"What's wrong with Fourth Cousin?" Zhu Jiayu asked curiously.
Qiu Songdao glanced at her; she looked like a drooping foxtail grass, utterly listless.
Instead, Qiu Zhuqing spoke up, contrary to her usual self: "It's just a loss. It's a good thing, though. Now that we've lost our stake, Fourth Brother can focus his mind on the right path."
His expression was solemn, making it impossible to tell whether he was joking or genuinely sincere.
Whether it was a sincere remark or a joke, it was like stabbing Qiu Songdao in the heart: "I'm already in such a bad situation, I've lost all my savings for my wife, can't you say a few less words, Second Brother?"
Qiu Zhu looked at him and said, "A gentleman abstains from two things: gambling and lust. You are not yet deeply involved, so consider this small amount of money as a lesson to teach you a lesson. Once you are deeply involved, no amount of lessons will be able to save you. I would rather you lose all your money today than lose your life in the future."
Qiu Songdao gritted his teeth and looked at him, clearly not listening to what he said, but due to his elder brother's consistent authority, he dared not refute him.
Zhu Jiayu thought for a moment, then cleverly stepped in front of Qiu Zhuqing and looked at Qiu Song, saying, "Fourth cousin, why are you so bitter and resentful? It's just that you lost some money. I happened to bring some money with me today, so how about I accompany you to win back the money you lost?"
Qiu Zhuqing was about to stop him when he suddenly saw Zhu Jiayu turn around and wink at him. He immediately swallowed back the words he was about to say, thinking that it wouldn't be too late to speak up and dissuade him if things went wrong later.
There was no way around it; he now had complete faith in his cousin's abilities. When he was writing the essay, he almost decided to approach the topic in his usual way, but at the last minute, he remembered his cousin's words: "Right and wrong are not important, nor are your own opinions; what matters is the topic itself."
It was thanks to his cousin's guidance that he achieved his current success.
Now he trusts his cousin more than anyone else.
Qiu Songdao originally wanted to refuse. In his opinion, Zhu Jiayu was not as good as Qiu Lingyan. At least his third sister had frequented brothels, gambling dens and money exchanges with him. But what did a little girl like Zhu Jiayu know? What worldly experience did she have? Did she know the games in gambling dens? How dare she so shamelessly say that she would help him win his money back?
Seeing that his second brother did not refuse and seemed to tacitly approve, Qiu Songdao, as if possessed, blurted out "okay" instead of the words of refusal that were on the tip of his tongue.
As soon as he said it, he wanted to take it back.
However, Zhu Jiayu spoke up before him, saying to the coachman, "Go to the gambling den that Fourth Cousin has been frequenting lately."
The coachman was the Qiu family's coachman, and he knew the whereabouts of the Qiu family's young masters and ladies like the back of his hand. Naturally, he knew which gambling den Qiu Songdao frequented.
After about fifteen minutes, the carriage slowly came to a stop. Qiu Songdao saw Zhu Jiayu lift the curtain, and what came into view was the famous Zhengyuan Gambling House in Heling City.
Zhu Jiayu had already gotten up to get off the carriage when Qiu Songdao finally couldn't help but look at his second brother sitting beside him: "Are you just going to let her run wild like this? This is not an ordinary place. A little girl like her, once she goes in, I'm afraid she won't come out so easily."
They might even end up like him, losing their entire fortune in the process.
Will Zhu Jiayu cry then?
Qiu Songdao thought about it more and more and felt it was unreliable, but Qiu Zhuqing didn't say a word and just silently followed Zhu Jiayu out of the car.
Qiu Songdao touched his nose and stopped talking, wanting to see what kind of trouble Zhu Jiayu could cause.
Unexpectedly, after getting off the carriage, Zhu Jiayu did not go straight into the gambling house, but walked up to a middle-aged man who was hugging his knees.
The man's face was dark, his eyes were bloodshot, and his gaze was dull and lifeless, just like the gamblers coming and going in this casino.
Qiu Songdao walked over and heard her ask the man, "How much did you lose?"
The man slowly raised his head, grinning in a smile that was more like a grimace: "I've lost my ancestral home. This is no good place. Young lady, you should go home."
"I'll give you the initial capital. Can you guarantee you'll win it back?" Zhu Jiayu looked at the man, her eyes devoid of any emotion, and asked calmly.
Seeing that Qiu Zhuqing still showed no intention of speaking, Qiu Songdao couldn't help but squeeze next to her and whispered sharply, "Are you crazy? Do you know what you're saying?"
Zhu Jiayu turned to look at him and pulled him aside: "Fourth cousin, I've heard that when people are in dire straits, they can unleash courage and wisdom they don't usually have. Look how pitiful he is. If I don't help him, wouldn't he, a sinner who has lost his ancestral home in the gambling den, have no choice but to die?"
"Wouldn't you be the same if you were in that situation? Even if you lost everything, you'd still think, 'If I gave you a little more capital, I'm sure you could turn things around,' right?"
After saying that, she walked up to the man and said, "Get up. I have five taels of silver on me. Take it and play a game. No matter what, we have to win back the ancestral home, right?"
The man tremblingly reached out his hand, seemingly unable to believe that such a stroke of good fortune could actually happen. After finally holding the money bag in his hand and confirming that it was all real, he almost burst into tears.
"Thank you, Miss, thank you, Miss, you are such a kind person..." He thanked her repeatedly, and after speaking, a resolute look flashed in his eyes as he walked into the gambling house.
Zhu Jiayu walked behind and said to Qiu Zhuqing and his brother, "Let's go, let's go and take a look too."
Instead of wandering around, the man returned to the gambling table where he had just lost his ancestral home and angrily threw his money bag onto the table.
The lively atmosphere froze for a moment because of his appearance and actions. Some people who knew him were surprised to see him return: "Wu Laosan, what are you doing here again? You've already lost the ancestral home. Don't lose everything you have left!"
The man called Wu Laosan swept his fierce gaze over everyone sitting or standing around the gambling table, and sneered, "Enough with the nonsense!"
He stared intently at the dice cup in the dealer's hand: "Shake it! Why aren't you shaking it anymore?"
The dealer then seemed to wake from a dream and hurriedly shook the dice cup in his hand.
Wu Laosan stared intently at the movements in his hands, holding his breath, afraid of missing the slightest sound.
The dice cup finally stopped, and he firmly pushed his money bag onto the disc in front of him that was marked "Small": "I bet on Small!"
Zhu Jiayu, who had just returned after circling around, saw his actions and told Qiu Zhuqing and the other person what she had found out: "This Wu Laosan has always been lucky. At his best, he has even won more than twenty taels of silver in a single day."
“He was originally a hardworking person, but after that, he fell in love with the feeling of getting something for nothing. He stopped tending to the crops in the fields and feeding the livestock at home. He just sat in the gambling den and took care of his eating, drinking and relieving himself there.”
"Does Fourth Cousin think he will win or lose this time?"
As Zhu Jiayu finished speaking, the dealer happened to lift the dice cup, and Qiu Songdao unconsciously turned his gaze towards it—
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