Gao Mi fell silent. The dim incandescent lamp above them emitted a buzzing electrical sound, as if it might explode at any moment.
“You guessed right.” After a long time, Gao Mi sighed. “I was indeed thinking that. The more people at the table, the more chances there are to leave… I’m sorry.”
“Sorry doesn’t mean anything. Place your bets—are you in or not?” Lu Mingfei was tired of talking to someone who had no loyalty.
“I’ve been preparing for a long time, thinking for a long time, trying to win this round to take Boqian out of here.” Gao Mi said to himself, “Because I found that while the dealer is good at calculations, it has its weaknesses. Did you notice? As long as none of us fold, it won’t fold either.”
Lu Mingfei was stunned. It seemed true: the dealer never folded first, as long as everyone else followed suit, it would keep going until the end.
“So, as long as none of us fold, and the winner of each round is one of us, then the dealer will only keep losing money,” Gao Mi continued. “Together, all of our funds are not enough for even one of us to leave, so we must win money from the dealer. But for one person to win, the others must lose to the dealer. Do you remember the ancient Greek view of the underworld?”
“It’s not that I don’t remember, it’s that I never knew, buddy!” Lu Mingfei said.
“In ancient Greece, they had no concept of reincarnation. Scholars debated how many people there were in the hell because all the souls of the past entered it, while the population above ground always remained the same, which meant that the hell must be overcrowded. The conclusion was that the world largely belonged to the dead, with only a small part belonging to the living. The realm of the dead was like the sea, while the world of the living was just islands peeking above the water. The relationship between the living and the dead is like that too—they form a pyramid, with the base made up of countless souls of the dead, and only the tip occupied by the living.” Gao Mi turned to look at Lu Mingfei. “You could think of this place as the underworld; we can’t all leave.”
“So you think just because you’re good at cards, you should be the one to leave?” Lu Mingfei said angrily.
“No, it’s whoever’s lucky enough that should leave.” Gao Mi said softly.
“Hey! Gao Mi!” Wan Boqian suddenly had a strange look on her face.
Gao Mi smiled, grabbed her wrist, and looked earnestly into her eyes. “You could still come back to save me after you get out, you know. Anyway, we won’t die here… I’ve always felt like I needed to do something amazing to prove myself to you, but I never had the chance. You’re stingy and not romantic—when I suggested we go to Tahiti for vacation, you said it was too expensive. When I gave you roses for Christmas, you resold them to the flower shop. Whenever we had steak, you packed the leftovers…” He smiled wryly. “Now I finally have a great opportunity…”
Suddenly, he pushed all of his chips forward. Even a gambling god wouldn’t be more daring than this. “Show hand!”
He bet everything he had in a near-certain losing situation!
Lu Mingfei silently watched the two look into each other’s eyes, Wan Boqian’s filled with tears reflecting the light as they fell.
It must feel like hot wax, Lu Mingfei thought idly. Yeah, that kind of feeling—wanting to do something amazing to prove everything to her. Like Caesar staging that activity on Weibo, getting all of Beijing to help him find a red Ferrari, then sneaking into the Summer Palace with a camera crew in the dead of night for a proposal, leaping into the freezing lake, full of heroic passion. It was a video worth replicating by couples all over the world. Every girl would believe Nono could be happy with Caesar because of this “proof.” Just like he had sold a quarter of his life to get those codes that turned the tables and told Nono, “Don’t die”… it was pretty much like a K-drama.
It’s just that some people are qualified to make this proof, while others aren’t.
People with qualifications are really enviable and maddening!
Gao Mi successfully lost all of his chips to Lu Mingfei, then stood up and patted his clothes. “I know who you are, and I know all about you from the College. I don’t know how you’re doing this, but I believe you can do it. If you can get out, can you do your best to take Boqian with you? I know it’s hard, but as an S-rank, you should be able to do it.”
Lu Mingfei turned to look at Lu Mingze, who shrugged with an “it’s none of my business” look.
“I’ll do my best,” Lu Mingfei said.
The game had reached a fever pitch. Lu Mingze was already leaning against a pillar, asleep, but as long as he was there, Lady Luck remained on Lu Mingfei’s side.
Lu Mingfei had over seven hundred bottle caps in front of him. According to the labyrinth’s rules, winning a thousand would mean he could leave. He could have reached that goal long ago, but if he kept shamelessly cashing in his luck, Wan Boqian would lose to the dealer.
Lu Mingfei tried to give some chips to Wan Boqian, but no matter how much he gave, she could only accumulate around three hundred bottle caps. Clearly, this girl was quite good at math, but compared to sheer luck, math was nothing.
Lu Mingfei held a hearts “A” and a diamonds “A” in his hand, and four community cards were already revealed: a diamonds “9,” a hearts “K,” a diamonds “8,” and a clubs “A.”
Lu Mingfei already had three aces. With such a hand and unbeatable luck, his odds of winning were nearly 100%. But he couldn’t show his hand because that would mean Wan Boqian would lose all her chips. He could only settle for a small win.
Lu Mingfei pushed forward 100 bottle caps. “Call!”
Wan Boqian immediately understood and pushed forward 100 bottle caps as well. “Call!”
The dealer’s nine heads split into two groups—one group went to count Wan Boqian’s chips, and the other counted Lu Mingfei’s. Though the dealer looked ugly, it did its job diligently.
After counting, all nine heads withdrew, and it comfortably sat back. It tossed its hole cards at its feet. “Screw this! What a crappy hand! I’m out!”
Lu Mingfei was so shocked he leaned back. The dealer… folded on its own?
According to Gao Mi’s analysis, the dealer was like a machine, like an NPC in a video game that always stood at the city gate, repeating, “Welcome to the City of Miracles. Hero, care to play a game of cards with me… Welcome to the City of Miracles. Hero, care to play a game of cards with me…” What did “screw this” mean? Why did it suddenly speak in such a casual tone?
The dealer let out a strange “hahaha” laugh, suddenly transforming from a silent skeleton into a stand-up comedian. “Good thing I ran quickly. You two can settle this one-on-one, right? That was close—I almost lost my pants! Losing just a few bottle caps is like stretching my muscles and getting my blood flowing…”