The previous mention of a "knife arena" wasn't a place that sold knives, but rather an area where members of the Rongmen operated.
Knife arenas were typically found outside self-service banking terminals and around the perimeters of shops.
While I wouldn't dare make guarantees elsewhere, if you were foolish enough to flash your wealth at train stations or bus terminals, you'd be inviting trouble upon yourself.
After revealing your riches, if you were carrying a backpack, within five minutes... a knife slit would be neatly appearing on it.
If you kept your valuables in a close-fitting pocket, as you walked, you'd suddenly feel an inexplicable coolness on your body.
Once your belongings were slashed and your money taken at a bus station, there was absolutely no recourse other than to accept your fate.
Calling the police? Don't even think about it! By the time they arrived, the culprits would have long since vanished!
The third type of arena, the "smoke arena," was a place that dealt in counterfeit cigarettes and drugs.
Those in the martial world who made a living from the smoke arena had no fixed abode, and even if they did, it wasn't something ordinary people could see.
These individuals typically pushed mobile carts equipped with simple shelves, displaying a few common brands of cigarettes, and conducted business at various alleyway entrances.
Under normal circumstances, the goods displayed on these shelves were a mix of genuine and fake.
Newcomers would only be sold fake cigarettes, and drugs could only be obtained through introductions from very close acquaintances.
As for the fourth type, the "gambling arena," it wasn't a place where actual gambling dens were set up, but rather any street scam related to gambling.
For example, card games where there were always three players short of a full table, lottery games where you'd see someone win a grand prize the moment you walked up, and scams that had emerged in recent years like "selling newly released stolen mobile phones at a cheap price."
Strictly speaking, most of these were scams, so why did people in the martial world collectively refer to them as gambling arenas?
It was because anyone who fell victim to these scams was driven by greed, developing a gambling mentality, always thinking that what they encountered might not be a scam and wanting to try their luck.
Little did they know, nine out of ten bets are scams, nine out of ten bets are deceptions.
The vast martial world, the burning human heart.
The word "luck" was never something that could be achieved through gambling.
Those in the martial world who frequented gambling arenas were commonly found in the most crowded streets.
If something went wrong, as long as they secured their money, they could use the cover of the crowd to disappear quickly.
Leaving no trace, no clue.
Therefore, among the "Four Arenas" of long-distance bus stations, those involved in gambling arenas were the most cunning.
This was because, among them, there were indeed many retired masters of the "Thousand Doors" sect who mingled within.
Parking the car far away, and after walking to a densely populated street intersection and strolling back and forth twice, I selected two stalls, one at the north end and one at the south end.
The scam at the southern stall involved guessing whether a handful of sunflower seeds was an odd or even number. The principle was very simple, much like shaking dice and guessing high or low.
You would arbitrarily grab a handful of sunflower seeds, put them in a bowl, and then place your bet on whether the count was odd or even.
Note that this was the only way to bet, guessing odd or even; there were no dice rolls for high or low numbers, etc.
It seemed fair, and with a fifty-fifty chance of winning money, it appeared to be a matter of luck, but...
If it were truly that simple, those retired old tricksters would have gone bankrupt long ago.
Firstly, the winners were all shills, or members of an internal team, pre-arranged by the tricksters.
The appearance of wins and losses you witnessed was merely what the tricksters wanted you to see.
Secondly, if tricksters could master the art of playing with poker cards, what could they not do with sunflower seeds, which were less than half a pinky finger in length?
Among the onlookers, as soon as a genuine gambler started placing bets, I could guarantee... the outcome would be the exact opposite of their wager!
In layman's terms, the prize would be directly awarded to a shill, allowing the shill to win money, thereby further stimulating the genuine gambler's desire to recoup their losses.
Of course, they would also offer a few small wins strategically, because the tactic of "luring the prey by letting it escape" was a foolproof stratagem.
If someone tried to disrupt the game, they weren't worried; they would usually have accomplices hidden among the onlookers create a commotion, shouting "The city guards are coming!" to shake off the disruptor.
These types of games were typically coordinated by multiple individuals working together seamlessly, with each step meticulously planned and interlinked. The person controlling the game usually also served as the host.
As for the second gambling game, located at the northern stall, it was even more common.
I believe many brothers and sisters born in the 80s and 90s must have fallen victim to this game in their childhood.
Street marble games!
Five yuan per game, and you had to pay the fee before you could play. If a marble landed in the corresponding slot, you would receive the monetary reward associated with that slot.
The monetary rewards ranged from ten yuan to one hundred yuan.
Usually, to boost the enthusiasm of the onlookers, the vendor would let interested individuals try a round first.
And during these trial rounds, no matter how you played, you could easily win a prize. But once you paid the fee and started playing the game for real, you couldn't even hit the lowest reward of ten yuan.
Do you know why?
Because there was a hidden mechanism beneath the entire board.
When letting people try, the vendor would not activate the mechanism.
But once someone paid, all it took was a gentle step on a pedal, and no matter how you adjusted the marble's trajectory, you wouldn't be able to win.
Compared to guessing the odd or even number of sunflower seeds, the cost of running the street marble scam was lower. And due to the game's nature, it attracted children, generally requiring fewer shills to hype up the atmosphere.
Furthermore, this was a pure scam, unrelated to any trickery or sleight of hand.
Therefore, after another stroll, I decisively headed towards the sunflower seed guessing game.
Originally, I assumed that the person capable of orchestrating such a multi-person scam and hosting the event would likely be an elderly gentleman with white hair and a beard.
But to my surprise, when the game was fully set up, the person who came out to host it was a stunningly beautiful and extraordinary woman.
The reason I called her an extraordinary woman was that, in my opinion, given her appearance, she had absolutely no need to engage in such low-level games.
With that face, that figure...
Even if she switched to the "Orchid Gate" and specialized in "honey traps," there would be plenty of people lining up to fall for it!
After earning money, she could directly go legit, marry an honest man or a wealthy tycoon, and completely reinvent herself.
At this moment, I had no idea that this beautiful woman's master had an extremely deep connection with Uncle Tuo.
And her coming out to lead this street gambling game was also to earn money for her master, Uncle Tuo's old acquaintance, to pay for medical treatment.
Even less did I know that, in the future... she would become my first woman!
Of course, all of that is a story for another time.
Let's return to the present.
The woman, adorned with exquisite makeup, stood sideways in a one-shoulder long dress. Her eyes, like autumn water, were bright and clear, her lips like shallow cherries, and her skin like congealed fat.
These were relatively unimportant. The most crucial thing was... her chest was both firm and perky!
To describe it in four words: perfectly rounded and naturally formed!