BXBX NOVEL Chapter 291: Envy and Jealousy
“Well, an expert won’t win before the third game!”
Fatty Li had just lost 20 thousand within a minute, yet he didn’t care about it, instead, he looked at Tang Xiu cheerfully. Such amount of money to him was perhaps the price of a meal, not even enough to buy famous brand clothes.
Watching as he was about to place another bet, Tang Xiu pulled his hand and calmly said, “Let’s go somewhere else. I don’t wanna play dice anymore.”
“What? Do you think it’s hard to win here? In actuality, it’s hard to win a gambling in the casino. Have you heard the saying that nine out of ten gamblers will lose?” Fatty Li stared as he immediately let his hand free and said with a smile.
Tang Xiu replied with a smile, “Nine out of ten losing means that nobody wins, no? People who have a mentality of leaving things to luck and chance are in essence greedy inside their hearts. Like this, only the casinos will prosper.”
Fatty Li nodded and praised with a sigh, “You said it well. Every person has greed inside them. They can see it yet are unable to control it. They know the principle that betting small is meant for enjoyment, and gambling big is just feeding their vice, yet such greed is something so difficult for gamblers to handle. For example, there are also a few local bosses who are gambling on the second floor tonight! They, alas... perhaps they’re losing their hard-earned capital there.”
The local magnates were gambling here?
Tang Xiu was stunned and asked in amazement, “Isn’t this resort a place for recreation? How come people are here to gambling?”
Fatty Li snorted, “What else can they do aside from wasting their money since they haven’t eaten to the full and have noone important to support and nothing to do? However, I also heard that there is a bit of grudge between them, though. Besides, it’s a given that some conflicts would arise after they met here anyway. Also, I heard that someone from Qingcheng Mountain was invited. He’s a direct disciple of the Saint of Gambler in Las Vegas and he even won big tonight!”
“Someone from Qingcheng Mountain? Who’s he?” asked Tang Xiu, surprised.
Fatty Li turned and looked around as he whispered, “He’s a small fish conman who used to be a scammer. Later on, he entered the business world, using his once-accumulated personal connections to obtain several good-producing coal mines in Northwest China, from which he got quite a fortune these years. Little Brother, you gotta remember, this guy is kinda crafty and devious, so you gotta keep your vigilance and be cautious when you bump into him later.”
Tang Xiu nodded and looked pensive.
Amid their chat, they finally arrived at the roulette machines spot. Playing was as simple as inserting a chip, which it would then be identified by the machine. Were a chip with a 10K value be inserted into it, it would be exchanged for 1000 points by the machine, whereas each point was equal to 1 dollar. In other words, inserting the chip into the machine would have a value that was equivalent to one-tenth of the original.
However, the roulette wheel was divided into multiplier areas with the lowest being at 0 times. If the arrow pointed at the 0 times area in the wheel disk, then one would lose with not even a dime back. In addition, the multipliers from low to high respectively were: 0, 1, 5, 10, 20, 50, 100, 200, 500, and 1000 times.
There were two areas between 0 to 50-multipliers while there was only one area from 100 to 1000-multipliers.
At this time, only three gamblers were playing in front of the six roulette machines. Tang Xiu let out a slight smile as he looked at Fatty Li, “How about we play this one? It’s simple and crude, while winning and losing will all be decided by luck.”
Fatty Li hesitated, “I don’t think it’s as simple as being decided by luck, though. Gambling machines such as these are almost always tampered. It will be very difficult to hit the areas above 100-multiplier.”
Tang Xiu let out a slight smile, “Even if so, it’s still possible, no? Besides, we are playing with machines, it’s better than playing with those controlled by the dealers, right?”
Upon hearing it, Fatty Li nodded and smiled, “You’re right. Anyone who can be a dealer in this casino is no doubt an expert. Were they intending to cheat, I’m sure no one would know. Alright then, let’s play this. Let’s see who will get the biggest win!”
“Alright!”
Tang Xiu smiled faintly and stood before an unoccupied roulette machine. He took out a 10K chip and inserted it into the machine’s slot, and then pressed the start button.
“Buzz...”
The roulette machines’ wheel began to rotate violently. Ten seconds later, the arrow then pointed to 10-multiplier area, which meant that Tang Xiu didn’t lose or win.
Fatty Li, who was standing in front of another roulette machine, also inserted a 10K chip just like Tang Xiu. After pressing the start button, the arrow then ended up pointing at the 50 times multiplier area.
“Hahaha! I did say that my luck is good. I just got 5 times the bet directly.”
Glancing at Tang Xiu, Fatty Li, who was paying attention to Tang Xiu’s gambling result, immediately let out a proud expression when he found he had won after comparing his result with Tang Xiu’s.
“Old Li, didn’t you say that an expert won’t win before the third game?” Tang Xiu laughed.
Rolling his eyes, Fatty Li chuckled and laughed, “What? Did you believe that? I can’t wait to win all the bets from the first to the last one.”
Tang Xiu couldn’t help laughing. A burst of light flashed in his eyes as he pressed the start button, releasing his mental force at the same time, fusing it into the machine. As the indicator rotated fast, Tang Xiu deliberately controlled the machine’s arrow as its speed gradually decreased and pointed toward the 100-multiplier area.
Right at this time, Fatty Li also had his result. When he saw that the arrow ended up in the doubled area, the smile on his face turned brighter and he burst into laughter. At the same time, he also looked at the machine in front of Tang Xiu.
"What?"
The smile on his face instantly froze. He no longer cared about the roulette machine before him as he darted in front of Tang Xiu with eyes staring wide and exclaiming loudly, “1000 times? How much did you insert into the machine? 1000 times... means... 1 million?”
“Yup! You got that right,” said Tang Xiu, nodding and smiling.
Fatty Li seemed about to blow up. He grudgingly went back to his roulette machine and groaned, “Bah, you’re so damn lucky! Though mine is not as good as yours, I also hit double this time. My 50K is now 100K.”
Tang Xiu smiled. He realized that his spiritual sense turned out to be able to control the wheel disk arrow. Hence, he decided to keep his good luck. Furthermore, he only just played once and didn’t need to place another bet.
He pressed the start button again. As the wheel’s indicator began to rotate, Tang Xiu wrapped the rotating wheel with his spiritual sense once again. Controlling it, it finally stopped in the 1000-multiplier area.
“Fuck it, I lost! I got the zero!”
Fatty Li cursed. Wearing a resentful expression, he turned his head and looked at the roulette machine in front of Tang Xiu as well as the red-colored numbers that were displayed on the roulette wheel. When he saw a series of zeroes on it, he was dumbstruck immediately.
“Sorry, the machine can’t put out the number of chips of the relative values due to the huge amount of gambling stake you have won. Please contact the casino’s staff.”
A mechanical voice resounded from the roulette machine.
In an instant, the men and women in front of three roulette machines nearby looked toward Tag Xiu. When they approached and saw the numbers displayed on the roulette machine Tang Xiu was facing, each and every one of them stared with eyes wide in disbelief.
“Hey, come here!”
As Tang Xiu turned around and saw a middle-aged man with the casino’s staff uniform, he waved to him.
“Is there anything you need, Sir?” the middle-aged man politely asked, all smiling.
Pointing at the numbers displayed on the roulette machine, Tang Xiu said lightly, “If I’m not mistaken, I think I got the 1 billion prize, no?”
When the middle-aged man looked at that string of red-colored numbers, he was shocked. He counted the numbers and found it was indeed 1 billion. Cold sweat instantly came out from his forehead. Whilst maintaining his polite manner, he hastily said, “Please wait a bit, Sir. I have to call our Manager. You have just won too big a gambling stake, I don’t have the authority to handle this.”
“Alright, please do so!” Tang Xiu nodded.
Noise and clamor started from the gamblers around, many of whom also heard what the staff just said. When they saw the red-colored numbers displayed on the roulette machine, all were shocked. Within just a short half a minute, dozens of people had gathered around.
Furthermore, due to the loud noises here, it attracted the attention of the gamblers in the entire casino hall as one after another approached, wanting to find out what had happened.
****
The casino manager of the Lao Bay Resort—Tagger, was rather a powerful figure. Immediately after he got the call from his staff, he rushed there without stopping while contacting Jasmine—the Vice President of the resort on the way there.
“Hello, Sir. I’m the manager of this casino. Since you have won a huge gambling prize, please come with me to the VIP lounge to discuss it in detail,” said Tagger right after he arrived in front of Tang Xiu.
At the side, Fatty Li, who could tell there was a subtle meaning behind Tagger’s words, spoke in a deep tone, “Tang Xiu is my little brother and we’re together in this. You invited him to the VIP lounge yet you didn’t say as for how you will handle the payment procedure. Please explain what’s all this about? Does it mean your casino is unwilling to pay?”
Tagger did have this thought in mind. He first wanted to clearly investigate Tang Xiu’s background. Were Tang Xiu only an ordinary tourist without formidable forces backing him, he wouldn’t spare efforts to make him disappear from this world forever. 1 billion was, after all, not a small amount of money.
However, Fatty Li could keenly perceive his idea and even revealed it in front of the crowd. It made him secretly furious. Yet, he still maintained his polite manner on the surface as he shook his head, “Please don’t misunderstand it, Sir. Our meaning is to elaborate and discuss this in detail as how would to handle it. I have also informed the Resort’s Vice President; she’s on the way here. I believe she will receive you shortly.”
The Vice President? Wasn’t it Jasmine?
Fatty Li’s nervourness was immediately gone after he heard it.
With a tranquil expression, Tang Xiu nodded and said, “Well, we’ll discuss it in the VIP lounge then. I believe you won’t disappoint me.”
Despite sneering inside, Tagger still kept his amicable attitude and turned even more submissive, “You can rest assured that we won’t let you down, Sir.”