As the sun had already set outside, by the time I returned to the Baole Chess and Card Room, there were hardly any people playing in the main hall on the first floor.
Apart from a few scattered tables in a corner where people, with their eyes bloodshot, continued to fight, most of the gamblers had already left.
The nominal proprietress, Sister Ran, and the few female attendants had all disappeared without a trace.
Only Yu Shuang was sitting behind the bar.
Seeing me return, Yu Shuang stared at me with her deep gaze, suddenly broke into a smile, and asked, "What? Have you thought it through so quickly?"
I smiled and remained silent to Yu Shuang's words.
She had clearly heard what I said outside the chess and card room earlier, yet now she was pretending to be ignorant.
It was obvious that she was waiting for me to speak first.
This woman, who spoke utter nonsense and whose schemes ran as deep as the sea, was truly difficult to deal with!
Although I really didn't want to talk to her, and with no one else at the bar, I had to state my purpose to find out why Wang Yu was here and what his relationship with Shi Jianguo was.
Glancing at the second floor from the corner of my eye, I lit a Hong Nanjing cigarette and casually asked, "Is the person who walked with Shi Jianguo just now a regular customer here?"
"What do you want to know?"
Yu Shuang asked with a hint of weariness, covering her mouth and yawning slightly.
Although Yu Shuang's demeanor seemed casual, I knew that this woman, with her deep schemes, was doing it deliberately.
Not only did she not answer my question, but she immediately countered.
Heh! Women!
Ignoring Yu Shuang's words, I straightened my face and said, "Can you answer my question properly!?"
The moment I finished speaking, I saw Yu Shuang smile.
Just as I was feeling bewildered, what she blurted out next left me stunned!
"Do you... have a grudge against him?"
Returning to the Baole Chess and Card Room, after exchanging fewer than three sentences with Yu Shuang, I hadn't expected her to be so perceptive and see through the relationship between Wang Yu and me.
"No!"
After coming to my senses, I hurriedly shook my head, denying Yu Shuang's statement, and said with a wry smile, "I was just asking casually."
Yu Shuang, as if prepared for my reaction, smiled meaningfully and said, "The famous writer San Mao once said."
"You can't hide your liking for someone; even if you cover your mouth, it will still escape from your eyes!"
"While I accept this statement, I don't entirely agree! Because liking is a process that deepens gradually."
"But hatred is completely different!"
"Hatred... penetrates to the bone and pierces the soul."
"Only when you hate someone is it truly impossible to hide! No matter how you try to conceal it... in the end, the hatred will surge out unconsciously through any part of your body, any cell, any action!"
"You hate Wang Yu! You wish he were dead!"
"Da Jianming, am I right?"
Yu Shuang's words left me speechless.
It seemed this woman not only had deep schemes but also incredibly sharp insight!
I was impressed! Utterly, completely impressed!
Seeing my silence, Yu Shuang smiled and said, "Honestly, Da Jianming, apart from your gambling skills, which are passable and barely catch my eye, your handling and dealing with other matters are almost a complete mess!"
"As a gambler, not only must you possess superb gambling skills, but you must also have strong psychological fortitude!"
"Your undisguised emotions like this will easily lead you to suffer losses in the future when you walk the blue path."
The blue path refers to the path of gambling.
Casinos are also called blue fields, and skilled practitioners of gambling are called blue horses; the path walked by blue horses is called the blue path.
What Yu Shuang meant was that apart from my decent gambling skills, my emotional control was utter garbage!
Even though I thought I had concealed it well, Yu Shuang had easily seen through it with a few micro-expressions and movements.
Yu Shuang's words caused my brows to furrow slightly: "My business has nothing to do with you!"
"Just tell me if Wang Yu often comes here!"
"Heh heh!"
Yu Shuang smiled noncommittally and suddenly said with a serious expression, "Da Jianming, do you know? In my eyes, you are like a piece of raw jade in the gambling world, not yet finely carved!"
"Cooperate with me and join Huadu! I will polish and temper you comprehensively, allowing you to shine brightly in the gambling world in the future and become the most dazzling star!"
Yu Shuang's words not only made my slightly furrowed brows knit even tighter but also gave me goosebumps out of nowhere.
Suppressing my discomfort, I listened to her finish without showing any reaction, and then I spoke, "Are you done? If you're done, could you please answer my question?"
"Alas! I'm truly casting pearls before swine."
A hint of resentment flashed across her face and vanished. Yu Shuang stared at me intently and said, "You want me to answer your question? Fine! Let's settle it with skill!"
"What do you mean?"
I lit another Hong Nanjing cigarette and, through the rising smoke, saw a strange expression emerge in Yu Shuang's eyes.
"It means nothing! Because your question involves my client's privacy, and I don't want to answer you for free, so..."
Her slender, jade-like fingers played with her lowered dark hair, and she changed the subject, suddenly saying, "If you want me to answer your question, let's just have a gamble!"
"If you win, I'll satisfy you."
"But if you lose, I'm afraid I can't help you."
"Please turn right at the door!"
Upon hearing this, my tense face instantly froze: "This is unfair!"
"You can see through my perfect shuffling technique even when I use ordinary methods. How can I possibly win against you? My left hand or my left hand? Big or small?"
Yu Shuang's face fell, and she stared at me coldly, then shouted, "What did you say!?"
Realizing I had spoken out of turn, I offered no explanation, merely waved my hand, and said with feigned calmness, "I can't gamble. Your gambling skills are far superior to mine, and I'm bound to lose if I gamble with you."
Hearing this, Yu Shuang looked at me with a very serious expression and said in a low voice, "I won't bully you. We'll draw cards for high-low. You go first, are you in?"
After quickly considering Yu Shuang's words in my mind, I replied decisively, "Bring the cards."
This meant I agreed to gamble with her.
...
After tidying up a small square table in front of me, Yu Shuang and I sat opposite each other.
Yu Shuang took an unopened deck of Binwang playing cards from the bar and threw it to me. She then held up three fingers and said, "Three rounds."
"Best of three! Regardless of whether I win or lose, I'll let you draw first!"
I had no reason not to agree to the conditions Yu Shuang proposed.
After all, drawing cards for high-low is different from other card games; if you can get the first move in this game, you can always seize the initiative!