Once Xu Ancheng had recovered somewhat, the group finally set off for the casino.
The streets grew livelier and livelier as they made their way there. Cries and screams occasionally rang out from either side of the road, along with arguments that escalated into outright brawls.
Xu Ancheng and Qin Qiwu both frowned at the sight.
They rarely came to places this chaotic.
“My luck has never been bad. Who could tell that I was once reduced to such desperate circumstances?” A man dressed in gold and silver tossed coins into the air arrogantly. “What good is studying, anyway?”
A large crowd had gathered around him, all of them staring at him eagerly. They were hoping that, once he was in a good mood, he might reward them with a few pieces of loose silver.
Ji Zhaoxi eagerly edged closer as well.
When Qin Qiwu saw the look on Ji Zhaoxi’s face, her heart sank. She hurriedly caught hold of her. “Miss Ji, gambling is bad. Don’t learn from them.”
Xu Ancheng also earnestly tried to persuade her. “Miss Ji, how many people have lost their wives and families because of gambling? You absolutely mustn’t get involved with it!”
Ji Zhaoxi defended herself. “No, I’m just curious…”
She hadn’t even gambled yet.
Before she could finish, Qin Qiwu and Xu Ancheng interrupted her at once.
“Miss Ji, you must never be curious about it! Which gambler didn’t start down this road out of curiosity?”
“That’s right, Miss Ji. You have a bright future ahead of you. You mustn’t let your curiosity ruin it!”
The two of them took turns lecturing her until Ji Zhaoxi’s eyes began to glaze over.
Fu Xianyan sighed. “Miss Ji, gambling leads to theft, and debauchery leads to murder.”
The surroundings grew quieter and quieter, making the three of their voices increasingly conspicuous. The people standing at the casino entrance stared at them in silence.
The man dressed in gold and silver had naturally heard them as well, and he couldn’t stop himself from rolling his eyes.
They were already standing at the casino entrance. What were they putting on airs for?!
It was like standing outside a brothel and declaring, “Of all the vices, lust is the worst.”
Or like saying at a wedding feast, “Husband and wife are birds of the same forest, but when disaster comes, they fly their separate ways.”
These people were seriously irritating!
Under the hostile gazes of everyone around them, Xu Ancheng and the others lowered their heads awkwardly.
There was also a fortune-teller at the casino entrance, surrounded by quite a few people.
“Sir, please tell my fortune and see how my financial luck is,” a drunkard slurred as he sat down on a wooden stool.
The fortune-teller frowned deeply as he studied the drunkard before him. “Young Master, you should sit facing southeast today. It would be best to place only small bets.”
The drunkard set down some silver. His face lit up with delight. “I’ll go in right now!”
Several burly men stood guard at the casino entrance, blocking people from entering. Those who were stopped spoke to them in quiet, humble voices, but the men remained expressionless and refused to let them in.
Xu Ancheng frowned as he watched.
If people were being stopped, how were they supposed to get inside?
He began discussing the matter in a low voice with Qin Qiwu.
The entrance was packed with people. Ji Zhaoxi stood listlessly beside Fu Xianyan. They had already been standing there for quite a while, and her legs had gone numb.
Just then, a hand suddenly appeared in her line of sight.
Ji Zhaoxi watched as the hand reached into the bag of an old man standing nearby and began rummaging around.
After searching one bag, it moved on to another. Before long, the little beggar had gone through all the bags around him. Grinning with satisfaction, he tucked several pieces of loose silver into his own pocket.
Ji Zhaoxi watched thoughtfully.
Fu Xianyan disliked crowded places to begin with, and even more so a casino filled with the odors of sweat, bad breath, and every other imaginable stench.
Just as his irritation was reaching its peak, he felt a hand suddenly slip into his pocket.
Fu Xianyan: “?”
He lowered his head and saw Ji Zhaoxi seriously rummaging through his pocket.
Fu Xianyan stared at her in silence for a moment. He watched as she clumsily reached inside, then furtively tried to pull out the silver.
He said in a low voice, “Miss Ji, don’t learn this.”
Ji Zhaoxi let out a regretful sigh.
Fu Xianyan: “…”
Ji Zhaoxi was the most eager student he had ever encountered in his entire life—by a considerable margin.
Xu Ancheng went ahead first to test the way in. Seeing how inexperienced he looked, the burly men at the entrance stopped him without hesitation.
Qin Qiwu also pretended to be at ease as she tried to enter, but she too was stopped and sent back.
Just as the two of them frowned and pondered their options, Ji Zhaoxi cleared her throat.
“I’ll do it. Follow behind me.”
Xu Ancheng and Qin Qiwu stared at her in bewilderment.
They often looked at Ji Zhaoxi that way, because she had surprised them far too many times.
The four of them appeared at the casino entrance once again. They exchanged looks with the burly men guarding the door.
Ji Zhaoxi clasped her hands behind her back. Without even sparing the men a glance, she lifted the curtain and walked inside without looking up, behaving as naturally as if she were returning to her own home.
As she walked, she shouted loudly, “Third Brother Liu, where’s the two taels of silver you owed me yesterday?!”
“You damned deadbeat! I’ll beat you to death for borrowing money and refusing to pay it back!”
Qin Qiwu and Xu Ancheng stared in shock.
Where had Miss Ji learned that?!
The burly men hesitated as they studied Ji Zhaoxi’s murderous expression. She looked so innocent, yet the moment she opened her mouth, she was terrifying.
Just then, an impatient voice came from inside the casino.
“What are you hounding me for? Didn’t we agree I’d pay you back in a few days?”
Third Brother Liu lifted his head from the gambling table and peered toward the entrance.
What a nuisance!
He looked around for quite a while, but he couldn’t see his creditor anywhere. Scratching the back of his head, he asked, “Who just called out for me to pay back the money?”
No one answered him, and his voice was gradually drowned out by the surrounding commotion.
“That’s strange. I clearly heard someone calling me just now.”
And that was how the group managed to slip inside.
They made their way to a corner of the casino.
Xu Ancheng and Qin Qiwu looked at Ji Zhaoxi with admiration.
“Miss Ji, it really has to be you.”
Ji Zhaoxi lifted her chin. Of course it had to be her. They had even tried to stop her from learning those things.
Who knew when the things she had picked up might come in handy?
Fu Xianyan let out a low chuckle.
Ji Zhaoxi immediately raised her head. Fu Xianyan’s expression turned calm at once.
“Miss Ji, what is it?” he asked innocently.
Ji Zhaoxi narrowed her eyes and stared at Fu Xianyan. She continued staring for so long that Fu Xianyan began to wonder if she had noticed something. His expression gradually turned solemn.
As expected, Ji Zhaoxi was not as simple as she looked.
Had she discovered his identity? Was she planning to make her move here?
Xu Ancheng and Qin Qiwu watched Ji Zhaoxi’s expression and grew wary as well.
Could Fu Xianyan be a bad person?
The atmosphere grew increasingly tense.
With a stern expression, Ji Zhaoxi pulled Fu Xianyan over and said angrily, “You’re not allowed to stand between Miss Qin and Young Master Xu!”
What a hopeless lack of awareness.
Fu Xianyan’s face went blank for a moment, but he quickly recovered. “Oh, oh!”
He hurriedly moved to stand beside Ji Zhaoxi, then looked apologetically at Xu Ancheng and Qin Qiwu.
“I’m sorry, Miss Qin and Young Master Xu. I didn’t mean to stand between the two of you.”
