Appreciation

"Then I'll thank you in advance." Xue Chen flashed Old Xu a set of neat, white teeth and said with a cheerful grin.

"All right, now that you're more or less recovered, I can rest easy. As for what happened to your parents, don't keep tormenting yourself over it." Before leaving, Old Xu even patted Xue Chen on the head. He cared so much about this student because Xue Chen was truly promising. He did not want such a huge blow to make the student turn extreme; that would be a terrible waste.

He had experienced so much and seen quite a few gifted youths fall apart after drastic ups and downs caused by one thing or another. He had been unable to stop those people, but Xue Chen was his student, and he had an obligation to set him straight.

Clearly, Xue Chen understood Old Xu's intentions as well. He said nothing more, merely watched him leave with a smile.

"Xiao Chen, are you all right?" Seeing that Xue Chen's complexion had returned to normal, Mother Lin let out a breath of relief and walked over to ask him.

"Auntie Lin, I'm fine now. I asked Doctor Zhang earlier, and he said I can be discharged." Xue Chen answered with a grin, though he understood his own condition perfectly well. Other than excessive blood loss, there was nothing seriously wrong with him. But because the earlier cut had been rather deep and had nearly severed a tendon, Father Lin and Mother Lin had forced him to stay in the hospital for several more days. Even that Auntie Yu from before occasionally brought him soup. It made him feel incredibly warm. People of this era were simply sincere in their feelings.

Whooo—! Holding the Hong Kong and Macau travel permit Old Xu had helped him obtain, Xue Chen boarded a ship bound for Macau. The reason he had not gone to Hong Kong was simply that his current funds were insufficient to support his next plan.

What did Macau have plenty of? Casinos!

Though gambling really did ruin people, it was undeniable that back then, there were only two ways to get rich overnight: buying lottery tickets or gambling.

As for why he was so confident that he could secure his initial capital, it was because he possessed a secret of his own. He did not have some legendary system or anything like that, but he had discovered that his hearing and eyesight were astonishingly sharp. His thoughts were also a step ahead of others, and his memory was extraordinary. His easy victory over Fan Tianwen last time had relied partly on those abilities.

With 300,000 Hong Kong dollars exchanged and tucked away, Xue Chen set foot on this land. The first thing he did after arriving in Macau was get himself a proper outfit: a white shirt, black dress pants, a layer of hair gel, and a pair of clear-lens glasses. He forcibly made himself look twenty-six or twenty-seven. Combined with his handsome, aristocratic face, he looked like the son of a wealthy family to outsiders.

Carrying his suitcase, he headed straight for the Lisboa Hotel at the southern end of Avenida da Amizade in Macau. He booked a luxurious suite and prepaid more than 50,000 in lodging fees. Watching the money disappear into the other party's hands made Xue Chen's heart ache, but for the sake of his next plan, this was money he had to spend.

The Lisboa Hotel was a diverse establishment built in 1970 by the famed He Household, combining a casino, hotel, and other entertainment facilities. He had chosen to stay here because of the He Household's reputation and influence in Macau. No one dared cause trouble in a He Household casino. If you truly dared to do so, well, you might become fish food in the South China Sea the next day.

After checking in, Xue Chen did not rush straight to the casino. Instead, he enjoyed a good meal, took a bath, relaxed completely, and slept through the night. When he woke the next morning, he wandered around the area for a while before finally returning to his room at dawn.

After getting everything ready, Xue Chen took 50,000 Hong Kong dollars into the inner gaming hall to exchange for chips. Before him were all kinds of gaming tables spanning an area as large as a football field, while rows of slot machines resembling arcade games lined the walls, each surrounded by crowds.

After making a round of the place, Xue Chen arrived at a roulette table just as the dealer spun the wheel. He found a seat and casually placed 10,000 worth of chips on number 27. With odds of thirty-five to one, the onlookers beside him all turned to stare. They inwardly mocked him for being some clueless fool who had wandered in, but seeing how he was dressed, none of them dared say much. After all, all sorts of people came here to gamble. For all they knew, offending someone at random could bring trouble they could never recover from.

Soon, the roulette wheel stopped. The little white ball bounced along with the wheel before finally dropping into the slot for number 27. The crowd erupted in an uproar. He had only bet 10,000, but at thirty-five times the payout, that was 350,000. Some people even wondered why they had not followed his bet earlier.

The corners of Xue Chen's lips lifted. "I didn't expect my luck to be this good today. Then I'll press my advantage." As he spoke, he pulled out 50,000 worth of chips and tossed them onto number 4. This time, however, his luck was clearly not as good.

"Looks like the last round really was just luck." The people nearby all laughed, failing to notice the calm in Xue Chen's eyes.

Appreciation

"How are things on this side?" In a lavish, luxurious office, the middle-aged man seated behind the desk flipped through the accounts in his hands while glancing at his son standing nearby.

The young man seated on the sofa raised his head and looked at his father before speaking calmly. "Not bad. The hotel's income has been within a respectable range these past two days, and the casino has been the same." He smiled after saying that.

Hearing his son say this, the middle-aged man smiled as well. "Good. I've reviewed these accounts. The profits over the past few months have reached around twenty-five percent of the projected amount. It seems you've been putting in a lot of effort."

Hearing his father's praise, the young man's lips curved into a smile. "Dad, you flatter me. I only did as you instructed."

"Heh heh, I believe that. But don't get too proud just yet. The road ahead is still long," the middle-aged man continued.

"Yes, I'll remember that." The young man nodded very seriously.

"All right, there's no need to spend the whole day in the office. Go keep your father company and take a walk." After checking the accounts and finding no problems, the middle-aged man said this.