Chapter 2 Chapter 1 The Gambling Wunderkind

An old granite road divides the town into east and west halves. The shops on the street are scattered, and small flags with various font sizes are written intermittently in the gust of wind.There were not many people walking on the Mashi Road, but most of them were farmers in ragged clothes. Occasionally, there were merchants in silk and satin, which immediately attracted the attention of the shops on the two streets. Most of these gazes were to guess where the merchants came from. , How much is the net worth. ——This is Jiangmen, Guangdong in 1906. Among the jagged buildings on Mashi Street in Jiangmen, there is a small two-story brick house with housing upstairs and a ceramics shop downstairs.It can be seen from the decoration of the shop and the clothes of the shopkeeper that this is a local upper-middle-class family.

The shopkeeper's surname is Ye, in his 30s, his wife was pregnant the winter before, and now it is the expected date of delivery. This ceramic shop has been managed by shopkeeper Ye painstakingly for many years. Of course, he hopes that his wife can give birth to a son and inherit the family business. On July 10, 1906, a loud cry of a baby boy came from the second floor of Ye Kee Ceramics Shop. At this time, there was a burst of firecrackers on the street, and then someone shouted: "Open! Open! Go and see!" No need to look, shopkeeper Ye knew that it was another lottery draw in Jiangmen Town, he hurried upstairs while all the customers were watching the lottery draw, and when the midwife showed his son to him, he burst into tears in an instant. The joy dissipated immediately—this is a son, but his appearance...big head, big eyes, protruding cheekbones, especially the two ears are exaggerated, and the area is almost larger than the left and right sides of the face...

Shopkeeper Ye excused that the shop was unattended, hurriedly returned his son to the midwife, and went downstairs.Since then, there has been a lingering shadow in my heart. Afterwards, shopkeeper Ye didn't look for the fortune-teller either. He knew that his son's face was unlucky, and worried that the fortune-teller would say even more unlucky words. On the day of the "Three Dynasties", the elders took a lot of toys and put them on a plate for the baby to grasp, and intentionally placed pens, inkstones, books, and ink pads on top. Who would have thought that this little guy would find a dice from the bottom of the plate alone.

Reminiscent of the opening of a gambling hall in the town on the day he was born, shopkeeper Ye shook his head and sighed, "This little beast will grow up to be a gambler!" According to the rules, newborns will be named after completing the "Three Dynasties". Shopkeeper Ye said: "Let him be called Ye Han. I only hope that he can grow into a man. I dare not have big expectations." When they were young, shopkeeper Ye and his wife were somewhat lax with Ye Han's discipline out of complicated feelings. At that time, the Republic of China was established, and the social situation was chaotic.Guangdong was first controlled by Hu Hanmin and Chen Jiongming, and then was occupied by foreign warlords for a long time.

These foreign warlords coveted the wealth of Guangdong, and gambled and sold cigarettes wantonly to amass wealth, especially gambling, which had never been banned before, became more and more popular and flooded. In Jiangmen Town, there are many gambling halls and stalls. The news I hear every day is how much a certain poor man has won at once.As for most of the losers, this is often overlooked. Counting on gambling to get rich has almost become the wish of many people. In such an environment, it is very difficult to be able to sit still, but shopkeeper Ye is such a person, he believes that gambling can not make a fortune, "ten bets and nine loses" is an eternal truth .

However, his son Ye Han has an innate love for gambling.When he was still naked, he could stand in front of the gambling booth for a long time, until his parents came to find him and dragged him, and then he left without turning his head. When he was about six or seven years old, Ye Han was studying at the "Juejue School" in the town.This school is very famous in the local area and has a strict school spirit, but it still can't resist the intrusion of gambling. There are various gambling stalls under the ancient lychee tree at the school gate.Because there is a pottery shop at home, his mother often gives him some small change, which Ye Han never uses to buy snacks, and is always used as gambling capital.

With the growing addiction to gambling, Ye Han is no longer satisfied with the small things at the gambling stalls in front of the school, and often goes to the big gambling halls in the town. At that time, the most famous gambling house in Jiangmen Town was called "Dabao", where a large group of gamblers of all kinds often gathered, and the business was very prosperous. Tan Tong, the "dealer" of the Dabao Casino, is said to be an expert in gambling and thaumaturgy. He can control 100% of the points of the dice by rolling the dice. Generally, all gamblers who enter Dabao will return without losing everything.For gamblers, the more they lose, the more unconvinced they become.As soon as Tan Tong's fame spread, gambling masters from all over the world flocked to him, wanting to see who he is.

Over the past few years, all the gamblers who came here from Foshan, Shenzhen, Zhuhai, and Guangzhou with huge sums of money were defeated by Tan Tong without exception. Anyone who is proficient in gambling knows that no matter how clever a gambler is, he is just playing tricks on the gambling table.What makes Tan Tong extraordinary is that he dared to publicly admit that he was playing tricks on the gambling table, but no one could see through. In Jiangmen Town, there are various magical legends about Tan Tong. Some say that Tan Tong’s unique skills are passed down from his ancestors, and some say that when he was young, Tan Tong lent an umbrella to an old man who was trapped in a temple on a rainy day. The old man was moved by it, and taught him a set of strange tricks that only win but not lose.But Tan Tong kept secret about these things and never talked about them.

Ye Han, who has been fascinated by his ears and eyes, has made Tan Tong his idol since he was a child, and hopes that he can also learn this gambling skill.Adolescence is the most imaginative age, and Ye Han also hopes to reunite with an outsider, and learn thaumaturgy like Tan Tong. In the absence of such an adventure, Ye Han ran to the big gambling house whenever he was free, and watched Tan Tong roll the dice with two big eyes, but he couldn't see any flaws.At that time, some people thought that Tan Tong might have tampered with the dice, so he replaced the dice provided by the gambler, and the result was still that the banker was sure of winning.

In 1919, Ye Han was 13 years old and was about to graduate from "Juejue School".The father had already revealed that in order to get rid of his son's bad gambling habits, he was going to send him to study in Guangzhou.In other words, he will leave Jiangmen in the future and will never have the opportunity to learn Tan Tong's thaumaturgy again. In the fall of that year, Ye Han saved up some money, took advantage of one day to leave school early, and came to the gambling table hosted by Tan Tong in the Dabao Casino.Due to Tan Tong's growing reputation, fewer and fewer people dared to gamble with him over the years, and his gambling table began to be deserted in front of the door.

Ye Han's pair of extremely big protruding ears are the most impressive. In addition, he has been around Tan Tong's gambling table for several years, and the two have long been familiar with each other.In order to figure out the way, Ye Han bet dozens of copper coins several times. After a few rounds, all of them naturally fell into Tan Tong's pocket. Ye Han's gambling addiction just started, he touched his whole body, but he couldn't find any more money, so he unbuttoned his collar, took off his long gown, crumpled it up and put it on the gaming table, saying, "This is made of bamboo cloth. After wearing it a few times, how about fifty cents?" Tan Tong looked at Ye Han, who was already red-eyed, nodded, took out five silver coins from his purse, and continued to gamble.This time, Ye Han still couldn't hold on for long. When the bamboo cloth gown was taken away by the casino handyman, he realized that this gown is very important. He will pass it on to his younger brother after wearing it... His father who is in the ceramic business has always loved money like his life. Yes, just go back like this, how can I get away with it? At this moment, for Ye Han, it is no longer a matter of gambling addiction.His cheeks were flushed, and he bet all his bags and books, saying: "It's worth fifty cents. If you win, return the gown to me." A look of complacency and contempt appeared on Tan Tong's face, and he skillfully shook the dice, and deliberately stopped the dice when he dropped the table, so that Ye Han could see it. As a result, Ye Han, who thought he was sure of winning, lost all his books and bags at once. It was getting late at that time, and Ye Han only had a thin set of underwear left on his body. When he stepped out of the gambling hall, he shivered and felt hungry.The first thought was to find a safe place to live and escape from his father's beatings; the second thought was to deeply regret why he still gambled when he knew he was going to lose. People kept walking towards "Dabao" from the other side of the street, and it seemed that there was a figure of his father in the middle.Ye Han no longer had any thoughts at this moment, and ran towards the east of the street.At that time, the urban area of ​​Jiangmen was very small, and it was outside the town within a short distance. Fearing that his father would chase him, he walked around a river and came to a hillside. There is an ancient temple nearby, and the temple standing on the top of the mountain was found through a carambola tree.The setting sun shines through the thick clouds on the west mountain, and according to the eaves of the ancient temple, the thick moss can be discerned. There is no one around, only the mountain full of graves accompanying the lonely temple.At this moment, Ye Han didn't feel afraid, his only wish was to enter the temple quickly - even if his father chased him, he would not be able to see him. After stepping into the ancient temple, he felt a sense of solidity, and it was only then that he was surprised: he thought it would be filthy if no one visited it, but he didn't expect it to be clean inside, and there was little dust on the Buddha statues. All gamblers are superstitious and believe in gods, and Ye Han is no exception. After entering, he knelt down in front of the Buddha statues to worship—but he didn't know who these statues were. It was dark behind the Buddha statue, and Ye Han was worried that there would be foxes and rats, so he just cleaned up a place under the altar and lay down.Night fell quietly, and the wind came in through the cracks in the wall and the door, Ye Han began to shiver, thinking of a long night, he felt guilty. This place is not far from the sea, and there are no high mountains to block it. The sea breeze blows unobstructed, and when it squeezes into the temple, it makes a humming sound... It was getting darker, and through the crack of the door, Ye Han faintly found a few ghostly lights flickering in the chaotic graveyard, coupled with the sound of wind that resembled ghost screams, Ye Han felt creepy... The wind was getting stronger and stronger, and with a "bang", the temple gate suddenly It opened, and a tall black figure appeared at the door. Just at this moment, there was a mournful howl across the graveyard, and Ye Han, whose nerves were already tense, screamed and lost consciousness... In a trance, black Ying took him to the inner temple, took out a quilt from the Buddha's belly and piled it on him, lit a wind lantern, and then there was the sound of crackling raindrops... When Ye Han woke up, what appeared in front of him was an ordinary old man who was almost wretched. Seeing him wake up, the old man let him drink a bowl of very bitter herbal tea before slowly asking him about his origin.When he learned that Ye Han didn't dare to go home because he lost all his money in gambling, he sighed: "I became addicted to gambling at a young age—it seems that we are really destined." Ye Han asked in surprise: "You bet too?" The old man nodded with a wry smile.After pondering for a long time, he asked Ye Han: "The ancients had a "Poem on Quitting Gambling", do you know?" After the old man finished speaking, he recited a poem: Winners are human beings but not human beings, Only for Imagai to cause trouble, Someday decibels, Become a Bejon in the end. Ye Han shook his head when he heard this, and the old man explained: "The old ones are gambling, the old ones are greedy, the decibels are poor, and the rich are thieves. The four words gambling, greedy, poor, and thief are one. What happens to gamblers." Ye Han understood that the old man must have lost everything and ended up in this situation, so he said, "Grandpa, there is a Tan Tong in our town who learned the thaumaturgy of gambling from a master, if you If you learn it, you won’t live like this.” The old man shook his head: "It's useless. If everyone learns it, whose money will they win? Gambling is not a good thing. You go back and confess your mistake to your family before it's too late. Don't fall into my fate." Ye Han shook his head and cried, "I'll go back, father will definitely kill me." The old man stroked his beard and thought for a while, then sighed: "It's rare for you to have such a strict father. You also ask me like this, I am not in this situation, I should be full of children and grandchildren..." After the old man finished speaking, his eyes showed infinite fascination and regret. After a long time, he touched Ye Han's big head and said, "Hanzi, do you want to go back?" Ye Han nodded and shook his head again, and said, "Grandpa, I'll just live with you in the ancient temple from now on. You can accept me!" The old man shook his head and said: "You can't follow me, I'm hopeless. You are still young, if you have already regretted it and vowed not to gamble in the future, I can teach you a trick to defeat Tan Tong and win your clothes and schoolbag. return!" Ye Han looked at the old man in disbelief, and said: "If you can't win against him, Tan Tong is really capable. Many foreign experts have been defeated by him. Really, he has unique skills." "What strange trick?" The old man narrowed his eyes. Ye Han shook his head and thought for a while, then said, "Grandpa, you don't even know this, how can you defeat him?" The old man heard a bit of distrust from Ye Han's tone, and he didn't care about it, and continued to ask: "What can I do if I have a strange trick?" Ye Han said without hesitation: "Of course, you can eat well, drink spicy food, make a fortune, and benefit from it forever!" "Then," the old man asked, "let me ask you, how much money does that Tan Tong have now, and what is his style?" "..." Ye Han was stunned by the question, and at the moment, even he couldn't figure it out. Tan Tong, who possesses strange tricks and skills, is actually still a croupier, and he is always in danger of being fired. Seeing that Ye Han couldn't answer, the old man sighed: "You can never make money from gambling, no matter how good a master he is. Strange tricks, to put it bluntly, are just things of heresy, and the real gambling king does not rely on money." It only relies on hard work practiced..." Speaking of this, the old man knew that he had slipped his tongue, so he quickly stopped. Ye Han heard something extraordinary from his conversation, and asked: "Grandpa, what's your name, if you really have thaumaturgy, why did you end up in this situation?" Under Ye Han's repeated questioning, the old man shook his head and said: "About me, you'd better not know, I'm a useless person, like gambling, it's better not to know than to know. It's getting late, and it's raining heavily outside. Really, I really hope to have a child like you as a companion, but I can't hurt you... Go to sleep, tomorrow I will teach you the tricks of winning Tan Tong, win back the clothes and books, and don't gamble again in the future. " Ye Han nodded, and slept all night in the ancient temple on a stormy night. Early the next morning, the old man handed Ye Han a small thing wrapped in red silk, and told him, "Don't open it—it's like gambling, it's as ugly as me, it's not a good thing. I'll give it to you Money, you take it back to the town to buy candles, incense paper, pig's head and four claws, and secretly worship, and the rest of the money will be used as gambling funds. When gambling with Tan Tong, it will be good to carry these things in your arms. You still come to this temple to return things to the old man, it is not good enough for outsiders, remember! Remember!" Ye Han bid farewell to the old man, he really wanted to know what was in the red silk, and worried that it would not work if it was exposed.At this time, the old man came after him again and said to him, "Hanzi, you have to swear in front of this old man, what kind of punishment will you accept from God if you continue to gamble in the future?" Ye Han was about to talk nonsense about "being struck by lightning" and "broken leg", but the old man immediately said seriously: "It is very effective to swear in front of the old man, you have to think carefully." Ye Han thought for a while, and said, "If I don't listen to Grandpa's advice and continue to gamble, I will never be able to escape for the rest of my life!" The old man sighed: "I knew you wouldn't give up gambling sincerely, that's fine, just resign yourself to your fate. Remember my advice: no matter what kind of business you are in, evil can prevail, and gambling is no exception. Don't rely too much on heresy things. Hard work is always hard-won, and what you pay for is what you get.” Ye Han seemed to understand, but he remembered the old man's words in his heart. Ye Han returned to the town, bought sacrifices according to the old man's instructions, found a place to light incense candles quietly, placed sacrifices, burned paper money, offered small red envelopes, bowed a little in the curling incense, and began to think of cards and dice…… At noon, Ye Han came to the "Dabao" casino with a small red envelope in his arms. When the gamblers saw that the big-eared boy was going to compete with Tan Tong again, they gathered around to watch the excitement. Before placing bets, Ye Han said to the gamblers: "You don't have to be afraid of him today, just bet with me as much money as you have with you, and I guarantee everyone will win!" Everyone laughed secretly, thinking that Ye Han was just talking about dreams, and no one bet on it, just watching from the sidelines. Seeing that no one responded, Ye Han showed embarrassment, bet all the money on his body, and looked at Tan Tong.Tan Tong snorted contemptuously, rolled the dice calmly under the eyes of everyone, and covered the dice cup... Ye Han was almost stunned. He clearly saw Tan Tong casually sweeping three dice into his right sleeve when covering the cup... "Empty mask!" Ye Han shouted. Tan Tong sneered, and when he opened the cup, three dice popped out from the sleeve, and said, "How about it, do you still want to gamble?" Ye Han looked at the gamblers around him strangely, but they were all indifferent... It didn't seem like a partner was intentionally bullying his child. Ye Han finally understood that Tan Tong had been using this kind of gambling method to deceive the gamblers all the time. Obscuring the eyes" has been practiced so well that it is difficult to see through... Ye Han gritted his teeth and said, "I bet!" Tan Tong snorted again and said, "You have no money, so what are you going to bet on?" "Bet with my big ears!" Ye Han said every word, "If I lose, I will cut it off and give it to you, you don't need to do it!" "I don't have ears to compensate you." Tan Tong was intimidated by Ye Han's courage. "I don't want you to lose your ears." Ye Han said to everyone, "With everyone's testimony, if you lose, you only need to return my clothes and schoolbag." At this moment, Tan Tong was forced to have no place to retreat. Thinking about it, he felt that this child could not have the tricks to break his sorcery, so he rolled the dice when he became more courageous. The old trick was repeated again. When covering the cup, he swept the dice into his sleeve. Ye Han sneered, quickly pressed the lid of the cup, and shouted: "It's still empty!" Tan Tong was startled, but he still felt lucky, and argued: "Let go of your hands, and I'll show you!" Ye Han said: "Don't play this trick, I've seen through you, you won't work anymore." After Ye Han finished speaking, he let go of his hand.Tan Tong thought that Ye Han was a child, and he just had to hide it from the eyes of the gamblers. When he uncovered it, three dice popped out from his sleeve. This scene was seen by all the gamblers present, and everyone knew that they had been played by Tan Tong all along, and the crowd was excited, and those who lost a lot rushed over to seek justice.Seeing that the situation was not good, Tan Tong broke through the window and fled. The gamblers chased after him for a while, seeing that they could not catch up, they came back and surrounded Ye Han, asking him what tricks he used to break Tan Tong's evil trick. Ye Han naturally didn't want to tell the truth, so after thinking about it, he made up a lie to lull the curious gamblers, saying: "I am a child, what kind of tricks do I have? I lost a lot and cried on the road. An old man saw me Poor, tell me that as long as you see through heresies and evil ways, they will not be effective. Some croupiers are playing tricks, sweeping the dice into their sleeves when covering the cup, waiting for all the gamblers to place bets, and then they will win as much as possible and pay less. Ideas, points that are beneficial to you pop out of your sleeves——in this way, of course, you will definitely win and not lose.” The gamblers were amazed, and then asked who the old man was, where he came from, and if he could introduce him... Seeing that he had slipped his tongue, Ye Han retorted: "I lied to you just now, but in fact I broke Tan Tong through guessing." of." The gamblers didn't ask any more questions. At this moment, shopkeeper Ye came from the ceramic shop after hearing the news, and dragged his son home. Ye Han originally wanted to return the little red envelopes to the ancient temple before dark, but the typhoon was so strong that day that several trees from high places were blown down, making it impossible for people to walk on the road. One day later, Ye Han took the opportunity to go to school and detoured to the hill. After a day of missing, the ancient temple was blown down by the typhoon, and the old man naturally disappeared long ago. Gambling addiction, like smoking addiction, is very difficult to get rid of once you get it.Ye Han couldn't find the old man who gave him the "red envelope", and soon his gambling addiction relapsed, and he started going to and from the casino. With the "talisman", every gamble will win in the future. Ye Han's reputation quickly replaced Tan Tong in the past. Even gamblers as far away as Foshan and Bao'an know that Jiangmen has a "gambling prodigy". When Ye Han was 16 years old, the well-known "Da Bao" gambling house in Jiangmen decided to officially hire Ye Han as a croupier. "Big Treasure" gambling house belongs to Huo Zhiting, a gambling leader in Guangdong, and the head of the house is also Huo Zhiting's confidant. He approached Ye Han's father to negotiate, but was rejected. Although there are rumors in the town that Ye Han wins every bet with the thaumaturgy, shopkeeper Ye does not believe it. At this time, Ye Han was very contradictory, he was afraid of his father, and at the same time could not restrain his gambling addiction. In 1924, shopkeeper Ye sent Ye Han to Guangzhou to study in middle school.In order to keep his son from gambling, he chose Nanwu Middle School with the strictest school rules. Nanwu Middle School was originally Haitang Temple, but there were no monks in the temple, so the authorities turned it into a school.There are many rules and regulations in the school, especially the strictest control on students' gambling. Once found, they must be expelled. After studying in Guangzhou for a few years, Ye Han returned to Jiangmen in 1930. He was 24 years old at the time, and he had not studied well and had no skills. His father finally realized that his son was not suitable for studying, but his heart was at peace. He said to Ye Han: "I don't force myself if I can't study, but I have to find something to do. You can't do anything else, just open a pottery shop with me." Ye Han was noncommittal.Over the years, he has met the world in Guangzhou, and he often enters the nearby gambling hall by crossing the wall late at night.He was fascinated by the grandeur of the big gambling house, and he always thought about opening a gambling house after graduation and raising a sum of money. When he got home, he decided to return to his old business. He asked out the "little red envelope" passed to him by the old man in the ancient temple, secretly burned incense and offered it to him, and planned to return to the casino. , Guangzhou and other large places to develop. Shopkeeper Ye saw that his son did not work at the ceramic shop as he wanted, but ran outside mysteriously. He didn't know what Ye Han was busy with outside, but turned his dissatisfaction into chatter. Ye Han could bear it at first, but gradually he became bored, and finally he simply said to his father: "You insist on forcing me to open a ceramics shop, but I can't help it. However, the ugly thing is that I will sell the ceramics shop sooner or later." , open a casino!" "You..." Shopkeeper Ye was taken aback. He never expected that his son's bad nature had not changed, and he wanted to return to the casino as soon as he came back.He raised his hand, but when he saw that his son was taller than himself, he could only shake his head and sighed, "You did it, you did it!" Ye Han estimated that his father would at least beat him with a stick, but when he saw that the raised slap was put down, he boldly said: "Father, what's wrong with gambling? Isn't the government promoting it? It's not a bad thing, anyway. I think opening a gambling hall is more profitable than opening a pottery shop." Shopkeeper Ye raised his head and stared at his son as if he did not recognize him. "I have been away from home for a few years and come back, the shop is still the same, nothing has changed, but my father and mother have aged a lot." Ye Han said, "But those bosses who run gambling halls in Guangzhou eat delicacies from mountains and seas, and wear silk clothes. Luo silk satin, there is a private car when you go out, and there are people around, who doesn't envy the scenery? But dad has worked hard all his life—" Seeing his father looking at him with strange eyes, Ye Han felt uncomfortable, subconsciously touched his face, and asked, "Father, why are you looking at me like that?" The muscles on Shopkeeper Ye's face were twitching, and the more he looked at it, he became more and more emotional. He raised his finger and pointed at the door: "You, you get out!" "Baffling!" Ye Han muttered and left angrily. Seeing his son disappearing into the crowd on Mashi Road, Shopkeeper Ye hurried upstairs, and solemnly said to his wife who was busy with sewing, "Have you paid attention to your son's face?" "Face? What face?" Mrs. Ye asked puzzled. Shopkeeper Ye rubbed his hands and sighed: "Big head, big ears, fortune tellers say this kind of appearance is the most unlucky." Mrs. Ye finally understood, she put down her needlework and asked, "Why is it unlucky?" "Going for a ride doesn't bring much money, and a big head and high cheekbones is a prodigal." Shopkeeper Ye said with a worried look on his face, "He just threatened to sell the shop and open a gambling hall. This is the property we have worked hard for half our lives. If it is true After being gambled away by him, what will we live on for the rest of our lives?" Mrs. Ye also felt that the problem was serious, and murmured: "Selling a shop and opening a gambling hall... This, this is absolutely impossible. How did Han Zai become such a person?" "You should ask yourself this question, you have raised a good son!" Shopkeeper Ye said angrily. Mrs. Ye said: "I can't raise any of them, and you have a share. In my opinion, he learned bad things in Guangzhou. He shouldn't be allowed to go to middle school. That's your decision." "Okay, okay, stop nagging, I think we should think of a way, not only can't let him learn the ceramics business, but he can't even stay at home. If he loses a bet outside, this shop has to be sold Pay off your debt." "But he is a child, if he doesn't stay at home, where do you tell him to go?" "What kind of kid, he's already 24 years old. If he's a good boy, he should have started a family by now!" Shopkeeper Ye said angrily, thinking about how to arrange the specific whereabouts of his son, he felt difficult. The couple thought about it for a while, but couldn't find a way. Finally, Mrs. Ye said, "Didn't you say that Han Zai's uncle will come in a few days? He has visited many places and has many acquaintances. You might as well ask him." Shopkeeper Ye thought that was the only way to do it, and said, "Let's talk about it when his uncle comes. I'm going down to take care of the shop." Ye Han's uncle Ye Zuopeng is a long-sleeved and good at dancing, and he is currently running a large grocery company in Foshan.The grocery company has a special counter for ceramics, and those goods were brought from Jiangmen Ye's shop, so the two have a deep relationship. The person Ye Zuopeng admires the most is the gambling king Huo Zhiting. Every time he comes from Foshan, he will bring news about Huo Zhiting.Ye Han heard Ye Zuopeng talking about Huo Zhiting with his father since he was a child, and he admired him very much. In late May 1930, Ye Zuopeng came to Jiangmen from Foshan, planning to bring back a batch of ceramics from Ye Han's house. Shopkeeper Ye and his wife warmly entertained them.In addition to the normal business communication, the enthusiasm this time has another layer of meaning. During the dinner, Mrs. Ye gave her husband winks from time to time with excuses. The shopkeeper Ye, who had never begged anyone before, couldn't get it out of his mouth several times. Ye Zuopeng is very talkative, talking all over the world.With his sophisticated shrewdness, when he walked into the pottery shop, he realized that shopkeeper Ye must have something to ask him, so he never gave the other party a chance to ask, and at the same time, he wondered in his heart whether what the other party asked would embarrass him. Mrs. Ye, who was in a hurry, no longer counted on her husband, and took the opportunity of serving the dishes to clarify her words.Ye Zuopeng heard that he was asking for an errand for Ye Han, wiped his forehead with a handkerchief, let out a long breath of relief, the expression on his face soon became relaxed, and asked in a concerned tone: "What specialties does nephew have? " Shopkeeper Ye glanced at his wife and said, "What specialty does he have?" Ye Zuopeng pondered for a long time, and said, "I don't have special skills, but I always have hobbies, right?" Shopkeeper Ye blushed and said, "I'll tell you the truth, your nephew has no legitimate hobbies, but only likes to gamble." After speaking, he rubbed his hands embarrassingly, waiting to hear Ye Zuopeng feel sorry for his son.Not only did Ye Zuopeng not feel sorry, but he asked earnestly: "I heard that there is a gambling prodigy in Jiangmen, but you are talking about a nephew?" Shopkeeper Ye smiled wryly and said: "It was an outsider who made fun of him, so it can't be taken seriously. My family doesn't speak foreign language, and my younger brother asked for help for this evil son. He was fond of gambling since he was a child, so he was sent to school to teach him to change his ways. He has been restrained, and now he is back. He has not learned much, and his bad habits have not changed. A few days ago, he even threatened to sell the shop for gambling. The elder brother knows that the younger brother is in a small business, and he has worked hard for half his life. It’s not enough for him to gamble last time. You came just in time, take him out to see the world, suffer a lot, and wait until he gets burned, and it’s not too late to come back when he realizes his regret.” Ye Zuopeng took a sip of his wine, smacked his lips, and said, "Your brother believes in you so much, so I will not be polite. Some words may make you unhappy, but I have no malicious intentions. You are doing a small business. It is of course a way of life to earn enough food and clothing for the rest of your life, and it’s not a bad idea; it’s just that my nephew has a gambling genius since he was a child. As long as he doesn’t use his family’s money to gamble, why don’t you make an allowance and let it be? Maybe in the future we The Ye family will also produce a gambling king as handsome as Huo Zhiting." Ye Zuopeng's words made shopkeeper Ye feel disgusted, but after thinking about it, it was not unreasonable, so he said: "If Shixiong can take him out, of course I don't want to care what he does outside, but in case of losing, don't implicate this small family." shop." Ye Zuopeng showed contempt on his face, and said: "Anyone who is really promising can afford to gamble and lose, and will never implicate others. If my nephew is that useless person, I will send him back. Brother , What time is it, now even the government advocates gambling, and many people have entered the upper class through gambling, by the way, where is the nephew? I just want to meet him." Mrs. Ye said: "He should have come back a long time ago, maybe he's gambling outside again." As she spoke, she stretched her neck and looked across the street. Ye Zuopeng talked with shopkeeper Ye about the world outside, and when the conversation was in full swing, a young man with big ears suddenly appeared in front of him.Ye Zuopeng was startled suddenly, there seemed to be a very special omen in the dark... But after searching his brains, he couldn't say it for a while. "He is a rebellious son." Shopkeeper Ye said, "Ye Han, don't call you uncle!" Ye Zuopeng touched Ye Han's head and said: "Recently, Lu Jiu in Macau established a 'Haoxing Company' and won the bid for the right to operate casinos in Macau. Your father said he would hand you over to me. Would you like to work in Macau casinos? ?” Ye Han was not yet mentally prepared for the moment, so he asked: "Shibo is in Foshan, why do you want me to go to Macau? Could it be that Shibo is also going to Macau?" Ye Zuopeng shook his head: "I'm not going to Macau. It's like this: Huo Zhiting and I are old friends. He is the backstage and shareholder of Macau Haoxing Company. He is going to move to Macau. He asked me to find some reliable people—" Speaking of this, Ye Zuopeng's special omen just now flashed in his mind again, he let go of his hand, stared at Ye Han's big ears closely, his throat joint wriggled, and after a long time turned around and said to shopkeeper Ye: "My dear brother, There is a strange thing I forgot to tell you: Huo Zhiting planned to move the casino to Macau because he felt that the political situation in mainland China was unstable. On the day when the new casino of Haoxing Company opened, he drank too much in the Central Hotel and had a strange dream after getting drunk In the dream, he claimed to be the king of gambling, but people didn't buy it. What's even more strange is that there is a man who looks like his nephew and is honored as the king of gambling. I am not superstitious, but some things are hard to explain Clear, think about it, nephew has a pair of big ears, and has been fond of gambling since he was a child, and now he is called a 'gambling prodigy'..." Ye Han only felt a rush of heat from the soles of his feet to his forehead, and his whole body was dripping with sweat, his brain was buzzing, his eyes were full of playing cards, Pai Gow, and dice, and it was as if someone had hit his muscles and bones with a hammer on his chest... Ye Zuopeng, shopkeeper Ye, and Mrs. Ye were shocked when they saw this, and they didn't know what to do.Ye Han instinctively stretched his hand into his chest and touched something—the strange thing reappeared, and all the symptoms disappeared in an instant, and everything returned to the original state.With sharp eyes, Ye Zuopeng saw a small red envelope in Ye Han's hand and snatched it: "What is this?" Shopkeeper Ye and his wife said in unison: "Open it and have a look!" Ye Han remembered the instructions given by the old man when he handed this thing to him in the ancient temple, fearing that it would fail if it was exposed, he shouted loudly: "Don't open it!" After shouting, he rushed over desperately.