Chapter 321: Shut Out
"So you want to team up with me?"
Chen Moxiang rolled her eyes at him, "What? You don’t want to?"
Lin Tian chuckled, "Have you ever heard this phrase?"
"What phrase?"
"I’m not afraid of an opponent like God; I’m afraid of a teammate like a pig!"
"Get lost!" Chen Moxiang almost gave Lin Tian a hard knock. Who are you calling a pig?
"Mr. Chen, actually I have another question!"
"Ask!"
Lin Tian asked, "What if someone gets caught during the theft?"
Chen Moxiang fell silent for a moment, pondering over the question before finally replying, "If Nomura and his people handle it privately, it’s likely a dead-end. If handed over to the Celestial Dragon Continent, we’ll enforce the death penalty according to the law!"
"Is there no room for easing up?" Lin Tian finally realized how serious the consequences were.
"You understand, this involves an international cultural relic exhibition; theft is a big deal. If someone gets caught, it will definitely attract global media attention. If we don’t handle it justly, it could cause a bad public reaction, which would be a huge negative impact for the Celestial Dragon Continent, so... we can only...!" Chen Moxiang trailed off, but Lin Tian understood the meaning she was conveying.
"You should think it over carefully. If you’re scared, you can back out. I don’t want any traitors!" Chen Moxiang stood up and headed for the door.
"Scared?" Lin Tian laughed, "Do nobles and warriors have a natural monopoly on courage? I’ve lived this long and still genuinely don’t know how to spell the word ’fear’!"
"Seems like I didn’t misjudge you!" Chen Moxiang smiled slightly and started the car.
"Where are we going?" Lin Tian asked.
"To convince another person!"
Along the way, Lin Tian learned from Chen Moxiang about this so-called teammate, originally named Ye Feng, skilled at handling electronic devices. He runs a cellphone store in Haidian District. On the surface, it looks like a phone shop, but in reality, it’s a large gang base, and many thieves work under Ye Feng.
To put it bluntly, Ye Feng is a master thief with followers who are all thieves! Such a person is usually not very useful, but in this matter, he’s extremely useful. Since he can be a master thief, he must have some exceptional qualities.
The two drove to a cellphone shop. The shutter door was half-open, with lights shining through the gap, suggesting someone was inside. Yet, for unknown reasons, the shutter was left half-open.
Lin Tian reached out and pulled open the shutter door, revealing a large display case filled with all kinds of cellphones, even old brick phones, indicating this store has been here for quite some time.
Next was a counter with a computer on it, the screen flickering with an unknown movie playing.
Beside the counter was a small table with three people playing Fight the Landlord, one of them being none other than the cigarette-smoking Feng.
The sudden arrival of Lin Tian and Chen Moxiang drew the attention of the four people, but Feng merely glanced at them and said to the other two card players, "What are you looking at? Come on~ let’s keep playing!"
Lin Tian and Chen Moxiang were ignored, showing that Feng clearly didn’t think much of the two of them, leisurely playing a powerful hand of four twos with two jokers.
"Feng, your playstyle is infuriating!"
"Feng, you’re bullying us, four twos with two jokers? Nobody plays like that!"
Although Feng won this way, letting the other two dodge two bombs and lose a bit less money, they were clearly not happy about it.
"Cut the crap, pay up!" Feng, cigarette still in mouth, yelled at the two.
The two grumbled incessantly, but quickly fished out a hundred-yuan bill from the pile of money on the table and handed it to Feng.
Seeing Feng play cards while being ignored, Lin Tian realized standing there for a long time wasn’t going to work.
In addition, Chen Moxiang wanted him to persuade Ye Feng, so he had no choice but to bite the bullet and make a move.
"How about I play a couple of rounds too?" Lin Tian approached Feng.
Feng looked up at Lin Tian, said nothing, and told the person opposite, "Let him play!"
The person beside Lin Tian immediately left the seat open.
Lin Tian sat down, smiling at Feng, "What stakes are we playing for?"
"Fifty a round!" Feng said as he dealt the cards in a two-three-three manner.
After the cards were dealt, Lin Tian glanced at Feng and the other’s hands, pulled out a four of hearts, and said, "First round, I’ll be the landlord!"
"If you don’t want to, you can let someone else!" Feng took a deep drag of his cigarette, tossed the butt on the ground, and began arranging his cards.
"I’m missing a 3-5-6. If I get these three cards, I can shut you out!" Lin Tian said while organizing his cards and observing his opponents’ hands.
"Brother, boasting isn’t good!" The other farmer player was clearly not convinced!
"Humph!" Feng just snorted, obviously not believing what Lin Tian said.
"Hope I can pull it off!" Lin Tian ignored the two, quietly turning over the first card, "Oh, it’s a 3!"
Continues to flip, it’s a 5!
At this point, Feng and his partner both gasped; did he really pull the 3-5-6?
"One more to go!" Lin Tian grinned, reaching for the third card, as everyone in the room focused on the face-up card.
"Oh my god, it’s actually a 6!" Feng’s partner exclaimed when he saw the card Lin Tian flipped up.
Feng said nothing, just stared hard at the 3-5-6 on the table, astonished that Lin Tian had indeed drawn the cards he wanted.
Will they really end up shut out as he said?
"This hand is so easy, a fool could win with it!" Lin Tian said, looking helplessly at Feng and his friend.
"Easy?" Feng’s face darkened, feeling that Lin Tian was showing off.
An easy hand means the cards are so good that even a fool could win. Usually, players hope for such a hand.
"How easy could it be?" Feng’s friend didn’t understand what an easy hand meant and thought the cards weren’t good, calling them easy.
"3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10-J-Q-K-A!" Lin Tian played twelve cards, glanced at Feng and his friend, "Are you going to play or not?"
"Nope!"
"Can’t beat it!" Feng shook his head, a drop of sweat inexplicably trickling down his forehead, "Are we really going to be shut out?"
Shut out means the two farmers didn’t manage to play any cards, equivalent to a bomb, doubling the stakes.
"Then I’ll continue!" Lin Tian chuckled, "Two Aces!"
"Not playing!" Feng’s partner looked at Feng.
"Pass!" Feng, face dark, shook his head. With nobody taking on the two aces, it was clear enough already.
Neither of them had any twos, meaning Lin Tian must have four twos, at least one bomb. With the shut out, the stake amount would double.