Chapter 194: What Do You Have to Pawn?
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
After his initial success, the man in white did not go all-in on a specific number, blending into the crowd and betting only on ‘big’ or ‘small’. He actually won his four consecutive wagers, the five hundred silver taels he originally had grown to four thousand silver taels.
The generals were seasoned gamblers; how could they not know that this person was an expert on the game of chance? At least, he was exceptionally attuned to listening to the dice. All of them hope that he would continue placing his bets and win, while some were secretly pleased that they had seen through this person’s skills and had managed to win a tidy sum by following his wagers – he was an absolute godsend!
The winning streak of the man dressed in white drew the other generals that were betting at other tables over, like sharks that smelled blood. Just as the crowd stared at him in anticipation of his bet placement, hoping to follow in his footsteps, the man in question kept his banknotes leisurely and went back to watching the game.
A Dongxuan general who was beside him could not help egging him on after seeing that, "Brother, quickly place your bet. We’re all waiting for you!"
The man in white’s gaze hardened but he did not reply; his attention towards everything around him vanished along with his desire to gamble.
To him who was clad in white, he already had four thousand silver taels. As long as he concentrated and observed a little longer to decide on a number to throw in his entire hand, he could walk away with forty thousand silver taels.
The amount would sufficiently cover his recent expenditures.
One should not be overly greedy. The casino was not going anywhere; he could come again when he lacked funds. The crowd today was odd; the men around him were muscular and large, they had sanguinary guards following them as well. They were most probably militants. If he were to be involved with these people, there would be trouble, even though he was unafraid of them.
The man’s gaze tightened into a sharp focus. Almost no one saw how his ears were slightly quivering.
Qiu Yunsan, who had already lost four times, held the dice-cup in his hands and shook it thoroughly. Suddenly, he jumped into the air and slammed a palm on the table – a skillful look, as he laughed. "Place your wager, place your wager. Don’t you dare place them after losing your compass! Finalize your bets!"
The generals could not help moaning and groaning as they slapped the banknotes in their hands onto the table, hearing Qiu Yunsan’s provocative words and seeing that the man dressed in white was not really placing his bets.
The man in white hesitated for a moment before he pushed all the banknotes he had to an empty square – he had gone all-in for another specific number!
However, everyone’s eyes bulged this time; they looked at the man as if they were seeing a god.
The man in white had thrown in his entire hand on the number 18.
That was a specific ‘Triples’!
what made An 18 ‘Triples’different was that its probability was less than ten thousand and the payout odds for an all-in was another ten times. This also meant that once the player won, the wager payout would be a hundred times the original amount. If the result was indeed 18 this time, Qiu Yunsan would have to lose four hundred thousand silver taels just on the man in white's wager!
It was a game of high stakes indeed.
The man in white was helpless as well. In complete honesty, he had only wanted to win forty thousand silver taels but he had clearly heard Qiu Yunsan shaking an 18 ‘Triples’ this time around.
Since he had shaken the cup and he had heard it himself, that was four hundred thousand silver taels being thrust into his hands – how could he not accept it?
The corners of Qiu Yunsan’s lips twitched. Is this really boss’ friend? Quite a ruthless man, truth be told.
As he extended his hand to flip the dice-cup, his palm was actually trembling a little. With a roar, he finally uncapped the dice-cup. He would acknowledge his defeat if it really came to that.
Admitting defeat when it comes, is I, Qiu Yunsan’s, virtue.
When the dice-cup was lifted, three dice laid there quietly under the crowd’s gaze.
They were six, six… and five.
It came up to a total of 17.
The wager had been placed incorrectly!
A slight rumbling arose as the other generals were more concerned with their winnings or losses of ‘big’ and ‘small’.
"F*ck, I lost again!"
"I win, I win! I win this round!"
The man in white focused his vision on the 17 points on the table, unable to shift his sight away. What was going on?
Qiu Yunsan did not cheat, he was entirely sure of this. Before the dice-cup was upended, the numbers inside had come up to 18 points – that was unmistakable too.
How could it have turned into 17 when the cap had been lifted?
On the outer circumference of the crowd, Shui Wuyin left with a faint smile to check on other tables.
The man in white looked at the 17 points on the table quietly and looked at Qiu Yunsan chortling while sweeping the banknotes to himself quietly. He then turned to leave without any emotion displayed on his countenance.
Yun Yang was already by the door; he had even moved an armchair over and was seated comfortably with one of his legs propped up against another.
Seeing that the man in white had walked over, he said in shock, "Hmm? Not gambling anymore? Do you not wish to play a few more rounds?"
The man’s expression was short of being delighted; he gave Yun Yang a scowl before walking towards the exit.
Yun Yang chuckled. "Did you lose badly?"
This fellow was a nuisance!
Tha man in white frowned, almost losing his temper.
If it had only been the fifty silver taels, it was fine, but he had accumulated four thousand silver taels after a fair bit of work. That was a rather sizeable sum to lose.
Yet it was all gone in just one go – he had lost four thousand silver taels, not fifty.
Looking at the man in white’s displeased expression, Yun Yang chuckled inwardly – that was Shui Wuyin’s doing.
It was an art to allow one first win to a certain degree before having him lose everything in a single go. The grievance that arose from such a situation would normally be terribly extreme!
Since Yun Yang had said losing fifty silver taels was too little, Shui Wuyin had allowed him to win more before cleaning him out.
"It was only fifty taels. Why are you so upset about it?" Yun Yang smiled amicably. "You’re welcome to come again."
The man in white snorted; he wanted to ignore him and walk right out, but he couldn't help retorting, "It was four thousand taels, you idiot!"
Yun Yang chuckled. "How could it have been four thousand taels? This respectable one has admitted to only having fifty taels then! Even if this respectable one had won four thousand silver taels in the process, the three thousand nine hundred and fifty silver taels were only chips… They don’t exactly belong to you. It’s true that there isn’t necessarily any defeat with gambling but bargaining chips are just that; those that you bring away ultimately are only yours!"
"Those that you’ve brought initially will only be those that you’ve lost."
The man dressed in white went pale for a moment but he had no way to respond to that.
"Leaving after you’ve lost is a great gambling ethic indeed, but there must be some degree of disappointment. Sigh, what a pity it is to have lost fifty silver taels just like that. I can only imagine the frustration you feel from losing all four thousand taels you’ve won along the way from the original fifty. I totally understand. This can’t be helped… Who doesn’t want to win, when it comes to gambling… Don’t take it so hard, this is life. Life…"
Yun Yang was trying to comfort the man, rattling on and on, but the man’s expression only grew darker. He finally stopped and turned back to look at Yun Yang. With a low rumble, he said, "Shut up!"
Yun Yang’s eyes went wide. "What? Look at you, didn’t you lose just fifty silver taels? Do you have to be so worked up over it? I was comforting you with kind advice but you instead, you're lashing out at me! My kindness is simply a waste of effort."
"Those were the last fifty taels I had on me!" The man in white said in a pained voice, "I don’t want people to insult me with that."
"Last fifty taels…"
Yun Yang nodded and said, "This is worthy of sympathy then. But why are you leaving just like that? Do you need me to borrow you some silver taels? To win back your money?"
The man’s eyes suddenly shone with hope. "You would do that?"
Yun Yang answered, "Bringing convenience to others is bringing convenience to one's self, but you have to pawn something of value. I'll loan you the silver taels but of course, I need some surety."
"What about this?" The man removed a jade pendant from his robes.
"Sure." Yun Yang received it and looked at it carefully, testing its weight on his palm. "I don’t know much about this jade pendant but I'll give you three thousand silver taels for it."
"Three thousand taels…" The man sucked in a deep breath. "This is Heart of Sea jade…"
Yun Yang rolled his eyes. "Just tell me if you want the loan or not."
"I… do!" The man dressed in white clothes swallowed his temper, even as he was about to explode in anger.
He had no money on him now, not even his last fifty silver taels. What could he do if he did not take the loan? Did he have to go steal or rob, perform despicable deeds?
With the three thousand silver taels, he had a chance of winning his money back. What could he do with the high interest? Everyone knew that the interest for taking a loan at a casino was sky-high, but that was for ordinary people. He was not some dummy who knew did not know of gambling tactics.
Taking the three thousand silver taels, the man in white clothes scowled and glared at Yun Yang from the corner of his eye. "You’re not allowed to leave. I remember what you look like. I’ll come back for this jade pendant immediately once I’ve won."
"Rightly so!"
Yun Yang was grinning. "Here’s wishing you the best of luck. Oh right, I should mention this too. If you return the three thousand silver taels to me within an hour, the jade pendant is yours. Once it passes the hour, you’ll need three thousand and five hundred silver taels to clear the debt."
How unscrupulous! Charging one-sixth of the loan as interest for just one hour… This was not a loan shark anymore, it was plain robbery – no, it was even more brutal than that!
The man in white snorted and walked in. He did not even bargain. Obviously, he had a great deal of confidence in himself.
…
A quarter of an hour later, the same man came before Yun Yang, utterly exasperated; the veins on his face were popping while his temples throbbed.
"You’ve won your capital! And so quickly, at that! Brother, your luck is not bad at all!" Yun Yang complimented the man, ignoring the murderous glare he was being given.
The man in white was clearly upset, his expression growing darker as he heard Yun Yang’s words.
"Could it be that you’ve lost?" Yun Yang looked shocked, watching the man in disbelief as he said in mock surprise, "How can you have lost so fast? It's only been a quarter of an hour. We agreed on an hour just now, you didn't have to be ao impatient!"
The man’s temples throbbed; his cold gaze locked on Yun Yang as he said icily, "I wish to pawn something else this time."