Zhang Tieyuan kept his eyes on the paper money worth a thousand taels and asked as usual.
“Who’s going first this time?”
“I’ll go first.” As always, Qi Qingyao went first.
Zhang Tieyuan liked how the little girl seemed clueless and grinned from ear to ear.
Every time she went first was also every time she came last.
This time would for sure be one, two, three again.
He did not know why she persisted.
Zhang Tieyuan watched Qi Qingyao gleefully as she shook the dice cup, his mood relaxed. He was all smiles, looking nothing like a man who had just bet his entire life. He had even begun to plan what he would buy with the thousand taels if he won! Why not move his whole family to Qingzhou City?
Then again, the little girl still had a lot of paper money in her hands. Should he egg her into betting a few more rounds?
Then win every last bit of money from her!
By then, their family would have a few thousand taels!
They would be without a doubt the definition rich.
Just as he was thinking about all this nonsense, Qi Qingyao, who was sitting opposite him, had already put down the dice cup.
Zhang Tieyuan asked, “Should I open it or will you?”
Qi Qingyao thought for a bit. Fearing that Zhang Tieyuan would not be able to stand the mental shock later, she immediately flipped the dice cup and said, “Why not have the village head open it?”
“No, I’ll open it. I want to open it,” Zhang Tieyuan insisted.
He was a little superstitious.
He was afraid that he would have bad luck if the village head touched the dice cup.
Qi Qingyao continued without refuting him, “Open it then.”
“It must be one, two, three, six on the low again,” Zhang Tieyuan muttered as he opened the dice cup.
He was not mentally prepared at all.
That was because he had assumed that it would be the customary six on the low again this round.
Zhang Cuiyun, his son, his daughter-in-law, and everyone else watching by the side craned their necks to look down at the dice cup.
The air seemed to have frozen then.
One second felt to stretch a century.
After a few seconds, only then did someone let out a sound of surprise.
“Huh?”
“It’s not six on the low this time.”
“How many points is this?”
“Eighteen points! It’s eighteen points, a straight kill! Oh my God.”
“Eighteen points…that’s the highest one. The likelihood of getting it when shaking the dice cup is minuscule.”
“This time Old Man Zhang…”
“Screwed up.”
When Zhang Cuiyun realized that they were sure to lose this round, she instantly howled, “Father! I told you you shouldn’t bet on the last one. Look at this!”
Zhang Tieyuan’s mind was completely blank while the people around him were already making a fuss. His mind had long ground to a halt. It was Zhang Cuiyun’s voice that dragged his soul back.
Looking at the eighteen points, He tried to fight against his worry and panic.
He turned his head and flared.
“What are you crying about? Stop f*cking wailing so dismally! You guys start crying even before I shook mine. You’re crying all the f*cking luck away!
“Who said I’d lose!!”
“Just wait and see. I only need eighteen points to tie with you and this round will fall through! Then, I can bet against you again.” Zhang Tieyuan’s eyes were glowing like a torch as he glared fiercely at Qi Qingyao.
Zhang Cuiyun heard this and thought, ‘That’s right, there’s still a chance.’
They could not give up.
Maybe they would be able to turn the tables around.
Zhang Tieyuan’s son and daughter-in-law looked absolutely ghastly. Zhang Cuiyun hastily dragged the two of them to the door and knelt down together. They started kowtowing to God with all their might, uttering “This round has to be a tie! A tie, a tie!” repeatedly.
As the few of them were done kowtowing, they also could no longer hear the sound of the shaking dice cup from behind them. It felt as if their entire bodies had fallen into an ice cellar. The dice cup clearly had not been opened, but an invisible tension had enveloped everyone.
The son got up and noticed that his father’s hands were shaking.
He then gritted his teeth and said.
“Father, let me open it.”
“I—I want—I want to open it myself.”
Zhang Tieyuan glanced at the calm young lady opposite him and gulped hard. Shortly after, he closed his eyes and opened the dice cup forcibly.
He did not even dare to look.
Every onlookers’ heart sank completely after they saw it. It was his loss in the end.