Chapter 80: Paradise Club
Tang Xiu was standing beside Gong Dalong and saw that Jia Yelei’s eyes only glanced at him. But then he looked around, looking for the “Gambling Master”. Tang Xiu was slightly disappointed, especially because of his words. This Jia Yelei seemed to judge people solely by appearance. Now he understood why he was cheated by others, since he also had countless means to push such a person to a deep pit.
“Pa…”
Seeing through Jia Yelei’s thoughts, Gong Dalong slapped his head and snapped, “Hey, he is Master Tang, and he’s the Gambling Master that I specially invited.”
Jia Yelei rubbed the spot on his head where he was hit. His vision was fixated on Tang Xiu, sizing him up, and then he exclaimed with an inconceivable expression, “First Senior Brother, are you throwing a massive, unfunny joke? He’s so young, he even looks younger than me. How could he possibly be more skillful than Dad?”
“You damn moron!”
Tang Xiu cursed inside since Jia Yelei really made him speechless.
Gong Dalong was as though driven to the other world out of anger by Jia Yelei. If it were not for Tang Xiu’s presence, he would have already slapped this idiot Junior Brother of his to death. But, recalling the first time he saw Tang Xiu, he indeed also had doubts and contempt, because the first impression that came from Tang Xiu was, after all… well, he’s too young.
However…
When he saw the dispute between Tang Xiu and Su Shangwen, although he stood up for Tang Xiu, but little did he play his role. Since Star City’s 2 most powerful and rich big shots, Long Hanwen and Chen Zhizhong, already stepped forward to defend Tang Xiu. They also seemed to be interested in making friends with Tang Xiu by expressing their goodwill. This made him come to his senses and he clearly understood that he ‘must never judge a person by his appearance, just like people were unable to measure the depth of the sea with a pint pot’.
Gong Dalong glanced at the cold expression on Tang Xiu’s face. Then, he grabbed Jia Yelei and dragged him out of the crowd by tens of meters. After they came to a remote place, he powerfully slapped his face without hesitation, glared at him and angrily reprimanded, “Do bear in your little mind! Judging people only by their appearance is the death flag for us gamblers! Master Tang has won against our Master in a game. You think that Master will intentionally lie and deceive you? In the case Master Tang really does have no abilities, do you think Master will call him as a last resort for his life? You doubt Master Tang and that means you also look down on your father!”
“I……”
Jia Yelei covered his scarlet cheek as his eyes tried to find Tang Xiu. He suddenly had cold sweat. Only now did he realize that he was wrong and had broken the professional gamblers’ biggest taboo and death flag. How could he forget not to judge people solely by their appearance? Regret quickly filled him as he bowed deeply and spoke, “Master Tang, I was really rude. With that broad mind of yours, please forgive me.”
“Hmm?”
Jia Yelei did make Tang Xiu feel iffy. But, seeing that he easily admitted his mistake and also apologized straightforwardly with a sincere tone and expression, Tang Xiu was somewhat also saw him in a new light. People who were able to recognize their mistakes would be able to reform themselves, as the saying goes. Despite some shortcomings he had, Jia Yelei’s character could be said that he was a promising youngster.
“Where’s your father?”
Tang Xiu lightly nodded his head and calmly asked.
Jia Yelei carefully took Tang Xiu’s suitcase and hurriedly replied, “He’s still on the table because today is the deadline set by his opponent, so he must continue gambling with them. Otherwise, they would sell my mother’s memento!”
Tang Xiu secretly shook his head. Jia Ruidao seemed to have fallen into a deep pit! He had been bitten by a viper and his opponents had hit him on his weak spot. Since his soft rib had been grabbed by his opponents, he had no choice but to give in.
Rhythm!
Tang Xiu perfectly understood what this word meant. ‘Rhythm’ in particular had a deep meaning for people who were gamblers. In the case that professional gamblers controlled the gambling rhythm, they would undoubtedly win big. But on the flipside, once they lost their rhythm control, they would have to face countless hardships and difficulties in trying to win.
Jingmen Island, Paradise Club…
The regular visitors of Jingmen Island, the lot of them were usually hardcore gamblers. They knew everyone and everyone also knew them. The gambling usually was not held inside the building, but rather on a luxury cruiser at Jingmen Island’s Port. It was rumored that the big boss behind the Paradise Club was Ouyang Lulu, the eldest daughter of the Ouyang Family, and the Jingmen Island’s first family. This was, of course, an illegal type of business, with huge pieces of delicious cake that was being shared by a lot of hands. Otherwise, without such a safe haven, it would have been very difficult to defend against covetous people.
At this moment…
Inside the spacious and bright office of the Paradise Club luxury cruiser, Ouyang Lulu was entertaining her two classmates from Beijing.
“This Scarlet Oolong Tea is only produced in the Wuyi Mountains. It belongs to the black tea kind of excellent quality. It’s a kind of domestic special tea with tight strips on its contour and vivid greenish brown leaves. After brewing it, the tea water would be bright yellow and the leaves will turn reddish-green. The most distinguishing quality of this tea is the strong and long-lasting fragrance. This is obviously of high-class quality and brings along numerous effects.”
A smiling expression was hung on Bai Tao’s mouth as he looked at the elegant posture Ouyang Lulu had, who was making tea tediously, “This Scarlet Oolong Tea is of the best quality, it’s also very precious due to being very hard to find. My uncle once obtained it with hardships and in trying every means. Only from a big tea merchant from the Southern Province was he able to buy a few of them. But it seems that Miss Ouyang really has the ability to acquire this exquisite tea.”
Ouyang Lulu smiled and said, “Eh? Do you find me interesting to tease, old friend? Anyways, I never knew that you were a tea expert! I may have to find you later and learn about it when I have time.”
Bai Tao gasped for a second before he hastily replied, “No no no, it will be showing off in front of an expert. It’s better for you to ask the real expert I know of. He’s damn knowledgeable about tea. Mine is only superficial, I only know about it because I got influenced and only heard and saw about it.”
Ouyang Lulu was puzzled and asked, “Who is he?”
Bai Tao glanced at Chu Yi and chuckled before he replied, “It’s not far on the horizon though, and he’s just right in front of your eyes.”
As a smart person, Ouyang Lulu quickly grasped it, and suddenly turned around toward Chu Yi. With an astonished expression, she asked, “Eh, the tea expert turns out to be you, Chu Yi! How? And why are you keeping low-key even in front of your friend?”
Chu Yi couldn’t help but laugh and replied, “For one, I considered myself as a tea expert amongst the same generation. But seeing your tea-making technique, I’m convinced that there will always be someone who’s better than me. Miss Ouyang, you’ve given me a good lesson!”
Ouyang Lulu replied with a smile, “Cut it off. Modesty will only make you fatter. I can tell that you’ll be a big fatty in no time. Ah, right. How come the both of you are not busy this time? You even have time to come to Jingmen Island.”
Bai Tao was the one who replied as he smiled, “Actually, we just went to Star City to find that kid, Long Zhengyu, since we have an appointment to get some tickets to Thailand. But I never expected that he changed his mind because of some big project opportunity.”
Ouyang Lulu laughed, “Although I have yet to meet Long Zhengyu, I’ve heard his name a lot, especially from the both of you. Every time we meet, you two always mention him. Seems like that I have to meet this famous Young Master Long if I got the chance, to see what kind of outstanding person he is, which is even worth for the two of you to have such a longstanding and deep friendship with.”
Bai Tao laughed, “Of course, he’s amazing! He’s not even the least bit inferior compared to us.”
Ouyang Lulu was dumbfounded and couldn’t help laughing, “You are praising and boasting about him? The both of you?”
Chu Yi’s expression suddenly changed and replied, “Lulu, Long Zhengyu is really a fine outstanding young man. Only a few youths from the younger generation could be more outstanding than him. But when we had the tour in Star City, we came across an interesting finding though. To be more precise, we heard about an interesting person.”
“What kind of person?” Ouyang Lulu was surprised.
Chu Yi replied, “I don’t know much about the details. What I know is that he’s also a youngster. And the most inconceivable thing is that he’s still a high schooler. And Long Zhengyu turns out to have gotten the help of that youngster in his big project. Even the aloof and proud Long Zhengyu seems to admire this youngster high schooler.”
Ouyang Lulu was surprised and asked, “Long Zhengyu admires a high schooler? Are you kidding me?”
Bai Tao said, “We absolutely won’t kid with you! I really could tell that Long Zhengyu really admires him. When the both us were chatting with Long Zhengyu and had some tea, that youngster was called Tang Xiu by Long Zhengyu. He wanted Long Zhengyu to find him a professional manager. And you know what? Long Zhengyu’s attitude at that time was simply… how should I say it? It was not like treating a blood brother. He was simply like bootlicking him.”
Ouyang Lulu was confused, “A high school schooler wants to find a professional manager? What does he want to do?”
Bai Tao said, “That said, he’s preparing to set up a company. Since he doesn’t have time to manage it, so he asked Long Zhengyu to find a professional manager. And guess what? Since we were there at that time, Chu Yin got this rotten idea and threw it to Long Zhengyu, and let Tang Xiu invite Kang Xia. Lulu, I think you also have heard about the famous Kang Xia, haven’t you? Geez… I really wanna see if that kid will be able to invite her.”
Ouyang Lulu turned supercilious as she then smiled and said, “Aha, the two of you really deserve to be damned. Who doesn’t know Kang Xia? The super elite who came back from Wall Street’s World Finance Center… even a lot of big corporations wished to recruit her with countless of means and efforts, only to finally get rejected by her. The two of you are really not a good thing, you even tested a high schooler to invite her? It’s not even a funny joke!”
Bai Tao laughed and replied, “Haha, it’s just for fun!”
Chu Yi expression suddenly changed. He grabbed his phone and dialed a number. After the phone was picked, he asked, “The thing I told you to investigate, is there any news?”
“Kang Xia went alone to Star City yesterday, the purpose is unclear.”
“Say what?” Chu Yi suddenly thought he misheard it.
Kang Xia went to Star City? Was she…?
What did she go to Star City for?
The shock in Chu Yi’s heart suddenly made his face suddenly turn serious, as though tidal waves were surging up unceasingly inside his heart.
Seeing such a strange expression Chu Yin had, Ouyang Lulu was curious and asked, “What’s up?”
Chu Yi hung up the phone. He looked to the both of them and replied, “I was just curious and sent someone to investigate Kang Xia’s next whereabouts. I just got the report that Kang Xia went to Star City yesterday. As for her purpose, it’s still unknown.”
“She went to the Star City?”
Bai Tao directly jumped over from the couch and exclaimed out loud with disbelieving expression, “Kang Xia went to Star City… c-could it be because of Tang Xiu?… How could this be?”