It turned out to be an unfamiliar, genuine steward who had materialized out of nowhere. Chatting casually as though making small talk, he inquired of Yu Sui: “Mhm, sir, have you happened to see a steward who just came down from Miss Yu Ning’s room? Miss Yu Ning is looking for him.”
Yu Sui turned the faucet on to wash his hands, not even deigning to lift his eyelids as he replied with icy indifference: “Didn’t see one.”
The fact that someone realized something was amiss the moment he left indicated that Yu Ning herself was monitoring the situation here at all times.
“Is that so?” Instead of taking the hint and walking away, the steward asked with feigned curiosity: “What brings you down this way, sir? President Yu’s suite isn’t located in this section.”
Yu Sui let out a scoff. “You recognize me?”
The man took two steps closer, adopting a highly familiar and ingratiating tone: “Of course… after all, you’re the person belonging to President Yu—”
The exact microsecond the man closed the distance, Yu Sui flicked the residual water droplets from his hands straight into his eyes. Forcing the man’s natural reflexive blink to blind him for half a second, Yu Sui followed up with a vicious, perfectly executed flying kick that sent the fellow stumbling backward in rapid succession. Uninterested in lingering for a prolonged entanglement, he prepared to make a swift escape, only to find himself boxed in at the exit by a circle of thugs converging from all sides.
“What did Yu Baihua send you here to do?”
With a light click of his tongue, Yu Sui flicked his wrists as several playing cards materialized between his fingers, their surfaces fabricated from a peculiar material that shimmered faintly with silver light.
He chuckled softly, letting out an amused sigh: “The entire ship belongs to our President Yu; surely there’s no harm in me taking a look around, is there?”
“I’m merely a magician; I’m hardly skilled at brawling.”
Frowning, Yu Baihua stared at the text message lighting up his phone screen. Yu Sui had informed him that he wanted to come keep him company for a bit, but come evening, the casino aboard the Star of the Far East transformed effortlessly from a recreational lounge into an exchange floor driven by unbridled greed. The moment one stepped inside, an unspoken rule defaulted every asset to negotiable status. Money, people, anything at all was fair game.
This vessel cutting through international waters was packed to the gills with individuals harboring ulterior motives. Now that Yu Baihua held the reins of the Yu family, no one dared be foolish enough to intentionally challenge him to a wager, nor could anyone amass a sufficiently weighty pile of chips. Yet who was to say some lunatic wouldn’t go completely unhinged and target Yu Sui instead?
He had told Yu Sui not to come, but the other end of the chat thread remained stubbornly silent.
Where on earth had he gone?
With a heavy wave of irritation, Yu Baihua extinguished the screen, yielded to the repeated, insistent coaxing of the gathered crowd, and allowed himself to be ushered into the casino.
Stepping into the inner hall, they found the long tables already laden with warm mulled wine and silver cod, while several maidens clad in diverse, vibrant attire knelt beside the seats to invite them to be seated. The walls decorated with precious animal pelts bore rare rock paintings, while the mounted stag heads and hunting rifles adorning the bulkheads served only to stoke the dormant predatory instincts rooted deep within the men’s bones.
The heavy, stimulating aroma of liqueurs hung thick in the air, assaulting one’s hormones, while mountains of chips already piled high across the gaming tables nearby. Seasoned, veteran croupiers exchanged pleasantries with each patron before smilingly lifting the black cloth shrouding a massive cage beside them within rested an inexhaustible hoard of jade and jewelry, alongside vacant partitions left deliberately open for anyone wishing to raise the stakes at a moment’s notice.
As the personage of highest status present, Yu Baihua was expected to make the opening move. Unfastening his exorbitantly expensive wristwatch, he tossed it into the central pool and lifted his chin: “The land parcel down south name whatever terms you like.”
Applause broke out in waves, accompanied by a continuous stream of sincere or feigned flattery.
The remaining participants tossed in their respective wagers one after another, until the turn came to Yu Wei. After haphazardly tossing in a collection of eccentric trinkets, he paused in thought before shoving the young girl he had been clinging to straight into the center pool.
“A little bonus to liven things up for everyone today,” he whistled with arrogant smugness. “I haven’t touched this one yet; I’m practically doing you all a favor.”
The young girl wept helplessly, possessing an exquisite figure, a slender waist, and a pitiful, delicate air a genuine beauty weeping tears, making her a supreme femme fatale.
Roars of laughter erupted from the crowd as they bantered that Yu Wei hadn’t changed a single bit over all these years. Amidst the chaos, only Yu Baihua remained entirely serene, lifting his wineglass to take a calm sip without offering a single word of commentary.
With the playful preamble concluded, female croupiers dressed in provocative bunny-girl outfits invited the players to take their seats and began dealing the cards. Yu Baihua remained seated away from the table such was protocol. The supreme authority of the Yu family never stooped to placing bets directly; whatever he desired, others would invariably present to him on a silver platter.
The opening games were standard Texas Hold’em. Watching Mr. Slay from the Bern Group lose an entire outer pot, even his famously steady composure cracked slightly into vexed irritation. Since everyone else at the table was far too formidable to antagonize casually, he redirected his fury toward the female croupier instead. The terrified young woman could only offer apologies in a trembling voice, kicking up quite a noisy commotion. Lowering the chips he had been toying with, Yu Baihua fixed a cold, frosty stare upon him.
At that precise moment, a smiling voice drifted over: “Shall I take over?”
Startled, Yu Baihua turned his head sideways to look.
The person emerging from the shadows was dressed with casual ease, draped loosely in a black mesh cover-up that slipped slightly off his right shoulder, revealing nothing beneath save for a simple shirt out of place among the meticulously dressed socialites populating the room.
Yet he stood out with breathtaking, peerless singularity. For reasons unknown, as he walked forward, he lifted a hand to casually gather his tumbling long hair into a binding with two swift motions, leaving his amber pupils to refract a dazzling, hypnotic brilliance. The smile curving the corners of his lips combined with his upturned outer eyes to carve out a striking, aggressive countenance: high-arched brows, affectionate eyes brimming with rippling charm, and a smooth, captivating jawline sliding downward to melt seamlessly into his collarbone. He merely strolled closer with unhurried, measured steps, his casual gestures effortlessly engendering an aura of magnificent, captivating grace.
Lowering his hand, he rolled back his cuffs, revealing slender, artistic finger joints wrapping around a pale, striking wrist though the tight wrap of white bandage bound around his right hand stood out with jarring prominence.
Reaching out to gently nudge the female croupier aside, he stepped right up to the edge of the table. Slay had certainly seen his share of beauties, but never one packing this specific level of electric, magnetic allure.
Smiling, the newcomer murmured: “Having an injured hand makes things rather inconvenient… President Yu,” he directed his gaze toward Yu Baihua seated at the head of the table, “this beats out any caged nightingale in terms of sheer fascination. Why not let him sit aside and simply enjoy the show? I have every confidence that my luck today will win me this dazzling pearl.”
The moment those words left his lips, the “beauty” used the fingertips of his left hand to flick the stacked deck upward. Curving his index finger to anchor the topmost card, he fluidly and effortlessly slid his thumb from top to bottom before flicking his wrist to launch the entire deck airborne. Snatching them out of the air in a single motion, he split the fluttering cascade of cards into three neat packets wedged between his fingertips, then wove and interlaced them seamlessly back into a single unified deck.
He executed the entire sequence of manipulations using only a single hand, yet even the professional female croupier halted her tears to gaze in rapt admiration at this near-marvellous display of sleight-of-hand. Compared to the mechanical precision of a croupier, his card-shuffling possessed vastly superior aesthetic and performative value; rather than resembling a seasoned croupier, he cut the figure of a master-class magician.
With fluid, effortless grace, he leaned forward to deal cards to each guest, slowly drawing out the tail-end of his syllables:
“Very well then—thanks to everyone’s generous affection. Whoever wins against me today… I’ll go home with them.”
Tilting his head, he locked eyes directly with Yu Baihua and smiled:
“Why don’t you try winning me back, little Yu ah, President Yu?”
Little Yu an endearment Yu Sui had once always tossed out with playful teasing, yet one Yu Baihua had never heard cross his lips ever again.
Since their reunion, Yu Sui had addressed him that way twice, and each instance left a lingering ache impossible to shake off.
Initially, Yu Baihua had felt entirely indifferent toward everything unfolding here, right up until Yu Sui materialized within his world. Long ago, it had been precisely this way: a magician performing a card trick beneath the stage lights for a young master who had just lost a wager, binding their fates inextricably together from that moment onward.
Every single day, he had traced this person’s face in his mind, asking himself in secret dreams: Does he like me? Will he always treat me well? This person was perhaps some mountain sprite or a state-toppling beauty, having snatched away Yu Baihua’s sincere heart within an unfair mission. Even after Yu Baihua’s life was turned completely upside down on his account, he had never once harbored the thought of pushing Yu Sui away.
No matter how many times he had to replay the past, he would forever seek out Yu Sui.
Yet what genuinely ignited Yu Baihua’s fury was the bandage wrapped around Yu Sui’s hand—they had parted for merely a brief span, yet Yu Sui was already injured, and the wound looked severe indeed…
Yet everything evaporated into thin air the instant he heard those words.
“Deal.” Lifting his chin, Yu Baihua flashed a smile that belonged solely to him—untamed, arrogant, and proud.
He said deal.
The supreme ruler of the Yu family never entered a wager, yet Yu Baihua seated himself calmly at this gaming table because he knew with absolute certainty that he would not lose.
When the cards were laid out for this round, Yu Baihua served as the dealer, while all eyes converged squarely upon Yu Sui, who presided over the hand.
There was a famous adage describing croupiers: “Play a hand of poker and flirt over your straight flush.” In Texas Hold’em, it remained one of the most captivating moments imaginable.
With one hand tucked behind his waist, his long hair trailing past his nape to rest against his powerful spine, Yu Sui leaned slightly forward with his left hand, pressing his fingertips against the backs of the cards to fan them open. “A royal flush,” he murmured with a smile the absolute winning hand in poker, rendering whoever held it the undisputed victor. Winner-take-all, Yu Baihua took everything.
With a smiling sweep of his palm, he fanned the remaining cards flat across the green felt gaming table to demonstrate absolute fairness. Tens of millions in chips were shoved in Yu Baihua’s direction, yet the man didn’t spare the prize so much as a downward glance, extending his hand toward Yu Sui instead.
“Yes, sir,” Yu Sui offered a brilliant smile. “Now, I belong to you.”
Clasping Yu Baihua’s hand, he deftly slipped the winning cards he had just secured right back into Yu Baihua’s sleeve.
Observing the scene, Yu Wei proved remarkably cooperative by breaking into applause though his gaze had remained glued to Yu Sui from the moment he appeared, he forced a relaxed front.
“A royal flush! Little Uncle, this caged beauty belongs to you now as well. What’s the saying again enjoying the blessings of multiple partners?”
“President Yu.” Utterly astonished by this turn of events, Yu Sui stared at him, his standard professional smile instantly morphing into the pitiful, tear-streaked expression of a white lotus on the verge of weeping, gazing at Yu Baihua as though looking at a deadbeat scoundrel who reneged on his promises.
Everyone else held their breath in absolute silence; this abruptly appearing croupier was clearly no ordinary individual, practically winding Yu Baihua around his little finger demonstrating a level of skill that was anything but minor.
Following that, Yu Sui reached out to unlock the decorative cage door. Before anyone could react, he fished out a firearm he had smoothly filched from Yu Baihua’s holster a moment prior, pressing the cold barrel gently against the underside of the young girl’s chin.
“The true Miss Yu Ning…” Standing towering and majestic before the trembling girl, he offered an unfathomable, questioning smile: “Treating your own elder brother like a obedient dog surely you didn’t go through all that trouble just to play the pitiful victim down here?”
“You went to such exhaustive lengths to make your appearance right when everyone was gathered together… is your goal to slaughter the lot of them?”