Chapter Seven: A Full House Can't Win Against a Straight Flush
While queuing in the hospital cafeteria, Cheng Yin discovered for the first time that she could understand some of the Cantonese conversations.
"Two servings of char siu rice, and one serving of braised greens," the uncle in front said.
"Thirty-eight, thank you," the cashier replied.
Simple numbers and dish names are automatically translated into Mandarin in her mind.
These past few days, she has been using a mobile app to study Cantonese for four hours every day, with the same focus she had when preparing for the college entrance examination.
Lai Yiu-tung is right, her pronunciation is indeed very poor, but her hearing is improving rapidly.
"What do you want?" the cashier asked, turning to her.
Cheng Yin opened her mouth, trying to answer in plain language: "A serving of...plain congee and...fried dough sticks."
The cashier raised an eyebrow and switched to Mandarin: "Out of town? The fried dough sticks need to be freshly fried; wait five minutes."
Cheng Yin nodded, paid the money, and stood aside.
She walked to the nurses' station and pieced together her question using the colloquial words she had just learned: "Excuse me...Mr. Xu...where are you located?"
The nurse understood: "Mr. Xu? He was discharged an hour ago."
Xu Chen's rib injury hasn't healed yet; the doctor said he needs to be observed for at least a week.
She dialed Xu Chen's number, and it rang for a long time before being answered.
"Hello?" Xu Chen's voice was very low, with noisy background noise.
"Where did you go?" Cheng Yin asked. "The doctor didn't say you could be discharged."
"Something came up," Xu Chen said vaguely. "I'll be back at the hospital later."
"What's up?"
There was a pause on the other end of the phone: "...a gathering of friends."
Cheng Yin realized he was lying. Xu Chen had no friends in Macau, except for the shady buddies he'd met at the casinos.
Just as she was about to ask again, the call was suddenly disconnected. When she called back, the phone was switched off.
Cheng Yin stood in the middle of the corridor, staring at her phone screen.
She opened her notes app and wrote in document "C": "August 18: Xu Chen left the hospital without permission, suspected of meeting with gambling friends."
I had just saved the file when a text message popped up.
As the taxi drove through the Haojiang Peninsula, she recalled the number in her memo: 240,000. For ordinary people, it was a huge sum of money, but in a casino, it might just be the result of winning or losing a single hand of cards.
Xu Shen once boasted that he had won 500,000 yuan in one night, but more often than not, he lost everything and needed her to send him money to get home.
The Golden Hall in Golden City is even more luxurious than that of Gaber.
Cheng Yin followed the waiter through the maze-like corridors and finally stopped in front of a large black door.
After the waiter swiped his card, the door slid open silently.
The private room was filled with smoke, and five or six people sat around the gambling table in the center.
Li Yaodong sat on a sofa not far away, toying with a gold chip in his hand. Seeing Cheng Yin, he nodded slightly, gesturing for her to come over.
"Do you understand what they're doing?" Li Yaodong whispered in her ear.
Cheng Yin shook her head; she only recognized the suits of playing cards, not the rules.
"Texas Hold'em," Li Yaodong switched to Mandarin, "Mr. Xu has already lost 120,000."
120,000 yuan—half a year's salary for her. Where did Xu Chen get the money?
A new round of card dealing begins.
Xu Chen's eyes lit up after receiving his two cards. He pushed out all his chips: "All in."
The other players folded one after another, leaving only one middle-aged man to call.
As the dealer dealt the community cards, Xu Chen's hand trembled slightly.
When the last river card was revealed, he jumped up, his chair crashing to the ground with a loud thud.
"Full house!" Xu Chen revealed his cards, his voice hoarse. "I won!"
The middle-aged man smiled and revealed a flush.
Xu Chen's expression froze. He stared at the other person's cards, his lips trembling: "No...impossible..."
The dealer took away his last chips. Xu Chen slumped in his chair, his eyes vacant.
Cheng Yin tried to step forward, but Li Yaodong pressed down on her shoulder. "Watch," he said softly, "this is what a gambler is like."
For the next half hour, Cheng Yin witnessed Xu Chen's entire breakdown.
He borrowed money to continue gambling, winning small rounds but losing big ones, like a fish on a fishing line, biting the hook for a little taste of success. Every time he lost everything, he stared at the card table with even fiercer eyes, as if the green velvet table was his father's killer.
"He borrowed money from loan sharks," Li Yaodong explained. "My loan sharks."
But the result was only that they owed even more.
The final round ended, and Xu Chen's desk was empty. He sat there blankly for a few seconds, then suddenly sprang to his feet, overturning his chair: "You cheated! You guys definitely cheated!"
Security guards immediately surrounded him. Xu Chen grabbed a bottle, but was easily subdued and his face was pressed against the gambling table, rendering him unable to move.
The middle-aged man adjusted his cufflinks and sneered, "If you can't handle losing, don't play."
Only then did Li Yaodong step forward: "Let him go."
The security guard immediately released her. Xu Chen straightened up, and his expression changed drastically the moment he saw Cheng Yin: "What are you doing here?"
Cheng Yin didn't answer, but just looked at his swollen lips and disheveled collar.
Xu Chen avoided her gaze and turned to Li Yaodong: "I'll pay you back this time! Give me a week!"
Li Yaodong smiled: "How can I repay you? You're penniless right now."
Xu Chen gritted his teeth: "I still have... one hand."
The private room fell silent instantly.
Li Yaodong raised an eyebrow, seemingly quite interested in the suggestion. He walked to the gambling table, picked up a cigar cutter, and lightly tapped the surface with his index finger: "Left hand or right hand?"
Xu Chen extended his right hand and placed it on the green velvet cloth: "This one."
Cheng Yin watched as the cigar cutter gleamed under the light. Li Yaodong's slender fingers slipped into the ring, pressed down gently, and then snapped back, as if assessing its sharpness.
The sizzling sound of the razor blade closing echoed in the suffocating private room.
"No," Cheng Yin suddenly said.
All eyes turned to her.
Cheng Yin walked to the gambling table, her voice soft but clear: "I don't agree to use his hands to pay off the debt."
Xu Chen suddenly looked up: "Cheng Yin! This is none of your business!"
"Of course it's her business." Li Yaodong put down his cigar cutter. "As the creditor, I have the right to choose how to repay, don't I?"
Cheng Yin and Li Yaodong exchanged glances: "What do you want?"
Li Yaodong laughed. He walked around the gambling table, stood in front of Cheng Yin, and looked down at her: "I want you to slap him."
Cheng Yin didn't move.
"Now," Li Yaodong added, "hit hard."
"Or," Li Yaodong picked up the cigar cutter, "I'll take his hand away, one cigar at a time... You choose."
Cheng Yin turned to Xu Chen. His right hand was still lying on the gambling table, his knuckles thick and large, with scars from fights on the back of his hand. This hand had tied her shoelaces, and it had also slapped her; it had handed her chocolates, and it had also pushed her into a garbage dump.
Cheng Yin raised her hand and, before anyone could react, delivered a heavy slap to Xu Chen's face.
"Smack!"
The sound echoed throughout the entire private room.
Xu Chen's face was turned to the side, and a red palm print quickly appeared on his left cheek.
He slowly turned back, a trickle of blood seeping from the corner of his mouth, but suddenly smiled. "Well done." He licked the blood from his lips. "Want one more?"
Cheng Yin's hands hung at her sides, trembling slightly.
Xu Chen's laughter grew louder and louder, until it almost turned into a sob.
Li Yaodong clapped his hands, signaling the end of the betting game. The others left one after another, leaving only the three of them standing in the empty private room.
Li Yaodong put down his cigar cutter: "If you choose to be slapped today, you might not tomorrow."
Xu Chen stood in front of Cheng Yin: "Come at me if you have a problem!"
Li Yaodong glanced at him contemptuously: "You're not even qualified to be a bargaining chip." He turned to Cheng Yin, "Tomorrow afternoon at three o'clock, the usual place. Wear the dress I gave you."
Cheng Yin nodded.
Xu Chen wanted to say something, but was dragged out of the private room by Li Yaodong's bodyguards.
After the door closed, Lai Yiu-tung suddenly asked, "Do you understand why I made you hit him?"
Cheng Yin understood most of it. She tried to reply in plain language, "You want to...see my reaction."
Li Yaodong laughed: "Your pronunciation is still terrible." He switched back to Mandarin, "But you answered correctly. I want to see just how deep your loyalty truly is."
Cheng Yin did not answer.
Li Yaodong straightened his cuffs and suddenly asked, "Do you know why he was laughing?"
Cheng Yin shook her head.
"Because of guilt." Li Yaodong walked towards the door. "Even scum can feel guilt, only their way of expressing it is more distorted."
After the door to the private room closed, Cheng Yin remained standing there.
Cheng Yin wiped away the bloodstains with a tissue and put away the cigar cutter on the table. The blade was very sharp; a light slash could cut through the skin.
As I left Golden Night City, the sun was setting below the horizon.
Cheng Yin sat down next to him, took out the iced mineral water she had just bought, and gently pressed it against his face.
Xu Chen trembled, but did not dodge.
"Does it hurt?" she asked.
Xu Chen shook his head, then suddenly grabbed her wrist: "Why?"
"Why what?"
"Why...didn't you hit me a second time?" Xu Chen's voice was hoarse. "You could have hit me a few more times."
Cheng Yin looked at his red eyes: "Just once is enough."
Xu Shen released his grip and lay back down.
In the distance, the Haojiang Tower began to light up, its slender structure resembling a sharp sword piercing the night sky.
That wasn't a threat; it was just stating a fact.
Xu Chen suddenly said, "When I was a child, every time I did something wrong, I hoped someone would beat me up badly."
"But my dad doesn't care about me, and my mom just cries." His voice was soft. "So I started messing around, fighting, stealing, and escalating things... just to see if anyone would actually care enough to want to beat me up."
"So I was quite happy just now." Xu Chen turned his head, a strange smile playing on his lips. "Finally, someone's willing to beat me up."
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
