As Leng Jiu ascended the stairs with the dice cup in hand, there were those below who sneered, “Another one seeking trouble!”
“Such a handsome young master, what a pity!”
“Don’t wait to wet your pants and come out!”
“Hahaha!”
Leng Jiu paid no attention to the comments. Upon reaching the top step, the door slowly opened. Gracefully, she stepped into the room. Aside from two strong bodyguards, the only other occupant was a man in his thirties seated on a nearby soft couch. His face was square, high cheekbones, and the comical eight-character mustache on his determined face looked somewhat amusing. However, it added a touch of a businessman’s flavor, not appearing out of place. His not-so-large eyes slightly squinted, initially carrying some dignity but soon replaced by disdain and scorn. It was clear he didn’t regard Leng Jiu highly.
Encountering such individuals was nothing new for Leng Jiu—individuals who believed they were unparalleled, looked down on everyone, carried an air of superiority, and considered themselves superior to all. She enjoyed dealing with such people because, once she trampled them underfoot, their stunned and resentful expressions brought her immense pleasure.
Placing the dice cup on the table, Leng Jiu performed a courteous gesture, “I am Leng Jiu. May I have the honor of receiving your guidance?”
The young casino owner didn’t bother taking her seriously. In his eyes, this pampered young master was just putting on airs, seeking amusement through challenges, lacking any real substance. “Compare what?”
Leng Jiu lifted her robe and sat across from him, casually shaking the dice cup, “Let’s compare dice rolls. However, it’s not about the size of the dice but rather I’ll roll, and you guess. If you guess correctly, I lose; otherwise, I win. Then we switch, and you roll while I guess. We’ll continue this way for three rounds to determine the winner. What do you think?”
The man across from her finally showed a slight expression, “Fine.”
After receiving his agreement, Leng Jiu didn’t immediately start the gambling. Instead, she suggested, “Since it’s a gamble, it wouldn’t be interesting without stakes. Moreover, with only the two of us here, it’s not fair. How about we go downstairs and make it public for everyone to witness?”
The man sneered, “What qualifications do you have to ask me to go downstairs?”
Leng Jiu picked up the dice cup, swiftly shook it a few times, and placed it on the table with a crisp sound. Six sixes were neatly arranged! Just as he tried to see clearly, her wrist moved, and immediately, the six dice jumped back into the cup. With rapid shaking, she opened it again, revealing a sequence of one, two, three, four, five, six. It was only at this point that the young casino owner’s expression finally became somewhat serious.
“What do you want to wager?”
“Wagers require witnesses. Since there are many gamblers downstairs, let them be the witnesses. What do you think?”
“I hope you have enough capital to gamble with me.”
“Of course.”
“Squeak!” The door opened with a creak. Just when everyone expected Leng Jiu to be embarrassingly thrown out, she walked out gracefully, accompanied by the mysterious young casino owner. The crowd found this quite peculiar.
The young owner exchanged a few words with the manager and immediately called over a few strong bodyguards. They cleared the central space, pushing two rectangular tables together, creating a long table.
Glancing over the crowd, the young owner declared, “Today, I will openly gamble with this gentleman here. All of you will serve as witnesses!”
“Alright!”
“Someone openly challenging the young owner, does he want to die?”
“Speak less; can’t you see he’s a rich kid? Plenty of money!”
Leng Jiu and the young owner stood on opposite sides. The young owner looked proudly at her and said, “Li Quan! Bring me that ten thousand taels silver ticket!”
Ten thousand taels! The crowd was in an uproar. It was no small amount, almost an astronomical figure for them. The casino was never short of silver, and ten thousand taels equaled ten silver tickets, which was not a large sum for them.
Everyone stared at Leng Jiu, expecting her to produce ten thousand taels in silver. However, some doubted if she could. Although she was a wealthy individual, not many rich kids could casually produce ten thousand taels. As expected, they saw her expression turn hesitant.
“No money and still daring to challenge the young owner, ridiculous!”
“Exactly! Why gamble without money?”
Leng Jiu paid no attention to their words, showing some hesitation. She reluctantly pulled out a banknote and sighed, “I have no silver; only gold tickets!”
Mocking voices abruptly ceased as they saw the gold ticket, which clearly stated ten thousand taels in gold and ten thousand taels in silver. Even a fool could tell the difference! Leng Jiu wasn’t pretending; she indeed had silver notes, but they were small denominations, totaling no more than five thousand taels. She hadn’t expected him to gamble for such a high amount, forcing her to reveal her last resort—the gold ticket.
The young owner’s eyelids twitched. Waving his hand to the shopkeeper, the shopkeeper immediately understood and exchanged the ten thousand taels silver ticket for a gold ticket. When passing it to Leng Jiu, his hands trembled slightly. It was, after all, ten thousand taels in gold—an astronomical sum!
Everyone held their breath. Though they believed the young owner would win, the other side didn’t seem weak. Moreover, the stakes were twenty thousand taels in gold! Even if they lived their whole lives, they might never see so much money!
With the stakes set, the gambling round was ready to begin!