Five hundred taels was an enormous sum.
There was no way Wang Shunfa would let Shen Qingyue walk off with the money. He raised a hand to dismiss the original dealer and personally sat down in the banker’s seat.
“Young Master Shen has astonishing luck. It’d be a pity to stop now—how about I be the banker and we play a couple more rounds?”
Before he even finished speaking, four thugs had already moved behind Shen Qingyue, blocking her retreat.
Shen Qingyue’s eyes darkened. They were forcing her into going head-to-head with the gambling house.
“Fine. Then we’ll play two more rounds.” She lazily leaned back in her chair, looking every bit like a carefree street punk.
“Young Master Shen is indeed straightforward!” Wang Shunfa laughed loudly, picked up the dice cup, shook it in a dizzying blur, then slammed it onto the table.
“Young Master Shen, please!”
With the owner personally stepping in, the gamblers hesitated to place bets.
Shen Qingyue went all in again.
“Five hundred and twelve taels—everything on Big.”
Wang Shunfa calmly lifted the cover.
“Five, five, six—sixteen points.”
“You win again, Young Master Shen.” Wang Shunfa pretended to rub his temples in frustration; anger showed on his face, but shrewd light flashed in his eyes. “I refuse to believe you can win ten in a row—and still win an eleventh.”
The onlookers grew lively again.
“Young Master Shen is unbelievably lucky! Double five hundred and twelve—that’s one thousand and twenty-four taels! I could never earn that much in my lifetime!”
“If he can win ten rounds straight, he can definitely win eleven!”
“I’m following his bet next round!”
“Me too!”
The gleam in Wang Shunfa’s eyes sharpened. He set the dice cup down again and recited mechanically,
“Big or small? Place your bets!”
Shen Qingyue’s gaze tightened slightly, then she smiled calmly and went all in yet again.
“All the silver—Big.”
The gamblers followed suit.
“Big! I’m betting Big too!”
The corner of Wang Shunfa’s mouth lifted almost imperceptibly. After everyone had placed their bets, he said slowly,
“No more changes—I’m opening!”
The crowd stared at the dice cup, shouting nonstop:
“Big! Big! Big—!”
Wang Shunfa lifted the lid. The three dice lay clearly at the bottom.
“Sorry—one, two, three. Six points. Small! You lose.”
The gamblers’ faces turned ugly.
“He won ten rounds in a row—how could he lose?”
“Damn it, I’m cursed! I followed him with everything I had!”
“What ‘blessed by fortune’—more like a walking disaster dragging us all down!”
“I’ve lost all my silver—how am I supposed to live…”
Shen Qingyue’s icy voice cut through the complaints.
“Did we really lose? I don’t think so.”
As she spoke, she shot out her hand. Just as Wang Shunfa tried to pull the dice cup away, she slammed it down, stopping him.
Under the stunned gazes of the gamblers, Shen Qingyue raised the cup high and pointed to a small, inconspicuous magnet along the rim of its base.
“Everyone, look—this is a magnet!”
Then she hurled one die hard onto the floor. It shattered, and shiny silvery liquid flowed out.
“There’s mercury inside the dice!”
She stared straight at Wang Shunfa, enunciating every word.
“You cheated.”
With evidence in front of them, the entire hall exploded.
Most of the gamblers had already lost nearly everything. In their fury, they didn’t care about anything else and started cursing Wang Shunfa.
“Fraud den! What ‘Changsheng’? More like ‘Long-Con’ Gambling House!”
“You only let yourselves win and won’t let us—what kind of logic is that?!”
“Scammers! Pay us back!”
“If you don’t pay, we’ll report you to the authorities!”
Shen Qingyue quickly scooped up the thousand-tael banknote and the twenty-four taels in loose silver on the table, shouting along with them,
“That’s right—if you don’t pay, we report you!”
Wang Shunfa glared at her and spat out three icy words.
“You’re courting death.”
Seven thugs advanced toward Shen Qingyue, step by step—each with vicious eyes and murderous intent.
Facing such ferocious men for the first time, Shen Qingyue’s heart trembled despite herself. Thinking of the system, she quickly steadied herself. Since she’d already stirred up trouble, she couldn’t afford to back down.
Instead of retreating, she spoke sharply, word by word:
“Changsheng Gambling House does business openly. You broke the rules first by cheating. If you don’t compensate us, who would dare come here again?”
Seeing the thugs, the gamblers were instinctively afraid—but when they saw how calm Shen Qingyue was, their courage surged back.
“Right! You have to give us an explanation!”
“Return the silver you took from us!”
“If you don’t pay, we’ll report you!”
Wang Shunfa clenched his fists, forcing himself to hold back.
At that moment, the gambling house’s main owner stepped forward. He gestured for the thugs to withdraw, then slapped Wang Shunfa across the face in front of everyone and apologized to the crowd.
“I am Wang Yonggui, the principal owner of Changsheng Gambling House.”
“Changsheng has always followed the rules. Today’s disgrace is due to my poor discipline. I apologize to everyone!”
“That round is void. All bets will be returned in full.”
“In addition, to show our sincerity, everyone present—win or lose—may go to the counter and receive ten taels as consolation money. I hope you’ll give us face and forget this unpleasantness!”
Ten taels each!
How could the gamblers keep pressing the matter? They quickly chimed in:
“The cheating was just a misunderstanding—we won’t take it to heart.”
Feeling the murderous stares from the two owners, Shen Qingyue knew she’d stirred up something serious.
She hurriedly spent thirty-three taels to redeem Shen Dabiao.
Once freed, Shen Dabiao was still shaken. Seeing that Shen Qingyue wasn’t leaving yet, he urged anxiously,
“The owners’ looks are creepy—let’s go, fast!”
“Wait.” Shen Qingyue brushed his hand aside and headed toward the counter. “Let’s collect that ten taels first.”
“Are you trying to get us killed?” Shen Dabiao muttered as he followed anyway—and claimed his ten taels too.
The owners’ gazes grew even darker.
The moment Shen Qingyue stepped out of the gambling house, she keenly sensed someone tailing them. Reacting fast, she grabbed Shen Dabiao’s arm and ran toward the money exchange.
Seven thugs chased after them.
Anyone who could open a money exchange had powerful backing.
The thugs hesitated and stopped at the entrance, not daring to rush inside.
The first thing Shen Qingyue did upon entering was exchange the nine banknotes and fifty taels’ worth of silver ingots she carried for gold.
Using the excuse of going to the latrine, she slipped into the back courtyard and sold ninety-five taels’ worth of gold to the system shop, receiving 9,500 star coins.
“System, I want to buy a Strength Pill.”