Advancing again

Everyone gathered around the first square table exchanged bewildered looks.

The odds of rolling doubles were extremely low. Unless someone was extraordinarily lucky, they might not guess doubles correctly even in thousands upon thousands of tries.

Yet Jun Wangchen had done exactly that.

"How... how is that possible?" Looking at the only numbered token placed on doubles, Qiu Ya gritted her teeth, consumed by jealousy.

She had hoped to take Jun Wangchen down a peg, only for him to guess correctly and advance as well. It was infuriating.

Meanwhile, the pretty girl beneath a nearby tree muttered sourly, "Isn't your friend a little too lucky?"

"Number Four has always been lucky. After all, he has a handsome, suave roommate with a deep, sexy voice, dashing charm, and a selfless commitment to spreading laughter and love." Wang Nuli flicked his fringe and chuckled.

"I vaguely remember a group of girls chasing after me in freshman year, saying I was handsome. I smiled, and they said I looked even more handsome when I smiled. Helpless, I looked in a mirror, only to be so dazzled by my own good looks that I lost all control. Perhaps my greatest regret in life is that I can never kiss this handsome face of mine."

The pretty girl: "..."

"Oh, I actually got it right. How lucky!" Jun Wangchen feigned excitement and smiled happily to himself.

The spectators silently marveled at Jun Wangchen's astonishing luck. In his place, they might not even have dared to bet on doubles.

Seeing the stir among those around her, Qiu Ya snorted and said bitterly, "Hmph, it was just dumb luck. What's so great about that?"

Jun Wangchen glanced calmly at Qiu Ya. Without saying anything, he merely shook his head with an amused expression.

"You..." Qiu Ya practically steamed with anger. Jun Wangchen's expression was clearly saying that she did not even have dumb luck.

Beside her, Qin Shou patted her shoulder and soothed her. "Qiu Ya, don't get angry over an idiot. There's still a second round. This punk can't stay lucky forever."

"You're right. Once he's eliminated, I'm going to humiliate him to his face." Qiu Ya suppressed her anger and muttered with a snort.

After confirming which ten people at the first table had advanced, the dealer recorded their numbers, then had the eliminated contestants step away. With the ten remaining contestants still at the table, he shook the dice again.

Rattle, rattle, rattle!

The dice rattled once more. Once the dealer set the shaken Dice Cup back on the gaming table, the atmosphere grew lively again.

"Hey, what do you think the dice will show this time?"

"I think it might be 'low' or 'tie' this time."

"Pfft, are you kidding? The odds of a tie are about the same as doubles. How could it be a tie?"

Many contestants began hesitating over their guesses this round. When they first joined the event, they had only wanted to have some fun. After advancing, however, their outlook changed. Now they all had a goal: advance and win the prize at their table.

Just as people with greater power feared death more, those who had advanced grew more anxious and cautious than those already eliminated. They wanted to bet high but feared the result would be low. Those betting low feared another high result. For a while, many of them could not make up their minds.

Glancing at the hesitant contestants around her, Qiu Ya asked Qin Shou beside her, "Darling, what should we guess this round?"

"I couldn't really make out the dice this time, so I'm not very confident," Qin Shou said with a frown, taking a drag on his cigarette.

"But I think there's a good chance of 'low.'"

"I see..." Disappointment crossed Qiu Ya's face, but she quickly recovered. "It's fine. Let's bet on 'low,' then."

With that, Qiu Ya placed her numbered token on "low," then turned her gaze toward Jun Wangchen.

Jun Wangchen was holding his chin, muttering to himself from time to time. Then he placed his numbered token on "tie."

Qiu Ya froze at the sight, then burst out laughing. "Darling, look! That guy actually bet on 'tie'!"

"Heh, the odds of a tie are about the same as doubles. Looks to me like a little taste of success has gone to his head." Qin Shou looked at Jun Wangchen's choice and shook his head with a derisive chuckle.

In his eyes, Jun Wangchen was no different from those mentally undisciplined gamblers who, after a few early wins, started recklessly betting on extremely unlikely outcomes. In the end, they lost not only their original stake but also wound up buried in debt, their lives utterly ruined.

"Hey, I'd advise you not to bet on 'tie.' The two dice have to add up to exactly six for it to count as a tie. Your chances aren't as straightforward as betting on 'high' or 'low.'" A short-haired young man among the spectators could not help warning Jun Wangchen when he saw his choice.

Jun Wangchen smiled faintly. "Thanks for the warning, but I'm very confident in my judgment, so I don't intend to change my guess."

The short-haired young man opened his mouth, but ultimately said nothing.

The other spectators shook their heads. Jun Wangchen refused to listen to advice, so he was bound to fail.

The mockery on Qiu Ya's face deepened. The more full of himself Jun Wangchen became, the harder she could strike when he fell into despair.

Meanwhile, the pretty girl beneath the nearby tree frowned. "Is that roommate of yours always this full of himself at school?"

"Full of himself?" Wang Nuli paused, then shook his head. "Number Four is actually very modest and keeps a low profile. Why would you think he's full of himself?"

"Someone just warned your roommate not to bet on 'tie,' but he stubbornly insisted that his guess was right. If being that pigheaded isn't being full of himself, what is?"

Wang Nuli did not know whether to laugh or cry. "That just means Number Four is sticking to his choice. It doesn't really have much to do with being full of himself, does it?"

The pretty girl pouted. She wanted to say something but could not find the words, so she let it go.

Seeing her expression, Wang Nuli gave a wry smile and turned his gaze toward Jun Wangchen.

Normally, he might also have thought Jun Wangchen was being a little arrogant. But after what had happened at the Blue Night Charm Bar that morning, he found such behavior perfectly natural. No, perhaps arrogance was not the right word. Confidence was more fitting.

Even now, the calm expression on Jun Wangchen's face was a sign of confidence.

He had shown that confidence in He Ming's medical class and at the Blue Night Charm Bar. What puzzled Wang Nuli was just what gave Jun Wangchen such confidence.

While Wang Nuli was lost in thought, the dealer at the first square table looked over the ten contestants and asked with a smile, "Has everyone chosen their guess?"

Everyone nodded.

"All right, let's reveal the dice!" The dealer smiled and lifted the Dice Cup.

"A two and a four. Neither high nor low, and no doubles. This round, only those who bet on 'tie' advance."

The instant those words fell, dead silence descended around the first square table. They could practically have heard a pin drop.

"No way!" The spectators looked at the numbers inside the Dice Cup, then at Jun Wangchen's choice. Every pair of eyes filled with stunned disbelief.

Jun Wangchen... had guessed correctly again?

"Impossible! How could that guy be so lucky? He must have cheated!" Qiu Ya shouted, her face full of disbelief.

"He looks completely relaxed every time he makes a guess, and his guesses are always spot-on. Without some shady arrangement behind the scenes, how could luck alone get him this far?"

The contestants and spectators found Qiu Ya's words entirely reasonable. For a moment, every gaze directed at Jun Wangchen was full of suspicion.

"This event claims to be fair and impartial, but who knew someone was playing so dirty behind the scenes?"

"Exactly. That guy's utterly shameless. He probably bribed the dealer ages ago."

"Damn it, if that's true, shouldn't the organizers come out and give us an explanation?"

Jun Wangchen's consecutive wins stirred up controversy among many of those present. Some were already showing signs of turning their outrage on the organizers.

Meanwhile, the pretty girl beneath the nearby tree frowned and looked at Wang Nuli. "Your roommate didn't really bribe the dealer, did he?"

"Impossible. Number Four didn't even know about this event beforehand. If I hadn't signed him up first and then tricked him into coming, he'd never have joined something like this, given his personality. The idea that he bribed the dealer is complete nonsense," Wang Nuli said seriously, shaking his head.

"Then how does he get every single guess right?"

"Well..." Wang Nuli was momentarily speechless.

Right. If Jun Wangchen hadn't pulled any strings, how had he guessed so accurately both times?

This dice-guessing event did mainly depend on luck. One successful guess could still be luck, but two successes, both so precise, were much harder to explain that way.

"Let's go take a look first. Number Four is an honest guy. He'd never do something like bribe the dealer." Taking a deep breath, Wang Nuli gave the pretty girl a look, then headed toward the first square table.

The pretty girl hesitated, then followed him.

She was also a member of the student council. Whether Jun Wangchen had cheated would have a tremendous impact on the event.

If Jun Wangchen really had used some dirty means to bribe the dealer, she would not let him off easily just for Wang Nuli's sake!