The King of Cheating

Chapter 3: Moving Mountains and Shifting Earth

The game began, and I didn't rush to cheat. I played normally, following the usual patterns. Perhaps Hua Jie and the man across the table viewed me and Mei Jie as easy targets. Their requests for cards became more frequent and their movements bolder. As a result, before long, Mei Jie had already lost over ten thousand yuan.

Occasionally, I would win a few rounds, keeping my losses to around one or two thousand. As time passed, the game neared its end. In the final round, it was Mei Jie's turn to be the dealer.

Before she could roll the dice, Hua Jie said, "I have to get to work soon. This last round, don't say I didn't give you a chance to win. Go as big as you want; Hua Jie can afford to lose!"

Hua Jie put on a grandiose facade. I knew it was time to make my move. However, my goal today wasn't to win for myself but for Mei Jie.

I had a good impression of her. When I first joined Tianxiang, I was in charge of welcoming male bathers. Because I rarely smiled, a drunken customer complained about my attitude. According to the rules, I should have been fired. But Mei Jie was lenient and reassigned me to the logistics team, providing me with a livelihood. Now, it was time for me to repay her kindness.

Mei Jie rolled a seven and began to draw her cards. Before she could pick, I pushed my stack of cards forward. This was a common gesture at the mahjong table. However, this seemingly normal action held significant importance.

While pushing the cards, I quickly concealed a previously arranged set of all-suited pairs in my hand. Using the time it took to push, I placed those cards into the position where Mei Jie would draw them. This ensured that every card she drew would be a pair of the same suit. This technique is known in the cheating world as "Moving Mountains and Shifting Earth," which involves covertly shifting cards without detection.

Even if Mei Jie didn't draw from the cards in front of me, I could still use this technique to guarantee that she drew at least four pairs of the same suit.

Once the cards were drawn, it was time for Mei Jie to play. However, she stared at her hand in shock, seemingly unable to believe what she had. For a long moment, she didn't move.

"Come on, play already! You're not so down on your luck that you can't even play a card, right?" Hua Jie urged her, lighting a cigarette and swaying her body impatiently.

The man across the table chimed in, "Hey, Su Mei, are you thinking about men or something? Hurry up and play!"

Mei Jie looked up at me, then immediately directed her gaze back to Hua Jie. Before she could speak, Hua Jie snapped, "What are you staring at? Do I have mahjong on my face? Hurry up and play!"

Mei Jie's expression remained astonished. Glancing at Hua Jie, she said, "I—I won. Tian Hu, all-suited seven pairs, and I've also got no terminal tiles..."

Tian Hu refers to a situation where the dealer wins immediately after drawing their cards. The odds of this happening are exceedingly low; some say it's about one in 330,000. Adding in the all-suited hand and the no terminal tiles, the odds drop even further. Yet Mei Jie claimed she had achieved Tian Hu.

"Don't joke around! What do you mean Tian Hu? I think you're dreaming..." Hua Jie and the man both reacted skeptically, thinking Mei Jie was kidding.

Mei Jie slowly revealed her cards, displaying a perfectly organized set of seven pairs without terminal tiles.

"It's impossible!" Both Hua Jie and the man exclaimed simultaneously, leaning forward in disbelief, inspecting her hand card by card. But no matter how they scrutinized it, the cards remained unchanged.

All-suited seven pairs account for 32 points, while Tian Hu is 168 points in our area. In some places, Tian Hu can be 108 or 32 points depending on local rules. Adding the thirty-two to one hundred sixty-eight and the two points from no terminal tiles totals to 202 points. This meant that both of them lost over twenty thousand yuan.

Mei Jie had previously lost over twenty thousand, but this hand not only recovered her losses but also netted her almost twenty thousand more. This didn't even include the twenty thousand I was supposed to pay.

The expressions on Hua Jie and the man's faces grew increasingly grim. Their hard work in cheating for the entire afternoon resulted in a loss.

Suddenly, Hua Jie turned and glared at me, saying loudly, "Hey, little virgin, do you and Su Mei have something going on?"

I felt a jolt in my heart. Had Hua Jie discovered my trick? Where did I go wrong? Did I underestimate her? Was she able to tell that I had cheated?

This shouldn't be possible, right? Moving Mountains and Shifting Earth relies on speed. When I practiced at my peak, Lao Liu had once said my hand speed was among the fastest he had seen. Even he would find it hard to catch me swapping cards unless he already knew what to look for.

"What could there be between us?" I replied.

Mei Jie quickly defended, "There's nothing going on between us."

Hua Jie rolled her eyes, scoffing, "Hmph! I see something's going on. Su Mei, did you sleep with this little virgin? Otherwise, how did he suddenly make your luck soar?"

Upon hearing Hua Jie's words, the tension in my heart instantly eased. Mei Jie didn't take Hua Jie's joke seriously and continued speaking, "This is the first time I've ever won a Tian Hu in mahjong, especially with all-suited seven pairs. I still can't believe it..."

Hua Jie snorted, but she paid up. Mei Jie continued to be the dealer. In this round, I didn't let her win too big and kept it to a regular winning hand.

In the following rounds, Mei Jie won a few more times. Although not huge wins, she ended up with a total profit of around eight to nine thousand. The game wrapped up amidst Hua Jie's complaints. They didn't just lose all their winnings but also over ten thousand yuan each.

Once they left, only Mei Jie and I remained in the office. I stood up, placing the remaining few thousand yuan in front of her. "Sorry, Mei Jie, I lost you over three thousand, not including the Tian Hu..."

Mei Jie didn't look at the money or speak. Instead, she scrutinized me from head to toe. Her gaze contained curiosity and confusion.

After a while, she suddenly asked, "Chuliu, how long have you been at Tianxiang?"

"Half a year."

"You seem to never smile?"

I fell silent, not answering. Witnessing my father lose his limbs and die before my eyes, living under someone else's roof while enduring torment, and not even knowing where my own mother was—I simply didn't know what in this world was worth my smile.

Seeing me not respond, Mei Jie asked again, "What do you think of how I treat you?"

"Pretty good!"

I answered honestly.

"Then let me ask you something. Can you tell me the truth?"

"Go ahead!"

"Are you a cheat?"

I froze and looked up at Mei Jie. The term "cheat" is a slang phrase in Northern Chinese gambling circles, referring to someone who understands gambling techniques and can cheat.

I had thought Mei Jie was just a bathing manager who occasionally enjoyed a game of mahjong. I never expected her to speak in gambling slang. Could she also be a seasoned cheat?

But looking at her, she didn't seem like one. I shook my head.

"Mei Jie, I don't understand what you mean..."

Mei Jie smiled.