Yu Qiang's action confirmed to Zhou Xuan that he knew there was something wrong with the cards. He didn't even call with a pair of Aces in the hole, and just threw his cards away. He even pretended to say that his cards were bad, which clearly meant that he knew Guan Lin's hole cards were stronger than his.
The next few people threw away their cards, and after one round, only Lao Jiang and Guan Lin were left.
Old Jiang's hole card was a straight, and he had only played one round. Guan Lin had also made a blind bet, so he had to play again. He immediately bet another fifty yuan.
Guan Lin thought for a moment, then picked up his cards, looked at them, and laughed, "Old Jiang, I have a strong hand, I can only call 50."
Old Jiang was taken aback. He had a straight flush of seven, and of course he couldn't just throw it away because of Guan Lin's words. But Guan Lin didn't seem to be lying. Based on his experience, he knew something was wrong. After thinking for a moment, he gritted his teeth, drew a hundred card, threw it in, and said, "Open the cards."
After saying that, he turned over his hole card, which was a straight of seven.
Guan Lin smiled and turned over his hole card, revealing a small flush. Old Jiang immediately exclaimed "Ouch!" but he didn't blame Guan Lin for losing money. Guan Lin's words were actually meant to prevent him from losing more money.
Guan Lin did indeed mean that. On the ship, Lao Jiang was the first mate, and it would be pointless to have a bad relationship with him. If he wanted to win money, he should win against the three Fu brothers and the newcomer Hu Yun. However, Hu Yun didn't have much money and hadn't borrowed from Lao Jiang, so he couldn't make money off him. But on this ship, there was plenty of time, and later the three Fu brothers and Hu Yun would work for him and Yu Qiang.
The cheating scheme was actually orchestrated by Guan Lin and Yu Qiang. They had conspired together long ago, and all the playing cards they bought were cheating cards that they had brought in. They did indeed cheat the three Fu brothers out of a lot of money.
Then Guan Lin dealt more cards. Zhou Xuan was now focusing on him and Yu Qiang. Although he wasn't staring at them directly, his superpower kept a close eye on them.
When Guan Lin was dealing the cards, Zhou Xuan suddenly realized that the cards he dealt to Yu Qiang came from underneath, but the action was extremely fast. Zhou Xuan also detected that the three cards underneath were three Aces.
It turns out that Guan Lin was in cahoots with Yu Qiang, who was given a hand of three Aces. This way, Yu Qiang would win the money, not Guan Lin, and no one would suspect him.
The cards were shuffled slyly; there was definitely a rigged system. Although Zhou Xuan didn't understand this method, his supernatural ability detected it. This hand dealt to Fu Gui was an incredibly strong one—three tens! He was bound to lose everything.
When Zhou Xuan was dealing his last card, he used his special ability to devour the Ace under Guan Lin's hand. Guan Lin then dealt Yu Qiang his last card, which turned into the Two of Diamonds.
Of course, Zhou Xuan also used his special ability to convert and absorb a tiny bit of the hidden mark on the back of the two-square card, just like fading the color a little, so that the hidden mark could no longer be seen.
After dealing the cards, Guan Lin glanced at everyone and saw that they were all focused on their own cards and no one was paying attention to him. He then nodded slightly to Yu Qiang. These actions naturally did not escape Zhou Xuan's detection.
Yu Qiang was overjoyed. The three cards in front of him were scattered. He glanced at them briefly. The first two cards were clearly marked as two Aces. The last card was marked a little blurry, but Guan Lin had just given him a signal, so he knew he had it all figured out. It must be three Aces.
Yu Qiang's next opponent was Fu Bao, who placed a blind bet of two yuan. Next was Zhou Xuan, who suddenly became very confident and laughed, "Anyway, I've already won several tens of yuan, so I'll add to the fun by placing a blind bet of twenty yuan."
Zhou Xuan, the most unremarkable newcomer, dared to bet twenty, a move that shocked everyone. However, despite their surprise, Guan Lin and Yu Qiang were overjoyed. This guy had gone mad! With only about two hundred yuan in total, he'd gone crazy and bet twenty! But it was good, though; it helped them. If the first person had bet twenty, the others would either not follow or also bet twenty, and they would have won!
Zhou Xuan's actions indeed puzzled and surprised them. Behind him was Fu Gui, who couldn't help but say angrily, "You rascal, why are you betting money like that? Do you think it's paper? This is real money! Look, look! I originally wanted to bet secretly, but now you've made it twenty yuan. That's not worth it at all!"
Zhou Xuan advised, "Brother Fugui, go ahead and bet secretly. What are you afraid of? I'm not afraid at all. You're much better than me. You just close your eyes and throw in the money. It's only twenty. Wouldn't a fast food meal cost a hundred?"
Fu Gui blushed, chuckled, then gritted his teeth and said, "So what if it's dark? What's there to be afraid of? Twenty it is!"
After saying that, Fu Gui counted out two ten-yuan cards and threw them in. Unfortunately, in this round, the other players all had cards, either pairs or straights, and Fu Shan and Fu Bao both had flushes. This round was going to be tough.
The next few people followed suit, placing several fiftys each. The middle players quickly amassed over two or three hundred yuan. When it was Yu Qiang's turn, he laughed and said, "This hand is going to be exciting! Looks like you all have good cards. I'll join in the fun and bet fifty."
Yu Qiang's move was the ultimate strategy; a blind bet of fifty would require a hundred to bet on the revealed cards, and seeing the cards would cost two hundred.
Regardless of whether there are any cards or not, seeing a lot of money is exciting and stimulating enough. Immediately, the eyes of the people who were circling around were shining, and their hearts were burning with excitement.
Guan Lin, standing behind Yu Qiang, chuckled and pulled out a fifty-yuan note, throwing it in and saying, "I'll join in the fun too, I'll bet fifty yuan by secret bet."
Only Zhou Xuan and Yu Qiang understood Guan Lin's meaning. He was throwing money at the crowd to entice them to follow suit. Because there was a lot of money involved, and besides, they were certain they would win this round, so it didn't matter how much money they threw in, since it would all come back to them anyway.
Next, it was Fushan's turn. He looked at his hole cards—a flush of hearts with seven and eight kings. Having the king made it a big flush. His heart pounded with excitement, and his hands trembled slightly. Not for anything else, but for the pile of money in the middle! He quickly looked at his hole cards again, confirming it was a flush, before tremblingly putting in a hundred dollars and saying, "I...I call the hundred."
After Baoshan, it was Zhou Xuan's turn. Zhou Xuan picked up his cards, looked at them, sighed, and threw them away.
Zhou Xuan's actions went unnoticed, since he had little money and was hardly anyone's concern.
After Zhou Xuan came Fu Gui, because Fu Gui was the first person Zhou Xuan met, and he wasn't bad to him. It wouldn't hurt to help him secretly. In short, he couldn't stand Guan Lin and Yu Qiang.
Fu Gui stared wide-eyed, and it took him a while to realize it was his turn. His hand trembled slightly; the money was dazzling. But he decided to look at his cards. Betting fifty by hiding was out of the question. Except for Zhou Xuan who had folded, everyone else was still playing, and they had all bet openly or secretly. Betting such a large bet meant they definitely had a good hand; betting by hiding would be foolish.
Fu Gui reached for his cards to examine them, but Zhou Xuan stopped him, advising, "Brother Fu Gui, why don't you bet blind? Look at all this money down there, it's worth betting blind."
Fu Gui spat and said, "Little Hu, are you stupid? You've already called the bet. Even a fool could tell they have a good hand. You think you have too much money? You don't care because it's not your money you're betting on. Try throwing money away and see what happens."
"Just throw it in, hehe. Anyway, I still won a few dozen, so I'll just pretend I never won any." Zhou Xuan said as he put in a fifty-dollar bill, and then asked Guan Lin and the others, "Can I bet fifty by secret bet?"
Guan Lin chuckled and said, "Of course, this is just between you and Fugui. If he doesn't object and you've agreed on a certain amount of money to receive, then it doesn't matter."
Zhou Xuan shook his head and said, "I don't want to take any of Brother Fugui's money. I just got excited seeing so much money on the plate, so I'll just throw in fifty yuan to join in the fun."
Guan Lin and Yu Qiang were naturally happy and didn't object. They could add as much money as they wanted. They were sure they had won, so any amount of money they added was theirs. Why would they turn down money?
Hearing that Zhou Xuan didn't want to share the money, and had even secretly placed a bet for him, Fu Gui was surprised that Hu Yun, despite being a newcomer and seemingly a country bumpkin, had such a magnanimous and generous spirit. He began to like the guy a little and thought, "Let him bet if he wants to. He's 99% likely to lose. Fortunately, it's not much money. It's just for fun. I'm happy to have this much money."
Next, Fu Baocai and Lao Jiang each put in 100 yuan, and in the blink of an eye, there was more than 1,000 yuan in the middle of the plate.
When it was Fugui's turn again, he absolutely refused to bet blindly anymore. Of course, he showed his cards, but when he saw them, he was stunned for a moment, then his expression changed drastically, and his heart pounded wildly.
Zhou Xuan sighed inwardly. This hand of three tenes was clearly a trap set by Guan Lin. Look at Fu Gui's expression; everything was written all over his face. It would be strange if he didn't lose and fall into the trap.
Fu Gui was extremely nervous. His fingers gripped the playing cards so tightly that his knuckles bulged. He managed to concentrate and hold his breath, his fingers trembling as he placed a hundred-yuan note in the card, and then said, "I...I...I'll bet on a hundred..."
Old Jiang didn't dare to follow anymore. After thinking for a moment, he bet two hundred to see Fu Shan's cards. His own hole cards were K97 in a flush, while Fu Shan's were K74 in a flush. Old Jiang narrowly won.
But a narrow victory is still a victory, better than a loss. Old Jiang looked around at the people present. Among them, only he, Fu Gui, and Fu Bao had their cards revealed. Fu Shan was dead, Hu Yun had thrown away his cards, and Guan Lin and Yu Qiang, whom he feared the most, had their cards hidden. With hidden bets, there was no guarantee of having a good hand. So, his chances of winning should be the highest, right?
Volume 1, Chapter 442: Turning the Tide
Chapter 442 Turning the Tables
Old Jiang was no match for Guan Lin and Yu Qiang's youthful shrewdness, and he was also unfamiliar with the current card game industry. How could he have imagined the scheme that Guan Lin and Yu Qiang had set up?
After thinking it over, whether he needed to think it over or not, Lao Jiang knew he would continue betting. There was no reason not to go for K's Golden Flower, so he immediately put down another two hundred yuan. This time, Lao Jiang asked Guan Lin to see the hole cards.