Chapter 1458: Moli

"Beep, beep, beep..."

Zichen didn't even have time to say a single word before the call was disconnected.

"Unreasonable! It's truly like a dog biting Lü Dongbin—not recognizing a good person!"

Gu Yuxin's posture, rolling up her sleeves, showed she was determined to see this through to the end.

But Zichen pulled her back, telling her to stop worrying about it, that it couldn't be managed, and that they had already said and done everything they should.

Moli was already eighteen, already an adult, and adults should be responsible for their own actions.

Even if they were relatives, they couldn't manage everything like a busybody.

Yuxin was unconvinced: "You know full well that Cui Xiaoqian isn't a good person; are you just going to watch your cousin be played for a fool by her?"

Zichen said: "I'm not just watching. I've already told him that Cui Xiaoqian isn't sincere with him, and we even took him to see Lu Feifei, but he still gets led around by the nose by that woman after just a few words. What can be done?"

He repeated the words his mother had once said, passing them on to his girlfriend exactly as they were: "Some people only turn back after hitting a brick wall, and some lessons can only be learned after suffering a loss."

Gu Yuxin:...

She thought about it carefully and felt it made sense.

It was a week later when Zichen received a call from Moli.

Moli was furious on the phone, demanding an explanation: "Sheng Zichen, you went too far! You promised not to tell my mom about this. You didn't keep your word!"

"I didn't. I didn't tell your mom; I'm not that gossipy."

"Did you tell Auntie?" Moli called Shi Youxuan 'Auntie'.

Zichen denied it: "No. What I promised you, I will definitely do. I promised you I wouldn't tell the elders, and I haven't said a single word."

Moli's voice was choked with tears: "Big Brother, I believe it wasn't you who said it, but what do I do now? My mom found out about Xiaoqian and me, and she won't let us see each other..."

"Congratulations, Auntie is right."

After Zichen finished speaking, he hung up the phone; he could solve the rest of his problems himself.

You can't just do whatever you want and then cry and look for others to solve it when problems arise; nobody owes anyone anything!

He really didn't want to get involved anymore, but Moli came looking for him.

"Big Brother, can you lend me one hundred thousand?"

Zichen was startled: "What do you need so much money for?"

He had one hundred thousand; from childhood to now, his annual lucky money belonged to him, including the rewards from his parents for getting into Jiang University and the prize money he had won over the years from participating in chef competitions.

All in all, it added up to several hundred thousand.

Although Zichen had money, he never spent it recklessly. Even with a girlfriend, their dates were always at places like snack stalls, which didn't cost much, and Gu Yuxin often insisted on paying.

Although Moli's usual level of consumption wasn't low, he wasn't a playboy who threw money away either; the pocket money his parents gave him was quite substantial and enough to use.

Zichen instinctively felt that Moli borrowing money had something to do with Cui Xiaoqian.

Moli hesitated and stalled for a while before whispering: "Big Brother, just don't ask; I have an urgent need."

"Even an urgent need requires a specific reason. If you don't tell me, I can't lend it to you!"

Moli borrowing money from him clearly meant he didn't want his parents to know, because his uncle and aunt would definitely keep asking for the reason.

Moli's fair face turned the color of a pig's liver. He still wouldn't say the reason, only repeatedly emphasizing that he had an urgent need and was just borrowing the money to tide himself over for a day, and would pay it back after one day.

"No, if you don't tell me the reason, I won't lend it to you!"

Zichen's stance was very clear. Moli was forced into a corner and had no choice but to tell the truth—he was borrowing the money to pay off gambling debts; he had lost a lot of money at a casino.

He still owed the casino one hundred thousand, and if he didn't pay it back, the loan sharks would come to the school to collect the debt!

He begged Zichen bitterly to lend him the one hundred thousand for an emergency, promising that he would never touch that stuff again, and if he gambled again, his Big Brother could tell his mom!

"Tell Mom"—this was the most useful promise Moli could think of.

"How did you get involved in gambling? Was it Cui Xiaoqian..."

"Oh, no, this has nothing to do with Xiaoqian at all. Why can't you think of people in a better light?"

When his Big Brother mentioned Cui Xiaoqian, Moli immediately got anxious, defending her with a flushed face, claiming it was just a moment of being possessed by a ghost on his part and had absolutely nothing to do with Xiaoqian.

Things having reached this point, he had no choice but to speak.

Over the weekend, he and Cui Xiaoqian went shopping.

To Moli, everything in the outside world was novel.

Before he knew Cui Xiaoqian, he wouldn't even step out of the school gate; it was only after meeting her that he would go out for walks on weekends.

Cui Xiaoqian was very familiar with the city and knew all the fun places. Last weekend, she took him to a colorful street, and Xiaoqian pointed to a "Chess and Card Club," saying her classmate had won a one-thousand-yuan prize there playing chess last week.

Her classmate's chess level wasn't actually that great, not even as good as hers, she said, looking full of longing, rubbing her hands and eager to try.

Moli said, let's go in and take a look; I know a little about chess, maybe I can help you.

He was being modest; Moli had studied chess since he was a child and knew more than just a little. Even if he went to participate in professional competitions, getting into the top three wouldn't be a problem.

The two went in, but the "Chess and Card Club" was different from what Moli had imagined.

Although there were indeed chessboards and pieces, there was more mahjong, and some things he had never even seen before.

Cui Xiaoqian said that was called Pai Gow; she hadn't played it either, but had seen others play, and it was said to be very simple to play.

The "Chess and Card Club" was foul with smoke, the lights were dim, and the air was filthy. It was Moli's first time in such a place, and he didn't like it at all, almost choking to death on the smoke.

He wanted to leave, but Xiaoqian said since they were already here, it wouldn't be too late to play a round before leaving.

Out of consideration for his girlfriend's face, he endured the discomfort and didn't leave. Just then, two burly men came over; one was shirtless and covered in tattoos, and the other had a long scar on his face, from the bridge of his nose to the corner of his mouth, looking very fierce.

Yet the two were all smiles as they came over to greet them, asking what they wanted to play.

"We want to play chess," Cui Xiaoqian said.

So the two were brought to a chess table, and Daobalian played against them.

Sure enough, just as Xiaoqian had said, Daobalian's chess level was very average. Xiaoqian won, winning one thousand yuan in a single round!

Xiao Qian was very happy and told Moli that this one thousand yuan was her salary from a month of working and studying, and she hadn't expected to earn it so easily.

She played two more rounds and won every one, then Xiao Qian gave up her seat to him and let him play.

Daobalian stepped back at this time, gave the seat to a thin, small old man, said this was the person who played chess best in the chess and card club, and asked Moli if he dared to accept the challenge.

Why wouldn't he dare?

Moli sat down to play chess with the old man, won the first two rounds as well, and his self-confidence exploded!

The old man proposed raising the stakes at this time, ten thousand yuan per game, and asked Moli if he dared.