The Queen, the Queen's head!
Fan Yin Xin actually took her own trump card, the Q, and just like I did with my smoke trick earlier, she skillfully set the stage and then stealthily switched it with me!
Setting aside the scattered chips from before, just that one big bet before the reveal directly earned me a full ten million in chips!
In an instant, my ranking surpassed Shen Ling Yu, topping the small table.
And she, due to that big bet, dropped from her stable first place all the way to third, with only a little over a thousand points separating her from fourth.
Of course, all these rankings were from the scoring judges who updated the scoreboard next to us after the previous round's statistics were tallied.
Then, based on the final big bet of that round, I secretly calculated it in my mind.
If all the scattered chips before the big bet were added, Shen Ling Yu's ranking would have surely dropped another spot.
...
After the absolute Q, which completed the bomb hand, was revealed, the fat dealer didn't announce the result immediately. Instead, he stood there completely stunned, lost in thought.
Before Shen Ling Yu could question it, Fan Yin Xin, who had secretly switched the cards for me, suddenly spoke up first, "There's no reason! You couldn't possibly have that Q, I clearly put..."
As she said this, Fan Yin Xin's voice stopped at a very opportune moment.
I knew her intention in saying that: firstly, to clear her name of suspicion from Shen Ling Yu's perspective, and secondly, to signal me to help her cover up this lie.
I remembered when I met Fan Yin Xin by the restroom earlier, she had told me to keep her secret if things went well.
So, after a brief pause, I put on a stern face and said, "I find you very strange!"
"You folded early this round, the outcome has nothing to do with you, yet you're acting like a eunuch more worried than the emperor!"
"Could it be that you already know one of the contestants at our table, or are secretly connected?"
"Also, someone clearly got four Jacks first, but you didn't say anything and only focused on my four Queens. What's that about?"
My words, a mix of deflection and attack, not only cleared Fan Yin Xin of suspicion for switching cards but also indirectly hinted at her relationship with Shen Ling Yu.
Smart people tend to overthink, especially con artists.
Under these circumstances, Shen Ling Yu would never have thought that Fan Yin Xin and I had already colluded in private.
As expected.
As soon as I started mocking her, Shen Ling Yu immediately became furious and shouted, "You, you're talking nonsense!"
"I haven't even said that your win is unclear or inexplicable, and you're accusing me instead?"
Hearing this, I immediately retorted, "Then tell me, how is my win unclear and inexplicable?"
"Does it mean that only you are allowed to win every major hand, and the rest of us have to lose to you even when we take a chance to fight back!?"
"You, you, you..."
Although Shen Ling Yu was furious, she had no way to deal with me.
At this moment, the bearded man at the table suddenly spoke with a smile, "This mysterious beautiful lady, since you sat down until the last round, you've basically been winning against us at this table intermittently."
"Why can't you accept it when you lose one round?"
"Moreover, if I remember correctly, the dealer's dealt hands to you are always a pair or a flush!"
"If anyone's win is unclear, it should be you!"
As soon as the bearded man finished speaking, others immediately chimed in.
"That's right! I've been observing for a while."
"No matter how good your luck is, playing Texas Hold'em with fifty-two cards, there's no reason why you should get pairs or flushes as hole cards almost every hand, right?"
"Exactly! If anyone's win is unclear or inexplicable, I think you're the first one!"
"How about this... if she doesn't accept the result of this round, then we'll all go to the tournament organizers to appeal, demanding a replay of the final footage of our table to check if she was cheating!"
"Sure, I agree!"
"I agree too!"
"Add me to the agreement!"
"..."
It was unclear who proposed the appeal and replay, but Shen Ling Yu was immediately scared into silence.
It didn't matter if human brains and eyes couldn't detect the trick; high-tech equipment like computers and high-definition surveillance cameras could at least capture something.
"Fine, I'll accept my losses."
Therefore, after grudgingly admitting defeat, Shen Ling Yu decisively threw her cards into the discard pile and remained silent.
Seeing this, the fat dealer, knowing he was in the wrong and not daring to provoke the crowd, could only hastily announce the result.
With the fat dealer's final decision, this round of cards concluded with my Four Queens beating Shen Ling Yu's Four Jacks.
When the scoring judge converted the chips from the round into points and updated them on the small electronic screen...
Seeing Shen Ling Yu drop to fourth place, I let out a long sigh of relief, feeling incredibly satisfied.
But immediately, I returned to a state of tense alertness.
For no other reason than the saying, "A centipede dies but never falls."
If the enemy isn't completely defeated, the consequence will inevitably be a desperate counterattack.
Even though Shen Ling Yu's points dropped to fourth place, she was actually only over a hundred thousand points, or about 1.1 million chips, behind second place.
With still about an hour left in the competition, to put it bluntly...
At this stage, 110,000 points is just a matter of one hand.
Therefore, the advantage was not yet so great that I could afford to be careless.
After all, Fan Yin Xin was still at the table, and she was Shen Ling Yu's overt helper. To completely seal Shen Ling Yu's fate, I had to eliminate Fan Yin Xin first, cutting off any possibility of Shen Ling Yu using her chips to make a comeback!
Thus, in the subsequent rounds, I began to focus on Fan Yin Xin, using my chip advantage to continuously raise the stakes, gradually eroding her chips and points.
About half an hour later.
Unable to last until the end of the finals, Fan Yin Xin, with a pale face and a furious slam of the gambling table, was defeated by my relentless pursuit and was eliminated with hatred in her eyes.
The moment Fan Yin Xin was eliminated, Shen Ling Yu glared at me, her chest heaving.
Even without seeing Shen Ling Yu's face or expression, I could tell from her body language that she likely hated me to the bone.