Police officer Chen Shu.

Just as others have advised.

If the dealer really cheated, what would he be after? In the bet between Company Commander Ma and Chen Chuan, the outcome was entirely between the two of them. For the dealer, who was just a tool, there was absolutely no need to cheat.

Furthermore, the betting game ended with Company Commander Ma winning $280,000, so there is no logical basis for the dealer colluding with others to set up the game for Company Commander Ma.

He understood everything, but Company Commander Ma was still annoyed by Chen Chuan's ambiguous smile.

He understood that this person didn't care about the money he had just lost, but Company Commander Ma cared about his reputation.

Company Commander Ma grabbed the croupier, stared into his eyes for a few seconds, then suddenly grabbed the man's hand, twisted it around, and forced it to bend over amidst a series of cries of pain.

There were a few very faint black marks under the dealer's fingernails; those were the ink used to mark the cards.

"You fucking dare to cheat?" Company Commander Ma's voice seemed to be squeezed out from between his teeth. At this moment, he understood what had happened. No wonder the dealer insisted on changing the cards earlier. He guessed that the old cards in the previous game had already been tampered with by the other party.

The dealer immediately knelt on the ground, kowtowing repeatedly: "Mr. Ma, I was wrong! Mr. Ma, I was wrong! Although I made a mistake, I only wanted you to win money! More than two million, Mr. Ma, I really did it for your own good... ah!"

Company Commander Ma didn't bother listening to his explanation. He kicked the croupier in the chest, then drew his pistol and fired two shots at the croupier who was lying on the ground groaning.

"Ah! Ah!"

After the dealer was shot, he screamed in agony, but the others in the room didn't dare to move or even breathe loudly as he lay on the ground, slowly losing his strength to scream.

The room fell silent again. Company Commander Ma's face twitched a few times, and finally he raised his right hand, which was still holding a pistol, and waved it toward the door. The young men, as if they had been saved, rushed to the croupier and hurried out.

The croupier, with blood bubbling from his mouth, thanked the perpetrator in the last few seconds before leaving, thanking him for letting him go. In this world, the strong always prey on the weak, and tragically, when things actually happen, all the victim can do, all they can do, is say thank you to the strong.

Half a minute later, the room became quiet again.

Company Commander Ma remained silent for a moment, then pulled out an unopened bottle of whiskey from under the table, bit off the cap with his teeth, tilted his head back, and took a big gulp, the whiskey dripping down his chin.

"You figured it out a long time ago?" Company Commander Ma's voice was hoarse. He stared at Chen Chuan, his contempt gone, replaced by a complex emotion: admiration, apprehension, and a hint of...closeness.

Chen Chuan chuckled, seemingly unconcerned, and said, "Company Commander Ma, didn't you already know that all along?"

Now it was Company Commander Ma's turn to be surprised.

To rise to the rank of company commander in this dog-eat-dog world, one must be exceptionally talented, or at least possess basic cognitive abilities surpassing most people. For Company Commander Ma to continue gambling in casinos, losing nine out of ten times, to have the ability to remain there, and to be in a VIP room, firing several shots at staff members and then calmly enjoying his wine as if nothing had happened—this is no simple matter.

Company Commander Ma asked, "How did you figure that out?"

Chen Chuan took the whiskey that Company Commander Ma had just put down from the table, took a big gulp imitating him, and laughed, "It's not that I figured it out, it's that you figured it out yourself. What's the dealer trying to gain by cheating? Whether he wins or loses, the money doesn't go into his pocket. How could a wage earner dare to trip up a soldier with a gun like you? So why would he take that risk?"

Company Commander Ma didn't speak or refute; he listened quietly.

"Unless..." Chen Chuan drawled, speaking slowly, "someone deliberately made him do this. This person doesn't want you to lose money... wait, not quite. I saw you were almost broke when I first walked in, so I should say they don't want you to lose all your money at the end. Therefore, for someone like me, who suddenly appears with a lot of money, begging for it, isn't that the most natural reason to let you win?"

"So you specifically brought up the idea of ​​the last round earlier? Hah, you want me to win? Brother, you spent two hundred and eighty thousand US dollars just to lure the dealer into cheating so I could win money?" Company Commander Ma paused, then sneered, "Young man, are you burning money?"

Chen Chuan took out a special supply of yellow cigarettes from his shirt pocket. Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed that the Chinese company commander Ma's small eyes suddenly lit up after seeing his yellow cigarettes.

Chen Chuan exhaled a long puff of smoke and casually tossed the cigarette pack towards Company Commander Ma.

Company Commander Ma hurriedly took it with both hands, his expression showing a hint of surprise, as if he were seeing an old comrade-in-arms he hadn't seen for many years.

Chen Chuan curled the corners of his lips, having guessed what he was thinking, and then continued their previous conversation: "Company Commander Ma, oh no, Company Commander Ma, may I call you brother?"

Company Commander Ma, who had fought his way up from the bottom in northern Myanmar with his own hands, was now happily accepting the cigarette box that Chen Chuan had tossed to him, nodding in agreement.

"Brother, it's true I have a lot of money, but I'm not burning it out." Chen Chuan exhaled a puff of smoke with relief. The smoke swirled in circles under the dim light, somewhat reminiscent of the small room on the top floor of the fire escape staircase in the police academy dormitory, where a few close brothers would squat together and smoke.

For a moment, Chen Chuan was lost in thought, but he quickly recovered. He gestured towards the stack of green US dollars on the table and asked a question completely unrelated to the previous conversation: "Brother, now that you have 280,000 US dollars, what are you planning to do next?"

Now that you've won money, what's the next step?

Continue gambling, or spend money on drinks and women?

If you live like this too many times, what fun is there to be had?

Company Commander Ma was exhausted from gambling all day and didn't want to think about it. He just habitually retorted, "Young man, don't change the subject. You said earlier that someone doesn't want me to lose money. Who is that? Wait, let's not talk about whether they want me to lose money or not. The problem is I've been losing money the whole time, brother. You don't think someone is deliberately trying to keep me here, do you? Hehe."

After saying that, Company Commander Ma leaned back in his chair, grabbed the whiskey, and took a big gulp.

Chen Chuan thought to himself: The person who deliberately left you here was yourself. It wasn't me who used $280,000 to seduce the dealer to cheat; you were the one who started it all.

Instead of answering Company Commander Ma's question directly, Chen Chuan suddenly asked, "Brother, how many years have you been here?"

Company Commander Ma looked up at the dim yellow chandelier above him, his eyes glistening with tears.

He murmured, "It must have been about ten years..."

"Do you want to go back?"

The room fell silent again.

At this moment, if a pin were to fall, you would definitely hear it.

By now, you should be able to guess what Chen Chuan is planning to use to persuade Company Commander Ma. It's not $280,000, and it certainly isn't $2.8 million. Remember, money isn't everything.

Then, I was a bit busy today, working non-stop from morning till night, and didn't get home until after 10 o'clock, so the update is two or three hours late. But my friends, didn't we still update in the end?

I love you all, and thank you.

I like Policeman Chen Shu.