Chapter 75: The Sweet Harbor Tempest - Persuasion

The door was open, and looking inside, one could see several sedan chairs parked in the courtyard. From the main hall, the faint sounds of mahjong tiles and dice rolling could be heard, clearly a gambling den. Numerous street food vendors lined the path from the entrance to what seemed like a second courtyard. The people coming and going were a motley crew, a mix of all walks of life.

“They’re gambling openly here?” Chen Tianxiong was somewhat surprised.

“That’s right. Sister-in-law Ai’s lover is the head of the county yamen’s punishment bureau. The benefits are considerable.”

Xiao Zhanfeng explained that this gambling house paid an annual tribute of around ten thousand taels to the county officials, so no one ever interfered.

Looking through the door, Chen Tianxiong saw several gambling tables. He asked, “Can anyone go in?”

“Yes, yes. The first courtyard is open to everyone. The gambling is small-stakes. Regulars go to the back, but you need an introduction.”

So they went in for a look. There were pai gow and fan-tan tables. Chen Tianxiong, adapting to the local customs, was there to observe the environment and didn’t place any bets. Zhou Shidi, of course, abstained, as gambling was a major taboo for a caravan guard. After a brief tour, Xiao Zhanfeng whispered, “He’s usually in the second courtyard.”

“How do we get in?”

“You need an introduction from a regular.”

“Can you introduce us?”

“Me, a regular?” Xiao Zhanfeng scoffed. “Follow me, let’s go out first.”

They exited the main gate and took a small path to the side. Xiao Zhanfeng knocked a few times on a door, and a middle-aged woman with rough hands and feet answered. She seemed quite familiar with Xiao Zhanfeng, greeting him with a smile. Xiao Zhanfeng said, “This is my relative, Auntie Liu.”

It was unclear what kind of distant relative this Auntie Liu was. Usually, when Xiao Zhanfeng was down on his luck and struggling to find his next meal, he would come here for a free bite. Fortunately, the place was bustling day and night, the kitchen always had a fire going, and food and snacks were constantly available. So, as long as someone was willing to help, getting a full meal was never a problem.

Xiao Zhanfeng exchanged a few words with his aunt in the local dialect, then turned back. “You two come in first. That Lin fellow was with Little Jinxiu until midnight and still hasn’t gotten up.” He spat contemptuously. “I’m going to grab a bite to eat first.”

It turned out he hadn’t eaten breakfast either and was planning to freeload here.

“How much longer?”

“It should be soon. They just sent in his washing water. We’ll wait for him in the hall.” With that, Xiao Zhanfeng led them to a secluded spot in the servants’ quarters. A moment later, Auntie Liu brought a steamer filled with an assortment of sweet and savory snacks, likely leftovers from the guests, reheated.

“Would you two like some?” Xiao Zhanfeng asked, grabbing a flaky pastry and stuffing it into his mouth. He swallowed too quickly and started to choke. Auntie Liu hurriedly brought him a bowl of tea. He gulped it down and then snatched a shrimp dumpling.

“No, thank you. We’ve already eaten,” Chen Tianxiong said, thinking that this scholar had no qualms about eating the leftovers from a brothel.

As if guessing their thoughts, Xiao Zhanfeng mumbled while eating, “You must be laughing at me, a scholar, reduced to begging for food at a brothel’s door.”

Chen Tianxiong was about to say something, desperately searching his mind for examples of heroes who had fallen on hard times. Just as he recalled the story of Han Xin enduring the humiliation of crawling between someone’s legs, Xiao Zhanfeng said with a bitter smile, “When you’re poor, your ambition shortens, just as a skinny horse’s hair grows long. When a man is down and out, having a meal is all that matters. What’s there to say about dignity?” He shook his head.

His words were filled with resentment. Dissatisfaction with one’s own lot in life often leads to dissatisfaction with society, which was even better.

After he finished his “breakfast,” Auntie Liu quietly led them through the woodshed to a moon gate.

“Gentlemen, through here is the second courtyard,” Xiao Zhanfeng whispered. “Once inside, just watch and don’t speak. It’s the custom here not to pry into other people’s business. When Lin Zhuang comes out, we’ll approach him directly.”

They had no objection. Led by Xiao Zhanfeng, they confidently passed through the moon gate and entered a large hall.

It was even livelier here than outside. The games were similar, but there was no cash on the tables, only exquisite ivory tokens. Chen Tianxiong, with his sharp eyesight, noticed they were finely engraved with characters like “Heaven,” “Earth,” and “Man,” likely a form of code.

Chen Tianxiong whispered, “There are too many eyes and ears here. If the Haiyi Guild finds out we’ve shown our faces, it will be troublesome.”

“Don’t worry,” Xiao Zhanfeng said with great certainty. “This is the county seat, not Haian Street. They have no say here. Those sugar dogs never come here.”

“That’s good.” As Chen Tianxiong was looking around, Xiao Zhanfeng whispered, “Don’t look around so much. It’s taboo here. Follow me.”

Xiao Zhanfeng knew that Lin Zhuang’s favorite game was fan-tan, so he quietly led Chen Tianxiong to a fan-tan table and they stood behind the crowd, waiting for Lin Zhuang to appear.

Since their target hadn’t arrived, Chen Tianxiong focused his attention on the gambling table. He had extensive social experience and had been in various casinos, but he had never seen this particular game before.

The table was specially made for fan-tan, with a hardwood top larger than a standard square table. The corners were inlaid with marble to mark the boundaries, and each section had a marble circle the size of a teacup. The dealer’s side was one, the opposite was three, the right was two, and the left was four—the Azure Dragon on the left, the White Tiger on the right.

The dealer used a shaker to roll the dice three times, then opened it to reveal the numbers, each with its own special name. The onlookers placed their bets on the various sections of the table according to their choices and strategies. Chen Tianxiong watched intently and noticed that the betting in fan-tan was complex and the stakes were high. He gradually figured out the value of the ivory tokens: a “Heaven” token was one hundred taels, “Earth” was fifty, “Man” was ten, and the plain ones were likely one tael. The total stakes on this table were nearly five thousand taels. And this was just a small county seat in Xuwen! The wealth brought by the sugar industry was truly beyond imagination.

The dealer was on a hot streak. Losers came and went like waves in the Yangtze River, pushing Chen Tianxiong from the back to the front, from standing to sitting. To avoid attracting attention, Chen Tianxiong also bought ten taels of small tokens and bet casually, planning to retreat to the back once he lost it all.

Unexpectedly, his random bets started winning. In no time, a pile of tokens had accumulated in front of him. By the end of the first half of the session, he had won over a hundred taels.

Fan-tan has what are called “patterns,” which are the betting strategies each person follows. There are many famous patterns—the grand pattern, the small pattern, the complex pattern, the simple pattern—all with their own elaborate theories. In reality, everyone just believes in their own. Someone like Chen Tianxiong, who bet randomly without any pattern and kept winning, was a rare sight in the casino. He immediately became the center of attention. Being a newcomer, with his calm demeanor and casual, carefree betting style, he seemed all the more mysterious and intriguing.

Under the gaze of dozens of eyes, his luck didn’t wane in the second half of the session. Although there were some losses, his wins still outnumbered them. By the end of the session, Chen Tianxiong had a net gain of over two hundred taels. The others at the table looked at him with a mixture of surprise, envy, anger, and frustration.

Even Chen Tianxiong himself couldn’t help but feel a little proud.

The dealer, trying to curry favor with the gamblers, also expressed his admiration and instructed the attendant at the “Azure Dragon corner” to waive his “house cut.” Chen Tianxiong, however, remained impassive. He slowly stood up, cupped his hands, and said, “Just luck!”

He paid the house cut in full, tossing it to the “Azure Dragon corner,” a classy move that gave the casino plenty of face.

But there was no need to continue gambling. He was here to find Lin Zhuang, not to gamble, and certainly not to make a name for himself in Xuwen’s underworld. Nearly an hour had passed, and Lin Zhuang still hadn’t shown up. He started to feel anxious.

Xiao Zhanfeng, however, was very excited. He whispered, “Manager Chen, I didn’t expect you to be so skilled!”

“Where is Lin Zhuang? Why isn’t he here yet?”

“He’s already here, but you were on such a winning streak, I didn’t want to disturb you…”

Chen Tianxiong was at a loss for words. Xiao Zhanfeng gestured with his eyes: that’s Lin Zhuang.

At the edge of the fan-tan table sat a man of about thirty, with rough hands and feet and numerous burn scars, the typical look of a laborer. But his face was sallow, he had an air of weariness, and his eyes were vacant. Chen Tianxiong, with his wide experience, recognized this as the result of excessive indulgence in wine and women.

Although he was sitting at the table, he had only a few tokens in front of him. Just then, the dealer called out a “four,” wiping out three of the sections. He watched his tokens being collected by the attendant and sighed. When it was time to bet again, he hesitated, clutching his few remaining tokens, unable to place a bet.

“Old Lin! Why aren’t you betting?” the dealer asked. “We’re about to roll!”

“If you’re worried about your money, you should quit! Your luck is bad right now,” someone advised.

“If you’d spent a little less on Little Jinxiu last night, you’d have money today!”

Lin Zhuang stared blankly for a long time, unable to make a decision. If he lost these last few taels, he would be penniless. And Sister-in-law Ai’s place, though not a yamen, was also a “no money, no entry” establishment. As much as he was reluctant to leave—especially the memory of Little Jinxiu’s captivating charms, on whom he had spent more than half the silver from Third Master Zhu—he would be immediately thrown out.

He was tempted to try his luck one more time, but the several hundred people at the Zou Heshang Temple were about to run out of food today. No silver meant no rice. To get more money from Third Master Zhu, he would have to at least go through with the incense-burning ceremony to show some results. Lin Zhuang knew the workers were already dissatisfied with him. If there was no rice this time, the whole incense-burning affair might fall through.

After much thought, he stood up and gave up his seat. He retreated to a corner by himself and ordered a pot of tea. With little money, he wasn’t about to tip. The people in the hall turned cold quickly. It took a long time for a pot of tea to arrive, and it was cold.

“Truly, a whore has no heart,” Lin Zhuang muttered to himself. He was just plotting how to talk to the workers, to get them to make a bigger scene during the incense-burning tomorrow so he could ask Third Master Zhu for more money.

As he was scheming, someone suddenly clapped him on the shoulder and called out, “Master Lin!”

Lin Zhuang, unaware that he was being watched, turned to see Zhou Shidi smiling at him. “Are you calling me?”

“Yes! Aren’t you Master Lin Zhuang?”

“Yes, that’s me.” His eyes darted over Zhou Shidi, as if trying to place him.

Seeing this man was well-dressed but not ostentatious, with a dignified air and graceful movements, he knew he was not to be trifled with. He asked politely, “Does this gentleman need something from me?”

“My master would like to make your acquaintance,” Zhou Shidi said with a smile.

“Who is your master? You haven’t mistaken me for someone else, have you…”

“No mistake,” Zhou Shidi lowered his voice. “My master is in the private room. Please, come with me. He has something to say to you.”

Lin Zhuang was suddenly on high alert. Having mixed with all sorts of people, he knew the treachery of the underworld. He was currently working with Third Master Zhu against the Huanan Sugar Factory, which was also a powerful entity. When giants fight, the little people suffer. If Huanan sent someone to deal with him, his cries for help would go unheard. This wasn’t Haian Street; the Haiyi Guild had no influence here. Moreover, Sister-in-law Ai’s place was where silver was king. If his opponent paid enough, he could end up as a corpse on the street by morning.

He reacted quickly, trying to excuse himself. “I appreciate your master’s kindness, but I have some errands to run. I will come to pay my respects as soon as I’m done…”

Before he could finish, Zhou Shidi’s hand had already gripped his wrist.

“Master Lin, it’s better if you come now. My master is a very busy man!” Zhou Shidi was still smiling, but his eyes were ice-cold.

Lin Zhuang was shocked. He tried to struggle, but a sharp pain shot through his wrist, and half his body went numb.

“Please!”

Forced into the private room, Lin Zhuang saw Chen Tianxiong sitting with his back to the light, making it impossible to see his face, while Chen Tianxiong could see him clearly. Worried about exposing a local, Chen Tianxiong had Xiao Zhanfeng wait in the next room.

“This is our Master Chen,” Zhou Shidi said as he “escorted” him in.

Lin Zhuang, being something of an “underworld” person, knew the situation was dire. Politeness costs nothing. He quickly knelt and kowtowed.

“Get up,” Chen Tianxiong said in a deep voice.

“Yes, thank you, Master Chen.” Lin Zhuang stood up and carefully moved to the side. Seeing the man who had brought him in guarding the door, he cursed his luck, thinking he was in for a rough time.

Chen Tianxiong got straight to the point. “I have been sent by the owner of Huanan to have a few words with you! The conflict between the Haiyi Guild and the Huanan Factory is their own business. It has nothing to do with you sugar mill workers. I advise you to stay out of it, to avoid unnecessary trouble and hurt feelings!”

“I wouldn’t dare, I wouldn’t dare.” The moment Lin Zhuang heard he was from Huanan, his legs went weak, and he collapsed to his knees, kowtowing repeatedly. His involvement with Third Master Zhu was known throughout Xuwen. His opponent might not dare to touch Third Master Zhu, but crushing a lowly fire-stoker like him would be effortless. How could he know they weren’t planning to make an example of him, like “killing the chicken to scare the monkeys”?