"Anyone willing to be the dealer?"
Both parties sat down, and the onlookers gradually lowered their voices, so Mrs. Sang Mei shouted.
Then, an elderly gentleman raised his hand at the back of the crowd:
"Why don't I do it!"
He squeezed to the front of the crowd and introduced himself as a regular customer of the Three Cats Inn and the owner of a nearby antique shop.
"So what are the rules? Basic rules of best of three? Draw out all the cards in the deck and compare victory points? Or do you have other ways to play?"
Shade asked, holding up the deck with his left hand and pulling upward with his right hand, letting the 54 cards oscillate back and forth between his left and right hands, and then shuffling the cards very smoothly, which aroused people's enthusiastic discussion.
Because of the magical power of the treasured item, he can now easily perform the shuffling techniques that can only be shown in the movies and TV shows in his hometown. This makes him look more professional, and also makes the maid behind him raise an eyebrow, probably wondering if Xia De is a gambler.
"Since we are playing cards with a new opponent, why don't we try something new."
Mrs. Sang Mei was also shuffling the cards, equally skilled. Then, she pulled out a six-sided metal dice from her pocket and threw it onto the table. She looked at her opponent across the table with her sharp eyes:
"Detective, since you've brought a companion, how about this? You and I each choose our own representative and roll the dice once before each round. The sum of the two numbers divided by two is the number of cards we draw in this round. Odd numbers are rounded down. Best of three is too boring. The number of rounds is determined by the two people who roll the dice. No matter which side throws a 6 in the process of rolling the dice, that round is the end. After the end of the round, the side with more card wins wins the game. How do you say it?"
Although it sounds a bit complicated, it is just an additional step of rolling the dice to determine the number of cards to draw. And the number is determined by the points on the dice of both parties, so it is fair.
This was Xia De's first time playing this game, and he was happy to give it a try:
"Then my assistant, Miss Tifa Servet, will help me roll the dice."
While traditional superstition holds that having a woman deal the cards brings bad luck, there isn't much to say about throwing the dice.
"Well, little James, you come and help me roll the dice."
The hostess called the young helper who came from the kitchen to watch the fun over to her side. He was a tall and thin young man who looked about 16 or 17 years old. Although he was dressed as a servant of the hotel, he was a very handsome young man no matter what aesthetic standard was used.
"Mr. Hamilton, what points do you need me to throw?"
Before the game started, Miss Servet bent slightly behind Shad and whispered in his ear.
Xia De turned his head in surprise, and happened to meet the pair of lively eyes that were so close to him:
"You mean you can... No, you don't have to. Anything is fine."
He was very confident in his luck in playing cards, and when it came to special cards, he was unwilling to cheat and harm others.
So the game officially began. The dice were not thrown directly. The female shopkeeper, Mrs. Sang Mei, found a brown wooden dice cup. The first was a young man called "Little James". He picked up the dice cup, shook it a few times, and put it down. When he opened it, it was the number three.
Then it was Miss Servet's turn. She held up the dice cup with her fair hands, glanced at Shade, winked at him, shook the instrument gently, letting the dice hit the inner wall of the container and making a sound, then put it down and opened it with an expectant expression.
Number 1.
She looked at Shad again and winked at him, and Shad realized that this was a number she had shaken out on purpose.
So the first round draws two cards, and the game has just begun, neither side has drawn a special card. Mrs. Sangmei has 1+9=10 points, and Shade has Sun 5 and Flower 10, winning the first round.
"Detective, it seems that you are very lucky today. But people always think that the party who wins first in a gambling game is unlikely to win in the end."
People were talking quietly, and Mrs. Sammi was talking about some superstitious saying she had heard from somewhere. She threw the two cards in her hand aside and motioned for little James to continue shaking the dice cup.
The first dice number in the second round was 5, and Tifa, smiling, winked at Shad again and rolled out one.
People marveled at the luck of this beautiful girl, she still maintained that smiling expression, Xia De also looked at her, he didn't expect that the maid followed him and could play the role of shaking the dice in the gambling game.
So in the second round, both sides drew three cards each.
Mrs. Sang Mei carefully took the cards dealt by the antique shop owner, opened them one by one, and smiled.
Star 7, Moon 5, Sun 4. Although it is 16 points, it has a high chance of winning when Shad only draws one card.
I don't know if it was Tifa's dice "luck" that used up all of Shad's luck with cards. After taking the founding series out of the deck, there were still 6 special cards in the deck, but Shad still didn't draw any of them.
This round is a tie, and all three of Shade's cards are flowers. Flower 1, flower and flower 1, also 16 points.
The onlookers sighed together, which made the situation a little complicated, but also made the game more entertaining.
“I’m still one round ahead.”
Xia De said to Mrs. Sangmei with a smile, holding the cards between the index and middle fingers of his right hand, and flicked them lightly, throwing the three cards aside.
"It's okay, it's just one game."
She was still very confident, and the people watching were discussing the card game last week in which Mrs. Sangmei won even though she was chasing two.
But at the beginning of the third round, little James, who was helping Mrs. Sangmei shake the dice, actually got the number six.
Not only the onlookers, but even Xia De was very surprised.
The young man who was helping out in the kitchen looked at his boss with an unpleasant expression, but Mrs. Sang Mei's expression did not change:
"It doesn't matter. If I win this round, then it's a draw. We can add a tiebreaker to determine the winner."
“But it could also be a win for me or another tie.”
Shade said, motioning for Tifa to shake the dice cup.
The smile on the black-haired girl's face became more obvious. She shook gently and glanced at Xia De when she put down the dice cup.
Xia De suddenly guessed what number she would come up with.
"Oh, it's six o'clock too!"
People started to make noise again, which meant that both sides had to draw 6 cards. Under the 1-point rule, the probability of drawing 6 cards without exploding was probably lower than the probability of both players throwing 6.
If both players have their cards busted, which means the game is a tie, then Shade wins immediately.
Mrs. Sang Mei's face finally turned ugly. (To be continued)