With Tan Youming involved, the arrangements for going out to sea were settled very quickly.
Given his nature as Hai City’s social butterfly, always calling friends and gathering crowds, he invited quite a few people, all of them useful for the future.
Tan Youming had long felt that Zhao Shengge’s way of doing business would not work. Even if he were Zhao Shengge, it still would not work. This was not overseas. Once you were back, you had to play the game of relationships, favors, factions, and alliances.
When Zhuo Zhixuan notified Chen Wan, Chen Wan specifically asked him whose gathering it was.
“…”
Zhuo Zhixuan looked at him with those pitch-black eyes and said nothing.
For ordinary gatherings, Chen Wan followed one principle very strictly. If it was Tan Youming’s or Shen Zongnian’s gathering, Chen Wan would go. If it was nominally Zhao Shengge’s, he would not.
In Chen Wan’s eyes, Tan Youming counted as half a friend. Being able to happen upon Zhao Shengge at a friend’s gathering was good fortune.
But Zhao Shengge was not his friend. If the other man had not clearly, specifically invited him by name, then Chen Wan shamelessly going along on Tan Youming’s and Zhuo Zhixuan’s face was not the same thing.
Zhuo Zhixuan lied to him without so much as a change in expression. “Tan Youming wanted to go out to sea, so he borrowed Zhao Shengge’s ship. Tan Youming’s the one inviting people too.” Strictly speaking, this was also true.
Only then did Chen Wan agree.
He had not shown his face for a while, and Tan Youming had invited many people this time. When Zhuo Zhixuan ran into Tan Youming at the washbasins in the restroom, he also smoothed the way for Chen Wan in advance, both openly and obliquely.
He told Tan Youming, You know about the police station situation too. It wasn’t that Chen Wan didn’t want to come during this period; he really had no time to spare. A lot of unfamiliar faces were coming this time, and not all of them knew Chen Wan. They might not understand where to draw the line. He hoped Tan Youming could help make some introductions. At the very least, they could not let Chen Wan be looked down on and bullied.
Zhuo Zhixuan knew very well what those people were like. They were either rich or powerful. Whether good or bad aside, there were always some who were difficult to deal with.
Zhuo Zhixuan was not like Tan Youming. Though they were both idle rich young masters, Zhuo Zhixuan really was a useless good-for-nothing. Otherwise Chen Wan would not have suffered so much frustration and hardship. But Tan Youming truly held real power. He only looked unreliable. With his status as the eldest son of the Tan family, plus his friendships with Zhao Shengge and Shen Zongnian, who in Hai City would dare provoke this little devil?
Tan Youming had a crooked temperament. He was easygoing with his own people, but when it came to people he disliked, he could torment them to death. Zhuo Zhixuan had been quite close to him when they were children, and they were still on good terms now. But born into families like theirs, after growing up, understanding matters, and coming to know profit and interest, many things inevitably became a little less pure. Zhuo Zhixuan still felt he was closer to Chen Wan.
A true intimate friend—being able to gain even one was already very rare.
Tan Youming said, of course. Chen Wan was his friend too.
With his word, Zhuo Zhixuan relaxed. His brows and eyes eased, and his mouth lost all restraint as he started coaxing him with nonsense. “Ah Wan has really been so busy lately he barely has time to sleep. But once I told him you were inviting everyone out to sea, he agreed right away and even asked whether you needed him to come help.”
Tan Youming felt quite warmed by that. He thought Chen Wan really was a considerate person. This group had all agreed quickly enough when he invited them out to play, but not a single one had asked whether he needed help. Even Shen Zongnian had been very busy lately and had no time to bother with him.
The two of them were chatting happily back and forth when a warm, deep voice came from behind them. “Sorry, let me through.”
Zhuo Zhixuan turned back. “…”
He was certain the inner section had been empty just now. Otherwise, he never would have said these things to Tan Youming. Who would have thought they would get so absorbed in talking that they did not even notice someone come in?
Fortunately, it was not anyone else.
Zhao Shengge pressed out shampoo, washed his hands, took a paper towel to dry them, and when he raised his head, glanced at Zhuo Zhixuan through the mirror.
Tan Youming noticed nothing and asked Zhao Shengge, “Where’s little Nian?” In all Hai City, he was the only one who dared call Young Master Shen that.
Zhao Shengge was still looking at Zhuo Zhixuan, his gaze calm, as he moved aside from the hand Tan Youming was trying to drape over him. “I don’t know either.”
The voyage would last two days and one night. The captain had chosen a route with very beautiful scenery.
They set sail from White Shell Sand Port and passed through a stretch of coral sea. It was the height of summer. The seawater was azure, clear, and shallow. At dusk, a skyful of sunset clouds spilled into the sea, and pink dolphins followed the ship through the deep-water zone.
Zhuo Zhixuan had worried too much. Chen Wan did not need Tan Youming to pave the way for him at all. It was like an innate gift—after everyone had been introduced, people very quickly began unconsciously asking Chen Wan what other categories were in the wine cellar, when the outdoor pool would open… and by the time anyone came back to themselves, the entire scene could no longer turn without him, as if this ship belonged to Chen Wan.
There were countless socially adroit people in this circle. A little too much made one seem fawning; a little too little made one seem insufficiently quick-eyed.
Chen Wan was neither servile nor overbearing, and very easily won people’s trust.
Once they entered high-seas jurisdiction, everyone started playing cards. Although Hai City’s gambling industry was also very developed, it was still bound by various rules and restrictions. Even the betting odds were limited. For young masters who could throw away a fortune without blinking, it was not satisfying enough.
Here, they set the rules themselves. Whatever was most enjoyable was what they did. Otherwise, there was no need to come out to sea.
For the first few rounds, Chen Wan served as dealer.
He had been running around everywhere recently. His health was poor, and he had lost a little weight. Today, he was dressed very low-key in a cotton-linen shirt and black suit trousers. The sea breeze filled the white shirt, tracing the slim line of his waist, especially when he bent over to deal the cards.
While waiting for cards, someone asked about Zhao Shengge’s White Crane Hall case, which had caused such a stir some time ago. Chen Wan acted as if he knew absolutely nothing the whole time, focused seriously on dealing his cards. Everyone chattered around him, but he did not add a single unnecessary word.
But very soon, thanks to Tan Youming, everyone knew Chen Wan had been called in for questioning. He smiled as he answered them, never mentioning Zhao Shengge in the slightest. The precision of his wording and the tightness of his mouth were enough to make people sigh in admiration.
In this round, Zhao Shengge called for a card as the banker. Chen Wan did not let him off easy. He handled it strictly by the book.
Sitting to Zhao Shengge’s left was Qin Zhaoting. His father was a stock-market heavyweight, known as Hai City’s God of Stocks. Qin Zhaoting was very good at counting cards and had secretly cheated more than once—which was within the rules.
They had gone out to sea precisely to remove the rules. They could play however they wanted and use any means necessary to win.
The dealer surnamed Chen was very fair. Without anyone noticing, he shuffled away Qin Zhaoting’s cheating—which was also allowed. Players could play however they wanted, and dealers could judge however they wanted. Their authority was much greater than the tool-like dealers in casinos.
This was exactly what increased the game’s fun and unpredictability. Players had to deal not only with the other players, but also with the dealer, never knowing whether he was a wolf in sheep’s clothing or a lucky star. The bigger the bet, the more important the dealer became.
Some dealers pleased people and were treated like gods of wealth. Others drew hatred and were treated like baleful ghosts.
They could shuffle and deal without following common logic. You never knew whether what they handed you was poison or a blessing.
In Beli Strait, paradise of the gambling industry, there was a saying: “The dealer is God. The dealer is sovereign.”
Those who won the dealer’s favor might not gain the whole world, but they would at least gain half of it. Dealers could make you win until your bowl overflowed, or make you lose everything down to your last coin.
After several rounds, everyone appointed Chen Wan as dealer.
Unlike others when they dealt, he did not toy with people however he pleased. He did his best to maintain a relatively fair contest within this three-inch gambling table.
Because of that, everyone developed the illusion that he was biased toward them.
Even with something as purely recreational as shuffling and dealing cards, Chen Wan was very serious. The card table was set on the open-air deck. The sunset had already burned across the sea, falling over him, so brilliant that it made people unable to look away.
The face cards flipped and folded between his fingers. His gaze was sharp and calm, his expression gentle and modest, yet he looked like the Lord bestowing grace upon the masses, controlling each divine card in his hands, ruling over victory and defeat, wealth, and the fate of every player.
Zhao Shengge studied the cards the other man had dealt him.
Two kings of spades, one jack of clubs.
How very interesting.
Qin Zhaojun beside him had gotten some unknown hand. He raised his head to look at the dealer and, for some reason, smiled.
For a moment, the expressions of everyone at the card table turned subtle.
Zhao Shengge leaned back in his chair, his expression faint.