"Stud Ha!"

Old John looked at the young man opposite him who had pushed out all the chips in front of him, and sighed more and more that he was really old. From the time the other party entered the casino, it only took 1 hour for the boss to urgently summon him, and it took less than half an hour to defeat himself, the so-called "town master".

This is a Chinese with black hair and black eyes, a very ordinary face, and the only thing that catches the eye is those eyes.

From the other party's calm eyes, Old John couldn't see that he had the slightest mood swing, even if he looked like a young man in his early 20s at most, even if the total number of chips in front of him had exceeded 1 million.

John Sr. had been at California's largest underground casino for more than 20 years, and he had seen all sorts of gamblers during that time, but he had never seen anyone who cared as much as the young man across from him.

Since he entered the casino, whether it is to win money or to find excitement, he will have something he cares about, but all the actions of the young man opposite reveal a kind of casualness and carelessness, as if he did not walk into the casino, but into a café.

Old John was observing Ning Pei, but Ning Pei was thinking about something else absent-mindedly: This is the famous California "Eagle Eye"? It's better to be famous than to meet.

Ning Pei's right hand rested on the table, and his left hand habitually rotated a coin. I saw the coin flash back and forth between his five fingers, and it seemed to be connected into a silver thread at a fast speed, and then he raised his thumb, bounced the coin into the air, stretched out his hand, palmed it to the sky, and said to old John: "I'm stud*ha, do you want to follow?" ”

As the words ended, the coin also fell into Ning Pei's palm and was grasped.

Old John lowered his head, took a deep breath, and then raised his head with a stiff smile: "I don't follow." “

"Wow-" A large number of chips were pushed in front of Ning Pei, and in comparison, Old John's chips were a little pitiful.

"Sir, our manager invites you to the VIP room." A waiter stood next to Ning Pei, bent down and said in the most polite tone, Ning Pei knew that this was an eviction order, smiled, stood up, and followed the waiter.

……

In a dilapidated building in the old city, Ning Pei casually threw the check he had just gotten from the casino manager on the table, and said to the person sitting in the shadow opposite: "Old man, there are seven casinos in half a year, this is the last one, and I finished it." ”

After a while, the man in the shadows moved his body and emerged from the darkness, and in the dim light, it was vaguely clear that it was an old man.

The years are full of traces on the old man's body, whether it is on the hands, on the face, or on the head; Only the old man's eyes, which were deep-set, were bright and deep; In this war with the years, this seems to be the last position that the old man has held onto.

The old man didn't look at the large check on the table, his eyes were staring at Ning Pei, who was sitting opposite, and he carefully looked at this "work" that he had created by himself, with admiration and sighs in his eyes.

After a long time, the old man's voice sounded in the room, his voice was a little hoarse, but it was extremely firm, "Very good, you are free." ”

Freely? Hearing this word, Ning Pei was a little stunned. Since I was sensible, I have been full of arrangements for every minute and every second: when to get up, when to eat, when to train, and when to listen to the old man's lectures. Then every once in a while you have to complete some strange tasks: threading the needle and thread within the specified time, picking locks blindfolded, quickly remembering cards, cutting cards, changing cards......

It was only in the last few years that the old man told him that what he had been learning was called Qianshu, or gambling; Then his mission becomes to challenge the major casinos and defeat their town masters.

Ning Pei is 20 years old this year, and in his 20 years of life, he has never had time for himself, he has always trained, completed tasks, trained, and completed tasks; He always thought that the old man would have an ultimate task for him to complete in the end, but today, the old man said to him, you are free.

Freedom, is this what you have always wanted?

Ning Pei was a little confused, he stood up and walked out of the room, and after a while, a voice came from the kitchen, "The porridge is ready, ready to eat." ”

Since Ning Pei was 8 years old, the old man's health has been getting worse and worse, all the housework is done by Ning Pei, for so many years, it is not so much that the old man raised Ning Pei, but that Ning Pei is taking care of the old man and himself.

At the dinner table, the two sat opposite each other, drinking porridge quietly, and the old man took the lead in breaking the silence.

"Do you think I have something you need to do?"

"Isn't it?"

"Well, it's actually a very cliché story, I have an enemy."

“…….”

"I fled here from China to avoid the pursuit of the enemy, and then I picked you up."

“……”

"I see in you the hope of revenge, so I have devoted all my heart and soul to teaching you."

"It's really old-fashioned, so now, no revenge?"

"The older you get, the more you look like me back then."

"So what?"

"I don't want you to be what I am anymore, so you're free."

After the old-fashioned story was told, Ning Pei was silent for a long time, then raised his head, looked at the old man, and said seriously: "You should at least tell me who the enemy is." ”

The old man looked at him and smiled with some relief, "I said you were very similar to me when I was younger, so I know you." When you were young, you felt that you were not afraid of the sky and the earth, and you liked to keep challenging it, but now you just can't find a new goal. ”

Ning Pei also laughed and looked at the old man, "Since you know, you should tell me about the enemy, you are already old, I am still young, and such a fun thing as revenge should be left to me." ”

The old man didn't answer, stood up, and beckoned to Ning Pei. Ning Pei skillfully stepped forward, helped the old man, and walked out of the door.

Since the old man's health began to deteriorate, Ning Pei insisted on accompanying the old man to go out for a walk and move after dinner every day. According to Ning Pei, the old man buried himself in the shadows all day long, and he didn't know when he would completely decay, so it was better to go out and move around more.

"I was led into this profession by the master when I was very young, and at that time, when I was young, I listened to whatever the master said, and I only felt that it was a very honorable thing for me to learn a thousand arts." While taking a walk, the old man fell into memories and told Ning Pei about some past events that he had never mentioned before.

"When I was 12 years old, Master made a bet with an enemy and took me to watch the battle. In the end, both sides gambled on their right hand, and Master lost, and I saw Master have his right hand cut off with my own eyes. ”

The old man talked about these old things, and there was not much sentimental nostalgia in his eyes, but tiredness and disgust.

"Not long after that, Master committed suicide, and Master only left me a sentence before he died, and I will give it to you now."

"What?"

"Do our business, you will lose if you gamble for a long time! And we, we can't afford to lose. ”

“......”

After a long silence, Ning Pei helped the old man to stand on the street, looking at the neon lights in the distance, "You must have avenged your master back then." ”

"Hahaha!" The old man let out a burst of heroic laughter, a look of contempt flashed in his eyes, and there was a bit of pain hidden in it, "Yes, I avenged my master, and finally became what I am today." ”

As he spoke, the old man stretched out his hands. The withered skin was covered with unsightly spots and folds, but these were not the point, and on the old man's right hand, only the thumb and index finger were left, and the bare palm looked extremely terrifying.

"Back then, I watched my fingers chopped off one by one, and if it weren't for luck and being rescued in time, I wouldn't even be able to keep a finger now."

Ning Pei glanced at the old man's hand, and he was already surprised, "So you don't want me to help you take revenge, I'm afraid that something will happen to me?" ”

"Don't go, let's go home." The old man didn't answer Ning Pei's question, but just patted his hand and motioned him to turn around.

Soon, the two of them returned home, and the old man walked into the house, took out a ticket from the bedside, and handed it to Ning Pei, "This is a domestic ticket for tomorrow." ”

Seeing that he seemed to have something to say, the old man waved his hand, "You have offended a lot of people in the past six months, there is no need to stay and cause trouble, go back to China, we are Chinese, and we will go back after all." ”

"You're not going back with me?"

"I'll go back, but not now, you still have a long way to go, one day you will find your goal, you shouldn't be rotten with me, a bad old man, let's go."

Just like the old man knows Ning Pei, Ning Pei also understands the old man, the old man's decision will not be changed, since the ticket has been bought early in the morning, it means that the old man has made a decision, and it is useless to oppose it.

Ning Pei took the ticket, nodded, turned around and walked to the door, paused at the door, and asked, "Do you have anything else to say?" ”

“...... Promise me, don't go my old way, go your own way! ”

“....... Good! ”

"Old man."

"Huh?"

"Thank you."

The old man waved his hand and signaled that he was going to sleep, Ning Pei closed the door and walked out of the room.

The dim lights of the old house are finally going out, but the morning sun will still come.