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

Sun Tzu's Art of War states, "Warfare is based on deception," and "Warfare is based on trickery." Sun Tzu can be considered the founding father of con artists in later generations, which is the origin of the Chinese con artist phenomenon.

The old-fashioned cheating techniques were practiced and involved real skills, unlike the current methods that use X-ray glasses, transparent cards, and the like. These are all high-tech and ruthless tricks.

Hu Yitian showed Xiao Ke how to play poker, including tricks like stealing cards, shuffling, flicking cards, dealing empty cards, fake shuffling, and fake cutting cards—the so-called "flicking and controlling the cards"—he played with such skill and technique.

Even though Xiao Ke stared intently at Hu Yitian, he couldn't see any flaws in Hu Yitian's demeanor. This made Xiao Ke more and more fascinated and eager to learn.

I remember a teacher once told me: "The most frightening thing in the world is the word 'serious.' If you do something seriously and get into it, there's nothing you can't do."

Xiao Ke studied this cheating technique with utmost seriousness, completely immersing himself in it. Apart from eating and taking a bath, all he could think about was playing cards. How did Hu Yitian manage to do it? What's the secret behind it?

Xiao Ke bought more than 10 decks of playing cards at once. He not only thought about it but also practiced it. Whenever his hands were free, he would start fiddling with and studying the playing cards.

Xiao Ke is truly talented. The more he practiced, the faster his hands became. Gradually, Xiao Ke's shuffling and card control skills became quite impressive, and he had almost mastered the basics.

In the end, even Hu Yitian was amazed. It would take him a year to master a skill, but Xiao Ke learned it quite well in just one month. What a prodigy! What Hu Yitian didn't know was how many sleepless nights Xiao Ke had spent in bed to learn it.

Seeing that Xiao Ke had almost mastered the basics of playing cards, Hu Yitian then demonstrated how to play mahjong to him.

What are the techniques for arranging cards, eating cards, ponging cards, konging cards, waiting for a winning hand, discarding cards, guessing cards, and holding cards?

What are the tactics for peace, pure suit, Kun suit, seven pairs, all with one, thirteen orphans, no-rely tactics, clear dragon tactics, and three hidden triplets?

What are these methods: improvisation, bluffing, avoiding the important and focusing on the trivial, observing the situation, sacrificing the small for the big, and deceiving the heavens to cross the sea?

Little Ke was dazzled and incredibly excited. This was so skillful, so damn fun! I've finally found my joy in life, my direction in life.

Xiao Ke bought another set of mahjong tiles and practiced diligently, learning and practicing at the same time, and his skills improved by leaps and bounds.

Furthermore, Xiao Ke has another skill: he's incredibly sharp-witted and can remember a good hand of cards. When he gets a hand of mahjong tiles, he doesn't even need to pick them up; he can remember them all at a glance.

As Xiao Ke practiced, he could basically memorize all 144 tiles of mahjong. He could know what tiles he had, what tiles his opponents had, what tiles had been played, and what tiles were left on the table without even looking at them. It was like he was wearing X-ray vision. Who could stand that?

Xiao Ke studied under Hu Yitian for about a year. When Hu Yitian saw him, he realized that Xiao Ke had basically mastered all of Hu Yitian's knowledge and could even innovate some new techniques based on what Hu Yitian had taught him, which made Hu Yitian admire him.

On this day, Xiao Ke came to Hu Yitian's house again. Hu Yitian set out a table of delicious food and brought out two bottles of good wine, saying, "I won't show off my skills today. Let's have a drink, just the two of us."

"Great! Uncle Hu, it's been so long since I've had a drink with you. Let's have a drink," Xiao Ke said happily.

"Xiao Ke, you've been here for a year now, haven't you?" Hu Yitian asked, pouring himself a glass of wine.

From the first day I knocked on your door, it has been one year, two months, and four days. Come, let me toast you. Xiao Ke raised his glass and toasted Hu Yitian.

"Yeah, you're the smartest person I've ever met, but being smart doesn't mean being wise. I hope you'll stick to the right path from now on. You can take the wrong path for a while, but you can't do it forever," Hu Yitian said, taking a sip of his drink.

"Uncle Hu, I'll remember that." Xiao Ke toasted Hu Yitian again and said.

Damn it, you'll never remember me again. I think you're quite ambitious. If you could really remember me, you'd live a few more years. After you finish this drink, don't ever come back.

"Huh? Uncle Hu, did I do something wrong? Please don't kick me out. I've always treated you like my own father," Xiao Ke exclaimed in surprise.

You've basically learned everything I know, and you also know quite a bit of what I don't. Let me put it this way: with a little more practice, no one in Harbin can beat you. But I don't want you to follow in my footsteps—a gambling addict, a gambling addict. Once you get involved in gambling, you become a ghost; you can't even be a human anymore.

"Don't worry, Uncle Hu, I know what I'm doing. Besides, even if you didn't teach me, I would still come. You're my benefactor, my savior. You'll have another son now. I'll treat you the same way I treat my father," Xiao Ke said affectionately.

"You've got a conscience after all. From now on, you should focus on your career. Just come over and give me a bath every now and then. I have to say, you're good at everything you do; you're a real talent," Hu Yitian praised.

"Come on, Uncle Hu, let me give you another massage today, it feels so good!" Xiao Ke said, helping Hu Yitian stand up and giving him a full massage service, making Hu Yitian feel good again.

After Xiao Ke finished scrubbing Hu Yitian's back and tidying up the table, she was about to leave. Hu Yitian watched Xiao Ke's retreating figure, feeling a little reluctant to part. He suddenly called out, "Xiao Ke!"

Xiao Ke, who had just reached the door, turned around again and asked, "Uncle Hu, what's wrong?"

"It's alright. Uncle Hu will give you eight words of advice in the end: The world is dangerous, so take care of yourself." Hu Yitian said, leaning on his cane.

"Okay, I'll remember that, Uncle Hu. I'm leaving now, I'll come see you again next time." Xiao Ke said, then turned and left.

After leaving Hu Yitian's house, Xiao Ke went straight to his cousin's house. As expected, his cousin was playing mahjong again.

Xiao Ke sat down in front of his cousin and watched the excitement for a while. Xiao Ke's cousin was having a bad day, losing several rounds in a row, and his two coins were almost gone.

"Uncle, shall I play a few rounds for you to change your luck?" Little Ke, sitting next to his uncle, said.

"Do you know how to play?" Little Ke's uncle asked.

"I've been watching you at your house for so long, even a fool could learn it. I'll play a few rounds for you and see how I do it," Xiao Ke said.

"Okay, then you play a couple of rounds for me." Xiao Ke's uncle was really getting impatient with losing, so he stood up and gave his seat to Xiao Ke.

When Xiao Ke got the first two games, he didn't use any special tricks. You can't start with a trick right away, or people will see through it immediately. So he relied entirely on luck for the first two games. Unexpectedly, the position where his uncle was sitting was indeed bad feng shui, and Xiao Ke lost the first two games in a row.

Xiao Ke's uncle was getting a little anxious. "You little brat, you already have so little left, don't let him squander it all."

Xiao Ke, however, seemed completely unconcerned. He knew exactly what was going on. Would Xiao Ke win money for his uncle next? Stay tuned for the next episode.