"Eh, Yihong Courtyard? What's this contract about? Could it be Yihong Courtyard's contract?" When Xiaoyao pulled out the contract, he found it seemed to have "Yihong Courtyard" written on it. He hadn't looked at it since obtaining this contract because he had been dealing with other matters at the time, and afterward he didn't care what exactly he had gotten, not just this contract, but quite a few other things.

"What? Yihong Courtyard's contract?" Mudan and others exclaimed in surprise.

"No way, did the boss lose Yihong Courtyard, and to young master at that?"

"This... couldn't be such a coincidence, and when did young master ever gamble with the boss?"

After the initial surprise, this group of women began discussing animatedly. They were full of doubts about this matter, there were many suspicious points in every aspect.

"Mm, Yihong Courtyard's. So this place already belongs to me. I actually thought I was living under someone else's roof. If I'd known earlier, I would have ordered more fine wine and delicacies!" Xiaoyao looked regretful, an expression that made people want to punch him.

"How about it, take the hundred thousand and give Yihong Courtyard back to me." The boss looked at Xiaoyao.

"No!" Mudan shouted, and several others shouted along with her. The rest wanted to shout but didn't dare, fearing that if the boss took back Yihong Courtyard, they would be in trouble.

Of course, if they had to choose, they would definitely choose Xiaoyao, this great talent in their hearts, as their boss. Not only because they liked him, but this way they could legitimately ask Xiaoyao to teach them skills.

...

"Mudan, I've always treated you well. What do you mean by this?" The boss looked at Mudan with a fierce glint in his eyes. He wouldn't like anyone who interfered with this matter, he might even hate them.

"This..." Mudan stopped speaking. Thinking carefully, this boss still couldn't be offended. It wasn't good to continue saying anything. This matter could only depend on young master's own decision.

Young master, you must persist! Though one hundred thousand taels is a lot, with Yihong Courtyard you won't lack anything, plus you have us beautiful women, you can play with whoever you want.

Xiaoyao saw Mudan staring at him and seemed to read those meanings from her eyes. Then he looked at the boss and reached out to take the hundred thousand taels.

The women's hearts became very disappointed at this moment. They felt like they were being abandoned.

Sigh, in the end, young master doesn't really like us much. His reason for being here was just to teach qin, and even that was something Mudan traded conditions for. Though they didn't know what transaction was between them, without this, young master wouldn't be here at all.

Now with one hundred thousand taels of silver to take, any normal person would make that choice. Only abnormal people would refuse the silver for Yihong Courtyard!

"Since you've taken this hundred thousand taels, give me the contract!" The boss reached out, a smile appearing on his face. Seeing Xiaoyao take the hundred thousand taels, the big stone in his heart also fell.

"Why should I give you the contract?" Xiaoyao asked back. This statement was very clear, he wouldn't give the contract, even after taking the hundred thousand taels.

"Kid, since you've already taken my hundred thousand taels, you must keep your promise, or I'll make sure you can't leave this city!" The boss was angry. This kid actually wanted to take without giving.

In Silver Heart City, his words carried weight and he had considerable influence. Such things had always been him doing to others, he never expected to encounter this himself one day, and from a kid barely over twenty at that.

Originally he had been kind-hearted in coming to trade. If not for concerns about the gambling house alliance, he would have already used force to take it back. Now that it was like this, there was nothing to fear, this kid was playing rogue with him.

"Whether I can leave or not is my own business. Also, you mentioned keeping promises, that's right, it's necessary!" Xiaoyao looked at the boss and said.

"Since that's the case, hand over the contract and avoid hurting our relationship." The boss snorted, looking at Xiaoyao with some disdain because he felt Xiaoyao should be scared and submitting.

In his view, Xiaoyao's mention of keeping promises referred to himself, not anything else!

"You're mistaken, I won't give you the contract!" Xiaoyao said with a smile.

The boss's face immediately darkened as he said coldly, "Kid, what do you mean? Are you toying with me?"

"Not at all. I have no mood or time to toy with you." Xiaoyao shook his head.

"Since you're not toying with me, return the contract." The boss glared angrily.

"I already said the contract won't be given to you. You need to understand one thing, I took your hundred thousand taels not to exchange for the contract, but because you still owe me money. Have you forgotten?" Xiaoyao looked at the boss and asked.

"..." The boss fell silent.

"Young master, what exactly is your situation?" Mudan's head was full of question marks. How could young master take the boss's Yihong Courtyard and still take another hundred thousand taels? What was their situation exactly? This gambling was way too big.

"I told you before, didn't I? I went to gambling houses for several nights. That day I was playing mahjong, and he insisted on fighting me to the end, saying he had money. The stakes got bigger and bigger. After I beat him several times, he owed me hundreds of thousands of taels." Xiaoyao said casually, not knowing what shock this statement brought to people.

Hundreds of thousands of taels, even the total assets of a great family wouldn't be this much. Yet they had changed hands in one night, with one winning hundreds of thousands and the other losing hundreds of thousands.

Mudan and others could imagine how crazy the boss had been then, and unexpectedly Xiaoyao, who looked so scholarly and weak, could accept such crazy behavior.

There was another point they found strange, how could Xiaoyao beat the boss by so much at mahjong? The boss was a famous mahjong expert who had once won third place in the National Mahjong Tournament. His mahjong skills were self-evident, not many in the world could match him.

Anyone who could be called a mahjong expert in a gambling city was already very strong, let alone someone who had won third in the National Mahjong Tournament. This tournament wasn't just in name, basically all mahjong experts participated, which further demonstrated the boss's mahjong skills.

Because of this, that the boss actually lost hundreds of thousands of taels to Xiaoyao at mahjong made them all find it unbelievable. This seemed too miraculous.

Actually the boss himself couldn't believe it either. It was because of this disbelief that he had fought Xiaoyao to the end, thinking Xiaoyao was just lucky. He hadn't expected Xiaoyao's luck to stay so good. Whether his technique was good he couldn't tell. Even now he was still somewhat unconvinced, but absolutely didn't dare play mahjong with Xiaoyao again unless he saw Xiaoyao having bad luck.

"Impossible! You beat the boss at mahjong?" Mudan and others expressed deep doubt.

"Why impossible? I had good luck." Xiaoyao said indifferently.

"That's right, you just relied on luck. Otherwise how could you beat me? But kid, you're too weird, continuous good luck for over ten rounds." The boss still felt bad thinking about it. He had actually lost hundreds of thousands of taels like that and even put up Yihong Courtyard as collateral.

Originally, with his status, Ruyi Gambling House could guarantee his credit and help provide surety. He could owe the debt first without Yihong Courtyard's contract, but this required Xiaoyao's agreement. If Xiaoyao disagreed, then corresponding items had to be provided or money brought within a specified time.

Xiaoyao didn't know who the boss was, so of course he disagreed. Gambling debts might disappear if someone ran away, they had to be settled on the spot.

The boss had no choice but to produce a contract, Yihong Courtyard's. He happened to have used this contract today and had it with him, so he threw down this contract and told Xiaoyao to wait, he would bring money to exchange it back.

He still owed Xiaoyao about two hundred thousand taels. Originally he had won quite a bit, plus his capital, which had already offset over one hundred thousand in gambling debt. One could imagine how much he had lost then.

But this couldn't be blamed on others, he insisted on increasing stakes with Xiaoyao. The other two didn't participate; only he and Xiaoyao greatly increased their stakes, reaching ten taels per point. That was high-stakes gambling, and he lost miserably.

Originally, his strategy was to gradually increase stakes so previous losses could be won back in one round. This was a gambling technique many wealthy people liked to use, and only wealthy people could use. Of course, this also required the opponent's agreement, without agreement there was no way to continue. Xiaoyao had nodded indifferently.

This was the fundamental reason for this result, the boss's own reasons plus Xiaoyao's reasons created this outcome.

"You still owe me two hundred thirty-three thousand three hundred ninety-one taels. I won't count the small change, I'm not that petty!" Xiaoyao said with a smile.

If you're not petty, then wipe off those figures in front too! This was gambling debt, most people would erase some.

"Alright, subtract this hundred thousand, you still owe me one hundred thirty-three thousand..." Xiaoyao repeated that number again. "Now this Yihong Courtyard's value counts as what you said, one hundred thousand. Therefore, you still owe me thirty-three thousand..."

"Yihong Courtyard is worth more than that. You took my hundred thousand, so I still owe you one hundred thirty thousand. I'll give it to you in a few days, but Yihong Courtyard must be returned to me." The boss shook his head. He only wanted to get back Yihong Courtyard now and didn't mind filling this debt, though the remaining one hundred thirty thousand taels would be somewhat difficult to raise. But he would find a way.

Yihong Courtyard was really too important to him, more important than his life.

"Yihong Courtyard is about that much. How about we calculate the accounts and see exactly how much you still owe me? I don't really like taking advantage of people." Xiaoyao looked at the boss and said.

(End of Chapter)