At 9 p.m., in the southern seaside affluent area of Boston, there lay a luxuriously large villa on an expansive property.
Lowering her head to look at the shiny-eyed Sweety in front of her, Luo An's eyebrows twitched.
He remembered Mr. Clement telling him earlier that people who joined this club either had wealth and status, or were exceptionally outstanding in certain fields.
But Sweety's manipulation of converting ten to thirteen made Luo An start to doubt the truth of Mr. Clement's words, so he asked:
"Sweety, how did you get into this club?"
"I am a graduate of the University of Massachusetts Amherst Branch."
Sweety chuckled proudly and said with her head held high:
"I have a Master's degree in Poetry Art, as well as a Master's degree in Food Science, and I am currently pursuing a PhD in Plant Physiology and Biochemistry."
"..."
Confirming through "emotion perception" that she was telling the truth, Luo An's eyes filled with surprise.
He could tell that Sweety wasn't the mindless type of woman, but owning two Master's degrees still made him realize he had greatly underestimated her.
Luo An sincerely gave Sweety a thumbs-up, his face full of admiration:
"You're really amazing."
Sweety laughed heartily with her hands on her hips, then grabbed Luo An's arm, unwavering in her initial intent, and asked again:
"What do you say, want to play a round?"
Luo An had another question, asking:
"You just mentioned these Gold Coins are the currency used for transactions in the club. So, what can be traded in the club?"
"Planes, yachts, companies, information, business cards, money..."
Sweety listed quite a few words while counting with her fingers, and then pulled Luo An to bend over and whispered into his ear with a low chuckle:
"As long as you have enough Gold Coins, some people in the club might even let you have some fun with certain little stars in Hollywood, male or female."
Luo An's mouth slightly curled up, realizing that this club was similar to a non-transparent trading platform, with the transaction content agreed upon by both the buyer and the seller, using the Gold Coins that Sweety mentioned.
"How does it sound, pretty exciting, right?"
Seeing a slight change in Luo An's expression, Sweety laughed and gently blew into his ear, whispering:
"Considering that we played together when we were kids, I'll give you a discount, borrow ten Gold Coins to return twelve."
Luo An glanced at Sweety and asked with a smile:
"Aren't you afraid that I'll lose everything and won't be able to return your Gold Coins?"
"It's okay."
Sweety grabbed Luo An's arm and said in a low voice:
"If you can't pay it back, you'll follow the club's rules—one Gold Coin equals one condition that cannot be refused."
"Wow."
Luo An raised an eyebrow, understanding Sweety's intentions, and smiled:
"You're so greedy."
Sweety's eyes curved:
"All women are greedy."
After a brief silence, certain ideas flashed through Luo An's mind, and he licked his lips before agreeing:
"Lend me ten Gold Coins first."
"No problem."
Sweety's face beamed with a smile; she immediately waved over a waiter, requested ten Gold Coins, handed them to Luo An, and explained:
"Each of us has our own account in the club. The Gold Coins are available as soon as you need them."
Luo An picked up a Gold Coin and glanced at it; it had a rather quaint design, with a pile of University of Massachusetts letters on the front and a vertical pupil on the back, which gave an unusual feeling of being watched by it.
After a quick look, Luo An and Sweety walked to the far-left table in the hall. Just as a Caucasian man left his seat, Luo An took his place on the recently vacated chair.
The poker table wasn't large, besides Luo An, there were three other Caucasian men in suits, one wearing glasses, another with short hair, and the last one holding a cigar in his mouth.
"Good evening."
The bespectacled man greeted Luo An with a smile, while the short-haired man asked directly:
"Newcomer?"
Luo An smiled and nodded, took a sip of the red wine from Sweety's hand, and inquired:
"What game are we playing?"
"Twenty-One, no dealer, all players."
The cigar man exhaled a puff of smoke, glanced at Luo An, and queried:
"Loser pays one Gold Coin, winner takes all, any problem with that?"
Twenty-One, the rules are not too difficult, the game involves the 52 cards excluding jokers, with the goal for players to have the sum of their cards' value not exceed twenty-one and be as high as possible.
Kings, Queens, Jacks, and tens all count as ten points, while the Ace can be counted as either one or eleven points, depending on the player's choice. During the game, players may continue to draw cards or choose to concede defeat.
During Mona's father's operation, Luo An played Texas Hold'em with slightly modified rules, but he had played Twenty-One in Las Vegas before and understood the rules, so he nodded to the dealer:
"I have no problems."
The dealer was a very pretty young woman, who, seeing that Luo An had no problems and neither did the other three players, started shuffling the deck with the card shuffler and then dealt the new cards to the four players.
The first round ended quickly, with Luo An's total card value accidentally exceeding twenty-one, losing one Gold Coin.
Glancing at the winner of the first round, the bespectacled man, Sweety got Luo An a new glass of wine, patted his shoulder, and consoled in a low voice:
"It's okay, don't be nervous, don't be discouraged, it's always like this at the beginning, it gets better with more games."
"…I feel like there's something not quite right about what you're saying."
Luo An rolled his eyes silently, took a sip of the red wine, chuckled at the mocking looks from the other three players, and said to the dealer:
"Please, continue."
The dealer nodded and continued to distribute the second round of cards to the four players. A few minutes later, Luo An lost another round, and another Gold Coin was gone.
The winner of the second round was the cigar man, who laughed as he collected the other three people's Gold Coins, urging:
"Continue, continue!"
Sweety rubbed Luo An's shoulder, comforting him:
"It's okay, there are still eight Gold Coins, don't panic."
Luo An was calm and silently took the down cards dealt by the dealer for the third round. A few minutes later, Luo An's total value was exactly twenty points, the closest to twenty-one among the four.
Luo An won the third round, not only retrieving the two lost Gold Coins from the previous rounds but also earned one more.
"Wow."
Sweety raised her eyebrows, clapping and cheering repeatedly:
"Luo An, you're so lucky!"
The bespectacled man, short-haired man, and cigar man turned their gazes to Luo An, who spread his hands and smiled:
"I indeed have good luck."
The three Caucasian men didn't pay much attention after withdrawing their gazes, as it was only one win, and there was still a long way to go.
The fourth round began, and Luo An lost another Gold Coin, with Sweety continuing to console him, saying that it was okay even if Luo An lost all his Gold Coins, as she could lend him more.
Fifth round, Luo An won; sixth round, Luo An lost; seventh round, Luo An lost; eighth round, Luo An won; ninth round, Luo An won...
Two hours later, on both sides of the card table, the bespectacled man had a furrowed brow, the short-haired man was licking his dry lips, and the cigar man was breathing rapidly, his face flushed red.
Because in front of them, they had each lost a full third of their initial Gold Coins.
While in front of Luo An, the number of Gold Coins had grown from ten to thirty-seven!
Unlike the three irritable players next to the card table, Sweety behind Luo An at this moment had her eyes wide open, her face wearing an incredulous expression, her breathing rapid, and her good conscience on her chest bouncing up and down vigorously, attracting the attention of others.
"You…"
Bang!
Sweety swallowed, just about to ask when the cigar man suddenly slammed the table, glanced at Luo An fiercely, and said to the dealer:
"Continue!"