However, what I found most incredible was not Shi Jianguo, but Cao Jie.
Cao Jie, with his buzz cut and fierce expression, was actually a member of the Ma Men!
Like the Feng Men, the Ma Men also belonged to the con artistry trade.
However, the difference was that the Ma Men mostly consisted of con artists who operated alone.
And generally, members of the Ma Men uniformly disguised themselves as figures of status, such as monks, Taoist priests, or reclusive masters, to openly swindle money from wealthy families.
According to Cao Jie, he ran into Yu Shuang by chance during a con.
Then, there was no then.
This one sentence conveyed two pieces of information: he was conning alone when he encountered Yu Shuang, and then Yu Shuang saw through him and countered.
Although Cao Jie did not elaborate on the process, nor why he was later recruited by Yu Shuang, it was evident from this that Yu Shuang was truly a "Queen Bee" in every sense of the word!
I was fortunate, fortunate that I did not choose to confront her head-on due to previous events, thus turning her into a complete enemy.
If I had been that stubborn, it wouldn't have been a simple matter of being sold and still helping her count the money; I wouldn't even have known how I died!
Take Zhang Tianyao, for example. Not only did he defect, but he also foolishly wanted to get intimate with Yu Shuang, only to be immediately cornered by her and utterly defeated.
Besides Leng Meng, Shi Jianguo, and Cao Jie, these three martial world figures with strong legendary backgrounds, the identities and backgrounds of the other two, while somewhat ordinary, were still far beyond someone like me, a greenhorn just starting out.
Take Sister Ran, the nominal owner of the Baole Chess and Card Room, for instance. When Yu Shuang was not around, she was a complete old hand in the Jianghu.
The difference between Sister Ran and Yu Shuang was that the former was enchanting and seductive, while the latter was enchanting but not seductive.
What kind of jobs do enchanting and seductive women generally engage in? I probably don't need to say... you all understand, right?
Yes, that's right!
Sister Ran is exactly what you're thinking... Oh, and add a "former" to that.
Although Sister Ran lived by her looks, she had a very prominent characteristic: she was exceptionally good at judging people.
As for the last young man in the team, with his greasy face and prominent protruding ears, whom Leng Meng and the others playfully called "Shunfeng Er" (literally "favorable wind ear"), Ding Chao, he was responsible for gathering information.
Earlier, at the drinking table, I overheard Leng Meng say that the information about Zhang Tianyao was discovered by this Ding Chao!
Although Ding Chao's appearance was indeed somewhat abstract, he lived up to his nickname.
In Yu Shuang's team, every person possessed extremely distinct strengths.
And she herself embodied all these strengths, making their teamwork and coordination virtually seamless and perfect!
With such a professional team, let alone conning one person, conning a whole family or a village would be effortless!
In contrast, someone like me, working alone and without anyone to assist me even in developing a plan, was truly making no progress.
As the saying goes: many hands make light work!
I pondered, after dealing with Wang Yu's matter, whether I should also form a specialized team like Yu Shuang, perhaps... the Eight Generals of the Qian Men?
Lost in thought, I unknowingly fell asleep.
...
The next morning, just as dawn broke, I received a call from Yu Shuang.
She said there was no need for three days; Wang Yu had called her early this morning himself, asking if she could find two more unfamiliar faces to play Jin Hua with.
However, Wang Yu did not mention me.
Yu Shuang asked for my opinion on the matter.
Upon hearing this news, I immediately smiled: "He lost nearly thirty thousand yesterday, so he must not have much money left."
"He wants revenge on me but doesn't dare ask his family for money... so he wants you to find two unfamiliar faces who don't usually play cards at the card room, intending to team up with those disreputable friends of his to 'play夹子'!"
"After winning enough money, he'll wait until the day after tomorrow to settle the score with me!"
'Da jia zi' is local dialect in Anhai, meaning to cheat and swindle money while playing cards.
The behavior is similar to the 'luan men luan tai' (randomly blocking and raising) that Cao Jie and Shi Jianguo did in the early days.
The only difference was that Shi Jianguo and Cao Jie were one blocking and one raising.
Whereas Wang Yu would likely have three people raising, and he would be the one playing.
In such a situation, even in games where the number of blocks after seeing the cards is limited, it is very easy to lure outsiders into a deep pit.
As long as there are no cheaters present, and the stakes are high enough, one game could lead to financial ruin!
It was clear that Wang Yu was very unwilling to accept losing to me.
Therefore, he resorted to any means necessary to get money back and then challenge me again.
Unfortunately... I am a cheater.
Even if you win first, what of it? The first to win is paper, the second to win is money!
For these three days, no matter how much you win, it's all waste paper! Only when it's delivered to me does it turn into money!
So, my advice to Yu Shuang was: do as Wang Yu said.
Since the other party was so eager to get capital and seek revenge, it meant yesterday's plan was very successful!
Indeed, gambling is very exciting.
The process is exciting, and the results... even more so!
During this period, a gambler's luck can soar or plummet, or they might rise all the way up, or they might be unlucky from start to finish.
But regardless of the outcome, at least before each hand is dealt, all the gamblers involved absolutely believe they have the ability to defy fate!
Winning streaks and losing streaks are not addictive.
What is most addictive is actually the back-and-forth of losing and winning, winning and losing.
That strong sense of loss and recovery, or the narrow margin of loss, will stimulate a person's adrenaline to the greatest extent.
Coupled with the stimulation, and then the bright, naked, and glaringly conspicuous money, from gambler to addict, and from addict to degenerate... it really only takes one game!
In yesterday's game, for the first two hours of play, it was no exaggeration to say that only Wang Yu was winning.
Winning 40,000-50,000 in two hours, who could resist? Who would dare guarantee they wouldn't get addicted?
Even if Wang Yu's father had hundreds of thousands in assets, would he directly give Wang Yu 40,000-50,000?
Unless one's family owned a mine, or their ancestors were all incredibly wealthy for eighteen generations, and they looked down on such small sums, for an average person to earn tens of thousands in an hour or two... it would be strange not to get addicted!
...
As expected, at dusk, I received another call from Yu Shuang.
She told me that in today's six-player Jin Hua game, apart from Wang Yu, his three disreputable friends and the two unfamiliar faces she had specifically found all lost to Wang Yu.
In a 10-50 game, the two unfamiliar faces lost the most, totaling around forty thousand yuan!
Wang Yu's three friends also lost less than thirty thousand yuan.
In other words, Wang Yu directly earned sixty to seventy thousand in half a day this afternoon!