Chapter 36: Jenga
Luxianbei, who didn’t know what he had done wrong, silently looked into Jiang Li’s eyes, trying to establish eye contact.
[Wang Buliu initiated eye contact chat]
But…
[The other party rejected your chat request]
“……”
Luxianbei hesitated several times before finally cautiously asking, “Uh… are you really going to gamble with me?”
“Of course,” Jiang Li slightly nodded, indifferent, “Wasn’t it you who proposed it?”
As she spoke, she looked down slightly, her eyes rolling with contempt, and a half-smile curled on her lips, revealing a mixture of disdain and pity.
Some women’s gaze can invoke a sense of tension; if that woman happens to be beautiful, the tension becomes even more palpable, and Jiang Li was just that kind of woman.
Her strikingly beautiful eyes seemed capable of seeing through all kinds of hypocritical facades in an instant, undoubtedly her best weapon.
If paired with a few cleverly disguised taunts, those with slightly weaker psychological qualities would be instantly deflected, receiving tons of emotional damage.
This unique gaze, a fusion of temperament, appearance, and character, has an apt name: “Gaze k*ll.”
However, the Gaze k*ll also has natural enemies. If the subject being stared at feels no shame, then this gaze becomes utterly useless.
Luxianbei was clearly a guy with very little sense of shame, so…
[Gaze k*ll failed to penetrate Wang Buliu’s armor]
Luxianbei seemed to pay no attention to Jiang Li’s gaze and nodded nonchalantly, “Alright! It’s just a gamble; there’s nothing to worry about.”
Although she hadn’t properly gambled with anyone since coming to the entertainment city, she wasn’t scared at all. After all, she was quite experienced in battling.
In the past, when playing games, she often bet with others against rubbish teammates, having duels in mid-lane; if she lost, she would d*e along with her entire account.
Although there was only her on her account, she wasn’t afraid of such wagers, so what was there to fear about losing some chips to Jiang Li?
She calculated in her mind and looked at Jiang Li, saying seriously, “Since we’ve decided to gamble, you can choose the time and place.”
“No problem,” Jiang Li replied.
“If that’s the case, then I will decide the content of the game, that seems fairer,” Luxianbei quickly added, seemingly afraid Jiang Li would change her mind.
Using retreat as an advance, letting Jiang Li choose the time and place, then she would choose what they were betting on. This was something Luxianbei had planned from the start.
It was like when she used to duel with others, generously letting her opponent choose the hero they were best at, while she picked a hero to counter them, then using her solid skill and the hero’s mechanics to crush them relentlessly.
However, considering Jiang Li was quite intelligent, such tricks could easily be seen through, so she needed to finalize the rules before Jiang Li could regain her composure.
Luxianbei still wanted to win this bet as much as possible.
Even if Jiang Li was a girl, and even if winning or losing didn’t really matter, as long as the chips were all in her hands, then wouldn’t Jiang Li have to do whatever she wanted?
With no chips left, how could she afford to gamble against the big boss of the entertainment city in Nowhere Land?
No way!
“……”
Jiang Li quickly realized Luxianbei’s intention. After mulling it over for a moment, she nodded, “Alright, we’ll do it your way.”
Although she could see through Luxianbei’s little tricks, she didn’t mind. She had been studying various board games from a very young age and had absolute confidence in this area.
“But there’s a small problem.”
Luxianbei raised an eyebrow, “You don’t intend to attach some strange clauses to the bet, do you? Like big clauses containing smaller ones, then tiny ones inside those, and even tinier ones within those…”
“Stop!” Jiang Li interrupted before Luxianbei’s rambling went on indefinitely, “That’s not what I meant.”
d*mn, she really encountered a chatterbox… Jiang Li thought to herself and added, “What I meant is, since you want to gamble with me, your chips must at least be roughly equivalent to mine, right?”
“Do you have that many chips?”
“Tsk! Who do you think you’re looking down on?” Luxianbei rolled her eyes, “I have hundreds of thousands of chips!”
“I…” Jiang Li casually replied, “I probably have just over 100 million chips.”
Luxianbei, “……”
After a brief silence, she silently took out half a pack of spicy strips and handed them to Jiang Li, “Big boss, eat some spicy strips!”
Why would she carry such a thing… Jiang Li frowned slightly and pushed away Luxianbei’s spicy strips, saying, “Let’s get serious. What are you going to use to make up the difference in chips?”
“This…” Luxianbei furrowed her brow, “I don’t have anything else valuable besides chips. How about you wait a few days while I think of something to raise some?”
“……” Jiang Li fell silent, her gaze dimming for a moment, she said softly, “I can’t wait that long.”
“What should I do then? I’m just one person; I can’t bet myself!” Luxianbei said helplessly, “How about if I lose, I’ll work for you?”
Jiang Li’s eyes lit up, “Sure!”
Luxianbei, “???”
Agreeing so readily must mean she has some cunning plan.
*Cough, cough!* Realizing Luxianbei’s strange look, Jiang Li cleared her throat and explained expressionlessly, “What I mean is, I can reluctantly accept this wager.”
As she spoke, she lightly pressed the button to call for service on the small demon statue on the coffee table, “I’ll have a bunny girl arrange a private room. Think about what you want to bet on, and we can start anytime.”
“I need to think this through.” Luxianbei grimaced, “Ahua and the others are still waiting for me downstairs! I’ll go down to give them an update, and then I’ll come back to find you once I know what I want to bet on.”
“Mm.” Jiang Li slightly nodded, “I’ll wait for you.”
When she said this, a strange flutter surged in her heart.
For a brief moment, she seemed to genuinely look forward to winning the gamble against Luxianbei.
But why was there such anticipation?
“Alright, see you soon!” Luxianbei said, getting up and walking out of the lounge.
Jiang Li maintained a stern expression as if Luxianbei owed her 120 million chips, watching her leave.
Until the moment the lounge door closed, she slumped back onto the sofa and slowly turned, burying her face into the cushion while her long legs drummed on the sofa like a drum.
At that moment, the doorbell rang, and a bunny girl’s voice came from the small demon statue on the coffee table.
“Miss A Li, did you call for service just now?”
Jiang Li straightened up in an instant, looking toward the door with a stoic expression, “Yes, come in!”
————
After leaving Jiang Li’s VIP lounge, Luxianbei didn’t immediately go to find Liu Banxian and Ahua but instead pondered what kind of bet could guarantee a win while walking toward the chip exchange on the upper third floor.
At this moment, the entire upper third floor was still in a frenzy. The usually busy chip exchange was relatively quiet, with only one bunny girl dressed in gold standing behind the counter, posing as still as a statue.
Seeing Luxianbei approach, she bowed slightly and smiled, “Hello, miss. How may I assist you?”
“Could you please show me your exchange list? I want to exchange for some items.”
“Okay, please wait a moment.” The bunny girl said, bending down to retrieve a tablet from under the counter, handing it to Luxianbei.
After receiving the tablet, Luxianbei quickly browsed through the miscellaneous items section, her eyes revealing a hint of disappointment.
Even the upper third floor didn’t have anything rarer than the 【Petals of Chaotic Parallel Dimensions】 Bai Xiaohua figurine.
In fact, Dream Come True Entertainment City claimed to fulfill all guest wishes, which was not an empty boast. The list of items at the exchange included only some standard options, while wishes exceeding these regular items required guests to propose them separately.
After gathering her emotions, Luxianbei quickly clicked on the special items section. As the page changed, she immediately found what she wanted to exchange for.
In the first column of the special items, “Lifespan” was prominently displayed.
“……”
There really was!
I thought this kind of thing wouldn’t be on the list!
Luxianbei thought to herself, raising her head to look at the bunny girl in front of her, she pointed at the “Lifespan” entry on the tablet and asked, “How many chips do I need to exchange for this?”
Upon hearing this, the bunny girl bowed slightly and explained, “Miss, you may not be aware, but if you wish to exchange for lifespan, you need to undergo a test first. The number of chips required will vary depending on how much lifespan you have left.”
“Uh…” Luxianbei scratched her head, “What if I want to exchange for someone else?”
Liu Banxian was so certain that Jiang Li had little time left. Although Luxianbei didn’t say it out loud, she was still very worried in her heart, fearing that even if Jiang Li didn’t gamble with the big boss of the entertainment city, she might suddenly d*e.
To prevent her from suddenly passing, it would be safer to quietly exchange for a bit of lifespan for her.
After all, she had more chips now, several million! Luxianbei thought.
“Then, could you please provide detailed information about the person you want to exchange for?” the bunny girl inquired.
“Let me think…” Luxianbei pondered carefully before saying, “Jiang Li, female, nineteen years and three months old, height one meter **, weight I haven’t held her, not too sure, hobby is playing mahjong…”
The bunny girl seemed to catch onto something and asked, “Are you referring to Miss A Li?”
Luxianbei’s eyes brightened, “Yes, yes, it’s her! Let’s give her ten additional years of lifespan!”
“Alright, let me check…” The bunny girl replied, bowing her head and fiddling with the deep blue crystal ball in front of her, before stating a number that shocked Luxianbei.
“Hello, miss. To exchange for ten years of lifespan for Miss A Li, you will need 1.2 billion chips.”
“Ah?” Luxianbei’s eyes widened in shock, “Why does it cost so much?”
As the second-highest chipholder in the entertainment city, Jiang Li only had just over 100 million chips. To suddenly demand 1.2 billion was indeed too extravagant.
Sure enough, just as in some advertisements of domestic web games say, “Your time is very valuable.”
“Forget it, how about I exchange for ten days instead?”
If ten years of lifespan cost 1.2 billion, Luxianbei quickly estimated that her chips could probably exchange for ten days or so.
It was less, but it was vital to help Jiang Li stick around for a bit longer.
“Okay.” The bunny girl responded and once again fiddled with the crystal ball in front of her, smiling as she replied, “For ten days, it’ll cost you 1.023 billion chips.”
“What the hell?” Luxianbei was bewildered, “Are you sure you didn’t make a mistake? Why does ten days also cost so much?”
“Miss, I did not make a mistake!” The bunny girl patiently explained, “The pricing for exchanging lifespan is based on the remaining lifespan of the exchange target. For example, if a monster’s lifespan is still five hundred years, then exchanging for ten years of lifespan only requires two hundred thousand chips.”
“And Miss A Li currently has only three days and fifteen hours of lifespan left, so the cost to exchange for her lifespan is extremely high.”
Confirmed, Liu Banxian’s estimation was indeed accurate; three days and fifteen hours – Jiang Li’s life was practically buried in the ground!
“Is that so?” Luxianbei nodded thoughtfully.
After hearing the bunny girl’s explanation, she finally understood how the entertainment city’s lifespan exchange rules worked.
She suddenly recalled a question she had seen on a certain platform.
The question was: What is the most precious time in a person’s life?
The answers varied widely, with some saying it’s the time spent with loved ones, others talking about the time of good health, and some even mentioning the time of wisdom.
However, among all the answers, what left a deep impression on Luxianbei was “the very second of birth and d*ath.”
Now that Jiang Li was close to dying, every additional day of her lifespan was a struggle against d*ath, which was why the cost for exchanging lifespan was so ridiculous.
“Miss, do you still wish to exchange?”
“……” Luxianbei looked at the bunny girl, paused for a few seconds, and then murmured, “I’ll think about it.”
After saying that, she dashed away.
Too expensive, way too expensive.
However, after she had not run very far, she turned back.
“By the way, do you have Jenga here?”
This was the game that she could fully utilize her advantages in, especially since she was betting against Jiang Li; if she pulled any dirty tricks, she wouldn’t recognize her loss.
“Ah?” The bunny girl looked momentarily stunned as if she didn’t quite understand Luxianbei’s meaning.
Seeing the confused look on the bunny girl’s face, Luxianbei gestured while explaining, “It’s the kind where blocks are stacked on top of each other, and two players take turns to pull one out in order; whoever pulls a block that causes the tower to fall loses.”
With Jenga plus my prediction skills, I definitely can’t lose this!
The only thing to consider was how to get Jiang Li to agree to play this game. Luxianbei thought.
The bunny girl was puzzled for a moment but then nodded, “A children’s cognitive board game? Yes, we have that.”
“How much chips?” Luxianbei asked.
“Two chips.”
Luxianbei’s eyes lit up, and she placed a chip worth 10,000 on the counter, “I’ll have one!”
“Also…”
“I saw a Qing Dynasty lacquer box in the miscellaneous section earlier; get me one of those too!”
“Uh, let me check…”
So three minutes later, the bunny girl at the exchange watched with a strange expression as the girl who spent two chips to exchange for Jenga and over 18,000 chips to get a lacquer box walked away.
————
In a corner of the upper third floor hall.
Liu Banxian and Ahua had finally found a relatively secluded place to settle down amidst the chaotic crowd.
Liu Banxian squatted in a corner, a half-burnt cigarette hanging from his mouth, his eyes scanning the reveling guests in the hall through the hazy smoke.
“You little girl, in such a lively scene, why aren’t you going to play with them?”
Ahua gently shook her head, “No, Wang Buliu went to see my lady, and he’s been gone for so long; I’m a bit worried he might have failed his disguise and got captured.”
“I’ll just wait here!”
“And you? Why aren’t you going?”
“My old bones can’t handle it anymore.” Liu Banxian smiled bitterly, slowly blowing out a circle of smoke.
Ahua tilted her head in confusion.
From what I’ve seen, you looked pretty sturdy when you were getting beaten up at the station!
Like you were trained in some kind of invulnerable technique.
Noticing Ahua’s confusion, Liu Banxian explained, “Actually, I didn’t come here to play in the first place, so I don’t have that desire.”
“I understand, you came to make a wish, right?” After saying this, Ahua noticed a hint of gloom in Liu Banxian’s eyes and immediately shut up.
He hadn’t left after all this time because his wish hadn’t been fulfilled; bringing up the topic of wishes would undoubtedly reopen his wounds.
“It’s okay, little girl, my wish probably can’t be realized.” Liu Banxian smiled ruefully, opened his mouth as if to say something more when he saw Luxianbei running over in a hurry, holding a lacquer box, “Oh, that girl is back.”
Upon hearing this, Ahua quickly stepped forward, anxiously asking, “How was it? You weren’t discovered, right? Did you see my lady?”
Luxianbei scratched her head, “I did see her, but…”
“But she didn’t recognize you? Did she kick you out? Didn’t I tell you how to talk to her before you left? Did you not say it to her?”
According to Ahua’s knowledge, Jiang Li should have long forgotten about Luxianbei, so before Luxianbei set off, she intentionally prepared some memories that she thought Jiang Li would definitely not exchange, telling them to Luxianbei to facilitate their recognition.
Listening to Ahua’s rapid-fire, string of questions, Luxianbei frowned, “It’s strange; she did recognize me, but…”
“Tsk, I still don’t know what I said wrong. Anyway, the situation now is that I have to gamble with her later, and if I win, her chips are all mine; if I lose, I’ll have to work for her for the rest of my life!”
Upon hearing this, Ahua’s expression darkened, and she muttered, “That’s bad.”
“Why is that bad?”
“You can’t possibly win against my lady; she has been practicing for many years to win this bet and has even integrated many psychic abilities into her gambling skills…”
“So, you’re saying she’s very good at Jenga?” Luxianbei interrupted, shaking the lacquer box filled with blocks in her hand.
Ahua, “……”
What the hell is Jenga?
Liu Banxian, “???”
Can you actually gamble with Jenga? There’s no way she would agree!
