I saw very clearly that after Hu Dinggui mentioned the word "tie-breaker," He Chenguang suddenly took a deep breath, forcefully suppressing the raging anger that was about to erupt in his eyes.
I figured Hu Dinggui was subtly transmitting a message to He Chenguang, telling him it was okay if he couldn't win the final round, as there was still the possibility of a tie-breaker to manipulate.
After all, Yu Shuang was already crippled.
Yes, the Queen Bee was crippled.
Even if she had managed to win the previous small round, Yu Shuang had paid an extremely heavy price, which was her inability to continue competing with us in the subsequent tie-breaker gamble.
It's worth noting that He Chenguang's attack earlier was entirely aimed at incapacitating her. Yu Shuang's ability to hold on until she intercepted the Double Heaven Supreme was already a stroke of luck in misfortune.
It can be said that in the next tie-breaker round, if Yu Shuang insisted on participating, it would essentially be a mere formality.
She no longer possessed the strength to threaten me or He Chenguang.
This is because con artists rely on their hands for a living.
Often, the value of one's hands is no less than that of one's life!
Yu Shuang seemed to have realized this as well, lowering her head slightly to look at the profusely bleeding wound on the back of her hand, appearing somewhat dazed.
While relevant staff were attending to Yu Shuang's injuries, the finals entered its second official timeout.
According to Hu Dinggui, this timeout was both unexpected and logical, as the organizing committee had not anticipated that after three rounds of finals, there would actually be equal scores. Therefore, they needed to pause the competition and hold an emergency meeting to discuss the tie-breaker.
In reality, those in the know understood that the organizing committee would never make such a basic mistake.
The so-called impromptu meeting to discuss the tie-breaker was merely a pretext to help He Chenguang gain as much advantage as possible.
After about twenty minutes.
Hu Dinggui reappeared on stage and, in front of everyone, announced that the tie-breaker event would be the national treasure heritage competitive event – Mahjong!
The rules were simple: remove the flower tiles and character tiles, and play only with the tiles for "Wan," "Tong," and "Tiao" in the "Tuida Hu" style.
Hu Dinggui, as the official representative, would be the dealer. Whoever among me, Yu Shuang, and He Chenguang could achieve a "Hu" first would win.
After the announcement, Hu Dinggui ostentatiously turned his gaze towards us and asked if any of us had any objections.
Heh heh... truly playing both sides.
To be honest, I originally wanted to refuse.
Because with Hu Dinggui's participation, removing the flower and character tiles and only playing with "Tiao," "Tong," and "Wan" were rules that indirectly benefited He Chenguang, allowing him to quickly ascend to the throne of the Gambling King.
However, after Yu Shuang nodded her agreement expressionlessly, I finally took a deep breath and replied, "I have no objections!"
At this point, if there was still no news from Mr. He, besides doing my best and leaving the rest to fate, I could not think of any other way to turn the situation around.
...
As I, Yu Shuang, He Chenguang, and Hu Dinggui sat down around a newly brought mahjong table, a set of mahjong tiles with the flower and character tiles removed was presented.
The moment the mahjong tiles were in place, He Chenguang no longer concealed his intentions, but rather stated with unusual confidence, "Come on, let's decide the winner in one round!"
After speaking, He Chenguang provocatively glanced at Yu Shuang and me.
Both Yu Shuang and I tacitly chose to ignore He Chenguang's provocation.
Thus, the decisive tie-breaker mahjong match officially began, a final round with no possibility of further tie-breakers.
One round to determine the distinction, decide the outcome, and see who wins!
After all the mahjong tiles were stacked, Hu Dinggui, as the dealer, rolled the dice first to draw tiles.
After drawing the tiles, everyone quickly got into their zones.
After drawing only a few tiles, I realized something was amiss.
Someone was secretly switching tiles!
I wasn't too surprised by this unusual situation.
It would be truly bizarre if no one made a move in this round!
After confirming this situation, I also began to act covertly. Before drawing a tile, I would cover a useless tile in front of me with my hand, and then use the covering technique to directly bring back two tiles.
This way, in each preceding round, I could covertly bring back two mahjong tiles, significantly reducing the time to achieve a "Hu," assuming my luck wasn't too bad.
Regardless of what He Chenguang did, I continued to draw tiles and switch them silently.
At this moment, I noticed a detail.
Hu Dinggui, a talented student from Wharton Business School, was not just a mere administrator or scribe; he also possessed skillful techniques, and was quite proficient at them!
He maintained a confident smile on his face, as if he believed his techniques were undetectable, unaware that...
Thinking of this, my brow suddenly furrowed.
Was Hu Dinggui, who was appointed by Mr. He as the person in charge of the New Lisboa, really so arrogant?
The answer was clearly no.
The reason he was showcasing his con artistry techniques in front of a con artist was likely to draw the attention of Yu Shuang and me, thereby ensuring He Chenguang could win the tie-breaker gamble.
When the enemy actively reveals their strategy, if you foolishly shift your attention, there might be even more traps waiting for you later.
If you don't want to be led by the nose, the best approach is to ignore it.
With my thoughts clear, I decided to pretend not to see or hear anything.
Just then, I suddenly saw Yu Shuang, after drawing a tile with her injured right hand, continuously tapping the table with the fingers of her uninjured left hand, the rhythm varying from fast to slow, and from urgent to leisurely.
It didn't look like she was thinking about her tile sequence, but rather more like... transmitting a signal!
But why would she do that?
It was already the final decisive round, and there could only be one winner.
For both public and private reasons, at this juncture, I would not help her, nor would I cooperate with her.
As I began to secretly speculate about Yu Shuang's intentions, I saw a peculiar curve appear on the Queen Bee's lips.
At this moment, as He Chenguang raised his hand to discard a tile, Hu Dinggui, sitting in the dealer's position, unexpectedly discarded a useless tile.
Seeing Hu Dinggui not playing the agreed-upon tile, He Chenguang's expression immediately changed, and he then shifted his gaze directly to Yu Shuang and me.
After Hu Dinggui discarded the tile that was useless to He Chenguang, Yu Shuang reached out to pick up that tile and said with a smile, "Excuse me, I have a Hu!"
After saying this, Yu Shuang pushed all the mahjong tiles in front of her face down.
At this moment, all three of us at the mahjong table, including Hu Dinggui himself, wore expressions of extreme shock and disbelief.
I, realizing it belatedly, suddenly began to understand that Yu Shuang's finger-tapping action earlier was not transmitting any signal at all, but rather...