As the game commenced, I remained unhurried in my approach to cheating. I followed the conventional play, engaging in the game normally. It seemed Flower and the man opposite us had taken both Mei and me for fools. Their requests for tiles grew increasingly frequent, their actions bolder, resulting in Mei losing over ten thousand dollars in just a few rounds. I occasionally managed to win a few hands, keeping my own losses to a mere one or two thousand.
Time slipped by, and the game approached its conclusion. In the final round, Mei took the dealer's seat. Before she could roll the dice, Flower interjected, "I need to head to work soon; let's make this last round interesting. I won't let you lose without a chance to win back your money. Whatever you draw, go for broke; I can afford it…"
Flower feigned a magnanimous demeanour, and I sensed that the moment had arrived. It was time for me to act! However, my aim today was not to win for myself, but to enable Mei's victory. I held a favourable impression of her; upon my arrival at Tianxiang, I was tasked with male reception duties. After an inebriated guest lodged a complaint about my seemingly aloof demeanour, I risked dismissal. Yet, Mei offered me clemency, assigning me to the supplies department instead, thus providing me with a means to survive. Now was my moment to repay her kindness.
Mei rolled a seven on the dice and prepared to draw tiles. Before she could grasp them, I subtly pushed the stack forward. This seemingly innocuous gesture was entirely natural at a mahjong table, yet it concealed profound intent. During the act of pushing the tiles, I quickly concealed the pairs I had previously set aside, deftly placing them in front of where Mei should draw.
This technique, referred to as "Shifting Mountains and Unloading Ridge" within gambling circles, entails manipulating the arrangement of the tiles unnoticed. Should Mei's dice not correspond to the tiles before me, I could still employ this method to ensure she drew at least four pairs of the same suit.
Once the tiles were drawn, it was Mei's turn to play. However, she appeared astounded, seemingly unable to comprehend her hand. She hesitated for an unusually long time.
"Aren't you going to play? Have you lost your nerve?" Flower, with a flick of her cigarette, chastised Mei impatiently.
The man opposite chimed in, "Hey, beautiful Su, are you preoccupied with men or something? Hurry up and make your move…"
Mei lifted her gaze to meet mine for a fleeting moment before turning back to Flower. Before she could respond, Flower indignantly exclaimed, "What are you staring at? Do I have tiles on my face? Hurry up!"
Mei remained still, her expression incredulous. Turning to Flower, she spoke in a tone of disbelief, "I—I've won. A heavenly win! A pure suits seven pairs, and I have no terminal tiles…"
A "heavenly win" refers to the dealer winning outright upon drawing their hand, an event so rare it has been calculated to occur approximately once in three hundred thirty-three thousand hands. Adding a pure suits classification and no terminal tiles makes the odds even more profoundly unlikely. Yet here was Mei, proclaiming her astonishing luck.
"Don't be ridiculous! Heavenly win? I suspect you must be dreaming…" Flower and the man were unconvinced, believing Mei was jesting. Yet, Mei slowly revealed her tiles, revealing seven pairs of bamboo tiles, notably devoid of terminal tiles.
"Impossible!" Both Flower and the man gasped in unison, leaning closely to scrutinize Mei's set, examining each tile as if their disbelief could alter reality. No matter their scrutiny, the tiles remained unchanged. A pure suit's seven pairs totalled 32 points, while a heavenly win yielded an impressive 168 points. Depending on regional rules, a heavenly win could score either 108 or 32 points in various locales.
Calculating swiftly, 32 plus 168, with an additional two points for the absence of terminal tiles, resulted in a total of 202 points. This translated to a loss of twenty thousand two hundred dollars for each of them. Mei had not only recovered her previous losses of over twenty thousand, but she had also gained nearly twenty thousand on top of that, not counting the two thousand I owed her.
The expressions on Flower and the man's faces darkened significantly. After laboring all afternoon to cheat, they were now facing a crushing defeat. Suddenly, Flower whirled to glare at me, her voice raised, "Hey, young man, is there something going on between you and Su Mei?"
My heart sank. Had she discovered my duplicity? What had gone awry? Did I underestimate Flower's perceptiveness? Could she truly sense my trickery? It shouldn't have been possible. The art of "Shifting Mountains and Unloading Ridge" relied on swiftness. When I had mastered it, Varg had once remarked that my speed was among the quickest he had ever seen. Even he would have struggled to detect my changes had he not been forewarned.
"What could be between us?" I replied, attempting to maintain my composure.
Mei quickly interjected, "What are you talking about? There's nothing between us."
Flower rolled her eyes, unimpressed, and retorted, "Hmph! It seems to me there's something amiss. Su Mei, have you perhaps shared a bed with this young man? Otherwise, how could your luck have turned so remarkably with his arrival?"
At that comment, the tension I felt lifted. Mei dismissed Flower's banter with a wave, focusing instead on her astonishment at her luck. "This is my first time winning a heavenly hand! I can hardly believe it! A pure suits seven pairs—I'm still in disbelief…"
Flower scoffed, yet she paid up. Mei continued in her role as the dealer. In this round, I did not let her win as grandly; she merely garnered a modest victory with a standard pair.
In subsequent rounds, Mei achieved several wins in succession. While none were particularly grand, she accumulated about eight or nine thousand dollars overall. The game concluded amidst Flower's frustrated exclamations, as she and the man relinquished not only their winnings but also over ten thousand dollars each.
Once they departed, Mei and I remained in the office. I stood to place the remaining few thousand dollars before her, saying, "I apologize, Mei, for the losses—I owe you over three thousand, not counting that heavenly win…"
Yet Mei did not gaze at the money; instead, she scrutinized me closely, her expression a mix of curiosity and perplexity. After a lengthy moment, she finally spoke, "Lupan, how long have you been at Tianxiang?"
"Six months."
"It seems you never smile?"
I fell silent, unable to respond. Watching my father suffer, his limbs broken before my eyes, living under someone else's roof and enduring torment—having no clue where my mother was—I found little to laugh about in this world.
Noticing my reticence, Mei pressed further, "What do you think of me?"
"You're quite nice," I replied candidly.
"Then may I ask you one thing? Can you be honest with me?"
"Go ahead."
"Did you cheat?"
I paused, raising my gaze to meet Mei's. I had presumed her merely a bathhouse manager, someone who enjoyed a game of mahjong in her leisure. I never anticipated she would discern my foul play. Was she a seasoned gambler in the underworld? She certainly didn't carry herself as one.
I shook my head. "Mei, I don't understand what you mean…"
She smiled.