Chapter 63 – Pledge


Li Dabiao wasn’t foolish.

He knew about the high interest charged by loan sharks.

But at this moment, he was too far gone.

He hesitated no longer and directly said:

“Bring it to me! I’ll pay you back tomorrow…”

“Alrighty, boss, may you prosper!”

The loan shark said cheerfully, placing ninety thousand yuan on the table.

But Old Hei glared at him discontentedly.

Wishing him prosperity.

What about us?

Chen Xiaoxue, who had been silent all along, suddenly whispered to Li Dabiao:

“Dabiao, I’ve only put in twenty thousand. This high interest has nothing to do with me!”

Although Li Dabiao was dissatisfied, he said nothing.

“It’s your turn, deal the cards quickly, stop dawdling!”

With money in hand, Li Dabiao spoke with more confidence.

I dealt myself two cards.

A three and a ten.

Normally speaking,

In the game of Dragon Gate, they’d be worth about a quarter of the pot.

But before I could speak,

Old Hei shouted loudly:

“How much money do you still have? Bet it all!”

We only had a little over one hundred and twenty thousand in hand.

If we bet all one hundred and twenty thousand,

And if we hit the post,

We wouldn’t have enough to cover the bet.

Li Dabiao realized this too and immediately said:

“You don’t have enough money either, how will you cover the bet if you hit the post?”

Old Hei sneered.

With a “slap,”

He threw his car keys on the table.

“If I hit the post, can’t I use my car to pay you?”

The loan shark, of course, knew.

Old Hei’s car was already mortgaged to them.

But he certainly wouldn’t say so.

Li Dabiao’s eyes whirled.

Suddenly, he said:

“Old Hei, you come play. Stop letting this kid play. He annoys me…”

Old Hei hesitated.

He was afraid that if he played, Li Dabiao would win it all back.

And I, nodding slightly, gave up my seat.

In fact, I had already arranged the deck.

No matter who played, Li Dabiao’s fate was the same.

Death!

A three and a ten.

Old Hei had to deal himself a four to nine to win.

This time,

He didn’t mess up the cards.

He drew one and slammed it on the table.

A hearts five.

Old Hei laughed heartily.

“Awesome! Winning one hundred and twenty thousand in one go, what a thrill!”

Saying that, he took two hundred and forty thousand from the card table.

It was Li Dabiao’s turn.

Old Hei dealt the cards.

His two cards were a four and a jack.

These cards were actually the same as Old Hei’s previous hand.

The winning cards were also six in total, from five to ten.

Li Dabiao now had only ninety thousand in hand.

The pot on the card table still had over one hundred and ten thousand.

These cards were currently worth about thirty to forty thousand.

But Li Dabiao was too caught up in the game.

And he was also stimulated by Old Hei’s previous hand.

Since there were six winning cards,

Why could Old Hei win,

And I couldn’t?

Ninety thousand!

He threw the money straight into the pot.

This time, Old Hei didn’t care about hitting the post or not.

His eyes were fixed on Li Dabiao.

Li Dabiao didn’t mess up either.

As soon as the cards reached him,

He slammed them on the table just like Old Hei.

“Ah?”

Chen Xiaoxue exclaimed.

A diamonds three!

Li Dabiao was stunned.

He slumped into his chair.

His eyes were lifeless, as if in a daze.

As if everything before him wasn’t real.

“Now you’re out of money, can you still play this round?”

Old Hei added fuel to the fire,

Deliberately provoking Li Dabiao.

Li Dabiao turned a deaf ear.

His eyes were fixed on that diamonds three.

“How about we call it quits? I’ll give you another twenty thousand as a parting gift. Go back, hug a girl, sleep it off, and play again tomorrow…”

These words sounded nice.

As if advising Li Dabiao.

But Li Dabiao was already blinded by envy.

And with the temptation of over two hundred thousand on the table,

How could he possibly agree?

He looked again at the two loan sharks.

“Guys, lend me another hundred thousand. I’ll pay you back all together tomorrow…”

The two loan sharks exchanged glances.

One of them chuckled and said:

“Boss, it’s not that we don’t trust your ability. It’s just that you’ve been playing in our den for too short a time. You’ve only been here five or six times. To be honest, lending you a hundred thousand is already beyond our limit. We can’t lend you more. Sorry, boss…”

Seeing that the loan sharks were unwilling to lend money,

Li Dabiao immediately stood up.

He walked over to them, pleading desperately.

“Big brothers, I’ll definitely pay you back first thing tomorrow. I’m not short of money, it’s just inconvenient to withdraw right now. Please, the last hundred thousand, okay?”

Gamblers have no dignity.

And no one believes a gambler’s words.

The loan sharks had seen too much of this.

He shook his head, refusing again.

“Boss, let’s not talk anymore. If we keep talking, it might hurt our feelings…”

With that, Li Dabiao’s last hope was dashed.

He stood beside the card table, dispirited.

He couldn’t accept it.

After all, there was still over two hundred thousand on the table.

As long as he had money, he had a chance to break even and come out on top.

But now, he had no way to get the money.

Li Dabiao racked his brains.

Suddenly, he turned to look at Chen Xiaoxue.He pleaded in a low voice:

“Xiaoxue, can you help me borrow some money from your friend? I don’t need much, just fifty thousand. Don’t worry, I’ll pay her back sixty thousand first thing tomorrow morning. Is that okay?”

Chen Xiaoxue shook her head.

Pretending to be embarrassed, she said:

“No, I can’t. My family is from out of town, and I don’t really have any friends here…”

Li Dabiao was dumbfounded again.

Suddenly, Chen Xiaoxue looked at Li Dabiao and whispered:

“Dabiao, didn’t you say you have something quite valuable?”

“What?”

Li Dabiao looked puzzled.

Chen Xiaoxue nodded towards Li Dabiao’s wrist.

The watch!

On Li Dabiao’s wrist was a Rolex Submariner ‘Hulk’.

Slap!

Li Dabiao smacked his forehead.

“How could I forget about this…”

He took off the watch and handed it to the loan shark, saying directly:

“Bro, I bought this Rolex ‘Hulk’ for over seventy thousand. It’s definitely genuine. Here, I’ll mortgage it to you. Just give me fifty thousand…”

The loan shark took the watch.

Both of them examined it.

One of them said to Li Dabiao:

“Boss, we lend money, not run a pawnshop. Strictly speaking, we shouldn’t take your watch. But you seem like a decent guy, and quite generous. So, I’ll give you twenty-five thousand. When you redeem the watch, the interest will still be calculated at 9% for 13 days!”

“Twenty-five thousand?”

Li Dabiao was astonished.

“Bro, this is a genuine piece, I just bought it a little over a month ago. Whoever I mortgage it to, it’s worth more than twenty-five thousand, right?”

“Then go mortgage it to someone else…”

The loan shark placed the watch on the card table.

Li Dabiao was fuming and turned to ask Old Hei.

“Brother Hei, if I mortgage this watch to you, will you lend me fifty thousand?”

Old Hei shook his head straight away.

“I don’t understand watches, and I don’t like this stuff…”

Li Dabiao was completely desperate.

Old Hei immediately added another sentence.

“Let me make a suggestion!”

Saying this, he looked at the loan shark and said:

“Give me some face, and lend him thirty thousand for the watch. How about that?”

Upon hearing this, Li Dabiao immediately looked up, hopeful at the loan shark.

The loan shark then picked up the watch again, examined it, and said:

“Alright, since Brother Hei has spoken, I’ll have to give this face. Thirty thousand it is. But boss, I have to tell you in advance. If you don’t redeem it in three days, I’ll have to deal with the watch…”

Li Dabiao nodded repeatedly.

At this point, he couldn’t listen to any of this.

As long as he got the money, nothing else mattered to him.


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