With his masterful acting, I molded myself into a naive youngster who knew nothing about playing mahjong. Then, I noticed the three gambling partners that Jiang Jinshan had found began to intentionally feed each other tiles.
As I mentioned before, mahjong is a card game where cheating can be accomplished without any sleight of hand, and the success rate of such cheating is quite high.
The reason for this is that many of the techniques and habits of frequent mahjong players are traceable.
Moreover, when mahjong partners play together often, they can achieve a tacit understanding and exchange information seamlessly.
If an outsider joins the game, no matter how fiercely they may compete in private, they will turn their guns on the outsider in unison.
Exclusivity is an instinct that people in any closed circle can exhibit unconsciously.
What drives this instinct is, of course, self-interest.
It was clear that the three of them considered me an outsider, and they all intended to take a bite out of me.
At the mahjong table, if someone intentionally feeds you tiles, winning a hand becomes a matter of minutes.
Three against one, it couldn't be easier!
As soon as the two rounds Jiang Jinshan mentioned were over, the chips in front of me were reduced to about two-thirds.
Lan Hua, who was responsible for serving tea and water to Jiang Jinshan and us, showed a hint of joy on her usually cold face when she saw this.
I surmised that although she couldn't confirm my identity, she likely guessed that I was here for Jiang Jinshan.
Seeing me in trouble naturally brought her immense pleasure.
However, she was unaware that everything unfolding before her was merely a fabricated illusion I had deliberately created.
The person who would walk out of this private room with four million in cash tonight... could only be Chen Xiang!
Two rounds of mahjong meant eight hands. Each hand, from shuffling and stacking tiles to drawing, could be resolved quickly in five to six minutes, or it could take twenty minutes or even half an hour.
After finally enduring two rounds and losing over 300,000 in chips, I immediately wiped the sweat from my forehead and said to Jiang Jinshan, "Brother Jiang, are you done yet? I really can't learn mahjong! I've just been losing money for over an hour!"
"Come quickly and save the situation, let's switch to other games. I have no talent for mahjong!"
Anyone with eyes could see that my beginner's luck was indeed terrible, and I genuinely didn't know how to play mahjong.
It was quite remarkable that I had only spoken up after being forced to play two rounds and losing over 300,000.
If it were someone with a small temper or who was greedy for money, they would have already lost their temper or slammed the table.
Seeing that I truly had no talent for mahjong, Jiang Jinshan immediately accepted with a smile and said, "No problem!"
"May I ask, Young Master Hu, what would you like to play?"
After saying this, he moved a chair from the side and sat down.
"Let's play Niuniu! We often play this where I'm from. It's pure luck, no skill involved, how about it?"
As I asked this, my gaze wasn't solely on Jiang Jinshan but also on the other three bosses at the table.
"What do you gentlemen think?" Jiang Jinshan didn't make the final decision but instead handed the authority to his three gambling partners.
Perhaps due to guilt, after a quick exchange of glances, the three agreed without any objection.
"Alright! Then let's play Niuniu, with rotating dealers!"
As Jiang Jinshan finalized the decision, he remained as cautious and meticulous as ever, pre-determining the rules for dealing.
Anyone who has played Niuniu knows that rotating dealers is much fairer than having a fixed dealer.
Without exaggeration, in a game of Niuniu with a fixed dealer, the person who dares to be the fixed dealer, as long as their luck isn't too bad, can win five to six hands out of ten.
With Jiang Jinshan's participation, the five of us began to play the game, rotating dealers in Niuniu.
This was the scenario I most desired.
Given the knowledge and experience of the big bosses, I didn't go all out when it was my turn to deal. Instead, I specifically chose moments when others were shuffling the cards and completed my cheating through intermittent tile cutting.
I did this for two reasons: to avoid being discovered, and to secretly guard against that Lan Hua.
Although she hadn't shown any abnormality yet, I knew it clearly in my heart.
Once the chips of the others started to be aggressively taken by me, she would inevitably make a move.
Top predators never share their prey with other predators. If such an extremely rare low-probability event were to occur...
Don't doubt it! It would certainly be the instinct of a top predator, seeing you as prey under their claws!
...
In the Niuniu gambling match, my tile-cutting performance was seamless. No one could detect the slightest anomaly.
Starting a little before three in the afternoon and playing until a little after six in the evening, over three hours, I had wiped out about seventy to eighty percent of the chips held by Jiang Jinshan and the other three.
Their gazes towards me were filled with incredulous shock, much like the gambling god Gao Jin, who had swept through all his opponents in Shuohua without a single defeat.
When it was time to cash out the chips from Jiang Jinshan at the end of the session, I no longer cared what he thought of me.
Although the preliminary groundwork and details were meticulously laid out this time, due to external factors, it could only be a straightforward gambling match.
As long as the beginning and the process were flawless, by the time it came to the harvest, even if the prey within the game belatedly realized what was happening, they would have no concrete evidence to present...
Then suspicion would remain just that – suspicion.
Watching Jiang Jinshan's regretful expression, I couldn't help but chuckle inwardly.
He had brought in three other people to take the fall for him, and he was already this upset after losing only a million to me. If all four million had come from him alone, he would probably have wanted to devour me alive.
Of course, it wasn't entirely Jiang Jinshan's fault; people with gambling addiction are often like this.
After I was paid in cash for the 3.57 million chips lost by the four of them, seeing me get up to leave, Jiang Jinshan, having received a signal from his gambling partners, immediately called out, "Young Master Hu, please wait!"
"Since you're not leaving until tomorrow, why not do me the honor of joining me for dinner, and then we can have a second round?"
Upon hearing this, I stopped and looked at Jiang Jinshan, then smiled meaningfully and said, "Certainly! But..."
"I need to deposit some of this money into my bank account before the bank closes. I can't possibly carry all this cash on me, can I?"
"You all go downstairs to eat first, remember to save a seat for me. I'll join you after I've made my deposit!"
At this point, I had already made up my mind: as long as Jiang Jinshan didn't force me to stay, I would turn around and leave the moment I stepped out of the private room.
Unfortunately, before Jiang Jinshan could even speak, the door to the private room was suddenly opened from the outside.
Turning my head, I saw that the people entering were all wearing official uniforms.
Upon seeing this, my expression instantly changed...