Frenemies Cards

As I looked up, I saw a young man with two tough-looking henchmen approaching the poker table.

This man had triangular eyes and a shaved head.

There was a long, glaring scar on his head, resembling a centipede crawling on top.

Just looking at him sent shivers down my spine.

And his eyes were fixed straight on me.

As he appeared, several people at the table greeted him.

"Is Centipede Brother here? Hurry up and take a seat..."

You could feel that they had some fear towards this centipede.

This man, known as Centipede, sniffed and ignored those people, focusing on me, and asked:

"Don't give up your seat, let me have it. Tonight, I'll be the banker, and if I win, I'll treat you to a feast..."

This so-called Centipede was clearly a troublemaker.

He must be used to running wild here, immediately trying to snatch my banker position.

But I had been playing for a few hours just to become the banker. How could I easily give it to him?

Glancing at Centipede, I calmly said:

"No need, I still want to play a while longer. If you're not in a rush, wait until I'm done. If I win, I'll treat you to a feast..."

Centipede was taken aback.

Clearly, he hadn't expected someone to speak to him like that here.

A fierce threat appeared in his triangular eyes.

His henchmen beside him started swearing:

"Who the fuck are you talking to? Centipede Brother asked you to give up your seat, that's giving you face. Show some respect and step aside, or don't expect us to be nice to you!"

It seemed that this place was just as chaotic as the old black man had described, with all sorts of people.

But I guessed they only dared to act like this because I was unfamiliar to them.

If I were acquainted, the boss would probably step in to resolve the situation.

Before I could say anything, the old black man suddenly stood up.

He first glared at the henchman and grumbled:

"Who the fuck do you think you're being impolite to? Come on, let's see how impolite you can be to me!"

The henchman clearly recognized the old black man. As soon as he spoke, he dared not utter a word.

The old black man then looked at Centipede and said:

"Centipede, this is my friend whom I brought along. If you want to play, sit down and play. If you dare to intimidate my friend with your tricks, don't think that I, Old Black, won't give you face..."

Centipede's face turned slightly unpleasant.

In this circle, he probably hadn't been confronted like this before.

But he also had some apprehension towards the old black man.

After hesitating for a moment, he pulled a gambler and sat in his place.

With a wave of his hand, a henchman immediately handed him an envelope.

The centipede pulled out several stacks of money from it and slammed them on the table.

"Come on, it's just a game, right? I'll join you. I'll bet fifty thousand! Kid, show us what you've got..."

Playing by Rule 9.

According to the rule, the banker must have cash greater than ten times the maximum bet in order to be the banker.

Let me give you an example.

If the maximum bet is one thousand, then the banker's money cannot be less than ten thousand.

Because just in case someone bets a thousand and gets three-of-a-kind, the payout would be ten times, and you wouldn't be able to afford it.

The centipede said he would bet fifty thousand and asked me to show my cards.

So, I would have to put down at least five hundred thousand.

Forget about five hundred thousand, I only had a little over twenty thousand on me, including what I just won.

I knew the centipede was recently embarrassed by a gangster and wanted to save face, deliberately picking a fight with me.

I remained calm and said calmly,

"Sorry, we have a limit of one thousand. I only have a little over twenty thousand in total. I won't take the fifty thousand, but if you want to bet two thousand, I can accept it!"

"Damn, you're just a poor loser. With this lousy money, you dare to be the banker..."

The centipede cursed and looked disdainful.

Then, the centipede looked at the gangster on purpose and said,

"Blackie, isn't this your friend? Why don't you lend him some money?"

The centipede knew that the gangster had no money, and he said this to deliberately provoke him.

The gangster's face turned cold, he glared at the centipede and said,

"I have no money. We'll play with what we've got. If you think it's too small, there's a bigger game over there. Go play there and leave us alone..."

The centipede sneered and stared at the cash in front of me, then leisurely said,

"Or how about this, I'll take all the money you have. We'll play without doubling the bet. One round to determine the win or lose..."

The so-called "taking all" meant that he would bet as much as I had.

Regardless of what we both had, even if it was three-of-a-kind, there would be no doubling, and the win or lose would be determined by that amount.

I didn't say anything, instead, I looked at the gangster.

The reason I looked at the gangster wasn't because I didn't want to gamble with the centipede.

It was because I wanted to see the gangster's attitude.

I wanted to confirm whether, if I won, I would be able to take the money.

After all, this centipede seemed to be a local boss around here.

If I couldn't take the money with me even if I won, then there was no need for me to agree to him.

Blackie may have misunderstood my intention, thinking that I was afraid of playing too big and hesitated to participate.

He immediately stood up, feeling a surge of excitement.

With a loud smack, he threw all the money on the table onto my pile.

"Chuliuyeye, let's take him on. Consider it my contribution, that's all the money I have!"

Seeing Blackie's confidence, I felt relieved.

I checked Blackie's money, totaling four thousand five hundred.

Combined with my twenty-three thousand, it came to a total of twenty-seven thousand five hundred.

Because it was just the two of us playing this round.

I quickly shuffled the cards and dealt them.

As soon as the cards were dealt, Wugong didn't even look at his hand, pointing at me and said,

"Come on, stop talking nonsense, show your cards first!"

In fact, it didn't matter who showed their cards first in this kind of game.

After all, comparing the cards had no order.

So, I casually flipped open three cards.

Once the cards were revealed.

The onlooking gamblers couldn't help but let out a sigh of regret.

Blackie, on the other hand, directly started clapping the table with his hands.

"Damn, this is fucking unlucky..."

I furrowed my brow as well.

Putting on a show of a regretful sigh.

The three cards in front of me were Q, 10, and K.

All three cards amounted to zero points.

This was the smallest hand in La Jiu.

Wugong and his two lackeys burst into laughter.

In their eyes, they were already guaranteed a win.

Wugong even arrogantly beckoned at me, triumphantly saying,

"Come on, bring out the money. Do you even need to see my cards?"

Before I could speak, Blackie immediately widened his eyes and said,

"Why not see your cards? What if you also have zero points?"

"Fuck, are you dreaming?"

Wugong said while flipping the three cards over with a backhand, revealing them on the table.

The onlooking gamblers couldn't help but exclaim in astonishment.

Meanwhile, Lao Hei's eyes widened with delight.

Centipede and his two lackeys, on the other hand, wore incredulous expressions.

As it turned out, Centipede's three cards were 10, 10, and Q.

Just like mine, they totaled zero points.

According to the rules of "La9," when the points are the same, the banker wins by a half point.

Of course, this pair of conflicting cards was deliberately dealt by me.

There are two reasons for that.

First, to deliberately disgust Centipede. I always detest these so-called social individuals who act tough, show off, and bully the weak.

Second, I wanted to provoke him. Whenever someone loses with such cards, they tend to place larger bets. Not many people can remain calm in such situations. I wanted to get under his skin. Only then would he start placing even bigger bets out of anger.

(End of chapter)