Chapter 203: All About Timing

For anything, whether one had confidence or not, the most important thing was not to fall into other people's tempo. Therefore, even though Ye Shuang had the confidence to win until the man had to surrender his boxers, she still smiled innocently and said, "I'm sorry, but I don't like gambling. I'm just here to observe this time."

Then she showed the man the chips that she was holding. There were only a few white chips. "I only have enough prepared for snacks and drinks."

The following awkward silence lasted for half a minute, but Ye Shuang maintained a natural and innocent smile. The rest of them though felt rather uncomfortable. After he finally found his voice again, the man's face twitched twice as he turned awkwardly to Zuo Feiyang. "How about Mr. Zuo‽"

For some reason, when he was extended the invitation, Zuo Feiyang turned subconsciously toward Ye Shuang. After Ye Shuang shrugged, non-verbally saying to go take a look, Zuo Feiyang sighed in relief and stood up to follow the man. However, this gave the man a misunderstanding of Ye Shuang's identity.

I see. Even Zuo Feiyang and You Yang need to defer to him. Therefore, he has to come from a very powerful but well-hidden identity.

This was a beautiful misunderstanding.

Modern casinos did not have that many loopholes in their equipment for people to manipulate. For example, big or small used to depend on shaking dice, but now it was the computer that picked out three random numbers; the roulette originally had the dealer cast the marble personally, but now that had become automated as well. Of course, there were still old-school betting tables because some of the gamblers preferred that old-school feeling. Even so, it was almost impossible to train until one could discern the dice from hearing alone.

Therefore, the real experts normally met at the card tables. This was the only place where cheating could occur—winners or the best cheater would take all. Such was the rule for underground casinos. It depended on skills to win or lose. No one would care in private bouts, but if the cheating was exposed, then one had to admit defeat and cough up the fine.

The man from the Xi Hwa Organization looked like he was in his thirties. He looked very polite, wearing a gold-rimmed glasses. When Ye Shuang first saw the man, she had thought that he look very familiar, and then she realized that this was how Xu Jian looked when he was assigned to infiltrate An Corps.

The bespectacled man led the group to the card table. Ye Shuang, who followed behind, could not help the edge of her lips from curving up. Looks like we're really going for a 'bout'.

You Yang had a bad feeling. He slowed down to walk beside Ye Shuang. "Brother Ye, we're really allowing Feiyang to go play‽"

When he visited the casino before, he did not have this feeling, but now You Yang thought the situation was feeling quite weird. From Ye Shuang's analysis to her later hints... As slow as he might be, he still heard something. Ye Shuang was insinuating that they had fallen into some trap. He believed that Zuo Feiyang felt the same way, or else he would not have pulled on his shirt to stop him from speaking earlier.

Ye Shuang answered with a wordless smile. Suddenly, she curled her arm around Zuo Feiyang's shoulders like they were the best of buddies. The large body pulled Zuo Feiyang directly into her arms, and instantly it felt like a big brother was consoling their little brother. With a smile on her lips, she lowered her voice and whispered into Zuo Feiyang's ears, "When I'm not speaking, just follow my bet, but once I make some noise, remember to fold. Make it as natural as you can."

Zuo Feiyang was startled. Before he could understand what she meant, Ye Shuang had already released her grasp and returned to You Yang. By then, the man had already reached a card table. He smiled and greeted the other players who were already seated there. Then he turned to wave kindly at Zuo Feiyang. "Mr. Zuo, how about a round or two?"

Zuo Feiyang was much more skilled than You Yang. He arranged his expression and sat down naturally. He also greeted the other players before turning to wave at Ye Shuang and You Yang. "Mr. Ye, Xiao Yang, come and join us!"

The two sat down. There was no need for every player to know each other, so the did not started by introducing the rules and betting limit. Then he started to deal. Ye Shuang didn't even need to look closely to realize that at least two other players were the bespectacled man's friends. Why was that? Because they shared a gaze that implied that they knew each other, but they just greeted each other earlier like this was their first meeting.

"Black Jack's call." The dealer raised his white glove to signal at the bespectacled man. The man smiled. "I'm the first caller? Alright then... How about 10,000 first?"

Starting with 10,000‽

Ye Shuang smiled but did not say anything. You Yang was slightly nervous. Zuo Feiyang held the nine of hearts, and he looked around the table with a frown before he also followed the bet of 10,000.

The bespectacled man got a ten for his second card. He might have a progression but with different suit. In any case, it was the same case again. "Raise another 20,000‽"

Zuo Feiyang, who held the nine of hearts and four of clubs, wanted to fold, but since Ye Shuang had not said anything, he chose to trust the man for once and followed. The third card for the bespectacled man was the eight of clubs while Zuo Feiyang had a pair of nines and one 4.

After the fourth card was dealt, the bespectacled man had eight, nine, ten, and Jack while Zuo Feiyang had three nines. The rest of the table had folded because the competition was between the bespectacled man and Zuo Feiyang, but from the cards, the bespectacled man had the bigger chance of winning. However, the result was unexpected. The bespectacled man's covered card was only a five. It seemed to be mocking the man's overconfidence and caused the man's smile to freeze on his face.

"So, he's hiding the cards..." Ye Shuang sighed, and her voice was small enough to be heard by the people next to her only. "He sure moves fast. The casino doesn't allow people to bring things in from the outside, so I believe he swiped the cards from a table when he was playing earlier. Alas, I'm such a curious baby. Now that I've noticed he has something extra hidden around him, I can't resist swiping them away..."

Therefore, the original Queen or seven that was hidden around the table was thus swapped by Ye Shuang. She rearranged the sequence and returned the cards of about ten to the man. Without enormous luck, the man could not have won.

You Yang tried to stop the laughter from escaping his lips. However, Zuo Feiyang swiped at his cold sweat. He had just won the game with three pairs, which was quite exciting. In any case, the bespectacled man was a professional. He lowered his head, and his eyes were framed with suspicion. Even though he had no idea what had gone wrong, he knew that the old tricks would not work anymore. The natural smile returned to his face, and he lifted his head to congratulate Zuo Feiyang. "Mr. Zuo sure is a good player. You've won several ten thousand in one round."

"That's all thanks to you. If I was the one calling the bet, I wouldn't have gone for such a high bet." Zuo Feiyang played along. Even though he was not a professional, it was enough to fool the common people. The big sigh of relief hid his sarcasm, and those who did not know that Zuo Feiyang had already seen through the man's ploy would think that he was simply thankful of his good luck. Naturally, the bespectacled man had trouble keeping his smile on.

Seeing as another round was about to begin, Ye Shuang coughed as she stood up. "I'll go look at some other tables."

Zuo Feiyang got the hint and stood up as well. "Then I shall follow you. The change of Feng Shui might be good."

That was another hit for the bespectacled man. Before he could stop the trio from leaving, a fatty squeezed through the crowd and sat down. "Quick, start dealing!"

Deal your head! However, if he left now, it would be too suspicious, so the man had to be patient and play another round.

By then, You Yang was whispering to Ye Shuang, "Why are we stopping after one round?"

"Because it can only work once." Ye Shuang saw the curiosity on Zuo Feiyang's face, and since the bespectacled man had not caught up to them, she lowered her voice to explain to the pair, "When the experts were playing cards, they would normally have a duel against one another because when other players are involved, the chance of cheating grow tremendously. Plus, it'll be hard to focus on your target. The greater the number of players, the harder it is for you to play. For example, if you wanted to fold after you got a horrible hand, some might call your bluff while others will follow. That table was filled with the man's friends, so if they work together, the chance of you winning will be so small."

Zuo Feiyang shivered. "Why didn't you tell me that earlier‽"

"The first round was fine," Ye Shuang consoled with a smile. "The man thought he could rely on his skills to swindle you, so he didn't ask for cooperation from his friends for the first round. After all, too much cooperation might raise some suspicion. We swindled him back, and when he wanted to call his friends, it was time for you to pull out."

Zuo Feiyang frowned and asked after a while, "Mr. Ye, I'll come right out and ask, is there a problem with this Xi Hwa Organization‽"

Ye Shuang looked at him and asked him a question in return. "What do you plan to do if there is?"

Zuo Feiyang pulled out a cigarette. He lit the lighter but eventually put it away. "I still don't understand why they want to pull me into the casino. Is it so that they can have a leverage over me and do something during our cooperation?"

If he still did not understand something was off about the Xi Hwa Organization, then Zuo Feiyang's IQ would have greatly disappointed Ye Shuang.

Ye Shuang smiled and changed the topic. "I'm Ye Shuang. You might not be that familiar with this name, but my boss is Han Chu."

Han Chu...

Zou Feiyang's eyes widened, and his expression became serious. "I heard our company just receive an investigation request from Han Chu's lawyer."

"That's right." Ye Shuang nodded. "I'm sure your corporation will be willing to cooperate, right?"