40: Add another 30 million!

Second-floor gambling hall.

The dark green long table was like a bottomless swamp.

Lin Chuan sat down with an air of command in the seat where Chu Xiong had previously lost his money. He flicked his trench coat and crossed his legs.

Opposite him, Broken Finger Qiang was spinning a pure gold chip with his mangled hand.

His gaze was as sinister as a venomous snake that had just swallowed a rabbit.

"Kid, how do you want to play?" Broken Finger Qiang blew out a smoke ring, his tone carrying the playful mockery of a cat playing with a mouse.

"Texas Hold'em."

Lin Chuan didn't even look at the brand-new deck of cards. He tapped his fingers on the tabletop, producing a crisp, rhythmic sound.

"But since we've come to the second floor, let's not dawdle with thousands or tens of thousands like downstairs. That's for women."

His lips curled into a grin, revealing a row of neat white teeth and a wild arrogance that knew no bounds.

"The ante is one hundred thousand! Do you dare?"

"Hiss—"

The surrounding crowd of onlookers and the Chu family members all gasped in unison.

A hundred thousand ante!

In 1992 Hong Kong Island, even in a gold-devouring den like this, that was an absolute fortune!

In a single round, millions could be won or lost at the drop of a hat!

"Good! Splendid!"

Broken Finger Qiang's eyes lit up as he crushed his cigarette butt into a crystal ashtray.

"Since the handsome lad is in such high spirits, I'll play with you to the end!"

The dealer dealt the cards.

First round.

Lin Chuan received his hand: a 3 of Hearts and an 8 of Clubs.

It was an utterly garbage hand.

He frowned slightly and, without even looking at the second round of community cards, tossed his hand into the middle of the table.

"Fold."

"Tch—"

Chu Tianbiao, who had been standing behind Chu Xiong, finally caught an opportunity and let out an extremely piercing, cold laugh.

"Oh my, Great Master Lin, what's the matter?"

"Weren't you quite the big shot downstairs? Why have you shriveled up as soon as you came upstairs?"

"Folding on the very first hand?"

Lin Chuan ignored him, merely flicking his fingernail nonchalantly. "If the cards are bad, of course I fold. Only a fool would try to force a win with a garbage hand."

"Do you think I'm like you?"

Chu Tianbiao gritted his teeth. "You!"

Second round.

Lin Chuan followed for two rounds, but when the river card was dealt, he lost over a million again.

Third round, another loss.

In less than twenty minutes.

The five million plus in chips that Lin Chuan had just won downstairs by sweeping all before him was like paper thrown into a shredder, becoming thinner and thinner.

"All in!"

On the final hand, Lin Chuan pushed all his remaining hundreds of thousands forward.

Broken Finger Qiang nonchalantly flipped over his hole cards: a straight.

As for Lin Chuan, he only had a pair of Kings.

"Hahahaha!"

Chu Tianbiao couldn't hold it in any longer. Pointing at Lin Chuan's empty spot on the table, he laughed so hard he doubled over, tears nearly coming out.

"Five million! Just like that, it's gone?!"

"Twenty minutes! Lost every last cent!"

"What did I say? Eh? Dad! What did I say?"

With the face of a petty man who had succeeded, Chu Tianbiao turned and shouted at the ashen-faced Chu Xiong.

"This is just a lucky bumpkin!"

"Downstairs was just a blind cat stumbling upon a dead mouse!"

"As soon as he gets into a real high-stakes game, his true colors show immediately!"

"Lin Chuan, you're just a money-delivery boy. If my second sister had brought you here back then, your hand would have been chopped off too!"

Chu Xiong was also full of disappointment, and that disappointment was even mixed with a hint of anger at being played for a fool.

He had actually felt a flicker of hope, thinking this kid really was some hidden expert.

And the result?

Looking at Lin Chuan's slightly reddened eyes and his somewhat ragged breathing.

This was clearly a hot-headed amateur who had grown desperate from losing!

"Sigh..."

Chu Xiong let out a heavy sigh and shook his head; the spirit he had just felt was completely gone.

"Let's go."

He didn't want to watch anymore. Watching further would only be an embarrassment.

Chu Jiaojiao also bit her lip, her gaze toward Lin Chuan full of complexity.

"Could it be that his performance downstairs really was just luck?"

"Lin Chuan, let's stop playing."

Chu Yueli, who had been sitting beside Lin Chuan, was also panicking now. Her small, cold hand tightly gripped Lin Chuan's sleeve.

In her view, Lin Chuan was probably better at dice, but poker was a different story.

After all, he was still young; how could he be a master of everything?

"Forget it if you lost. Let's go back and regroup. This place is indeed a bit sinister."

"Go back? Go back to what?!"

Just then.

Lin Chuan, who had been acting relatively calm, suddenly slammed his hand on the table.

With a loud bang.

The impact caused the teacups on the table to jump.

Lin Chuan's eyes were now bloodshot, and he had deliberately mussed his hair. His entire being radiated the desperation and madness of a gambler who had lost everything.

"Even you look down on me! Is that it?!"

"Fine!! You think I'm out of money?"

He stood up abruptly and reached into his coat. The movement was so sudden that the bodyguards opposite almost drew their guns.

However, what he pulled out was not a gun.

But a thin piece of paper.

Slap!

Lin Chuan slammed the paper down hard in front of Broken Finger Qiang.

"Broken Finger Qiang, do you recognize what this is? Go verify my funds!!"

"Give me chips!!"

Broken Finger Qiang was also stunned for a moment. He suspiciously picked up the piece of paper.

With just one glance, his pupils constricted to the size of pinpricks.

It was an HSBC cashier's order.

The gold-embossed emblem on it shimmered under the lights.

And the number written on it—that long string of dizzying zeros—was like a heavy hammer smashing into everyone's hearts.

"Thirty million?!"

Broken Finger Qiang's voice went out of tune, carrying a hint of incredulous trembling.

"This is an HSBC bearer cashier's order?!"

"What?! Thirty million?!"

Chu Xiong, who was about to turn and leave, was frozen as if by a binding spell, his neck turning stiffly.

Chu Tianbiao was like a duck being strangled; his laughter stopped abruptly, and his mouth opened wide enough to fit a lightbulb.

"Is it real or fake?!"

Broken Finger Qiang immediately handed the cashier's order to the financial manager beside him.

The manager took out professional equipment, and after a series of checks, his hands were shaking.

He looked up, staring at Broken Finger Qiang in shock, then at the frenzied Lin Chuan.

"Qiang-ge! It's real."

"It's the real deal! Immediate payout!"

"Thirty million Hong Kong dollars!!"

Boom!!!

The entire second-floor hall felt as if a depth charge had been dropped into it.

Thirty million!

In this era, even in Hong Kong Island, people who could casually produce thirty million in liquid cash were as rare as phoenix feathers and unicorn horns!

"My god!" Chu Jiaojiao covered her mouth, her eyes wide. "Him! Where did he get so much money?"

"Isn't he a Beijing university student from the countryside? Isn't his family very poor?"

"The younger brother of a civil engineer! Carrying a thirty-million-dollar cashier's order? How is that possible?!"

At that very instant.

An invisible but powerful force of logical correction, like an unseen ripple, instantly swept through the minds of everyone in the Chu family.

Chu Tianbiao's eyes suddenly became a bit vacant, followed by a light of 'cleverness.'

It flickered wildly in his eyes.

"No! I remember now!"

Chu Tianbiao slapped his thigh hard, his voice kept extremely low but carrying the excitement of someone who had discovered a shocking secret.

"Dad! Third Sister! Think about it!"

"What kind of place is Beijing?"

"That's the foot of the Imperial City! What kind of big shots aren't there?"

"This kid looks like a bumpkin, but he's a Beijing university student!"

"In this day and age, some truly powerful young masters never show their faces."

"If they want to play in this flashy world or make some money, they have to find someone who looks honest and has a clean background to be their scapegoat—a white glove!"

When Chu Xiong heard the term "white glove," his whole body jolted.

This logic... it made sense!

It made too much sense!

No wonder Lin Chuan knew so much about Hong Kong Island's affairs! No wonder he had connections in a place like Deloitte!

It turned out he wasn't some poor kid at all.

He was the agent for some top-tier Beijing young master whose name couldn't be mentioned!

"But!" Chu Jiaojiao swallowed hard and pointed at the cashier's order.

"This thirty million! If it's that young master's money!"

"He's taking it out to gamble now. What if he loses?"

"Holy crap! This guy is a real lunatic!"

Chu Tianbiao gasped, his gaze toward Lin Chuan changing.

It was the look one gave to a dead man.

"He's gone mad!"

"This kid must have lost his head from the gambling! It's gone to his brain!"

"That's public funds! That's the money that young master gave him to handle business in Hong Kong Island!"

"He actually dares to bring it to the gambling table?!"

"It's over! If this kid loses, forget about that young master not letting him off—his whole family will be buried with him!"

"This isn't gambling for money; he's gambling with his family's lives!"

Chu Xiong also felt his scalp tingle.

No wonder Lin Chuan was fine just now but suddenly became so irritable and crazy.

He was putting his head on the line, ready to fight for his life!

"Embezzling thirty million in public funds..."

Chu Yueli's face was deathly pale. Looking at Lin Chuan's bloodshot eyes, she was also struck with shock.

At the same time, she felt a pang of heartache. After all, Lin Chuan had come here because of her.

"Lin Chuan! Did you come to this point just to help me?"

"But this is too crazy. Let's not gamble anymore. The money from those powerful families isn't something you can touch!"

In her eyes, Lin Chuan must have taken such a desperate risk and used money that absolutely shouldn't be touched just to help the Chu family win back their losses!

What kind of loyalty and affection was this!

He was handing his very life over to her!

"Good! Good lad!"

Broken Finger Qiang looked at the cashier's order, his greed reaching its peak.

Thirty million!

If he could win this, he would be set.

Moreover, his glorious record would be elevated once again, giving him even greater fame in Hong Kong Island and even the Far East.

What expert? What non-expert?

What Beijing young master?

On the gambling table, a win is a win, and a loss is a loss!

I don't care where this money came from; as long as it's on the table, it belongs to me, Broken Finger Qiang!

Thirty million!

Winning this sum would allow him to live in luxury for a long time!

"Since you want to gamble your life, I'll fulfill your wish!"

Broken Finger Qiang waved his hand sharply, his voice becoming shrill with excitement.

"Exchange his chips!"

"Thirty million! All of it!"

"I want to see just how many minutes this life-bought money of yours can last on the table!"

Clatter—

A mountain of chips was pushed in front of Lin Chuan.

Lin Chuan panted heavily, his hands trembling slightly.