Chapter 27: Volunteering
"I’ve raised the price to one hundred thousand a month, and there’s even a year-end bonus, yet still no one!" Xiaogang shook his head helplessly.
"Try offering two hundred thousand a month!" Miss Bai suggested tentatively.
"Honestly, Miss Bai, does anyone in our line of work really need money? Even if you raise it to three hundred thousand, it probably won’t work!" Xiaogang said, stuffing a bite of noodles into his mouth.
"So what do we do? We really need people right now. Ever since Xianglong Tea House pulled that stunt on us, I’ve lost millions!" Miss Bai might have had her back to Lin Tian, but he could tell from her voice that she was troubled by this.
"One hundred thousand a month, plus a year-end bonus!" Lin Tian was honestly tempted by such an offer, given that he was really short on money.
Even buying lottery tickets would only get him scratch-offs, but the winnings from scratch-offs were limited; trying to make money this way wasn’t very reliable!
It’s more secure to find a stable source of income.
"There’s a master who set a condition, saying he’ll work with Miss Bai as long as she agrees to it!" Xiaogang said in a serious tone.
"What condition?" Miss Bai asked excitedly.
"This... I don’t dare to say!" Xiaogang looked troubled.
"Speak!"
"He said as long as Miss Bai spends the night with him, he would work with her for free!" Xiaogang said, sticking out his tongue with his head lowered.
"Bam!" Miss Bai slammed her hand hard on the table: "Damn, they think Bai Shishi’s got no one left under her command!"
"Miss Bai, instead of paying a high price to recruit masters, why don’t we find some young talents to carefully train? In time, they can become masters too!" Xiaogang suggested.
"Training? It takes three to five years to train a master at cheating, and even if you succeed, I’m afraid my tea house might go bankrupt by then!" Bai Shishi sighed, full of worry.
"Masters at cheating? Tea house?" Listening stealthily from the side, Lin Tian suddenly understood what the two were referring to as masters.
This beautiful woman probably has some sort of card venue, but without experts, it’s constantly being bullied by other tea houses, hence her desperate search for cheating masters.
"Could I do it?" Lin Tian thought about card games; with his current ability, seeing through a card should be no problem.
"Might as well give it a try!" With a decision made, Lin Tian decided to volunteer himself.
As Bai Shishi remained silent, troubled over this matter, a shadow suddenly sat down next to her.
"Who are you?" Bai Shishi glanced at the shadow sitting beside her. A youthful face, still carrying a school bag, a student for sure.
"Lin Tian!"
"Hey, this has nothing to do with you, get lost!" Xiaogang frowned, shouted sternly at Lin Tian sitting beside Bai Shishi.
"How does it not concern me? I wouldn’t be here if it didn’t!" Lin Tian countered Xiaogang.
"What do you want?" Bai Shishi coldly watched Lin Tian, unsure of a student’s purpose in suddenly approaching.
"I overheard your conversation just now. I wonder if I could give it a try?" Lin Tian chuckled.
"You?"
"Want to try?"
Hearing Lin Tian’s words, Xiaogang was first stunned, then burst into laughter: "Do you even know what we’re talking about? Wanting to try, do you think it’s just a game?"
"If I’m not mistaken, you’re talking about playing cards, right?" Lin Tian guessed completely.
"You know how to cheat?" Bai Shishi didn’t want to underestimate Lin Tian like Xiaogang did, as she’s encountered countless people and considers herself a good judge of character.
"I don’t." Lin Tian answered honestly.
"Then what are you trying for? One card game involves millions, do you have the capital to try?" Xiaogang snorted, convinced the student before him was crazy.
"Let’s try it now!" Lin Tian looked serious, clearly not joking.
"Are you serious?" Although Bai Shishi still found it odd for a student to make such a request, she had no better option at the moment in her desperate search for talent.
As the saying goes, there are hidden talents among the people, it’s not impossible he might really be a genius.
"Yes!" Lin Tian nodded.
"Go buy a deck of cards!" Bai Shishi instructed Xiaogang.
Xiaogang left the noodle shop angrily and quickly returned with a deck of cards.
"What do you want to play?" Bai Shishi opened the deck, and the fifty-four cards danced in her hands like sprites.
"Whatever you say, I’ll play!" Lin Tian said nonchalantly.
"How about this, the three of us play something simple, draw cards and see who gets the highest?" Bai Shishi placed the deck on the table.
"Ace high, two low!"
"Fine!" Lin Tian nodded again.
"Miss Bai, playing for high card is fine, but wouldn’t playing without some stakes be a bit boring?" Xiaogang said, clearly aiming his comment at Lin Tian.
Since you want to try, you must pay the price. In Xiaogang’s eyes, Lin Tian was just a clueless student.
"Stakes? Money?" Bai Shishi glanced at Lin Tian, probably knowing a student wouldn’t have much money.
"Nothing to bet, I’m definitely going to win!" Lin Tian suddenly declared confidently.
Because he just tried, and he could clearly see every card on the table, both suit and number.
If that’s how they were going to play, then he really didn’t know the meaning of losing.
"Ha!" Xiaogang suddenly burst into laughter.
After laughing, he pointed at Lin Tian’s nose and cursed: "Where do you get the confidence, you damn student, to claim certain victory in front of Miss Bai? You probably can’t even beat me!"
"What if I beat you?" A smirk appeared on Lin Tian’s lips.
"If you can beat me, I’ll... I’ll eat shit!" Xiaogang’s mouth twitched. If it weren’t for Bai Shishi insisting on letting Lin Tian try, he would’ve slapped this arrogant student by now.
"You said it yourself, let’s begin!" Lin Tian shrugged, thinking this person was being too harsh on himself!
"Hope you keep your word." Lin Tian said, gesturing for the two to draw their cards first.
Xiaogang gave Lin Tian a sidelong glance, feeling that he was making a joke, drew a card from the deck without care. Although luck played a big role in card games, for him and Bai Shishi, masters at cheating, luck was nonexistent.
No matter how lucky you are, you can’t stop me from switching cards.
So, Xiaogang drew a card with ease.
Bai Shishi drew even more casually, her pretty face showing no emotional fluctuation, completely unconcerned about the outcome.
𝕗𝐫𝚎𝗲𝘄𝐞𝕓𝐧𝕠𝘃𝕖𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝚖
Lin Tian saw both Xiaogang and Bai Shishi’s cards, Xiaogang drew a ten of hearts, and Bai Shishi drew a two of spades.
To win and pass the test, Lin Tian picked up the ace of hearts from the deck.
"Reveal your cards!" Bai Shishi spoke first, casually tossing her card on the table, a spade ace appeared.
"Holy shit!" Seeing the spade ace, Lin Tian blurted out a curse.