Shen Yi wanted to see what her father was up to.
Aside from murder, arson, and using electronic technology for various illegal schemes, could Shen Sixing really have another way to make money?
The house they had bought was in the city center, close to all kinds of entertainment venues. To save money, Shen Sixing hadn’t taken a taxi. He had walked instead.
He moved quickly, the hood of his sweatshirt pulled low over his head, both hands shoved into his pockets, his back slightly hunched. He looked completely inconspicuous.
Shen Yi followed him from a set distance.
Wen Ya had trained her in surveillance techniques from a young age. Even though Shen Sixing looked back suspiciously twice, he never noticed the little tail following him.
The casino was thick with smoke. The clatter of chips surged in from every direction, mingled with the muffled cheers and curses of gamblers.
The air reeked of tobacco and stale alcohol, irritating Shen Yi’s throat.
She hid around a corner and rubbed her nose, not daring to sneeze.
She frowned. A casino…
Shen Yi seemed to understand what Shen Sixing had come here to do.
…
Shen Sixing sat at a card table in the corner.
The interior was unbearably hot, so he took off his jacket and draped it over the back of his chair. The hood of the sweatshirt behind him covered his head, revealing only half of his pale face and a pair of emotionless eyes.
He played cautiously.
He bet only small amounts each hand—five thousand, ten thousand, occasionally as much as twenty thousand.
The pot had already climbed past eighty thousand, and three players remained at the table.
The community cards were the ace of hearts, the seven of spades, and the four of diamonds. The turn revealed the jack of spades.
Shen Sixing glanced at his hole cards.
The five and six of diamonds. He was one card short of a straight flush, but he already had a straight.
He lowered his eyes, his thumb gently rubbing the edge of the cards.
The dealer turned over the river.
The nine of spades.
Of the other two players at the table, one checked, while the other bet twenty thousand.
Shen Sixing’s eyes lifted slightly. His gaze shifted from the cards to the bettor’s face, lingering for less than half a second.
The young man pushed almost all the chips in front of him into the middle.
Fifty thousand.
The other player hesitated for a moment, then called.
The third player folded.
Showdown.
Shen Sixing turned over his two hole cards: a straight.
His opponent had three sevens—a full house.
By the time the dealer pushed the chips toward him, Shen Sixing had around one hundred and fifty thousand in front of him.
That was enough.
Shen Sixing stood, picked up the jacket from the back of his chair, and draped it over his arm, preparing to leave.
At that moment, a hand suddenly slammed down on the table.
Shen Sixing followed the arm upward and saw the burly man who had been smoking in the casino.
Two more men moved in—one taking position to Shen Sixing’s left, the other blocking his retreat.
The burly man in charge leaned over, bracing both hands on the edge of the table, his nose nearly pressed against Shen Sixing’s face.
Shen Sixing couldn’t help subtly backing away in disgust.
Why did he have to get so close?
Disgusting.
“Kid, what were you doing with your left hand when you looked at your cards at the end of that last hand?”
The edge of Shen Sixing’s hood nearly covered his eyebrows, revealing only the lower half of his face. He didn’t look up.
“I’m warning you, don’t try anything.” The burly man raised a hand and grabbed Shen Sixing by the collar. “What do you think this place is? You lose your mind over a bad hand and try to fool us with cheap tricks?”
The burly man seized Shen Sixing’s wrist and yanked his hand out of his pocket.
His palm was completely empty. There was nothing there.
The burly man frowned, then turned his hand over and checked between his fingers. They were clean.
“Roll up your sleeve.”
At those words, Shen Sixing slowly pushed up the cuff of his sweatshirt.
On the inside of his left forearm was a small piece of tape. Beneath it was a black patch.
The burly man reached out, tore off the patch, and examined the other side.
There was nothing on it. It was just an ordinary black static-cling sticker.
“You think you can screw with me?”
Shen Sixing finally raised his head and couldn’t help smiling.
His eyes were pitch-black, looking especially empty beneath the casino lights.
“The card’s on him, isn’t it?” The burly man jerked his chin toward the man behind Shen Sixing. “Search him.”
The man behind him stepped forward. His palm patted down Shen Sixing from shoulder to waist, then over his pockets. When he reached Shen Sixing’s jacket, he paused.
Then he pulled something out.
It was a playing card folded into quarters.
The king of hearts.
The burly man took the card and unfolded it. “I remember your hole cards in that last hand were the five and six of diamonds, right? So where did this king of hearts come from?”
Shen Sixing offered no explanation.
He lowered his head. The hood of his sweatshirt slipped back slightly, revealing a stretch of pale skin at the nape of his neck, his cervical bones faintly protruding.
Shen Sixing could feel the gazes around him surging like a tide. Most were filled with schadenfreude, and some people had even pulled out their phones to record.
…Things really weren’t going his way lately.
That was what he thought.
The burly man tore the king of hearts in half and tossed it onto the pile of chips.
“I remember you. You’ve been coming here all the time, haven’t you?” He cracked his knuckles one by one. “You’re going to hand over everything you won today, then pay us five times that amount on top of it. Otherwise…”
Shen Sixing was familiar to him.
The young man, who looked barely old enough to be an adult, often sat at their gambling tables before, handing over money day after day.
Like a docile lamb waiting to be slaughtered.
He could lose everything, down to his underwear, without changing expression. But whenever he won a couple of hands, his hands would tremble with nerves.
People like this—timid and insignificant—were the easiest to control.
Who would have thought that this seemingly innocent kid would actually cheat?
Shen Sixing had already resigned himself to what was coming.
There was no way he could ever play out some dramatic scene where he fought his way through a casino’s enforcers.
He wasn’t Wen Ya. He didn’t have that kind of skill.
Getting beaten was to be expected. It had happened a few times before. Each time, he had simply endured it obediently. Once they were done, they would let him leave anyway.
