Yanfu: Starting with the Six-Eared Macaque

"Ah! I won!" someone in the crowd exclaimed.

"Congratulations to the guy who bet big! Here's your money!" Scarface said, quickly pulling out coins to pay the group who bet big. Then, turning to the other group, he added, "To the guy who bet small, I'll keep this money for you. Next time, if you're on the right track, you can win it all back with interest!"

"I just made two copper coins!" the young man said deliberately in a low voice after receiving the money. He then placed the four copper coins into the circle marked "Big." "I bet four this time, and these two are free. If I win, I'll make six coins today!"

Hearing this, quite a few people around actually placed bets.

"Alright, everyone, place your bets! Watch closely, everyone! I'm about to open the dice!" Seeing no one else place bets, Scarface shouted and lifted the dice cup again, "One, four, six! Big again!"

"We won! We won again!" This time, many people placed bets, and the cheers from the crowd were even louder.

"Again, again!" The man who had lost money urged Scarface to start another round.

"Everyone, don't rush, don't rush! I'll settle the money with the winners first!" Scarface calmly took out some coins from his pocket, settled the accounts with those who bet on big, and then picked up the dice cup and shook it.

"The word 'big' is on my lucky streak today! I'm betting on big again!" the young man who had just won four coins by betting on big shouted excitedly.

"I'll beat you to a pulp!"

"Me too!"

Seeing that this young man was gaining popularity, many people followed suit and invested, and in the blink of an eye, a small pile of money appeared on the side of the "big" character.

"Anyone else want to place a bet? If not, I'm opening the dice!" The scarred man had barely finished speaking when he flipped open the dice cup. "One, three, four! Small!"

"Oh dear!" The person who placed the bet with the young man immediately pounded his chest and stamped his feet in frustration.

"Excuse me, everyone, I'll have to keep this money for you." Scarface chuckled as he paid the "small" bettors, then gathered all the money on the board in front of him.

"Damn it, let's do it again! Those six were freebies, and I lost two of my own! I'm having such good luck today, I refuse to believe I can't win them back!" the young man shouted again.

"I'll play one more round, win back what I lost, and then I'll quit." Many people who lost money had this thought in mind, their eyes fixed on the dice on the gambling table, reluctantly taking out more money.

As more and more people gathered to watch, the man shaking the dice shouted and spit out his words, and the copper coins on the table piled up higher and higher, with more and more people placing bets.

The young man who had been shouting the loudest in the crowd and had won several rounds quietly slipped out of the crowd while everyone's attention was on the dice. He turned around and disappeared into the alley next door in the blink of an eye.

Chen Xing and his two companions stood not far away watching the commotion. Perhaps it was because they were bystanders that they could see things more clearly, because even Mo Chou, who always loved to join in the fun, noticed that something was amiss.

She leaned close to Chen Xing and Mo Mingxuan's ears, her voice extremely low, and said mysteriously, "Something seems off to me. This person rolling the dice is definitely cheating."

"Oh? How did you figure that out?" Chen Xing looked at her with some surprise.

He had followed his master around the world since he was a child, and he had seen many tricks like guessing cards and rolling dice. It was not surprising that he could see through them. He did not expect that Mo Chou could also see through the trick.

"You didn't know that?" Mo Chou puffed out her chest and said in a pretentious manner, "In my hometown, many people gamble. I've heard the older generation say that in any gambling game, there's no game without cheating. Many people in my area have lost everything because of gambling, some even selling their children."

Chen Xing smiled upon hearing this, thinking that she had really figured out the specifics, and explained in a low voice: "You're right, the dice in that person's hand are specially made, filled with lead, so he can roll whatever number he wants, and the win or loss is entirely up to him."

Mo Chou's eyes widened in astonishment: "If he's so good, why doesn't he go to a gambling den? Wouldn't he earn more money that way?"

"This kind of trickery, using specially made props to swindle money, is not respectable," Chen Xing patiently explained.

"Big casinos have many rules and dedicated staff to keep an eye on things, so these little tricks will be exposed as soon as they get inside. They can only find a few accomplices to swindle small amounts of money on the streets."

Mo Chou frowned and thought for a moment, then her eyes suddenly lit up, and she asked with a serious expression, "Do you know any really powerful cheating techniques?"

Chen Xing was speechless and chuckled at her question.

He wasn't ignorant of the intricacies of these games. Let alone street gambling, even in a high-end gambling den, he was confident he could make a fortune with the skills he had honed over the years.

But both the rules his master set back then and the bloody cases caused by gambling that he had witnessed over the years in the martial arts world constantly reminded him of one thing.

"Ten bets are all rigged; you're bound to lose if you gamble, and you'll win if you don't gamble." Chen Xing slowly said this to Mo Chou.

Mo Chou nodded as if she understood, while Mo Mingxuan, who was standing to the side, looked thoughtfully at Chen Xing, who was still patiently explaining to Mo Chou.

As they strolled leisurely along the street, Chen Xing and his companions arrived at the entrance of Liulichang.

The shops lining both sides of Liulichang Street are mostly bookstores and antique shops, making it a gathering place for literati and scholars. Even the shop signs exude a scholarly air, with many specially commissioned calligraphy and signatures from famous calligraphers, making them quite elegant.

As Chen Xing and his two companions walked to the middle of the street, they saw a large crowd gathered in front of a bookstore, with loud arguments coming from within. They stopped and went to investigate.

In the center of the crowd stood a thin young man with a buzz cut and a mustache.

The young man, dressed in a black satin long gown, stood ramrod straight, clutching a rolled-up old book in one hand and pointing at the bookstore owner behind the counter with the other. His voice was filled with agitation and indignation: "You're such an unscrupulous owner! Yesterday I came to buy this 'Collected Works of Mr. Changli,' and you claimed it was a complete set, charging me two taels of silver! But last night, upon closer inspection, I discovered that the last three volumes are all incomplete, with several tears at the page edges, secretly covered up with paper! You, a bookstore owner, should cherish books and respect literature, yet you spend your days thinking of ways to cheat and swindle, lacking even the slightest bit of scholarly integrity!"

Seeing this, the onlookers began to discuss it amongst themselves. Some echoed the young man's sentiments: "This boss is really dishonest; he didn't even explain that the ancient book was incomplete. He's clearly trying to rip people off!"

Some people tried to mediate: "We're all neighbors, there's no need to make things so tense. Why don't the boss refund part of the money, let's resolve this peacefully and avoid damaging our relationship?"

Mo Chou, purely out of curiosity, stood on tiptoe and craned her neck to peer inside.

"This boss is really wicked, he even cheats scholars out of their money." Perhaps because he had practiced martial arts since childhood, Mo Chou had an inexplicable respect for scholars. As she spoke, she rolled up her sleeves, looking eager to step forward and help him.