Chapter 182: He’s Gone!
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
Li Du immediately rejected the offer. "Forget it. I have no interest and I don’t want to learn."
Lin Ping drank some juice and said, "It’s simple, and I’m not letting you play, just teaching—"
Li Du shook his head and joked, "I’m a person without self-control—I don’t dare to learn it. I’m afraid that once I learn how to play, I won’t be able to resist playing, and then end up sinking in it."
Hearing that, Lin Ping blinked his eyes, lowered his head and said, "It’s just cards, nothing much; just play a few rounds whenever you’re bored. Look at me: from the afternoon until now I’ve made a total of 100,000 dollars!"
Li Du’s expression remained indifferent. One hundred thousand was quite a lot of money, but he didn’t care. The watch on his hand was one worth four to five million.
He didn’t understand the rules. He only noticed the dealer would hand out two cards, one facing up and the other facing down. Then, the players looked at their cards to determine if they wanted more cards or not.
Lin Ping’s luck was indeed good; he won both of the two rounds he played. With that, a stack of green chips was placed in front of him.
"It’s really simple—purely based on luck. Want to have a go? Use my chips, I’ll pay for the losses. If you win, we’ll split the winnings." Lin Ping spoke in a carefree tone.
Li Du shook his head once again. "Forget it, I’m an unlucky person, you play. Just have fun."
Lin Ping sighed. "That I can’t do. I’ve troubled you to come over here and get me those documents, and now, I’m making you watch me play? That’s not what a brother would do. How about this: let’s go someplace else."
He packed up his chips and left a note to the dealer. The young beauty smiled charmingly; her large eyes had an electrifying gaze.
Lin Ping was almost electrified to his bones by her enchanting gaze. Li Du frowned. He felt that this old friend didn’t have strong willpower. When this kind of person fooled around in casinos, it was equivalent to donating money to them.
He was, however, quite familiar with the casino, almost as if he were at home. He introduced the different gambling games to Li Du.
When it came to the Sic Bo table, two white ladies with great figures walked over. The two of them were chatting as they walked:
"Let’s play the slots, that’s the easiest…"
"The easiest would be this, Sic Bo. It’s just betting on big or small numbers for the dice. Even a five-year-old kid would be able to play it well."
"Alright, then let’s play that, but are you sure that you know the rules?"
The redhead who was being questioned looked at Lin Ping and Li Du with bewitching eyes. "Hello, you two handsome fellas over there. You guys know how to play Sic Bo, right?"
Lin Ping nodded like a woodpecker. "Of course, of course, it’s simple."
"Then can you guys teach us?" The redhead smiled seductively.
Lin Ping patted on his chest and said, "No problem, let’s play—my friend and I were just thinking of playing this."
Li Du wanted to say something when Lin Ping looked at him with pleading eyes. With that, he could only give a bitter laugh and accepted his gentlemanly fate.
Two men and two women made two pairs of mixed genders. Four employees came over, and the table was opened for use.
The redhead asked in surprise, "So many people for us?"
Lin Ping said, "Yup. These four are all in charge of this table. One of them is a famous host—he’s also called the boxman—in charge of watching the proceedings of the whole game, as well as checking the equipment like the dice."
"At the sides of the boxman are two dealers, each of them in charge of the payouts for each half of the table. The other is called the conductor, responsible for recalling the dice after each throw to see if there are any markings or damage."
The redhead leaned on the gambling table and said with a smile, "Wow, you sure know your stuff."
Lin Ping smiled proudly, and then winked at Li Du. He said in a quiet voice, "Perform well. Look forward to tonight."
Li Du shook his head and said, "No, I’m not playing. You guys play, have fun."
The other woman, a blondie with green eyeliner, asked in surprise, "You’re not playing? Let’s just play. If you don’t have money, I have some chips here, and you can play together with me."
Without waiting for Li Du to speak, Lin Ping shoved some chips to him and said, "Don’t worry, pretty lady. We have money. Keep your own, use ours first."
Li Du rejected the chips and said, "You guys play. Lin Zi, before I left for this country, I swore on my family’s grave that I wouldn’t gamble, wouldn’t do any drugs, and that I wouldn’t sleep with any hookers."
Lin Ping swallowed his saliva and said with a forced smile, "D*mn, are you really going that far?"
Li Du said firmly, "I’m really not playing. It’s fine, you play, and I’ll watch. I’ll wish you good luck and let you have these two for yourself."
They were conversing in Chinese, so there was no need to worry about the two girls understanding what they said.
With that, only one dealer was needed and stayed there. The four gathered together, while the dealer brought out two dice. The boxman performed an inspection, and then the dealer shook the dice in a black cup.
Lin Ping explained, "This is the most simple way to play: betting on whether the number will be big or small. He will empty the cup, and when the dice stops we’ll bet on whether it is big or small.
"If both of the dice add up to a number smaller than seven, then it’s small. If they add up to more than seven, then it’s big. If it’s seven, then it’s a pass and both sides will start again."
After the explanation, the dealer put down the cup and smiled. "Please make your bets."
Lin Ping looked a Li Du and asked, "Which one do you think it’ll be?"
Li Du was thinking of letting the flying bug over to check, but he held back and said, "I don’t understand—you just pick whichever."
After getting repeatedly rejected by Li Du, Lin Ping was starting to feel unhappy. "Brother Li, are you really going to be so stubborn? It’s just a little game. We’re not doing anything that’ll harm someone. Why do you keep backing off?"
The two girls were getting into the mood and said, "Bet on big! Bet on big! I have a feeling it’ll be big!"
Lin Ping smiled and said, "Your feelings may be wrong. According to my experience, it’ll be small this time!"
As he spoke, he placed some green chips on the section labeled "small," while the two girls placed their chips at the section labeled "big."
The black cup was opened, the two dices showed a two and a three, totaling five points. "Small" was any amount lower than seven points, so this was "small."
With that, the two girls sighed despondently. The dealer took away their chips, and then doubled Lin Ping’s original bet in chips.
Lin Ping didn’t take the chips. With the doubled amount lying on the table, he said, "Come on, continue!"
The dealer reset the cup. Lin Ping glanced at Li Du, and Li Du said helplessly, "I’m really not good with this sort of thing."
"There’s nothing that you need to be good at for this, it’s just a game. Just say ‘big’ or ‘small.’"
Li Du casually said, "Big, then—if you lose, don’t blame me."
The two girls continued betting on small. When the cup was opened, the dices were both fours. Totalling more than seven, Li Du and Lin Ping won, and the girls lost once again.
With the consecutive wins, a thick stack of chips was placed in front of Li Du and Lin Ping.
The two girls began following their bets from the third round onwards, and also won quite a bit. Gradually, some people noticed their consecutive wins, and also followed their bets and earned some chips.
Another round again, Lin Ping placed a whole stack of chips on the table and continued glancing toward Li Du.
Li Du had not used the flying bug at all. He didn’t expect to be so lucky. Again, he casually said, "Small."
The group of people followed and bet on small. The dealer looked at them and said with a smile, "Ladies and Gentlemen, please remove your hands from the table once you’ve made your choice. We will commence with the results soon; please move away from the table."
The cup was opened, and the two dices were five and six: it was big!
Li Du instantly felt his heart skipped a beat. He turned back to Lin Ping and said with a bitter smile, "Sorry brother…"
When he turned back, he was momentarily stunned. Lin Ping was nowhere to be seen!
He was gone!