Indeed, the middle-aged man's next sentence instantly confirmed my guess.
"Hao Qi, this young brother, you must be the Chen Xiang I asked you to find earlier?"
Upon hearing this, Hao Qi nodded slightly with a very respectful expression and replied, "Yes, Boss Ying."
Seeing this, Ying Baolin immediately quickened his pace and walked to my side.
Then, he actually extended his hand to shake mine, and with a knowing chuckle, said, "Remarkable! Truly remarkable! A young hero, Chen Xiang!"
To be honest, on the way here, I had already anticipated various scenarios for meeting Ying Baolin.
And these scenarios all had one characteristic: confrontation!
But the reality before me was that Ying Baolin treated me like an old friend, shook my hand, and there were no defenses set up in the villa.
This scene, however, sparked my doubts.
However, I did not let my guard down because of this.
Those who have long held positions of power are always decisive and ruthless. I didn't believe Ying Baolin could truly be so amicable with me.
...
After signaling me to sit down, Ying Baolin suddenly picked up an unopened deck of poker cards from the table and looked up at me, saying, "Qiwen mentioned that your gambling skills are even superior to hers. How about this..."
"I, as a person, have always liked to make friends with top-tier gamblers like you."
"Since Qiwen speaks so highly of you, I really want to see what your skill level is like! Let's gamble once!"
"If you win, not only will all past grievances be wiped clean, but from now on, you will be my friend, Ying Baolin!"
"If you lose, you just need to do something for me! What do you say? Am I fair enough!"
"Let's bet on Stud poker! Your ability to win against Tianhua and Qiwen is enough to show that you play Stud poker like a god."
After speaking, Ying Baolin began to shuffle the cards.
Honestly, although I still didn't know Ying Baolin's intentions, I absolutely did not want to participate in this gamble.
But unfortunately, when you're under someone else's roof, you have to bow your head.
Directly refusing the offer would undoubtedly be seen as disrespecting him by Ying Baolin.
Therefore, at this moment, I was like an arrow nocked on a bowstring, with no choice but to shoot.
After a hasty shuffle, Ying Baolin directly handed the cards to me.
After several moments of hesitation and internal struggle, I finally reached out and cut the deck.
Star-Picking Hand!
This was my preparation to prevent Ying Baolin from playing any tricks.
Once a single deck of cards is cut by the Star-Picking Hand, there is no reason or possibility for anyone to restore the card order.
Even with Hao Qi present, I had no worries about him being able to provide any help to Ying Baolin.
Because the card order had already been thoroughly disrupted by the continuous manipulation of my fingers!
After cutting the cards, Ying Baolin dealt five cards to me and himself respectively.
Since it was a direct comparison of ranks, except for the first hidden card, the other four cards were all dealt face up.
Seeing me prepare to look at the first hidden card, Ying Baolin suddenly raised his hand to stop me, chuckling, "Heh heh! Don't be in a hurry, Brother Chen Xiang, I haven't explained the specific rules yet!"
Hearing this, I stopped my action of preparing to look at the card and cast a questioning glance at Ying Baolin.
He first pointed at me, then pointed at himself, and said, "You are a gambler, and I am an ordinary person. I will surely lose more than I win gambling Stud poker with you."
"So, let's change the way we compare ranks to determine the winner."
At this moment, for the first time since entering the villa, I spoke.
"Certainly! As long as it's fair."
I said this intentionally.
Because I knew very well that Ying Baolin would not let me win.
Now, it all depended on what answer he would give and what action he would take after hearing my words.
As soon as Ying Baolin heard my words, he immediately showed a meaningful smile.
However, he still nodded in agreement, saying, "No problem!"
After agreeing, he paused for a moment, and then Ying Baolin spoke again, "The way we play Stud poker this time is: we only compare the ranks of the hidden cards! And..."
"You need to clearly indicate whether my hidden card is larger, or yours is superior!"
As soon as Ying Baolin finished speaking, a look of resentment flashed across my face.
What a fair deal!
As soon as I said I wanted a fair match, Ying Baolin immediately used the so-called "change of method" to steer the gamble in his favor.
Looking only at the four face-up cards on the table, Ying Baolin had a hand of mixed cards, with the highest single card being only the Jack of Clubs.
As for me, I started with a pair of 4s.
If we were to judge by the visible cards, my winning probability would be at least sixty to seventy percent.
But now, because of Ying Baolin's words, the seventy percent winning chance instantly vanished.
Since we agreed to play Stud poker, what was the point of excluding the four face-up cards and gambling solely on the rank of one hidden card?
At this moment, I had already roughly guessed what hidden mechanism Ying Baolin intended by asking me to clearly state who had the larger hidden card between us.
To put it in a nutshell: Ying Baolin had no intention of letting me win!
If I said his card was larger, I would lose directly!
If I said my own card was larger, I would be offending him!
Don't forget, this is in Ying Baolin's territory. For a guest's card to be larger than the host's is simply courting death, isn't it!?
If nothing unexpected happens, he wants me to lose!
Then, he can openly compel me to do something for him.
As expected of a big shot!
He never gets straight to the point when he speaks or acts, but rather makes others constantly infer and imagine.
But then again, people who are big shots don't necessarily have to be very capable themselves; the most important thing is their ability to utilize people wisely.
At this point, even if I didn't know what Ying Baolin wanted me to do for him, I could still guess that this matter must be related to gambling!
And most likely, it had something to do with me!
Otherwise, Ying Baolin wouldn't have ignored the many capable people around him and insisted on finding me, an unknown newcomer to the gambling world.
...
Just as my mind began to continuously analyze how to avoid the trap Ying Baolin had set for me...
"Since you've been hesitant and haven't dared to speak until now, I'll just help you out!"
With that said, while directly revealing the hidden card in front of him, Ying Baolin suddenly reached out and revealed the hidden card in front of me as well!
His hidden card was the 6 of Diamonds.
And mine was the 10 of Spades.
Looking at the two revealed hidden cards, Ying Baolin said meaningfully, "Come on! The correct answer has been revealed to you. Now you can tell me..."
"Who is larger between us?"
Logically speaking, anyone who isn't blind could see that, regardless of whether the rules were changed or not, I had the winning hand from start to finish in this Stud poker game!
But...