The man with the mustache was dealt a flush starting with Ace of Spades.
The胖大叔 (Pang Dashu) received a mixed hand starting with Jack.
As for the tall, slender woman, she had a straight flush with Queen, King, Ace of Clubs.
Coupled with the middle-aged man's pair of Jacks, this meant three players had been dealt good hands while "muffled."
Now, only I was left to reveal my cards.
Frankly, the moment I saw the tall, slender woman reveal her straight flush, I completely lost interest in opening my hand.
It was clear that the card-cheating group had anticipated all of Han Jinlun's situations after he received his mixed hand.
The reason they had gone all out to ensure the tall, slender woman won this round was not only to provoke Han Jinlun and make him lose his temper quickly, but more importantly, to set up a contingency and put on a show for the surrounding onlookers.
Because men are naturally less guarded against the opposite sex, letting the tall, slender woman win easily created a false impression in the minds of the onlookers.
It made them subconsciously feel as if winning or losing… was purely a matter of luck.
But the truth remained: nine out of ten gambles are scams!
…
After everyone had revealed their cards, no matter how reluctant I was to open mine, I had to.
However, the moment I turned over the three cards in front of me…
"Holy shit!!! How is that possible!?"
"Can you even get such a bad hand!?"
"Impossible! It's definitely not a bad hand! There must be something wrong! He probably tampered with the cards when he cut them!"
"Heh, well done, little brother! I didn't realize you were so good at this."
"These cards… I don't need to say anything more, do I? Explain yourself, what's the meaning of this?"
The moment I turned over the three cards in front of me, all the members of the card-cheating group at the table, including the man with the mustache, questioned my hand.
Hearing this, I subconsciously lowered my head to look.
Three conspicuous Aces lay there starkly on the table.
Three Aces, the highest possible straight flush!
This scene made my eyelids twitch wildly.
In an instant, countless thoughts flashed through my mind.
Then, they settled on four words.
Longxi's card-catching.
This wasn't an ordinary "pig-slaughtering" game, but a game within a game, targeting me after my card-catching in Longxi!
From beginning to end, the target of this group, led by the man with the mustache, was not Han Jinlun, but… me!
That tall, slender woman wasn't the bait; the real bait was Han Jinlun, and they were using him to lure me in!
Framing and blatant revenge!
With the other four people at the table being members of the card-cheating group, as long as they unanimously insisted that I had cheated, this game would be considered a success.
Given that it had been previously stated that 235 could not beat a straight flush, and I ended up with three Aces, this was the best "evidence of cheating"!
According to the rules of the underworld, if caught red-handed cheating… three fingers would be chopped off!
In fact, as soon as I heard the word "good at this," I had already realized that the group led by the man with the mustache was likely a card-cheating group from Longxi.
Longxi is located in Gansu province. Gansu is in the north, and "good at this" (开事儿 - kāi shìr) is a slang term frequently used by people in the northern underworld, meaning to be proficient in something, common in the eight major trades.
In the southern underworld, the equivalent term for "good at this" is "来事" (lái shìr).
[PS: The underworld slang of the north and south is known as Nan Chun Bei Dian. I will reveal more about the various underworld figures I encounter in Anhai.]
For now, I still need to deal with the immediate trouble…
Facing the card-cheating group's aggressive questioning, after taking a drag from my cigarette, I retorted, "Stop messing around, alright?"
"I just cut the cards, and I can cut so many good cards at once? Do you think I'm a magician!?"
Hearing this, the tall, slender woman immediately retorted, "How is it impossible?! We called you over before and you didn't come, but when you heard we were going to raise the stakes, you voluntarily came over!"
"Even if you're not a magician, you're probably a card shark!"
"Otherwise, why would these three Aces be in your hand?"
"Everyone, tell me, isn't that right?"
Upon hearing the tall, slender woman's words, two or three people from the surrounding onlookers nodded in agreement.
Then, this group began to point at me and whisper amongst themselves.
Seeing this situation, I raised my eyebrows and directly said to the man with the mustache, "Stop playing those little tricks! Doing this… only makes me feel like you're insulting my intelligence."
Hearing my words, the man with the mustache laughed instead of getting angry.
*Clap, clap, clap, clap, clap…*
While clapping his hands, the man with the mustache mockingly said, "Heh, like a pig blaming the farmer! What a glib tongue."
"Saying I'm insulting your intelligence?"
"I think it's you who's insulting my intelligence and dignity!?"
"Don't talk about little tricks or not, I'll just ask one thing… what do you say about these three Aces?"
"Do you admit it or not!?"
"Admit it?"
After extinguishing the cigarette in my hand, I frowned and sneered, "Does it make any difference whether I admit it or not? What happens if I admit it? What happens if I don't?"
Hearing my words, the man with the mustache didn't rush to answer, but fumbled in his pocket for a while.
After pulling out a pack of Lanzhou Soft Flying Sky cigarettes and lighting one, the man with the mustache then looked at me and said coldly, "If you admit it, then pay to settle the matter!"
"The four of us, you pay one hundred thousand each, and then this matter… will be settled!"
"If you don't admit it, then whichever hand you used to cut the cards, three fingers from that hand will be chopped off!"
"Choose one of the two, it's up to you!"
As soon as he finished speaking, with a "clack," the man with the mustache directly pulled out a fruit knife from his pocket and unceremoniously threw it onto the table.
As it was late at night, the previous conversation and the sound of the man with the mustache throwing the knife woke up nearly half of the passengers who were sleeping on their tables.
Two passengers with bad tempers, after being woken up, stood up and grumbled curses…
The burly middle-aged man from the card-cheating group immediately stood up, glared at the two and yelled, "Son of a bitch! What the hell are you two mumbling and squawking about!? If you can't sleep, go to the toilet and smoke!!!"
They say the bold fear the aggressive, and this saying is absolutely true.
As soon as the tall and burly middle-aged man spoke, those two passengers with bad tempers immediately deflated and obediently sat back in their seats.
Seeing this, a hint of smugness flashed in his eyes, and the middle-aged man was about to sit down…
Suddenly, another person stood up in the carriage.
And this person was a thin bamboo pole.
The moment he saw the other person stand up, the middle-aged man's face immediately showed a look of disdain.
"What? You thin toothpick aren't convinced!?"
The thin bamboo pole was none other than Cheng Minglang, whom Brother Shan of Helian Shan had described as having true skill and being able to fight one against many.
Hearing this, Cheng Minglang first chuckled lightly, then slowly walked up to the middle-aged man, put a cigarette in his mouth, and said, "What the hell did you eat for supper, shit or piss, that your mouth stinks so unbearably?"
As soon as he finished speaking, without waiting for the middle-aged man to make a move, Cheng Minglang casually picked up the ashtray on the table and smashed it heavily onto the middle-aged man's head…