【What special cards? Aren’t three aces the biggest?】
【Didn’t you listen when they explained the rules earlier? Normally, three of a kind with aces is the biggest, but they said from the start it’s local rules. A 235 with different suits is usually junk, but once three of a kind shows up on the table, it becomes the biggest—the special 235 specifically counters three of a kind.】
【So… this means the 18th-Tier Celeb won those hundreds of thousands?!】
【No way!】
【Brother Fen is mighty!】
Wu Hao’s face changed. The woman screamed, her voice shrill as she lunged forward with flailing arms and legs, yelling from her mouth, “My money! This is my money!”
The casino thugs arrived in time and stopped the woman from going berserk. “If you don’t want to play, get out.”
“Fifteen grand, all gone.” The woman had no money left on the table, including the tens of thousands she’d won earlier from others.
Ou Yu felt a bit bad about it. It wasn’t his fault for having a gambling-addicted husband. Now that her husband had lost his job and squandered the migrant workers’ hard-earned money, the cash she’d brought tonight to turn things around might be the last savings her family had.
How many families were shattered here?
“Bro, take this—it’s food money for the next seven days.” Xiao Fen casually grabbed a handful and shoved it at him.
【Eat eat eat, always thinking about yourself. Why don’t you just eat yourself to death.】
【Why win? This could be the blood and sweat those migrant workers earned in a year—the hope for their kids’ schooling, food for the next year, and this big sis’s family’s chance to get back on track.】
【Damn Xiao Fen. The more I look at this gambler, the more I hate him. No wonder he can’t catch fire—rotten character, moral issues. Teaming up with others to scam big sis’s money. Why doesn’t he just die?!】
【Give the money back. You’re a star, you don’t need this cash. Big sis’s crying is breaking my heart.】
【As if he’d give it back. He’s greedy for money, only cares about himself. He’d be unmoved even if someone died in front of him.】
Xiao Fen’s live stream chat was filled with curses. Even viewers from Ou Yu’s stream rushed over to curse him.
【I said it last time at the hotel— what’s the point of a high education if your character’s trash? No one wants to help him. He deserves to be this miserable.】
【That Skinny Guy doesn’t look like a good person either. Hanging with trash like that, karma’s coming soon.】
【You were all praising Fen Treasure yesterday. I won’t let you talk about him like that.】
【That was me being blind yesterday. You braindead fans have trash character too.】
【Anyone who enters a casino isn’t a good egg. You jumpy cursers can’t tell right from wrong either.】
【Whoa, did I wander into a church? So many bleeding hearts here.】
【Didn’t the Film Emperor say? This is Fen Treasure’s first time playing. The program crew didn’t give him money, so he has to earn it. Blame the program crew if you want.】
【Fen Treasure earned that the hard way. Why give it to others?】
【Hard way my ass. He won it with shady tricks, scooping up a poor woman’s money. Deserves to never go viral.】
【Fen Treasure isn’t like that…】
Xiao Fen’s fans were few to begin with, and now they were cursed into oblivion. The voices defending him grew weaker and weaker, eventually drowned out by the endless abuse.
He couldn’t see any of it.
At that moment, he swept the money toward his side of the table and said, “Big sis, you got any more money? If not, get off the table quick.”
Wu Hao and the other casual players shouted too. “No money? Why come to a casino? Go home and nurse your kid. Don’t hold up the real men making money.”
A flash of madness appeared in the woman’s eyes. She suddenly yanked down her zipper and pulled a red food bag from an inner pocket of her clothes. She opened it to reveal a stack of bills bound with a paper strip.
“This is ten grand—life-saving money for my son’s dialysis. One more round. I don’t believe my luck will stay this bad.”
“Big sis, calm down. Everyone loses at the table. Your son needs this life-saving money.” Ou Yu blocked her path, trying to stop her from joining the table.
“What do you know? Win once, and I can cover my husband’s hole. My son can get dialysis.” The woman started crying as she spoke. “My husband just wanted to earn some cash so our son could get surgery. He lost everything and might even go to jail. I’m just a woman—what work can I do? Except gamble this money, how else to pay for my son’s treatment? Now there’s a way to make money, and you’re blocking the road—blocking someone’s path to wealth brings retribution!”
Ou Yu frowned at her venomous glare and blurted out, “I’ll cover that money for you.”
This stunned both Wu Hao and the woman.
Xiao Fen slapped his forehead.
“Your husband’s embezzled public funds, your son’s surgery money—I’ll pay it.”
“Thank you so much. I actually ran into a living bodhisattva like you today.” The woman excitedly grabbed his hand.
【Hubby in prison, son on dialysis—what a pitiful family.】
【Good thing he met Ou Yu. Otherwise, this suffering family wouldn’t know how to get through this crisis.】
“But you have to wait a few days.”
“How many days?”
“Seven days from now.”
“No rush then. Give me your contact info, great benefactor.” The woman smiled kindly and honestly, got someone to bring paper and pen, took Ou Yu’s number, thanked him profusely, then added, “Cash is tight these days. Your friend won so much from me tonight—I gotta recoup a bit.”
“No, you…” Ou Yu tried to stop her again, but she dodged him. Several burly thugs crowded over and blocked him.
“Just one round. Winner take all. If not for my man, I wouldn’t be in a casino. First time here today, and I meet a great benefactor like you—must be blessings from past lives.” She clasped her hands and kept bowing to him.
Ou Yu didn’t know what to say. He tugged at the hem of Xiao Fen’s T-shirt and said, “Do less things that harm people. Don’t forget it’s still live.”
Xiao Fen laughed. “When did I ever harm anyone?”
“You, Wu Bro, and that guy.” He nodded toward the Sleazy Man. “You colluded in secret, right? Whenever good cards came, you egged aunty on to raise. She wouldn’t have lost this much otherwise. Now she’s desperate—watch out for your reputation.”
“How do you know Wu Bro had good cards?”
Ou Yu caught the implication in Xiao Fen’s words. He’d never gambled before, yet he knew real pros cheated.
Did Wu Hao cheat?
A new round began.
This time, Ou Yu didn’t watch Xiao Fen. Instead, he subtly kept an eye on Wu Hao’s cards.
“Big Star Xiao, your luck tonight is way too good.” The Skinny Guy sneered coldly, still stewing over his last-round wipeout. One big bet, and he’d lost everything—not to mention borrowing ten grand from the casino. He had only seven grand of it left now. At least he had to pay back the house.
“Too bad Hu Juan isn’t here tonight. Otherwise, you two together, and I’d lose my pants.”
“Luck comes, you can’t block it.” Xiao Fen had one foot on the chair edge, left arm hugging his crossed legs, right hand pressing his cards, grinning carefree. “Want some of my luck? Depends if you can handle it.”
“If you’re giving, why wouldn’t I take?” The Skinny Guy smiled sinisterly, lifted the corner of his cards for a peek.
Then he closed his hand again.
In that blink, when he slammed the cards down, they’d become spade 10, 9, 8.
Ou Yu’s eyes narrowed.
Sure enough.
“Straight flush gold?! Nice!” The Sleazy Man exclaimed in surprise.
“No one’s luck stays bad forever.” The Skinny Guy said smugly.
Xiao Fen flipped his cards—a straight flush gold too, but with smaller numbers.
“Too bad.” Ou Yu shook his head. He wanted to call out Wu Hao’s cheating, but he didn’t know the method. His heart itched with anxiety.
“Close enough. Next.” Xiao Fen didn’t care.
Then Lady Luck stopped favoring him.
Lost one hand, lost two. Ou Yu watched the pile of cash in front of him grow, then dwindle away. Panic rose uncontrollably in his heart.
“Can’t play anymore.”
“Think about it—our principal was how much? At least play till we lose back to principal, then stop.” Xiao Fen pushed his hand away.
In Ou Yu’s eyes right now, he looked just like a gambler who’d gone down the wrong path.
The live stream chat had plenty of sighs and laments too.
【How many people think this every time they sit at the table? But once they lose and panic, who remembers?】
【Human desire is endless. Indulging it is the start of corruption. This guy’s beyond saving.】
【Choose friends wisely. Look at Xiao Fen’s crowd—bringing him to a place like this. He’ll get addicted. Blame his scummy friends.】
Xiao Fen saw his remaining cash nearly gone. He simply shoved it all in. Ou Yu couldn’t stop him.
“No biggie. Just playing. Lost it all? We’ll withdraw more tomorrow.” He comforted nonchalantly.
The woman hadn’t won much either, but her luck seemed better. She hadn’t lost, and had a few more grand than when she’d been wailing an hour ago.
She seemed to have forgotten her son needing dialysis. Seeing Xiao Fen go all-in, her eyes hardened, and she pushed all her money in too.
“Going big. Lose and you’re down to your undies.”
“You guys got balls.” The Skinny Guy was a beat slower, hesitated, fingertips habitually tapping his cards like it gave him security. He gritted his teeth and went all-in too.
“Little Fen, are we gonna lose this round?” Ou Yu didn’t know why, but tens of thousands felt trivial to him usually—yet now his palms sweated with nerves.
“Shh—” Xiao Fen put a finger to his lips and winked. “Can’t say that word here, okay?”
Warm breath tickled his ear. Ou Yu froze, turned his face away, ears quietly turning red.
“Three aces!” The crowd shouted, drawing people from other tables.
“Luck like that?”
“Too OP!”
This one hand netted Xiao Fen nearly sixty grand back.
All previous losses, won back in full.
The whole room erupted in excited cheers, as if they’d made the money.
The Sleazy Man’s gaze locked on him—he’d sized him up several times already.
“Again.” The Skinny Guy’s face was ashen, radiating the desperate ferocity of a cornered beast.
“Switch someone. You’ve lost hundreds of thousands tonight.” Someone nearby said. “Let me try.”
These were all veteran gamblers. Seeing someone flip from the brink—who wouldn’t itch to play?
Ou Yu’s spirits, which had sunk to rock bottom, lifted again in light joy. He hugged Xiao Fen’s shoulders in disbelief and yelled.
He started paying attention to the table dynamics. His gaze grew heated, watching Xiao Fen’s cards, his heartbeat accelerating out of control.
Tension, joy, tension, regret, tension… Every card reveal tugged at his heart.
The stakes weren’t huge. Pocket change to him, just for fun. No big deal. Ou Yu thought.
The next dozen hands, they won some lost some. The other gamblers lost every one. Ou Yu estimated Xiao Fen had won another thirty-odd grand.
All in cash.
He glanced at the other door in the room. Every time someone ran dry, they signaled the big guy guarding the house. Soon, he’d bring a stack of red bills and a paper—they’d just press their thumbprint without a word.
Convenient—but it meant they’d lost all sense of money. The only thing left in their heads was one more win.
One win, and they’d recoup everything. Flip the script!
Everyone clung to that belief, sinking deeper.
Wu Hao looked drained of vitality, visibly deflated, eyes glowing with eerie darkness.
This round, everyone had bet tens of thousands already. Just waiting to flip.
A gurgle came from the woman’s throat, like she’d gone neurotic. Her hand trembled, jaundiced eyes scanning the room, lingering two seconds on Wu Hao before flicking away.
Ou Yu stared tensely at Xiao Fen’s cards. Sometimes he was glad Xiao Fen didn’t fiddle with his like the others. Win or lose, at least clean.
“You’re cheating!” Wu Hao suddenly stood, grabbing Xiao Fen’s card-holding hand tight.
His face was red and green, nostrils flared round, flaring rapidly.
