Tonight's Texas Hold'em match has a rule regarding catching cheaters.
The standard for a successful cheat catch is to catch the perpetrator red-handed. If this is achieved, the caught cheater is immediately eliminated from the game, and their chips go to the catcher.
The reverse is also true.
If the catcher fails to catch the cheater red-handed, it's considered a failure. The catcher is eliminated from the game, and their chips go to the person they tried to catch.
This rule for catching cheaters, where risk and opportunity coexist, emphasizes "high skill and great courage"!
This is also why, when someone shouted about catching a cheater earlier, it attracted so much attention.
Because before me, no one had actually spoken up to catch a cheater.
It couldn't be helped; the risk was too high!
Leaving no trace of guilt is considered the most basic standard for testing whether a con artist is qualified.
Therefore, the double act between Su Liuli and me perfectly deceived everyone present.
I recall Uncle Tuo once saying that ordinary con artists cheat money, first-class con artists cheat people, and top-tier con artists cheat countries.
And the word "qian" (千), which means to cheat, is essentially deception.
To perfectly deceive others, one must first be able to deceive oneself.
If a person can even deceive themselves, then deceiving others becomes as easy as pie.
For example.
Why are WeChat sellers, who are now seen as a cancerous growth by the masses, so persistent and unyielding? Why do they keep reappearing after being shut down?
It's because the "CEOs" and "managers" within them are so incredibly good at fooling people!
And the secret to their success is that they have perfectly mastered self-deception!
First of all, let me state, this is not a joke.
There are many real screenshots online. These WeChat sellers, who appear glamorous and successful in public, are the same ones who post on their Moments asking others to borrow an iQiyi membership for watching dramas in private.
There are also screenshots of them cashing out hundreds of yuan from Huabei and Baitiao, which are widely available online.
They would rather eat coarse grains and thin porridge, but they scrape together money to package themselves, then form groups to buy luxury cars and villas, and pay shops to create various fake contracts.
This is the secret to WeChat sellers' success! How ruthless they are to themselves!
Getting back to the main point.
With less than twenty minutes left in the gambling match, the result of me failing to catch a cheater and being eliminated was...
Su Liuli's chips surged ahead, instantly taking the lead!
Whether she can maintain this hard-won first place from now on is no longer my concern.
Because according to the rules, eliminated contestants are immediately escorted out of the competition area.
In other words, as soon as I step out of the private room door, I am essentially completely free!
As the staff led me to the door of the private room, I instinctively looked back at Xiao Tianyu, wanting to confirm if he had received news of the change in the office.
It was a shock to see!
I saw Xiao Tianyu staring at me with a chilling, sinister gaze, a slight curve at the corner of his lips.
In broad daylight, although Xiao Tianyu wouldn't dare to touch me with so many people present, I could tell that he... harbored murderous intent towards me!
As someone capable of independently taking over from the laundered Xiao Tianci and managing the vast financial group and casino, Xiao Tianyu had no reason not to understand the real reason behind my failed attempt to catch a cheater.
I knew very well that the current calm was merely the prelude to an impending storm.
How my team and I would fare next depended entirely on how Xiao Tianyu chose to retaliate against us...
...
Late at night.
After the entire team had safely evacuated Tianci Building, before Camel could even speak, I proactively told him, "You've worked hard. I'll give you a big red envelope tomorrow!"
Although hiring Camel as a bodyguard and dispatching him to rescue people was part of his duties, it would be somewhat unreasonable not to give him something for doing such a stellar job.
The martial world isn't just about fighting; it also involves human relationships and etiquette.
I understood the principle of "strangers become acquaintances after the first meeting, and acquaintances become friends after the second."
Making a good impression on Camel this time would ensure that if we collaborated again in the future, even if we negotiated prices strictly, he would at least give his hundred percent effort, and that would be enough.
Not long after the six of us got into the car and left Tianci Building, Han Jinlun, who was driving, couldn't help but start talking.
"Brother Xiang, you really need to consider expansion seriously. Day in and day out..."
"Damn it, I was having a pleasant conversation with a waitress on the first floor when suddenly several uniformed bodyguards appeared and pinned me down without a word!"
"At that moment, I thought you had accidentally leaked something. My heart is still pounding like crazy!"
Hearing this, Cheng Minglang chimed in, "It was similar for me and Wen Jing. If it weren't for considering Wen Jing, I would have lost my temper and fought back!"
"Speaking of which, Brother Xiang, you should find some helpers to expand your team!"
I gave a wry smile, acknowledging their words, and nodded slightly, but remained silent.
Helpers, where are they so easy to find!
Few of those hired just to fill numbers are truly reliable...
About ten minutes later.
As we neared the residential complex, I felt a craving for a cigarette.
Rolling down the window halfway, I lit a cigarette and took a puff.
Looking at the sparse vehicles on the road and the nearly pitch-black streetscape around us, for some reason, a sense of unease suddenly arose within me.
And this feeling of apprehension... was very strong!
Just as I was about to speak, Han Jinlun's car began to slow down.
Then, he turned to me, his brows furrowed, and said, "Brother Xiang, something's not right!"
"What's wrong?"
Han Jinlun, with one hand on the steering wheel and the other pointing at the streetscape on the outskirts of the complex, said, "This house my sister bought for me is a commercial property, and the price is not cheap! The shops around here are all prime locations!"
"Do you remember the other night when we went for late-night snacks at Old Zhang's place? Many shops on both sides of the road were still lit up."
"Look at it now. It's not even as late as before, and all these shops are closed."
"It's not normal! Definitely not normal!"
It seemed that not only I, but even the usually carefree Han Jinlun, had noticed that the scene before us was somewhat too eerie.
"I asked Old Zhang about it before. He said that Xiao Tianci and Xiao Tianyu, the two brothers, are the uncrowned kings of the Longxi region!"
"Damn it! Don't tell me they've come to find..."
Before Han Jinlun could finish his sentence, suddenly, countless dazzling high beams lit up the road from both the front and the back, almost simultaneously.
"Xiao Tianyu has sent people to block us! Hurry up and call Zhang Chengxiang!"
Saying that, I shielded my eyes from the strong beams of light coming from the front and squinted to look intently.
Under the glare of the strong beams, I saw a group of men in black suits, holding large knives.