Chapter 313

Little Beard laughed heartily and said, “I’ve always been lucky.” The young man also smiled, but it was a scornful smile. He thought to himself that many people claimed to be lucky, but he had seen few who actually won money here. As Little Beard had said, a casino was a place that could steal not only your soul but also your money. No matter how much wealth you had—millions or billions—it was still the house that came out on top. The Harbor Hotel, dubbed “China’s largest casino,” could generate tens of millions in revenue for the Nan Hongmen in just one day, and unlike legitimate businesses, there were no taxes to pay. All profits were pure gains, showing just how huge the profits could be. The backbone of Xiang Wentian’s underworld business was casinos, and in Shanghai, that backbone was undoubtedly this extravagantly built super-luxury casino. The young man led Little Beard to the counter to exchange cash for chips, explaining as they walked, “We accept cash or cards.”

Little Beard nodded and gave a signal to the tall, thin man, who understood. He placed his leather bag on the counter, opened it, and inside were stacks of brand-new hundred-dollar bills. The young man nodded at the burly man in a white suit beside him. The man responded with a nod, took out a stack, glanced through it, confirmed it was fine, and put it back. Then he took out a golden ruler, inserted it between the bills, looked down, and declared, “One million!”

The young man chuckled at Little Beard and said, “No problem.” Then he said to the burly man, “Give this gentleman one million worth of chips.” Seeing this, Little Beard wondered, “Don’t you count them?” The young man laughed loudly, “We collect tens of millions every day. If we had to count and check each bill, it would take too long, and it would be too stingy. A quick measurement with a ruler is enough. Usually, those who come here are important people; no one would try to cheat on such a small amount. Right, gentlemen?”

Little Beard and the tall, thin man exchanged a look and nodded in silent approval. Xiang Wentian could make this place successful not just because of his strength, but also because of his generosity, which was enough to impress ordinary people. After exchanging the chips, the young man’s eyes sparkled as he asked, “Isn’t it a bit monotonous for two gentlemen to be together?” Little Beard raised an eyebrow and asked, “What do you mean?” The young man snapped his fingers. As soon as the sound faded, two young, beautiful, and tall ladies came over. With a mischievous smile, he said, “It’s really boring without beautiful ladies around.”

The tall, thin man waved his hand and was about to speak when the bearded man stopped him. Narrowing his eyes, he said, “My friend makes a good point, but…” He glanced at the two ladies approaching and added, “It’s just that I look down on ordinary people.” How arrogant! the young man thought to himself. He clapped his hands, and several more ladies came over—tall and short, fat and thin—but one thing was common: each of them had an exceptionally beautiful face. The young man glanced at them appreciatively and asked with a smile, “I guess you’re satisfied now, right?”
The bearded man didn’t want to make things too difficult for him; after all, he hadn’t come here to cause trouble. He casually picked a girl with a delicate appearance, lightly made up, around twenty years old. The young man praised, “You really have good taste. This lady is named Lili and is still a student.” The bearded man was surprised. The girl blushed and nodded silently without saying a word. After the tall, thin man chose as well, the young man led them toward the main door in the center of the hall. On the golden door were four big characters: “Famous Overnight.” When they pushed the door open, a bustling crowd rushed at them. Looking around, they saw nearly a thousand people gathered in the several thousand square meter area—endless crowds, a sea of faces. The young man spread his arms and shouted, “Ladies and gentlemen, enjoy yourselves! I hope you’ll have good luck and leave here with plenty!” The bearded man thanked him and ignored him, stepping boldly into the crowd.
The four of them wandered around the area. The bearded man handed a handful of chips to the girl beside him and said, “Go play. I’ll come find you later.”
The girl was stunned, feeling confused. This was the first time she had encountered such a customer. Everyone else wanted to take advantage of her, but he had pushed her aside early on. She asked doubtfully, “Are you telling me to leave?” The bearded man shook his head and smiled, “I don’t like having women around when I gamble. It affects my luck. Do you understand?” The girl seemed to understand but not fully and still nodded, walking away silently. The tall, thin man also gave some chips to a girl nearby and quickly sent her away. With no outsiders around, the bearded man touched his mustache and asked, “Qiangzi, what do you think?” The tall man pondered for a moment before saying, “Brother Dong, the South Hongmen has at least a hundred members.”

The two of them whispered to each other as they pretended to walk over to a table with fewer guests. The man with the mustache casually picked up a chip and threw it on the table, saying, “If we launch a surprise attack, what are our chances of success?” The tall man frowned deeply and after a long pause said, “I’m afraid the chances of success aren’t high.” “How so?” “Brother Dong, look,” the tall man pointed, “there are monitors everywhere around here. And as soon as we entered the hotel, I noticed there are no less than a dozen cameras in the lobby alone. That means the moment we enter the lobby, we’re already under their surveillance. If we try anything, the hotel’s control room will send a distress signal to the Nan Hongmen headquarters right away. Even if it takes Nan Hongmen half an hour to gather their men and another half hour to get here, we’d only have an hour left. We’d have to disperse at least a hundred of their members in that hour, and they have the advantage of the terrain—especially that small staircase corridor leading to the casino, which is easy to defend but hard to attack. An hour is simply not enough to solve this problem.” The man with the mustache nodded deeply, grinned, and said, “Not bad, Qiangzi. You’re getting better at observing things! But I think there are two points where you might be wrong. First, this place is the main source of funds for Nan Hongmen’s criminal activities, so they definitely have more than a hundred men. Second, it definitely won’t take Nan Hongmen an hour to send reinforcements. Don’t forget, this is their stronghold.” The tall man sighed and said, “Brother Dong, it seems our chances of a forceful attack are basically gone.” The man with the mustache replied, “Not necessarily. It depends on the situation!” He looked up around, took a deep breath, and his crescent-shaped eyes suddenly shone brightly, glowing like torches. He said solemnly, “Anyway, I’m taking this place!”

Needless to say, the tall and short man were Xie Wendong and Gao Qiang in disguise. Bo Zhanhui agreed to cooperate with Xie Wendong and also gave him some information. Xiang Wentian didn’t deal drugs in the underworld; his illicit funds mainly came from casinos, with the one at the Seaport Hotel being the most important among them. If it could be destroyed in one fell swoop, it would cripple the Nan Hongmen’s criminal operations in Shanghai. Xie Wendong naturally wouldn’t miss such an opportunity. He went there in person to investigate what kind of influential casino it was. The result didn’t disappoint him. Xie Wendong made up his mind. Although success was unlikely, having a goal was always good. As for the outcome, he left it to fate. What he wanted was to enjoy the process. Letting out a sigh of relief, he smiled and said, “Let’s go find our two beautiful ladies.” Gao Qiang shrugged, his face returning to its cold expression, and nodded silently. Xie Wendong chuckled and joked, “Qiangzi, you’re getting older. Don’t keep a serious face all the time. You’re almost freezing or scaring to death the women around you. I’m really worried about you. What if you can’t find a wife in the future?!” Gao Qiang smiled bitterly and said, “Brother Dong, I’m worried too.” “Oh? What are you worried about?” “With so many women around you, what will you do when it’s time to get married?” “…” This time, it was Xie Wendong who smiled bitterly and fell silent. The two ladies didn’t gamble with their chips but carefully put them into their purses. Having been in the casino for a while, they had seen enough and knew that nine out of ten times, people lost. They weren’t stupid enough to throw money into a bottomless pit. When Xie Wendong and Gao Qiang saw them, they found that they were watching the action with great interest. Curious, Xie Wendong stepped forward and whispered in the ear of the girl he had chosen, “What’s so interesting?” The girl was startled by the sudden question. As she turned her head, her eyes met Xie Wendong’s bright, shining eyes. Her face turned red for no reason, and she stammered, “N-Nothing. I’m just watching people play dice.” “Play dice?” Xie Wendong laughed. “I like that too.” Saying that, he pulled the girl forward and glanced at the table. The rules were simple: the dealer shook the die, and everyone just had to bet on high or low, with a 1:1 payout. Xie Wendong didn’t bet right away but waited a while to observe the situation. The dealer had already shown “high” seven times in a row. Many people around him were sweating, hesitating with their chips in hand.

Xie Wendong chuckled, grabbed a handful of chips, and placed them in the “Big” category. The girl worriedly said, “Sir, ‘Big’ has come up seven times in a row. Why do you still bet on it?”
Xie Wendong replied with a smile, “It’s gambling—luck decides everything. Winning or losing is predestined.” The other players also placed their bets, most favoring “Small,” as seven consecutive “Big” outcomes seemed unnatural. Xie Wendong, who didn’t believe in such superstitions, won. The girl even wondered if he had some special ability; although he didn’t win every time, he always won a lot and lost little. In the blink of an eye, an hour passed. Xie Wendong stretched his slightly stiff limbs. He had accumulated quite a few chips. He called over a waiter, got a tray, placed all the chips on it, and pushed it toward the girl, saying, “Let’s go somewhere else to play.”
The girl was stunned, misunderstanding him to mean he wanted to leave to go to a room. Her face turned red as she lowered her head. After hesitating for a moment, she looked up at Xie Wendong intently. Though his appearance was ordinary, his eyes were beautiful and even captivating, with a shimmering light that always drew attention. His skin was fair and smooth. Although he had a moustache, upon closer inspection, he didn’t seem as old as one might think. “Is there something wrong with my face?” Xie Wendong asked her with a half-smile.
The girl quickly lowered her head again, too shy to meet his piercing eyes. Xie Wendong seemed to sense her thoughts and found it amusing. He whispered in her ear, “What I mean by ‘playing’ isn’t what you think!” He laughed heartily and turned to go to another gambling table. The girl was clearly new to this job, very shy, with a face as red as cloth, wishing she could hide in a crack in the floor. Xie Wendong wasn’t good at many games. After wandering around, he stopped at a Suhao gambling table. He had played this game in Nanjing before and even won a casino from Xiang Wentian. Thinking back, he realized he had indeed been quite bold at that time. Just as he was about to join in, Gao Qiang came over to him, glanced at the girl beside him, and said softly, “Mr. Dong…”
“Hmm?” Xie Wendong kept his gaze on the gambling table and didn’t turn around. “What is it?” Gao Qiang whispered, “Someone familiar has arrived!” Xie Wendong followed Gao Qiang’s gaze and saw a group of people entering the casino door, a bustling crowd of at least twenty people. Among them was a man with striking features—broad eyebrows, bright eyes, fair skin, and red lips. He was very handsome. After recognizing him, Xie Wendong shrank back and said with a wry smile, “I really didn’t expect him to show up.” It was none other than Xiao Fang, who had dealt with Xie Wendong countless times before.

After entering, Xiao Fang looked around and said satisfactorily, “Business is good today!” The young manager who had greeted Xie Wendong and Gao Qiang earlier stood behind Xiao Fang, nodding and smiling deferentially. “Thanks to Brother Xiang and you, business has been very good lately.” The young manager wasn’t the top figure in the casino, but his status in the South Hongmen was fairly high. Yet when standing next to the Eight Heavenly Kings, he seemed much less important. Moreover, Xiao Fang ranked among the top two of those Eight Heavenly Kings—the only one who might rival him was Lu Kou, the Fire King, who was still abroad. Xiao Fang hummed in agreement and walked further in while asking, “Have there been any notable people around recently?” “No! Absolutely not!” The young man assured him, patting his chest and smiling. “Everyone who comes are acquaintances or friends introduced by them. No one bold enough to cause trouble has shown up yet!”

Xiao Fang walked past Xie Wendong and Gao Qiang along the corridor and said cautiously, “I’m not referring to those troublemaking hooligans. Right now, the North Hongmen is invading Shanghai on a large scale and is at war with us. I’m worried they might cause trouble here.” The young man replied frankly with a smile, “Brother Xiao, you’re overthinking it. There are over two hundred of our brothers at the port, and the casino is in a strategic location—it’s not easy for them to attack. Besides, with my order, it’s no problem to gather hundreds of people nearby. If the North Hongmen doesn’t come, that’s fine. But if Xie Wendong dares to cause trouble here, he might not even be able to leave.” He spoke softly at first, so only he and Xiao Fang could hear, but then he raised his voice so that Xie Wendong beside them could hear clearly too. He sneered inwardly, thinking, “I’m curious to see how you’ll keep me from leaving. The more a tiger guards its den, the more I want to kick it.” Gao Qiang, seeing his expression, knew what Brother Dong was thinking and shook his head helplessly. Xiao Fang stopped, turned around, patted the young man’s shoulder, and nodded with a smile. He didn’t take the young man’s words seriously but appreciated his enthusiasm and confidence—qualities currently lacking in the organization. Incidentally, he glanced at Xie Wendong and Gao Qiang and murmured, “Hm? I seem to have seen you somewhere before.”