"Miss Yelan has already won fourteen rounds. Sir, do you wish to continue? If you win this next round, as agreed, you'll receive a very high reward of fourteen times your bet from Miss Yelan..."
The waiter, enjoying the spectacle, fanned the flames from the side.
The small mountain of glittering Mora piled on the table was indeed dazzling. It was difficult for an ordinary person to suppress their greed and rationally withdraw when presented with an opportunity to strike it rich in a single step.
"Of course, I'll definitely win the next round!"
Feng Yi smiled slightly and threw down another pouch of Mora.
To outsiders, he looked like a gambler consumed by his losses, desperate to win back the ten thousand Mora he had lost.
The onlookers cheered, all eager to witness Feng Yi's downfall.
"This round, it's still high stakes!"
As soon as Yelan spoke, she snatched the dice cup in front of her and shook it vigorously.
"I'll see it through to the end!"
Feng Yi followed suit, shaking his dice cup.
"Open!"
"Miss Yelan, one, two, one, four points!"
"Mr. Feng Yi, one, one, one, three points!"
"Miss Yelan wins!"
As both sides opened their dice cups, the waiter loudly announced the results, and the crowd erupted in laughter.
He had managed to roll the only way to lose! How unlucky could this fellow be!
Of course, not everyone was laughing at Feng Yi's misfortune. Some experienced gamblers, looking at the points in front of Feng Yi, couldn't help but fall into thought.
The commotion here gradually attracted the attention of other tea drinkers, who gathered to watch.
They couldn't quite say if rolling three ones was bad luck or good luck.
After all, could an ordinary person even roll three ones?
Yelan also became suspicious. One instance might be a coincidence, but having her rolls beaten by a small margin twice in a row felt wrong.
"This is Miss Yelan's fifteenth victory. Mr. Feng Yi, do you wish to continue?"
The waiter looked at Feng Yi with excitement.
"Of course, I'm definitely winning some money before I leave today."
Feng Yi laughed heartily. He was casting a long line to catch a big fish; it wasn't time to reel it in yet. Just wait a little longer.
"Then I wish you good luck!"
The waiter said with a smile. He didn't advise Feng Yi to stop, otherwise, where would the fun be?
"This round, it's low stakes! Mr. Feng Yi, what do you say?"
Yelan wanted to see if it was just a coincidence or if Feng Yi's luck was indeed that bad.
"No problem."
Feng Yi shook his dice cup, silently chanting, "Beat Yelan by one point."
*Crack!*
The dice cups were opened, and the results were revealed.
Under the gaze of the surrounding tea guests, Feng Yi narrowly lost again.
Yelan rolled five, five, six, totaling sixteen points.
Feng Yi rolled five, six, six, totaling seventeen points.
He was just short by a single point.
This time, the laughter was much softer, and many people stared at Feng Yi with suspicion.
Losing to Miss Yelan by just one point every time, such precise margins—even a gambling god might not be able to achieve this, right?
A ridiculous thought began to form in everyone's minds: could this seemingly foolish newcomer actually be a master disguised as a novice, trying to play the part of a pig to eat the tiger?
"So unlucky, I was just one point away from winning again."
Feng Yi glanced sideways at Yelan's reaction and said with feigned annoyance.
"Mr. Feng Yi, this small-scale gambling is rather uninteresting. How about a larger bet?"
Yelan felt she had a good grasp of his strategy and it was time to end this game.
"How big?"
Feng Yi felt a slight regret. The fishing line hadn't been cast out far enough, and they were already reeling it in. It felt like a small loss, though he maintained an unperturbed expression.
"Including the previous round, I have hosted sixteen games here. According to the rules for the banker, if you win the next round, you will receive a reward of sixteen times your bet. Why not raise the stakes? If you win, no matter how much you bet, you can take all the Mora piled on this table. If you lose, you just leave the golden bell on your waist..."
Yelan's years of experience and intuition told her that the golden bell Feng Yi wore at his waist was no ordinary item, at least comparable in quality to the bracelet on her own wrist!
The bracelet on her wrist was called the 'Mystic Wristband.' It was originally a pair, a treasured heirloom passed down through generations, containing family techniques capable of transmitting simple information.
The meaning of the information was hidden within the blue light of the bracelet, understood only by Yelan herself.
Unfortunately, she had accidentally lost one of the pair, and the one she was currently wearing had lost its function, now merely a fancy antique bracelet.
It happened during a gambit with the Fatui's Eleventh Harbinger, "The Rich Man." It wasn't a complete failure, nor a complete success.
The Harbinger "The Rich Man" had a clandestine trade route in Liyue, which Yelan's organization had infiltrated. During one of their shipments, Yelan and her people intercepted it.
It was during this operation that an accident occurred, causing Yelan to lose her ancestral wristband.
To compensate for her lost bracelet, Yelan kept the most valuable item from this shipment: a beast cloak.
This cloak was left behind by a peculiar magical beast a hundred years after its death. It emitted a faint, exotic fragrance that could refresh the mind.
The Fatui, catering to the Tsaritsa's preferences, had fashioned it into a style she favored.
When Yelan received it, she didn't just accept it as is. She added some local Liyue hemp and altered the style, turning it into the white coat she now wore draped over her shoulders.
"Miss Yelan, you have quite the calculating mind. If I may be so bold, let alone the Mora on this table, even ten times that amount wouldn't buy my golden bell..."
Feng Yi snorted lightly, realizing Yelan had designs on his golden bell.
He glanced at the table; there was hundreds of thousands of Mora there, but even millions or tens of millions wouldn't be enough to buy his golden bell.
The onlookers were stunned. What kind of bell was so valuable?
Not for sale even at ten times the price?
Good heavens, that was seven or eight million Mora!
"Then what kind of bet does Mr. Feng Yi deem appropriate?" Yelan asked, unfazed. Instead, she became even more convinced of the golden bell's extraordinary nature.
"The bracelet on your wrist looks quite nice. If you wager that as well, I might reluctantly consider it..."
Feng Yi could faintly sense the subtle fluctuations emanating from that wrist. It was likely a valuable treasure.
Although it was still far inferior to his golden bell, he saw no reason to refuse a treasure that was being offered for free.
With the lucky buff of the golden bell, Feng Yi felt there was no reason he would lose. Wasn't that equivalent to getting something for nothing?
"Deal!"
The single 'Mystic Wristband' had become a useless adornment, so there was no harm in using it as a stake.
Furthermore, Yelan didn't believe she would lose. This time, she would bring out her full capabilities!