Chapter Thirteen: The County Town Casino

  The scar-faced man with three braids leaned over and whispered to Hu Fei, "Brother, how about we go have some fun after dinner?" While speaking, he raised an eyebrow and winked, the others at the table pretended not to notice, but their eyes were all sneaking glances this way.

  "What's leisure? What leisure?" Hu Fei's heart skipped a beat. This guy was indeed not just coming to the city to eat, he had other purposes!

  "Hey, what else can we do to pass the time? I definitely can't take my brother to a brothel." Hu Fei was only sixteen this year, and when Scarface Three said this sentence, he originally wanted to use it as a joke to lighten the mood. However, seeing that Hu Fei's face didn't have any expression, he quickly shut his mouth. The atmosphere became a bit awkward.

  "Cough, cough, this, brother, not far from the wine shop there is a gambling den. We brothers have nothing to do now, why don't we go and try our luck. If we can win some more money, tomorrow morning we can buy two horses, one for each of us, and ride them on the road to Wang Hai Mountain, it will be faster, what do you say?"

  Speaking of going to Wanghai Mountain quickly, Hu Fei was indeed a little moved. He now thinks about going to Wanghai Mountain to see Lao Beifeng as soon as possible. Besides, everyone knows that gambling is bad, but why do people still gamble in every generation? Isn't it because of human psychology and greed?

  As a clever and lively young man, Hu Fei hesitated for a moment, "If you guys want to gamble, I'll just follow and watch. I don't understand that thing, and I didn't bring that much money with me either. What if I lose? I won't be able to afford it."

  "Great! You just cheer for us by the side, and we'll go win a horse back!" As soon as Hu Fei agreed to go together, Zhuo San's face lit up with joy, "Hurry up and eat, hurry up and finish, so we can go try our luck! Waiter, bring the bill!" The people at the same table hadn't finished eating yet, but he was already impatiently asking for the bill.

  The casino is not far from the reception building, out of the restaurant and into the alley, walking less than a hundred steps is a courtyard door. Scarface San familiar with the door and two burly men greeted each other, leading several people into the yard.

  The gate doesn't look big, but the inside is quite spacious. There are many people sitting or standing in the courtyard, and several rooms are brightly lit before dark. The room is noisy with laughter and shouting, apparently the people inside are having a great time gambling. People in the courtyard either sit at the foot of the wall with their heads down, recalling the painful experience just now, or excitedly exchange winning experiences with each other.

  Scarface San led a few people in, and the people in the yard just glanced at them without paying much attention. Two of them greeted each other, apparently they were gambling buddies from some previous visit.

  A few people didn't stay in the yard and went straight into a room facing the door, where people were divided into several groups, enthusiastically gambling.

  Hu Fei had never been to a casino and didn't understand the rules at all, so he followed behind Pockmark Liu and several others, watching from beside the table.

  There are people shaking dice in a jar to bet on big or small points; some are holding a Go piece to guess odd or even numbers; others are playing Pai Gow with a deck of cards. The types aren't many, but the nature of the gamblers is very high-end, and from time to time someone wins money and there's a chorus of cheers around them. To say the atmosphere is fiery is an understatement - it should be described as explosive.

  A few people who came together scattered as soon as they entered the casino. Scarface Three, Old Six Sun and Hu Fei wandered around the casino together, seeing a gambling table and going in to bet two rounds, sometimes winning and sometimes losing, but overall surprisingly winning more than losing. Hu Fei always felt that these two were intentionally teaching him how to gamble, each betting not much, but saying a lot.

  From the names of the gambling equipment to the rules of gambling, and the techniques used during operation, the two people explained very carefully, even analyzing the psychological changes of the surrounding participants. Hu Fei listened to their explanations, looking at the crowd in front of him who were enthusiastically participating, although he had not yet joined in, his gambling skills were rapidly improving.

  Finally, in front of a guessing board for the number of chess pieces, after Pocky lost three times in a row, Sai gave Hu Fei two banknotes. "Brother, since you're here, why not try your luck? Come on, I'll put up the money, you play. If you lose, it's my loss; if you win, we split it 50/50!"

  Hu Fei then wanted to return the money to Zhu San, he came to watch, not to gamble! But before he could say his refusal, he heard the loud shout of the Zhu family member holding the ruler: "Buy out and leave, buy out and leave. If you want to buy, hurry up, if not, move back!"

  "Hey, little brother, are you going to buy or not? If not, then let me through, don't block my view!" A short gambler behind him grabbed the corner of Hu Fei's clothes. Although Hu Fei wasn't very old, he was quite tall, and his head was almost at the same height as this guy's. Standing in front, he completely blocked the other man's view.

  "Let go of my hand! Who says I won't pay, I'll pay now! I'll pay the bill!" Hu Fei still had a young man's temperament and couldn't bear anyone saying anything that looked down on him. He stretched out his hand and put two banknotes together in the bill folder.

  The short gambler behind still wanted to squeeze forward. Sun Lao Liu glared at him, "If you're not buying, get out of the way and don't delay our winning!"

  This guy's eyes glared with a fierce light, and the short gambler sucked in a breath of cold air and immediately retreated two steps. But within the next second, he reacted that this was a gambling den, where his personal safety was completely not to be worried about, no one dared to make trouble here!

  "I'm also here to place a bet, why can only you guys bet and not me? I'll bet on an odd number!" This person clutched their money, opened up a gap from the side and squeezed into the crowd.

  At this moment, the banker shouted: "All hands off, open!" As soon as the word "open" came out, the ruler in the banker's hand began to distribute the chess pieces. Two, four, six, eight, ten, one by one, ten at a time, and see which group had less than ten left over was an odd or even number, whoever guessed correctly won.

  The short gambler easily squeezed into the inner circle, holding money to bet, but this round had already started. No way, he could only stare at Hu Fei and clench his fists with money on the side, waiting for the next round to open.

  When the landlord distributed the last of the chess pieces, there were seven left over, and Hu Fei won with a single tile!

  "It's all of you squeezing me and not letting me in, I just said the odd number!" The short guy was even more wronged this time. What could be more frustrating for a gambler than guessing correctly but not having time to place a bet?

  But now, no one can afford to provoke him. The loser is naturally disheartened, and the winner is inevitably proud! This was Hu Fei's first time in a casino, and he actually came up with a great start! Although he didn't win much money, this thing made him happy!

  "Good job, brother!" Seeing Hu Fei win the money, Pockmark Liu and Old Six Sun were even more excited than they themselves had won. The two of them kept praising Hu Fei for his good luck.

  "Haha, blind cat met a dead mouse, purely by luck. Old Three, this is your money." Since they had agreed to split the winnings in half beforehand, Hu Fei naturally wouldn't renege on the deal, taking out his own share from the winnings and returning the rest to Pockmark Liu.