"Are you alright?"
"I'm fine. What's wrong with me?"
"Your woman left, aren't you upset at all?"
"What's the point of being upset? Besides, why should I be upset? I've got plenty of women! With my status, skills, and good looks, I could just twiddle my little finger, and young girls would rush at me, crying and begging me to take them..."
"Uh… forget I asked. Anyway, the weather's nice today, a perfect sunny day. How about we go for a stroll? Don't just sit at home all the time, your body's probably starting to rot. You've already decided to enter the martial arts tournament in seven days, right? With me and Old Li guarding you, no one's going to snatch you away. Once you get to the tournament, there's bound to be some major brawls, and the peaceful days will be few and far between. You might as well enjoy yourself in these last few days. Oh, we could bring Little Ye along for the walk too~~~"
"Little Ye's going too? Alright, I'll get ready. Go and find my most beautiful outfit! Wait… looks like it's going to rain. Wei Ge, didn't you say it was sunny?"
The Third Young Master, holding an ornate folding fan, strutted down the rain-dampened street with an air of pride. Li Xiaoye, holding an umbrella, pouted and walked reluctantly beside him. The umbrella mostly shielded the Third Young Master.
Qiao Wei and Uncle Li followed behind them, one on each side. Both wore conical hats and raincoats, making them seem quite out of place next to the Third Young Master's flashy attire.
"Hmm, strolling on a rainy day sure feels different!" The Third Young Master looked around, enjoying himself. "The street's quiet, and no beauties are out, it's quite peaceful!"
Qiao Wei laughed, "It's better this way. If there were too many people, who knows what trouble might come up? Recently, the martial artists have been gathering in Dingzhou, and if we bump into them, there could be a fight. Killing on the street isn't a big deal, but it would leave a bad impression on the common folk!"
The Third Young Master snorted, "Just a bunch of mutts in Dingzhou, they think they can cause trouble for me? Oh, look over there, a gambling den. Since we're out for a walk anyway, why not try our luck? Wei Ge, Uncle Li, shall we go play a couple of rounds?"
Qiao Wei rubbed his hands eagerly. "That sounds great, it's been a while since I've touched the dice."
Uncle Li grinned too. "Hmm, I haven't tested my cheating skills in ages. Let's see if I've gotten rusty."
"Let's go then!" The Third Young Master led the group, swaggering into a lavishly decorated gambling den by the street.
Inside, the atmosphere was drastically different from the quiet street.
The sound of people shouting and the clinking of coins filled the air. Dozens of people crowded around the gambling tables, some shouting with joy while others looked like they had just lost everything.
As soon as Qiao Wei entered, his face lit up with excitement, and Uncle Li's wrinkles smoothed as he grinned foolishly.
The Third Young Master glanced at them and muttered, "I didn't expect these two old men to be full-fledged gamblers. Just the smell of the casino gets them this excited. If they actually touched the gambling tools, I bet they'd have heart attacks from the thrill."
At that moment, a burly bodyguard approached them and bowed respectfully. "Welcome, honored guests, to our humble casino. Would you like to exchange for some chips?"
The Third Young Master grinned and pulled out a silver note, handing it to the bodyguard. "Chips are too heavy, is it alright if I gamble with cash?"
The bodyguard peeked at the silver note in his hand, his face instantly breaking into a wide smile. "Of course! You can gamble with cash or chips, however you like. If you find cash inconvenient, you can exchange it for chips. As long as you, Young Master, are happy, you can do whatever you wish."
The Third Young Master gave a casual nod, flicking his fan as he leisurely surveyed the casino. The bodyguard, still holding the silver note, bent slightly and continued, "Our casino offers all kinds of games: mahjong, Pai Gow, dice, cockfighting, underground boxing—anything you want to try. I'm sure Young Master will enjoy it all. May I ask, which game would you prefer?"
After thinking for a moment, the Third Young Master replied, "Let's go with dice. Betting on big or small is simple enough, each side has a fair chance."
The bodyguard led them to a large table where he cleared a spot by pushing aside a few gamblers who had been making loud bets but only placed tiny wagers.
The table had chairs around it, but they were all occupied. The gamblers seated there used silver ingots for their bets, so the bodyguard couldn't ask them to leave.
"Young Master, it seems all the chairs are taken…" The bodyguard looked at the Third Young Master, slightly embarrassed.
The Third Young Master smiled and glanced at the gamblers. He pulled out several silver notes and placed them in front of one of the gamblers. Without saying a word, he just smiled.
The gambler, having lost several dozen taels in a row, saw the five hundred-tael notes and immediately stood up, grinning. "Young Master, please, take my seat. I'll just stand by and watch."
The Third Young Master patted the gambler on the shoulder, chuckling. "Good, you're a smart little fellow."
He took the seat, with Li Xiaoye standing beside him, and Qiao Wei and Uncle Li flanking him. Although they seemed casually standing, they were effectively guarding the Third Young Master's back from any potential attacks.
As the dealer began to shake the dice, Qiao Wei squinted at the dealer's hands, and Uncle Li listened carefully to the sound of the dice in the cup. Meanwhile, the Third Young Master gazed at the ceiling, clearly distracted.
Suddenly, Li Xiaoye felt a hot hand on her thigh, and it began to move upward. She was both shocked and embarrassed, her face turning bright red. When she looked down, she saw the Third Young Master staring up at the ceiling with one hand waving his fan while the other hand shamelessly groped her leg.
Li Xiaoye barely suppressed her anger, gritting her teeth as she whispered, "What… what are you doing?"
The Third Young Master, still with his face toward the ceiling, replied sincerely, "The road ahead is long and arduous, I must search high and low… my hand got a bit dusty, I'm just wiping it. Now it's clean. Hmm, this cloth is nice, it's quite flexible."
Li Xiaoye was so furious she nearly passed out. If it weren't for the Third Young Master's "Shura Demon Eyes" scaring her earlier, she would have already kicked him in the face.
"Place your bets!" The dealer shouted, signaling the start of the round.
"Big or small?" the Third Young Master asked his two companions.
"One, three, four, eight is small," both Qiao Wei and Uncle Li said at the same time.
The Third Young Master nodded, pulling out a hundred taels and placing his bet on "big." Just as Qiao Wei and Uncle Li were about to stop him, he pulled out a thousand taels and placed a bet on "small" as well.
"Can I bet on both?" he asked the dealer with a grin.
The dealer, seeing the hundred and one thousand taels in the Third Young Master's hand, quickly smiled, "Of course, Young Master. You are free to bet as you wish."
The Third Young Master nodded in satisfaction, turning to Qiao Wei and Uncle Li, "Learn from this, don't be too flashy. You can win, but leave a way out for others, or you might end up losing your life."
Qiao Wei and Uncle Li exchanged glances and reluctantly nodded. In their eyes, with the three of them here, even if they bet a million taels, who could cause them trouble?
After all the bets were placed, the dealer shook the dice and shouted, "Here we go! One, three, four, eight is small!"
The Third Young Master lost a hundred taels but won a thousand. From the winnings, he threw two fifty-tael chips at the dealer. "A tip for you!"
The dealer smiled, "Thank you, Young Master! My apologies, Young Master, you bet cash, but I can only pay you in chips."
The Third Young Master laughed casually, "No worries, chips can be exchanged for silver too. Let's keep going!"
And so, with Qiao Wei watching the dealer's hands and Uncle Li listening to the dice, the Third Young Master kept betting. He won every time, and every time, he tipped the dealer.
At the end of the thirty rounds, the Third Young Master had made a tidy profit of twenty-four thousand taels.
To him, it was just pocket change, but for the dealer, it was a disaster. He had lost almost forty thousand taels, and though he'd earned three thousand taels in tips, he was nervous. If the casino owner found out, he might end up minced into dumplings.
As more and more gamblers gathered around the table, the dealer's hand began to shake. He was sweating, but then he made a decision.
He was going to