A Fateful Antidote

Lorry’s hand shook with shock. She almost threw the green chip away. She couldn’t imagine what denominations the larger chips represented. Anyway, there was a high probability that she would die here today. Indeed, she missed a move from Antony and failed yesterday. But how could Master Liang sell her to an underground casino? Didn’t he care about their relationship as master and apprentice?

Martin sat down and said with a smile, “Don’t worry, little girl. There’s an inexhaustible mine behind you.”

Lorry didn’t dare look at the mine behind her. It seemed to have thrones on her back.

The game began. Lorry tried to remember the 144 tiles in the first round. Martin chatted with Barack, who was Lorry’s opponent. Barack said his brother would be here soon and they would all play together. His brother was a nice guy.

They talked for a while about their business. But Lorry was highly focused. She was dazzled by the 144 tiles. Just as she was arranging the tiles, her opponent, Barack, won with a self-draw. Lorry did not know how much she had paid out, but there were some blue chips among them. Her heart was bleeding. Quietly, she turned to look at Wilfred. He was concentrating on his phone, not paying attention to the mahjong table.

Lorry took a deep breath and went over the rules again. But the other three were all experts. Sometimes, one of them would win before she could calculate the tiles. After a while, there were fewer and fewer chips in front of her.

At the end of each round, Lorry would tilt her head to look at the MINE’s reaction out of the corner of her eye, but the MINE’s attention was completely on his phone. He didn’t look at her from start to finish.

Shortly after the second round, Lorry discarded a tile. Martin looked at her serious face under the brim of her cap and smiled, “Sorry, little girl. I’m taking away all your chips. Class is over.”

Looking at the empty table, Lorry felt that this kind of mahjong was not playing with money, but with heartbeat.

She turned to look at her employer again, only to find that the man had already put away his phone. She did not know how much she had lost, but she was sure it was worth a house in the city.

Her eyes were hidden by the shadow of the brim of her cap. So that Wilfred could only see her pressed lips, which seemed to be self-accusing.

Wilfred’s cold face showed a rare gentleness. He asked, “Did you learn it?”

Lorry watched her employer’s expression. He didn’t have the least displeasure. Instead, it was as fresh and refined as an elegant mist.

In fact, she had basically mastered all the rules and winning skills. But she couldn’t say that. After all, she had just lost a house.

Looking at her struggling face, Wilfred’s eyes let out a little warmth. He said slowly, “It doesn’t matter. Just carry on.”

His voice rippled through the air in a heavy bass. Like a subtle current running through her skin, it soothed her uneasy feelings. The feeling was a little strange.

Wilfred raised his hand to the beauty in cheongsam, “More chips.”

The same amount of chips appeared in front of Lorry. She counted them carefully this time, then turned to ask Wilfred, “What if I… lose it all again?”

Wilfred held the wine glass in his hand and casually replied, “That’s okay. It will just offset your salary.” The red liquid in the glass had a seductive sheen. His eyes behind his glasses flashed with an elusive sparkle.

Lorry withdrew her expression, “What if I win?”

“Everything is yours. ” Wilfred waved the glass of red wine and looked at her.

“Thank you, boss. ” Lorry’s lips curved.

They started playing again. After a round was over, Lorry didn’t win or lose. The chips in front of her remained untouched. Each tile was played very steadily by her. The three veterans noticed that immediately.

“Your little girl is excellent. She knows how to count tiles.” Martin said to Wilfred.

But Wilfred didn’t answer. He looked at the ancient books on the shelf next to him, a faint smile crossing his lips.

At that moment there was someone outside. Barack waved to a man who walked in. Lorry looked up slightly. When she saw the man’s face clearly, she was shocked in her heart.