Chapter 27 I Have to Leave You Again This Time
“I’m sorry, Miss Ahua, but Miss Jiang Li said she doesn’t know you.”
Hearing the Bunny Girl say this, Ahua’s face turned pale and blue, her heart feeling as if it had been squeezed hard, missing a beat.
“How could that be? Did you really confirm it with her properly? Did you get the wrong person? Or are you saying… are you saying…”
Ahua had many more questions but, overwhelmed by her thoughts, she found herself unable to get a single complete sentence out.
How could this happen? What happened to Miss during the time she was gone? Is she okay now? Ahua wondered.
Facing Ahua’s barrage of questions, the Bunny Girl smiled politely and responded, “I’m very sorry, dear guest. I have confirmed with Miss Jiang Li repeatedly, and she said that she indeed does not know you.”
Ahua stepped two paces forward, grabbing the Bunny Girl’s shoulders with both hands, desperation etched on her face, “Impossible, it can’t be true! How could Miss not remember me? Please help me again…”
Seeing Ahua’s hands gripping the Bunny Girl tightly, her fingers slightly sinking into flesh, Luxianbei frowned and pulled her back, “Ahua, don’t cause trouble for others. This has nothing to do with her.”
“I…” Ahua turned her head slightly to look at Luxianbei, her eyes reddening with unspoken words.
Even though she was anxious and eager to go upstairs to find Jiang Li, she knew very well that this entertainment city was not a place to act recklessly.
Otherwise, her Miss would have already asked the Siye Society for manpower to turn this place upside down, rather than repeatedly trying to outsmart that Big Boss.
“Don’t be anxious. Calm down for now. Let’s think of a solution together, okay?” Luxianbei added.
According to Hei Mudan, the owner of Dream Come True Entertainment City was an ancient destroyer even older than her. Acting recklessly would only create trouble without solving any issues.
While staying at the Lanjia Inn, Luxianbei did not sense Hei Mudan’s strength through her spiritual awareness, but she did perceive Spirit Energy Fluctuation from Xiuyao that was no weaker than Miss Rabbit.
As it turned out, as Xiuyao’s owner, Hei Mudan would probably be even stronger, not weaker.
In fact, if she hadn’t worried about being unable to beat Hei Mudan, and if Yugu Palace’s fairy didn’t find trouble further on, she wouldn’t have obediently paid the fine.
In this world, the greatest sorrow was dying without spending the money.
Spending money to avert disaster and befriending a powerful figure, Luxianbei felt this was still a worthwhile deal.
Now, although she didn’t know why Jiang Li said she didn’t know Ahua, to avoid further escalation, it was important to calm down first and slowly understand the situation.
“…”
Ahua fell silent, nodding and dejectedly letting go of her hands.
The Bunny Girl, having worked at Dream Come True Entertainment City for a long time, had seen too many similar scenes and showed no unusual expression, maintaining her professional polite smile throughout.
Once Ahua released her hands, she bowed slightly, “I’m sorry I couldn’t help you, dear guest. Do you still want to continue playing today? If not, I can help you arrange for hotel accommodation.”
“Play! Of course, we want to play!” Before Ahua could respond, Luxianbei jumped in.
“If we don’t play, how can we win enough chips to go upstairs and settle accounts with that ungrateful old hag?”
How could she find Jiang Li, then get in touch with the Big Boss of the entertainment city, and negotiate the cancellation of the Huacheng train station?
Could she just barge in?
She had long passed the age of being hot-blooded and lacked the ability of those protagonists who can recklessly k*ll. Luxianbei thought.
After hearing Luxianbei’s words, Ahua glanced at her, frowning slightly.
Although she wasn’t particularly fond of Luxianbei calling her Miss by that nickname.
But from the current standpoint, winning enough chips to gain access to the upper floors did seem necessary to see Jiang Li.
The Bunny Girl smiled at Luxianbei, “This customer is quite confident! I wish you good luck in advance, may victory be yours! Please come this way, I’ll lead you.”
As she spoke, the Bunny Girl made a gesture for them to follow and led the two toward the lower three-level hall of the entertainment city.
Following behind the Bunny Girl, Ahua fell into a thoughtful silence and anxiously asked Luxianbei, “Wang Buliu, you just said you planned to win enough chips to go upstairs to find Miss, but do you really know how to gamble?”
“Hey! Are you looking down on me?” Luxianbei raised her eyebrows.
“In the past, I was three years old in Macau, four in the Lisboa, five when I became an expert, six when I learned to act improperly, and who would have known that at seven I lost spectacularly. Now, at twenty-seven, still free and unfettered.”
“Hey! Aren’t those lines from Stephen Chow’s movies?” Ahua rolled her eyes at Luxianbei, “Can you be a bit more serious at a time like this?”
“Uhh…” Luxianbei scratched the back of her head, “Alright, actually I’m not too skilled at this! I’m good at Gomoku and Dou Shou Qi; I wonder if those games are available here?”
Ahua twitched her mouth, asking, “So how’s your math?”
“Decent, I’d say I’m a master-level arithmetic genius, but maybe just at an entry-level in math.” Luxianbei replied without expression.
“After all, I’m just a student in the College of Arts and Literature; you can’t expect too much, right?”
“Then why did you just sound all pumped up?”
Luxianbei pouted, “Isn’t it because I saw you looking down? I wanted to lift your spirits!”
Ahua, “…”
She suddenly felt that it would be quite impressive if Luxianbei could manage to not lose everything tonight, tomorrow, or even for a long time ahead.
“Then later, you give me the chips, or let me handle it!”
Although Jiang Li had always participated in the gambling games at the entertainment city, Ahua had never personally been involved.
However, having been by Jiang Li’s side for so long, she had learned quite a bit by observation and was confident she’d win enough chips to get to the middle three levels.
As for the upper three levels…
Just thinking about the scene where various “demons and monsters” displayed their abilities in the middle three levels made her unable to suppress a silent sigh.
Whether she could win enough chips there to find Jiang Li in the upper three levels was uncertain, and she’d have to rely on luck.
Following the Bunny Girl, they passed through a long corridor filled with “anti-gambling slogans,” and as the heavy redwood door at the corridor’s end was pushed open, the vast space of the lower three levels of the entertainment city suddenly appeared before them.
The entire hall was circular, with a gigantic skylight carved out in the center.
Under the bright lights, the first floor was filled with various gambling machines like slot machines, pushing coin machines, and fishing machines, while the sound of small steel balls and coins pouring from the machines filled the entire space.
The second floor was lined with various gambling tables; the Russian roulette was spinning, and stunningly beautiful female dealers were skillfully stacking Pai Gow tiles, dealing cards, and shaking the dice in the cup, making a clinking sound.
They wore red Bunny Girl outfits different from the service staff, topped with a black-and-white striped waistcoat, and once they turned around the tables, one could see their long legs wrapped in black fishnets and most of their smooth backs exposed due to the design.
The third floor was lined with individual private rooms, with faint sounds of mahjong clashes coming from beyond the doors.
In every corner of the hall’s ceiling, semi-transparent blue ghostly eyes floated, scanning around, faintly releasing weak Spirit Energy Fluctuation.
This was likely used as a monitoring system to prevent guests from cheating, a sort of urban legend.
Having never witnessed such a “grand scene,” Luxianbei looked around for a moment and couldn’t help but comment, “How sneaky!”
“What?” Ahua paused, tilting her head.
Luxianbei pointed to one of the female dealers on the second floor, “I mean they are sneaky, hiring so many beautiful ladies as dealers; kids wouldn’t be able to resist and would probably just lose everything while distracted by the beauties.”
Ahua rolled her eyes at Luxianbei and patted her shoulder, “So, kid, hand over the chips to me first, okay? I’m heading upstairs.”
“…” Luxianbei fell silent for a moment, reluctantly took out a small bag of chips from her guitar case, grabbed a handful, and then handed the rest to Ahua.
“I’ll keep a little to play downstairs; just come find me once you’ve dealt with it.” Luxianbei said.
Although she felt truly reluctant to hand over the chips to Ahua.
As an excellent socialist successor, she knew nothing about gambling. Going in herself would probably only lead her to be a mere chip supplier.
Moreover, she had quite a bit of faith in her luck; even if it didn’t reach the level of having bad luck, it was at least a bit of a “curse.”
Receiving the small bag of chips, Ahua advised, “Hmm, I suggest you just play the fishing machine; it’s a bit slower to lose.”
“Tsk! Like I’m guaranteed to lose.” Luxianbei rolled her eyes, pointing at the small bag, “You’d better take care and not lose it all!”
“Don’t worry, most people on the lower three levels don’t have serious skills. I’ll win enough chips in no time.”
Probably…
Though Ahua had seen Jiang Li participate in many gambling games, now that it was her turn to be on the field, she still felt a bit lacking in confidence.
Luxianbei watched as Ahua walked upstairs, her figure felt heavy like a generous warrior heading off to battle.
Perhaps, this was the weight of money?
Once Ahua disappeared from view, Luxianbei turned her attention to the array of gambling machines in the bustling first-level hall, rubbing her hands together.
So, where to start?
No, given my luck, I’d probably lose everything quickly if I just dive in, right?
How about I take a look around first and observe a bit?
With that thought, Luxianbei began scanning the area and set her sights on a seemingly amiable uncle playing a slot machine, stepping forward and standing beside him.
Sensing someone approaching, the uncle instinctively turned to look, only to see Luxianbei staring at him with wide, watery eyes, a serious expression on her face.
Stare——!
“Little girl, do you need something?”
“Nothing, you play your game; just pretend I’m not here.” Luxianbei replied with a blank expression.
Stare——!
Uncle, “…”
d*mn it, what’s wrong with this girl?
Isn’t she letting me enjoy my game?!
———
Just as Ahua joined a mahjong game in the lower three levels, Luxianbei was staring at an unknown uncle at the slot machine, while in a luxurious private room on the third level of the entertainment city, a high-stakes gamble was taking place.
On the enormous poker table, chips worth “10,000” were piled high, with three guests sitting at different sides.
One was a pale-faced urban legend with sickle-shaped horns on his forehead, another was a watermelon-headed boy around fourteen or fifteen, with thick glasses perched on his nose, and the last one was a silver-haired girl in a black dress.
They were playing Blackjack, a very common card game, which was also one of Jiang Li’s specialties aside from mahjong.
Not that it mattered too much, because 21 was easy to count cards!
Jiang Li glanced again at the cards on the table, pondered for a few seconds, then “wham!” pushed a large portion of chips forward.
Based on her calculations, the cards dealt to her were either the hearts A or the diamonds J; if she got the hearts A, she would win 100%, and even with the diamonds J, she’d still have a winning chance of over 60%.
“Clink——clink——!” The sound of more chips being scattered as the demon-like urban legend and the spiritual energy boy evidently were also not ones to give up easily.
“Call!”
“I’ll call too!”
Consequently, the beautiful dealer smiled and dealt each of the three a new card.
Jiang Li picked up her card, and upon seeing the hearts A, her eyebrows raised slightly. She flipped the card over and gently placed it on the table.
“Sorry, 20.”
Once the demon-like urban legend saw Jiang Li’s card, he froze for a few seconds, then slammed the table, pointing at her angrily, “d*mn! You witch, are you counting cards?!”
Jiang Li looked at the demon-like urban legend with a cold expression, “As it seems, this entertainment city’s rules don’t state that counting cards is prohibited, do they?”
“Didn’t you use your talent ability as well? Unfortunately, your talent ability was included in my calculations.”
“You…” The demon-like urban legend opened his mouth to retort, but catching sight of the bodyguard in black behind him taking a step forward, he furrowed his brow.
“Hmph! I’ll give you this one; just wait for me!” He said fiercely, gathering the remaining ten or so chips and departing.
Not long after the demon-like urban legend left, a Bunny Girl entered the room, knelt beside Jiang Li, and whispered, “Miss Jiang Li, I have already informed that Ahua girl as you instructed, that you do not know her.”
“However, she seems quite unwilling and borrowed some chips from her companions to join a mahjong game on the third floor.”
Upon hearing this, Jiang Li’s brow furrowed slightly. She lifted a chip from the table and placed it in the Bunny Girl’s hand, saying gently, “Thank you. If she loses all, please exchange some small denomination chips to help her buy a ticket back.”
“Understood!” The Bunny Girl responded, trembling slightly as she accepted the “10,000” chip.
Watching the Bunny Girl leave with a heavy heart, Jiang Li sighed silently, murmuring to herself, “I’m sorry, Ahua, but I have to leave you again this time…”
(Slight delay in updates, apologies for that.)
