Chapter 5: Not in the Least Expected

At this point, everyone had their own ideas; no one followed his bet blindly.

Hong Dali rubbed his chin and pondered. We’re in the VIP room. If this were in my previous world, based on a scenario like this, the betting pool should at least go up to several million in value. But why are the people here playing so conservatively? I must have made some incorrect assumptions somewhere.

The next game had already begun. Tang Muxin again started off with a bet of 500 yuan, and the other players followed along for the round as well. After that, she bet another 500 yuan again. After three rounds of cards were dealt, someone finally looked like they had a rather strong hand, and that person upped the bet to 1,000 yuan. At this point, those with weaker hands started to fold.

I get it, I understand now! Seeing this play, Hong Dali instantly understood the situation. I’ve gotten something wrong about a matter here, and that is the purchasing power of this world’s currency! In my previous world, a car would normally cost about 100,000 yuan, but over here, it should probably only cost about 50,000 to 60,000 yuan or even 30,000 to 40,000 yuan. If the yuan here is equivalent to the euro in my previous world, then my previous bet of 5,000 yuan does indeed look quite extravagant. It’s no wonder that they all got frightened and folded!

Although Hong Dali knew that it might not be as exaggerated as he thought, he perceived that it shouldn’t be too far off from his estimates. Even if the purchasing power of the yuan here was not as strong as the euro in his previous world, it should be at least as strong as the US dollar over there.

In this case, squandering 100,000 yuan in three hours might not be as easy as he had thought.

If he couldn’t complete the mission, his current attribute points would get deducted. If he got really unlucky and it ended up deducting points from his sexual capability attributes… Oh crap, then his dick might just end up becoming only as big as a pencil tip!?

This notion caused Hong Dali to start sweating profusely. This was a matter that would affect his lifelong happiness, so he couldn’t afford to be careless. Immediately, he stared closely at the cards in Tang Muxin’s hand, which were a pair of open aces and another face-down card. The other players all folded, leaving Tang Muxin to win at least another 5,000 yuan worth of chips again for this round…

Hong Dali was desperately muttering something from the side. “We came here to squander, not to win. Do you actually understand what it means to squander!?”

Tang Muxin snorted and grinned smugly at him, revealing two rows of dazzling white teeth. She said, “You still think that there’s a chance of squandering any money with me here? Do you think it will be that easy? I am definitely not going to allow you to squander today!”

As they were talking, the next round had already progressed quite a bit into the game. This time, their hand was even better than in the last game. They had three open kings and one face-down card. In this round, Tang Muxin ended up winning another 8,000 yuan or so. Seeing this, Hong Dali’s eyes almost popped out as he gasped for air.

Moving on to the next game, of the five cards in her hand, Tang Muxin’s open cards were a pair of aces and a pair of kings. The player after her had three queens open, and the other players’ hands for this round were not too bad either. Hong Dali was delighted and muttered to himself. “Fold, hurry up and fold! If we fold for this round, I should be able to lose at least several tens of thousands of yuan. When that happens, I will have completed my mission already!”

Currently, Tang Muxin had already bet ten thousand yuan into the pool. As everyone’s cards were quite good, the other gamblers on the table were following along. In the end, it was Tang Muxin who couldn’t bear the pressure and went all in for her bet. Just that alone brought her total bet to over 30,000 yuan. At this rate, he would definitely succeed in completing his mission today!

Then, at the next moment, Hong Dali totally broke down—Tang Muxin’s face-down card turned out to be an ace! Her aces full of kings had swept the entire table. Just this game alone had already won her more than 100,000 yuan.

They could not go on like this anymore!

Hong Dali could see the mission progress bar in his mind. Those few prominent words almost caused him to have a heart attack: “Current squandering value: -125,500 yuan.”

Not in the least could he have expected this to happen. He had come here intending to splurge and squander, not to earn money! Without much ado, Hong Dali pulled Tang Muxin up and left whilst angrily saying, “Do you even know how to play? We came here to squander, not to win money! What was actually quite a good situation has totally been messed up by you. How am I supposed to squander now!?”

Faced with Hong Dali’s grousing, Tang Muxin didn’t feel the least bit angry. While walking, she proudly said, “You still think that you can squander away your money with me around? Do you think it’s going to be that easy?”

“All right, all right, you win!” Hong Dali pulled his hair in frustration. “Let’s have a change of locations to squander! We shouldn’t play something that depends on luck! If we want to play, let’s play something that we can definitely squander away our money on!”

Having just owned at the games had totally disrupted Hong Dali’s plan to squander, Tang Muxin was feeling quite happy about that, and with a grin, she said, “If you want to use other methods to squander, the only thing we can do is go shopping. But it’s already so late, the more luxurious brand-name shops have already closed for the day. You probably won’t be able to squander any more today.”

Based on the purchasing power of the yuan in this world and taking into consideration the 120,000 yuan or so won at the casino, Hong Dali would have to squander at least 230,000 yuan to complete the mission. If the accessory shops were already closed and he chose to buy items from the supermarket, he reckoned that he would have to empty the entire supermarket to squander that amount of money.

Unfortunately, before Hong Dali had transmigrated into his current body, he had been considered a well-behaved boy. He had been good at saving money and had zero experience with squandering it. To him, treating his schoolmates or friends to a meal that cost a few hundred bucks was already the most extravagant act that he could think of. But now he had to squander away over 200,000 yuan. Just how much would he have to eat to blow away this amount of money? More importantly, if he were unable to locate the most expensive restaurant in the city, that would surely give him away. Furthermore, it was already so late now. There wouldn’t be enough time to do it this way at all!

What should I do, what should I do…

He had less than two hours left to complete the mission. In his desperation, Hong Dali suddenly thought of a nightclub that looked rather high class that he’d seen when they had been on their way here earlier. He seemingly remembered that it was called “Ye Lai Xiang” or something. Judging from the facade with its bright dazzling neon lights that were housed in an extremely tall and magnificent-looking building, it was definitely a good place to squander money!

“Let’s go!” Hong Dali snapped his finger loudly and said, “Let’s head to Ye Lai Xiang to squander!”

“Ye Lai Xiang? A nightclub!?” Hearing Hong Dali suggest such a place, Tang Muxin was so shocked that her lively eyes widened into perfectly round circles. “Why would you go to a place like that? You’ve just barely turned 18, what would you visit a place like that for!?”

“Do you even have to ask? I am going there to squander, of course!” Hong Dali answered matter-of-factly. “I am a prodigal! And as a rich and powerful prodigal, don’t you think that I still lack a little something?”

“What… what are you still lacking?” Tang Muxin was completely quelled by Hong Dali’s domineering words. “What do you still lack?”

“Some lackeys, of course! If you don’t even know that, how are you supposed to squander with me in the future!?” Hong Dali led the way down the stairs and said, “Look at this flight of stairs. There are only the two of us now, right? We have to climb up step by step to get up here and step by step to get down! If we had lackeys around, that would be different!”

“How… how would it be different?” Tang Muxin had been thoroughly defeated by Hong Dali. “Are there any differences?”

Hong Dali explained proudly. “With lackeys around, I can get them to carry me up or piggyback me down the stairs. So do you think that it would be the same?”

“…” Tang Muxin was completely despondent. After a while, she finally shouted. “You… you stupid prodigal!”

“Wrong.” Hong Dali snapped his fingers again. “I am a super prodigal!”

…

At the Hong family’s villa.

Hong Dali’s parents were seated on the sofa in the first floor’s living room. His father took a sip of this world’s best grade of Tieguanyin tea and said in a low voice, “Dear, what do you think of Tang Ruisi’s engagement proposal?”

Hong Dali’s mother thought for a while before replying with a smile, “That’s probably a plot to delay something. I can tell that Muxin deeply dislikes our Dali. I also heard that Tang Ruisi’s company is currently experiencing financial difficulties. From our conversation with him today, his intention to secure a loan from us was quite clear. From what I observed, there’s an 80% chance that he’s only proposing the engagement because he has no other options left.”

Hong Dali’s father lit a cigarette, nodded, and said, “Yes, my opinion is the same as yours. Sigh, speaking of which, the Tang family and our Hong family’s relationship was started in a previous generation. Even without this engagement, I would not have rejected him if he had asked me for a loan. But this Tang Ruisi is still as unwilling as ever to owe others favors. Sigh, when his company overcomes this difficulty in the future, do you think he will renege on the engagement?”

Hong Dali’s mother smiled, gave her husband a rebuking look, and said, “Why are you still asking me when you already know his intentions? Actually, what I am most worried about is not whether or not they will renege on the engagement but what will become of our Dali in the future. As you know, his physical condition…”

Regarding this matter, Hong Dali’s father could only helplessly say, “This is a difficult problem. All the doctors that we consulted said that Dali’s sexual incapability is inborn. Even if we were to get him an organ transplant, it wouldn’t be of any use. Sigh, being a prodigal is only a small issue. What I am more worried about is that we won’t have any descendants for our branch of the family. My brothers are constantly eying our wealth, and you haven’t been able to get pregnant again all these years. Every family has its own share of difficulties to deal with.”

“Yes, I really have no idea what we can do about this matter either.”

They fell silent until someone came over suddenly to make a report. “Master, Madam, I am here to give you both an update. Young Master Dali went to Deborah Casino first and is now on his way to the Ye Lai Xiang nightclub.”

Hong Dali’s father laughed and said, “This brat is really too daring and reckless. All right, you are excused, just keep an eye on him and make sure his safety is not compromised.”

“Yes, Master.”

Hong Dali’s mother pursed her lips together gently and smiled. She said, “I wonder how this child is going to squander our money today. Sigh, he’s living so carefreely that he doesn’t have any idea how worried we are for him.”