At the entrance of Le Tong Zhuang, a woman wearing a flower hairpin stopped He Yan and said: "Gongzi, this is a gambling house."
"I know." He Yan nodded and took out a piece of silver from his sleeve. He waved it in front of her and said: "I'm here to gamble."
The woman was stunned. Before she could say anything, He Yan had already walked in.
The woman standing outside the gambling house was a gambling prostitute. The people who came to Le Tong Zhuang were all from wealthy families. Silver was worthless, so they learned to treat people differently. Those who didn't look very rich would persuade people to leave. First of all, it wasn't very nice for poor people to walk inside. They would dirty the embroidered carpet. Second of all, the poor people cared about money and couldn't afford to lose. Once they lost, they would cry to the heavens and earth and refuse to pay. They would disturb the noble's mood and lose more than they gain.
He Yan's clothes were old and washed. He definitely didn't look like a young master from a wealthy family. Unfortunately, the gambling prostitute didn't have time to stop her. She had already entered uninvited.
The gambling house was full of people. Everyone's face was red. Those who won were naturally complacent. Those who lost were unreconciled. They took out a stack of banknotes and shouted: "Again!"
He Yan walked and looked around. It turned out that the rumors about gambling houses and brothels were true.
Today, after she taught Wang Jiugui a lesson, she asked Wang Jiugui a question. She asked him which was the biggest gambling house in the capital. Wang Jiugui, a street punk, must know. Sure enough, Wang Jiugui told her about Le Tong Zhuang.
He Yan had never been to a gambling house. Before she joined the Fuyue Army, because of her special identity, she couldn't go to places with more people, let alone a gambling house. When she joined the Fuyue Army and returned to the capital after winning the war, He Yunsheng came back. She became the Di Missy of the second branch of the He Family. She couldn't go to this kind of place. Therefore, this was the first time she didn't even know where the gambling house was.
Le Tong Zhuang, on the other hand, had everything. Pai Gow, Danqi, Chinese chess, grass fighting, cockfighting … She was dazzled by the sight. While she was amazed, she also felt that it was a pity that she did not know how to do any of these.
Some people were guessing the dice. They put the dice in a bowl and guessed the number. This was the simplest game, and it also attracted the most people. He Yan's eyes were dazzled by the flowing silver. The corners of He Yan's mouth finally broke into a smile.
The He Family was really too poor, but He Yunsheng still had to attend a school or martial arts school. Pawned jewelry couldn't be exchanged for much money, and it was still far from being enough to buy a bundle. Even if he wanted to make a big cake and sell it, it would take a long time to save up. After thinking about it, He Yan could only think of going to the gambling house. Although it was opportunistic, he could not care so much at the moment.
"Hey, brother, why are you standing here? Don't stand here if you don't want to gamble." The people around He Yan shoved him with disdain in their eyes.
If you don't have money, why did you come to a casino? Can't you just buy some nice clothes? It was really unappetizing.
He Yan said: "Let's gamble."
The people around were all wearing gold and silver. They were either rich or noble. When they suddenly saw a young man in poor clothes, they couldn't help but look over. He Yan took out the only two pieces of silver from his sleeve and put them on the table.
Someone mocked: "Boy, you should think clearly. This is not a joke. I see that you don't have any other silver on you. Why don't you stop gambling? If you really lose and cry, others won't return the silver to you! "
It wasn't that such a thing didn't happen. Gambling was addictive. The more one lost, the more one gambled. Some people lost all their land deeds, wives and children. In the end, they regretted it and were kicked out by the people of Le Tong Village. This happened from time to time.
They looked at He Yan with pity. The poor people in Le Tong Village had no way out.
He Yan smiled: "It's okay, I'm just gambling for fun."
Everyone burst into laughter, but no one knew whether they were laughing out of goodwill or just for fun.
The dice were put into the bowl and turned upside down. The dealer shook the dice left and right. The dice made a crisp sound. It was accompanied by the lively voices of the people. It was like music. He could vaguely hear the rough men talking and laughing loudly.
He Yan remembered those years in the barracks.
When she entered the barracks, from a soldier to a deputy general, from a deputy general to a general. She didn't have any relationship with the He family. She relied on her own flesh and blood to earn her position.
There was no other entertainment in the cold and bitter border. Those men in the barracks couldn't hold it in and secretly gambled.
He Yan would punish them every time he saw them. He couldn't stop them from gambling in private. He Yan was also helpless. In the end, he could only rule that they couldn't gamble with silver. They could gamble with other things like a drumstick, a piece of dry food, or a piece of fur.
They didn't really want to gamble, but they were really bored. He Yan couldn't bear to deprive them of their only pleasure other than training and fighting. They let He Yan play with them. Sometimes, He Yan would join them for one or two rounds when he was in the mood. Every time, he lost badly.
She lost almost all of her trinkets, but she wasn't angry. She just felt that there were specializations in this field. Not everyone knew how to gamble.
The crisp sound of the dice stopped abruptly. The dealer put down the bowl and looked at her.
"Big," He Yan said.
"Open — —"
The bowl was opened. Two dice lay quietly on the table. Everyone held their breath and looked over. The two dice, one five and one six, were indeed big.
Everyone was a little surprised. After a moment, the man who laughed at He Yan laughed: "You're lucky. Take this money and get some good clothes!"
Some scattered silver and banknotes were piled up in front of He Yan.
He Yan pushed the silver out again.
Everyone looked at her.
"Again," she said with a smile.
Someone couldn't help but say: "Hey, this kid is a little arrogant!"
"Brother, you'd better quit while you're ahead. It's good enough that you won." This was a kind advice.
"Do you really think you'll always be so lucky? Hahaha, children are so naive! "
Sounds of mockery, persuasion, and chatter filled his ears. He Yan only had eyes for the two dice among the multitudes of people.
He Yunsheng needed to attend school and become a military officer. Qing Mei couldn't finish all the chores, so the He Family should hire more servants. It would be summer in a few months, and the rainy season would come. Some of the tiles on the He Family's door were missing, so it would definitely leak … Both inside and outside, they needed silver.
She wanted to find out about Xu Zhiheng and He Rufei, so she couldn't do without silver.
She didn't need a lot of silver, but she definitely couldn't do without it. Otherwise, when she couldn't move an inch, she would know that life was difficult.
"Have you thought it through?" The middle-aged man who shook the dice stroked his beard and smiled kindly.
He Yan returned a polite smile.
"Again."