All the players revealed their cards – each person had two cards. I couldn't tell which hand was better than the others. In fact, I couldn't understand the game at all. Only my uncle hadn't revealed his cards yet.
"Danny, show your cards already. What's with the delay?" One of the players urged my uncle. My heart was racing, but my uncle seemed calm.
"I'm afraid that if I show my cards, You all lost and ended up without your pants. Hahaha!" My uncle rubbed his hands together as if he held the winning hand. He didn't seem in a hurry to reveal his cards; he took his time, smoking his cigarette leisurely.
"Quit the chit-chat, I'm waiting to win your BMW so I can take a girl out for a ride and find a room!" The speaker was a big guy, easily over two hundred pounds, even heavier than the fattest pig back in my hometown.
"Alright, I'll satisfy your thirsty desires!" My uncle placed both hands on the cards, and after crossing them, he revealed his cards – a pair of nines!
In an instant, the room exploded with excitement. Some slapped the table, others cursed loudly. My uncle was collecting money with a cheerful smile, but all I felt was cold sweat. The way my uncle had crossed his hands just before revealing the cards was a card-switching technique!
Nobody else seemed to realize it, but I did. My uncle had taught me that trick before. Suddenly, everything became clear. I understood why my uncle always seemed to have endless money without a job.
I couldn't believe my uncle was cheating at gambling, and nobody else seemed to notice. But this was outright cheating!
Back in my hometown, if you were caught cheating while playing cards, the consequences were severe. Light punishment might involve a beating and losing money, while severe punishment could even mean losing your hands.
Viola's older uncle was caught cheating while gambling, and as a punishment, he had all ten fingers chopped off. His hands were just bony stumps now!
Amid a mixture of curses and sighs, my uncle calmly collected his winnings. He had a pair of nines in his hand, but what others didn't know was that he had switched his cards just before showing them.
My uncle had told me that the number of cards and their values in a deck were fixed. If he couldn't switch them back after cheating, he'd be caught. Throughout the game, he remained composed, casually chatting with others while smoking.
As the saying goes, a minute in a casino ,Practice requires ten years of effort.!
The whole process took only a few seconds, and he won a substantial amount of money. I was drenched in cold sweat, feeling like I was suffocating from the tension.
I looked at the stack of money in front of my uncle. It was so thick that I couldn't even count it. My uncle turned to me and kicked me, annoyed. He said in an impatient tone, "What are you staring at? Help me collect the money!"
I nervously helped collect the money, trembling all the while. Throughout my life, I had never seen so much money, let alone touched so much of it firsthand. Yet, the people around me stared at me, their eyes bloodshot. Anxiety overwhelmed me as my hands continued to shake.
The overweight man with his head tilted scrutinized me, and the more he looked, the more uneasy I felt. Suddenly, my uncle slapped my hand, a burning sensation spreading through my palm. Strangely, my hands stopped trembling.
"Jim, Why couldn't I reach you? Where did you go? Why are you sweating so much? Are you feeling unwell?" My uncle wiped the cold sweat off my forehead with his hand, and I feigned a nod.
In reality, it was nervousness that had me in its grip, as if everyone had seen through me. If they discovered the card-switching cheat, I was sure they'd nearly beat me to death. My mind kept flashing images of Viola's uncle with his bald, scarred hands.
I could never have dreamed that my uncle would dare to cheat in a gambling game. Furthermore, his teachings about poker techniques were actually methods of cheating!
My uncle seemed to sense that something was amiss. After collecting the money, he let others continue playing and led me to a couch on the side. He tossed me a pack of Zhonghua cigarettes, and without thinking, I took one out and placed it between my lips.
I used to not smoke; the smell always made my eyes water. Yet now, smoking somehow felt relaxing.
However, I still couldn't stop the cold sweat trickling down my forehead. Restlessness consumed me; I just wanted to leave this place as soon as possible. The shock of witnessing the cheating moments ago had created fear that overshadowed everything else.
"What's wrong with you? Did a dog bite your butt?" My uncle's words were far from kind, but at that moment, I had no intention of arguing with him. All I wanted was to escape the gambling den.
I leaned in close and whispered into his ear, "Uncle, how could you gamble? Who are these people? Let's leave quickly..."
Upon hearing this, my uncle burst into laughter, patting my shoulder. "Jim, I know what I should and shouldn't do. You're not the one to teach me."
My anxiety only grew; I didn't care how I looked. He acted as if everything was normal, but if we didn't leave soon, being caught cheating could cost us dearly.
"But you shouldn't... cheat like this. If you get caught, they'll cut off your hands! Viola's uncle..."
I whispered this with utmost caution, fearing others might hear. If they found out my uncle had cheated and switched cards, it would be disastrous!
Before I could finish, my uncle's expression darkened. His face turned stern, and his voice became grave as he said, "What did you just say? Can you see through it? Tell me, what else did you see?"