CHAPTER 136: BEING INVOLVED IN A SOCIETY VALUES INTELLIGENCE, NOT LOYALTY.

It was eleven o’clock at night.

The pendulum clock in the church chimed.

The dim yellow chandelier above the poker table cast a light on each fierce and malicious face, adding not a hint of softness.

Pei Zhen leaned back naturally behind her while Xu Si listened intently with an indifferent expression.

Aside from the members of the Triad Society, who were expressionless, the rest of them looked as if they had seen a ghost, quietly drinking water to regain their composure.

A buzz-cut man wearing sunglasses, sitting at a distance, withdrew his gaze, held his cards, and muttered unclearly with a cigarette in his mouth, "Damn, another loss."

His chest was full of irritation and impatience.

He beckoned a lackey waiting outside the door to stand behind him and swap his cards. Pretending to cough, he quickly said, "Go, head back to the dance hall and find a few beauties similar to that lady. They don’t have to be exact, close enough is good. Sneakily send them to the entrance of the Triad Society."

The lackey, with the utmost respect, handed him the cards, his voice very low, "I wonder, should I leave a name?"

"Damn it!" The buzz-cut man looked at the cards and clicked his tongue in dissatisfaction, as if cursing his terrible luck. He pinched his cigarette into the ashtray. As he let go, his index finger and thumb struck the glass wall of the ashtray; he then violently lifted it and smashed it onto the lackey’s head, yelling, "Jesus, you scared the hell out of me, you unlucky sod! Standing next to me, you’ve made my hands stink."

"UGH—"

The lackey, head bleeding from the impact, didn’t dare to make another sound, meekly standing by with his black-framed glasses now broken.

"Phew, that’s a relief." The buzz-cut man waved dismissively. "Get lost. Bring in someone smart, lucky, and with an aura of good fortune."

The next lackey came and went.

The buzz-cut man, having just played a "bad hand" with triumphant joy, wished he could kiss the chips he won back. "Well," he said, "sometimes you’ve got to play the sentiment card. Gambling is gambling; you can’t treat everything like a trade."

The people at the same poker table laughed, "That’s some deep insight."

The buzz-cut man lit another cigarette and leisurely exhaled a smoke ring. "Playing cards, just like running with gangs, requires brains and strategy. To improve my skills, I donated two buildings to an overseas university and bought myself a study-abroad diploma."

The crowd roared with laughter.

...

The posture was ambiguous, yet Xu Si remained unfazed, her lovely eyes fixed on the cards. No matter how well she pretended, she couldn’t deceive herself. If the cards weren’t made of metal, her slim fingers would have snapped them by now.

As soon as Pei Zhen finished speaking, he retreated to her side, propping his chin on his hand and sitting silently. He wasn’t deliberately teasing her. She couldn’t afford to lose face, caught up in a world of chaos and turmoil, especially in such an ambiguous posture.

During pauses in the card game, amidst her movements, Xu Si’s suit jacket slipped from her shoulders. Before she could react, someone from behind pulled it back up. The cool fingertips lingered a moment longer—the timing and measure were perfect. No one noticed anything amiss.

The air seemed scorching hot, so Xu Si simply asked for a glass of water filled with clear ice cubes. She also quietly requested a palm-sized mirror from the waiter. Thanks to the intimidating presence of the Triad Society, no one would refuse such an unreasonable request.

The handsome waiter quickly brought the mirror to Xu Si.

Xu Si casually lifted the mirror to look at herself, took out her lipstick, and touched up the brownish-red color on her lips.

Her eyes, like tranquil autumn pools, casually swept across the room. She propped the mirror at a convenient angle, glanced at it from time to time, and continued with this absurdly flamboyant gambling game. To call it a game of high-stakes gambling, where fortunes were won and lost on a whim, was no exaggeration.

Pei Zhen occupied the main seat, and those who could sit with him were not from minor gangs; they all had an air of people who didn’t treat money as if it were real.

Every time she lost a hand, Xu Si genuinely wanted to win it back. If she couldn’t, she would have Pei Zhen "teach" her.

Time passed like this for quite a while.

People attending the funeral went up in waves to bow to the portrait, and the games kept changing with each fresh round.

At such a funeral, the crowd was a motley crew, all undoubtedly disreputable characters. Later, a few wealthy individuals from across the country, who had private connections with the Green Union Gang, also arrived. They were not permitted to enter the church and could only conduct their mourning rituals at the entrance.

Xu Si’s small mirror was aimed at a corner inside the church where there was a small, inconspicuous window. Many people passed by, but no one noticed that her gaze could be reflected through the mirror.

Pei Zhen supported his chin with the back of his hand. His deep, mist-grey eyes, half-closed, rested steadily on her, scrutinizing her intently. His lips were straight, with no hint of a smile; all his mirth was hidden in the crinkles at the corners of his eyes.

Xu Si occasionally felt the burning gaze from behind her. She didn’t turn back for another look; the temptation was simply too much to bear.

She had just picked up a newly dealt set of cards.

Her eyes instinctively glanced towards the mirror. Suddenly, she made eye contact with someone reflected in it, interrupting her train of thought for her next play.

The person in the mirror looked shaken by her gaze, quickly looked down, and walked away.

Xu Si’s eyebrows quirked slightly. Her fingers gathered the metal cards. As her pale hand pulled the chair back, she reached into her leather case and then turned to Pei Zhen, saying, "Azhen, I’m going out for some air; I’ll be back soon."

With people coming and going inside the church, this scene didn’t attract much attention. Pei Zhen raised his eyes to glance at the window’s location, obediently took her seat, and leisurely picked up the metal cards. His voice was so pleasant it hardly seemed real as he said, "Alright, go ahead."

After Xu Si briskly walked away, flipping her hair, the atmosphere once again fell into an eerie stillness.

The leaders, who had been chatting idly before, now fell silent, sighing in unison.

They were going to lose again, and lose terribly at that. Unlike his wife, who at least seemed to enjoy winning their money.

...

The church was a classic example of Gothic architecture, suggesting the previous Green Union Gang leader had been a religious man. It looked ethereal and slender, with spires reaching upwards, intricate carvings, and dazzling stained-glass windows. Every corner held an overwhelming and captivating charm.

Xu Si quickened her pace towards the corner of the church and went directly up the stairs. She searched the second floor, found no one, and continued to the third.

Finally, on the landing of the third floor, she saw someone who looked like a low-ranking member of some society, hiding in a corner with a cigarette, fumbling for a lighter.

Looking at his face, she could vaguely discern features typical of someone from Hong Kong Island, though they weren’t prominent.

Xu Si stopped, retreated a few paces to lean on the banister in the middle of the staircase, and casually watched him with her arms folded.

There was a brief silence in the stairwell. The tranquility of those few seconds seemed to draw away all the air.

Watching him repeat the barely-concealing action of "looking for a lighter," Xu Si couldn’t help but want to laugh. Her voice was soft and light as she spoke in Cantonese, "Stop playing, guy. I’m not taken in by it."

The man’s finger movements paused.

It took him a while before he turned around with a vague response, his face all smiles, "What are you saying, pretty lady?"