CHAPTER 416: CHAPTER 416: CHRISTMAS BELLS, CASINO, UNEXPECTED TAIL

Boston, Brookline Region, a certain villa.

On the second floor of the villa, Mona opens a Christmas hat and finds a wooden box inside.

Opening this box, there is another smaller box inside.

"..."

Mona, somewhat speechless, continues to open the small box, and this time inside... it wasn’t another small box, but two tickets to Las Vegas and a hotel suite reservation.

Previously, while Mona and Luo An were watching a movie in the cinema, she mentioned wanting to visit Las Vegas to experience the local culture and people.

Fortunately, Luo An didn’t know what to get Mona for Christmas and also wanted to roam around Las Vegas to verify a certain hunch, so he booked these two tickets.

"Ah—"

Mona also remembered this and suddenly burst into smiles, yelling out to the room:

"Luo An! Thank you for the gift! I love it!"

Hearing Mona’s call, Luo An, sitting on the sofa on the first floor of the villa, chuckled, and proceeded to open the Christmas hat Mona had given him.

Inside this Christmas hat were quite a few items: a long rope with bells, a foldable reindeer antler headband, and a package of condoms.

"..."

Seeing these three items, a gleam flashed in Luo An’s eyes, clearly understanding Mona’s intentions, he quickly stood up from the sofa, grabbed the three items, and headed straight to the second floor of the villa leaning on his cane.

At this moment, a classic Christmas song was playing in the villa: Jingle Bells.

The sleigh bells ring, making spirits bright, What fun it is to ride and sing a sleighing song tonight...

————

Las Vegas, also known as the City of Gambling, Entertainment Capital of the World, the largest city in Federal Nevada, and one of the top four gambling cities in the world. It is a world-renowned holiday city centered around the gambling industry, known as the "Entertainment Capital of the World" and the "Marriage Capital."

Most of the tourists who come to Las Vegas each year come for shopping and to enjoy the food, with only a minority specifically coming for gambling.

Luo An and Mona were no exception. In the second week after Christmas, they took a flight here, rested briefly in a hotel overnight, and then headed straight to Las Vegas Boulevard. They walked along this boulevard, visiting various places for shopping, playing, eating, and drinking.

However, being in Las Vegas, how could they not visit a casino? Given Luo An wanted to test some of his theories, he suggested to Mona that they should visit a casino to play a bit.

"No."

Mona sternly declined Luo An’s suggestion, seriously saying:

"Luo An, I know you’ve made quite some money recently, but that amount is nothing on the gambling table, and gambling can be addictive, but gamblers never end well."

"Thank you, Mona, I know."

Seeing the worry in Mona’s eyes, knowing that she cared about him, Luo An stood up and kissed Mona for a moment, then seriously said:

"Trust my control, Mona, I definitely won’t go overboard."

Mona shook her head repeatedly, just about to continue speaking, when Luo An then suggested:

"How about this, I’ll only take a small amount of money, and once it’s lost, we leave the casino and never return, OK?"

"...OK."

Mona frowned, pondered for a few seconds, and then said:

"Then 1000 US dollars."

"..."

Luo An, speechless, suggested:

"One hundred thousand dollars."

"No!"

Mona loudly refused:

"Ten thousand dollars, no more!"

Seeing Mona glaring fiercely at him, Luo An sighed and nodded in agreement:

"Alright, ten thousand dollars."

Las Vegas Caesar Palace, one of the well-known hotels and casinos.

Luo An took ten thousand dollars and exchanged them for a stack of chips ranging from one dollar to five hundred dollars, and together with Mona, they entered the depths of the casino and found a Texas Hold’em poker table to sit down at.

Picking up a one-dollar chip, Luo An felt like he was embarrassing those predecessors who normally gambled millions at the casino.

Mona casually called over a waiter to exchange the chip for a glass of wine, then stood silently behind Luo An, watching.

Including Luo An, there were five players at the gambling table: two tourists, a male and a female, a middle-aged white man with a worried face, and a white youth who was constantly looking around with curiosity.

Each of the four players had chips ranging from five to ten thousand dollars. After a few simple games, Luo An didn’t find anyone pretending to be weak, which seemed normal, since the minimum bet of the table was too low for skilled players to be interested in playing here.

Because he was not very familiar with the rules of "Exploding Golden Flower", Luo An lost over six thousand dollars after a few rounds.

Mona, standing behind him, remained expressionless. She already predicted this outcome and was thinking about where to go for dinner after the gambling was over.

At this time, there was a change of players at the table, the two tourists and the middle-aged man each won some money and quickly left.

The curious white youth lost even more than Luo An. From his original ten thousand dollars in chips, he now only had two thousand left. His facial expression was no longer curious, he was breathing heavily, his eyes were bloodshot, and he hurriedly urged Luo An and the three new arrivals to reveal their cards.

Luo An, resting his chin on his hand, did not reveal his cards immediately but turned to pat Mona:

"Give me a sip of that wine."

"Hmm? Oh, sure."

Mona paused for a moment, then handed her drink to Luo An. He drank it in one gulp, changed his posture and revealed his cards—three black clubs A, J, Q.

This hand, called "golden flower" or "flush", wasn’t the highest in the Exploding Golden Flower rules, but it was higher than anyone else’s at the table, so Luo An successfully won back three thousand dollars.

"Fu-k!"

Bang—

The white youth’s hand was just a little worse than Luo An’s. He completely lost his remaining two thousand dollars, slammed the table hard, glared at Luo An, and then turned and left the table.

The other players who lost also glanced at Luo An before leaving. Luo An just smiled indifferently, fairly certain of his speculation now and tossed a fifty-dollar chip to the dealer and also stood to leave the table.

Mona quickly followed, looking at the six thousand dollars in chips in Luo An’s hand, she smiled and said:

"Is it over? Let’s go eat."

"No, wait a bit longer for me."

Luo An smiled and shook his head, and before Mona could get angry, he continued:

"By the way, which restaurant did you want to go to? How much will it cost for us to eat there?"

Mona paused, then replied:

"Uhh... It’s the seafood barbecue buffet nearby. Five hundred dollars would be enough for both of us."

"OK, once I win ten thousand and five hundred dollars, we can go."

Luo An nodded with a smile and pulled Mona towards another table not far away.

"What?"

Before Mona could react, Luo An had already sat down at another Exploding Golden Flower table. Realizing what was happening, Mona was very angry, but seeing Luo An had already begun a new round, she suppressed her anger, preparing to discuss this matter with him after he lost everything.

However, to Mona’s surprise, after several rounds where Luo An first lost then won, he actually managed to recover his original ten thousand dollars capital and even won an additional two thousand.

Walking out from the table, Luo An tossed the chips to Mona, saying cheerily:

"No buffet tonight, we’re going somewhere fancier!"

Mona, with a shocked face, asked in a low voice:

"How did you manage that?"

Luo An smiled and pointed to his head, without speaking.

It wasn’t that Luo An could see through other players’ cards, but because he had trained and used the "emotional perception" in his mind extensively, he discovered a new feature after a recent case.

Mona thought Luo An was boasting about his good memory and was about to speak when suddenly, Luo An pulled her quickly to hide behind a nearby slot machine, whispering:

"We are being followed."

Mona’s expression changed slightly:

"The gamblers who lost money earlier? Or the casino staff?"

Luo An frowned slightly, silent for a few seconds, then said:

"It’s not who you mentioned, it’s a woman, and...I might be mistaken, but her face looks a bit like yours."

Mona: "?!"