I drive a Mercedes, smoke cigars, have beautiful women, live in a villa. In the eyes of others, I am infinitely awe-inspiring, I am an influential boss, a tycoon. But only a few people around me know that I... used to be a con artist.
Everything I have, I won back with my own hands.
I've met many people, including rough hooligans who can't dress properly, and well-dressed elites. But at the gambling table, they all represent one kind of person in my eyes, that is, the God of Wealth, those who bring me money.
However, I don't want everyone who is full of hope to become a person like me. The gambling table is a bottomless pit. If you win, you want to win more. If you lose, you want to get back to even. But almost always, there's only one result — loss.
Nine out of ten gamblers lose, out of ten tables, nine are scams. You better believe it, maybe you just haven't encountered it yet.
From my initial curiosity, to getting involved in gambling, training to become a con artist, and now a swindler who specializes in catching other swindlers, my life begins with an experience in a teahouse.
My hometown is a small town in southern Sichuan. My parents are honest farmers. They shaped my character.
My name is Li Chunsheng, I was an honest person from a young boy, the type that doesn't dare to fight back when bullied and beaten up.
However, I also have my own hobbies. Because I am not good at socializing, I am introverted, I like to perform magic tricks alone.
I'm quite good at magic, it's just a pity that there are no audiences, which is rather sad.
When I was 18 years old in my second year of high school, just of age, my father met the owner of a teahouse while working in town. He introduced me to work there during the summer vacation, to earn some tuition fees and reduce the burden on my family.
Even though I was not willing at heart, I had promised Juanjuan from the village that I would take her on a date by the Ding River in the county town, and she even agreed to give me her first kiss.
The owner of the teahouse is called Wang Fatty, fat-headed and intimidating. On my first day, he made me serve tea, and cautioned me that the guests in the teahouse were all people who shouldn't be messed with, and asked me to serve them well.
At noon while I was eating, Wang Fatty called me over from the doorway: "Li Chunsheng, come here!"
I swallowed my mouthful of food and hurriedly ran to Wang Fatty's side.
At that moment, Fat Wang was reclining in his rocking chair, sipping tea. He handed me twenty yuan, saying, "The guest in Room 3 upstairs wants to buy a pack of cigarettes, Yuxi. Hurry up!"
In my heart, a horde of wild horses stormed across, an internal Chinese meme to express profanity, indicating my annoyance. I was eating, yet was given the errand? But, who asked me to be the one working here for the summer vacation?
I went to a nearby store and bought a pack of Yuxi, then dashed back. Fat Wang told me to deliver it upstairs.
Arriving outside Room 3 on the second floor, I knocked on the door. A robust male voice from inside beckoned me in.
As soon as I entered the room, the sight before me froze me in disbelief. The room was foggy with smoke. Around a table sat four men, three of them burly, shirtless, covered with tattoos. Surprisingly, one of them was... Juanjuan's father - Uncle Li?
At that time, many notes were scattered and stacked on the table, bunches of money that I had never seen in my life.
In front of the four men, three cards were placed on the table. I saw Uncle Li casually throw in another bunch of money, shouting, "I'll follow!"
Damn, he's rather lavish!
Juanjuan's family isn't that rich, so where did Uncle Li get so much money to gamble?
Just then, the tattooed man closest to me glared at me, asking, "What are you doing here?"
Immediately intimidated by his presence, I stuttered, "I'm...I came to deliver the cigarettes."
Uncle Li looked towards me and laughed, "Oh, so it's Chunshe! Just put my cigarettes here."
I nodded, placed the cigarettes in front of Uncle Li, and began to leave, feeling as if I had been granted a reprieve.
But just then, I accidentally glanced at Uncle Li, whose hands were pressing on the table. I saw beneath Uncle Li's elbow, a glimpse of a card was revealed.
At that moment, the card was about to fall on the floor. There were two cards left in front of Uncle Li, while the rest of the tattooed men had three.
After a while, Uncle Li's card amazingly fell onto his thigh, and no one in the room noticed this.
Uncle Li's next-door neighbor picked up the card for a glance, revealing a triumphant smile, then also threw in a stack of hundred-dollar bills.
I couldn't help but whisper to Uncle Li, "Uncle, your card is falling!"
To my surprise, my words made Uncle Li's face turned pale.
The other tattooed big guys seemed to have heard something extremely horrifying. Two of them stood up immediately, shouting, "What do you mean?"
They looked towards Uncle Li, and upon a first glance, Uncle Li's cards were completely covered by hundred-dollar bills. Unless one was in my position, no one could see that Uncle Li only had two cards left.
Uncle Li hurriedly got into a fluster. I saw him panic and picked up the card that had fallen on his thigh and tried to quickly place it on the table – an action immediately caught by the tattooed big guy.
The tattooed big guy yelled, "Don't you fucking move!"
This roar scared me into trembling all over.
Another tattooed big guy directly lifted the hundred-dollar bills in front of Uncle Li. There were only two cards in front of Uncle Li, and his hand, held by another person, was clutching the card that had just fallen onto his lap.
"Well, I was wondering why you're so lucky today, daring to cheat right in front of me?" The most muscular tattooed big guy tugged Uncle Li's hand, causing Uncle Li's entire body to slam on the table. Money fluttered down and scattered all over the place.
Uncle Li hurriedly explained, "This... This was accidentally dropped!".
"You were planning on switching cards, weren't you?" The tattooed big guy asked mockingly.
Another tattooed big guy pointed at me and asked, "Kid, you were the one who saw it just now. Where was this card? Speak!"
I jerked back a step in fright, too scared to utter a single word.
Uncle Li looked at me with a plea in his eyes, but what I noticed was a burly man with tattoos, walking towards me. He pulled out a dagger from his pocket and glared at me, "Spill whatever you just saw. If you're not honest, I will chop off your hands too!"
“I...I...,” I stammered, having never experienced such a terrifying scene before. I immediately began to tremble, saying, “I was just noticing that your...your card was about to fall. I... I was merely alerting Uncle Li!”
"Heh Heh..."
One of the tattooed men reached out and began patting down Uncle Li, surprisingly finding another card on him!
"Darn it! He dared cheating! Go chop his hands off!"
...
Exiting the teahouse, I dashed home as fast as a bullet, ignoring the calls from Fatty Wang at the gate. I just wanted to hurry back home.
Upon arriving, my father asked what had happened. I simply recounted the incident at the teahouse, leaving him stunned as well. Meanwhile, word started spreading through the village. Uncle Li was caught cheating while playing cards at the teahouse and had both of his hands chopped off. He had already been sent to the hospital.
