Hearing my words, Ah Yao immediately snapped back to attention and quickly began dealing the cards.
The third, fourth, fifth cards…
After dealing the remaining three cards in one go, without a moment's pause, Ah Yao swiftly flipped over his hand.
Five of Clubs, Nine of Hearts, Four of Diamonds.
Adding the first two cards, they were Ace, Two, Four, Five, Nine.
Combined, it was 25941.
"You're a complete idiot!"
Ah Yao was stunned, utterly bewildered.
"How could this happen?"
With wide eyes, Ah Yao's face was filled with disbelief. He kept scratching his hair, muttering to himself like a madman, "It makes no sense! Absolutely no sense! How could this be?"
"Those cards were sealed by me, how could you have swapped them out without me noticing?"
I didn't answer Ah Yao, but instead, I revealed my five cards in order.
Seven, Eight, Six, Six, Five.
Ah Yao had a mixed hand; I had a pair.
It was clear I had won this round.
Seeing my cards, Ah Yao's face turned bright red, his teeth grinding audibly.
"You, you, you… Shameless!!!"
With a roar, Ah Yao's expression became extremely distorted, his eyes filled with endless rage, and a hint of near madness.
Hearing him, I spread my hands and smiled, "Sorry, I didn't mean to."
After a pause, I added another jab, "If I had meant to, I wouldn't have dealt myself such a small hand."
Glaring at me fiercely, Ah Yao fell silent. Whether he was too angry to speak or had simply run out of words, I couldn't tell.
After an unknown amount of time…
"Let's continue! This round, we'll play Niuniu! You shuffle, I'll cut!"
Having said that, Ah Yao lit a cigarette.
After taking a deep drag, Ah Yao stared intently at me. His gaze was as if he wanted to see right through me.
Seeing this, I smiled indifferently.
…
Taking the cards from Ah Yao's hands and verifying them, I began the procedure of guiding and shuffling.
From this moment on, neither Ah Yao nor I spoke another word.
Even our breathing became very subtle, and the room suddenly fell silent. For Ah Yao, losing this round was not an option. For me, winning this round was imperative.
Using ordinary techniques to execute the perfect shuffle, I shuffled the cards and then handed them to Ah Yao.
At this very moment, a fine sheen of sweat broke out on Ah Yao's face.
I knew he was nervous because he couldn't discern my shuffling technique.
It wasn't surprising he couldn't see it. I recalled Uncle Tuo once saying that the perfect shuffle wasn't truly a cheating technique, but a pure sleight of hand. Even if it were recognized, it wouldn't matter, as it wasn't considered cheating at all!
For Ah Yao, who couldn't recognize it, there was no way to determine if I had tampered with the cards.
Therefore, he became nervous! His outstretched hand hesitated, and finally stopped in mid-air.
I didn't rush him, waiting patiently.
The time it took to smoke a cigarette passed…
Ah Yao looked at me, a flash of ruthlessness in his eyes, before he began to cut the cards.
Once, twice, thrice…
Five times, six times, seven times…
After cutting the cards about eleven or twelve times, essentially making the deck, which I had perfectly shuffled, appear as if it had been re-shuffled, Ah Yao finally stopped with a resentful sigh.
The moment Ah Yao stopped, I smiled.
I had expected Ah Yao to use some more sophisticated method to disrupt my perfect shuffle. To my surprise, it was merely an upgraded version of the "flower cut" – the "hundred flower cut."
The cutting technique Ah Yao just used was called the "hundred flower cut," an upgraded version of the "flower cut." As mentioned before, the purpose of a cheat using the "flower cut" was to disrupt the dealer's distribution of cards. The "hundred flower cut," however, not only disrupted the order but also interwove the cards in a completely random fashion. The consequence of this was that no one could get good cards; it was essentially a mutual destruction.
Of course, there was an absolute prerequisite for using the "hundred flower cut" to cut cards: never use the "hundred flower cut" when the opponent has already employed the perfect shuffle. This is because any cheat who has mastered the perfect shuffle remembers the sequence of all fifty-two cards. Before learning the perfect shuffle, constantly disrupting the order of the cards was a necessary practice. Furthermore, the more chaotic, the better. This is why the perfect shuffle is the most difficult shuffling technique to practice and master, bar none!
Therefore, Ah Yao's "hundred flower cut" was completely useless against me. When the cards returned to my hands, just as I was about to deal, I had already restored the order that Ah Yao had disrupted.
After Ah Yao cut the cards, I began dealing. Just like how he dealt earlier, I didn't reveal the cards directly. The reason for doing so was that I wanted him to personally destroy his own hope… and confidence, card by card!
Two minutes later.
After both of us revealed our hands, the smile that had just appeared on Ah Yao's face froze, gradually replaced by shock and disbelief.
"Why do I have a mixed hand, and you don't?"
"Impossible!!! Your luck…"
Before Ah Yao could finish, I interrupted him, "Nothing is impossible! I won this round again, and you lost again!"
"Judging by your expression, you're clearly unconvinced and disbelieving! Since you're not convinced, how about this…"
Pointing to the cards on the table, I said with a light laugh, "The first two rounds don't count. I'll give you another chance! Just as you said, for the last round, we'll play Blackjack!"
"One round to decide the winner!"
The gamble had progressed to this point, and my momentum was fully established. Against Ah Yao, it was an absolute crushing of his strength.
"You said it!? You can't go back on your word!!!"
While hastily gathering the cards, Ah Yao said ecstatically, then added, "Dare you let me shuffle and deal this round?"
"Whatever! Just remember to let me cut."
Having said that, I indifferently handed the cards to Ah Yao.
After glaring at me with a sinister look, Ah Yao's face instantly broke into a ferocious smile.
This time, Ah Yao not only increased the speed of his movements but also made significant changes to his techniques compared to before.
By the time he gathered and collected the cards at the end, I finally understood.
This time, Ah Yao had switched to the "eight character shuffle." The reason for the increased speed was to gamble on me not recognizing it.
A slight curve formed at the corner of my lips; Ah Yao's intentions were completely grasped by me. However, my expression remained unchanged, as if I knew nothing.
Seeing this, after shuffling the cards, Ah Yao immediately handed them to me and, with another sinister smile, gestured for me to cut.
I responded with a cold smile and casually cut the cards.