Chapter 336: Killing Time in Casino
"Yun'er, there's an incident…" Miaomiao rubbed his temples and told her about the recent encounter with Sun Bofu on the phone. At this moment, he needed her help the most.
First off, Miaomiao needed more intel about Sun Bofu's personality to determine his next actions.
[Okay, I think that idiot doesn't know about me. You see, Sun Bofu isn't a very bright child. He's a muscle-head, and he isn't someone who can act without the guideline from his best friend or his father.]
"Tell me more," Miaomiao was interested in Sun Bofu's background since he seemed smarter than what Sun Yun had described.
[If I remember correctly before I left Jianye, Sun Bofu has a… boyfriend.]
"… Boyfriend?" Miaomiao's face darkened.
[You heard me right. He swings that way. I don't know if his taste is still the same or not, but his boyfriend was quite a handsome boy. If I remember correctly, he was a genius from the Zhou Family. I forgot his name.]
"That's good enough, Yun'er. I get the idea."
Historically, Sun Ce had a sworn brother, Zhou Yu. This man was one of the pillars of the Sun Clan, and he was the key player in the famous battle in Romance of the Three Kingdoms, the Battle of Chibi.
If this Zhou guy of this world was the counterpart of Zhou Yu, it might explain why Sun Bofu had been relying on this guy. But for now, his existence was irrelevant to the issues at hand.
"For now, Yun'er. I need you to call your parents again. Tell them that you've sent me here to negotiate for a truce since you're now the resident of the Siren City. Also, don't make it sound like you're a hostage since they might kill me on the spot if something goes wrong."
[Sure! Do you want me to contact Sun Wentai, too?]
"If you have his number, please do so. Also, I'm participating in the Tiger Sect's assessment test or whatever annual exam tomorrow. You need to contact them and lay the groundwork for me."
[You're quite reckless, master. We told you to infiltrate the city, but why is your status exposed so soon?]
"That asshole cousin of yours found me first! I don't know how, but his nose is too sharp! That's probably the work of his boyfriend, too!"
[Ah, I'll hurry and tell them about it. Just stay low and don't provoke them, okay?]
"Yeah, I won't cause any trouble. Just put on a good word for me."
[Sure, sure. I'll call them now.]
Sun Yun hung up the phone.
Miaomiao sighed and closed his eyes while his right forearm rested on his forehead. He leaned his neck against the sofa as if he wanted to take a nap.
As Miaomiao had been resting, a bunny girl walked over and served him a glass of cocktail and a plate of spirit fruits. All items were specially made by the casino, which contained medicinal effects that could relieve stress.
As Miaomiao could sense the faint yin Qi from the fruit and the cocktail, he slightly opened his eyes and gazed at the casino worker.
"This place is quite thorough. You even know that I'm having a headache."
The girl smiled and nodded, "We were trained to observe our customers and their emotions. You look like you have a lot in your mind."
"Yeah…" Miaomiao picked up the glass of cocktail and sipped it. He also tossed a green chip to the girl as a tip.
The girl caught the tip and bowed, after which she left Miaomiao alone.
Miaomiao admired how the Sun Clan managed to imitate a modern casino and train their employees to this extent. By staying in this place for less than a day, Miaomiao almost thought that he had returned to the modern world.
It was too comfortable to the point that it was scary!
'They're good. But who the hell came up with this casino scheme and their employee training!? Surely, the one responsible for this place is 1,000% from my world!'
The existence of a modern reincarnator or a transmigrator that had built this place scared Miaomiao. Since this place might have been here for decades, the progress of the hidden transmigrator might have been so advanced that he might have gone to other stronger realms.
'I just hope that the guy is the dungeon master or anyone that has left this world. I don't want to meet a fully grown protagonist here…'
It took Miaomiao several minutes to calm down. For the sake of forgetting all worries, Miaomiao stood up and walked toward a game table.
An elderly dealer in a dark brown robe had been watching over his playerless card table for a long time. His stature and size were the same as Arnold Schwarzenegger in his prime time. His bald head, thick mustache, and long white beard reminded Miaomiao of Master Yoshi in his buffed form.
Miaomiao ignored the core pillar cultivation base of this elder and sat on the table. Then, he checked the betting rate sign on this table.
It was a high-stake table with a minimum bet of 100,000 refined stones to 10 million refined stones.
"Young man, this is a high-stake table. Would you like to play here?" The elder was polite despite being a lot stronger than Miaomiao.
Miaomiao appreciated the warning. However, since he preferred a quiet environment to kill his time before the exam tomorrow, he decided to waste his remaining chips here.
"Yes, please. What game are we playing here?"
The baize green table looked similar to modern Blackjack tables. However, there was no insurance zone to place a bet.
The elder took out a card box and 10 brand new paper card packs, after which he skillfully laid them in front of Miaomiao to examine every card.
"We play Tiger-21 here. Do you know the rules?"
"Tell me."
The elder explained the rules. The game was similar to modern blackjack, but each player could only hit once. No double-down, no split, and no insurance could be bet. Furthermore, there was no Jack, Queen, or King among the cards.
Fortunately, players got to choose if the dealer or the player could hit a card first. It left a leeway to avoid busting his cards if the dealer had bad open cards.
"Quite an odd game. Won't the house be at a disadvantage if I can ask you to hit first every game?"
The elder snickered, "If you ask the dealer to hit first and you win, you get only 50% of your winning bet."
"Ah, that explains it."
Miaomiao was aware that the casino always had the upper hand in every game. After all, they played with statistics and math to earn money from their customers.
This game, too, was unfair for the players. Yet, Miaomiao didn't care. He put 100 green chips on the table.
"Let's play."
"Very well. How many decks are we playing?"
"You can use 10 or 20 decks. It's the same."
"Of course," The elder shuffled 20 decks into the card box and began dealing cards.
…
Despite playing with high-stakes, Miaomiao sat there for hours, dueling with Master Yoshi in the Tiger-21 game.
It was difficult to get 20 or 21 with no extra 10 cards. However, Miaomiao took his time and played with the dealer's cards. 70% of the total of 500 games, he asked the elder to draw first. He also won more than he lost. Secondly, Miaomiao kept betting 100 chips every time, being consistent regardless of the wins and losses.
All non-refundable chips had been exchanged into exchangeable chips. Currently, Miaomiao's assets had increased by 1,500 green chips.
The elder smiled as he also enjoyed playing and killing his time with Miaomiao. Unlike other customers who made a big deal over their wins or their losses, he liked Miaomiao's emotionless face and his relaxed manner. It made his job a lot easier.
Unfortunately, at 3 AM, someone broke their tranquil moment.
"Yo!! This guy is fucking brave! He's playing with Senior Huang!"
"Who is that daredevil!? Doesn't he know that Senior Huang has bankrupted all players that he doesn't like? Why the fuck is he challenging him in a duel!?"
Two of the wondering players spotted Miaomiao and the elderly dealer having a card duel. They started making noise and attracting other player's attention.
Miaomiao and Senior Huang frowned in annoyance. They disliked commotion and spectators, and these people irritated him with their loud voice.
Miaomiao gazed at the elder's face, revealing a bitter smile. The elder also shook his head and sighed.
"I guess my fun time is over," The elder lamented.
"I'm supposed to have fun here, not the other way around."
"Hahaha! Well, someone has to enjoy his work if he wants a better result!"
"You're losing a lot of chips to me, though."
"That's fine, too! Keeping you entertained is one of our mottos, so you can come back to lose your money later."
"Fair enough, Hahaha!"
As Miaomiao and the elder were laughing, the customers gathered around their table to spectate the game. Upon hearing that they were about to quit playing, they were disappointed.
Miaomiao glanced at the crowd and checked the clock. Seeing the time, he stood up and put all chips on the betting squire.
"Since it's the last game, I'm all-in."
The elder raised his eyebrows, "Are you sure? Haven't you been counting cards? Most 10s have already been played."
It was a common tactic for players to count cards as they played. There was no rule against players who counted cards here.
"Like I care. Let's have a showdown for real."
"I see."
The total chips on the table were worth 2.5 million refined stones, which was nothing in the eyes of Miaomiao. However, for the local cultivators and the customers of this floor, they murmured and cheered, delighted to watch a big game.
The elder grinned as he dealt cards from the box. He revealed Miaomiao's two cards – Three and Ace, which made it either fourteen or four.
As for Senior Huang's open card, it was nine.
In this game, a dealer couldn't stand if their total point was below 17. With the Nine card, he was likely to have a favorable score.
However, both men were aware that the 10 cards were scarce. It was likely that the hidden card might be a low-value card, which made the game harder to predict.
As Miaomiao had been gazing at his cards and being in deep thought, Dion offered him a hand.
Ding
[You can pay one luck point to see the dealer's card and the two next cards.]
[Would you like to cheat a little?]
Since it was the last game, Miaomiao didn't mind wasting his precious luck point a bit.
'Do it. Show me the cards.'
[Affirmative.]
A semi-transparent screen appeared in front of Miaomiao, and he was the only one who could see it. It displayed Miaomiao's cards and the dealer's cards.
The elder had 9 and 5!
Miaomiao was relieved that the dealer didn't have the Ten card. Otherwise, this game would have been almost impossible since he needed specific cards to win.
He checked the drawable cards next.
The first card was 7 and the second card was 8.
'Oh? That's my card then.'
Seeing that the next card was 7 and Miaomiao had 14 points in his hand, he made the decision.
"Hit me, please."
The elder squinted his eyes and passed the card to Miaomiao. Then, he revealed the card.
It was 8. Miaomiao ended up having only 12 points with Three, Ace, and Eight.
The 7 card was still in the box. The elder had just swapped the card without anyone noticing.
"Hoh?"
Although Miaomiao was aware that the elder had just cheated, he didn't make a fuss. He simply smirked as if he had mocked this senior for his petty move.
The elder also looked into Miaomiao's eyes, but he pretended that he had done nothing wrong. He revealed his hidden card.
"Nine-Five, Fourteen. Drawing the next card."
The elder drew the 7 that Miaomiao had wanted. He won.
The spectating crowd was disappointed and gave Miaomiao a pitiful look.
"Figured. He asked for it."
"No one can beat the elder without using Qi. He's too good at this game!"
"He should have quit when he has the upper hand. What an idiot."
Despite being mocked, Miaomiao shrugged and ignored all comments, "Ah, too bad."
The elder expressionlessly collected all chips and sorted his remaining cards, "Bad luck. Please come back next time."
"Haha! Next time, please show MERCY to your customer. You might scare a hidden Megalodon among the crowd with that PETTY move."
The elder paused for a moment. He gave Miaomiao a meaningful look before he turned his attention to his chip trays, filling Miaomiao's former chips into the containers, "No Megalodon will complain if they lose a couple essence cores, especially when he has just paid them as a tuition fee. In this world, greed will do you no good."
"Hah! Thanks for the lesson. Tell that to your lord later when we meet tomorrow… Senior Huang."
"Hmm."
Miaomiao walked away from the table. As the elder had said, losing one or two essence cores was nothing for him, who had just robbed the Liu Clan's entire vault.
What mattered the most here was the first impression, and that elder failed to impress Miaomiao since he cheated the last game. Though Miaomiao couldn't complain since he also cheated.
Miaomiao didn't return to his room. He calmly strolled to the free-food lounge and wasted his time here, ordering free food and drinks. He spent the rest of the early morning here until dawn.
…
Elder Huang Gongfu, aka the dealer that had played with Miaomiao, had been observing the latter since they had finished the last game.
At first, he had thought that Miaomiao was being greedy in the last hand. However, seeing his calm reaction, the elder regretted offending this youth. He called his superior on phone, asking for permission to give Miaomiao something to reconcile.
The boss that the elder had called was none other than Sun Wentai.
"Grandmaster Sun, I have a favor to ask you."
[Gongfu? Is there something wrong?]
"I've just played a bad hand against someone I shouldn't have offended. I wish to ask you for permission to give that person some boons to keep him happy."
[Hah? That's rare coming from you. You usually mercilessly robbed every player on your table. If I remember correctly, you were in charge of monitoring the VIP candidates in the casino today. Who did you offend? Did a brat provoke you and you beat the shit out of them?]
"Master, I never beat any youngster even if they were arrogant idiots from the Yuan Clan. The thing is, the person I offended might be a hidden dragon. He just lost two essence cores worth of chips to me, but he didn't even flinch. He also hinted that he was a hidden Megalodon here."
[…]
"Requesting permission to reimburse that youngster, sir."
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