Chapter 2: The Casino Beauty (Part 1)

  Cheng Jiaji (from this chapter on, we will use the name Cheng Jiaji for convenience and no longer switch back and forth) went to a luxurious casino that was considered very fashionable at the time with several colleagues he had just gotten familiar with.

  Wen Songyuan (a deputy director of the third department of the logistics division of the 66th Brigade, is one of Cheng Jiaji's sworn brothers and also from Nan'an, Fujian. He comes from a respectable family in Nan'an. This guy has been with Cheng Jiaji since childhood, doing all sorts of things together, earning them the nickname "Nan'an Double Evil", although they call themselves "Nan'an Double Heroes". Naturally, Wen Songyuan was involved in the incident where Cheng Jiaji accidentally killed someone. In fact, without Wen Songyuan taking the lead, Cheng Jiaji wouldn't have had the guts to cause trouble. He was originally hiding out in his hometown in Nan'an countryside, but after hearing that his sworn brother and boss was making waves in the 66th Brigade, he ran to Wu Town to join Cheng Jiaji. Thanks to their lifelong friendship, Wen Songyuan arrived and Cheng Jiaji immediately gave him a job as deputy director of the third department of logistics, responsible for food supplies. This was a lucrative position, especially since the head of the department was Cheng Dazhang, and the two of them worked together to embezzle funds. As long as they didn't go too far and spark a mutiny, they were safe. Wen Songyuan is a standard example of a physically strong young thug, tall, powerful, and robust, with a bit of the air of a heroic outlaw from "Water Margin". He has a fiery temper and is prone to outbursts, making him the perfect candidate for taking the lead in a fight. Cheng Jiaji thinks he looks like a big bear who likes to bully smaller kids. Since his father was the head of the Nan'an County Militia, Wen Songyuan learned good martial arts skills from a young age and can take down three or five ordinary people with ease. The two of them work together, with Cheng Jiaji as the brains and Wen Songyuan as the brawn. Cheng Jiaji is very satisfied with this arrangement, feeling that having such a sworn brother is like having a guard dog, at least guaranteeing his personal safety.

  The other five people in the group followed Wen Songyuan's footsteps and walked into a luxurious room that was obviously a casino, where they sat down one by one around a red sandalwood Eight Immortals table. Cheng Jiaji had long known that he was the leader among these few people, so he naturally took the first seat without hesitation.

  "Ladies and gentlemen, what shall we play today?" As this melodious voice with a strong magnetic tone, like a gentle breeze, floated into the ears of the crowd, Cheng Jiaji was secretly sizing up the antique furniture in the room, which had a strong Jiangnan water town style, and was thinking that if he had the chance to bring these antiques back to the 21st century, they would be worth at least 20-30 million RMB.

  Among these pieces of furniture, there is a purple sandalwood square table with a beautiful pattern on its surface. The edge of the square table is full of relief carvings of vines, and the shape is also very elegant and simple. I once saw a similar one on TV when Cheng Jiaji was appraising it, and the expert's estimated value was as high as 300,000 yuan. At that time, he was already excited to see it on TV. Now, he has the opportunity to see the real thing, and this is indeed a rare treasure for an antique enthusiast like Cheng Jiaji.

  Cheng Jiaji, who was pulled back to reality by the voice from his own dream world of smuggling, instinctively raised his head and saw a very familiar face. The extreme shock left him momentarily stunned, his mind a blank, and he fell into a state of mental paralysis. Out of ten people, nine would think that he had fallen in love with this woman at first sight. The people around them didn't know about Cheng Liu's composure in front of beautiful women, and seeing him in a daze, they all secretly laughed to themselves, but no one dared to speak out loud, fearing that the young master would become angry and take it out on them. This allowed Cheng Jiaji to maintain this state of contemplation for several minutes, until he finally came back to himself, and only then did the murmurs begin.

  Wu Zhen Hong Yun Casino is the best place to go in town. This casino, which has been open for less than ten days, is an enterprise of a certain big shot from Shanghai. If it weren't for the intense fighting in Shanghai recently, this big shot, who has his roots in the Shanghai underworld, wouldn't have moved all his enterprises to southern Zhejiang. The Hong Yun Casino in Wu Zhen is just one of several dozen casinos owned by this big shot, who is said to have close ties with many high-ranking officials. If it weren't for the temporary presence of the 66th Division's headquarters in Wu Zhen, the owner of the casino might not have chosen to locate a branch here in this small town.

  Many of the mid-to-low-level officers in the 66th Division's headquarters are regulars at the town's large and small casinos. Don't underestimate the purchasing power of these military personnel, as those who can mix with the division's leadership without any background or connections have various duties and receive extra allowances that far exceed what ordinary employees in Shanghai earn. Even setting aside these factors, the salaries of these officers are still much higher than those of ordinary townspeople and small business owners. The main reason is that soldiers tend to spend money more extravagantly than ordinary people. If it weren't for the fact that they often get into trouble when they lose at gambling, they would be the casinos' most welcome customer group.

  It turns out that Cheng Jiaji and his gang are indeed gambling at the Hongyun Casino, but generally, ordinary gamblers wouldn't have a beautiful woman like her by their side. For some reason, it always seems to make people feel that the scene is a bit strange. Usually, Cheng Liu Ye, who has the heaviest gambling habit, surprisingly didn't place any bets and instead sat on the sidelines drinking tea with ease.

  Yu San is a woman, and also a widely recognized beauty. Not only in Wu Town, but even in big cities like Nanjing, Shanghai, and Suzhou, she's the kind of stunning woman who has men surrounding her from all sides. If it weren't for her strong personality, she would have long become some high-ranking official's concubine. She originally came from a family of gamblers, and in her early years in Shanghai, she was a dealer at the Great World Casino, with extensive experience and knowledge of the gaming world. With such a background and experience, Yu San is naturally worldly-wise, and coupled with her decisive nature, although she's a woman, she's also a force to be reckoned with. However, Yu San had rarely seen a gambler as strange as Deputy Director Cheng.