Chapter 147

The world is a place full of deception; those who seem like your best friends might actually be the ones stabbing you in the back. Xie Wendong loved such an environment—just thinking about it made his blood boil. He was a man who craved challenges; without them, how could one progress?

The summit later discussed various topics, mostly about how different regions could cooperate and how each region should contribute funds to the federation for events. Xie Wendong wasn’t interested in any of this. Listening to the old men chatter on endlessly, he felt drowsy, his eyelids constantly drooping. If not for Dongxin Lei gently pushing him from behind, Xie Wendong would have fallen asleep long ago. Looking at Tiangxiao, who was resting his chin in his hand, staring intently with unblinking eyes as he listened to the old men’s discussions, Xie Wendong felt deep admiration. Finally, when the summit ended, Xie Wendong could stand up and stretch his stiff limbs. Seeing Tiangxiao still in the same position, Nie Tianxing sneered, “This guy fell asleep—just his sleeping appearance is a bit unusual.” Xie Wendong nodded in agreement, sighing, “Indeed, quite unusual!”

Once the formal matters were taken care of, it was time to enjoy oneself. The group went downstairs, where table seats had already been reserved. Huang Shen really liked Xie Wendong and pulled him to sit next to himself. Li Wei, who also wanted to win him over, had no choice but to step aside. Xie Wendong didn’t enjoy the meal at all. Old Huang Shen kept asking him questions from time to time, while he also had to deal with other bosses. As a young man like him, he naturally had to act as the younger one, being polite to everyone while still maintaining the dignity of a leader. By the end of the meal, Xie Wendong’s back was covered in sweat, as if he had just fought a fight. After the meal, everyone drank tea while discussing matters. Huang Shen pulled Xie Wendong to a quieter spot and said, “Some time ago, Brother Jin planned to order a batch of cars from me. Now that you’re in charge of the Hongmen, are you interested in this matter?”

“Oh?” Xie Wendong asked doubtfully, “I wasn’t aware of this. I wonder how much the old man plans to spend on cars? What’s the price?”

Huang Shen replied, “Since we’re all on the same side, given my relationship with Brother Jin, the price will naturally be the lowest. Initially, they planned to order a hundred cars, with a total value of around 30 million.”

Xie Wendong glanced back at Dong Xinlei, who nodded slightly to confirm it was true. Xie Wendong’s mind raced for a moment before he burst into laughter and said, “If that’s the case, I have nothing to say. Since the senior is an old friend of the boss, he surely won’t lie to me. Actually, I don’t think a hundred vehicles is a huge deal. I’ll take as many as you can supply, but there might be some difficulties with funding. As the senior knows, I’ve just taken over the Hongmen, and I can’t easily spend large sums of money.” Dong Xinlei and Nie Tianxing’s expressions changed, feeling that Xie Wendong had gone too far in his claims. After all, Huang Shen was extremely skilled at smuggling cars. If he really supplied a few hundred vehicles, even the boss might not be able to handle it.

Huang Shen stared at Xie Wendong for a long time before smiling and saying, “You’re really bold, like a newborn calf unafraid of tigers. Money isn’t an issue. I’m worried you won’t be able to handle such a large quantity, and then Brother Jin will blame me. How about this? I’ll supply 150 vehicles, and you still only need to pay for 100. You can delay paying the rest for a while. What do you think?”

Xie Wendong thought for a moment before nodding and saying, “Okay, it’s a deal!” He shook hands with Huang Shen to finalize the deal for this batch of goods. In fact, his willingness to say he would take as many as available was also aimed at opening up a new source of income for his Wen Dong Hui. After all, their main source of income currently came from drug trafficking. Although Xie Wendong had no intention of giving that up, he wanted to shift part of the gang’s financial focus to smuggling. Through his connections in the political department, smuggling seemed to be a relatively safe and stable route. But smuggling wasn’t something that could be done on one’s own; it required stable and close relationships on the other side. Of course, Huang Shen was the perfect choice—reliable and powerful.

As dusk approached, Xiang Tiansao invited everyone to the secret casino run by the South Hongmen in Nanjing to enjoy themselves, as a gesture of hospitality. Everyone gladly agreed.

In Xuanwu District, Nanjing, “Waterworld” was a luxurious hotel run by the South Hongmen, combining dining, accommodation, and entertainment. It was also the South Hongmen’s largest secret casino in Nanjing. On the second floor of the hotel, there was a hidden chamber. After entering and walking a short distance, one would find a dark brown door. Passing through this antique-looking door led to a vast casino covering thousands of square meters. It was luxuriously decorated with a wide variety of gambling equipment. In Xie Wendong’s eyes, it was no less impressive than the casinos in Macau and Las Vegas. It seemed Xiang Tiansao had prepared well—there wasn’t a single guest in the casino, with uniformed staff standing on both sides.

Xiang Tiansiao smiled at everyone and said, “Please feel free. I’ve prepared one million in chips for each boss here—not much, just for your amusement.” With that, he clapped his hands, and a row of beautiful young ladies in sexy dresses stepped forward from behind. Each held a tray of chips and stood beside their respective bosses. Instantly, the casino was filled with charm and beauty, creating a pleasant atmosphere.

Even Xie Wendong couldn’t help but nod in approval. Xiang Tiansiao was truly generous, easily spending tens of millions. The bosses from other regions were even happier. One million RMB wasn’t much for them, but having beautiful women by their side made everything feel different, increasing their goodwill toward Xiang Tiansiao and making their tone much more polite.

Dong Xinlei’s expression darkened. Xiang Tiansiao’s actions were clearly a display of power against his side, and it seemed that the local boss and the Northern Hongmen were being pushed aside by the Southern Hongmen. Xie Wendong, however, wasn’t too concerned. He looked around the casino with interest and asked with a smile, “I wonder how much it would cost to build a hotel like this?”

Nie Tianxing sighed, “At the land prices in Nanjing, it would probably cost tens of millions!”

“Oh!” Xie Wendong glanced at the young lady standing beside him. She appeared to be no older than twenty, with delicate brows, large eyes, and striking beauty. Her black hair cascaded over her shoulders, highlighting her pale skin. He gently pinched her rosy cheeks and praised, “You’re quite pretty!” Then he picked up some chips from a tray, tossed them into the air, and said with a smile, “Today, let’s win tens of millions from them and make Xiang Tiansiao bleed again!”

Nie Tianxing muttered under his breath, “Just saying we’ll win tens of millions doesn’t mean we can actually do it. We’re not gambling gods.”

“Hehe!” Xie Wendong smiled. “A casino is like a battlefield. On a battlefield, the brave win. The same goes for gambling—whichever side has more confidence, luck will be on their side. Right, Old Lei?” Dong Xinlei never disagreed with Xie Wendong, even if he claimed the moon was square.

The rules of poker were simple enough in a casino that even Xie Wendong, who wasn’t interested in gambling, could play it. In fact, it was the only game he knew how to play here. Smiling, he walked over. By then, five people were already sitting at the table waiting for cards to be dealt. Xie Wendong politely said, “Guys, I hope you don’t mind having one more person join.”

How could these five take the young Xie Wendong seriously? One of them, a middle-aged man with a fuller build and delicate gold-rimmed glasses, laughed and said, “Since someone’s coming to bring us money, we’d be happy to welcome them—how could we refuse? Haha!” As he spoke, he placed his hand on the thigh of the girl sitting next to him and moved it back and forth.

Xie Wendong shrugged, found a chair to sit down, then thought for a moment before pulling over another chair and gesturing for the girl next to him to sit as well. He turned to Dong Xinlei and said, “Take two million from the gang’s funds and exchange it for chips to distribute among the brothers to play with.”

Dong Xinlei nodded, took out a check from his pocket and handed it to Sha Mu, then stayed with Nie Tianxing on either side of Xie Wendong. Seeing that all six were ready, the waiter signaled Xie Wendong, the newcomer, to deal the cards. Xie Wendong waved his hand and said, “No need!”

The waiter began dealing cards—two cards to each person first, with one card flipped up. The person with the highest card had the right to bet first. The middle-aged man with glasses had the highest card. He picked up a pile of chips and threw them in the center of the table, laughing and saying, “A good start—let’s bet one hundred thousand.”

One family withdrew, and the other two followed suit by betting. Xie Wendong glanced at his cards and also threw in one hundred thousand chips. In the third round of dealing, Xie Wendong was lucky enough to get the highest card, the Ace of Spades, and casually threw in two hundred thousand. Another of the three families decided to withdraw. In the fourth round, it was the middle-aged man with glasses’ turn again. He threw all the remaining chips on the table and said with a smile, “I’m straightforward—I don’t like to drag things out. Let’s settle this in one go!”

The remaining man glanced at his own cards and sighed, “Then I’ll go all in. I’m in!” With that, he pushed his remaining chips forward as well.

Xie Wendong looked at his cards and said smilingly, “I like decisiveness too. Quitting now would mean missing out on the fun!” With a wave of his hand, he threw in his chips.

After the fifth round of dealing, all three revealed their cards. Each had a pair, but Xie Wendong’s was the highest. In no time, those two lost one million each, but they remained calm, pulling out checks from their pockets. The middle-aged man with glasses laughed and said, “Young man, you’re quite lucky. It seems I’ll have to risk my own money.”

Xie Wendong looked at the chips he had recovered and said smilingly, “It was just luck. It’s also because the two seniors were being generous to the junior.”

“Haha,” the middle-aged man nodded and smiled. “Young people are quite good at speaking. Let’s continue!” With that, he handed the check to his subordinate to exchange it for chips.

The six of them started gambling again. Some won and some lost, with bets getting increasingly larger, creating a lively back-and-forth. Xie Wendong and the middle-aged man with glasses were the winners, their piles of chips towering high—probably worth tens of millions each. Among the other four, two had sweat on their foreheads, but they kept betting generously, throwing down large amounts of chips that instantly became someone else’s, without even blinking. In this gambling den, money was no longer just money; it was a tool, a tool to keep the game going.

The chips on the table piled up like small mountains. Xie Wendong looked at his five cards—remarkably good, a straight flush. He hadn’t seen his hole cards. Tapping the table with his fingers, he said smilingly, “With such strong cards, it would be a shame to bet little.” With that, he pushed all his chips forward—all in!

The middle-aged man with glasses glanced at his cards and said, “The cards are strong, but who knows what your hole cards are? Are you rushing to all-in just to cheat us?”

Xie Wendong shrugged. “If I’m cheating, we’ll find out when I try.”

The middle-aged man sitting across from Xie Wendong laughed. “But this attempt comes at a cost—tens of millions to try it. I don’t have the guts!” With that, he covered his cards and threw them away. The man next to him laughed, “Wealth comes from taking risks! How can you get rich without the courage to bet? I’m in!” His chips weren’t worth tens of millions, so he handed over a check instead.

The middle-aged man with glasses glanced at his hole cards again. Though still smiling, his expression wasn’t as natural as before. After hesitating for a moment, he still pushed in all his chips.

The others covered their cards and withdrew. Tens of millions was no small amount for anyone. Seeing no one else betting, the waiter asked the three still in the game to reveal their hole cards. Many people gathered around. The chips on the table covered the entire surface, totaling several tens of millions. Dong Xinlei and Nie Tianxing also broke into sweat—they didn’t know Xie Wendong’s hole cards either, as he hadn’t looked at them at all. Xie Wendong showed no signs of nervousness. Slowly but steadily, he lifted his hole cards under everyone’s gazes. When they were revealed, gasps of surprise filled the air—his hole cards, combined with his face-up cards, indeed formed a straight flush.

Everyone knew how rare a straight flush was in Texas Hold’em, and they marveled at Xie Wendong’s incredible luck. At that moment, Xiang Tiansao appeared out of nowhere, smiling broadly. “Brother Xie’s luck is truly enviable!”