If you want to win, to turn the tables... you can only pray in secret that luck is on your side!
Taking a deep breath, I quickly calmed my agitated emotions and first revealed two of my cards.
Two of Spades, Five of Spades.
Although the cards looked good, they were...
So small!
As soon as these two cards were revealed, everyone knew I had lost the chance to form a straight flush.
To beat a pair of Aces, I could only gamble on luck and hope for a flush of spades.
Seeing this, Leng Meng, who was not far away, staggered, almost falling. Fortunately, Sister Ran's hand had been firmly gripping her the entire time.
I silently lit a red Nanjing cigarette, glanced at Leng Meng from the corner of my eye, and then directly revealed my cards!
At this moment, before I could even look at my cards, Xiao Shan's face instantly lit up brighter than a flower: "Hahahaha~ You're out! You're finished!"
I looked down and saw a conspicuous Ten of Hearts.
A mixed hand of 2, 5, and 10. I had lost.
"Heh. A naive kid who doesn't know the immensity of heaven and earth. He thought breaking Brother Feng's perfect shuffling technique with 'Star Picking' would solve the problem."
"Naive! Wishful thinking!"
"Don't you know the saying, 'There's always someone better,' or 'One foot higher, ten feet higher'?"
After speaking, the pimpled man, Xiao Shan, lit another cigarette and looked at me coldly, his gaze filled with naked mockery and smugness.
When I saw the expression on Xiao Shan's face and heard his words, a passage from Uncle Tuo's teachings involuntarily came to mind.
"When playing against a cheat, remember not to overlook any of their actions, and never easily believe anything they say!"
"Because no matter what disguise they wear or what tricks they use, their ultimate goal is to get the money from your pocket!"
With this thought, I immediately began to reflect on Xiao Shan's every word and action in this hand...
It seemed, and it appeared, there were no problems. Except for the seemingly superfluous act of smoking when the middle-aged man revealed his cards at the end.
Why did he smoke and exhale smoke when the middle-aged man revealed his cards? Was it a nicotine craving, or was he deliberately trying to divert my attention?
Unknowingly, I felt my thoughts being led into a misconception by Xiao Shan's smoking, and no matter how I thought about it, I couldn't find any clues!
Just as all my thoughts were about to be completely trapped, Uncle Tuo's earnest teachings resurfaced in my mind.
Every person, every action, every word...
Chewing on these three "every"s repeatedly, suddenly, a flash of inspiration struck my mind.
Xiao Shan's two instances of lighting cigarettes were actually ways of subtly conveying information!
One was to reveal the hand, and the other was to hint at the cards that needed to be replaced.
As for the act of exhaling smoke, it was to cooperate with the middle-aged man in swapping cards!
Although Xiao Shan, who seemed to have a pair of Aces, was the protagonist, the real protagonist, from beginning to end, was the middle-aged man—Brother Feng!
Brother Feng... was the black hand secretly controlling the outcome from behind the scenes!
Brother Feng knew that my attention was always focused on him, so he let Xiao Shan look at the cards first, with the sole purpose of ensuring Xiao Shan won!
Besides that, there was his seemingly angry and frustrated act of discarding cards, which was actually a pre-planned, premeditated move.
I get it! It all makes sense now!!!
At this moment, my chaotic mind instantly became clear and lucid.
Indeed, the older the ginger, the spicier it is!
Uncle Tuo didn't lie to me!
The martial world is deep, and human hearts are unfathomable.
There has never been any so-called fairness in this world! Let alone gambling games where nine out of ten are scams!
"Click!"
Lighting a red Nanjing cigarette, I ignored the pimpled man Xiao Shan and narrowed my eyes, turning my gaze to the middle-aged man named Brother Feng.
Looking at the man's unnaturally calm expression, I chuckled coldly, "Heh. Impressive, impressive! Is this what you call 'making friends' and 'peace is precious'?"
Hearing my words, the middle-aged man did not refute, but smiled noncommittally and said, "What do you want to say?"
The middle-aged man's reaction further confirmed my deductions.
Pointing to the cards the middle-aged man had discarded into the pile, I said in a deep voice, "Before the cards were revealed, only Xiao Shan had seen his hand."
"In other words, among the three of us... only he knew for sure whether his hand was big or small! Am I right?"
Hearing my words, the middle-aged man narrowed his eyes and nodded slightly, "Mm, and then?"
Suddenly standing up, I effortlessly pulled out the three face-up cards that the middle-aged man had discarded from the pile, which was still face down.
First, I took out the Four of Spades from the three face-up cards, and then I took out the Ace of Clubs from Xiao Shan's pair of Aces.
After swapping the positions of the two cards, my gaze fixed on the middle-aged man like a falcon's, and I said coldly, "Without the confidence to guarantee a win against me, you used two mixed hands starting with Aces to form a pair of Aces. Is this what you call peace is precious!?"
Not far away, Leng Meng, who was watching, was first shocked to see me catching the middle-aged man cheating, her face turning pale, and then she went berserk, wishing she could rush over and attack.
As for Sister Ran, who was standing next to Leng Meng, she was completely stunned!
If Shi Jianguo hadn't been there, Leng Meng's fist would have already landed on the middle-aged man's face!
Hearing my words, Xiao Shan's face instantly changed. He pointed at me and said angrily, "Catch the thief with the stolen goods, catch the adulterer with the evidence! What proof do you have that we swapped cards?"
"How do you know... I don't have proof!?"
Slowly raising the Four of Spades with my right hand, I used my incredibly nimble middle finger to keep the card face down in my palm.
Seeing the small mark on the back of the card, a slight curve formed on my lips as I directly extended the Four of Spades, still face down, towards them.
"From the moment the three of us started gambling, your Brother Feng didn't smoke a single cigarette!"
"Now, I'd like you to explain why the back of this Four of Spades has a scorch mark from ash?"
"If you can't explain this, then please explain to me why he, your Brother Feng, doesn't know that when discarding cards in Jin Hua, even ordinary people know to keep them face down..."
Hearing my words, Xiao Shan's face instantly turned red. "You, you... I, I..."
After stammering "you, you, I, I" for a long time without being able to form a coherent sentence, Xiao Shan was rendered speechless.
Just then...
"Alright, Xiao Shan. Let me say it."