The King of Cheating

Chapter 7: All In

I began dealing the cards.

With a full deck of 52 cards, I had complete control. I could deal whichever card I wanted, and even if someone stared without blinking, I could slow down my movements, and they still wouldn't notice anything. But for me, this was child's play—basic sleight-of-hand, an entry-level skill in the world of card cheats.

Because Hou Jun had lost quite a bit, both he and Chen Xiaoxue stood up this time, keeping their eyes fixed on my hands to ensure they could see every card I dealt. When dealing for others, I dealt normally, but when it was my turn, I'd cover the markings on the back of my cards with my fingers, and as soon as my cards hit the table, I quickly covered them with a cigarette box. No matter how hard they tried, they wouldn't be able to see a single one of my cards.

After I finished dealing, Hou Jun and Chen Xiaoxue were both visibly excited—or more accurately, tense. Hou Jun's hand was big, so big that he worried others might fold and not follow.

As the dealer, I had to bet first. Before I could place any money down, Hou Jun suddenly spoke to me:
"Chuliu, do you dare to continue playing blind against me? I can't believe you can beat me again this round!"

Chen Xiaoxue immediately chimed in, backing him up:
"If you're still a man, Chuliu, you'll keep playing blind with my husband! If you win this time, I'll hook you up with one of the girls from the bathhouse tomorrow—you can have your pick!"

The two of them were trying to goad me, using both provocation and the allure of women.

"Fine, I'll play blind!" I responded, tossing in ten yuan.

Next in line was Old Hei. As usual, he didn't play blind and opted to look at his cards. He rubbed the cards vigorously and slowly peeked at them, like many amateur gamblers do, as if that would somehow improve his hand. When he finally saw his three cards clearly, his breathing noticeably quickened, and his dark complexion even took on a purplish-red hue.

Old Hei had a big hand. From the moment he started playing Zha Jin Hua, he had never gotten such a strong hand. Of course, I knew what cards he had, and so did Hou Jun and Chen Xiaoxue. Three Jacks—a triple!

Old Hei, trying to contain his excitement, quickly followed with a 20-yuan bet. Hou Jun, naturally, didn't look at his cards and blindly followed with 10 yuan. The other players checked their cards but didn't follow, leaving just the three of us. None of us were willing to fold, so we kept placing our bets, round after round.

Around the year 2000, a frustrating rule in Zha Jin Hua was that three players couldn't reveal their cards simultaneously. This meant that if you wanted to compare hands, only two players could remain in the game. Because of this, some people used a dirty trick called "two wolves hunting one." Two players would keep raising the stakes without caring about the size of their hands, and the third player, no matter how strong their hand was, couldn't compare cards. Eventually, they'd run out of money and be eliminated. I'd heard of one gambler who had a triple Aces hand but was forced to fold after running out of funds, ultimately leading to his despair and tragic death.

Before I knew it, the pot had grown to over 1,000 yuan. Because Old Hei had already checked his cards, he raised by 20 each time, leaving him with only about 100 yuan on the table. Glancing at Hou Jun, Old Hei advised him, "Dajun, maybe you should stop following. Let me compare hands with this kid..."

As he spoke, Old Hei gave Hou Jun a subtle wink, signaling that he had a strong hand. But to his surprise, Hou Jun immediately refused.
"Why should I stop? I'm going to play blind to the end! If you don't have enough money to follow, I can lend you some!"

This was where Hou Jun's shamelessness really showed. He always claimed that Old Hei was his best friend, yet he knew his hand was stronger than Old Hei's and still wanted to lend him money so he could keep playing. This guy was ruthless, willing to take advantage of anyone.

With that, Hou Jun handed Old Hei 800 yuan, even though he himself had only a little over 1,000 yuan left on the table. Since I had been winning earlier, I still had about 1,500 yuan.

The three of us continued betting, and after several more rounds, Old Hei's 800 yuan had dwindled down to just a few dozen. Gripping his cards tightly, he said to me and Hou Jun,
"How about we stop here? Let's compare hands. Whoever has the biggest hand wins."

I stayed silent, knowing Hou Jun wouldn't agree. And sure enough, Hou Jun firmly responded,
"No comparison. If you don't have money, borrow some or fold."

Hou Jun's tone was absolute, leaving no room for compromise. Old Hei was livid, his face contorted with rage.
With a loud slap, he threw his cards onto the table and shouted,
"I have a triple Jacks hand! How can I fold?"

No one expected the usually fiery-tempered Old Hei to reveal his cards like that.
"Wow!"
The players around the table gasped in astonishment. A triple, or "leopard," was the strongest hand in Zha Jin Hua, especially a triple Jacks. Only a QKA triple could beat it.

"Lend me the money, and I'll compare hands with him!" Old Hei pleaded, still hoping to convince Hou Jun. But Hou Jun was clearly upset by Old Hei's rash move of revealing his cards. With a scowl, he snapped,
"No way. I've only got this much left, and I'm going to play blind till the end!"

Old Hei was furious but helpless. Out of money, he could only mutter bitterly,
"Fine! You play blind! Let's see if your cards can beat mine!"

Now, it was just me and Hou Jun left. Afraid that I might look at my cards and fold, Hou Jun suggested,
"Chuliu, how about this? Instead of betting ten yuan at a time, let's go all in. Whoever has the bigger hand takes it all. What do you say?"

I smirked inwardly, but kept my face expressionless. Lighting a cigarette, I calmly asked,
"We can go all in, but how much do you have left? You need to go all in with everything."

My indifferent tone seemed to provoke Hou Jun.
"How much do I have left? I've got more than you! Go ahead and place your bet. Whatever you bet, I'll match it!"

"Whatever I bet, you'll match?" I asked, to confirm.

"Yeah!" Hou Jun snapped.

This was the moment I had been waiting for. Slowly, I reached into my pocket and pulled out a thick wad of hundred-yuan bills. This was the money Meijie had given me as a wedding gift after we finished playing mahjong that afternoon.

"One thousand. I'm all in," I declared.

The entire table was stunned. Everyone looked at me in shock, wondering how I had so much money. In our circle, the highest-paid among us was Hou Jun, but even he only made 1,500 yuan a month. For people like us, living on the lowest rung of society, 1,000 yuan was an enormous sum.

Hou Jun stared at the stack of hundred-yuan bills on the table, his eyes filled with a mix of surprise and greed. He seemed certain that all this money would soon be his.

"Boss, come here!" Hou Jun called out to the owner of the place.

The boss stepped into the room, and Hou Jun immediately said,
"How much money do you have? Lend me all of it. I'll pay you back after the game."

The boss looked conflicted and reluctantly replied,
"I used most of the cash to restock inventory earlier. I only have about 800 yuan left..."

Eight hundred was too little. Hou Jun frowned and asked the others at the table,
"How much moneydo you guys have? Lend it to me!"

Unfortunately, the combined total of everyone's money didn't even reach 2,000. Left with no other option, he turned to Chen Xiaoxue.
"What about you? How much do you have?"

At the mention of money, Chen Xiaoxue's face soured.
"I've only got 300 left. The rest I already gave you! I don't have any more. Unless you want to bet me as collateral!" she said, rolling her eyes at Hou Jun.

Frustrated, Hou Jun turned back to me, trying to negotiate.
"Chuliu, give me some time. Let me go borrow some money. I'll be back shortly!"

I didn't reject his request but added a condition.
"Fine, but I'm starting the clock now. If you're not back in an hour, it'll count as a fold, and you'll lose."

Hou Jun hesitated. His friends were all from the bottom rung of society too, and it would be hard to borrow 10,000 yuan in just an hour. Still, the sight of the stack of red bills on the table filled him with greed, making him reluctant to give up.

Suddenly, he looked at Chen Xiaoxue again.