According to incomplete statistics, there are more than 200 legal casinos in Las Vegas in this world. Xiao Yao came to Las Vegas this time, and it was almost impossible and did not plan to visit all the more than 200 casinos at once.

It is already the twenties of the 21st century, and many casinos have replaced the 21 o'clock tables with turbo card machines, coupled with some reasons such as the size of the casino, the location and the surrounding environment, and the security situation, Xiao Yao came to Las Vegas this time, Yan Ke and others introduced him to only a dozen target casinos suitable for card counting, after learning about Paula, a gambling girl who is a local, and Charlie, the party planner, Xiao Yao's choice of target casinos has increased some, but it has only increased to more than 20.

Now Xiao Yao has been in the casino for nearly half a month, except for the first day, there are as few as two casinos and as many as three casinos every day, and he has already been to these more than 20 casinos once, and he began to repeat the casinos he had been to before two or three days ago.

Although Xiao Yao's memory ability and mental arithmetic ability are stronger than Yan Ke and others, he does not need to be so attentive and distracted when counting cards, and he also exerts a certain ability in performance, so that his demeanor and expression when counting cards and other external performances look different from ordinary card counters, but he has won a lot when he went to the same casino twice, and it is inevitable that it has attracted the attention of some casinos.

In the past two days, when he entered the casino, especially when he started to win money in the later stage and the chips on the table were piled up, Xiao Yao had already found that someone wearing a suit uniform, wearing a nameplate on his chest, and having headphones in his ears was sitting on the gambling table next to him and quietly observing him.

This situation was actually expected by Xiao Yao. To be honest, perhaps the presence of Tim Haggis, who was obviously his companion but also lost money, was expected to come a little later than Xiao Yao expected. No matter what, as long as the casino didn't clearly find him, tell him to suspect him in card counting, and put him on the blacklist, Xiao Yao just didn't find out that the casino sent someone to secretly observe him, and still acted in the casino according to the plan. Choking and Strange Novels|w~w~w.

Due to Amy Hatton's visit in the morning, Xiao Yao and Tim Haggis went out later than expected today, but it did not affect Xiao Yao's results today. In the evening, when Xiao Yao and Tim Haggis left the second casino, Xiao Yao again collected nearly a million dollars in the two casinos.

Xiao Yao promised Amy Hatton that he would go to see a rehearsal for Nicky Thompson's show, and the two would naturally not go to the third casino in the evening. Amy Hatton said Nicky Thompson's rehearsal was 10 p.m., and Xiao Yao and Tim Haggis needed not to rush. The two went out of the casino, went back to the hotel room to take a shower, changed their clothes, and then went to dinner relaxedly.

As a result, the time for dinner for the two was a little late. However, it takes a lot of time to eat a formal Western meal, but Tim Haggis is from the disciplined forces, and Xiao Yao is Chinese, so sometimes he is particular about the food he eats, but he is not very particular about the procedures of eating. The two big men, both of whom are more efficient people, eat relatively fast. After dinner, the two stayed in the dining room for a coffee break when they received a call from Amy Hatton.

Xiao Yao and Tim Haggis ate at the restaurant of the hotel where they stayed, and Amy Hatton and Nicky Thompson also set off from the hotel to the theater where the award ceremony was held.

The restaurant is located on a relatively low floor, and the two of them are ready to go out, so Xiao Yao and Tim Haggis went to the lounge area in the hotel lobby to wait first. However, when Amy Hatton called Xiao Yao, he should have been about to go out, and Xiao Yao and Tim Haggis didn't wait long before they saw Amy Hatton and Nicky Thompson and their party walk out of the elevator.

It wasn't just Amy Hatton and Nicky Thompson who got out of the elevator, but five or six people. Nicky Thompson's rehearsal is part of the work schedule, and the people next to her should be her personal team members, assistants, makeup artists, and other staff.

"Mr. Xiao, I'm sorry for you. Amy Hatton saw Xiao Yao, took two quick steps forward and said, "I hope you can give us good advice in a while." ”

"I'm just going to see a show, and I can't necessarily help you. Xiao Yao smiled.

"Hello, Young!" Nicky Thompson stepped forward to greet Xiao Yao, looked at him and said, "I wonder if I can see anything other than your eloquence tonight?"

"I shouldn't see it!" Xiao Yao shook his head with a smile, "It's all time in the rehearsal stage, your performance should be a relatively mature performance, I don't think I can help you with anything." I promised Ms. Hatton to go to your rehearsal, not because I thought I could help you in any way, but because I enjoyed watching other people's rehearsals, and I thought it was a lot of fun. ”

"You~hum!" Nicky Thompson snorted lightly when he saw that Xiao Yao didn't answer.

"I'll introduce you!" Amy Hatton took over and gave a brief introduction to Xiao Yao, Tim Haggis, and the people who came behind them. Sure enough, they were all members of Nicky Thompson's personal team.

Some of the people in Nicky Thompson's team had heard of Jan Shaw and were surprised after listening to Amy Hatton's introduction, but as for Tim Haggis, Amy Hatton did not reveal his profession, only said that he was a friend of Xiao Yao, and those people didn't care much.

"Let's go!" Nicky Thompson urged after Amy Hatton's introduction.

As everyone walked out of the hotel gate, Nicky Thompson's nanny car and a car were parked in front of the hotel. Nicky Thompson and Amy Hatton, along with a young assistant girl, got into the nanny car, while three others, including a makeup artist with a makeup suitcase, got into the car.

Xiao Yao and Tim Haggis naturally won't get into Nicky Thompson's car. The two of them had rented a car through the hotel during this time. There are some parking spaces in the ground area next to the hotel entrance, and the two knew that they were going to see a rehearsal tonight, so they didn't park their cars in the underground parking lot when they came back from the casino, but parked in the ground parking space next to the hotel entrance. Nicky Thompson and the others got into the car, while Xiao Yao and Tim Haggis got into their car and drove behind the two cars.

This year's Billboard Awards ceremony took place in the theater of a hotel called MGM in Las Vegas. The hotel is located in the center of Las Vegas, about ten minutes' drive from the Caesars Palace Hotel where Xiao Yao and others stayed, which is neither close nor far. In addition, there is also a casino in this hotel, Xiao Yao and Tim Haggis only went to it a few days ago, and the two are not afraid of finding a place even if they lose it, so they are not afraid of losing it.

When he was about to arrive at the MGM Hotel, Xiao Yao, who was sitting in the passenger seat, found that there were media reporters waiting at the entrance of the hotel.

News about this year's Billboard Awards ceremony has been announced for a long time. The time, place and most of the celebrity guests participating in the award ceremony are not secrets to media reporters, and it is not difficult for some media reporters to find out the rehearsal time. It's also normal for entertainment reporters who want to dig up more news to record and report on rehearsals, so it's no surprise that there are media reporters in this place.

"Tim, go to the underground parking lot, we take the underground passage and take the elevator straight in. Xiao Yao saw Nicky Thompson's two cars driving towards the hotel gate for the media reporters, turned to Tim Haggis, and took out his mobile phone to send a message to Amy Hatton.

Regardless of whether the media reporters at the door were notified and arranged by the organizer or they came by themselves, it is normal for the stars participating in the rehearsal to walk through the door and show their faces in front of the reporters, and there is no need for those like Xiao Yao to come to see the excitement in front of the reporters.

Tim Haggis drove into the hotel's underground parking lot and took the elevator with Xiao Yao to the floor where the hotel's theater is located. Perhaps the hotel didn't want to affect the other guests of the hotel because of the award ceremony, so only some reporters gathered at the entrance of the hotel, and there were no reporters in the underground parking lot or on the floor where the theater in the hotel is located.

The two walked to the door of the theater's backstage aisle and found the assistant girl who had just been in the car with Nicky Thompson and a young man in a suit uniform with earplugs in one ear, who looked like a hotel theater worker. In this way, it should be that Nicky Thompson and Amy Hatton have already gone in, leaving this assistant here to wait for Xiao Yao.

Seeing the two appear, the assistant girl immediately waved her hand to say hello to the two. When the two approached, the young man led them in.

Nicky Thompson's rehearsal time was around ten o'clock, and the group set off at nine o'clock, and it was not yet half past nine, and there was still more than half an hour before Nicky Thompson's rehearsal, so Nicky Thompson was in the lounge now.

The young man led the three to the door of a room with Nicky Thompson's name on it, nodded to them, and left. The assistant girl knocked on the door, and without waiting for the person inside to open the door, she pressed the doorknob to push open the door and took Xiao Yao and the two inside.

Xiao Yao walked in and found Nicky Thompson sitting in front of the makeup table, and her makeup artist was putting her on makeup.

The so-called rehearsal is originally an opera jargon, which refers to the final rehearsal of drama and dance before the official performance. The color characters refer to the costume rehearsals before the official performances of opera and dance. Therefore, to be correct, a rehearsal without costumes and makeup is called a rehearsal, and a rehearsal with costumes and makeup is called a rehearsal.

However, with the wrong usage of some people, rehearsal has become the meaning of rehearsal on the performance venue before the official performance, and there is no meaning of having to wear costumes and makeup, and a theoretically incorrect word "rehearsal with makeup" replaces the original meaning of rehearsal.

When Amy Hatton communicated with Xiao Yao, she spoke in English, so naturally she would not make such a mistake. Amy Hatton told Xiao Yao about "DressRehearsal", which means makeup rehearsal before the official performance. Since it was a costume rehearsal, it was natural to need to make up and change costumes.

Nicky Thompson saw Xiao Yao come in from the mirror, and just raised his hand to signal. Xiao Yao didn't bother her, smiled casually in response, and sat down on the sofa in the lounge with Tim Haggis.

"Nicky, where's Amy?" asked the assistant girl, standing beside Nicky Thompson.

When she entered, she found that Amy Hatton was not in the break room.

"Went to say hello to the band. "They've arrived, but they're too numerous and we're in another lounge, and Amy says she'll go and have a look." ”

"Oh!" the assistant girl nodded.

"Excuse me, can I go to your band's lounge?" Xiao Yao suddenly raised his hand and asked.

"You hate me?" said Nicky Thompson with a frown.

"You're wearing makeup, it's not very convenient to talk," Xiao Yao said, "I just think it's more fun to be with the people in the band." ”

"Hmph~" Nicky Thompson snorted again, and was about to speak, when the door to the lounge was suddenly pushed open.

It was Amy Hatton who came in.

Amy Hatton saw Xiao Yao and the others on the sofa, walked to the sofa on the other side and sat down, and said to Xiao Yao: "Mr. Xiao, you have arrived." ”

"Ms. Hatton," Xiao Yao said, "can you help me ask if anyone is rehearsing on stage right now, and can I go to the audience in the performance hall to watch the rehearsal?"

"I asked you to come because," Amy Hatton reminded.

"I know," Xiao Yao interrupted, "I'm here to see Miss Thompson rehearsing, but she hasn't started rehearsing yet, so I'll go see the others first, so there shouldn't be any problem, right?"

Xiao Yao felt a little bored sitting here watching Nicky Thompson put on makeup.

"Okay, I'll help you ask. Amy Hatton hesitated, but nodded.

Just as Amy Hatton was about to get up, there was a knock at the door of the break room.

The assistant girl ran over to open the door, and when she opened the door, she was a little surprised to find a group of people standing outside the door.

Outside the door was a group of young men with colorful hair, all of whom looked like Asians. One of the older men in a suit at the front said to the assistant girl in English, "Sorry, excuse me, we want to visit Miss Thompson!"

"Huh?" the assistant girl turned to look at her agent, Amy Hatton.

Amy Hatton got up and walked to the door to look, first showing a puzzled expression, but quickly put it away, waved her hand and made a gesture of please, and smiled: "Please come in!"

It seems that Amy Hatton knows the people out there, but doesn't understand why they're here.

Someone from outside walked in, a total of eight young men. After entering, seven of them stood in a row, and the middle one counted one, two, three, and then the seven of them bowed together and said, "Hello, we are BTBS!"

The seven of them spoke English, but Xiao Yao felt a strong smell of kimchi. The taste of kimchi that Xiao Yao felt did not just refer to the accent.

"Hello, I'm Nicky Thompson. Nicky Thompson stood up and smiled politely.

When these seven people came in, it was obviously different from when Xiao Yao came in just now, so Nicky Thompson's makeup artist had stopped.

"Hello, I'm Nicky's agent, and my name is Amy Hatton!" said Amy Hatton.

"Hello, I'm a BTBS agent, my name is John Lee!" said the older man in a suit next to him, "I've heard your name for a long time, it's nice to meet you!"

"Me too!" Amy Hatton nodded, then asked curiously, "Why are you here?"

BTBS is a Korean male idol group that has a lot of popularity in Europe and the United States in the past two years. Last year they were nominated for the Billboard "Best Group" award, and although they didn't win in the end, Amy Hatton knew them. But what makes Amy Hatton feel strange is that they are not nominated this year and they are only guests, neither nominated nor performers, and I don't know why they are here tonight.