Chapter 24: Ransom

Lu Xinyi's expression turned unsightly, because just as Lin Sizhi had said, she and Lyu Mingxuan had been taken hostage.

As long as Lin Sizhi and Qin Yao kept raising against each other, consuming one minute of thinking time each, they could easily burn through the remaining time of the game after a few rounds.

This held no meaning for Lin Sizhi and Qin Yao, but it would prevent Lu Xinyi and Lyu Mingxuan from leaving the gambling table, and thus prevent them from looking for loopholes in the chip exchange machine.

"What do you want?" At this moment, Lu Xinyi finally reached her breaking point.

Lin Sizhi spoke unhurriedly, "You guessed correctly; there is indeed a loophole in the chip exchange machine.

"And this loophole is very easy to verify.

"But right now, I have no intention of letting you leave this table."

Lu Xinyi frowned. "What do you want?"

Lin Sizhi toyed with a chip. "The two of you will bet all your chips and then fold. That is the ransom."

Lu Xinyi almost laughed out of anger. "You're dreaming."

At this moment, she had 37,000 chips, and Lyu Mingxuan had over 40,000.

Combined, nearly 80,000 chips was no small amount.

"Is that so? Think about it again.

"With the chip exchange machine, if you're lucky, you can earn far more than 80,000 in just two minutes.

"If you're unlucky, ten minutes will be enough."

As he spoke, Lin Sizhi reached into his suit pocket, pulled out a handful of chips, and spread his palm open to show Lu Xinyi.

Lu Xinyi's expression froze instantly, because among them were chips with denominations of 5,000 and even 10,000, and there was more than one of each.

This single handful of chips, by rough estimation, was worth at least 50,000.

Now Lu Xinyi knew where Lin Sizhi's confidence came from; it turned out their chip volumes had never been on the same level from the very beginning.

She had always thought Lin Sizhi was bluffing, pretending to have a chip pool at least twice as large as his own.

Only now did she realize it wasn't a bluff.

No wonder Lin Sizhi didn't care, no matter how much he lost.

"Don't you want to give it a try?

"A game that is almost equivalent to getting visa time for free like this likely won't happen again," Lin Sizhi said with a smile.

Lu Xinyi looked into Lin Sizhi's eyes. "But how can I be sure you won't go back on your word?"

Lin Sizhi spread his hands. "You can't be sure. However, it's not as if you have no chance to resist.

"I will intentionally lose this round to Qin Yao, and let her be the dealer in the next round.

"All of us will bet without looking at our cards.

"In the first round, you raise by 1,000 first, then Lyu Mingxuan goes all-in.

"Qin Yao and I will choose to call.

"In the second round, you go all-in, and Lyu Mingxuan folds.

"After that, I will raise, and Qin Yao will call.

"At that point, you can fold, because since only one person raised, the system will automatically reveal the cards, and then you can leave the floor.

"Of course, during this process, both you and we could change our minds at any time.

"If Lyu Mingxuan does not fold in the second round, it means you have gone back on your word, and Qin Yao and I will keep raising until time runs out.

"If in the second round, both Qin Yao and I choose to raise, it means we have gone back on our word, and you can choose not to fold and play us to the end.

"Or, if in the third round you do not fold, then Qin Yao and I will also continue to raise until time runs out.

"In any of these scenarios, if any party breaks the agreement, we wait until time runs out and the system settles automatically. Who wins or loses will depend entirely on luck.

"That is my proposal. Whether you accept it depends on you."

Lu Xinyi thought for a moment. "Fine, I accept.

"However, I want one more question at the end."

Lin Sizhi nodded. "Ask away. I will consider whether to answer based on the merit of the question."

Lu Xinyi stared into his eyes. "In the last game, what exactly were your cards?"

Lin Sizhi fell silent for a moment, then smiled. "If I tell you, will you believe me?"

Lu Xinyi nodded. "I will."

"Alright." Lin Sizhi spread his hands. "A King-high flush."

Lu Xinyi's eyes flickered, and it was unclear if she believed him; she simply nodded. "Thank you."

...

The final game went exactly according to the script Lin Sizhi had arranged.

The four players raised and folded in sequence.

After Qin Yao folded, Lin Sizhi took all the chips from the final round.

Lu Xinyi said nothing more; she simply made use of the last ten-odd minutes to enter the chip exchange area.

Before leaving the gambling table, she gave Lin Sizhi a meaningful look.

"Lin Sizhi... I'll remember you."

...

After Lu Xinyi and Lyu Mingxuan left with zero chips, only one round remained out of the ten.

Only Lin Sizhi and Qin Yao were left, and they needed to balance their chips one last time.

Before the seventh game, Lin Sizhi had a net loss of 42,000 and Qin Yao had a net gain of 23,000. In the seventh game, Lin Sizhi won the entire table's 90,000 chips, while Qin Yao lost 45,000.

After settling the ransom with Lu Xinyi in the eighth game, Lin Sizhi intentionally lost 40,000 to Qin Yao to maintain her chip pool.

In the ninth game, Lin Sizhi won all 124,000 chips on the table, while Qin Yao lost 44,000 chips.

In the final game, Lin Sizhi intentionally lost 60,000 to Qin Yao.

As a result, in this gambling session, Lin Sizhi ended with a net profit of 72,000 chips, while Qin Yao ended with a net profit of 34,000.

Including the large-denomination chips he had hidden in his pocket, even Qin Yao was having trouble keeping track of the total.

"Lawyer Lin, I thought that after Lyu Mingxuan folded in the last round, you might go back on your word since it would be two against one," Qin Yao said.

Lin Sizhi raised an eyebrow. "Hmm? Do I look like someone who doesn't keep his promises?"

Qin Yao shook her head. "Not exactly.

"It's mainly because we likely won't have another chance to be matched with Community 3, so breaking a promise wouldn't carry much cost.

"After Lyu Mingxuan folded, it was two against one, giving us a 66% win rate."

Lin Sizhi shook his head. "Doesn't that mean there's still a 33% chance of losing?

"I am no gambler. If possible, I prefer to win money that is 100% certain."

Qin Yao thought for a moment. "Lawyer Lin, I have another question.

"Why was Lu Xinyi able to decide to give up all her chips so decisively?

"At that time, she couldn't be certain of the hidden rule that 'the chip exchange machine will not fold.' If she hadn't figured it out, or if she hadn't encountered good cards, wouldn't she have lost both her money and her chance?

"If it were me, I would have chosen to play it safe and pocket the remaining 80,000 chips."

Lin Sizhi said calmly, "Because she is a smart person, I chose to deal with her using a smart person's method, and she was bound to fall for it.

"If she had thought like you, I would have used a different method from the very beginning."

Qin Yao nodded slightly. "Hmm...

"Wait, Lawyer Lin, are you saying I'm a stupid person!"

She stared at him, eyes wide in disbelief.

The countdown on the large screen hit zero.

【GAME OVER】

(End of Chapter)