"How big is the Golden Flower game? What are the rules?"
As I spoke, I deliberately took out a bulging envelope from my pocket, revealing the corner of a stack of hundred-yuan bills, then walked to the empty seat vacated by Leng Meng and sat down as if it were my own.
After flashing my wealth, the four swindlers at the table fell silent.
Among them, the other three swindlers, one after another, turned their gazes towards the middle-aged man who had spoken earlier.
It was obvious that this middle-aged man, dressed in a high-end suit from Hailan Home and smoking a Yellow Crane Tower 1916, was the leader of this group of swindlers.
Everyone was waiting for his decision.
At this moment, my gaze also, intentionally or unintentionally, began to fix on this good-looking middle-aged man from out of town.
I knew that he wasn't silent because he saw me flashing my wealth and was calculating how much money was in the envelope.
For a group of swindlers who had traveled all over the country, money was something that, no matter how much you showed, they could usually tell with just a glance and accurately estimate a rough number.
The middle-aged man's silence was likely because he couldn't figure out my identity and wasn't sure what tactics they should use to swindle me.
After all, time was limited, and I had even used Su Yan, which swindlers disliked the most, a blatant provocation.
By the time the last half of the 1916 cigarette burned away, the middle-aged man still hadn't answered my question.
Seeing this, a young man with a face full of acne and sweating profusely tugged at the middle-aged man's sleeve and whispered, "Brother Feng, are we… still playing?"
It seemed that the middle-aged man named Brother Feng was the most influential backbone of this four-person swindling group.
If he didn't speak, the others had no confidence.
After being brought back to his senses by the acne-faced youth, the middle-aged man named Brother Feng didn't answer immediately. Instead, he instinctively reached into his pocket and took out the Yellow Crane Tower 1916 cigarette case.
Unfortunately, the case was empty.
Glancing at the two packs of Su Yan in front of him, the middle-aged man skipped them almost without thinking.
Then, he directly turned his head and reached out to the acne-faced youth sitting on his upper hand to ask for a cigarette.
The moment the middle-aged man turned his head to ask for a cigarette, I saw a subtle exchange of glances between these two.
Unfortunately, I was sitting in the seat below the middle-aged man, and when he turned his head, I couldn't see the expression on more than half of his face.
After lighting up the acne-faced youth's Nine-Five Supreme cigarette and taking a deep drag, the middle-aged man said with a light smile, "It's a fated encounter. Being able to play cards together is like making half a friend."
"Let's focus on entertainment, playing with rotating blinds, with a hundred yuan as the base to show our respect."
"Then the starting bet is also a hundred, and the maximum bet on a hidden card is six hundred. The first player must hide their card, and the bet doubles upon seeing it."
"The cap… will be eighteen thousand."
"1818, may everyone prosper together!"
Seeing the middle-aged man say such hypocritical words so calmly, I didn't say anything, just smiled and nodded.
"Half a friend" was jargon among swindlers, meaning they would only compete in skill and not expose cheating, maintaining harmony.
It seemed the middle-aged man still couldn't figure out my identity, so he added a cap.
Judging by this setup, a game with an eighteen-thousand-yuan cap was clearly intended to deplete my capital as much as possible before they could figure out my identity.
"Alright! If there are no problems, then let's begin."
"The guest follows the host's lead. You shuffle and deal the cards first."
As the middle-aged man made the final decision, everyone except me, who was sitting at the table, such as Leng Meng and Shi Jianguo, who were irrelevant, quickly left the scene.
This was the rule for swindlers challenging a venue.
As long as you accepted their challenge, everyone except the person gambling at the table had to step aside.
Whether they wanted to catch cheating or settle the score, they only recognized the person who entered the game.
The only benefit of gambling with a swindling group was that they only came for money.
So even if you lost, and lost badly, they wouldn't do anything to you.
When gambling with them, you could cheat to your heart's content, and no one would stop you.
But there was one thing you must remember: if you didn't understand their jargon, don't rashly cheat, lest you be caught red-handed.
Once caught, although you didn't have to worry about life-threatening danger or losing limbs, your wallet… you'd better have enough money!
Of course, if you didn't plan to cheat, but intended to catch them cheating, then you'd better sharpen your eyes in advance.
If you chose to play normally, like me, it would be a case of "eight immortals crossing the sea, each showing their divine powers."
It all depended on whose hands were skilled, who could counter every move, and retaliate tit for tat, eye for eye.
In short, gambling with a swindling group was not dangerous, but it was definitely expensive!
...
In the blink of an eye, the entire hall became much quieter. Besides the pattering sound of the rain, there was only the sound of me breaking and shuffling the cards.
I knew very well what the middle-aged man's purpose was in letting me shuffle the first hand of cards.
Testing!
He wanted to test if I was a swindler.
As I broke and shuffled the cards, all four swindlers, including the middle-aged man, stared intently at me, scrutinizing my every move.
Although this feeling of being targeted by masters of the "qianmen" (gate of swindling) brought me considerable pressure, it also made me feel a surge of excitement and exhilaration.
I knew this was a great opportunity to test the quality of my own skills.
Strictly speaking, since I left the factory, I had only encountered two legitimate "qianmen" individuals.
One was Zhang Tianyao, and the other was Yu Shuang.
And now, I was facing four swindlers alone! So, before the confrontation, regardless of whether I felt confident or not, I absolutely could not show fear before the battle.
Adhering to the principle of hiding one's edge and accumulating strength, I didn't use any swindling techniques in the first hand, but rather shuffled the cards meticulously.
After shuffling, I directly handed the cards to the center.
I really wanted to see if the swindling group dared to make a move in the first hand…
At this moment, Leng Meng, Shi Jianguo, and Sister Ran, standing by the bar, were all watching me from afar.
Glancing at them with the corner of my eye, I could see the expressions on their faces, which seemed to be quite worried about me.
Worried if I would cheat, worried if I would be caught by the swindling group, and even more worried if I could turn the tide and win back the two hundred thousand that Leng Meng had lost…
It was already past midnight, and the June thunderstorms continued to pour down relentlessly. The mahjong room was unusually quiet.
The moment I handed out the cards, I noticed that the middle-aged man's demeanor seemed to have subtly changed.
He quickly glanced sideways at me, his gaze almost sweeping across my face. In his slightly blinking eyes, a thought-provoking smile flickered.