Watching Qin Lei’s solemn expression, I felt no ripple of emotion within me.
Since the incident with Yu Shuang, I had learned to approach others’ words with a healthy dose of skepticism.
Whether Qin Lei’s loyalty was bought with fifty thousand yuan or not, I wouldn’t take it too seriously.
Moving forward, I would stick to my original plan: after demonstrating my financial strength to reassure Qin Lei, it was time to win his genuine allegiance through skill!
As the saying goes, “To forge iron, one must be strong oneself!”
To assemble a team of cheaters, personal skill was just as crucial as financial backing.
Without outstanding ability, no one would truly respect you.
Therefore, I decided to take Qin Lei to the card rooms and underground casinos to show him a thing or two…
For the next seven to eight days, I took Qin Lei through all the major card rooms in the city and some smaller private gambling dens.
Using various cheating techniques, I not only recouped the fifty thousand yuan I had given Qin Lei but also ended up winning over thirty thousand more!
In less than eight days in total, I was averaging about ten thousand yuan in winnings per day.
This result naturally astounded Qin Lei, making him see me as an omnipotent master of cheating. His sense of reliance on me grew even stronger!
From that point on, Qin Lei was completely convinced and devoted, fully immersing himself in the role of the “Wind General”…
Once Qin Lei had a firm grasp of the Wind General’s duties, and had begun to gather intelligence and information in a plausible manner according to my instructions, gradually making a name for himself, several more days had quietly passed.
It was the weekend.
Qin Lei and I found ourselves at a private casino called “Tian Yuan” on the outskirts of the city.
Although Tian Yuan Casino wasn’t as large as Hua Du, it boasted a very upscale decor.
At first glance, the entire casino exuded an atmosphere of opulent grandeur.
Furthermore, it being the weekend, Tian Yuan Casino was doing exceptionally brisk business.
The reason I brought Qin Lei to Tian Yuan Casino was to “fish in troubled waters,” intending to use this opportunity to gauge Qin Lei’s progress.
I had spared no expense in cultivating Qin Lei during this period!
The better he adapted to the role of the Wind General, the more effectively he could perform and the more assistance he could provide me in the future!
It was no exaggeration to say that Qin Lei was the most critical piece in my revenge plan!
Without further ado, let’s get to the point.
The “fishing in troubled waters” I mentioned earlier is actually a slang term in the cheater’s world, signifying that a cheater is preparing to set up a con.
Casinos have a high turnover of players. Apart from a core group of seasoned gamblers, all other transient individuals could potentially become targets for cheaters!
Of course, there was a crucial prerequisite: “chips”!
In other words, in a casino, whoever possessed the most chips was likely to be quietly targeted by cheaters!
And now, Qin Lei and I had set our sights on a young man.
This young man, seated at the gambling table, had a thick stack of chips piled in front of him.
While I didn’t know if the young man’s chips were won or exchanged, he had undoubtedly become my target.
More accurately, he should be Qin Lei’s target. And the task I assigned him was simple.
In the shortest possible time, investigate the identity and background of this young man.
If the person was merely an ordinary rich kid, then I would prepare to set up a con!
Otherwise… we would retreat!
If you ask me why I would be so decisive, I would answer: “To cheat others, one must first cheat oneself; to set a trap, one must first enter it!”
When a team cheats someone, the key player must be the one to enter the game.
For a big fish like the young man, if he had no significant background, it would be feasible to take him for a ride and then leave.
But if he turned out to be a well-connected son of an official, then this game would definitely not work out!
Because if such a person were to react afterward, the fury he would unleash… would be something we cheaters could not afford to bear.
Therefore, for this mission, I gave Qin Lei three days to observe the target carefully.
After identifying the target and repeatedly cautioning Qin Lei to be extremely careful, I hailed a taxi and left Tian Yuan Casino.
What I didn’t expect was that this seemingly ordinary reconnaissance mission would yield an unexpected result…
………………
Three days later.
After three days of tracking and investigation, Qin Lei informed me that he had confirmed the young man I had initially selected had no special identity or background; he was just a prodigal son.
According to Qin Lei, this fellow frequented Tian Yuan Casino daily with different women, and his spending was extremely lavish.
Beyond that, there were no other findings.
He was a big fish that could be acted upon.
After confirming the information and the young man’s whereabouts, that evening, Qin Lei and I returned to Tian Yuan Casino.
Upon arriving at Tian Yuan Casino, I didn’t rush to join the game. Instead, I exchanged some chips and wandered around the casino.
This was not for show, but for the benefit of the casino’s security personnel, the “dark lights.”
Every casino’s security would pay special attention to new faces.
If you were visiting a casino for the first time and eagerly sat down to gamble immediately after exchanging chips, it was fine if you lost.
But if you won, and especially if you won a lot, then I’m sorry!
Therefore, you had to act like other gamblers, first strolling around different tables, and then deciding based on the situation.
As Qin Lei and I were wandering around different gambling tables, the young man’s figure… suddenly appeared at the casino’s main entrance.
Just as Qin Lei had described, the young man was accompanied by a beautiful woman.
I had initially assumed the woman accompanying the young man was, at best, some kind of “senior public relations manager,” but it turned out she wasn’t!
She was actually a member of the Yan Sect, who used beauty to deceive!
And this was something I only discovered after I sat down at the gambling table. I will explain in detail later how I found out…
Earlier, I had mentioned that the Eight Sects had a long history, and they harbored deep grudges against each other.
Unless absolutely necessary, the Eight Sects generally stayed within their own territories and maintained a state of non-interaction.
Adhering to the principle of first come, first served, if any of the Eight Sects had already set their sights on a particular place or person, the other seven sects were expected to keep their distance.
It was my fault for not mentioning the Eight Sects when I was instructing Qin Lei. Now, with this situation arising, the big fish that was considered a sure thing… might turn into a flying fish!