Chapter 27: The Soul of The Casino

I really did not think that Niu Xiao’er, who was still sleeping just now, would unexpectedly hide in the corner, eavesdropping on my conversation.

This man's moral quality, really... It was hard to describe.

Liu the Sixt hand I casually exchanged two more sentences and then hung up the phone.

I said to Niu Xiao’er, "Niu Xiao’er, It's not that I won’t give you the Yin embroidery of the "ghost hands catch the money", but it's an evil one. I advise you not to do it."

"I'm not afraid even if it is evil. My life is dirt-cheap; I am not afraid of anything evil." Niu Xiao’er insisted that I give him the Yin embroidery of the "ghost hands catch the money"

I didn't want to give him the tattoo, and he gave me the same old excuse again.

He said, "Yu Shui, if not for me, Niu Xiao’er, you would have died in the river. Are you having a good time today? Now remember that, I really should not have saved you."

I was speechless. I sat in the tattoo room, stunned.

Niu Xiao’er had been talking a hundred times about how he saved me before.

In the end, I couldn't stop it, "Come on, I will give you the Yin embroidery of the "ghost hands catch the money"

Niu Xiao’er’s face changed into a smile, and he said good words to me. He said, "This is right, help me do this tattoo. After all, we are still originally good friends. We cannot cheat our brothers. Cheating is for outsiders.”

After a long chat with me, I had no choice but to find Liu the Sixth to buy his "fierce soul" and do the Yin Tattoo.

I let him lie on the couch while I went to the back room, dressed in a Wu Sa, and took a mirror.

I first gave him a "host of ghosts.”

How I wished Niu Xiao’er would not succeed…But unfortunately... he succeeded, and that ghost seemed to particularly like him, as there was not even a little rejection.

Now that the ghost had recognized its host, I had to do it.

I could only choose to do the Yin and Yang Tattoo.

I took the needle and started to give him a stab at the bottom.

The pattern for “ghost hands catch the money” was a pale hand seizing a copper coin.

This tattoo was slightly more complicated, plus I was not in a very good mood, so I worked slowly.

When the ghost hand was almost finished, a man suddenly came into the door.

"Brother Shui... The Yin and Yang Tattoo that you gave me yesterday was really effective,” the man said.

I looked out the door; it was brother Zhang.

I gave him a pair of Yin and Yang fish early yesterday morning.

"Yo! Brother Zhang, you sit down first." I pointed to a sofa and let him sit.

He sat down, smiled, and said to me, "Ouch, Shui, this Yin and Yang Tattoo is really capable. I just had it tattooed yesterday, and at midnight I went out to play cards. Guess what? In my group of buddies, the happiest one just lost money."

"What? Is he happy to lose money? What could be worse than losing money?" I asked him while tattooing.

He laughed, excited to tell me, "The other three were unconvinced, and started gambling clothes. Finally, those guys went home in their underwear! Ha, I played just one round to win back all the money I’d lost in these past few months."

When I finished, Brother Zhang opened his briefcase, took out a stack of cash from within, and handed it to me, "Come on, Shui, these are red packets, take them. It's good for me to pick up my face."

I was a little embarrassed. After all, he gave me twenty thousand Yuan yesterday, and now he gave ten thousand Yuan again? That's thirty thousand Yuan.

"Take it, take it, this craft is worth a lot of money. I believe it." He abruptly stuffed the money into my pocket, and also said that if he had business, he had to give me an introduction.

Seeing Brother Zhang was so enthusiastic, I was a little disgusted with Niu Xiao’er.

I was welcoming to Niu Xiao’er when he had just come on that day and said he wanted to eat a French dinner. I went there with him, he wanted to do a Yin and Yang Tattoo, and I did not let him spend a penny.

And the result?

He won two hundred thousand Yuan, but just gave me a cup of tea.

Brother Zhang and I just met by chance. He won the money and gave mered envelopes of more than ten thousand Yuan.

Money didn't mean anything, but you gotta give something to show your mind.

Besides, I didn’t even want you to repay me, but now you follow me around like a lump of sticky candy, make me do the evil Yin Tattoo for you… What the hell is this?

I received the red envelope of ten thousand Yuan.

He was ready to go, but he saw Niu Xiao’er lying on the bed with a pair of Yin and Yang fish on his arms, so he asked curiously, "Did you get a tattoo of Yin and Yang fish?"

"Sure. Shui specially made it for me." Niu Xiao’er said to Brother Zhang cheerfully, "I am his best friend."

‘I am his best friend’. This sentence Niu Xiao’er said, I felt was a little much. Niu Xiao’er, do you really treat me as your friend?

Zhang smiled and said, "Oh I know, this Yin and Yang Tattoo is very powerful. Your friend is a good man."

"Not terribly." Niu Xiao’er pointed to the tattoo on his back and said, "See? The tattoo on my back is more powerful than the Yin and Yang fish. Relying on the Yin and Yang fish, I can only earn one hundred thousand Yuan a day, completely not enough."

"And is there a tattoo more powerful than the Yin and Yang fish?" Zhang was looking at me strangely.

I was a little panicked.

What the hell was this, Niu Xiao’er? You forced me to do "ghost hands catch the money", but I really did not want to have a second person do this Yin and Yang embroidery, especially Brother Zhang.

I said yes, yes, yes.

I was thinking of how to persuade him not to do this tattoo.

However, I did not have to speak, as Zhang held up his thumb and said, "Shui, you have ability, really have ability. I have some things to do, so I’ll go."

"Brother Zhang, walk slowly." I hastened to greet him.

I was afraid he was angry because I did not tell him about the tattoo; he was not happy to go.

So when he left, I followed.

I walked to the tattoo shop doorway, pulled him and said, "Brother, don't blame me. It is not that I didn't want to tell you about the tattoo…I…really is... Alas... That Yin Tattoo is too weird. When ‘ghost grasping money’ is on the body, I do not know what will happen. You are considerate of me."

"Ha." Zhang listened to my explanation, laughed, and said to me, "Shui, you are afraid I’ll blame you, ah? I’ll tell you the truth, the Yin and Yang fish has been very useful, and if something is more useful than the Yin and Yang fish, I will definitely not want it tattooed."

I didn't know what he meant.

He pointed to the tattoo shop and said to me, "Shui, a straight forward person does not resort to insinuations. I have no culture, but know one thing: ten bet, nine lose... So I just play small cards, so as to entertain. If you gamble professionally, you're a millionaire and you have to put it all on the table."

"Yes, yes," I nodded. Zhang was an enlightened person.

Zhang said again, "I’ll tell you directly, you cannot make friends with that person... He must be a person who is addicted to gambling. When he heard about gambling, he was very interested. By the way, I advise you... Don't let your friends gamble again, and don't give your friends the Yin and Yang Tattoo of the ‘ghost hands catch the money’.”

“What do you mean?” I asked.

Zhang smiled and said, "The people at the gambling table, they are criminals. You think that if you have a Yin and Yang Tattoo, you will be able to win more money?"

“With ghost hands catch the money", you should be able to win every bet,” I said to him.

Zhang laughed, laughing while walking. Before leaving, he said: “Brother Shui, if you often lose? You just lose your money. If you often win, you lose your life... Win or lose, do not lose at the poker table, but lose outside the table.”

His saying, I did not understand it at that time, until Niu Xiao’er had an accident. Then I understood what he meant.

Zhang also said, "This thing, it's OK just to have fun, but if you expect to rely on it to gain wealth, it is complete nonsense."

I learned a lesson. I went back to the room and said to Niu Xiao’er, "Brother, I advise you again, really do not get the ‘ghost hands catch the money’ tattoo. Also do not gamble. Finding a job is the right path."

He didn't listen to my advice. He said to me coldly, "You don't care so much... Do the tattoo. Well, this time, if I win plenty of money, I’ll give you all the money for your mum's surgery fee."

He said that, but I did not believe it. Last night he won two hundred thousand, but he has given me one hundred Yuan.

"All right, since you want the tattoo, then I’ll do it."

I sighed with disappointment, grabbed the needle, and gave him the tattoo.

That night, Liu the Sixth sent me the fierce soul to do the tattoo.

The soul itself, there was a story about it.

He told me that the fierce soul, in life, was a gambler called Ma Liu... He was like Niu Xiao’er, regarding gambling as his life.

Ma Liu liked playing a game of Pai Gow called ‘Jiu Wu Hou’. Pai Gow is like a domino with Pai Gow points on.

The rules of Jiu Wu Hou are very simple, belong to "bigger than size", like "zagin" and "soha.”

His addiction was always big, and one night he was playing with some gamblers in the county town.

On that day he was angry. He soon lost his money, but he didn't say any words, and just bet on his house property certificate, wanting to have the last gamble.

His chose "soha", bet all the chips, and then he waited for the card.

Two Pai Gow cards, Ma Liu first read one of them... That card was a nine point, it was super big.

He was full of confidence, and secretly looked at the other Pai Gow card. He glanced at a two point.

He took a deep breath and turned the Pai Gow card over to the other side... Another two point. His second card was a four point.

His cards were nine and four. In Jiu Wu Hou, nine and four is called ‘the bench’... The winning probability is very small, similar to a double four in the landlord.

He knew this card had no hope of winning, so Ma Liu made an excuse and went to the toilet, temporarily not revealing the card.

But when he was found, he had hanged himself in the toilet.

"This person bet to the end and jumped to commit suicide…Why?" I said to Liu.

Liu the Sixth smiled and asked me, "You think it is over? I tell you, this is not the reason this is a fierce soul. There are other reasons."

"What? What do you mean?" I asked Liu the Sixth.

Liu the Sixth smiled and said, "I tell you, Ma Liu's death was very undeserved. In fact, he did not lose with that card.”