Upon hearing this, Yu Shuang was first slightly stunned, and then her entire demeanor changed.
"Heh."
A cold arc curved her red lips as Yu Shuang slowly stood up, her high heels making rhythmic tapping sounds on the floor.
Step by step, she walked up to the slender Ah Yao. Yu Shuang leaned forward slightly, her gaze sweeping down at him from a slightly condescending angle, and said coldly, "That's right! It's because of him!"
"Are you... satisfied with this answer?"
Under Yu Shuang's full-blown imposing aura and her cold, scrutinizing gaze at such close proximity, Ah Yao clenched his fists, his teeth grinding audibly. His face alternated between pale and flushed.
However, he did not dare to retort directly.
Only after Yu Shuang turned away and returned to her original seat did Ah Yao, in a fit of indignant rage, shout fiercely, "Do you know that for a professional gambler, changing generals at the last minute is the greatest insult!!!"
Hearing this, Yu Shuang immediately retorted without mercy, "I notified you two days in advance. And, to save your face, I even found an excuse."
"How can you call this changing generals at the last minute?"
Ah Yao glared, pointed at me again, and said in exasperation, "What excuse or no excuse! I think you just believe he's better than me, so you want to replace me!"
By now, I had a rough idea of what had happened.
Honestly, I had no intention of getting involved in their affairs. However, this Ah Yao seemed to have a poor grasp of his own abilities.
Lighting a Hong Nanjing cigarette, I took a deep look at Ah Yao and chuckled, "Buddy! We're talking here, but you keep pointing at me... what's that supposed to mean!?"
Seeing me suddenly speak, Ah Yao immediately turned his hostility towards me and said coldly, "Da Jianming, don't think your skills are that brilliant!"
"Last time, I was just not paying attention, so I accidentally lost to you."
"Now, do you dare to gamble with me again in front of Yu Shuang?"
"If you win, I'll give you twenty thousand yuan!"
"If you lose, I don't want your fingers. I just want you to kneel and admit defeat, and then disappear from my sight immediately, forever!"
Hearing this, I couldn't help but laugh.
Damn it! What kind of society is this!?
The gentle are bullied, the good are ridden!
You lost to me because you were outmatched, and now you're blaming me for taking your place?
Originally, I thought that if this guy calmed down later, spoke without barbs, and showed no aggressive body language, I could just let it slide and endure it.
But now, I couldn't stand it anymore.
My blood boiling, I quickly walked up to Ah Yao, looked down into his eyes, and said coldly, "Come on! Who's afraid of whom!"
"Poker, mahjong, dice, anything you want to bet on, I'll play along!"
"If you can beat me, I'll give you forty thousand!"
"But if you lose again, then don't give me any more of that nonsense... just get on your knees and call me 'Grandpa'!"
Even a clay figurine has some temper, let alone a twenty-something-year-old like me.
The reason I responded so boldly was not because I was arrogant or overconfident.
It was because I had no prior enmity with Ah Yao. If he had said a few words of graceful concession after losing, it would have been understandable, as he was simply outmatched.
But what was the meaning of him constantly telling me to kneel? Had he watched too much of that movie "Conquer"!?
People like this cannot be indulged in their bad habits; they need to be taught a lesson!
"Fine! Let's do it! Gamble now!"
"Alright! Let's go!"
"Come on!!!"
"Come on!!!"
As we argued more fiercely, both of us looking like we couldn't wait to get started, Yu Shuang's angry shout suddenly rang out.
"Enough!!! All of you, shut up!"
Seeing that Ah Yao and I had fallen silent, Yu Shuang let out a heavy snort and said coldly, "This is my territory, and I make the decisions! You have no right to point fingers at me!"
Hearing this, Ah Yao's temper flared instantly, "I'm not convinced! Why is it that when something was agreed upon, you didn't give me a proper explanation and just dismissed me with a flimsy excuse?"
"Also! I am not your subordinate; I am your partner whom you invited!"
"You have no right to replace me without my knowledge!"
Upon hearing this, Yu Shuang's face, which had just begun to relax, immediately froze.
After about a minute, Yu Shuang looked up at Ah Yao and sneered, "Heh. It's already been changed. What else do you want?"
A glint flashed in Ah Yao's eyes, and he replied in a deep voice, "It's simple! Since you've chosen Da Jianming, and he's so confident, then let me and him have a gamble!"
"Oh, right, besides the previous conditions remaining unchanged, there's one more added."
"If I win in the end, I want you... to spend a night with me!"
Ah Yao said the last sentence very directly, without any concealment.
I had expected Yu Shuang to immediately lose her temper after Ah Yao said that, but to my surprise, she remained unusually calm.
Taking a deep breath and gradually suppressing the anger surging in her eyes, Yu Shuang frowned and studied Ah Yao, as if trying to determine if he was joking.
Ah Yao, however, met Yu Shuang's gaze calmly, not hiding the heat in his eyes at all. He licked his lips and smiled, "Don't you always think Da Jianming is stronger than me? If that's the case, do you dare to put yourself on the line as well?"
"If you don't dare to put yourself on the line, then..."
Before Ah Yao could finish, Yu Shuang interrupted him directly and turned to me, saying, "Gamble with him!"
Without any unnecessary words, these three words from Yu Shuang conveyed not only her agreement for Ah Yao and me to compete but also her unconditional trust in me.
A strange warmth surged through me, and I immediately agreed, "No problem!"
...
After tidying up the table, Yu Shuang sat to the side.
At the card table, Ah Yao and I sat opposite each other.
"What do you want to bet? You say," I said calmly after lighting a Hong Nanjing.
Glancing at the discarded cards in the trash can, Ah Yao replied with a smile, "Since you were playing Golden Flower just now, let's skip Golden Flower and bet on something else!"
"Do you... dare?"
Hearing this, I shrugged nonchalantly and said, "Whatever, I'll bet on whatever you say! But..."
"You'd better clarify beforehand whether it's a single round to decide the winner, or best of three, or best of five?"
"Don't act all mysterious now and then jump up saying it doesn't count when I win in the end."
At my words, Ah Yao's eyes immediately widened in anger, and he glared at me intently.