Denghuaxiao

Chapter 32 The Gambler

 The Happy Building always seems to be filled with all the bliss in the world.

 Pai Gow, cockfighting, cricket fighting, dice, pot throwing... whatever is available on the market, Happy House has it.

The people who come to play in this building are all gamblers. There is no wind, rain or cold weather outside. There are only gamblers drinking pheasant and hulu at the card table, either ecstatically proud or looking tired. No matter whether one is poor or rich, comes from a noble family or comes from a poor family, once he is on the gambling table, he is like a monkey with human skin shed, with only greed and madness in his eyes.

There is a group of people gathered around the table under the lamp in the corner. Two people are sitting opposite each other at the table. One of them is a young man in Tsing Yi, who is thin and delicate. Opposite him was a man in a brown coat, who seemed to be in the mood for gambling. Although his face was tired, his eyes were shining.

Wan Quan was extremely happy.

He just learned how to gamble a few days ago, and he was just enjoying it. Some gossip told him that I was lucky. His father beat him up and kept him at home for a few days. On this day, I accidentally overheard people gossiping in front of the door, saying that the gambling hall in the alley was nothing, and that the Happy House on Qinghe Street was the number one gambling house in Shengjing.

 The speaker only thought of what the Happy Tower said about the existence of heaven and earth, and made his heart itch for everything. Taking advantage of the fact that Grandma Ke's birthday was coming up in the past few days, her mother and I were all busy with the birthday party in Ke's house, so Wanquan got the chance to sneak out.

As soon as he came out, he went straight to the Happy Building. As soon as I came in, I saw that there were all types of gambling here. There are a lot of people here, and from time to time, there are gambling shop clerks bringing rice wine to the gamblers.

The more you drink, the more excited you become, and the more you become addicted, the bigger the bet becomes.

Wan Quan is lucky today. He has not lost a single hand since he arrived at the Happy House. The boy surnamed Zheng opposite him was about to lose all the twenty taels of silver he brought with him.

That "Mr. Zheng" seemed to feel that he was unlucky. He gritted his teeth and took out a few more coins and placed them on the table: "Sigh, it's boring to bet like this, why not bet something bigger!"

Wan Quan laughed secretly in his heart. He was afraid that he might have lost his head in anger, but there was no reason not to slaughter the fat sheep he had obtained, so he laughed and said, "Just bet!"

"Then take one tael of silver as the base, double it to two taels of silver in the next game, then four taels of silver in the next game, and then..."

 “Okay—” “Mr. Zheng” finished speaking in one breath, and the crowd started to make noises.

 The atmosphere was overwhelming, and Wanquan had no reason to refuse. He rolled up his sleeves, drank the hot wine brought by the waiter, and put the dice on the table: "Come here!"

 The atmosphere was even more lively than before, but the good luck seemed to have ended here.

 Next, he lost several games in a row until he lost all the pieces he had just won. He was so angry that the tip of his nose was sweating. Looking at Young Master Zheng across from him again, his previous despondency was gone, and he was filled with pride.

"Are you still betting?" Mr. Zheng asked him, with a look of ridicule in his eyes.

Wan Quan was a little hesitant.

 He has lost all his money, but...he still has some banknotes in his arms.

The new eldest grandma of the Ke family, Qin, is a strict housekeeper. The uncle of the Ke family is short of money. He has several private properties behind his back, and he still collects a lot of money every year. Uncle Ke was afraid that his wife would find out that he had collected several years' rent in the previous month and asked Wanfu to take care of it for him. The total amount of those banknotes was less than two thousand.

When I came to the Happy House tonight, Wanquan heard someone say that the Happy House is not like an ordinary gambling house. It does not allow shabby people to enter. You must have a thousand taels of silver to enter the building. He pried open the box and took the silver with him, just to show off. Unexpectedly, he entered this place without anyone checking it.

Now, he has lost so much that he has no chips and only these banknotes are left.

Wan Quan was a little hesitant. After all, this was not his money. In a few days, Uncle Ke would ask his father to use it.

Mr. Zheng on the other side seemed to be impatient with waiting. He just poured the winning money into his own baggage. Hearing "crash la la" made people upset. Mr. Zheng smiled and said: "Brother Wan, do you want to bet? No, little brother." Gonna go home and sleep—"

The smile on his face was particularly dazzling. Wanquan's head was hot, and a smell of alcohol rushed into the vestibule, shouting: "Here, one more!"

Upstairs, Lu Zhuo stood in front of the railing, looking at Wan Quan who was gambling with Yin Zheng, and smiled slightly.

 The fish is hooked.

 The son of Ke Chengxing's confidant is not as cautious as his father. It is much easier to get close to him than to get close to Wanfu.

She just asked Wanquan to casually say a few words about the news about Happy House in front of Wanquan's door, and Wanquan couldn't wait to come to the gambling house at night to visit Fengcai.

Yin Zheng fell into the entertainment scene when she was young, and has already become a proficient dice player. It is really easy to induce a complete gambling addiction.

Yun Niang once said with a smile to her: Xiaoqi, let me tell you, if you hate someone, poison that person until his internal organs rot, and then you can relieve your hatred.

  Gambling addiction...   That is also a kind of poison that is difficult to cure.

Lu Zong's eyes were dim and he stared at the people downstairs quietly.

 Wanquan under the lamp began to tremble.

His good luck has come to an end, but his bad luck is endless.

The opponent's doubling seemed careless, but the handfuls became bigger and bigger, and the banknotes were withdrawn like water. Every time, he thought that he would definitely win the next one. But the next time, it seemed that the God of Wealth still failed to favor him.

The smell of alcohol gradually hit his head, his face turned red, and his eyes were also red. He didn't know how much he had lost, but when he touched his arms again, they found nothing.

Gone?

How can it be?

That’s two thousand taels of silver!

Wanquan was confused. The wind blew open the window outside, and a gust of cold night rain hit his face. The excitement of the alcohol dissipated and he became slightly sober.

 “I, how much did I lose?” he said in confusion.

The man counting beside him smiled and said, "You lost a total of five thousand taels of silver."

"Five thousand taels?" Wan Quan looked at him blankly, "Where did I get five thousand taels?"

He only brought two thousand taels of silver with him. Where did he get the five thousand taels?

"You don't have enough money, so you wrote a deed in the name of the Ke family in the south of the city." The young man's smile was still enthusiastic, "Are you drunk and don't remember?"

 It’s as safe as being struck by lightning.

 He wrote a deed of arrears?

 When did he write the deed of debt?

He was just gambling with Mr. Zheng. He lost a lot, but how could he export five thousand taels of silver in such a short time?

 Mr. Zheng... By the way, where is Mr. Zheng?

Wan Quan raised his eyes and saw that there was a huge crowd across the gambling table, with mocking faces facing him, but Mr. Zheng was nowhere to be seen.

 Wrong…wrong…

 He was fooled!

 The boy smiled and asked, "Master, are you still playing?"

Wan Quan pushed the table forward: "What are you playing for? You guys are cheating in this gambling house and cheating people!"

As soon as he finished speaking, the smile on the young man's face disappeared, and his voice became gloomy: "Young Master wants to deny it."

“Who wants to default on the bill?” Another voice called out, and a tall man walked down from the depths of the gambling den. This man had a sinister face and a fierce look, which made people fearful at first sight.

Wan Quan flinched and saw a man in gray following behind this man. The man in gray is thin and half-blocked by the person in front of him. His face cannot be seen clearly. He seems to be very young.

The young man spoke with a cold voice, but Wanquan was instantly troubled.

He said: "Master Cao, since the other party wants to default on the debt, he should follow the rules of Kuaihuolou, one hundred taels of silver per finger."

The boy next to him hesitated: "But he owes three thousand taels."

The man said calmly: "Then remove the fingers and toes."

 (End of this chapter)