After the results were announced, to ensure the fairness of the gambling match, the dealer immediately invalidated the previous deck of cards and began to unpack and shuffle a new one.
While the dealer was shuffling, Shui Cenyin suddenly turned her gaze to me and said something.
"It seems we are kindred spirits!"
Hearing this, I chuckled without refuting and replied, "It's just that one of us is destined to be a stepping stone for the other!"
As soon as I finished speaking, I saw Shui Cenyin's expression instantly turn cold.
"Then let's settle it with our skills!"
With that, Shui Cenyin withdrew her gaze and turned her attention back to the gambling table.
I smiled indifferently and said no more.
Such crude tricks as using a beauty to gain an advantage or feigning friendliness to lower my guard… it’s best to save them.
After the cards were shuffled, the dealer began to deal.
Once the cards were dealt, the first round of betting began.
After the incident with the fashionable youth, the other three people at the table seemed to be wary of both me and Shui Cenyin, placing only the minimum bets.
Of course, the reason for their caution, besides the points, was that there were also those with ulterior motives among them.
However, they were intimidated by our earlier report, so they decided to play it safe for now.
After all, if Shui Cenyin and I could see through the fashionable youth's cheating methods at a glance, our skills couldn't be that low.
Before they could ascertain our respective backgrounds and strengths, they wouldn't dare to cheat easily.
Otherwise, once exposed, their fate would be the same as the fashionable youth's.
Thus, we played about ten rounds of cards at a steady pace.
During this time, as Shui Cenyin and I had the most points and were under less pressure regarding our mindset, our playstyle was bold and aggressive.
We mostly bet the maximum without looking at our cards, using our point advantage to grind out the game.
Consequently, Shui Cenyin and I took turns winning these rounds.
However, the stakes weren't too high.
The three people who lost averaged less than ten thousand points each.
Flower Blossom is a game full of variables. With about an hour left in the match, even if you've been losing all along, it's not certain you can't win later.
Therefore, the real point-grabbing battle would commence in the crucial last hour…
In a newly dealt hand.
After about ten rounds of playing it close to the chest without anyone looking at their cards, I decided to look at mine first.
The most important thing for a cheat when gambling is to never follow the rhythm of the table; you must adhere to your own habits.
A mixed straight of 10, J, Q – good luck.
When it was my turn to speak, I unhesitatingly placed the maximum bet of 200 points.
Because the groundwork had been laid well in the preceding period, my decision to bet the maximum went unnoticed.
My next player was Shui Cenyin.
Seeing me choose to look at my cards and bet, Shui Cenyin let out a cold laugh and unhesitatingly continued to play her cards close.
The tattooed woman also followed suit without looking at her cards.
The middle-aged man, who had a very low presence, also chose to bet without looking at his cards.
It was the turn of the last participant, a young man who naturally had thick eyebrows. He chose to look at his cards.
Immediately after looking at his cards, the thick-browed man's brows furrowed, and his gaze became hesitant.
It was clear he was struggling with whether to call.
Ever since the fashionable youth was eliminated from the table, whenever the thick-browed man saw good cards, he would hesitate for a long time before calling the bet.
It was unclear whether he was acting or genuinely conflicted.
Once or twice, no one said anything, but after repeated instances, someone became displeased.
The impatient tattooed woman immediately unleashed a beautiful piece of Chinese profanity.
"Cao ni ma! Are you even a man? You're always dawdling and dragging your feet, not speeding up when you should!"
Although there was a reason for her outburst, the tattooed woman's words were indeed quite harsh.
If it were me, I would definitely have engaged in a verbal spar with her.
However, the thick-browed man was good-natured.
He didn't get angry at all. Instead, he quickly nodded and said, "My apologies! For holding up your time."
After speaking, the thick-browed man chose to call.
When the round ended and it was my turn, without a word, I called again.
In this round, Shui Cenyin no longer played her cards close but chose to look at them.
The moment she looked at her cards, I noticed Shui Cenyin's delicate eyebrows seemed to furrow slightly.
Clearly, she had cards.
However, she didn't hesitate for too long. After gritting her teeth, she chose to reveal her cards and call.
Now, only the tattooed woman and the low-profile middle-aged man at the table had not looked at their cards.
Perhaps out of a desire not to advance herself, while also not wanting others to succeed, the tattooed woman chose to go for a single draw!
Seeing this, the middle-aged man quickly picked up his cards, looked at them, and decisively chose to fold.
This left the situation with the tattooed woman playing her cards close against the three of us who had revealed our cards!
According to the rules of the grand competition, in a game with more than two players, playing it close can only continue until each person has bet ten thousand points, after which it will be a draw.
If the tattooed woman didn't look at her cards, she could only accumulate bets playing close up to five thousand points before stopping.
Five thousand for thirty thousand!
It seemed she wanted to try her luck, to win back the points she had lost in one hand, and then make a substantial profit.
Was that possible?
In informal Flower Blossom games, such a possibility did exist.
But the prerequisite was absolutely no cheaters involved!
In a situation like today, such a possibility was out of the question!
If there was, it would mean she was cheating!
The experience with the fashionable youth earlier had given me additional inspiration and hints.
Accumulating chips didn't necessarily require personal effort; one could also simply reap the fruits of others' labor!
As long as I kept an eye on the contestants at the table and caught them cheating, I could still earn points.
This way, I could preserve my methods as much as possible during the preliminary rounds and save them for the main competition…
Just as I was making my calculations, it was my turn to call the bet again.
After feigning hesitation for a moment, I chose to call again.
At the same time, I fixed my gaze intently on Shui Cenyin, my next player.
She was the one I needed to keep a close watch on.
However, at this moment…
Suddenly, I noticed that Shui Cenyin and her next player, the tattooed woman, exchanged a brief glance.
After that fleeting eye contact, Shui Cenyin chose to call again.
Immediately after, the tattooed woman suddenly chose to look at her cards!
And the first thing she did after looking at her cards was to bet 200 points, revealing her hand.
This sudden discovery completely baffled me.
What was going on?
Could it be that these two were in cahoots?