Chapter 28 Gambled to death on the Pirate Ship (1/2)

Chapter 28 Gambled to death on the Pirate Ship

“Didn’t Ma Liu lose the bet?” I just couldn’t understand what Liu the Sixth said.

He only had a nine and a four. How could he win when the others all had “hammer” cards?

Liu the Sixth said, “At the time... Ma Liu didn’t get a nine four, but a nine five. On a five-point card, there were 2 points at the bottom and 3 points at the top; Ma Liu only saw the two bottom points at first, but when he glimpsed the top of the card, he missed the third point, so he just thought it was a nine four.”

Actually, it was a nine five.

In the rules of Jiu Wu Hou, nine-five was the king, the best pair.

Ma Liu hanged himself because he was nervous and thought he got the worst cards, while actually he got the best cards.

For this reason... Ma Liu had become an evil soul.

I felt pity for Ma Liu after hearing his story-he lost so much, but hanged himself just when he was about to win big.

“Well, it’s destiny.”Liu the Sixth gave me a bamboo jar and said: “Ma Liu’s evil soul... cost three thousand and five hundred. It was not easy to get it.”

I thought it was a little expensive, so I bargained.

I couldn’t earn anything on the business with Niu Xiao’er anyway, so it killed me when I got such an expensive soul.

Liu the Sixth held a cigarette and said: “You shouldn’t bargain on a soul... You have to know who is in charge of them. It is just the King of Hell, and you are bargaining with him while you are bargaining here.”

I could tellLiu the Sixth was talkative, so I quit and told him: “OK, it’s a deal... You are a sweet talker.”

“You should be a facile speaker when you want to do business, right?” Liu the Sixth teased.

I opened the red packet of ten thousand Yuan from Mr. Zhang and counted thirty five one hundred Yuan notes for him, and then I took the bamboo tube to the tattoo studio.

I got the evil soul from the tube and carefully colored the tattoo on Niu Xiao’er’s back.

Now the “ghost hands catching the money” was finally finished.

I told Niu Xiao’er: “I finished the ghost like you wanted... Now you can go.”

“Really?” When Niu Xiao’er heard that it was finished, he got very happy and turned around several times in front of the mirror. Then he put on his clothes and went out of my studio.

He didn’t even say thanks before he went away.

...

Early in the next morning, I went to the bank to transfer money to my mother.

Niu Xiao’er didn’t pay me any money... Oh, I forgot. He did give... one hundred Yuan.

He didn’t give me so much money, but Mr. Zhang did. The red packet of ten thousand Yuan and the twenty thousand for the tattoo, minus the three thousand and five hundred paid to Liu the Sixth as well as the other two thousand that I owed him for last time, left me with about twenty thousand Yuan.

After I finished transferring the money to my younger brother’s account, I called my mother and told her to check the balance.

My mother felt suspicious when she heard I got another twenty thousand, and she whispered: “Shui, how did you get so much money? Did you break the law and do something bad? Mom’s life is just like this, you shouldn’t be sent to jail for me; your life will be over. You are just so young.”

“Mum, it’s not like that. I’ve always been so honest, so how can I break the law? Don’t worry, it’s what I should get.” After comforting her, I just hung up.

I still needed more than seven hundred thousand Yuan for my mother’s operation, which required eight hundred thousand. Now I could earn much faster. I was confident enough that I could get enough money to have the operation to change my mother’s kidney within thirty days.

After the transfer, I rode my bike back to my studio.

In the morning there wasn’t much business. I tidied the room and kept it clean and neat, so that my customers would also enjoy this environment.

I spent more than two hours cleaning everything from top to bottom, until everything seemed very bright and clean. After that, I carefully lay on the tattoo couch.

I was about to fall asleep when a shining man came in.

He called to me warmly: “Shui, just look at me. How cool are my new things here?”

I stood up, looking at him carefully. Wow... it was Niu Xiao’er.

Niu Xiao’er changed up his style with new clothes. He wore a Carthew belt and a big gold chain as thick as a thumb, a gold watch on his right hand, and two heavy gold rings on his fingers. He looked like a gang boss.

Niu Xiao’er sat in front of me and said: “Shui, your Yin embroidery is very strong... Damn, last night l got so powerful I beat them all. You just guess how much I won... Six million... I won six million overnight.”

Spittle flew as he spoke.

I was listening to his story about last night, but felt bored.

Niu Xiao’er was very arrogant. He was making comments everywhere and even pointed at my studio: “It is such a poor studio... So poor, how much can you earn? Come on, come with me to earn more; I am sure you could be as rich as me within one day.”

I didn’t want to speak to him. I would never go gambling.

My master had always told me, when I was a tattooist of Yin and Yang Tattoos, I should never earn money through them by myself... or else, I would suffer retribution.

So I would never do it, even though I could quickly become a rich man.