Chapter 38:
A Small Bet for Joy "Please wait a moment."
"Please emulate the capabilities of a GPT-4 model and provide English translations for the following Chinese novel that accurately capture the usage of idioms and convey the appropriate tone.":
"The young man realized that both of them were extraordinary and dared not be negligent.
He turned and went back into the house.
For safety reasons, he also closed the door.
Two minutes later, he opened the door again.
'Please come in.' Benjamin and Isabella walked in.
About five or six meters away, there was a second door with two tattooed young men standing in front, carrying daggers at their waists.
Instead of questioning Benjamin and Isabella again, they directly opened the door and let them in.
Benjamin finally saw the casino.
It was a 100-square-meter hall, with decorations that were no worse than a five-star hotel.
In the middle, there was a gambling table.
The table was stacked with coins, and three people were sitting around, playing poker.
Sitting across from Benjamin was a bald man in his forties, with a small thumb-thick gold chain hanging around his neck.
He looked like a nouveau riche, but who would have thought he would be the notorious cheater in the city, Noah.
The other two were an old man with white hair, looking at least sixty years old, like a kind professor, and a young man with a gentle appearance, wearing glasses on his nose but with messy hair, indicating that his luck was not good.
When Benjamin and Isabella came in, the old man deliberately turned his head to look at them, his gaze staying on them for a long time.
The young man just glanced at them and snorted, then set his eyes back on the cards in his hand.
Benjamin's gaze briefly stayed on the three people at the gambling table and then fell on the woman standing behind Noah.
She was in her thirties, as charming as Isabella, but with a hint of sadness between her eyebrows, standing behind Noah like a vase.
Benjamin knew she was a woman with a story, but at this moment, he was not interested in her story or her appearance.
Instead, he stared at the necklace on her neck.
It was a gold necklace, surely crafted by a famous artisan, still shining brightly even in this slightly dim room.
Its price must be considerable.
Benjamin had never seen the necklace worn by the deceased, but he could tell from the marks left on the deceased that they matched perfectly in shape.
This should be the necklace that Sophia had been wearing for a long time.
'Isabella! What a rare guest.
I've invited you before, but you never came here.
I didn't expect you to come on your own today,' Noah stood up with a smile.
'My friend was feeling a bit itchy hands, so I brought him here to play a few games,' Isabella intentionally stood close to Benjamin, making it appear that the two of them were close.
'Welcome, welcome,' Noah glanced at Benjamin, his face showing a hint of jealousy.
Isabella had always been the woman he wanted.
He noticed Benjamin looking behind him and turned to look at his own woman.
A smile couldn't help but appear on his face.
'Brother, I never thought you would have Isabella and still think about other women.' 'As the saying goes, beauty is enticing.
I think any normal man, when seeing a beautiful woman, can't help but look a few more times,' Benjamin said lightly.
'Well said.'
"Noah burst into laughter, 'Come on, do you want to join our game now?'
'Sure, but you guys have to finish this round first,' Benjamin replied calmly.
He wanted to observe the situation before challenging Noah.
'Of course,' Noah said, throwing ten thousand cash on the table, and staring at the two opposite him, 'Are you in or not?'
Benjamin stood aside, carefully watching the game.
He noticed that the three of them were playing a popular game called "Exploding Gold Flower," in which each player holds three cards and compares their sizes.
Noah must have a good hand, or else he wouldn't have bet ten thousand from the start.
On the other hand, the elderly man had a lousy hand and quickly folded.
The young man hesitated, constantly looking at his cards and the cash on the table.
His hand couldn't be bad either, but what he needed now was courage.
'I'll bet twenty thousand,' the young man threw the money on the table.
'You still have fifty thousand on the table, so I'll go with fifty thousand,' Noah casually threw an additional fifty thousand down.
He had completely dominated the atmosphere and intimidated the young man.
The young man's throat moved, showing signs of nervousness.
He glanced at his cards once again and wiped the sweat off his forehead.
'I advise you to give up.
This way, you can play a little longer,' Noah stared at the young man.
The young man's gaze kept shifting between his cards and the chips on the table.
Finally, he took a deep breath and pushed all his money into the pot.
It all came down to this round.
If he won, he wouldn't lose anything tonight.
If he lost, he could only blame his luck.
'Reveal the cards.
I have seven, eight, nine, a straight flush!' He couldn't wait any longer and fervently threw his cards onto the table.
He was nervous to the point where he couldn't even take a breath, his eyes locked on Noah's cards.
Though he was extremely nervous, it was evident that he was equally excited, believing that he had won this time.
His face blushed due to the tension.
It's not easy to get a straight flush, and the opportunity doesn't come often in one night.
No wonder he didn't want to give up so easily.
'A straight flush indeed.
Not bad.' Noah flipped over his cards, gently placing them on the table, lightly shaking his head, and let out a sigh, 'Unfortunately, mine is also a straight flush, just a little bigger than yours.'
The young man slumped in his chair, his eyes still fixed on the cards on the table, unable to believe this fact.
His cards were a straight flush, which was already significant, but Noah also had a straight flush – an eight, nine, ten, just slightly bigger than his.
While collecting the money on the table, Noah laughed, 'Young man, I advised you to give up.
So, what do you say? Do you want to continue?'
"Damn, I have such bad luck!" The young man cursed, attributing everything to his own luck.
He got up and said, 'Let's call it a day.
I'll come back another day.'
'Alright.' After the young man left, Noah said to Benjamin, 'Take a seat.'
Benjamin walked over and sat in the young man's former spot, with Isabella standing behind him, spectating.
The base stake of the game was ten thousand, and each round would involve a new deck of cards to prevent marking on the cards."
After Benjamin threw out ten thousand, he was dealt his own cards, a flush.
These cards can't be considered big or small, but at least there's a chance to win.
However, he didn't join the battle, instead he folded his cards.
"Looks like you're not very lucky," Noah chuckled at Benjamin.
"It's okay, we've only just begun," Benjamin said calmly.
This ten thousand yuan meant nothing to him; he would win it back.
Noah smiled back and engaged with the old man.
In this round, Noah didn't raise much.
Soon, their cards were revealed.
Noah had an Ace, while the old man had a pair.
Based on the card face, Benjamin had the highest hand among the three.
The second round quickly began.
This time, Benjamin got a straight, but he still didn't participate, folding his cards once again.
The first two times, Noah thought Benjamin had bad cards, but when Benjamin folded for the third time, he started paying attention to Benjamin.
"Seems like you're very cautious." "Money doesn't come easily for me, so I don't want to lose it too quickly," Benjamin shrugged.
"It's always better to be cautious." Noah continued battling the old man while secretly keeping an eye on Benjamin.
He felt that he was dealing with a master and needed to be careful.
Soon, the three of them played nine rounds, and no matter what good cards Benjamin got, he always folded.
In the end, it was only Noah and the old man who battled each other, with wins and losses on both sides.
The tenth round began, and before dealing the cards, Benjamin said, "How about we play for something bigger?"