The moment ten thousand chips were thrown onto the gambling table, a sliver of clarity cut through the initial surge of exhilaration. I realized something was amiss.
My actions just now were entirely uncharacteristic.
There was no calculated reserve, no meticulous planning, only a burning impulse fueled by sheer… excited bloodlust!
In simpler terms, I had been acting purely on my emotions – my anger, my joy, my volatile and impulsive feelings.
How could I, a seasoned cheat who knew nine out of ten gambles were rigged, suddenly transform into a gambler easily swayed by his emotions?
Something was wrong! This arcade had a serious problem!
The thought had barely formed when I saw it: as the dealer gathered the chips,
Whether intentionally or not, the dealer took another drag from his cigarette and, leaning out, exhaled close to the gambler’s face.
To any seasoned smoker, this might seem normal.
After all, men smoke while playing cards.
Not smoking meant inhaling secondhand smoke from everyone around – the players to your left, right, and across the table.
The dealer’s action was something many had experienced.
When collecting money or shuffling cards, a winner might exhale smoke directly, while those nearby passively inhaled it.
But…
Can inhaling ordinary secondhand smoke lead to a heated, euphoric state of mind?
At most, it stings the eyes and tickles the nose.
Therefore, the problem had to be with the dealer’s cigarette!
The thought struck me, and a word inexplicably surfaced in my mind.
“Dǎpái yān” (gambling cigarette),
Also known as “dǎpái fěn” (gambling powder).
It was a colorless, odorless chemical powder that dissolved completely in water.
“Dǎpái yān” had certain side effects, but they weren't significant, perhaps even negligible.
I wasn't entirely sure what chemical substances it was composed of.
I only remembered Uncle Tuo mentioning that “dǎpái yān” first became popular in nightclubs.
Want to know why?
Because it was a stimulant far more potent than coffee or Red Bull, guaranteeing alertness and mental clarity!
When mixed into cigarettes, the feeling after smoking was akin to being drunk.
As everyone knows, once drunk, even the most taciturn person becomes incredibly talkative.
The reason for this is that alcohol stimulates the central nervous system, inducing a state of excitement.
And “dǎpái yān” produced a similar effect.
The crucial part was experiencing this without getting drunk!
Unexplained emotionality, baseless excitement – these were the most tell-tale signs.
In nightclubs, smoking “dǎpái yān” could keep you in a state of extreme excitement for four to five hours.
To use a popular modern phrase: “Keep the music playing, keep the dancing going!”
Later, someone discovered that “dǎpái fěn” could induce different types of excitement in different environments.
In nightclubs, “dǎpái yān” gave you a feeling of being on top of the world, riding the high.
In dance clubs, it offered a doubled sense of excitement and pleasure, a state between sobriety and blissful confusion.
And in casinos, it instilled a craving for gambling, an urge to go all-in or bet it all.
As I mentioned earlier, this substance had virtually no significant side effects.
Of course, if one had pre-existing heart conditions, they certainly couldn't touch it.
And the most critical point was that regardless of the environment, after the drug wore off and one regained clarity, it was incredibly difficult to realize they had been affected.
Most people who accidentally inhaled “dǎpái yān” would ultimately attribute their unrestrained behavior during the period of excitement to the influence of the specific environment.
After all, environments can change people.
Those who came to their senses were either people who had been burned by it before or were alerted by others.
I belonged to the latter category.
If Uncle Tuo hadn’t shared his past experiences with me as stories, I knew for sure I wouldn’t have “woken up” so quickly.
No wonder that dealer, while smoking, didn't inhale deeply or perform a “hui long” (a specific smoking technique), but simply took a puff and exhaled…
Turns out, that scoundrel wasn't smoking real cigarettes at all, but “dǎpái yān”!
After deducing this, I abandoned my original plan to disrupt Xiang Tianhua’s arcade.
As the saying goes: Water can carry a boat, but it can also capsize it!
While “dǎpái yān” might have made Xiang Tianhua’s Baowang Arcade rake in fortunes, it could also cause him to lose everything overnight.
Even the shadiest casinos wouldn't treat gamblers like pigs to be slaughtered; they operated on cunning tactics.
But Xiang Tianhua was different.
He wasn't just playing with fire; he was playing with such a massive blaze!
Honestly, I was quite eager to see how Xiang Tianhua, who played with fire and was now engulfed in it, would react when the truth about “dǎpái yān” was exposed, facing a crowd of enraged gamblers.
After reviewing the “dǎpái yān” situation, I also understood the reason behind the eccentric behavior of that alternative-style girl earlier.
Simultaneously, I had also found the perfect candidate to expose the truth about “dǎpái yān.”
Regarding the alternative-style girl’s experience, while it was somewhat pitiable from certain perspectives,
There’s a reason for pity to breed hatred! How many women who come to gamble are truly good?
Therefore, I felt no sympathy for her, nor would I intervene in her impending descent into the clutches of loan sharks.
I would only offer her a chance, a chance to potentially escape her predicament.
Whether she could seize it would depend entirely on her fate…
With this thought, suppressing the inexplicable urge brought on by the resurfacing excitement, I quickly stood up and motioned for Cheng Minglang and Han Jinlun to leave the gambling table.
The moment we exited the arcade, I recounted everything about accidentally inhaling “dǎpái yān” inside.
Upon hearing my account, Cheng Minglang couldn't help but draw the retractable baton from his waist and curse coldly, “Damn it! Xiang Tianhua is resorting to such despicable tricks!”
“Just wait! I’m going to tear down his arcade right now!”
Unexpectedly, Han Jinlun chimed in with agreement this time: “I’ll go with you!”
“Son of a bitch! I knew it! Every time I saw a beautiful woman dressed provocatively, I’d have these inexplicable urges, wanting to do it right then and there…”
“So it turns out I inhaled that damn ‘dǎpái yān’!”
“Look! My… it’s still bulging even now!”