Xiao Zeng followed Afeng and Biaobiao to the venue. Yang Jian had been sitting with Manager Fan for a while and was about to head to the casino when Song Jianmin walked over.
“Jianmin, come have some tea.”
Yang Jian stood up and poured him a cup of tea.
Seeing that they were about to discuss matters, Manager Fan excused himself and went to the casino. He didn't gamble but enjoyed watching the excitement.
“Yang Jian, you’ve really got this place going. With the current rate of commission, if you keep it running until midnight, you’ll easily make two hundred thousand a day. Keep this up for a month, and you’ll be set.”
Song Jianmin’s tone was filled with envy.
Yang Jian chuckled, “I asked you to come, but you didn’t. Now that I’m doing well, should I leave you behind?”
“I do regret it. I had no idea you’d go this big. It’s Biaobiao and Liangliang who have the foresight, sticking by you so loyally. Oh well, there’s no turning back time. Once you’re established, you have to help me out.”
“Don’t worry, once I get through this tough period, I’ll definitely bring you along.”
Yang Jian had given Song Jianmin an opportunity, but he hadn’t seized it. Yang Jian wasn’t one to be a pushover. His current difficulties were far greater than Song Jianmin’s, so he had no intention of letting him in again.
“Alright, I’ll be waiting for you to succeed. Yang Jian, we originally planned to take a turn as the banker, but this venue is too large, and we don’t have enough capital. Can you help me out?”
“How can I help? I don’t have any money to lend you.”
“I’m not asking to borrow money. You don’t have money now either. I mean, I want to partner with your gambling company to take a turn as the banker. That way, our pressure will be less.”
Yang Jian looked at him in surprise, “Jianmin, you didn’t come up with this idea yourself, did you?”
“What’s wrong? Is there a problem? Many emperor companies cooperate with gambling companies. Isn’t Chen Song’s venue operating like that?”
Yang Jian shook his head with a smile, “Jianmin, I consider you a brother. You know the situation at Chen Song’s place. That’s like making quick money by fluffing cotton, a one-time deal. I intend to run this place long-term, and we can’t afford to cheat like fluffing cotton. Brother Hao sent you to be a lobbyist, didn’t he?”
“No, no, you’ve misunderstood. My brother is gambling right now. I saw this venue was too big, and our strength wasn’t enough to be the banker, but we didn’t want to give up. After all, here, we won’t be bullied or have our cotton fluffed.”
“Then I can’t help you. There’s no shortage of emperor companies here, and I have no reason to take risks with you. You know my situation; I can only take tonics, not purgatives. I’m content with the daily dividends I receive here.”
Song Jianmin sighed, “Alas, you’re right. Getting tens of thousands in stable dividends every day, there’s really no need to risk being the banker. How about you help us find an emperor company willing to partner? After all, not many emperor companies have the strength for such a large venue.”
“Helping you find a partner company is feasible, but it will have to be done gradually. We’ve only just started. The emperor companies were all brought by Wu Wangchun. I’ll definitely introduce you when the opportunity arises.”
“Alright then, we’ll just hang out at the smaller venues in Jiangbei for a while longer.”
Song Jianmin looked helpless and disappointed. Yang Jian had just started, and he had no reason or ability to help him much.
“Okay, as long as you feel you have the strength, you can come here to be the banker anytime. This door is always open for you.”
They chatted for an hour until Biaobiao arrived.
“Brother Jian, Brother Jianmin, Brother Hao lost everything and wants to borrow chips?”
“No borrowing.”
Song Jianmin said this and ran out.
Yang Jian frowned, “Biaobiao, what’s going on?”
“Brother Hao probably brought twenty thousand yuan to support the banker, but he lost it all. Now he’s asking me to lend him chips. I told him we don’t issue chips, and it’s our opening day, so we’re not familiar with chip companies. Therefore, we can’t vouch for him to borrow chips.”
“That’s a good way to put it. Is he still not giving up?”
“But he saw Afeng issuing chips and went to ask Afeng. Afeng thought he had an unusual relationship with you, so he asked me to come ask you.”
“We can’t lend him any. Brother Hao’s gambling nature is very strong. His wins and losses are often in the hundreds of thousands. He doesn’t even have money to be the banker now. Jianmin even mortgaged his house to support him. Lending him money would be harming him, and also harming Jianmin.”
“Okay, I understand. Brother Jian, you stay here and don’t go out, otherwise, he’ll still find you to vouch for him.”
Biaobiao knew Song Jianhao well and knew he was thick-skinned and would do anything to borrow money, even at the expense of his image.
Yang Jian had intended to go to the scene to see, but after hearing Biaobiao’s words, he abandoned the idea.
Ten minutes later, Biaobiao came in again.
“Brother Jian, Brother Hao has left. He looks quite displeased.”
“So what if he’s displeased? If we had lent him money, he would be even more displeased when we asked for it back. Letting him be displeased now is actually helping him.”
Biaobiao sighed, “Alas, Brother Hao too. If it weren’t for Brother Jianmin supporting him, he wouldn’t have anyone around. He used to be quite generous, otherwise, he wouldn’t have brothers following him. But in the last two years, he’s completely changed. He’s making more money than before, but he’s become more calculating. If he had stayed honestly in Jiangbei and not gone to Old Pan’s venue, he would be considered successful by now.”
Hearing Biaobiao’s words, Yang Jian suddenly thought of a question that even he found hard to believe: “Biaobiao, why do I feel like Brother Hao isn’t suited to living or developing in Jiangnan? He’s doing so well in Jiangbei. Even if he was detained by Fugui, he shouldn’t have suffered significant losses.”
“Exactly! During his time in Jiangnan, he only went to shabby venues. Not only did he not make money, but he was also often taken advantage of. Once he went to Jiangbei, he bought a house and a car, but in the end, he still had an accident at Old Pan’s venue in Jiangnan.”
“That means Jiangnan’s feng shui doesn’t suit him. He won’t win money by being the banker here either. I need to advise Jianmin to stay honestly in Jiangbei; perhaps they can still turn things around.”
Having spent so much time in casinos, Yang Jian was starting to believe in metaphysics like feng shui and luck.
Biaobiao chuckled, “Brother Jian, I don’t think it’s a feng shui issue. It’s your good gambling luck that Brother Hao benefited from. But he’s been using you, even scheming against you. All your good luck has been depleted, and in the end, he achieved nothing.”
“Let’s not talk about him anymore. How are things at the venue now?”
“It’s very lively. More people have arrived, including someone named Yu Wei, who brought seven or eight people with him. He also asked why you weren’t here. Are you very familiar with him?”
“Not too familiar. I’ve dealt with him once. I’ll go say hello in a bit.”
“But I feel like he’s not on good terms with Brother Jin. When other people arrived, regardless of whether they knew Brother Jin or not, Brother Jin would offer them cigarettes. But when Yu Wei came in, Brother Jin didn’t even acknowledge him, and Yu Wei didn’t even look at Brother Jin directly. Could he be here to cause trouble?”
“No, we became acquainted through a fight. He said he wanted to support the banker a long time ago, and I was planning to treat him to a meal.”
“Then I’m relieved.”