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墨書 Inktalez
"Do you like playing this too? I didn't expect you to be such a pro; even the amateurs wouldn't dare to play this," Li Li said awkwardly.
In Chen Rui's mind, who doesn't know how to play Blackjack? Newbies usually start with this game, right?
"I'm just that reckless newbie," Chen Rui replied with a smile. He glanced at the table, noting that the minimum bet was ten dollars and the maximum was one thousand. If there was only one player, the dealer would also join in, but if there were two players, the dealer would not continue playing and would only take a cut.
Currently, there were four people at the table. The dealer was only responsible for dealing cards, while all players acted as participants.
Typically, 1-8 decks of cards are used. The dealer dealt two cards to each player: one face up (known as the "upcard") and one face down (the "hole card"). The dealer also received two cards—one hole card and one upcard. The point calculation for the cards was as follows: Kings, Queens, Jacks, and Aces count as 1 point. The game is played with 2 to 6 players using five cards excluding jokers. The goal is to keep the total points of your hand under 21 while aiming for the highest total possible.
The rules are quite simple and often appear in various gambling-themed films and shows, so most people are familiar with this game.
Each player's starting amount is at least ten dollars. After the first round of looking at their cards, they can raise their bets. Once a standard is set, they can continue to hit or stand; anyone who does not continue betting is considered to have folded. The maximum bet at this table is one thousand dollars, and with four players present, any winner stands to gain a three-hundred percent profit. This is why many people become addicted to gambling; money comes too easily!
After everyone placed their ten-dollar bets, the dealer dealt each player one upcard and one hole card.
Chen Rui's upcard was a 7, while his Ace could count as either 1 or 11 points. Counting it as 11 brought him close to 21, but due to the Ace's unique nature, Chen Rui decided to take another risk.
To his right sat a hefty white player whose upcard was a King; next to him was a Black player with an upcard of 5; and on the far right was Li Li with an Ace as his upcard. Since Li Li was the dealer for this round, only he could freely hit after placing his bets.
The dealer used two decks of cards—104 cards in total—making it nearly impossible to calculate probabilities accurately; thus, the chance of drawing any specific card was below ten percent.
Without hesitation, all four players raised their bets to five hundred dollars. Chen Rui chose to hit again and received a King. Now he had no choice but to count his Ace as 1 point; he totaled 19 points now. Hitting again would likely lead him to bust, so he opted to stand.
Next up was the hefty player who rubbed his hands together thoughtfully before nodding. The dealer revealed his next card: an 8. The hefty player cursed under his breath before leaving the table.
The Black man glanced at the fat guy and smiled at the Dealer, saying, "Thank you." The Dealer chuckled and slid a Jack over to him. After pondering for a moment, the Black man nodded again. The Dealer then revealed another card, a 6, and slid it to the Black man.
With a sigh, the Black man realized that with a visible Jack, 6, and 5, he had already busted regardless of what his hidden card was. Slowly, he flipped over his hidden card—a single Ace—just shy of a blackjack. He looked at the Dealer and then at Chen Rui and Li Li beside him, suddenly realizing something. With a bitter smile, he spoke in slightly awkward Chinese, "You three Chinese people, I’m not playing with you anymore."
He left his seat, leaving only Chen Rui and Li Li behind.
Chen Rui revealed his hidden card, totaling 18 points.
Li Li also showed his hidden card—a 4—bringing his total to 15 points. Fortunately for him, the Dealer could continue drawing cards after the players; he either needed to beat the player’s total or risk busting.
The Dealer flipped over another card—a 5—and slid it to Li Li. Instantly, Li Li's total rose, causing Chen Rui to lose.
Chen Rui looked at the Dealer's name tag, where three golden Chinese characters were embossed on a red plaque. He smiled faintly.
"Sister-in-law, technically we’re family; it shouldn’t matter who wins. Why do you favor Brother Li so much? Are you willing to cheat for him?" Chen Rui asked with a grin.
Upon hearing Chen Rui's words, the Dealer visibly trembled slightly before responding in standard American English, "Sir, please speak in English. Thank you."
"There's no need to pretend; your name tag has betrayed you," Chen Rui said as he winked at Li Li with a laugh.
Behind Chen Rui, Li Xue raised an eyebrow at her brother's lack of loyalty and instinctively reached forward to pinch him.
"Ah..." Chen Rui yelped in pain. "Easy there! It’s your brother, not me! Why are you pinching me?"
"Who is this?" The Dealer finally spoke in Chinese, but her pronunciation was far from fluent, and her accent was noticeably off.
Li Li smiled. "She's my friend. Just don't make any sudden moves in front of him; his eyes are like an eagle's. Very sharp!"
Hearing this, the Dealer's face flushed slightly as she bowed apologetically to Chen Rui. "I'm really sorry, I didn't know your identity."
Chen Rui laughed heartily. "It's fine. Even if what my sister-in-law does is against humanity, I won't oppose it—after all, you're my sister-in-law."
Chen Rui's words made the Dealer blush even more, and she shyly said, "Then please don't let anyone know about what I've done, or else..."
Chen Rui suddenly realized he had made a serious mistake. Typically, a casino Dealer wouldn't cheat; after all, they only earn a commission and don't have much stake in who wins or loses. However, some Dealers might collude with certain gamblers to make a little extra money—I'll help you cheat, and you give me a cut.
But such dealings usually happen behind closed doors, and the casino tends to turn a blind eye unless a gambler catches them in the act. If that happens, the consequences can be dire.
Fortunately, there were only the four of them at the table earlier; there were no outsiders around, so it wasn't a big deal.
"Ah, I'm sorry, I'm sorry! It was my oversight." Although nothing serious had happened, he still felt the need to apologize for startling her.
"Hey bro, it's been so long and you haven't introduced us yet," Li Xue said, clenching her fists and cracking her knuckles.
Li Li sighed with a wry smile. "This is Liu Qingqing; she's my friend."
"Wow, bro, you really have a lot of friends! There's one here, another there... and they're all female friends. Are you planning to drop the 'female' part from 'female friend' soon?" Li Xue complained. She had watched her brother go from meeting Bai Qingyu to falling in love with her, and even though they were now apart, they still missed each other deeply.
Seeing a woman so close to her brother suddenly made her unhappy, for in her heart, Bai Qingyu was already an irreplaceable sister-in-law.
Chen Rui chuckled, "Brother Li, you really have a lot on your mind; you can't even remember her name. I see that her name tag doesn't say those three characters."
Chen Rui's words earned him an eye roll from Li Li. "How could I forget? I can remember everything! My memory is excellent, right, sister?"
Li Xue huffed and chose to ignore him.
The Dealer covered her mouth and laughed lightly. "You can't blame Mr. Li; I changed my name. They always call me by my English name here, so I decided to be a bit willful. Now I go by Qingkuang, Liu Qingkuang."
Li Xue couldn't help but laugh and teased, "Qingkuang? What kind of girl has a name like that?"
Liu Qingkuang realized she misunderstood and smiled as she explained, "It's 'Qing' as in fresh, not 'Qing' as in light or airy. They sound the same, and the latter is more common, so people often mix them up without looking at the characters."
Qingkuang? What does that mean in Chinese again? Why did she suddenly forget? This is ridiculous.
Chen Rui sighed and tapped his forehead, feeling frustrated for losing focus at such a crucial moment.
Li Li looked at Liu Qingkuang with a wry smile and slowly shook his head. "Why bother?"
Liu Qingkuang smiled faintly. "I like it; I'm happy with it; I'm willing to do this."
After glancing at Liu Qingkuang, Li Xue didn't say anything more but felt uneasy inside. "Even if it's Qingkuang, it doesn't really suit a girl's name. Even if others don't call you by your Chinese name, at least we should—at least the person you care about should call you by your real name. You should change it back."
The longing was futile, yet the melancholy felt like a clear madness. Chen Rui finally remembered that the girl's name represented her love for Li Li. Even though she knew deep down that this love was wrong and would lead nowhere, she still couldn't help but be deeply in love with him.
To put it simply, her name meant: I love you, what does it matter to you?
To be able to love someone like this, regardless of the circumstances, at least this love was sincere and worth remembering.
Li Li smiled and said, "I’m going to the restroom; you all have fun," before leaving his seat.
Chen Rui sensed something was amiss and quickly leaned in to whisper in Li Xue's ear, "I'll follow him; you stay and chat with Sister Liu. She doesn't seem to be in a good mood either."
Though somewhat reluctant, Li Xue nodded obediently, agreeing to Chen Rui's request.
Chen Rui smiled and said, "You're really good," before hurrying after Li Li.
"In your eyes, I’m just a good child," Li Xue murmured softly, taking a deep breath as she smiled at Liu Qingkuang.
Chen Rui found Li Li at the sink in the restroom. This was a side of Li Li he had never seen before—her eyes were red, tears threatening to spill over. Chen Rui felt an urge to take out his phone and capture this moment as leverage for future negotiations.
Reason kicked in for Chen Rui. At that moment, Li Li was still struggling in pain. He slowly approached Li Li and gently placed his hand on his shoulder.
"Do you know? I've never hated my own sentimentality as much as I do now," Li Li cried out loudly.
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