Seeing me sitting there motionless, Jiang He immediately drooped his face and said, "Hurry up and pay me, what are you dawdling for?"
Upon hearing this, I chuckled and said, "What's the hurry? I haven't even looked at my cards yet!"
Hearing me say this, Jiang He immediately retorted, "What's there to look at? I've got a triple of Jacks, you don't honestly think you've got one too, do you?"
"That's hard to say, after all, gambling isn't losing until it's over! Before the cards are revealed, no one can say who's won or lost!"
After speaking, I made a move as if to pick up my cards.
Seeing this, as if worried I might cheat, Jiang He actually jumped ahead and, right under my nose, flipped over my cards.
"Stop dithering, I'll look for you. See what I said, even if you look, you still have to pay..."
His tone shifted, and Jiang He blurted out almost instinctively, "Holy crap! Three Jacks!!!"
As soon as he finished speaking, Jiang He stood there stunned as if struck by lightning, staring blankly at the three cards.
Yes, after restoring the cards that Jiang He had shuffled with his fake shuffling technique, I had dealt myself a super hand of three 3s.
Although Jiang He's skills were lacking, he was meticulous and careful in his actions, truly dragging his feet and not giving me an opportunity.
After all, catching a cheat requires catching them red-handed.
Using a fake shuffling technique to shuffle the cards was equivalent to eliminating the risk of cheating and switching cards beforehand.
...
"Holy crap! This is truly a monumental screw-up, a grass that's grown far too tall!"
Someone in the room suddenly exclaimed in disbelief, instantly breaking the dead, silent atmosphere at the card table.
Besides that, even the onlookers were letting out gasps of disbelief.
Ignoring everyone's voices, I smiled at Jiang He and said, "My friend, your hands are truly divine, thank you!"
Hearing these words that pierced the heart, Jiang He was so angry he almost lost his temper on the spot.
Secretly suppressing the anger in his chest, Jiang He suddenly...
"Whether you thank me or not is another matter..." He paused, then suddenly raised his voice and said, "Could you please explain to me why you have three 3s that are ten times the value?"
"Because I'm lucky!" I replied without thinking.
After a cold laugh, Jiang He asked with a sinister gaze, "Heh heh~ Is that so?"
"What? Are you trying to welsh on the deal?"
I had already figured out roughly how Jiang He was going to deal with me.
Just then, before Jiang He could speak, Zhang Chengxiang, who was beside him, spoke first, "Da Jiang, ever since I started looking after Yongli's place, there have been hundreds of gambling tables upstairs and downstairs, and not a single person has dared to renege on their debt!"
"Even though you're my friend, you can't renege on a debt at Yongli! Because rules... are rules!"
Hearing this, Jiang He nodded in agreement, "Brother Xiang, I agree with your point, and I don't intend to renege! It's just..."
"If someone cheats, then how should this round be counted?"
"What do you mean?"
After asking this question, Zhang Chengxiang immediately realized that something was not quite right and quickly turned his gaze towards me.
Just then, Jiang He conveniently pointed at me and said, "Chen Xiang cheated!"
Truly, his words were shocking enough to kill!
As soon as this sentence left his mouth, everyone in the private room showed expressions of shock.
Including Zhang Chengxiang, they all stared at me with wide eyes, as if finding this answer unbelievable.
Only I, remaining calm, chuckled and retorted to Jiang He, "I cheated?"
"Your name is Jiang He, right? I say, my friend, if you want to renege on the debt, please find a reasonable excuse, okay?"
"Is it fun to smear dirt on others? What's the point of you doing this?"
Hearing this, Jiang He immediately retorted, "I don't know if it's fun or not, but you are definitely a cheat!"
"Evidence!" I lit a cigarette, took two puffs, and asked sternly, "You say I'm a cheat, what's your evidence?"
As if waiting for me to say this, Jiang He immediately picked up the conversation, "You want evidence? Listen carefully!"
"From the moment you started cutting the cards, your cards have always been very large!"
"Later, when you were the dealer and shuffled the cards, although you won some and lost some, you didn't lose a single hand to me, why is that?"
"Because you knew very well that I was the one who won the most!"
"Now, let's look at that last hand. I waited for a long time and finally got three Jacks, and you immediately revealed three 3s?"
"Is there such a coincidence in this world? Tell me, if someone like you isn't a cheat, then who is?"
Hearing Jiang He's seemingly reasonable evidence, I immediately burst out laughing, laughing heartily.
"So, Jiang He, you only allow yourself to win when you play cards, and you don't allow others to win?"
"Just because I never lost a hand to you when I lost, you call me a cheat? Then what's the point of playing? I might as well just give you all my money!"
"Also, those three 3s were revealed by your own hands! And the cards... were also shuffled by you, I was only responsible for dealing!"
"Even if you want to frame me, it shouldn't be my turn to take the blame this round, right?"
Honestly, I wasn't worried about Jiang He's accusation at all.
A cheat who couldn't even see through the perfect shuffling technique wouldn't be able to catch me.
Besides, the perfect shuffling technique is a recognized non-cheating shuffling method by Lan Dao, so even if it were seen through, he wouldn't be able to catch me.
What's more, this idiot was too rash just now, actually reaching out to reveal my cards.
Based on this alone, no one would believe him.
As expected, seeing that my counterarguments were all on point, Zhang Chengxiang immediately looked at Jiang He and asked, "Da Jiang, you say Chen Xiang is a cheat, do you have any substantial evidence?"
"If not, you must pay for the money from that last round!"
Upon hearing this, Jiang He immediately fell silent.
He stammered for a long time, but in the end, he couldn't say anything coherent.
Since Jiang He had nothing more to say, it was my turn to counter him.
At this moment, I suddenly said, "Brother Xiang, please have your men hold Jiang He down. I have evidence to prove that he is the one crying 'thief'!"
Hearing this, after a moment of stunned hesitation, Zhang Chengxiang immediately stood up and held Jiang He down.
Before Jiang He could even react, I quickly stood up, grabbed his hands, and disarmed the spring-loaded device hidden in his sleeve.
"When you took the cards from me just now, I noticed you seemed to have something hidden in your sleeve. How about it? Nothing to say now, right?"
With the evidence caught red-handed, before Jiang He could even try to argue, Zhang Chengxiang immediately waved his hand, stood up, and took the former out of the private room.
Wu Shan and the others also followed Zhang Chengxiang out.
It was likely that Jiang He's fate wouldn't be good.
I don't know how much time passed...
When they came back in, Zhang Chengxiang immediately apologized to me.
"I'm sorry, my friend. I originally asked you to join in for some fun, but I didn't expect such an unpleasant incident to occur."
"How about this, it's getting late, so let me treat you to a meal!"
"If you're willing, we can continue playing after dinner!"
Hearing this, I didn't pretend to refuse but nodded in agreement.
Thus, the three of us, along with Zhang Chengxiang and his brothers, went to a small restaurant near the card room.
We ordered a table of dishes, asked the waiter to bring two bottles of high-end white wine, and then we ate and chatted.
After a few rounds of drinks and food, Zhang Chengxiang handed me a cigarette and then suddenly asked pointedly, "My friend, you must have some... connections, right?"