Underworld Chronicles: Qiao Si's Strategist, Xiao Ke, and Wang Weifan

Xiao Ke, wearing red underwear, walked into the bathhouse. His two senior colleagues saw him, exchanged knowing smiles, and one of them asked in a cheeky tone,

Hey Xiao Ke, why aren't you wearing white today? You're wearing red instead! You're practically waving a red flag around your neck!

Xiao Ke, barely suppressing his anger, said, "Ah, isn't it the new month? Let's wish for good luck!"

The two senior brothers laughed heartily, which further confirmed that they were the ones behind the scheme.

"Damn it, you two'll get what's coming to you," Xiao Ke cursed inwardly, then pretended nothing had happened and went to work.

In the following days, Xiao Ke did not retaliate against his two senior brothers. He went to work and came home as usual. His two senior brothers thought that Xiao Ke had backed down and would make sarcastic remarks about him from time to time.

In reality, Xiao Ke knew exactly what was going on. He wasn't being cowardly; he was waiting for his two senior brothers to become completely complacent before delivering a fatal blow.

Little Ke's two foolish senior brothers had no idea what he was thinking. They were still smug and boastful all day long. When they saw that Little Ke's business was still so good, they got even angrier. "Damn it, you think you're the only one who can wear underwear? We'll wear them too!" They actually started to imitate Little Ke and each of them wore a pair of white underwear to work.

But Xiao Ke is a clean person. He bought several pairs at once, changed them every day, and always kept them clean and white, his underwear as white as snow.

His two senior brothers were born filthy and could only learn the basics. Although they also wore white underwear like Xiao Ke, they didn't wash their clothes even once a week. Their underwear was all slicked back and forth, like a child trying to draw a map. The smell was so strong that it could kill a person. In fact, fewer and fewer people came to them for a bath.

The two became even more jealous of Xiao Ke, constantly making snide remarks to him and plotting to get back at him. But before they could make a move, Xiao Ke struck first.

One morning, Xiao Ke got up early and went to the morning market to buy a few pairs of white underwear. On the way, he also went to a place that sells flowers, birds, fish and insects, bought a non-venomous snake, put it in a bottle, and secretly took it to his dormitory.

After finishing work in the evening, everyone was tired. Old Yang and the others smoked a cigarette and went to sleep, soon snoring away.

At this time, only Xiao Ke was still awake. He wanted to wait until the middle of the night to teach his two senior brothers a good lesson.

In the staff dormitory, Lao Yang slept on a large bed, Xiao Ke's two senior colleagues slept on another large bed, and Xiao Ke himself slept on a small bed.

In the middle of the night, Xiao Ke quietly took out the bottle containing the snake from under his bed, with the opening facing his two senior brothers' beds. Xiao Ke slowly opened the bottle, and the snake slowly crawled from the bottle opening onto his two senior brothers' beds.

The snake, its tongue lolling out, slowly crawled onto the face of one of Xiao Ke's senior brothers. This senior brother felt an itch on his nose, and groggily touched it with his hand. Instantly, he felt a chill run through him, and he slightly opened his eyes.

When he opened his eyes, he saw a snake flicking its tongue across his face, hissing.

Ahhhhhh, Xiao Ke's senior brother's pupils dilated instantly, and goosebumps rose all over his body. He let out a howl, flailed his hands wildly, rolled off the bed, and fell to the ground. At this moment, he felt that his soul had left his body and he knew nothing more.

Xiao Ke's senior brother flicked his hand, and the snake landed squarely on the face of another of Xiao Ke's senior brothers.

At this moment, everyone was awakened by the shouts. Old Yang turned on the light, and as soon as the light came on, Xiao Ke's other senior brother, who was still lying on the bed, opened his eyes and saw a six-foot-long snake riding on his body.

Ahhh, another of Xiao Ke's senior brothers also tumbled and fell off the bed, his pants were soaked, and he was so scared that he lost control of his bladder.

Old Yang was also startled. How could a snake have gotten into the house? At this moment, Xiao Ke jumped off the bed with a dagger in one hand and swung the long snake with the other.

After swinging the snake around twice, Xiao Ke tossed it into the air, then picked up his dagger and with a snap, cleaved the snake in two in mid-air. The snake's blood splattered all over his two senior brothers, who sat on the ground like idiots, too stunned to move.

After splitting the snake in half, Xiao Ke picked up the part with the head, twisted it like a rope, and drank the snake blood.

After drinking the snake blood, Xiao Ke took out the snake gallbladder with a dagger, brought it to Old Yang's bedside, stretched out his hand and said, "Master, do you want to eat the snake gallbladder? It's very nourishing."

No, I won't eat it. Old Yang was completely stunned by Xiao Ke's actions.

"If you're not going to eat it, I will." Xiao Ke said, taking out a tube of wasabi from his pocket, squeezing some onto the tube, and then throwing the snake gall bladder from the blood-red snake into his mouth and chewing it.

Old Yang and his two senior brothers, who were sitting on the ground, watched Xiao Ke in silence. They never expected that Xiao Ke, who was usually so playful and joking, would be so fierce and bloodthirsty.

After this incident, Xiao Ke's two senior brothers were completely convinced and no one dared to provoke Xiao Ke anymore. One of them was almost scared into illness. He would dream of snakes every night and would often wake up screaming in the middle of the night. Soon after, he resigned.

Xiao Ke's other senior brother wasn't scared into a daze. He even bought Xiao Ke six pairs of white underwear and two packs of cigarettes, apologized profusely to him, and asked him to forgive him this time. From now on, Xiao Ke would be his older brother, and he would follow Xiao Ke.

From then on, Xiao Ke was very comfortable in the bathhouse, and he could do everything perfectly. When he was resting, Xiao Ke would often run to his uncle's house.

As the saying goes, "One who stays near vermilion gets stained red, and one who stays near ink gets stained black." You learn by the people you associate with. Little Ke was surrounded by his uncle, a gambling addict. How could he possibly learn anything good? Before long, he had mastered mahjong, dominoes, and Texas Hold'em.

Xiao Ke saw that this gambling game was really lucrative. He worked hard all month, betting against a hundred or a thousand people, and the meager amount he earned wasn't even enough to cover someone else's daily wins and losses.

As the saying goes, you can work hard but not earn money, or earn money without working hard. Xiao Ke thought to himself, "If I master gambling, I can earn a month's worth of money in a day, or even more. I wouldn't need to do anything else."

Xiao Ke has one advantage: he thinks things through and then acts on them without procrastination. Unlike some people who just think about things and dream of a windfall, but never take action, he thinks of a thousand paths at night but walks the same old road in the morning. I think about things, but I don't take any action.

Little Ke is the kind of person who acts on his ideas immediately. One day, after his uncle finished playing mahjong, he invited his uncle and cousin out for drinks. After drinking for a while, Little Ke asked…

Uncle, tell me, who's the best gambler around here, the kind who knows how to make money?

Xiao Ke's uncle took a sip of wine, smacked his lips twice, and said, "Ah, if we're talking about the best gambler around here, it has to be Hu Yitian. No one can outsmart him."

So, who exactly is Hu Yitian, the person Uncle Xiao Ke mentioned? Stay tuned for the next installment.