The bet between Sun Yixie and Murong Ji spread throughout Hangzhou in just a few days.
In order to show fairness, the two agreed that Murong Ji would decide the gambling items, and Sun Yixie would arrange the time and place of the gambling.
This is quite reasonable, because Murong Ji is the "King of Gambling", so it will be easier to convince the public by leaving the gambling content to him; and Sun Yixie is a local snake, and he will manage the venue and organize the audience. Get twice the result with half the effort.
Youdao is the mouth of a storyteller and the legs of an opera singer. This sentence can be said as soon as it is spoken.
In a blink of an eye, the day of the duel between the two came.
This afternoon, the wind was gentle and the sun was beautiful.
Murong Ji and Liu Ming boarded a cruise ship on the West Lake on time.
Today, Mr. Murong did not bring so many thugs, but only Liu Ming. After all, the space of the cruise ship back then was limited. Even today, Sun Yixie chose a large ship with two floors. , but the area on that floor can only accommodate dozens of people.
The quota of these dozens of people, except for the two parties betting against each other, must naturally be reserved for the "audiences" who come to witness, rather than for the dozens of thugs brought by one party.
Anyway, the people who were able to board the ship to watch the battle today were without exception high-ranking officials from Hangzhou. No matter how hard it was, there was no way Sun Yixie could ambush Murong Ji and sink him in the lake in front of these people.
Therefore, Murong Ji did not need to bring so many people.
After getting on the boat, Mr. Murong and Liu Ming were immediately taken to the second floor. When he walked into the room (i.e. the cabin of the boat), he found that there was already a circle of people sitting around the room, and the seats were almost full.
In the vacant space in the middle of the room, a square table and four stools have been set up.
Murong Ji was not surprised by these decorations, because the event of today's duel with Sun Yixie - mahjong, was chosen by him himself.
"Mr. Liu." Murong Ji came to the table and was not in a hurry to sit down. Instead, he called Liu Ming softly.
Liu Ming also understood immediately and stepped forward to inspect the tables and chairs.
No one criticized their behavior, because what they did at the moment was what they should do.
Anyone who has been at the gambling table knows that when you go to an important gambling game, you have to be wary of anything provided by your opponent, because anything... can be tampered with.
The drink you drink may be drugged, the chair you sit on may have a mechanism, the table in front of you, or even the floor, ceiling... You can't think of anything, but there's nothing you can't do.
Most of the tricks you've seen in magic, whether with the help of props or pure tricks, have more foolproof versions.
Some of these techniques can be seen through with eyesight or experience on the spot, but there are many others... If you don't check in advance and take precautions, you won't be able to expose them even if they do it in front of you.
"Master, it's no problem." Liu Mingzai reported to Murong Ji after carefully inspecting the tables, chairs and surrounding floor beams.
Murong Ji nodded and was about to take his seat.
But just as he casually walked towards one of the chairs and was about to sit down, he hesitated.
Because there are four seats here, which one should he sit on?
Thinking of this, Murong Ji looked around again.
Due to the limited space in the boat, the spectators sitting at the front are only two meters away from the gambler's back. They can see the cards by stretching their necks. If you choose the wrong position, there will be a follower sitting behind you. What should I do if my business partner with whom I have a good relationship gives a secret code to the other party?
Liu Ming also quickly noticed Murong Ji's concerns, so he continued: "Master, why don't we wait for Sun Yixie to come and see where he wants to sit first, and then we can make plans..."
Before he finished speaking, suddenly!
A burst of pipa and suona music suddenly erupted outside the cabin.
With the pipa as the accompaniment and the suona as the main melody, a classic BGM from the movie "God of Gamblers" sounded loudly.
Immediately afterwards I saw the cabin door open...
The next second, Sun Yixie, dressed in fancy clothes, wearing sunglasses and holding a piece of dried salted fish in his mouth, appeared on the stage accompanied by music.
Maybe it was because this appearance had been rehearsed many times, so Brother Sun wanted to make the process longer, so after he entered the door, he started to move forward slowly in slow motion. Anyway, he just walked forward very slowly...
Everyone present was shocked on the spot.
Especially Murong Ji and Liu Ming were stunned.
Murong Ji was thinking in his mind at that time: "Is this guy named Sun crazy? Is he trying to spread suspicion? Or does he look down on me?"
Just when he was confused, the music outside the room stopped abruptly, because Sun Yixie only taught the musicians a short piece in total, and they would not be able to play any longer.
Sun Yixie immediately greeted him with a smile: "Hehehe...ahhh..."
But just when he was smiling and about to talk, he tripped and fell down on the spot.
Of course, this is not surprising. Think about it, there were no sunglasses in those days, but there were glasses, so Brother Sun’s sunglasses were obviously a pair of glasses that he dyed black with ink himself...
"Fuck you!" Sun Yixie, who fell down, instinctively cursed and stood up again as quickly as possible, brushing off the dust on his body and saying, "Uh-huh... I'm sorry, I'm wearing sunglasses in the house. I can’t see the road a little bit clearly.”
Although he said this, he still put the sunglasses that he had just thrown off back on again... and even put them on backwards.
Seeing the other party's funny behavior, Murong Ji's inner thoughts now are: "I was tricked by such a thing a few days ago? Am I actually a fool too?"
"Then what...Brother Murong, Mr. Liu." Sun Yixie seemed to want to change the topic to hide his embarrassment, so he immediately answered, "What are you two standing for? Please sit down."
"Oh... haha." Liu Ming came to his senses a little faster. He immediately clasped his fists and laughed dryly, "Today's game is hosted by Mr. Sun... The master has not sat down, so how can we guests have the nerve to sit down?"
This is actually a nonsense sentence that makes no sense. I have only heard of people waiting for the host to be seated first at dinner parties, but I have never heard of this rule in gambling games.
However, Sun Yixie didn't seem to notice any special purpose in his specious theory.
"Okay then." Sun Yixie just responded casually and sat down on a nearby chair.
"Wait a minute!" At this moment, Murong Ji stopped him and said, "Brother Sun, you are the master. You should sit north and face south, that is...sit in that position over there."
Murong Ji reacted quickly this time. He thought that Sun Yixie's appearance of "sitting casually" must be fake, so wherever Sun Yixie chose a seat, he asked Sun Yixie to sit opposite, and he himself Then go grab the one chosen by Sun Yixie.
"Huh?" Sun Yixie was stunned when he heard this, "How the hell can you tell the southeast from the northwest on the ship?"
Complaints are complaints, but he still moved his position according to Murong Ji's words.
"Okay... you say it's north, it's north. Anyway, I can't find north." This is the truth. Otherwise, how could he "reverse high-speed rail"?
"Well..." Murong Ji saw this and didn't answer any more. He just came to the seat he had won and sat down, and motioned Liu Ming to sit on his left side, that is... he could give him "cards". that side.
Sun Yixie saw all of this, but he didn't take it seriously.
"Boy, do you want something to drink?" Sun Yixie asked when he saw the two of them sitting down.
Murong Ji and Liu Ming were a little confused by his question, because gamblers in those days generally did not have the habit of eating and drinking while gambling, let alone having a beautiful woman by their side as a vase.
Maybe some private gambling games set up by princes and nobles would do this, but generally private gambling, especially when playing mahjong, a game that requires constant touching and playing of cards, would not do this...
"No need." Murong Ji hesitated for a few seconds and then said he didn't need to drink.
"I don't need it either." Liu Mingzi did the same.
As mentioned before, they should try to avoid accepting what the other party offers to prevent fraud.
"Oh, that's okay..." Sun Yixie turned to a waiter who was standing by and said, "Brother, bring me a bowl of soy milk."
"Yes." The attendant responded and went out.
Murong Ji and Liu Ming really couldn't see through Sun Yixie... In those days, the most common so-called "beverages" were tea and wine, and the positioning of soy milk was similar to "soup", which was generally It was just for breakfast, but Sun Yixie would actually ask for a bowl on this occasion? The key is really there on this ship?
Yes, there is…
Today, the second floor of the boat is a gambling venue, and the first floor is the "preparation area". Not only is soy milk available there, but most tea and drinks are also available, and there are also a lot of various dried fruit snacks.
Of course, in addition to being used for stocking goods, another function of the first floor is to provide a place for the attendants brought by the distinguished guests on the second floor. After all, the space on the ship is really limited. If every guest on the second floor has to stand next to someone, , that would be too crowded.
"Brother Tang, come and sit too." After Sun Yixie ordered the soy milk, he turned and shouted to Tang Weizhi, who was already waiting in the corner of the room.
Hearing the sound, the latter quickly walked through the audience and came to the card table.
Today, Tang Weizhi is dressed in a smart outfit, looking radiant and energetic; obviously, his previous injuries are almost healed.
"I have met Mr. Murong and Mr. Liu." Tang Weizhi first greeted the two people with fists clasped, and then said "Young Master" to Sun Yixie's gaze before sitting down.
Murong Ji and Liu Ming looked at him and exchanged glances. At this time, they both wondered in their hearts: "It's actually him?"
It's normal for them to be surprised, because they reasoned that if Sun Yixie wanted to find a mahjong partner, he would probably ask his think tank Xue Tui, or simply ask a local gambling master to help... But they didn't expect it. , Tang Weizhi, the "beater" who watched the show in the West Lake seats, could sit on it.
So what is the level of Tang Weizhi's gambling skills?
In a word - an old gambler.
Maybe you have forgotten that Tang Weizhi, the "former 19th generation disciple of the Kongtong Sect", was expelled because he was fond of gambling, incurred a lot of debts, and accidentally beat to death a rogue who came to collect debts. The teacher's sect ruined a great future.
Later, when he wandered around the world and gave up on himself, he also gambled a lot, but he still had a bottom line. He didn't just rely on his martial arts to do evil things like Hong Mei Que...
Even though Tang Weizhi was so poor that he was begging for food, he never harmed the people.
Later, he was so hungry that he went to the West Lake Pavilion to eat the King's meal, hoping to be sent to jail, but was taken in by Sun Yixie... After that, Tang Weizhi gave up gambling.
In fact, no one tried to persuade him to quit gambling, but he felt that he finally met a noble person and had a chance to start a new life, so he must not fall again.
Because of this, Tang Weizhi has never had anything related to gambling since a year ago. Even if someone said he didn't want to gamble and just asked him to go to the card table to make up the numbers, he would firmly refuse.
But today, the young master had the order to take action, so he had to make an exception.
Seeing this, some people may say, even if he is an old gambler, he is also an old gambler who has lost money and is in debt. Isn't this a rookie? Is it useful?
Then you might as well think about it this way, is there anyone in this world who can gamble for a long time without losing money?
To put it bluntly, as long as gambling continues for a long time, there are only two types of people who can guarantee winnings: one is the casino owner, and the other is the cheater.
Even if there are a very small number of people who can stably achieve a winning rate of more than 60% in a relatively high-tech event without cheating through skill and luck, such people are only rare... equivalent to modern mahjong professional players. .
The man in front of him, Murong Ji, who was born in a gambling family and was known as the "King of Gambling", was at this level.
Anyone higher than this is really a person with super powers, a con man, or a god of gambling.
Therefore, with Tang Weizhi's "old gambler" skills, it is enough to come over and assist Brother Sun.
Instead of worrying about his gambling skills, it is better to worry about his "face that cannot hide things" problem. After all, the main reason why he lost money in the first place was actually this "expression management" problem.
As for why Sun Yixie didn't temporarily hire a "master foreign aid" from the casino, it's very simple - it's a matter of trust.
How do you know that the person you are looking for will not be bribed by the other party in advance? How do you know if he will ask someone to buy peripherals and bet on himself to lose, and then deliberately play you?
Anyone who has watched Hong Kong gambling movies will understand that in such an important gambling game, the skills of the person who partners with you come second and loyalty comes first.
"Master, your soy milk." Not long after, the attendant brought a bowl of hot soy milk up from downstairs.
Sun Yixie took the bowl and immediately blew it and took a small sip. After feeling that the temperature was okay, he raised his voice and said to everyone in the room: "Everyone, I'm sorry to keep you waiting for so long. Are you willing to come and serve me today?" Sun is deeply honored to be a witness to this bet between Brother Murong and I. I would like to offer you a bowl of wine with wine first!"
After he said this, the guests in the room also raised their teacups or wine glasses and talked politely for a while.
Then, Sun Yixie drank a bowl of soy milk with a tilt of his neck, and the guests also drank a glass.
After putting down the bowl, Sun Yixie said: "Then without further delay, Brother Murong, let's get started."
"Yes." Murong Ji heard this and immediately turned to look at Liu Ming, "Mr. Liu."
Liu Ming received the order and put a wooden box he carried with him on the table.
This was also agreed upon by both parties in advance. In addition to Murong Ji choosing the gambling items, Murong Ji would also prepare the gambling equipment for the day.
Therefore, the box Liu Ming took out now contained the mahjong and chips that he would use today.
