt almost the same as when he was on land, without any shaking. If it weren't for the reference points on the shore, Zhuang Rui would have thought that the giant ship was stationary.
Looking at the azure sea and the seagulls flying in the distance, Zhuang Rui's slightly depressed mood gradually improved. No wonder the sea has always been used to describe people's broad-mindedness throughout history.
The cruise ship was moving very fast. Zhuang Rui felt like he and Qin Xuanbing had only been on the balcony for a short time when there was a knock on the door. When he opened the door, he saw Zheng Hua and Liu Xiong.
"What? We're already in international waters?"
Zhuang Rui ushered the two into the room and asked them a question.
Zheng Hua laughed upon hearing this and said, "We've been in international waters for over two hours now. I was worried you hadn't rested well, so I came to wake you up just before lunchtime."
Zhuang Rui glanced at his watch and realized that more than two hours had passed in no time. He quickly said politely, "Mr. Zheng, there's no need to be so polite. Just treat us as tourists. By the way, Brother Zheng, you look a few years older than me. Please just call me by my name from now on. We people in the mainland aren't used to calling people 'Mr' and 'Ms'."
"Alright, then I'll take the liberty of calling you Brother Zhuang. Let's go eat first, and then go gamble a little. If we don't gamble while we're on the gambling ship, it'll be a waste of our trip..."
Zhuang Rui's words made Zheng Hua smile wryly. If you were a tourist, would I have made the Starfish wait for more than an hour? However, the goodwill in Zhuang Rui's words made Zheng Hua very happy.
After chatting for a while, the group went down to the restaurant on the second floor for dinner. After dinner, Zhuang Rui naturally wanted to see the famous casino. Led by Zheng Hua, the group went to the first floor.
"Goodness!"
When the waiter at the door pushed open the door to the first-floor gambling hall, a gambling hall of several thousand square meters appeared before Zhuang Rui. The magnificent decorations, the bustling crowd, and the shouts and cries were exactly the same as what Zhuang Rui had seen on television.
"Brother Zhuang, here are 50,000 yuan worth of chips. Take them and play with them for now. If you don't understand anything, just ask me."
After entering the casino, Zheng Hua took out a thin stack of round chips and handed them to Zhuang Rui.
"Brother Zheng, how can I let you spend money?"
Zhuang Rui pushed the chips that were handed to him forward.
Chapter 383 Provocation (Part 2)
"It's alright, Brother Zhuang. If you don't take it, you're not treating me like a friend. Ask around, I always give 50,000 chips to any friend who comes to this gambling ship. But if you lose it all, you'll have to buy more yourself..."
Zheng Hua's hand remained suspended in mid-air, not retracting, as if he wouldn't move unless caught. What he said was half true and half false; only some VIPs he considered would offer chips. After all, although his family had shares in this gambling ship, he would have to pay for these chips himself.
"Brother Zheng, I appreciate your kindness, but it's best to use your own money when gambling. By the way, how do I exchange chips here?"
Zhuang Rui smiled. His relationship with Zheng Hua wasn't that close yet. Although he didn't rely on his maternal grandfather's power, Zhuang Rui didn't want anyone to use him against him in the future. After all, if you accept favors from others, you're bound to be indebted. What if Zheng Hua made some demands of him in the future? Should he help him or not?
"Hehe, little brother, you and Brother Ouyang really have the same temperament..."
When Zheng Hua saw that Zhuang Rui firmly declined, he took back the chips in his hand. Last time when Ouyang Jun came, he also preferred to pay out of his own pocket rather than accept his chips. Zheng Hua knew in his heart that the higher a person's status, the less likely they were to accept such small favors from others for nothing.
So Zheng Hua didn't mind and led Zhuang Rui to the chip exchange counter, saying, "Here you can exchange cash for chips, or you can use Swiss bank drafts. Oh, and if there are banks in Hong Kong that have branches in mainland China, you can also use their checks..."
"A check from the Bank of China is also acceptable?"
Zhuang Rui, being a finance major, naturally knew about Swiss bank drafts, which are bank drafts issued by Swiss banks promising unconditional payment and can be used as cash internationally. He just hadn't expected that Bank of China checks could also be used. If that were the case, the HK$30,000 he had specially prepared yesterday would be useless.
"sure……"
"Alright, give me 50,000 yuan worth of chips. Hmm, two 10,000 yuan notes, four 5,000 yuan notes, and the rest all 1,000 yuan notes..."
After receiving Zheng Hua's affirmative reply, Zhuang Rui took out his checkbook, wrote a check for 50,000 yuan, and handed it to the cashier. Zhuang Rui had just seen that the chips Zheng Hua handed him were of several colors, and guessed that it was probably like in the movies, where different denominations had different colors.
Just as he expected, after checking the checks, the staff inside pushed out a thin stack of chips of varying sizes through the window.
Zhuang Rui took the chips in his hand and examined them. The two chips at the bottom, each worth 10,000, were larger than the chips worth 5,000 and 1,000 on top, both in thickness and size. They were also coated with a layer of transparent hard plastic, making them very exquisite.
Seeing Zhuang Rui examining the chips in his hand, Zheng Hua said, "Brother Zhuang, these chips are specially made with anti-counterfeiting features. The casino won't ask where they came from. You can exchange them for cash..."
"Can the chips you grab also be used?"
Zhuang Rui recalled a movie he had seen before and couldn't help but ask a question.
"Of course they can, but they have to be able to snatch it, and even if they do, they need to have the guts to redeem it..."
Zheng Hua laughed upon hearing this. Putting everything else aside, the armed forces on this gambling ship were almost comparable to those of a small warship. Apart from lacking heavy artillery, it had all the light weapons imaginable, including quite a few howitzers. No pirate force would dare to rob it.
Places like casinos are usually heavily armed. Macau casinos have been open for many years, with hundreds of millions of dollars flowing through them every day, yet no one has ever dared to rob them. Take Cheung Tze-keung and Yip Foon from Hong Kong, for example. They dared to shoot at the police in the street with an AK-47. They were notorious bandits. But when they went to Macau, they obediently paid for chips and didn't dare to act arrogantly at all.
Of course, there are often reports of small gambling dens being robbed, but those are usually organized by local thugs. Even if they manage to steal chips, whether they can actually exchange them is another matter. For someone like Zheng Hua, it's actually a good thing that those small gambling dens are being robbed every day, as it saves them from losing customers.
"Xuanbing, here's half for you. Let's go for a walk."
Zhuang Rui handed half of his chips to Qin Xuanbing, then turned to Zheng Hua and said, "Brother Zheng, don't trouble yourself. Xuanbing knows the rules."
"Okay, then have fun. Call me if anything happens."
Zheng Hua nodded. He had already done enough for today, and Zhuang Rui had appreciated his kindness. It would be beneath him to continue. After all, Zheng Hua was the heir of Zheng's Jewelry.
Walking through the bustling hall, Zhuang Rui felt a sense of joy. It felt like he had returned to China, and he could hear mostly Mandarin spoken, which showed that there were more and more wealthy people in China now.
"Zhuang Rui, what are you betting on?"
Qin Xuanbing noticed that Zhuang Rui had a silly grin on his face and was just walking with the flow of people without going near the gambling tables, so she asked him curiously.
"Anything is fine, anyway, I don't know how to do it."
Zhuang Rui had never actually encountered the word "gambling" before, except for the glimpses of people gambling with broken bowls on the street corner. Although Liu Chuan's parents and Ouyang Wan were relatively lenient with their son, they were very strict about gambling. The only time Zhuang Rui remembered being spanked by his mother was when he won ten yuan playing cards and brought it home to show off.
Therefore, although Zhuang Rui's spiritual energy allows him to see through objects, he only uses it to distinguish jade and antiques. He has never thought of using this ability to gamble and make money. Even though he is short of money and has come to the casino, he just wants to play around with luck and has no intention of using his ability.
"Xuanbing. It's lively over there, let's go play there."
Zhuang Rui suddenly saw a long table in front of him that was exactly the same at both ends. The middle part was empty, and three people were standing in it. Around the three people, there were more than ten swivel chairs, and the area around the swivel chairs was even more crowded with people, making it very lively.
Qin Xuanbing glanced at it and said, "That's baccarat, you know how to play?"
Baccarat?
Zhuang Rui repeated the sentence, then said with certainty, "I don't know how to play."
Zhuang Rui's words left Qin Xuanbing both amused and exasperated. If you don't know how to play, why are you getting involved? But seeing that Zhuang Rui had already squeezed through, she could only follow behind.
Zhuang Rui squeezed to the front of the table to observe. He found that there were fourteen numbers on the table, each corresponding to a person, but the number jumped directly from twelve to fourteen. He turned around and asked Qin Xuanbing, only to find out that the foreigner was also superstitious and thought that thirteen was unlucky. So the fourteenth player sat in seat fifteen.
In front of each swivel chair is a betting area, divided into three betting zones, with the names "Banker," "Player," or "Tie" written in Chinese.
Zhuang Rui watched for a while, and with Qin Xuanbing's explanation, he gradually understood how to play baccarat. Baccarat generally uses eight decks of cards, each deck containing 52 cards, excluding the Jokers.
After the dealer shuffles the cards, they place them in the dealing box. Before the cards are dealt, players choose which side to bet on in the betting area, and can only bet on one side. After betting, the cards are dealt, and both the Banker and Player receive at least two cards, but no more than three. According to the rules of Baccarat, the side with the total points closest to nine wins. Betting on the Player results in a 1:1 payout, and betting on the Banker also results in a 1:1 payout. However, a 5% commission, commonly known as a rake, is deducted from the winnings.
If both sides have the same total points, the one who bet on a tie wins, with odds of 8 to 1.
The scoring is as follows: face cards (J, Q, K) and ten-point cards are counted as 0 points, and Aces are counted as 1 point. The total score of each hand is equal to the units digit of the sum of the scores of all the cards. That is to say, if you get a 9 and an 8, the final score is 7 points (9 plus 8).
"Xuanbing, let me play."