Chapter 18 Gambling friends

It's not a problem to keep playing like this.What worries Liu Bucai the most is that he has nothing to do, his hands get itchy, and he always wants to gamble, but every time he thinks about it, he immediately remembers what he said to Chen Shilong and suppresses it desperately.After ten days, he couldn't bear it anymore. I couldn't bear to ask Hu Xueyan to say something. After waiting for two days, I finally got Hu Xueyan to wait on the third day. "Xueyan!" He was a little excited, "I've been here for more than half a month, and I haven't done anything, and I know you're busy, but if this continues, I'm going to get sick from boredom!"

"I know, I know! I'm really sorry, I have to take care of several things myself. Now I have a general idea, especially the transshipment of the sea. It is finally done, and I can spare time. Starting tomorrow, we will The first step is to look at the land." Hu Xueyan asked, "Third Uncle, how is your alcohol tolerance?" "It can still be dealt with." "Well, let me introduce you to a friend first." He introduced Qiu Fengyan.Qiu Fengyan handled the job of escorting foreign guns very well.Wang Youling gave him a sum of money and really praised him a lot, so he has been in a good mood recently, and he hit it off with Liu Bucai, and he was entrusted by Hu Xueyan, deliberately perfunctory, so Liu Bucai also felt that he had made Qiu Fengyan as a friend, It's a very pleasing thing.

Qiu Fengyan will take care of the company to look at the land, and drink tea in the Fengle Bridge Teahouse every morning.Qiu Fengyan lived in Yangzhou before, and he was very particular about his meal in the morning. He cooked two dishes and had morning wine, and after drinking, he had noodles, and then he was led by a broker to see the land. , At three o'clock in the afternoon, Qiu Fengyan was going to drink tea and wine again.Because Liu Bucai was with him, he was not as boring as before, but he was at peace, and he stopped his thoughts of gambling. Suddenly one day, Hu Xueyan came to see Liu Bucai early in the morning, and the first thing he said was: "Uncle San, I want to invite you to accompany a customer. This customer is proficient in everything, only you can accompany me." he."

Liu Bucai couldn't speak for a while, first, he felt abrupt; second, he felt that Hu Xueyan had violated his own intention by asking him to quit gambling, but now he turned around and asked him to gamble; third, he felt that he said It is a pity that this hard-won determination and perseverance were easily wasted. "Third uncle!" Hu Xueyan said seriously, "Don't mutter in your heart, these are the places I want to ask you to help. To put it bluntly, this is what I use your strengths." Then there is nothing to say, "Since it is to help you, I will do it." Liu Bucai asked, "But what is going on, you have to explain it to me first."

Hu Xueyan hesitated for a moment, "It's a long story, with some twists and turns, and I can't explain it clearly at the moment." He paused and continued, "In a word, having fun with this young master is great for my business. helpful." "Well, well! I see, you want to ask me to be a cleanup?" "It's not about being a purveyor, it's about being a rich client. Of course, it would be even more interesting to use a rich client as the purveyor of this young master!" At this moment, Liu Bucai really understood, nodded seriously and said: "As long as you don't feel bad, I will show off and make friends with rich people."

"Naturally! How can you talk about what you feel bad about? Third Uncle," Hu Xueyan asked, "What's the most you've ever lost in a single bet?" "I lost—" Liu Bucai said, "I lost a pawn shop, the scale is not big, and it's worth 30,000 silver." "Okay, you go through the big scene. That's all right!" Hu Xueyan said, "You don't have to worry about it. I will give you three to fifty thousand silver in cash. It doesn't matter how much it is. I can transfer it at any time. In short, it doesn't matter if you lose , don't show a petty look!"

"Don't worry about it, I'm the most courageous bet on it." It was agreed at the time that Hu Xueyan would come to accompany him in the afternoon to make friends with the young master, and he would bring the banknotes at that time.Liu Bucai went to shave his head with vigor, dressed up like a young man in troubled times, and sat there waiting. Not long after noon, Hu Xueyan came again and saw that Liu Bucai was wearing an iron-gray satin squirrel fur robe, a maroon Baturu waistcoat, and a black satin hat with coral knots, with a birthday cake in the middle. The jasper of the word pattern.Snow-white spun silk gown, underneath are straight trousers and a pair of Zhang velvet double beam shoes.

"Pretty! I've brought two things that just go with your outfit." Those two things were a gold reed watch with an extremely thick gold chain and a finger of suet white jade.In addition, there are 20,000 silver notes, at least five hundred and two pieces. "It's still early, let me tell you the origin of this rich young man first." This Kuo Shao, surnamed Pang, met Hu Xueyan during the two days he went to Nanxun, and everyone called him Second Master Pang.This Erye Pang is from a family in the silk industry. He has accumulated savings for several generations. In addition, in the last years of Daoguang's trade with foreign countries, he made a lot of money in foreign villages.

Although Erye Pang is a first-class dandy, he has a long history of family education and is extremely good at doing business, so Hu Xueyan wants to deal with him. Erye Pang is a Daoist who donates classes, so naturally he won't "listen to the drum at the gate" to wait for a backup, and he usually doesn't wear official uniforms, but if there are any county magistrates in front of him, who are proud of their official affiliation, then he will The official position presented was more than anyone else's. From this point, it fully showed Erye Pang's disposition of being soft but not hard.

It turned out to be him!Liu Bucai was thinking while listening.Also from Huzhou, he naturally knew Erye Pang, but in terms of the level of the "young master team", Liu Bucai was at least two grades behind him.And now that he has been "lost", mentioning it as "the third child of Liu Jingdetang back then" is not necessarily glorious. What does Erye Pang feel in his heart, but he has to worry about it in advance. "Third Uncle," Hu Xueyan continued, "in order to win over Second Master Pang, I specially asked Mr. Wang to treat you. He is the official of your parents in Huzhou. No matter how busy Second Master Pang is, he couldn't be there. But today it's just for dinner. It's not a big deal, it's just playing mahjong. You have to show your skills, let him bet with you once, and he is willing to bet with you for the second time, so that the friendship can be closer and closer."

"I got it. Don't worry about that! But," Liu Bucai said with great difficulty, "Although we haven't met, he has spent a lot of time in Shanghai, so he probably knows about me." "It doesn't matter if you know, 'A lost child will not be exchanged for gold', no one will laugh at you! Besides, I have taken care of you with Mr. Wang, and I will be very polite to you. Even if you are praised by your master, they will not know your details." After listening to his words, Liu Bucai took a look at his attire, and then at the 20,000 silver notes. He changed his mind, everything can be fake, money is not fake, money is courage, so why not be afraid! "Xueyan, what you said is right." He asked energetically, "When shall we leave?" As he spoke, he turned on the reed watch and saw that it was only two o'clock in the afternoon. "The appointment is at four o'clock, so naturally I have to arrive early. Take care of yourself and arrive at the Wang mansion on time." Hu Xueyan left a note with the address of the Wang family on it. Agreed to break up.As expected, Liu Bucai leaned on a soft couch, closed his eyes and meditated, thought carefully about Pang Erye's temper, and then carefully considered how to deal with it.Feeling quite sure, he opened his eyes happily, and after re-decorating, he hired a small sedan chair and made a special trip to the appointment. When we arrived at Wang's house, the master was very polite, and he kept saying that he was "Brother Sancai". After sitting down and chatting for a while, all the invited guests arrived one after another. Except for Ji Heling and Qiu Fengyan, the other two were young masters, and one was Zhou Daotai who had worked on Tianjin Customs His younger brother, Xingwu; one is the fourth son of the Gao family who is both an official and a businessman.Sitting down and talking is meaningless, not talking about how much you lost in a Pai Gow meal, or talking about what kind of stunner came out of the "Jiangshan Boat". Finally, Second Master Pang arrived. He was thirty-four or five years old, with a big silver face, like Cao Cao on the stage.Because my grandfather died not long ago, he was wearing uniforms, only a gray cloth and sheepskin robe, but on his hand was a "Fire Oil Diamond" ring with the head turned over, with the ring facing inwards, and occasionally raised his hand, in the palm of his hand. The light flashes randomly, which is particularly eye-catching. The host introduced them one by one, and it was only Ji Heling, Qiu Fengyan and Liu Bucai who Pang Erye first met.Hearing that he had a Huzhou accent, he felt affectionate. "Brother Liu," he asked, "Where is your house? Why haven't I seen it?" Liu Bucai declared his residence, and then said: "I have admired Erye Pang's name for a long time, and it is a pleasure to meet you." "To each other, to each other!" Pang Er was also very polite, not like a dandy with airs. "Hey, hello!" Zhou Laowu was the most impatient, "It's time to play!" So the master guided them into the wing room, where a table of mahjong tiles had already been set up, and they stood and discussed to enter the game. Pang, Zhou, and Gao didn't need to talk about it. Liu Bucai asked Hu Xueyan, but as soon as Hu Xueyan refused, it was a foregone conclusion, and Liu Bucai would still play. Sit down and sit down, talk about "Moer" for 10,000 silver, 40 and 16 rounds, and then crackle and fight.Liu Bucai is not busy playing cards for now, but carefully looks at the cards of each player. Both Pang Er and Senior Senior play very well, but Senior Senior has a problem. He likes to make cards. His temper on Friday is the same as his. Urgent, don't ask the big or small, just draw when you see a card, and buckle down the card as soon as you wait for a card, staring at the "lake", wishing to pick a card to draw. However, although he played badly at cards, he was lucky.After four rounds of cards, he had won two sets of all and one set of three yuan, and he had already won almost a pot, which made him very happy. "It's because the fourth brother made too many cards, and the cards are too loose!" Pang Er said coldly while rolling the dice, "If you sit on my house for these four rounds, be careful!" As a result, Liu Bucai took the seat of his superior on Friday, who was a senior in high school, opposite Pang Er.The old temper of the fourth year of high school has not changed. As long as seven of the thirteen cards are of the same suit, they want to be all of the same suit, so the cards are still very loose.Liu Bucai thought to himself, he can't eat more, or his Zhangzi will be loose, and Friday will pick up a bargain, and it will be difficult to control the hand style once it rises. After making up his mind, he didn't even eat the side bezels, and concentrated on the next move. He nailed Friday to death. After two rounds of cards, half of Friday's "short" went out, but Pang Er, the big loser, did not improve.So Liu Bucai thought again, now not only must Friday be held, but also a way must be found to make Pang Er draw. He played his cards extremely well, and he could predict the cards that Pang Er wanted by paying a little attention to the cards in and out.Pang Er made two draws in a row, and he pulled them back smoothly.Waiting for eight laps to come down to eat, and after calculation, it became a three-eat-one situation, and the big loser was the senior year. "Brother's cards are played very well." After getting off the table, Pang Er said to Liu Bucai, "I admire the brand even more." "Where, where!" Liu Bucai felt very comforted, and at the same time admired Pang Er, who knew good from bad. After the meal, Pang Er's hand became more prosperous, every banker must be connected, and the cards became bigger and bigger. This was also due to Liu Bucai, but he no longer played Zhang Zi, but only held Zhou and Gao specifically. If the two of them are not allowed to fight with the big cards, if they see that the style is not right, they will either fight for the draw themselves, or let others and the small cards.After finishing the checkout, Pang Er's family won big, and Friday's family lost big. "It's like this every time, win first and then lose, it doesn't matter if you lose, the cards are really annoying!" Friday said bitterly, "That's why I don't like playing mahjong! It's really boring." Pang Er and Gao Si were used to seeing him like this, they looked at each other and smiled, without saying anything, but Liu Bucai said: "Brother Wu has a quick temper, pushing Pai Gow will suit his appetite!" "Yes!" Friday continued, "Let me push a dealer!" There is nothing wrong with the senior year, and Liu Bucai didn't say a word. Only Pang Er hesitated and said, "Is it too late? It's inconvenient to disturb the master." "It's not too late, it's not too late!" Hu Xueyan replied on behalf of the master, "Everyone, just have fun, should you have a snack before going on stage, or—" "It's still early to eat late at night." Friday rushed to say, "I'll talk about it after I make a deal." Pang Er was well aware of his temper. If he was a banker, no matter whether he won or lost, he would never see the light of day, so he said immediately after him: "We're all on our own, let's play for fun. That's good, push 'Lun Zhuang Pai Gow', the size is arbitrary, 10,000 taels of silver per banker, lose all and give way, and winners can only be pushed around." "There are too few four directions, at least eight directions." "Forget it, push down the forty-six Pai Gow, disturbing the master's midnight snack, it's just right to go home and sleep." "That's not bad." The senior also said, "I have work to do in the first half of the day tomorrow, so let's go early!" It's hard to sing alone on Friday, so I have to obey.When the cards were taken out, he was naturally the first to be the banker. He took out a pod-shaped ivory box that he carried with him, opened the lid and poured out four dice.There are many tricks on Friday, four dice are rolled, and the red dice must be picked out when there is a four or a five, and then the remaining three dice are thrown. Adding five is nine, the homonym is "wine", and six plus four is ten, the homonym is "meat", which means "please eat wine and meat with dice". "Mahjong must be played quietly, and Pai Gow must be played lively. Everyone is welcome to play!" Friday said loudly, "One tael of silver can also bet." At this time, Qiu Fengyan hadn't left yet, so Liu Bucai gave him two hundred taels of "red money" and asked him to bet five taels or ten taels of money.Wang Youling was also invited to leave. Although Hu Xueyan didn't like to gamble, but of course he wanted to add to the fun at this time. He took a silver ticket of one hundred taels and bet it on the door where Pang Er was sitting. "Is it big or small?" Pang Er asked. "You'll know when I 'open the door'." According to Wu Wu's character, he opened the "door", which is a small Pai Gow of "turning over and staring twice". His banker only pushed two squares of Pai Gow, and Pang Er and Gao Si knocked him down.Next is Pang Er Tui Zhuang, Si Fang Pai Gow, passing mediocrely.On Friday, he lost more than 10,000 taels of silver. The big winner was the senior year, and Liu Bucai also won five or six thousand taels of silver. The third banker was Liu Bucai. He rolled up his snow-white sleeves, shuffled the cards and put them together. He opened the door and said, "Brother Wu likes small Pai Gow, and I also recommend small ones." On Friday, he became angry with his gambling, and when he heard what he said, he blurted out: "Yes! 'Spring doesn't ask for directions', if you sit at Tianmen, you can hit Tianmen." Then, he took out a stack of silver notes from his body, and put them on the table. Fall, "I've got it!" "Hey!" Pang Erda disapproved, "Everyone is having fun! It's so boring that you don't let others place bets!" "Why do you call it boring? Everyone bets on everyone's game. You have to see that you come down. You can move my bet, don't you just keep betting?" "Moving bets" means winning or losing between the next house and the other house. If all take and pay, the person who transfers the bet has nothing to do with it. If one family matches and one family eats, the difference will be big.In Pai Gow and shaking stalls, some people like to move other people's bets, and they match each other. If you win the banker and win the other player, you will double the profit, and you can boast of your eyesight. It is a very proud thing. But "moving bets" tends to become irritating. One moves over, one moves back, one moves over, and one moves back. Every time you move, you will double your winnings and losses, and you will bet "wild". up. Now Friday and Pang Er are a little angry.Unhappy gambling, others will naturally have to resolve it, but both of them are poor, it is okay to lose money, but not a word, so it is difficult to resolve it, Hu Xueyan can't help feeling a little anxious. At this moment, Second Master Pang was a little annoyed, and when he wanted to say "Return to the gate of heaven", Liu Bucai took the first step when he moved Friday's bet, and said, "Second Brother Pang's words are good, you are all from your own family,' Study gambling', Xiaowanwan—” Sure enough, the grumpy Friday interrupted him and said, "What did your banker say? I want to ask you. His words are good, but mine is wrong?" "Your words are also good." Liu Bucai replied calmly, "Second Brother Pang doesn't need to make a bet. Brother Friday is interested, and I should accompany you as the banker. Bet 10,000 silver on 'External Flower Arrangement', okay?" ?” It was Qiu Fengyan who said "yes": "Yeah! This way we have the best of both worlds." No one can control the extra "deals" between the dealer and the neighbors, which makes sense.Liu Bucai spent 10,000 silver to sell his face to two people. This move was very beautiful, and with that 10,000 silver, he might not necessarily lose.Hu Xueyan secretly promised that Liu Bucai really had a trick in the social arena. The dice rolled a seven, and on Friday he grabbed the two outside cards and flipped them over. What a stare!A bull's head and a three-six made his face livid with anger. "What's this called?" Qiu Fengyan said, "The last time I heard a sentence in Songjiang, it was called 'black devils carrying foreign guns'!" He didn't smile, and said it in a serious manner, so there was no meaning of ridicule. Everyone laughed, and Friday also laughed. This card is ruled.Liu Bucai could have put away the ten thousand taels of silver for the "outside flower arrangement", which means that the bet has been recovered, and the game becomes a win or lose. But he is very beautiful, put it outside, count it, and report it The number is 270,000, so that the neighbors can place their bets accordingly. His banker is very stable, he eats more and pays less, and he earns money every time he pushes the third card to the third party. As usual, the last card is not pushed, and the cards are reshuffled, but he "releases". "There's only one hand left!" he said. "I'll push the last card, and play as fast as possible!" "Brother," Pang Er persuaded him, "You'd better not push the 'play' card!" "Thank you for your attention!" Liu Bucai said, "The taste of pushing Pai Gow is here. With the help of dice, 'Du Da is brought in'! It is also common." "Then give it a try! I don't believe that the next door will be 'live'." Friday took out another handful of bank notes, "How much does the banker have?" Liu Bucai counted the number, and there was a total of 40,000 silver. "Return to the next door to see." Friday took the silver ticket and put it on the lower door, "The extra ones are mine." Everyone is tense now.There is no "harmony" in small Pai Gow. For this card, the dealer will either change from 40,000 to 80,000, or lose everything and give way.From the bet to now, this is the biggest win or loss, one in and one out is not a decimal, even Pang Er is very careful. Liu Bucai remained calm, rolled the dice, and waited for the three-door showdown, nine for the upper door, seven for the Tian door, and a red nine for the lower door. "Look, it's hard work!" Friday said with a stern look on his face, "If you're restrained, what else is it?" "The next job is the next job, the idea is too small!" Pang Er said, "Mou Tiao often plays strange cards, Lao Wu, full of delicious food, full of words." "If you have a point, you can make money!" Friday insisted, "If I lose this deck, I will take it." Not to mention the huge bet itself, which is eye-catching, just this sentence on Friday, which may not be able to end, made a room full of people, from those sitting at the gaming table to the servant girl standing by the side, I am very interested, eager to see the dealer's two cards, what is the idea of ​​turning them out?If "Unknown 2" made up of a piece of miscellaneous sevens and a piece of miscellaneous fives won the next door "Tianjiuyi", then look at the embarrassing look on Friday when he said "full words". But no one, including Pang Er, thought that Liu Bucai would not turn over the card at all, "Brother Friday!" He said, "That's right, your point is very valuable." As he said that, he pushed out the money in front of him, with a calm and natural smile on his face, as if he was willing to lose to Friday, but more like he won Friday. At this time, Pang Er already had a good impression of Liu Bucai, so he always favored him, "You haven't read your cards yet!" He reminded him, "You really can't catch up at all?" "The cards are all outside." Liu Bucai said, "You don't need to look at them, you lose every bit." "I don't believe it." As Pang Er said, he sorted out the cards, starting with the biggest "Baozi", and found a two-four, but couldn't find a "Moding". The banker should be a pair of "people one", and there is only one card for finding people. Turn it out, isn't it "Ren Ding Yi"?Ten red dots make the black dot stand out.In the extremely quiet room, there was an uproar immediately, sighs and laughter, surprises and exclamations, and naturally the loudest sound was on Friday. "Come, come, let me make the match!" He brought the banker's money and his own banknotes to him, and after allocating the small bets, the rest was his surplus. "There is such a card!" Pang Er shook his head, "I can't turn over a two point." He felt sorry for the banker, and even caused it to be hated, but Liu Bucai played the card to the high four as if nothing had happened.So the host greeted him to the hall to have a midnight snack, and while eating and talking, he unconsciously talked about Liu Bucai's deck of cards. "Your brother's vision is really sharp." Pang Er said, "All of a sudden, I saw that there is one less card and one 'nail' outside. This kind of skill, it is not three or five years." "Old Liu is a character." Even Friday was convinced, "I bet with you, and it's fun to lose. When will we take a good bet on him." "What's the use of 'when'?" Pang Er interjected, "It's tomorrow." "Isn't there an appointment tomorrow, I'm bothering Lao Hu, it will be better the day after tomorrow." "Tomorrow will be the same." Hu Xueyan said, "Whoever you invite to play, I will also make up the post." "No, no need!" Pang Er said, "I'll treat everyone to dinner the day after tomorrow, bring some friends over, and have a good bet on him." He specifically asked Liu Bucai, "Are you free the day after tomorrow?" "Every day is empty." "Okay, then please come here earlier the day after tomorrow." Pang Er said again, "Please enjoy everything, if you like to play, otherwise just eat. I have hired a new cook, and the shark fin I make is not bad. Please come and taste it some." "Thank you!" Wang Youling said, "I will return to Huzhou the day after tomorrow." So they made an impromptu agreement that, except for Wang Youling, everyone would go to Pang Er's appointment the day after tomorrow.Naturally, Ji Heling was also invited, and Pang Er admired him very much, saying that he must be invited, and specially asked Hu Xueyan to pay his respects on his behalf. The next day Hu Xueyan borrowed Wang Youling's house for a treat, and it was still "Xiaowanwan".After two days, Liu Bucai won more than 10,000 silver, and he was very excited.However, Hu Xueyan reminded him that he should not change his original intention because of this, and he would never succeed in starting a business by gambling. At the same time, he once again asked him to win over Pang Er submissively, and then take a good camera to speak. "It seems that we hit it off very well." Liu Bucai said, "The long-term is far away, 'the fire is so hot that the pig's head rots'—" "No!" Hu Xueyan couldn't afford to be so careless, "I want to entrust him with his affairs, very urgently! Third Uncle, no matter what, take advantage of tomorrow's opportunity to subdue him. It's good to be like yesterday, even I don't know what to do." Admired. But you are not right today, you put all your mind on gambling, and missed the business." "Today's opportunity is very good. I'll get a few of them first to make a bet." Liu Bucai smiled shyly, "If there is no chance in the future, just let me go!" "You don't have to worry about gambling. If you have a chance to win a few, I naturally have no objection to you. There is no reason why you must lose, but you have to take into account your original intention to gamble." Hu Xueyan said again, "Business is In this way! Everywhere, don’t forget what you are for!” Liu Bucai thought for a while, then nodded and replied, "Okay! I'm going to deal with Pang Er tomorrow with all my energy." Pang Er's banquets are very grand. His family has a villa at the foot of Geling Mountain in West Lake, and the banquets are held there.The weather in November, the northwest wind blowing outside makes people heavy and the fur is not warm, but in Pang Er's villa, it is as warm as spring. The feast was held in the greenhouse with the mountain behind and the lake facing. Miscellaneous, but they are all wearing plain clothes, so it is not easy to tell them apart. The banquet was a luncheon, and it was already two o'clock in the afternoon after the meal. Except for a few people, the rest were all well-known gamblers, and as soon as the banquet was over, they discussed how to gamble. "Be the owner's shaker stall!" This proposal was immediately echoed.Pang Er is famous for his love of stalls, and on this occasion, Pang Er is naturally the most qualified to be the dealer.Although he has the heart to do his part, he can't help hesitating because he lacks a helper. But seeing Liu Bucai in a blink of an eye, he immediately readily agreed: "Okay! If you are interested, I will roll out dozens of stalls first." So besides a table of mahjong, nearly 20 people were ready to fight.The servants prepared tables, seats, and gambling equipment, but Pang Er took Liu Bucai aside to have something to say. "Old Liu! We are a partner. I have 60% and you 40%. What do you think?" "Of course it's good! But first, I want the 'Lingyiling' market. I only have 30,000 silver with me. The scene is too big. I have to send someone back to get the money." "No, no, I have the money. Don't take the capital first, and wait until the scene is over. There is only one thing, please do the 'matchmaking' for me." I have a bad temper, and the matching is not good, so I have no energy when I shake it. That day, when I was shaking the stall on Friday, I asked a friend to help me temporarily. I only produced five "old treasures", and I lost less than 20,000 silver. My hands trembled a little when I made a match with my friend. It wasn’t that he helped me, I was ungrateful, and even if I said that someone like that friend made a match, I really lost my face!” "I haven't done a match for you, but I have nothing to say about your business. I'm afraid I won't be able to handle it," "You're welcome." Pang Ergong cupped his hands, "Praise my little brother! Thank you, thank you." So Liu Bucai came to the scene to perform the task of opening and matching.I saw that the countertop has been set up. That table is specially used for shaking stalls. The red sandalwood table and the boxwood table top are one size larger than the usual square table. The big dot, one point for the banker, three points for the opposite door, two on the right, four on the left, blue dragon on the left, white tiger on the right, standing between three and four in the upper left corner as usual, that is the auspicious "green dragon corner". . When he stood still on the corner of Qinglong, a servant delivered a box of chips. The chips were four-inch tooth chips!It is engraved with the four characters "Shi Zai Tang Pang" in gold. As a logo, there are five types of chips, which are engraved with the ideas of "Heaven, Earth, Man, and Harmony" in the dominoes. There is also a white chip that is only engraved with the hall name. , is naturally the smallest code. Liu Bucai set the chips into five classes, one thousand, five hundred, one hundred, fifty, and ten taels. After the gamblers bought the chips, the "emperor" Pang Er sat down and picked up a blue and white flower from a Chenghua kiln in the Ming Dynasty. Shake the cylinder, "Cha Langlang, Cha Langlang" three times, turn on the cylinder and see that twelve o'clock is four. "That's right! 'Open the Azure Dragon'!" Pang Er said and shook. The first three times are called "Liang Tan", which is good for gamblers to "paint the road".After the fourth shake, the betting officially started. The scene was extremely lively, and Liu Bucai was about to show his skills. Shaking stalls is the fairest in betting. Those who make the first bet will not suffer any losses, and there are the most tricks to bet on. Just like Pai Gow, in addition to playing "corner" and "hengtang", you can also play "big head".Jiao and Hengtang, the striker and the banker each occupy two gates, so it is a gamble, and the "big head" is different. Although they each occupy two gates, there are differences in winning methods. If you win twice, open the "door" to count as peace.In addition, there is also "flying a kite", playing three games with one hand, and two games with three games if you win. In terms of money, you bet one with three, and the big capital makes small profits, which seems to be a disadvantage; One, of course, is the one that does not place bets. There are also three bets, and all three bets will be taken. "Flying a kite" or "Gu Ding", you can eat as you like and match it as you like, without worrying about the brain. The troublesome thing is to change the bet number. Don't move, just speak with your mouth, and you must remember it.When what shouldn't be eaten is served, no one speaks; when what shouldn't be eaten is eaten, some people protest.Losing money is a trivial matter, and if you make a mistake, you are not qualified, and you will lose face for Pang Er, so Liu Bucai dare not ignore it, and pay attention to every bet. Secretly working hard, but superficially very leisurely, wait for the shaker tank to come on, eat what should be eaten, how many times what should be served, and calculate clearly one by one, no gossip, let alone disputes.Not only did Liu Bucai calculate clearly, but he also calculated very quickly. The dealer would not be bored waiting, so he shook with extra vigor. Not long after, the 20 stalls had been shaken, and the dealership was half done, before Pang Er took a look at the bank notes in front of him. At the hand of the opening match, there are only chips and banknotes less than 10,000 yuan. If the balance is over 10,000 yuan, you have to put it in front of the dealer.Liu Bucai and Pang Er had just made friends, and since he was responsible for winning trust, he was naturally very careful about these details.Pang Er nodded briefly at this time, there are fourteen or five stacks in total, and he owns the capital of one hundred thousand silver, so it is not a small amount to win. But the second half was not as good as the first half. Liu Bucai kept reaching out to him to withdraw money, and in a blink of an eye, there were only seven stacks left.And Tan Lu is even worse, a vat of blue dragons, a vat of white tigers, tossing back and forth, this is called "Shaking the Road", also known as "Shaking Oars", Friday saw it right, and beat 20,000 orphans on the white tigers in one go , In addition, there are ten thousand taels of silver on this door. If the dealer opens two, he will have to match 90,000 taels of silver. Although there are three doors to eat, the amount is very small, and the money in front of the dealer is not enough to lose. This is the responsibility of matching, and the dealer must be reminded, but some dealers don't like to hear that it is not enough to match, so Liu Bucai is a little hesitant. When he raised his eyes and saw Hu Xueyan, he frowned unconsciously, and Hu Xueyan immediately gave him a blocking look.Liu Bucai became alert, and he pushed his mouth in front of the dealer, and then returned to normal. "Old Liu!" Of course Pang Er had a calculation of his own and asked, "How is it?" This question is of course asking whether the capital is enough?Liu Bucai couldn't discourage him, but it was also inconvenient to say everything and be too sure, so he just said vaguely: "Let's go!" It turned out to be three, Liu Bucai breathed a sigh of relief, and when the food and distribution were finished, the servant of Pang's family took two bank notes and quietly put them in front of Pang Er.He looked at it, a little surprised, and nodded, not knowing whether it was understanding or approval. "Old Five!" Pang Er looked at Friday and said, "Go ahead! I've added capital, and I'll add another 100,000." Strange to say, once the capital is increased, the hand style will be different, and the road is unpredictable, focusing on the door with a small number of bets.After the forty stalls were shaken, I won 70,000 silver at the checkout. The next thing was to be the farmer on Friday, and Liu Bucai was also asked to do the matchmaking for him. After the 20 stalls were over, it was already eight o'clock in the evening by watching the clock, so we stopped eating.Taking advantage of this gap, Pang Er found Liu Bucai in the study, opened the drawer, took out two envelopes, and handed them to him. Liu Bucai refused to answer, "Second Brother Pang!" He asked, "What is this?" "You open it and take a look." Opening the first envelope, there were three banknotes inside, two from Fukang Bank, 50,000 each, and one from another bank, 5,000. "Old Hu is a very good friend. He asked my servant to give me one hundred thousand silver to increase my capital. I don't need it, but I appreciate your kindness. Five thousand silver is considered a lottery. Please pass it on to him." "Xueyan refuses to accept—" "Don't worry about it." Pang Er interrupted him, "I just entrust you to pass it on." Liu Bucai was also born as a young master, so he accepted Hu Xueyan's resignation knowing that it was against his wishes.Looking at the second envelope, it contained more than thirty-two thousand taels of silver. "This is your share." Pang Er explained, "The original said 40% to 60%, I think it's better to 'open from north to south'." When Liu Bucai gambled a lot back then, he rarely gambled 30,000 silver in and out, but now he won such a sum of money in a daze, and he couldn't believe it was real, so he stood there in a daze, speechless. Pang Er couldn't help feeling strange.He was thinking, could it be that he has insufficient intentions?This doubtful thought will disappear at the same time, that will never happen!But he must be thinking of something to explain.This confession is not something that can be done with just a thank you. Thirty-two thousand silver is not a small amount.Pang Er was already very proud of being able to bring such great benefits to others, and of course he wanted to hear a few more words of "enjoyment", the young master's temper was like this. Liu Bucai's move is self-evident, but he didn't let the sudden wealth go to his head. He thought to himself, what Hu Xueyan meant was to win Pang Er's trust by himself, and it would be best if he could meet him. own love.Now that they have allocated this huge sum, they have to see their love.Besides, the word "cash money" is what the casino pays attention to. At that time, it was agreed that the ratio of 40 to 60 would be a partnership, so the capital should be paid first, and the 30,000 silver notes on the body should be handed over. .Although Pang Er is famous for being rich and young, he doesn't care about it, but he is beautiful and he must be beautiful. This is a friend who is equal to each other. The reason is that I figured it out, if I want to make friends with Pang Er and do things for Hu Xueyan, I can't accept this money.If you don't accept it, it's 32,000 silver, plus the 10,000 you won the day before, it's enough to restore the "Jingde Hall". Because the relationship between income and exit is too big, it is really difficult to make up your mind, but at this time, he is not allowed to calmly think about it, he gritted his teeth and said in his heart: If you want to make friends like Hu Xueyan and Pang Er, you may not have another chance in the future. . So he made a look of embarrassment and apology, smiled and said: "Second brother Pang, you are famous for being generous, and this is equivalent to giving me thirty-two thousand silver. I don't know how to flatter you if I don't accept it.不安。我想这样，做朋友不在一日。以后无论是在一起玩，还是干啥正经，总还有合伙的机会。这笔钱，我存在你这里。”说着，把那个信封放回庞二面前。 “你——”庞二搔搔头皮，“没有这个道理！我们一笔了一笔，以后再说，无论一起玩，还是干啥正经，总有你一份就是了。” 刘不才急忙拱手：“庞二哥说到这话，当我一个朋友，这就尽够了！来来，吃饭去！” 一面说，一面走了出去。庞二无可奈何，只好在那个信封上写了“刘存”二字，藏入抽斗。 等吃了饭再赌，刘不才觉得刚才那样做法，对胡雪岩的委托来说，已经做到，所以心无牵挂，全副精神摆在赌上，用“冷、准、狠”的三字诀，在周五所摇的二十摊中，只下了三次注，看准了“老宝”打两千银子的孤丁，赢了六千，连本带利再扑一记，变成一万八。第三记收起一万打八千，如果赢了，就是两千变成三万四，除去本钱，恰好是那辞谢未受的三万二千银子。结果吃掉了，周五的庄也做完了，刘不才赢了八千银子。 以后换了推牌九，赌到天亮，没有什么进出，而刘不才觉得三四天工夫就赢了两万银子，大可知足。 伸个懒腰，离开牌桌，走到窗前把窗帘拉开，顿觉强光眩目，闭一闭眼，再从那难得几家有的外国玻璃窗望出去，不由得讶然失声：“好大的雪！” “真是！赌得昏天黑地，”高四也说，“外面下这么大的雪都不知道。” “雪景倒真不坏！”刘不才望着弥望皆白的西湖说，“庞二哥这个庄子的地势真好，真正是洞天福地。” “你说好就不要走。”周五赌兴未已，“多的是客房，睡一觉起来，我们再盘肠大战。” 刘不才遇到赌是从不推辞的，但此时想到胡雪岩的正事，而他本人又早已回城，必得跟他碰个头才谈得到其他，所以推说有个紧要约会，宁可回了城再来。 “再来就不必了。”庞二说道，“今天歇一天吧！如果有兴，倒不妨逛一逛西湖，我派船到涌金门码头去等你们。” 一听这话，周五先就将脖子一缩，“我可没有这个雅兴，”他说，“不如到我那里去吃火锅，吃完再赌一场。” “不行！”庞二笑道，“我这个地方，就是赏雪最好，我也学一学高人雅士，今天不想进城。” 高四也说有事，还有几位客，都不开口，周五的提议，就此打消。在庞家吃了丰盛的早饭，各自坐轿进城。刘不才不回钱庄，直接到一家招牌叫“华清池”的澡堂，在滚烫的“大汤”中泡了一会，躺在软榻上叫人捶着腿便睡着了。 这一觉睡到下午两点才醒，还不想离开澡堂子，喊来一名跑堂，到馆子里，叫菜来吃饭，同时写了张条子，吩咐送到胡雪岩家，说明行踪，请来相会。 等他就着一只十景生片火锅，喝完四两白干，正在吃饭时，胡雪岩到了，一见他便很注意地说：“你今天的气色特别好。想来得意？” “还不错。一切都很顺利。等我吃完这碗饭，再细谈。”刘不才说，“天气太冷，你先到池子里泡一泡。” 于是胡雪岩解衣入池，等他回到座位，刘不才已很悠闲地在喝着茶等。炕几上摆着个信封，看上面写着两行字：“拜烦袖致雪岩老哥。” “你昨天怎么不等庞二把摊摇完，就走了？” “我自然要先走，不然，到晚上'叫城门'就麻烦了。”胡雪岩说，“我开了两张票子，带在身上，交是交了给庞二，号子里有没有这么多存款，还不知道，必得赶进城来布置好。” “亏得庞二不曾输掉，否则就麻烦了。”刘不才这时倒有不寒而栗之感，“你想，我说了跟他四六成合伙，倘或连你这十万一起输光，就是二十万。我派四成，得要八万，划个账，找两万银子。十万剩了两万，险呀！这种事下次做不得了。” “你也知道做不得！”胡雪岩笑道，“你在场上赌，等于我在场外赌。不过我这场外赌，无论输赢，都是合算的。” “赢了是格外合算。你看！”刘不才把信封推了给他，说明经过。 胡雪岩这时才打开信封，把他自己的两张银票收了起来，扬着庞二的那张五千两的银票说：“我当然不能要他这五千银子，但也不便退回。只有一个办法，用他的名义，捐给善堂。昨天夜里一场大雪，起码有二三十具'倒路尸'，我钱庄里已经舍了四口棺材了。” “'做好事'应该！我也捐一千银子。” “算了，算了！”胡雪岩不便说他有了钱，“大少爷脾气”就会发作，只这样阻止，“你要做好事，也该到湖州去做！杭州有我，不劳你费心。” 刘不才有些发觉了，略显窘色地笑道：“其实我也要别人来做好事，自己哪里有这个资格。” “闲话少说。”胡雪岩说，“这里不是说话的地方，到舍间去谈。”