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"You'll know when the time comes..."

However, Qin Fang did not directly reveal the answer to Wen Yan, but instead, he smiled mysteriously, as if there really was some significant secret involved.

Yet, such a response only made the others even more curious, each of them pondering what exactly Qin Fang was hiding up his sleeve.

But since Qin Fang wasn't willing to spill the beans, they didn't press him further, instead settling down quietly to wait for the show to begin.

The group had a simple meal and then went back to their rooms to rest. It was snowing heavily outside and the temperature wasn't very high. The few girls who had just come out of the mountains were not well acclimatized and felt slightly better staying in their rooms.

Wen Yan, having nothing else to do, followed Qin Fang out for a walk to take in the nighttime snowscape and by the way, headed to the car repair shop.

During this short while, Qin Fang's two tires had already been repaired. As for the vehicle inspection, it was nothing more than a perfunctory glance.

The Fatty boss had a rather dark heart and employed some underhanded tricks, focusing more on duping drivers passing by than actually making money from the shop.

The bunch gathered to gamble could only handle simple tasks like tire repairs; to expect them to fix cars would be utterly ridiculous.

Of course, gathering so many people here served the purpose of swindling more effectively; otherwise, given Fatty's corpulent figure, any slightly aggressive driver could have sorted him out on the spot, but with the crowd's overwhelming numbers and being locals, anyone daring to cause trouble would be swarmed, leaving ordinary folks unable to withstand it.

With the heavy snow outside and night falling, nearby vehicles hesitated to travel down the snow-covered country roads, leaving Fatty's place idle, where a bunch of people was gathered gambling away.

Amidst the snowfall, everyone was shouting and smoking, some even holding bottles of liquor, their spirits evidently high...

Those winning money were cheerful with faces glowing, while those losing were red-faced and scratching their heads in agitation, spinning around anxiously.

Qin Fang at this time had arrived with Wen Yan, already aware of the situation, and despite the unpleasant smell inside the room, Wen Yan still followed Qin Fang in.

"Yo, boss, you need something?"

The Fatty boss's eyes were quite sharp; as soon as Qin Fang entered, he had noticed and scurried over to inquire.

"Nothing much, just felt like taking a walk... What are you playing?"

Qin Fang smiled casually, but the moment he saw the people gambling, a glint appeared in his eyes, and he seemed eager to give it a try.

"Well, with the snow outside, there's no business, so we all gathered to play some cards, just passing the time..."

Fatty's discerning eyes caught Qin Fang's interest without a word said; with a quick roll of his eyes, he seemed to be getting an idea.

"Just playing some poker, mahjong, that kind of thing... If you're interested, boss, I can find you some fellow players, how about it?"

Gambling enthusiasts worldwide all share the same itch when they see others playing; their hands inevitably long for the game, even in the presence of complete strangers.

These kinds of scenarios are generally risky—without familiar faces, it's hard to guarantee fair play; if the company is in cahoots or cheating, one could end up losing badly.

"Just so happens I'm free, I'll play a few rounds... Let's keep it to a small game of mahjong!"

Qin Fang nodded, almost impatiently, evidently very keen.

"Alright, no problem, I'll find you some players... Little Four, Er Niu, The Fifth, come over here, join this boss for a little game of mahjong!"

Fatty's expression didn't change, but a flicker of surprise passed through his eyes. Nevertheless, he quickly agreed and called over three people to join Qin Fang at the mahjong table.

Four people at the table, Qin Fang and the other three seemed well-practiced at mahjong. Yet Qin Fang was unfazed, sitting calmly while Wen Yan also sat down beside Qin Fang with a smile. The game then began...

Though Qin Fang was not a local, after the Fatty boss briefly explained the local mahjong rules, Qin Fang nodded in agreement. They were similar to those in Ninghai—allowing chows and pungs... The point counts were almost like the national standard, and while Qin Fang wasn't entirely clear on them, he roughly understood those would be high-scoring hands.

There were some differences, though...

"Boss, just to remind you, if you keep winning, the points double with each consecutive round... You better be careful!"

Fatty warmly offered a reminder, to which Qin Fang merely smiled indifferently.

These rules were indeed different from other places. The points for a winning dealer were already higher than for non-dealers, and with consecutive wins doubling the points, the stakes could quickly become enormous.

Especially given Qin Fang's situation, with the other three players being Fatty's men, them ganging up on him alone was greatly disadvantageous, not to mention the likelihood of them cheating against him.

"No problem, let's start..."

Qin Fang smiled and the four of them commenced the game.

A hundred bucks a fan, which is considered quite high stakes even locally for Fatty and his folks, factoring in that Qin Fang seems to carry himself with quite a substantial fortune.

After all, if you get stuck with the wrong tiles in Mahjong, easily racking up a few hundred fans is nothing unusual, which would equate to tens of thousands of dollars. And if you add in the doubling effect of consecutive wins as banker, the stakes become considerably high.

Qin Fang looks like a profligate spender who isn't short on cash, casually throwing wads of money around; naturally, Fatty isn't worried about Qin Fang running out of money. Letting such a prey slip through would be a real pity.

As for them worrying about losing themselves…

When Fatty thinks of this, he can't help but chuckle. Local Mahjong, local rules, three old card buddies who work in perfect synchrony, combined with his own scheming on the side - if they still lose with such a setup, they might as well knock themselves out with a block of tofu…

The more he thinks this way, the less worried Fatty gets. If you want to make more money, then the scale and level of the game needs to be elevated.

Rolling the dice, the person to the right of Qin Fang starts as the banker, meaning Qin Fang would have to wait until the other three had each taken a turn being banker before it could be his turn - a rather disadvantageous start for Qin Fang.

The Mahjong game begins.

Qin Fang's starting hand is terrible, the kind that makes 2, 5, and 8 tiles unreliable allies. Compiling a winning hand from such tiles is exceedingly tough. Fatty, the boss, watching from behind, feels his brows and eyes brimming with delight.

As long as Qin Fang's hand is poor, the other three players will have ample time to build their hands, especially the current banker.

If they want to win big, then the idea is that the first three bankers win a hefty sum before Qin Fang even gets to bank…

When it comes to Qin Fang's turn as the banker, the three other players can just exchange tiles among themselves. A simple win, 'Pihu', could entirely disrupt Qin Fang's chance to bank consecutively. No one is worried about Qin Fang winning.

The card game starts, from the banker, one tile after another is played, and it soon reaches Qin Fang.

"South Wind..."

Qin Fang discards a tile nonchalantly.

"Pong!"

The banker is about to draw a tile, but the player to his right immediately calls out, freezing his hand mid-motion. But that's all right, after all, it's quite reasonable for the next player to call for a pong.

"Three of characters..."

Around the table, and it's Qin Fang's turn again. Another casual discard.

"Pong!"

The banker's face lights up, wanting to claim the tile, but the player across him calls for a pong again… The look exchanged makes his face sour, but he doesn't say anything, and the game continues.

"Eight of bamboos..."

Qin Fang draws and discards another tile...

"Pong!"

The banker's run of bad luck continues, someone else claims a pong again.

Qin Fang has discarded three tiles, and the banker hasn't even drawn once, let alone formed any sets. Barely different from his starting hand and still far from ready, you can imagine how ugly his expression is.

"Five of dots..."

The game goes on, and once again, it's Qin Fang's turn. He casually throws out another useless joker.

The banker takes a look, not his preference, so he naturally doesn't need it.

But the expression on the face of the player on his right is somewhat depressed. Glancing at his own hand, then at the banker's face, and finally casting a glance at Fatty standing behind Qin Fang.

"Hu! Pong Hu... totaling eight fans."

Fatty the boss looks a bit depressed too. He has been watching Qin Fang's hand from start to finish, and not a single tile was discarded in error, yet the banker can't get the tiles he needs. Instead, Qin Fang's across and adjacent players are getting what they need.

Now that the across player decides to claim a win, he naturally cannot object. The game has only just begun; there's no real need to keep the banker winning consecutively. After all, since the three players are in cahoots, whoever wins still counts as a win - it's just missing the extra money from consecutive banking…

Qin Fang costs himself a game, losing eight fans, which isn't much. Wen Yan takes out Qin Fang's personal bag, pulls out a stack of cash, and casually hands eight bills to the across player.

Seeing these red banknotes with Mao's face on them instantly invigorates the group. All three players exchange glances, signaling that they need to be more in sync next time and to avoid such slip-ups...

Right now, to them, Qin Fang is like an immensely fat sheep, already laid out on the chopping block, waiting for the three of them to join in the butchering.

Although they're earning dirty money, opportunities to fleece someone like Qin Fang don't come along often. Especially with money so easily and pleasantly earned, it instantly lifts their spirits, dampened by the lack of income due to the heavy snow… (To be continued. If you like this work, feel free to head over to Qidian (qidian.com) to cast your votes and monthly tickets. Your support is my biggest motivation.)

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