Betting on the “Two-Headed Leopard”

The volleyball court opposite Cafeteria One at Jinling University.

Ribbons covered the center of the court, and balloons of every kind swayed in the breeze, complementing the handsome young men and pretty young women coming and going. The atmosphere was lively.

Four square tables, each ten meters long and ten meters wide, stood at reasonable intervals in the middle of the crowd. A dice cup sat on each table.

Standing in front of the tables, the host held a microphone and called out to everyone with a smile, "Thank you all for coming to our 'Guess the Dice' event! This event is sponsored by the famous clothing store Qingyu. We'll have four winners, and each winner will receive not only three thousand yuan from the Happy Dating Fund, but also two vouchers for a three-day trip to the Maldives! We hope everyone will join in and take home the grand prizes!"

The host's announcement drew cries of surprise from the entire crowd.

"Wow, aren't those prizes a little too generous?"

"Of course they are! Qingyu is a famous clothing store founded by Master Zi's daughter. Half the clothing stores in our East District have Qingyu's name on them, and their chain is almost expanding into the West District. Generous prizes are nothing surprising."

"I'm entering! I want to take my girlfriend to romantic Turkey, then head to Tokyo together and... huh? Wait, I don't think I have a girlfriend!"

"..."

One discussion followed another, attracting more and more attention.

Among the crowd was a young man wearing a baseball cap. He kept looking around, frowning every so often.

"It's already been three minutes. Did Fourth fall into a puddle on his way here?" Wang Nuli lit a cigarette and was about to take out his phone to hurry Jun Wangchen along again.

The moment he finished speaking, a knuckle came down from above and rapped him hard on the head.

Wang Nuli cried out in pain, clutched his head, and cursed, "Fuck! Who dares ambush His Majesty?"

"Your big brother Jun!" With his sleeves rolled up, Jun Wangchen walked slowly up to Wang Nuli.

"You keep signing me up for this and that, but I've never seen you sign yourself up. Damn it, are you trying to start something?"

Wang Nuli gave a dry cough. "No waaay. A junior in my department is running this event. She was worried nobody would show up, so she called me for help on the spot. And so, to protect the world from devastation, to safeguard world peace, I came looking for you—the lovable, charming champion of love and truth."

"Cut the joking around. Remember, this is the last time. Sign me up for any more random crap, and you can kiss those dozens of gigs of videos on your hard drive goodbye." Jun Wangchen's face darkened as he spoke irritably.

"Understood!" Wang Nuli nodded with utmost seriousness, then pointed at the tables in the middle of the court and explained, "Fourth, before the event starts, let me explain the rules. Each dice cup on the tables contains two dice, and six is the dividing line.

"When the cup is lifted, if the numbers on the two dice add up to less than six, the result is 'small.' If they add up to more than six, it's 'big.' If they equal six, it's a 'tie.' If both dice show the same number, it's 'doubles.'

"Each round, everyone can choose only one of those four options: big, small, tie, or doubles. Guess correctly and you advance. Guess wrong and you're eliminated. Got it?"

"Got it." Jun Wangchen thought for a moment, then nodded.

Wang Nuli made an OK sign. "This event will come down to your luck. I'm off to maintain world peace. Wait here until it starts."

With that, he waggled his eyebrows at Jun Wangchen, then ran over to the organizers and began chatting and laughing with a pretty girl.

"That animal!" Jun Wangchen's face darkened again. Damn it, how did I end up with such a bastard for a roommate?

He gave Wang Nuli an indignant look but said nothing more, sitting down nearby to wait for the event to begin.

As time passed, more and more people signed up. Fifteen minutes later, the host spoke again. "All right! We have a hundred participants for this event. You'll be divided into four groups of twenty-five according to your numbers. The last person remaining in each group will be a winner. Now, please take your places at your assigned tables."

Hearing this, Jun Wangchen opened his eyes from where he had been resting. He checked his number—seven—then headed toward the first table.

Just as he reached it, a rather grating voice suddenly sounded behind him.

"Well, well, isn't this Jun Wangchen? What's the matter? After my Qiu Ya dumped you, did you realize you were too poor and too low-class, so you came here to earn a little money for living expenses?"

Turning around, he saw Qin Shou approaching with his arm around Qiu Ya and a mocking expression on his face.

Jun Wangchen frowned. "Whether I join this event or not has nothing to do with you, does it?"

"Of course not. How could we possibly have anything to do with a penniless loser like you? We just think this event doesn't suit you. With your standing, picking through trash outside would be much more appropriate." Qin Shou lit a cigarette, his smiling face brimming with scorn.

Beside him, Qiu Ya tapped his chest in feigned displeasure. "Darling, don't say that. His mother already has such a hard time sweeping the streets every day. He can't take a blow like that from you. Sure, I also think picking through trash would go perfectly with his mother's job, but we should at least let him save a little face."

Qiu Ya's words seemed to criticize Qin Shou, but anyone with half a brain could tell what she really meant.

Jun Wangchen's expression had turned utterly grim. His eyes were filled with coldness—no, murderous intent was a more fitting description.

"You should be grateful this is a society governed by law. Otherwise, you'd have been dead the moment you said that!"

His icy voice, coupled with eyes as chilling as the Nine Nether, made Qin Shou and Qiu Ya shudder involuntarily.

"Heh... hehe. Murder? This guy's a lunatic. Qiu Ya, let's get away from this psycho."

"Exactly. We're here for the event too, but getting hurt by some lunatic would be such a loss. His life isn't worth nearly as much as ours, after all."

Echoing each other, they moved to the far edge of the first table as though fleeing a plague.

Jun Wangchen said nothing more. In his heart, however, another black mark had been added to Qin Shou and Qiu Ya's names. Once he held power and influence, he would pay them back for their sneering insults sooner or later.

Once the participants were in place, a girl with the typical internet-celebrity look approached each table. Clearly, they were the dealers for this "Guess the Dice" event.

Before the guessing began, the dealer explained the rules once more, then shook the dice.

Rattle, rattle, rattle!

The swish of rapid movement mingled with the clatter of dice. The participants heard nothing but that noisy rattling, and their anticipation grew with every collision.

After a while, the dealer stopped shaking the dice. She pointed to the four labels on the table—"big," "small," "tie," and "doubles"—and smiled at the participants. "Please place your guesses now."

All the contestants stirred with excitement. Guessing dice was really no different from gambling. Skilled players could usually determine the numbers by listening to the dice, but as students, they had practically no experience with this. They could only make their guesses based on their own predictions. Success depended entirely on luck.

Since I'm already here, I might as well take this table's prize. Three thousand yuan hardly matters to me now, but every little bit counts. Besides, there are vouchers for a trip to the Maldives. That's worth activating my Fiery Golden Eyes. After thinking this to himself, Jun Wangchen wasted no time. His eyes abruptly turned golden.

In an instant, everything became transparent to him.

Huh? Whoa? Holy shit! That girl isn't wearing panties! God, it's so dark, it's practically... wait, oh no, I'm going to get a stye! No, that's not the point. The point is, that girl's wound is pretty deep... pah, pah, pah! Where's my mind going? The most important thing right now is checking the dice!

After silently repeating "pure thoughts" three times, Jun Wangchen stopped looking at anything else and slowly focused on the dice cup.

Two fives! After seeing the numbers through the cup, Jun Wangchen deactivated his Fiery Golden Eyes and placed his numbered label on "doubles."

There were twenty-five participants at the first table. Most chose "big" or "small." Jun Wangchen was the only person to choose "doubles."

"Darling, look at him. He actually picked doubles. He really doesn't know anything!" Having witnessed this, Qiu Ya sneered, her eyes filled with contempt.

Generally speaking, the probability of rolling doubles was not even five percent. In other words, out of a hundred guesses, doubles would only come up five times. With odds like those, anyone with even a little intelligence would never choose doubles.

"What could someone whose mother sweeps the streets possibly know?" Qin Shou glanced at Jun Wangchen and sneered.

Across the crowd, Jun Wangchen naturally heard the mockery coming from his right. He said nothing, merely giving them a look as though they were a pair of idiots.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Furious at Jun Wangchen's contempt, Qiu Ya bristled.

Qin Shou patted her shoulder. "Qiu Ya, don't stoop to that moron's level. We're picking big!"

"Darling, are you sure?"

"Did you forget? You went with me to my cousin's place last time, remember? I learned a few tricks from him for listening to dice. I'm not very good at it yet, but I can still make out a little. I have a feeling the dice in that cup will be big!"

"Oh, right! I'd forgotten until you mentioned it. Okay, we'll pick big!" Qiu Ya nodded and placed her number directly on "big."

The others hesitated, then gradually settled on their guesses as well.

Meanwhile, beneath a tree not far from the first table, a pretty girl pointed at Jun Wangchen and asked Wang Nuli, "Is that your roommate?"

"Yeah. What do you think? Pretty handsome, right?"

The pretty girl pouted. "He looks decent enough, but he seems a little brainless!"

"Why do you say that?" Wang Nuli looked taken aback.

"He picked doubles. The chances of that are incredibly low. Normally, nobody in their right mind would choose doubles."

Wang Nuli paused, then gave an awkward smile. "My roommate hasn't really had much experience with this stuff. It's normal for him to make a weird choice. It's fine if he gets eliminated. We're just here for fun anyway."

Hearing this, the pretty girl opened her mouth but ultimately said nothing. A faint trace of disdain still flickered in her eyes.

The odds of doubles were so ridiculously low. How could Jun Wangchen possibly be lucky enough to guess correctly?

A minute later, the dealer looked over the participants and asked with a smile, "Has everyone chosen?"

They all nodded.

"All right, let's lift the cup!" The dealer smiled slightly, then lifted the dice cup.

"Two fives! Everyone who picked big or doubles advances!"

"Shit, why is it big?" Hearing the result, those who had chosen small immediately looked miserable. Those who had originally planned to choose big but switched to small at the last moment beat their chests in regret, their faces filled with anguish.

Those who had chosen big, meanwhile, were all smiles and applause. Only nine people at the first table had picked big. In a single round, more than half their competitors had been eliminated.

"Darling, you're amazing!" Knowing the result, Qiu Ya waved her hands excitedly, her eyes filled with admiration for Qin Shou.

Qin Shou waved a hand, showing a rare moment of modesty, though the pride on his face betrayed his true feelings.

Meanwhile, upon learning the result, the pretty girl instinctively sneered. "The result was big and doubles. I told you your roommate would definitely get eliminated for picking doubles... wait, doubles?"

Before she could finish muttering, she suddenly seemed to remember something. Her gaze snapped to the lone number placed on "doubles," her eyes full of disbelief. "No way! With such a tiny chance of doubles coming up, he actually guessed it?"

Her startled cry drew many people's gazes toward Jun Wangchen.

At the far right of the table, the smile on the previously excited Qiu Ya's face abruptly froze when she heard that cry. Turning to look, she found a numbered label resting quietly on "doubles."

In an instant, all the participants at the first table turned their heads to stare at Jun Wangchen, the same flash of astonishment appearing in their eyes...