I looked at Xiao Liu and said, "We've already refunded all the money. How about I take the person with me?"
At this point, Black Widow interjected, "I also gave them the 5,000 or so I had on me."
I stared at Xiao Liu: "Dude, isn't that enough?"
Xiao Liu was slightly embarrassed, but immediately changed his expression and said, "Enough nonsense. In short, none of you are leaving here today without leaving 1 million!" As soon as he finished speaking, the seventeen or eighteen people stood up.
I realized I was in trouble; I never expected to run into such a dead end today.
Chapter Thirty-Eight: The Silly One, The Silly One
Now there's only one way left: to find a way to back down together, ideally without losing face—if that's not possible, then it'll be more than just losing face. I really have no confidence in Jing Ke, especially with the burden of Zhao Bailian on the side.
I said, "How about this, weren't you guys playing blackjack just now? I'll play with you, one round to decide the winner, okay?"
Xiao Liu asked in confusion, "A handful?"
I said, "Since it's gambling, it also depends on luck. Do you expect me to win 5,001 out of 10,000 games?"
Xiao Liu thought for a moment and said, "You already owe me 1 million. What if you lose it all?"
"That's easy, I'll give you 2 million."
Xiao Liu looked me up and down: "Do you have that much money?"
I smiled knowingly: "You probably don't recognize me, do you?"
Who are you?
A young man next to Xiao Liu leaned down and whispered in his ear, "This person does look familiar; it seems like he's been on TV before."
Xiao Liu turned to look at him: "Is it a legal program?"
I pressed my advantage and leaned in, saying, "Take a good look at me."
The kid finally recognized me: "Looks like the Sanda King!"
I was so proud of myself! I knew I had to say, after playing for so long, I couldn't have come away empty-handed.
Xiao Liu stared at me suspiciously and said, "Isn't the Sanda King...?" But he immediately realized and said, "You're the one who punched Duan Tianlang until he vomited blood!"
Upon hearing this, everyone, including Xiao Liu, shifted back and looked at me warily.
I chuckled, trying to sound kind: "We're all in this together, we should look out for each other. I'll take the person with me now, we'll have dinner another day."
Xiao Liu's gaze finally returned to my bag. He steeled himself and said, "That's not how it works. We have our rules. How about this, didn't you say you wanted to make a bet with me? Okay, if you win, you can leave without saying a word. If you lose, it's fine, you can keep this bag, okay?"
Damn it, I'm doomed by this brick. But my title of "King of Sanda" did have an effect; Xiao Liu has already taken a step back.
As I took out my phone, pretending to check a text message, I said, "Let's begin." A thug next to me asked warily, "What are you doing?"
I turned around and glared at him: "What can I do? If I wanted to call for help, I would have done so already." He thought about it and realized he was right, so he shrank back.
Xiao Liu gathered up the cards on the table and threw them in front of me: "You can wash them, or you can get a new deck if you're not comfortable with that."
I tossed the cards to the dealer next to me and said, "No problem." I saw Liu Bang nod slightly at me, so I knew these guys probably wouldn't cheat.
The dealer shuffled the cards again and again, then looked at Xiao Liu. Xiao Liu pointed at me and said, "Brother Qiang is a guest, he can go first."
The dealer threw a card in front of me. I picked it up and saw it was the 8 of diamonds. Xiao Liu also took one. Since it was agreed that the winner would be decided in one hand, there was no need to raise the bet, and the second card was dealt directly. It was the 9 of hearts, so I had 17 points. Now, it would be best if I got a 4 to make 21 points, but if I got a 4 or higher, it would be a useless hand.
After everyone received their two cards, the dealer asked me, "Do you want more?"
I wouldn't dare to speak carelessly; only Ace, 2, 3, and 4 are useful to me. That means out of the 52 cards after the two Kings, only 16 are harmless to me, and the probability of that... well, it's pretty small anyway.
Pretending to be thinking, I unconsciously used mind-reading on Xiao Liu—what do you think I'm doing taking out my phone? If gambling doesn't require mind-reading, then I'm truly a fool.
Xiao Liu was thinking: It's 3 PM, I still need one more ticket.
But knowing that information is useless to me. What I need most right now is to know what card the dealer will play next. That's where the difficulty lies, because even the dealer himself wouldn't know unless there's cheating.
Just then, I suddenly noticed that the dealer's hand was casually resting on the table, revealing the bottom card, though neither Xiao Liu nor I could see it. Street thugs usually deal cards by picking at the bottom card with their fingers, and following the angle of that card, I saw one of them staring intently at it.
"Why be polite?" I said confidently to the dealer after getting the answer I wanted. Sure enough, I got an Ace. The only extra piece of information was that it was a club.
I currently have 18 points, which gives me a medium to high chance of winning.
Xiao Liu didn't hesitate to take another card, then, with a hint of smugness, slammed the card on the table and loudly declared, "I don't want it anymore." He then stared at me with an air of confidence. The dealer asked me again, "Want more?" At that moment, I finally realized I had made a fatal mistake: mind-reading should really be saved for crucial moments, and I should have taken the risk and played the previous card first.
Everyone in the room was staring at me. I'd already used two of my three mind-reading tricks, and according to the rule that you can't use it on the same person twice, I didn't even know what a six was. Judging from his appearance, it shouldn't be less than 18 points, but it's also possible he'd already busted and was bluffing me, trying to drag me down with him.
The dealer's hands were still habitually curled up behind his back. That thug could still see the hole cards, but I could no longer get any information from him.
I hesitated for a long time before responding. The dealer said impatiently, "Do you want it or not?" My hand trembled, and I dialed the phone that was originally aimed at that thug again. I glanced at it casually and found that another line of words appeared on the screen: Why is it another Ace?
I glanced at him, surprised, and saw that he was staring intently at his hole cards. I tapped the table and said, "I want more." The group of thugs all let out a soft "hmm," realizing that the chances of busting with four cards were quite high.
When the cards were dealt to me, I was thrilled: it was indeed an Ace.
With 19 points, my chances of winning have increased significantly, and according to general patterns, the probability of me busting has also doubled. The dealer, holding his cards, asked me, "Do you still want to win?"
Should we take a look first—not at our own cards, but at the dealer's hole cards through that thug?
Because I already know that my mind-reading ability has automatically upgraded: it can be used 5 times a day and can be used on the same person.
That poor idiot still doesn't know he's been my accomplice. His brain is probably only slightly more complex than Jing Ke's, because the phone quickly showed what he was thinking: Could it be such a coincidence? Based on experience, the simpler a person's mind, the faster they react when mind-reading is used. Like that idiot, every time I use it on him, the ellipsis appears on the screen faster than a computer without a wired connection displays "Network connection failed."