Chapter Forty-Six: The True Distinguished Guest

If it were just Chen Wenqing and his lot, Qin Mu couldn’t even be bothered to pay them any mind. People with weak convictions, who so easily fall into gambling traps, would hardly accomplish anything significant even if they walked out of here. But now that the matter involved Lin Peipei, he had no choice but to step in.

Nothing in this world is more important than the birthday star.

“Win it back? Ha, now that’s amusing!”

“Alright, but you can only borrow using their cards. You must use the money you borrow to win, and then repay their debts, lest you think of shirking your responsibility,” the scar-faced man said with a laugh.

No matter how he looked at it, Qin Mu seemed like a fool trying to play the hero to save a damsel in distress. He’d seen plenty of such simpletons over the past decade.

“How much do they owe?” Qin Mu asked.

“Eight hundred thousand,” the scar-faced man replied, calculating the sum and handing the bill to Qin Mu. If they borrowed a little more, the debt would easily surpass a million. By then, the cut for the casino would be even greater.

“You can’t borrow more! There’s definitely something wrong with this game,” Lin Peipei said, grasping Qin Mu’s hand. The trick was obvious—the other side wanted them to borrow more and more.

“Little girl, you can talk nonsense at the dinner table, but not here. Did you see anyone at our table cheating?” someone sneered.

In the world of gambling, as long as you couldn’t see the deceit, it didn’t count as cheating.

“It’s alright, just a few little tricks. I can win,” Qin Mu said, smiling at Lin Peipei before turning to the others. Since the rule was he couldn’t use his own money, he’d have to get it from them.

“Don’t look at me, I have no money to lend you,” Chen Wenqing was the first to turn his head away. He was already in deep debt and hadn’t figured out how to pay it back himself, so how could he possibly lend Qin Mu more?

“I’m broke too.”

“No money...”

Everyone avoided Qin Mu’s gaze one after another.

Just as the scar-faced man began to laugh, thinking Qin Mu was about to lose face—

“I’ll lend it!” Lin Peipei declared firmly, pulling out her card and handing it to Qin Mu.

“Peipei, don’t be foolish now!” Sun Ling cried out. Lin Peipei had been the smart one earlier, not borrowing to gamble, and had left herself a way out. If she lent money to Qin Mu now, it would be like throwing it into the sea.

“I’m not being foolish,” Lin Peipei replied. Since Qin Mu said he could win, she believed him without question.

“Good, the two of you have backbone. The rest are just cowards. So, how much do you want—fifty or a hundred thousand?” the scar-faced man asked, lighting a cigarette.

Qin Mu smiled, ruffled Lin Peipei’s hair, pinched the credit card between his slender fingers, and looked at the scar-faced man. “One million.”

The words exploded in the room.

“Are you crazy?”

“You’ll ruin Peipei!”

They already owed eight hundred thousand, and now Qin Mu wanted to borrow another million? Was he trying to destroy them?

“Alright, one million it is!” the scar-faced man laughed, snuffed out his cigarette, took the card, and sent someone to fetch the chips.

“It’s over, nearly two million in debt. How are we going to pay that back?” the others despaired. Their families were well-off, but scraping together that much cash in a hurry was impossible.

When the chips were brought up, eight hundred thousand in colorful chips formed a towering mound like a small mountain.

“What game do you want to play? Poker? Mahjong?” the scar-faced man asked.

“No need for anything so complicated. Let’s keep it simple—high or low,” Qin Mu replied with a wave of his hand.

The scar-faced man immediately signaled the croupier to prepare the dice. He glanced at Qin Mu, already inwardly rejoicing. This young man looked calm and clever, but clearly, he was just another fool.

The croupiers they employed here had decades of experience; they could roll whatever numbers they wished. Not to mention, each dice cup had a hidden mechanism—if anything went amiss, with a flick they could change the outcome from high to low or vice versa.

How could Qin Mu hope to win under such conditions?

“Low,” Qin Mu said, just as the scar-faced man was pondering.

Chen Wenqing, seeing this, stomped his feet in frustration. This exposed Qin Mu as a complete novice—the bettor should never call first in this game. The other side would simply control the dice to the opposite result and win without effort.

Even the croupier couldn’t help but smile, rolling the dice cup a few times before slamming it on the table.

Qin Mu’s hand moved ever so slightly, sending an undetectable vibration into the cup.

“Open it!”

The dice inside showed a single dot—the lowest possible.

“Low!”

At this, Chen Wenqing, the scar-faced man, and all the rest rushed over, staring in disbelief at the result on the table.

How could this be?

The scar-faced man shot a look at the croupier, who returned his gaze equally baffled. He had intentionally controlled the dice to a high number, double-checked before revealing. Yet, it was a mysterious “one.”

“Seems you have some tricks of your own,” the scar-faced man said through gritted teeth. Still keeping to the rules, he immediately ordered the chips packed into two bags.

“Alright, you’ve won back the debt. Let’s settle up and get out of here,” Chen Wenqing said, eager to leave as soon as possible.

But before he could take a step, Qin Mu tossed the chips back onto the table.

“Not so fast. I’m not done yet.”

“You’re not done?” Chen Wenqing exclaimed.

“We’ve got our money back—why not leave?” Sun Ling felt as though Qin Mu had just had a stroke of dumb luck. Now was the time to escape, to thank the heavens. Yet Qin Mu wanted to continue—what was he thinking?

Qin Mu ignored them and turned to the scar-faced man. “I overheard that most of your waitresses here are being held as collateral for gambling debts?”

He was referring to the girls in bunny outfits. Like Lin Peipei, many of them had fallen victim to traps, forced to sign away their freedom and work here in humiliating costumes to attract customers.

“That’s right. Why do you ask?” the scar-faced man responded, stroking his stubbly chin.

“I’ll keep gambling with you. If I win, the chips go to paying off their debts.”

Qin Mu’s words stunned the entire room.

“What?!”

“You’re truly insane!” The others shouted, unable to comprehend his actions.

“Their fate has nothing to do with you! Why should you use our money to gamble? If you want to die, do it yourself! Don’t drag us down!” Chen Wenqing stood beside Qin Mu, yelling furiously.

Qin Mu grabbed one of the bags of chips and hurled it at Chen Wenqing.

“Get out.”

Chen Wenqing was dumbfounded, sitting on the floor for a long while before he could react.

They had lost their money to the casino—the chips on the table were half Lin Peipei’s loan, half Qin Mu’s winnings. What money of theirs was there?

“The remaining chips, transfer them back to her card. I’ll use my own.”

“No need. I trust you, Brother Qin,” Lin Peipei interrupted before Qin Mu could finish. Her heart ached for the girls as well. Who knew how many of them were here because their families gambled and, unable to pay, pawned their daughters instead?

“You want to gamble for them, to pay off their debts?”

“You’re a brave young man. I admire your courage.”

“But do you know how much, in total, they owe us?”