“What are you two whispering about?” Ji Qinglin said discontentedly. “The vice squad officers in the car outside the hotel—they’re your colleagues, right? Planning to let us die without saving us?”
Xiao Fen and Fang Si Ting’s whispering came to an abrupt halt. They exchanged a glance and both looked up.
Ji Qinglin saw them looking at him and satisfactorily hooked up the corner of his lips. He said to Xiao Fen, “Let’s play a round. If you win, you can take the person and the money. If you lose, you two, and the vice squad officers outside, none of you are leaving tonight.”
The casino staff had already cleared the table of cards and chips, stacking neat piles of new chips.
“Looks like we have to play, huh?” Xiao Fen smiled awkwardly, adjusted his glasses, and sat down in his previous seat. “How about three out of five? I’m a bit rusty—this is my first time playing tonight.”
“What were you playing earlier?”
“Blackjack.”
“Then blackjack it is.” Ji Qinglin signaled the dealer to deal. “One round decides it. I like surprises and thrills.”
Xiao Fen’s eyes brightened a bit as he secretly gave the dealer a look.
Ji Qinglin stared right at the two of them—how could he not notice? His sharp gaze swept toward her. The dealer got so scared that the cards in her hand scattered across the table. She instinctively looked toward Hu Juan and the other two in panic.
“It’s him! He’s coercing me, making me pass signals to him!” The dealer said in a trembling voice. She excitedly pointed at Xiao Fen and Fang Si Ting, then knelt down sobbing. “Young Master, they kidnapped my boyfriend and made me obey them. If I didn’t agree, my boyfriend would be in danger. I was threatened too, Young Master. Please save my boyfriend!”
“Qingqing, you’re one of my people.” Hu Juan had been beaten dizzy, his vision blurry. He vaguely saw the dealer pointing at Xiao Fen amid the ringing in his ears and caught a few keywords. “How can you be with Xiao Fen…”
“What nonsense are you spouting!” Scarface broke free from the bodyguard’s grip and punched him in the face again, clamping his mouth shut. “Young Master Ji, don’t listen to his bullshit! We don’t know them at all.”
Bearded Bro was scared shitless too. He stammered, “Young Master Ji, his head’s not clear—he’s mistaking her for his girlfriend.”
The dealer’s face went deathly pale, then she flew into a rage. “Who the hell are you? I don’t know you!”
If Young Master Ji found out she was in cahoots with these three, all four of them were done for!
Xiao Fen nearly burst out laughing.
“You kidnapped her boyfriend and threatened her to cheat for you?” Ji Qinglin asked.
“Yeah, I kidnapped her boyfriend, but I didn’t cheat, and I didn’t tell her to cheat either.” As Xiao Fen spoke, he turned to the bruised and swollen Hu Juan with a mocking tone. “She told me her boyfriend was a useless loser, dragging her down, making her suffer and hide from debt collectors everywhere—pure torture. This guy clings like a mangy dog you can’t shake off. How would he know? Her boyfriend got close to her purely because of her job. Once he made a killing at the casino, he’d dump her.”
“You’re lying!” the dealer shouted.
“I’m good bros with your boyfriend—eight years of friendship. How long have you known him, sis? Do you even know what kind of person he is? He had you cheat—did he ever think that if the casino caught on, you’d be the one who ends up dead? If I kidnapped your boyfriend, I was saving you from the fire.”
The dealer had just randomly accused them at first, but after hearing this, panic and contemplation flashed across her face. She looked at Hu Juan in disbelief.
“I’ll kill you!” Hu Juan charged at Xiao Fen with a ferocious expression.
Xiao Fen dodged to the side in fright, perfectly positioning Fang Si Ting to face the punch head-on.
Fang Si Ting simply grabbed his wrist and twisted lightly, subduing him completely.
“Throw them out,” Ji Qinglin said. “What a buzzkill.”
The Fat Guy, who had been at the table earlier, whispered a couple words to the casino manager on the outskirts of the crowd. Soon, the manager led five or six bodyguards out.
Xiao Fen watched all this impassively, then noticed Fang Si Ting’s suspicious gaze. He bared his little tiger teeth. “Helping a classmate out by taking the blame.”
The helpful young man—that’s me.
“Forget it. I’ll shuffle myself.” Across the table, Ji Qinglin rolled up his sleeves.
“That wouldn’t be fair,” Xiao Fen laughed.
“Call a few Dark Lamps to watch from the side, and set up two cameras on each left and right. Record the whole thing.” Ji Qinglin scoffed and lifted his chin. Soon, the people and equipment were all in place.
“I’ll draw my own cards.”
“You sure know a lot.”
Tricks during shuffling wouldn’t be spotted by Dark Lamps or cameras if done properly.
Drawing his own cards was at least better than letting Ji Qinglin deal—he could influence the outcome a bit.
But these little tricks were useless.
As the young master of this casino, Ji Qinglin had been playing cards since he was three. His shuffling skills were masterful.
After the visually pleasing performance, he laid the cards out in a row on the table.
“Please.”
Xiao Fen sat up straight, hovering his hand over the cards, scanning back and forth twice before drawing one from the middle.
Ji Qinglin watched him contemptuously, swiftly drew one, and glanced at it.
As expected—an ace.
“This money’s gonna be hard-earned.” He leaned back in his chair. “I can help you carry less of it.”
“Does Young Master Ji want to exchange it for a check? That’d be much appreciated.”
“Add another condition—how about it? Just bet the six million you made tonight.” Ji Qinglin ignored his playing dumb. “If you win, it doubles.”
“If I lose, I don’t have that much money,” Xiao Fen said awkwardly. “Better not.”
“No need for your money. Spend the night with me—deal?”
Such a playboy definitely wasn’t the one into Ou Yu.
Xiao Fen looked up awkwardly at Fang Si Ting. “That wouldn’t be good, right? This guy at home has been waiting here forever. If I go with you, he’ll get mad.”
Fang Si Ting: “…”
Ji Qinglin got even more excited. “You two are a couple? No worries—I’ll get him a room next door later. Once we’re done, you can head home together in the morning.”
Fang Si Ting’s face turned ashen, veins bulging at his temple.
Xiao Fen held back his laughter until his hands shook. He hesitated over the cards for a long time before finally drawing the second one.
“I’m honored Young Master Ji has taken a liking to me.” He said, “Now let’s see if Young Master Ji has the luck for it. Don’t disappoint me.”
With that, he winked at the other side.
The next second, a hand grabbed the hair on the back of his head. Fang Si Ting’s face was frosty as he leaned in close.
“Dare to lose and see what happens.”
Xiao Fen’s momentum deflated instantly. He laughed it off with a hey-hey-hey.
No way, no way.
“Kid, don’t think getting picked by Young Master Ji is a good thing. Plenty of guys go into his room and come out covered in blood, straight to the hospital.” A chubby rich spectator nearby whispered a warning.
“Yeah, and quite a few end up in diapers for life.”
“So brutal?” Xiao Fen’s ass clenched instinctively.
Ji Qinglin saw he was finally scared and revealed a smile of certain victory. He revealed his second card and glanced at it.
His heart skipped a beat—his face changed drastically.
Impossible!
He knew the exact order of the deck he shuffled. No way he got it wrong.
“Hit me, Young Master Ji?”
Ji Qinglin’s expression was as bad as Fang Si Ting’s had been earlier.
“Looking at Young Master Ji, are you the one needing diapers now?” Xiao Fen laughed. “Nah, that can’t be—Young Master Ji hasn’t made me wear them yet. Let me guess—with how happy you look, you wouldn’t have an ace, right?”
His face stiffened horribly.
“So happy you can’t even speak—surely the other one’s an ace too?”
Ji Qinglin slammed his cards on the table.
“Hit me?” Xiao Fen asked again. “With all your years dominating the casino, you wouldn’t turn blackjack into Zha Jin Hua, right?”
Two aces—only 12 points total.
His face darkened as he drew another card and flipped it. As expected, a 9.
See? This was his shuffled deck.
In blackjack, even with junk cards, he still had a shot.
“Not hitting?” He then noticed Xiao Fen had been standing pat since drawing his cards.
“You think you can draw an ace and a 10?” Ji Qinglin scoffed.
“I trust my luck.” Xiao Fen said. “Just like I trust what cards you have. Want to flip and see?”
Ji Qinglin’s gaze darkened with hesitation, but he quickly felt it unbecoming of the Ji Family young master. He leaned over and flipped Xiao Fen’s cards.
Ace, 10.
“You cheated!” he yelled, looking at the Dark Lamps and camera crew. “See anything?”
The Dark Lamps exchanged glances and shook their heads awkwardly.
“Go frame by frame!”
The two cameras played back at eight times and sixteen times slow motion, but still showed nothing suspicious.
Xiao Fen dramatically patted his chest and let out a long breath, looking relieved to have survived. “Young Master Ji, twenty-four million—trouble you to write a check.”
With that, he stood up to leave.
“Wait.” A glint of viciousness flashed in Ji Qinglin’s eyes. “You make over twenty-four million off this young master and think you can just walk away? No such good deal!”
“Is Young Master Ji going back on his word again and again?” Xiao Fen said.
Dozens of black-clad bodyguards surrounded them. The onlooker gamblers quickly cleared out of the core area.
An empty zone formed around Xiao Fen and Fang Si Ting.
Ji Qinglin leaned back in his chair, smug as hell.
“Whether I went back on my word or not, you’re staying today for our investigation!”
“Your four Dark Lamps and two cameras saw it all earlier—no issues.” A flash of anger appeared in Xiao Fen’s eyes.
“They’re just incompetent!” Ji Qinglin said unreasonably. “Strip those two!”
A few burly men from the crowd approached them.
“Mr. Black Cat, a citizen’s life and property are in grave peril right now.” Xiao Fen hid behind him, nervously clutching his sleeve. “Quick, to the rescue!”
Fang Si Ting sidestepped, tearing someone’s hand off him. “Who started this?”
Xiao Fen looked up pitifully.
Weak, small, and helpless.
The light fell into his eyes, turning the sly cognac color into flowing golden honey, with a hint of guilt.
“Think I don’t know your skills?” Fang Si Ting mercilessly exposed him.
He could go toe-to-toe with him and escape his grasp—dealing with these guys was a piece of cake.
Xiao Fen boredly stepped out from behind him.
What an unromantic blockhead.
Even the powerless Brother Ou Yu would unhesitatingly step forward and shield him when danger struck.
That’s a gentleman!
Though he didn’t need anyone’s protection.
Xiao Fen rubbed his wrists, cracking his knuckles with pops. Excitement and anticipation filled his eyes.
A bodyguard drew a dagger and slashed at his wrist.
Xiao Fen dodged flexibly. His eyes darted, and he kneed the guy. The bodyguard stumbled, his dagger stabbing toward Fang Si Ting.
Fang Si Ting had just knocked out a lunging attacker. His body reacted faster than his brain to the danger, dodging by a hair and punching the man out cold. He picked up the dagger and looked at Xiao Fen.
“Accident.” Xiao Fen spread his hands innocently.
No sooner had he spoken than another dagger flew from the front straight at Xiao Fen’s face. He sucked in a cold breath, bent backward in a half-circle dodge.
“Hand slipped.” Fang Si Ting said coolly.
