Chapter 151 – The Auspicious Casino (2/2)

However, the expressions of the gamblers would often end in anger and sorrow. Only Shi Jixiang1 remained in pleasure and joy. He was the boss of this Auspicious casino. He held two large, golden spheres in his hands as he constantly looked around. His chubby face seemed like a smiling buddha’s, always plastered with a smile. When he looked down from the second floor of the casino, there would be benevolence in his eyes as well. What a group of idiots!

Two large men carried up another man as he struggled. “Boss, we’ve caught him.”

The man knelt on the ground and wept. “Boss Shi, great hero Shi, grandfather Shi, please, I beg you. I’ll give my mines, my property. I’ll give it all to you. Please show some benevolence and spare my family!”

“If I spare you, who’ll spare me?”

“Then, could you please extend the loan. I will definitely gather all the money for you.”

Shi Jixiang said, “If you are in debt, you gotta pay it. That’s how the world works. Even your wife and daughter are busying themselves in the joyhouse. You’re a man, so how can you just loaf around? Why don’t you get into the mines and put some back into your work?!”

“Y- you actually…”

Shi Jixiang sighed helplessly. “People can die, but debts can’t. If you vanish, what am I supposed to do?”

“Shi Jixiang you son of a bitch! The dice were rigged… you cheated me… Even if I die, I’ll never spare you!” The man suddenly lost control of his emotions. He owed this usury a snowballing debt. He would never be able to pay it back in his lifetime. The only fate waiting for him was dying in the pitch-black depths of the mines.

However, before he was even done, he was knocked out by a slap from a large man beside him.

However, Shi Jixiang lost his temper at the man. “Why did you hit him with so much force? What if you end up killing him? Are you supposed to replace him in the mines for me? Tsk tsk, look, what a pitiful person. I can’t fall asleep whenever I see someone as pitiful as him, so don’t let me see him again.”

The burly man obliged and carried the man out.

Only then did Shi Jixiang recover his smile. He liked to gamble a lot, and he knew how to gamble very well. With his gambling techniques, he had brought ruin to several mine owners already. He had already become the largest mine owner in all of Silver Mountain town. As for the mine owners who did not gamble, he had plenty of ways to deal with him, as not only was he good at gambling, but he also possessed first-rate martial arts. He could spend tremendous sums of money to gather a group of good men who could both fight and oppress.

With those two things, he would become the only mine owner in all of Silver Mountain town, and he would continue smiling like that.

“It’s right here!”

Outside the main entrance, a young man held a piece of paper and confirmed the two words on the plaque above the entrance to be ‘Auspicious casino’. Afterwards, he strode in.

The guards at the entrance studied him and welcomed him with smiles. They did not try to stop him at all. Only once the young man had entered did they discuss with smiles, “Not a bad stature.” “Heh, he probably could do a year or two in the mines.”

Li Qingshan liked to eat and drink, and with his rather unsuccessful experiences of having women attend to him while dining, he had basically tried prostitutes already. However, this really was his first time gambling.2 He found novelty in everything, so he constantly looked around. He arrived before a gambling table. They were playing an extremely simple game of Big or Small3. As a result, he just casually tossed in one thousand taels of silver notes, betting it all on big.

This surprised the gamblers, but they had seen larger bets before. As a result, they just dismissed him as some ignorant young master who had managed to escape from his clan.

“The bets have been cast! Roll!” And just as expected, it was big.

Li Qingshan accepted his silver cheerfully before betting it all on big again.

A while later, the ruckus in the surroundings gradually vanished. The gamblers’ mouths all hung agape with mixed expressions as they looked at the small hill of silver notes and silver pieces in front of Li Qingshan. He had already won sixteen rounds consecutively. The dealer had been changed twice as well, but that was not enough to stop his winning streak. He threw all of that into a bet once again.

In the beginning, there were still some gamblers who gambled with him and managed to win some money, but now, there was no longer anyone bold enough to gamble the same as him.

A boy servant arrived beside Li Qingshan. “Brother, our boss has invited you to the second floor for a talk.”

Li Qingshan glanced upstairs and said loudly, “If you want to talk, then get down here and talk. What, you’re afraid of people winning against you while you run a casino?” He slammed the marble table and left behind a faint print on the thick, heavy stone.

Shi Jixiang finally could not smile any longer. Afterwards, he issued orders, Clear the casino and gather the people. A tough one has come this time, a second-rate master at the very least. He seems like he has come to make trouble. He can’t just be appeased with money.

Li Qingshan lowered his head and his lips curled into a smile. It would be for the best if you cleared the casino, and the more people the better. If you can gather a thousand people, I’ll burn some incense on your grave, if you have a grave that is.

1. Shi Jixiang’s given name, so Jixiang or 吉祥, can mean auspicious. This also means that the casino can be called the Auspicious casino, which is a name you would give to a casino considering the aspect of luck and good fortune, but the casino can also be called Jixiang’s casino. Moreover, there’s a Hong Kong movie from 1972 called The Casino, which shares the same chinese name as the name of the casino.

2. If you’re wondering why eating, drinking, visiting prostitutes, and gambling are listed together, there’s a Chinese idiom that basically describes the four activities. Basically, they go hand-in-hand for indulging in worldly pleasures. Li Qingshan wants to try them all.