It must be admitted that Chang Ba's hand speed was very fast, and extraordinarily so.
If I hadn't focused on the person, and instead substituted my own thoughts into Chang Ba's mindset to devise a perfect, unsolvable dead end, I would surely have fallen into his trap.
Of course, the reason I was so certain that the Ace of Spades was not among the three cards was because Chang Ba had revealed a fatal flaw during the earlier drawing phase.
Of the four Aces, Chang Ba, when drawing cards, was the only one who did not draw the Ace of Diamonds and set it aside!
Frankly, if I were the one proposing this gambling method, for the sake of absolute fairness and impartiality, I would definitely lay out all the poker cards involved in the current game for notarization.
Then, I would set aside the unused cards to prevent anyone from attempting to fish in troubled waters.
Of course, what I've said above is just my personal opinion; whether to set aside the relevant poker cards separately is purely a matter of personal will.
This action, though seemingly insignificant, allowed me to guess Chang Ba's true intentions.
If he wanted to create an unsolvable dead end, making it impossible for me to find the Ace of Spades among the three cards, the best method would be to pass off a fake as genuine, substituting other cards for the Ace of Spades.
What kind of card most resembles the Ace of Spades? Naturally, it would be the Ace of Diamonds, another Ace!
Although the suits are different, the size and pattern are identical.
With the Ace of Clubs already present among the three cards, coupled with Chang Ba's incredibly fast hand speed, it would be easy and natural to pass off a fake as genuine.
Later, during the process of moving the cards, even if Chang Ba accidentally revealed a corner or the side of a card, to put it bluntly...
With his dazzling hand speed, outsiders could at most catch a fleeting glimpse of the card's pattern; it would be impossible to discern the suit.
Anyone who has played "Zha Jin Hua" (a poker game) should be well aware of this.
When a corner is revealed and the card is being shuffled, many people have mistaken the Club for a Spade.
If one can misidentify a card even when shuffling slowly, let alone when Chang Ba was moving cards around by placing them face down on the table and accidentally revealing them – who could possibly see clearly at a glance?
Therefore, based on the above, from the moment that Ace of Diamonds lay in the deck, I had already calculated Chang Ba's next move.
Honestly, I didn't really want Chang Ba to have a choice between two options.
Because at this stage, I didn't lack that million.
Winning against Chang Ba would only add another million to my income, and he wouldn't lose too much. This gave me a strangely indifferent feeling.
I wanted more to see him embarrassed in front of everyone.
But unfortunately, that fellow's luck was truly good; he had flipped over two cards consecutively without revealing the Ace of Diamonds that shouldn't have been on the table.
So, he got lucky.
Otherwise, the outcome of the second choice would have been even more miserable than Wang Mingxuan's.
Besides losing face and losing the game, he would have also boosted my image for free...
After the first two cards were revealed, Chang Ba's expression immediately became extremely stern and cold. He frowned, looking at me, and asked in a low voice, "You saw through me long ago, didn't you!?"
Chang Ba's reaction was much faster than Wang Mingxuan's.
Seeing that I was hesitant to name the third card, he immediately realized that his setup had been seen through by me.
He also understood what my silence meant.
Looking at the indecisive Chang Ba, I smiled meaningfully and said, "What? Does seeing through it make a difference in how we say things?"
"Could it be that this card... is not the Ace of Spades!?"
Hearing my words, Chang Ba's face immediately turned grim.
Chang Ba knew that I was not only hinting at him with my words but also forcing him to make a decision quickly.
After several hesitations and deliberations, Chang Ba ultimately lacked the courage to reveal the card in front of him.
With a soft sigh, his expression was extremely complex and unwilling. Finally, he said weakly, "Little Brother Chen Xiang, you... you win!"
"I will present the million-chip stake later!"
The moment Chang Ba finished speaking, Da Fei's face turned extremely unpleasant.
They were in cahoots; Chang Ba losing meant they lost.
Having lost, they would have no reason or excuse to continue bothering me in the short term.
With consecutive victories tonight, my momentum and reputation had been established.
Other hidden observers who were secretly watching might change their original attitudes towards me due to my performance tonight.
Once the tide began to turn and no one else challenged me, the position of the Sky Lantern Holder might truly be secured by me!
This was something that, apart from absolute loyalists like Jiang Xiaowan who were completely devoted to Ying Baolin, most others could not and would not accept!
But now, with Chang Ba admitting defeat, Da Fei and his small group had no choice but to accept it.
However, this time, I didn't give this group any more chances.
The moment Chang Ba personally announced the outcome of the gamble, I immediately stood up from my seat and walked towards the door of the lounge...
In a situation like the one just described, if I had chosen to stay, someone among the twelve hidden lanterns would definitely have stepped forward and challenged me with different excuses.
Being too sharp, the consequences of overdoing it are self-evident, aren't they?
Consider it a slight punishment to establish authority!
Therefore, after winning two consecutive rounds, I decided to stay away from the lounge, this place of trouble.
Not long after I walked out of the lounge, a woman's voice suddenly came from behind me.
"Manager Chen, wait a moment!"
Hearing this, I instinctively turned my head to look.
Standing just outside the lounge door was a beautiful and exceptionally elegant woman.
The woman appeared to be in her early thirties, likely not shorter than 1.7 meters. She was wearing a light-colored sleeveless qipao, her two arms as tender as lotus roots.
Why do men say that mature women are the most captivating?
Because mature women are married women, and married women understand men's hearts best; they know how to maximize a woman's advantages.
If you were to have an eighteen or nineteen-year-old female student wear the same qipao, she would absolutely not be able to exude the feeling of a qipao beauty.
But a mature woman is different. Take the woman in front of me, for example; whether at first glance or upon closer inspection, she possessed an indescribable feminine charm throughout.
However, I only glanced at her briefly before looking away.
It wasn't that I was pretending to be a virtuous gentleman, but rather that I recognized this woman.
If I remembered correctly, I had seen her at Ying Baolin's villa.