Near the town center, in Qiaotou Village.
Baoguo's casino was set up in the village's ancestral hall. Fearing retaliation from Yang Jian, Baoguo had left Xinhe for the South Sea to hide. The casino was now managed by Hong Xing's cousin, Hong Lei.
Hong Lei was only nineteen years old. After graduating from high school, he had started following Hong Xing. Although he had only been out in the world for two years, he was experienced in managing a casino.
The patrons were mostly local villagers and residents from the town center. Over time, they were all familiar faces. The casino's inside and outside informants wouldn't pay much attention to them. However, if a new face appeared, they would be specially noted and, if necessary, questioned. This was mainly to prevent plainclothes officers from infiltrating and taking them down in one fell swoop.
Afeng had paid two hundred yuan to a woman from Qiaotou Village to escort him into the casino, thus avoiding the attention of the casino informants.
After gambling in the casino for two consecutive days, Anan and the other four had also infiltrated the casino in this manner. With hundreds of people gambling there daily, five or six more were not conspicuous.
Furthermore, the five of them were scattered, pretending not to know each other, and gambled strictly according to the rules.
This casino had a table limit of fifty thousand yuan, making it the largest casino in the town center at the time. It was very lively.
Afeng gambled quite heavily, usually betting over ten thousand yuan, sometimes directly betting fifty thousand against the Emperor Company. In two days, he had become a major player in the casino. Gambling companies liked such people; the bigger they bet, the more revenue they brought to the company.
In two days, Afeng had actually won over thirty thousand yuan. Every afternoon after class, the gambling company even gave him two thousand yuan for travel expenses, naturally hoping he would come every day.
On the third day, seeing that Anan and the others had successfully infiltrated the casino, Afeng decided to stir up trouble. This was a task assigned by Yang Jian.
"Damn it, I'm so unlucky today. I've lost five in such a short time. Gambling company, do you offer credit?"
Within half an hour of entering the casino, Afeng had lost the thirty thousand yuan he brought. He deliberately said he had lost fifty thousand and then loudly demanded credit to continue gambling.
Hong Lei, sitting at the west end of the gambling table, tossed Afeng a cigarette. "Sir, we do have credit companies here, but we don't know you well. If you want credit, you must have a familiar person to guarantee it."
Afeng placed the car keys of his SUV on the table. "I'll leave my car as collateral. After class, you can send someone to follow me to the bank to transfer the money."
This was a common method used by casinos, known as "following the foot credit." Credit companies loved to offer this kind of credit, collecting the money lent out on the same day without disputes or debt collection, earning high interest easily.
Hong Lei signaled an inside informant to go and check the condition of the car with the keys.
A moment later, the informant returned and whispered a few words in Hong Lei's ear.
Hong Lei nodded and said to Afeng, "Sir, we can lend you a maximum of two hundred thousand yuan for your car. How much do you need?"
"Ten thousand for now."
"Alright, we charge five percent commission. The money will be transferred after class. No problem?"
"No problem. If I lose this ten thousand, I'll go to the bank and transfer the money immediately."
After reaching a verbal agreement, a young man immediately placed a stack of cash in front of Afeng. "Sir, this is exactly one hundred thousand, no commission deducted."
"Good, I understand."
Afeng understood the casino's rules. The fact that they hadn't deducted the commission was a sign of respect. After winning a round, he was expected to voluntarily pay the commission.
With money in hand, Afeng immediately started placing bets, starting with thirty thousand.
He won the first bet. Afeng was generous, directly handing the young man who provided the credit ten thousand yuan in cash. "Brother, you're very accommodating. Five thousand is the commission, and the other five thousand is for you as a bonus."
"Sir's spirit is high! Win twenty thousand today."
The young man was overjoyed. It was the first time he had encountered such a generous customer.
Hong Lei smiled and tossed Afeng a pack of cigarettes. Such gamblers were always welcome; he had to treat him well.
Eager to get rid of the money in his hands, Afeng directly bet fifty thousand. However, things didn't go as planned, and his luck was exceptionally good. He won three consecutive bets.
How could he cause trouble like this? In the fourth bet, Afeng directly placed one hundred thousand yuan on "Odd." Since the amount on "Even" was slightly higher, the difference between the two sides was less than fifty thousand yuan, allowing the Emperor Company to act as the banker.
"Bets placed, please stand clear. Banker is open. Two and five, seven points. Odd wins."
As the dealer revealed the teacup, Afeng was speechless. He had won again.
The young man behind him, who had provided the credit, shouted happily, "Sir's spirit is high!"
According to the casino's rules, after borrowing credit, as long as the borrower won back their principal, they had to return the borrowed credit money to the credit company.
If they couldn't return it immediately, it was acceptable, but they couldn't pocket the money on the table or lend it to others. Otherwise, it would be considered intentional cash extraction from the casino.
There was no alternative. Having won over two hundred thousand yuan, it was time to return the money to the credit company. Afeng counted out one hundred thousand yuan and handed it to the young man behind him.
The young man also returned his car keys to him.
Since his luck was good, he decided to continue gambling. He placed another one hundred thousand yuan on "Odd" because many people were still betting on "Even."
"Bets placed, please stand clear. Banker is open. Two and three, five points. Odd wins."
He won again. If it weren't for Yang Jian's assigned mission, Afeng would have packed up and left with the money. He never had such good luck when playing with money. In such a short time, he had won over thirty thousand yuan.
At this moment, Anan, sitting opposite him, suddenly slapped the table. "Damn it, lost again."
This slap caused trouble. The dice in the cup were originally two and three. Due to the vibration of the table, the die showing two rolled slightly, turning to show three. The two dice then became a pair of threes, totaling six points, which was "Even."
The gamblers erupted. Since most of them had bet on "Even," they demanded the banker pay them when the dice showed "Even."
"Don't take our money. This is Even. Emperor Company has to pay us."
"That's right, six points is Even. Emperor pays."
The dealers on both sides, who were about to collect the money from the "Even" side, were immediately stopped by the gamblers.
The banker remained silent, looking at Hong Lei. This matter should be handled by the gambling company.
Hong Lei stood up. "The banker already called it Odd. This round is an Odd win. Anyone who causes trouble will not be treated lightly."
As soon as he finished speaking, the gamblers who had bet on "Even" became agitated. Some, fearing their bets would be collected, hastily retrieved their money from the table. Others held down their money, demanding the banker pay them. The scene descended into chaos.
No matter how loudly Hong Lei and the informants on the scene shouted, they couldn't stop it.
Afeng sat calmly, content as long as his one hundred thousand yuan bet was not touched.
"Bang."
Hong Lei suddenly pulled a homemade pistol from his pocket and placed it on the table. "Everyone be quiet! Are my words not effective?"
The crowd instantly quieted down. Who wasn't afraid of a gun? However, most people took the opportunity to retrieve their bets. Only a few thousand yuan remained on the "Even" side, untouched. This money likely belonged to people in the back who had bet and didn't have time to retrieve it.
This created an awkward situation. The people who bet on "Odd" hadn't touched their money, totaling about one hundred and twenty thousand yuan. The "Even" side had less than five thousand yuan. The Emperor Company was unhappy. If they declared "Odd" as the winner, they would have to pay over one hundred thousand yuan.