Two cards were dealt to Li Dabiao.

As the cards were revealed,

to everyone’s surprise, it was a 2 and a K.

Another hand with an extremely high chance of winning.

Li Dabiao took a fierce drag of his cigarette, slammed the table, and declared loudly:

“I’m covering it all!”

With that, he gestured for me to deal the third card.

“Hold on!”

Before I could deal, Old Hei suddenly spoke up.

Pointing at the pile of money on the table, he questioned:

“There’s over a hundred thousand on the table, and you’ve only got eighty or ninety thousand, which isn’t enough. If you want to cover, you need to put down cash, not just talk big!”

Li Dabiao was indeed all talk.

Hearing Old Hei’s words, he felt a bit embarrassed.

But he still looked at the money in his hand and said:

“I’ve got a total of eighty-six thousand here, and I’ll cover with that!”

The hand was indeed worth that much.

But Old Hei immediately shook his head and said:

“That won’t do either. What if you hit the jackpot? What will you pay with then?”

Old Hei had a point.

And Li Dabiao was out of money.

After thinking for a moment, he looked up at Old Hei and said directly:

“Old Hei, although we haven’t known each other for long, you can see for yourself, do I, Li Dabiao, look like someone short of cash? A hundred thousand, eighty thousand, that won’t stump me. If I hit the jackpot, I’ll call someone right now to bring me money. How about that?”

This was a gambler’s typical rhetoric on the gambling den floor.

After this round, I’ll have someone bring the money.

Whether someone would actually bring him money was not his concern.

He just needed to bluff the other party.

As long as he could keep playing this round, that was all that mattered.

Moreover, Li Dabiao’s hand was indeed very good.

Old Hei pretended to think for a moment before saying:

“Alright then, deal…”

I dealt Li Dabiao a face-down card.

Actually, this card could have been dealt face-up.

But gamblers generally prefer to reveal their own cards, enjoying the thrilling process.

Perhaps it was the shock from hitting the jackpot in the previous round.

As soon as the card was dealt,

Li Dabiao turned to Chen Xiaoxue and said:

“Come on, take a look at this round…”

Chen Xiaoxue leaned forward over the table.

Her chest pressed tightly against the surface.

Their heads were close together.

Both staring intently as Chen Xiaoxue slowly revealed the card.

You could feel Li Dabiao’s nervousness.

When looking at the card, he even held his breath.

The card was slowly flipped over.

At the sight of the points,

Li Dabiao closed his eyes and slammed his fist hard against the card table.

Chen Xiaoxue also put on a look of utter despair.

Slowly, she revealed the card.

A spade Ace.

Although he didn’t hit the jackpot, he still lost.

“Damn it, what the hell kind of cards are these!”

Li Dabiao slumped into his chair, fuming.

His face was pale as he took deep drags of his cigarette.

“Big Biao, do you have any money left?”

Old Hei asked.

Li Dabiao remained silent.

Old Hei immediately put on an unhappy face, furrowed his brow, and said:

“I’ve said it before, we’re playing a big game here. How can you bring so little money? How are we supposed to play?”

Li Dabiao looked embarrassed.

Still, he said nothing.

Then, Old Hei took out twenty thousand from the pile of money.

He threw it in front of Li Dabiao, saying:

“How about we call it a day? Take this twenty thousand as a token of good luck. Bring more money tomorrow, and we’ll continue!”

Old Hei acted as if he was about to call off the game.

“No way!”

Li Dabiao’s response was very straightforward.

He looked at Old Hei with some dissatisfaction and said:

“Old Hei, I’ve lost, but the money on this table isn’t yours yet…”

There was already over two hundred and thirty thousand on the card table.

Li Dabiao was right.

The money on the table didn’t belong to Old Hei.

At least, we hadn’t won it yet.

“So what do we do? You’re out of money, right? I can’t just sit here waiting for you to earn some, can I?”

Li Dabiao hung his head.

He took several deep drags of his cigarette.

After a while, he turned to Chen Xiaoxue and asked:

“Do you have any money left?”

Chen Xiaoxue spread her hands.

“I’ve got nothing left! Hey, I told you when we came not to play so big, but you wouldn’t listen. Now look, you’ve run out of money to bet…”

Li Dabiao frowned and remained silent.

He just sat there, flipping through his phone.

I guessed he was thinking.

Who could he call to borrow money from?

After a while, he put his phone down.

At this moment, Li Dabiao was anxious and irritable.

But he had no solution.

I also lit a cigarette.

The lighter clicked.

Li Dabiao immediately looked up at me, cursing furiously:

“Damn it, it’s all because of you that I’ve lost so much money!”

To others, Li Dabiao’s words might seem like he was blaming me for jinxing his luck.

But in reality, he was cursing me for messing up the cards he was dealt.

I knew he wished he could skin me alive.

But I didn’t care, I sneered inwardly.

Keep cursing!

The harsher the curse, the quicker the downfall!

Old Hei was very angry to hear him curse at me.

But since I didn’t react, Old Hei wouldn’t make a move either.

“Are we playing tomorrow, or are you having someone bring you money? Give me an answer, don’t just sit there…”

Old Hei urged.

I thought Li Dabiao would call the girl he brought yesterday.

But he didn’t make a single call from start to finish.

After hesitating for a good while,

Li Dabiao seemed to make up his mind.

He turned to the person in charge of the gambling den and said:

“Go, call the loan shark over!”

The so-called loan shark was someone who lent money at high interest rates.

There were many names for them, varying by region.

Actually, I had already guessed.

Li Dabiao would resort to borrowing at high interest.

This was also part of my plan.

Even if he didn’t take the initiative to borrow,

Chen Xiaoxue would persuade him.

In any case, he had to take this step.

Once he got involved with high-interest loans, thinking of clearing the debt?

Difficult!

And once the loan sharks got their hooks into him…In this life, he could forget about having it easy.

Not long after.

Two loan sharks walked in.

As soon as they entered, they cheerfully asked:

“Which boss here needs money?”

“Me!”

“How much?”

“A hundred thousand!”

“Alright!”

The loan shark agreed and began counting the money.

Seeing the money, Li Dabiao felt as if he saw hope.

He reached out to take it.

But the loan shark pulled his hand back and asked:

“Boss, we need to agree on the terms first. Do you know our rules?”

“What rules?”

“Nine for thirteen! One week’s limit, double the amount if overdue!”

“That’s extortionate!”

Li Dabiao exclaimed in surprise.

The so-called nine for thirteen.

Is the jargon of the loan sharks.

For instance, borrow ten thousand, receive nine thousand.

But when repaying, one must return thirteen thousand.

And if overdue, both the principal and interest double.

The loan shark chuckled, not taking it seriously.

“Extortionate? Boss, just win one round, and you’ll have everything, right? Besides, we’re not really that bad. Some gambling dens, they use compound interest. That’s the real extortion…”

Before the year 2000, this was the common practice in northern gambling dens.

Later on, most switched to a five percent rate.

Ten thousand yuan would be five hundred.

But calculated daily.

It also involved upfront interest.

Almost the same as nine for thirteen.

It just feels like it’s a bit less.

Here, I must say.

Stay away from gambling and high-interest loans.

These things, they devour people without spitting out the bones.

Take the present for example.

In those so-called legitimate casinos in Macau.

Big-time loan sharks are often lurking.

Even if it’s your first meeting and you don’t know each other.

As long as you need money, they will lend it to you.

Even if you don’t need it.

They will proactively offer it to you.

Of course, you can’t borrow as much as you want.

They set a borrowing limit based on your background.

As for how they know your background, the reason is simple.

Information leakage.

As soon as you enter.

They already have a clear grasp of all your data.

Your family background, social connections.

All crystal clear.

You think you’re safe once you return to the mainland?

Don’t worry, you can’t escape.

Don’t disbelieve.

All of this is a bloody lesson learned.

(You can follow my Douyin account, Red Star Shining Ma Xiaohu. Let’s talk about the stories of Blue Path and The Swindler Sect!)