Jester's gamble

  Yi Chen and Fata Dio stood on the highest deck, apathetically watching the countless crowds come to see off the maiden voyage of the "Duke of Windsor". Fata Dio's trembling hand carefully held a cigar, pointing and saying: "These people are really boring, it's just a ship going out to sea, what's there to look at?"

  Yi Chen smiled and said, "This is human nature. They can participate in some important activities and later have some bragging capital to show that they and the people around them are different, probably thinking that this can improve their status a bit."

  Fatadio burst out laughing and said to the red sun in the east, "Hmmm, we'll be leaving the dear old lady's waters of Britain soon. Why don't we go down and have a little fun? Hehe, the boss doesn't allow us to bet more than $10 million at a time, but under that is still okay. Let's play a few small hands?"

  Yi Chen smiled: "I'm also a bit interested, just in time to get some pocket money." Yi Chen always forced Kayn and others to play mahjong with him, but it didn't have much flavor. This time, he happened to be playing well. Among his confidants, Feri was not interested in playing for money at all; Phil, Goll, and Kayn were all rational types who would not recklessly spend money; Jester had no concept of money, as long as he could eat and dress well, he could basically get by; as for Chikov, he was a miser, don't think about him spending a single cent on gambling.

  In the midst of a long, mournful whistle, countless colored paper scraps fluttered through the air, linking the people on the dock and those on the bed in a chain of ribbons. Then, they were suddenly torn apart, with the severed ribbons falling into the water, quickly losing their original vibrant colors and turning into dull, murky hues. Large clusters of fireworks exploded in the sky, leaving behind puffs of white smoke. In this moment, humanity's destruction and desecration of nature was starkly exposed.

  Yi Chen looked at the dozen or so private yachts following the "Windsor Duke" and couldn't help but raise his hand, with his palm facing those yachts. Fatahrio chimed in beside him: "Haha, Mr. Yi, if you were Superman, you could smash these yachts like eggs right now... Hehehe, oh, superpowers!" Fatahrio and Yi Chen burst out laughing together, Fatahrio thinking he had just told a very humorous joke, while Yi Chen thought maliciously: "If I really did smash those yachts like eggs, hehe... this little brat would be so scared he'd wet his pants!"

  A flock of seagulls followed the cruise ship with ease, occasionally one or two seagulls hovering above the white trail behind the ship's stern, their small paws seeming to bring up a bit of scale light. Standing beside them, Jester stuck out his bright red tongue and licked around his thin lips, making a clicking sound as he said, "Does the cruise ship provide air guns? I'd love to shoot them down."

  Felicity stopped him, complaining: "Jester, these birds are so lovely, how can you bear to shoot them?"

  Jester shrugged his shoulders, looking at Ferri with a soft-hearted little girl's expression that made her unwilling to talk to him. Ferri was so angry that she almost kicked him away and swung her hand to create hundreds of ice pillars to smash Jester like she did back home.

  "Hey, hey... This is a gathering of elegant gentlemen and ladies. Don't embarrass me." The two who were about to start a fight looked at each other, grumbled a few words, and ignored each other. Jester followed Fattadio's two assistants to the swimming pool to see if they could get something tasty to eat. Easy wrapped his arm around Ferri and sat down with Fattadio in a circle of deck chairs, sipping juice and engaging in aimless chatter.

  A young man in a sky-blue uniform with several gold braids on the cuffs walked over, and said softly to Fattori: "Sir, you booked a private room, right? We'll be leaving British waters soon, so please get ready. There are three guests from New York who want to play a few rounds with you."

  Fatahio carelessly stuffed a banknote into his hand, waved goodbye and excitedly shook his hands, saying: "Ahah, American devils, damn it, winning their money is more addictive than anyone else's... China Yi, you, you have to be my witness, when I see the boss later, I didn't gamble too much, I want to make these New Yorkers lose their pants."

  Yi Chen burst out laughing: "Fatah Dio, dear Fatah Dio, do you have a grudge against the Americans?"

  Fatadi said indifferently: "The whole of Russia has a grudge against them. If it wasn't for them, how would our great country suddenly collapse?"

  "However, if the Soviet Union didn't collapse, would you have had so much money? Would your boss have had such great power and prestige? Oh... dear one, everything has two sides. You hate Americans for letting your country fall into darkness, but American actions brought you to heaven. What a strange logical circle this is?"

  Fatadio was stunned for half a day, thinking hard for a long time, nodding his head and saying: "I admit that what you said is true. If it weren't for the Americans making trouble, I'm afraid I'd still be teaching middle school in Siberia... But I still hate Americans, so I want to win all their money." It seems that Fatadio has great confidence in his gambling skills.

  Yi Chen said disapprovingly, "Conquering them at the card table is not as good as destroying them physically. Some people like to say that spiritually conquering one's opponents is the most wonderful thing, but I think that only thoroughly annihilating the opponent physically is the safest. A mentally ill person may still stab you with a knife, but a person whose body has been reduced to fragments is absolutely unable to harm you, isn't that so?"

  Fatahio was stunned again, gritting his teeth. He muttered: "Chinese are easy to deal with, I can't outtalk you, your words are always full of dark philosophy... But we can't destroy each other on the cruise ship, so let them go to Beijing in their underwear to watch the Olympics... If it were in Siberia." Fatahio's face turned sinister, his hands drew a large circle: "If it were in Siberia, I would make them dig uranium mines, and I would treat these Americans well."

  Yi Chen smiled and said in a low voice: "Hmmm, the hatred between nations is so strong? It's really unimaginable."

  Fatiao was stunned for the third time today and groaned: "China is easy, I suddenly thought of it, you are Chinese?"

  Yi Chen's face turned slightly gloomy, and he nodded: "Yes."

  Fatiao tilted his head and stared at Yichun for a long time, Yichun looked at himself with some curiosity, seemingly nothing was out of place.

  Yi Chen glared at Fatah Dio fiercely: "What are you looking at? Is there something wrong with me?"

  Fatadi nodded repeatedly: "Yes, it's very strange. I heard that you are cooperating with the Japanese? It's weird, every Chinese person I've met is extremely hostile towards the Japanese. Strange, strange, are you really working with the Yamaguchi-gumi?"

  Yi Chen nodded, leaning his body against the chair and said: "Yes, your message channel is very informed, but... Japanese people and Chinese people, are there any grudges between them? Hmm? A kind of grudge that makes all Chinese people hate Japan? That's strange, I didn't know about these things before."

  Fatahrio almost fainted, and his already somewhat nervous self let out a series of "cough cough" sounds from his throat. Luckily, a nearby sailor saw that something was wrong and rushed over to give him a few strong pats on the back, which helped Fatahrio catch his breath. Yichen, still looking a bit upset, handed the sailor a few large denomination bills and said to Fatahrio: "Dear, you must be careful, did my words make you... unable to believe?"

  Fatadi let out a mournful sigh and shook his head repeatedly, saying: "Dear Chinese Yi, you should take a look at modern Chinese history books. Good heavens, God, I just can't imagine..."

  Seemingly out of consideration for Yidun's self-esteem, Fatiao skipped the topic and shook his head, saying: "Huh? Shouldn't we be in international waters by now? Those private yachts have all returned, hmm, I think we can go down now."

  That handsome young man has come over this way, and the sailors along the way are very respectfully greeting him: "Second Master is well." Yi Chen snapped his fingers and said: "Hmm, at such a young age he's already taken the second master's seat. This kid looks like he has a bright future ahead of him."

  Fatahio whispered, "Second mate? No, he's a pimp, well-known in certain circles. If you're interested in one of the female crew members, he's your man, and he can even arrange some special ladies for you... Oh God, I didn't mean that." He raised his hands in supplication to Phryne.

  Yi Chen couldn't be bothered to deal with the nagging Feili and the constantly apologizing Fatadi, thinking to himself: "Damn it, modern Chinese history? I'm actually quite familiar with the history of the Seven Warring States in ancient times... Modern history? That's just about 500 years or so, right? When I have time, I really need to read some books about China, otherwise I won't look like a Chinese person at all."

  Inside the lavishly decorated VIP room, next to a very large gaming table, three middle-aged men wearing flashy short-sleeved shirts and greyish-white beach pants were embracing three blonde beauties who could be their wives, lovers or socialites, drinking champagne and fiddling with several banknotes.

  Fatah Diou walked in with a quivering body, his face revealing an extremely uncomfortable smile. His trembling hands stretched out and tightly grasped the hand of the New Yorker closest to the door. Excitedly, he said: "You're Americans? Great! Come on, come on, Americans are noble guests. Haha, green and oily US dollars, so beautiful!"

  Yi Chen smiled as he watched Fattadio's cold and damp hands, which made the American wrinkle his brow and quickly withdraw his own hand. The middle-aged man with a long, cat-like sideburn sitting in the middle pointed at Fattadio: "Mr. Fattadio? Hmm... good, good, my name is Bill, they all call me Wild Boar Bill, uh, no need for formalities, we're all here to have fun."

  Fatiao smiled and sat down in the chair opposite Bill, looking up at Yichen: "Chinese Yi? Won't you join us for a hand? Think about it, these American friends are all big shots with lots of US dollars."

  Yi Chen smiled and nodded: "What to play? I'm not very good at playing poker, but...I can accompany you for a few rounds. I'm more skilled at dice and roulette." Yi Chen sat down with a smile, and Feili leaned against his side.

  Jester and Fattalio's two personal assistants were brought over by the crew, carrying two small suitcases containing a total of $2 million in cash.

  Bill, standing in the corner with two bodyguards, also brought up a small suitcase, but this box was much larger than Fattadio's and Yichen's. Fattadio burst out laughing, picked up a bottle of red wine from the sideboard, poured a cup for Yichen, and then himself took a big swig from the bottle, as if transformed into another person, shouting loudly: "Oh, darling, deal the cards!"

  The croupier arranged by the cruise ship was a beautiful woman, who looked very capable and efficient. She spread her hands apart, smiled and said: "Ladies and gentlemen, in order to avoid any future trouble or disputes, you can now check the gaming table and surrounding facilities. Our cruise ship guarantees that everything is under perfect surveillance, making it difficult to cheat here. However, we do not guarantee that certain unconventional methods may be used here, so I can only guarantee my absolute fairness. Can I?"

  Fatiao said indifferently, "I've never been afraid of others cheating, whatever." Yi Chen smiled and took out his own jade pendant, lightly rotating it in the palm of his hand a few times, nodding. Bill and the others were even more indifferent, shooing away the woman in their arms, signaling to start dealing the cards.

  Yi Chen's luck was terrible, he wasn't very good at playing Blackjack, so even though he could see Bill and the others' cards directly, Yi Chen who wasn't very good at calculating card faces still lost miserably.

  But Fatiao was on a roll, his hand was good, and his technical and psychological warfare were top-notch. After Yichen's suitcase was half empty, Bill's suitcase was completely empty...

  Fatadio rubbed his hands together in satisfaction, his nose inches from the large pile of US dollars in front of him. He took a deep breath and said in rapture: "The ink on these dollars is truly high-quality, especially those that have passed through American hands. Oh God, it's simply wonderful! This smell, it's just too wonderful!" Yichen and Feili almost burst out laughing, while Jester felt a chill run down his spine, as if he had seen Chekhov's snail again.

  Bill's face turned ugly to the extreme, especially when Fatadio returned the 520,000 yuan to Yi Chen. He slammed his hand on the table and shouted loudly: "Are you two in cahoots?"

  Fatiao's eyes rolled over, and he stood up like a trembling rattlesnake, saying viciously: "What do you mean? You're not satisfied with losing money? We are friends, of course we are together. Aren't the three wild boars also together?"

  Two bodyguards behind Bill and two other companions took a few steps forward, their faces menacing. Yi Chen quickly picked up a playing card from the table, flicked it with his fingers, and a flash of white light appeared on Bill's nose, leaving a bloodstain. Bill was taken aback, and Yi Chen lightly swung the jade pendant on his finger, sneering as he said: "Dear Mr. Wild Boar, if your subordinates continue to be so rude, this jade pendant will hit one of your eyes. Which one would you prefer, left or right?"

  The purser swiftly intervened between Jester and Fattori's two assistants, who were rubbing their fists together, and said with a benevolent smile: "Gentlemen, this is the Windsor Castle. You don't want the scandal of a fight to spread over half Europe tomorrow, do you? Please restrain yourselves; we don't want any unpleasantness on board."

  The second mate led in a few senior crew members, smiling and saying: "Dear friends, lunch is about to begin, don't you want to enjoy the snails cooked by France's top chefs?" The crew members smiled and stood between the two sides that were about to clash.

  Bill stormed out with his men, and as they reached the door, he suddenly turned back and shouted loudly: "Tonight, there's a boxing match tonight, we'll make another bet, I'll stake you... Fatahrio, remember, I'll stake your betting money. Second Master, please arrange it for me." The second master smiled and nodded in agreement.

  Fatadio burst out laughing, and Yichen also laughed. Fatadio casually threw a dozen stacks of cash to the Zhuang family and the two deputies, then tilted his head, his trembling hand resting on the shoulder of the second deputy, revealing a smile that made the second deputy feel a little creepy, his face close to the second deputy's face within ten centimeters, softly asking him: "Dear Wild Boar Bill... what does he do? So arrogant?"

  The two deputies smiled: "Mr. Fattadio, we can't leak any messages about the guest's privacy." The female owner had already understood and walked out with several other crew members, closing the door behind them. The camera lenses in the four corners of the room suddenly turned 180 degrees, facing the wall.

  Fatiao smiled and said: "Well, no, go on, I'd like to know!" He casually grabbed a bundle of banknotes from the table and stuffed them into Erfei's pocket.

  "Sir, oh no, we can't do that, we have principles, we cannot disclose anything related to our guests..."

  "Ah, dear Second Master, principles and chastity are expensive, I've always believed that... Hehe, give me all the information about Bill, you can take half of the US dollars in my suitcase."

  The two deputies didn't show any awkwardness, and directly smiled as they started taking out the stacks of cash from the suitcase and placing them on the table. When there were only fifty stacks left in the suitcase, he closed the lid and picked it up with his own hands. Yi Chen's eyebrows rose, and he said with a smile: "Alright? Give us the information we want to know!"

  The second mate didn't mince words, smiling quietly and saying: "His surface data is a manager of a securities trading firm in New York, but some of our crew members know him, he's a high-ranking member of an Italian family from New York... Hmm, not someone you'd want to mess with. Gentlemen, God as my witness, I didn't say anything."

  Yi Chen smiled: "Oh, a member of the Black Hand's American family? Dear, you can leave, we won't leak your situation."

  The second deputy walked out the door, suddenly turned his head and smiled: "I very much agree with what this gentleman from China said, everything has a price... Even the most noble ladies, their chastity also has a price. I highly agree with this point of view, it's simply a truth that encompasses all of human society." He walked out carrying his suitcase, still smiling.

  Fatadio muttered a low curse: "Damn it, this bitch."

  Yi Chen laughed: "He's a pimp, isn't he? What's the difference between him and a prostitute? Tonight's boxing match... Fattadio, do you have any good advice?"

  Fatiao said helplessly, "Damn it, if I had known there was such a thing, I would have brought the boss's personal bodyguard over. What black market fist, he is also a master. Unfortunately, unfortunately, damn it, this boxing thing is different from gambling cards, can't be controlled by oneself."

  Yi Chen smiled and looked at Jester, who was jumping around with a monkey-like grin, and said to Fattario with a smile: "Can't we send someone to participate?"

  Fatadio nodded repeatedly: "Not bad, we can send a boxer and their chosen boxer to fight, of course, this requires advance notice. However, such boxers are usually trained through hellish training, where can we find such people now? Ah... dear Chinese Yi, do you have a way?"

  Yi Chen smiled and pointed at Jester, saying: "Jester is a good boxer, he will also be happy to win a large sum of US dollars for us..."

  Jester burst out laughing, and with a punch, he pierced through the three-inch thick wooden gambling table in front of Fattadio and his two assistants' shocked eyes.

  Yi Chen lightly applauded: "Mr. Jester, tonight you will be the protagonist, I hope you won't disappoint me? I'll throw two hundred million dollars in cash on you, if you lose, jump into the sea and swim to Shanghai yourself... Of course, don't go too far either." The last sentence was a reminder to Jester not to use powers beyond human imagination, Jester nodded in agreement.