Chapter 1205

The people laughed and joked as they dispersed, returning to their dormitory to continue tidying up their beds.

Shen Xing pulled out a pack of Liqun cigarettes, handed one to Wang Yan, and very thoughtfully lit it for him. Of course, he didn't forget Guo Jiwei, who had been following along the whole time, but Guo Jiwei declined, saying he didn't know how to smoke.

Only then did Shen Xing take one for himself and light it.

He exhaled a puff of smoke and whispered to Wang Yan, "Brother Yan, although it's not far away, it still counts as going abroad. Don't you want to go out and see the world?"

"I definitely have to go out."

Wang Yan laughed, "That fortune-teller said my fortune lies in the southwest, so I definitely have to go out and see exactly how that fortune manifests. Before I came, I asked others, and they told me this place is only lively at night, and that I absolutely must go for a stroll to broaden my horizons."

"That's what I think too." Shen Xing chuckled, "We'll go together when the time comes. Since we're strangers in a strange land, it's better to have company so we don't get lost on the way back. Guo Jiwei, are you going?"

"Huh?" Guo Jiwei was stunned for a moment, then nodded, "I'll go."

Mainly, if he didn't go, he wouldn't feel safe staying in the dormitory. After all, there was still that burly man who had been beaten up by Wang Yan, and he was afraid of being bullied. Rather than that, it would be better to go out and see the world with Wang Yan; following behind Wang Yan, he felt very safe now.

Shen Xing said, "Brother Yan, there's something I'm quite curious about."

"Speak."

"Don't hit me, though."

"Look at you, how many times have I said it? I'm a good person. It's just that I was ignorant when I was young. You didn't bully me, so why would I bully you? Stop dawdling."

Shen Xing looked at the thick gold necklace on Wang Yan's neck and asked cautiously, "Is your necklace real?"

"What do you think?"

"I don't know about these things. It's just that I saw someone else's necklace float up as soon as it hit the water before... so I was just curious, that's all."

"Then you should be glad I really am a good person. With what you're saying, aren't you just implying my chain is fake?" Wang Yan exhaled a puff of smoke and laughed, "If it really were fake, wouldn't I be embarrassed? If I got angry and flustered, you wouldn't be able to avoid a beating."

"Really? How much would this cost?" Shen Xing's eyes widened.

"..."

"Oh my, the gold price is over two hundred now, right? Brother Yan, are you hanging over a hundred thousand on your neck?"

Wang Yan glanced at Shen Xing; this kid was a bit sharp, half-true and half-false, and he provided Wang Yan with quite a bit of emotional value.

He nodded with a smile: "About that."

"Brother Yan, you're really rich!" Guo Jiwei said from the bottom of his heart.

Shen Xing leaned in closer and whispered, "Brother Yan, it's not that I'm saying this, but you have to be careful. This place is very chaotic. If someone gets crooked ideas, it would be fine if they just robbed you of your money, but what if they harm our lives? I heard that people here have guns! They are all ruthless people who kill without blinking..."

Wang Yan smiled: "I have it all figured out."

Seeing Wang Yan like this, Shen Xing thought Wang Yan didn't care at all, so he didn't say anything more. After all, Wang Yan had dealt with him easily, and he seemed very willing to take action; he was afraid that if he said too much, Wang Yan would be unhappy and spar with him again, and he couldn't handle that.

He turned the question around: "Brother Yan, why did you think of spending so much money to buy a necklace? With these hundred thousand plus, why bother coming out to work? Wouldn't it be quite comfortable to open a small shop in your hometown?"

"What you see is only the comfortable part; what about what you don't see? As for why I bought the necklace..."

Wang Yan shook his head and smiled, "Have you seen 'Young and Dangerous'?"

"I've definitely seen it. Pheasant, Chan Ho-nam, they're so cool."

Wang Yan nodded and continued, "In it, Pheasant gets into trouble and runs away to Japan. Didn't someone get him a Rolex? They said when you're wandering the underworld, you wear a watch so that when you encounter difficulties, it's easy to sell."

"So that's how it is." Shen Xing suddenly realized, "But it's true, gold is a hard currency, much harder than a Rolex, and it's convenient everywhere."

"Besides, I saw those big bosses had them, so I bought one too. It shows off wealth, doesn't it? But I didn't expect that the first thing people would think is that my chain is fake." Wang Yan shook his head helplessly.

"My fault, my fault."

"It's nothing, really. Thinking it's fake, that's when it's safe." Wang Yan waved his hand. He turned his head to look at Guo Jiwei, "What about you?"

"What?"

"Why did you think of coming here to work?"

"I saw the small advertisements posted on the side of the road, saying that you can earn a lot of money here, and there's a slogan saying that when you come to Sanbianpo, you'll get rich if you work hard. I want to get rich."

Shen Xing laughed: "That's true, who doesn't want to get rich?"

"No, Brother Xing, I must get rich." Guo Jiwei said seriously, "My mother is sick and needs surgery, which will cost a lot of money. My sister is still in school, and she studies very well; she will definitely be able to get into a key university, and I have to support her studies. If she studies well, she won't have to suffer in the future."

"Who said she won't suffer?" Shen Xing retorted.

Guo Jiwei couldn't say, but he insisted: "She will definitely have a better life than me, that's enough!"

In the original story, Guo Jiwei's trajectory wasn't very good. He worked as a waiter in a casino, was sexually assaulted by a man, and he self-harmed, which led him to become perverted later on, working as a thug, and finally getting arrested.

To use the words of the characters in the show, he was eaten by Sanbianpo.

Here, it is very easy for people to go bad. Losing one's original heart and embarking on an evil path is just a matter of a single thought, because there is too much evil here.

Actually, where they are at this moment is not Sanbianpo in the true sense, but rather the Pan-Sanbianpo region. Sanbianpo is a geographical location, referring to the core area near the intersection of several major forces.

But clearly, the meaning of Sanbianpo has extended from geography to a vast area surrounding the true Sanbianpo, where local warlords hold power and govern their own territories.

There are ethnic autonomous regions, warlords, drug lords, various ethnic armed groups of different sizes, and mercenaries composed of different races from all over the world. Adding to this the power of the so-called government army, such a large number of armed forces, attacking, annexing, and various alliances and strategies, have led to the chaos here. It is very unsafe.

Wang Yan patted him on the shoulder: "Jiwei, you can't make big money working."

"I don't know how to do anything else, as long as I earn more than I do in the country, that's fine."

Wang Yan smiled, didn't say anything more, threw away the cigarette butt, turned around, and returned to the dormitory.

After tidying up the bed, Wang Yan walked around the construction site and looked at the buildings.

This wasn't a large construction site, just one high-rise and four small buildings. However, the area was quite large, and the height was also quite high, so one could imagine that after completion and decoration, it should still be quite imposing.

Shen Xing and Guo Jiwei also followed him around. Shen Xing was Shen Jiandong's nephew and knew more about the situation, so he introduced it to the two of them.

"My uncle said that the boss of this Xinhao Hotel is Sang Kang, who is said to be a big figure in Mobang, with tens of thousands of armed men under his command, and he is very powerful. He arranged a lot of work for my uncle, and he pays quickly. This Xinhao Hotel, rather than calling it a hotel, it's better to call it a casino. Just like Kamon, there are rooms for people to stay, but it's mainly for gambling.

But it hasn't opened yet. What we are building now is the casino, and the first phase is the hotel, mainly for tourists to stay. I heard the business is good."

Guo Jiwei said: "That's not right, Brother Xing, shouldn't the casino be built first?"

"Do you think they don't know? They didn't think about opening a casino before, they were just doing a hotel. It seems business hasn't been good for the past two years, so they thought about opening a casino..."

Shen Xing popularized the situation here for Guo Jiwei.

In general, this place is the Bomo Federation. Since it's a federation, of course there are individual entities, divided into Bobang and Mobang, which are two ethnic autonomous regions, and they united to strengthen their power. But in reality, they govern their own affairs...

Wang Yan was of course listening, and he understood the situation.

The current Bomo and Sanbianpo are both in a transitional stage. Because their main business previously was planting poppies, marijuana, and other crops, and refining drugs to sell all over the world. There was even a famous ruthless person who developed a world-renowned brand.

Later, they were cracked down on, and various regions also increased their anti-drug efforts.

Of course, it's impossible to ban it completely. The more it's banned, the greater the profit, and the more people will take risks. That's the situation in the country; they are all fierce bandits. But clearly, not banning it won't work either.

What really caused the decline of the drug industry here is, on one hand, the crackdown, and on the other hand, technological upgrades. From the original planting to the current artificial synthesis.

Planting requires land, and this place is suitable for planting and easy to plant. Compared to planting food, which requires weeding, irrigation, and spraying, planting those harmful crops is different; you almost just scatter the seeds and let them grow wildly, and the return is even higher. The people here are of course happy to do so. And the planters themselves also consume some things; if they don't plant, they have nothing to consume. They are all controlled people.

Because of all this, there was the glory of the past.

And synthesis doesn't require land for planting, just some chemicals, which can be purchased in many places, so the glory here has become a thing of the past.

Some of the big figures of the past were cracked down on and died, and some are still alive. They want to continue to support their armed forces, but the income from drug manufacturing is decreasing day by day, so they have begun to expand other sources of income.

Such as timber yards, jade, wild animals, and other yellow businesses, as well as gambling. Many famous figures who were caught and should have been executed have been looking for places in recent years to foster agents to run casinos.

As for why they foster agents, it's because they are from the mountains, and it's easy to die if they come out...

They only have power and make people fear them when they are in the mountains, surrounded by their own armed forces. If they really come out, who knows when they might be shot in the head by an inconspicuous person...

Wang Yan puffed on his cigarette, looked at the unfinished building in front of him, and fell into deep thought...

"Brother Yan, what are you thinking about?"

"Of course I'm thinking about ways to get rich, thinking about how I can open a hotel here and run a casino."

"Better not think about it, Brother Yan."

As they got to know each other, Guo Jiwei's courage grew, and he dared to say a few things. He said, "It's too unsafe, we'd better work steadily."

"Do you think you can be steady?" Wang Yan turned his head to look at him, "If I give you a big slap in the face now, what can you say?"

Being looked at by Wang Yan made him a bit scared, Guo Jiwei forced a smile: "No, Brother Yan, you are a good person."

"Alright, Brother Yan, stop teasing him. He's timid and can't handle being scared."

Shen Xing laughed, he said, "If you really opened a casino here, you might not be able to return to the country. I heard that you have to undergo censorship."

"Look, you still think of me as a bad person. Opening a casino is not a crime. Gambling is legal here, and if you're upright, you don't fear a crooked shadow." Wang Yan waved his hand, "But that's too far away. I'd better do my job as a steel bar worker. Anyway, I have to have some money in my hands to figure out how to make it big and strong."

"Brother Yan, are you still short of money?" Shen Xing's gaze fell on that big gold chain, "You're hanging it on your neck, this is the real weight of money."

"Unless it's a last resort, this chain cannot be moved. This is the bottom line. With this bottom line, if something really happens, at least I can hold on for a while longer."

"Brother Yan is far-sighted." Shen Xing naturally flattered him.

"I'm working for your family, why do you always flatter me?"

"Hey, Brother Yan is scolding me. You haven't seen it, such a big construction site, what's there to be arrogant about? I just look down on those who have a little money and don't know their own name, not to mention our family doesn't have money."

Just like that, the three of them walked around laughing and joking, and it was evening.

What they were eating was the braised pork mentioned earlier. The old workers were introducing it to the newcomers, saying there was nothing good to eat here and so on. However, the braised pork was indeed stewed quite well; it was salty, not sweet. The meat was stewed soft and rotten, fat but not greasy. Picking up a piece, it was still covered with thick sauce. At the same time, a bunch of eggs were stewed together, mixed with the meat flavor and the egg flavor, it was extremely fragrant.

Although the pure cooking level wasn't high, it was a big pot stew, with plenty of ingredients, and there were many people, all grabbing food together. Wang Yan already had a good appetite, and he ate quite well, and he ate the most.

He also drank a catty of Erguotou.

Being able to eat and drink is also an important ability, just like the physical strength shown on the outside, it is also a representation of power...

After dinner, by nine o'clock, basically everyone had fallen asleep. Wang Yan, Shen Xing, and Guo Jiwei quietly left the dormitory, climbed over the enclosure, and went out.

They weren't the only ones; there were quite a few people who climbed the wall together, all of them restless, wanting to see the world. Everyone was in groups of three or five, traveling together...

The location of Xinhao Hotel was quite good, or rather, Xiaomolong was not a very prosperous big city.

Leaving the construction site, walking for less than three minutes, and asking along the way, they had already arrived at the prosperous street market here.

It was very lively, really very lively.

There were stalls selling all kinds of food, stalls selling jade, stalls selling all kinds of first and second-class protected animals in the country, and so on, all of which were endless. People spoke different languages, there was the local Bomo language, and there were also many people speaking dialects from all over the country, and there were also some foreign faces speaking English.

Wang Yan took out money to buy sugar cane, the three of them each shared a section, walking while chewing, looking for a place to spit, looking at fresh things, almost without spending any money, just strolling.

It felt quite good, in a foreign land, truly feeling the different exotic customs.

Yes, it was truly exotic.

Occasionally, one could see some women walking by dressed very openly, and some were even accompanying men; this was true exoticism.

Just as the three of them were buying milk tea at a stall, someone called out from behind.

"Wasali."

The three of them turned their heads when they heard the sound, only to see a thin young man wearing a floral shirt, casual trousers, and loafers, dressed quite well, greeting them with his hands together.

Wasali is Bomo language, meaning good luck and everything goes well. Here, people's greetings are like this; when meeting people, one must put their hands together and say Wasali, sending beautiful and auspicious blessings...

Shen Xing asked uncertainly: "Are you talking to us?"

"Yes, yes. Three bosses." The young man nodded enthusiastically, switching to Chinese with a strange accent, "Are the three bosses Chinese?"

"Yes." Shen Xing nodded.

"Oh, Chinese bosses are the most generous. Looking at the three bosses, you just arrived in our Xiaomolong, right?" This person stepped aside, pointing to a building behind that looked very luxurious from the outside, "Do you want to go to our Century Casino to play a few rounds? Our Century Casino is the best and cleanest casino in Xiaomolong.

Many Chinese bosses come here specifically to play, and there are also many bosses who just came here for travel or business, going to our place to play a few rounds and experience it. I know, there are no such things in China. How about it, three bosses? Do you want to go and see? Playing a few small rounds won't cost much money."

"Thanks, we..." Shen Xing was just about to refuse.

Wang Yan nodded from the side: "Okay, you must have a commission, right? Just right, we haven't paid for the milk tea yet, you do it for us. If I win, there will be benefits for you."

"Okay, no problem."

This person didn't hesitate at all, and didn't look much at Shen Xing and Guo Jiwei; he was aiming for Wang Yan. Because Wang Yan was so flashy, he definitely wouldn't resist these things, and might even be a fan.

So he paid the money very simply, and impatiently urged the stall owner to move faster, not to keep the Chinese boss waiting too long. And he diligently handed Wang Yan a cigarette.

It was a Huazi.

Wang Yan sniffed it, confirmed there was no problem, and then lit it and smoked.

This was stated in the show; they would soak the cigarettes in poisonous water, and if you were not careful, you would be tricked...

This person is a "stacker," a term originating from Kamon, which is the name for personnel engaged in gambling intermediaries. They are mainly responsible for exchanging chips for guests to obtain profits, and introducing gamblers to loans to obtain more benefits. They pull people in everywhere to gamble, and only when others fall into the abyss can they make big money...

After a while, the milk tea was finished, the three of them each had a cup, and they followed the man towards the Century Casino while sipping.

There were guards in uniforms at the entrance of the casino, with black guns tucked at their waists. As soon as they entered, a waiter came up to greet them respectfully, and together with the previous stacker, guided the three to exchange chips.

The three of them looked at the environment curiously. It was very large, with a high ceiling and golden decoration, but it was also very noisy. The people addicted to it were all excited, shouting and screaming. There were beautiful female dealers dealing cards on the spot, and beautiful female waiters patrolling the field. Some of them were delivering drinks to people, and some were leaning on a gambler, letting the gambler touch and take advantage...

"Brother Yan, are you really playing?" When exchanging chips, Shen Xing advised, afraid that Wang Yan would step onto an evil path.

"I used to watch people play in movies, God of Gamblers, so cool and impressive. Since I'm here, I definitely have to see it. You two don't play, it's easy to step on a path of no return, just watch me have fun for a few rounds. Don't blame me for dragging you into the water when you get stuck in it."

The stacker echoed: "The boss is loyal, he is a good person."

"I know, you don't need to praise me. Give me a thousand in chips, let's try it first."

While speaking, Wang Yan took out a roll of red bills from his pocket, about a few thousand, and counted out ten from them.

The stacker was a bit disappointed, but still dutifully helped Wang Yan exchange chips, and directly took away his own commission, settling the previous one.

He didn't lose heart, and led Wang Yan to the field: "Boss, have you played before?"

"No, you introduce it."

Immediately, the stacker dutifully led the three of them to stroll around the field, introducing the gameplay at every place they went.

There are many ways to play, but in general, the gameplay in relatively formal casinos around the world is similar. It's nothing more than Baccarat, Dice, Blackjack, Roulette, Texas Hold'em, etc.

In addition, there are a bunch of game machines, the kind that you put coins into. They used to be everywhere in the country, but later they were all swept away.

The stacker tentatively asked: "Boss, that's all, what do you want to play?"

"Dice. You said so much I didn't remember, dice is fun, just bet on big or small, bet on points, simple and easy."

"This way, boss." The stacker led the way happily.

Wang Yan sipped his milk tea and followed along.

"Brother Xing..." Guo Jiwei looked at Shen Xing.

"Let's watch." Shen Xing was a bit helpless, "If he wants to play, can we stop him? Since we're here, let's follow and watch."

So the two of them followed...