Chapter 138: He Yuzhu Makes Money on the Ship

The Shengli Hao steamship that He Yuzhu was riding had already sailed into the heart of the Nanhai, and as the temperature rose significantly, the sea breeze also became humid and hot.

He Yuzhu could no longer wear the cotton-padded jacket on his body, so he had no choice but to buy a set of Hawaiian-style summer clothes on the ship, which looked a bit gaudy when worn.

Zhao Ying looked at him as if looking at an animal, spinning around him several times before praising: "I have to say, you bumpkin have quite strong adaptability; you even dare to wear such flashy clothes. In two days, once your skin gets tanned, you'll be a genuine Native American!"

"When in Rome, do as the Romans do!" He Yuzhu tugged at the bright collar and said awkwardly.

At the bow of the ship, snow-white waves rolled, and a pod of dolphins leaped out of the water one after another, carving out silvery arcs as if guiding this giant ship.

He Yuzhu squinted for a while, then lowered his voice and said: "Xiao Ying! Don't just mock me; can you move around and get us a cabin upgrade? The ship tickets weren't bought anyway, and this second-class cabin is noisy and stuffy."

"I have no money." Zhao Ying rolled her eyes at him and answered crisply.

"I asked the attendant; staying in second class means being a second-class citizen. On the ship, we aren't even allowed into entertainment venues like the casino, and the journey will take over twenty more days! How boring!"

Zhao Ying suddenly turned her head and glared at him: "Don't you go having any crooked ideas! If you get red-eyed from gambling and lose all the capital for our company, how am I supposed to answer to Xiao Si!"

"Am I that unreliable of a person?" He Yuzhu said, stiffening his neck.

"In my eyes, you are!" Zhao Ying said without the slightest bit of politeness.

"Fine, fine, fine. How about this: I'll pay for the cabin upgrade myself and treat your whole family to first class, how about that?" He Yuzhu dangled a big bait.

"That is something worth considering!" Zhao Ying's eyes suddenly lit up, and her face instantly turned from overcast to sunny.

The two found the ship's steward—an Indian man sporting a small mustache.

He Yuzhu nimbly fished a hundred-dollar bill from his trouser pocket and, while shaking hands, slipped it into the other man's hand, whispering in English: "Sir, please do us a favor and move us to first class. Once it's done, I'll add this much more."

"Okay! I will arrange it immediately!" The Indian steward quickly stuffed the banknote into his pocket, then his face piled up with smiles, and he actually spoke in Yue Cuisine-accented Cantonese.

Watching the steward walk away, Zhao Ying grabbed He Yuzhu's arm and chided him: "You are so spendthrift; by the time we reach the United States, the company's money will surely be squandered by you!"

"Big sister, I have forty thousand dollars of my own! Don't worry, I won't touch a cent of the company's money!" He Yuzhu patted his chest in guarantee.

Only then did Zhao Ying let go, instead gently patting the back of his hand, whispering: "However... seeing how willing you are to spend money just so our family can live better, I still quite like it!"

"Is it that all you girls who study to be an Accountant like someone like me?" He Yuzhu said with a cheeky grin.

Zhao Ying shot him a glare: "Get lost! You were holding your breath to upgrade the cabin, wasn't it just to go to the casino?"

He Yuzhu shook his head repeatedly: "Really not. I heard the casino has free burgers and free cola. I just wanted to go join in the fun."

"That's more like it." The corners of Zhao Ying's mouth curved up, and she smiled.

He Yuzhu suddenly discovered that when she smiled, her eyebrows curved, looking somewhat like that movie star named Scarlett from his past life, carrying an indescribable charm.

Before long, the Indian steward returned with the keys to five first-class cabins.

When he received the other hundred dollars handed over by He Yuzhu, his face bloomed like a chrysanthemum.

Zhao Ying took the keys and happily went to move her parents.

He Yuzhu opened his cabin door and found the room wasn't spacious, but the furnishings were quite neat and clean: a bed with a clean mattress, a small desk fixed to the wall, and a washbasin with a faucet. The biggest benefit was the porthole; looking out, one could see the boundless sea, which was refreshing to the mind.

Zhao Ying settled her parents and came to He Yuzhu's room again.

He Yuzhu felt that this girl had become increasingly clingy lately, and that look in her eyes clearly showed she already regarded him as one of her own. This made him feel a bit apprehensive, mainly because he felt his own small frame hadn't fully matured yet.

He Yuzhu didn't want to stay in the small room with her, as it was easy to let his imagination run wild, so he proposed: "The cabin is too stuffy, let's go, let's go check out the casino." He Yuzhu stood up and proposed.

Upon hearing the word "casino," Zhao Ying's face immediately sank: "Gambling can make people lose their entire fortune; you must not touch it!"

"Didn't I tell you? They give away free burgers and cola in there. We're just going to take advantage of it!" He Yuzhu laughed and pulled her.

"Then... let's go have a taste!" Zhao Ying immediately turned from anger to joy and followed him toward the casino, skipping along.

The casino was not large, but it was brightly lit, dazzling to the eyes.

There were few guests inside, mostly with Western faces.

Beside the dozen or so gambling tables, there were only a few dozen guests.

Some were shouting around the roulette wheel, some were focused on playing blackjack, and there was one table quietly playing Texas hold 'em.

He Yuzhu walked straight to a blackjack table and sat down; there were only two white gamblers at the table.

A sign stood in front of the table, stating the betting limit was one hundred dollars and the minimum was one dollar.

He took out one thousand dollars and handed it to the dealer; the dealer's face immediately blossomed with a smile, as he hadn't seen such a generous guest today!

He Yuzhu sat at the table, skillfully playing with the chips, while Zhao Ying widened her eyes and tugged at his sleeve: "Your posture doesn't look like a novice; tell the truth, where did you learn this."

"Hey, I'm just learning on the fly, look at the neighbor." An old white man next to him was skillfully flipping his chips, "For a cook like me, this is just a minor skill!"

Zhao Ying was half-believing and half-doubting, but she didn't ask further.

After the game started, He Yuzhu deliberately hid his skill, and his bets were lukewarm.

After he figured out the routine, he started betting one hundred dollars each time.

Because he had the system to help, He Yuzhu was essentially playing while looking at the others' cards; he always won big when he won and only lost small when he lost. Soon, his chips kept accumulating, but he always quietly tucked the won chips into his pocket so as not to attract attention.

Two hours passed, and there weren't many chips left on He Yuzhu's table, but in reality, he had already won quite a lot.

Seeing Zhao Ying was bored, he also gave her some chips; she played with great interest and actually had a small surplus.

As it neared mealtime, the casino gradually became more crowded.

He Yuzhu saw it was time to stop and pulled Zhao Ying to cash in the chips.

He specifically divided the chips into two portions and went to exchange them separately.

When Zhao Ying finally tallied the wins and losses, she realized that, unknowingly, they had won over four thousand dollars. She covered her mouth in surprise: "You... you actually won this much?"

"I kept hiding chips in my pocket; a tall tree catches the wind, and I still want to keep playing on the ship!" He Yuzhu winked triumphantly.

"Old fox!" Zhao Ying scolded with a smile.

"We had to earn back the cost of the cabin upgrade, didn't we?"

In Beiping city, at the 95 Siheyuan.

Boss Lei was currently renovating the main room of He Yuzhu's house, so he had moved all the belongings in the room to the Erfang next door for temporary storage.

On the door of the Erfang, only a rusty, old, small padlock was hanging.

Xu Damao had long been eyeing this "piece of fat meat."

That day, he seized the gap when the adults in the Zhongyuan were all out and gathered the older boys of the courtyard at the door of the Erfang.

He pulled out a piece of scrap metal, picked the broken lock in a few quick motions, pointed at the items piled inside the room, and incited them: "You all see it, right? The He Family is all dead, even his Siqiang came over to snatch the house. We are old neighbors of the old He Family, shouldn't we get a share of the family property too?"

Guangqi was the first to jump out and echo him: "Brother Xu Damao makes sense! Even if we can't get the house, these things shouldn't all go to outsiders for cheap!"

Yan Jiecheng also joined in the clamor: "Exactly! That Chen Daya is too biased! She gave all the good stuff to our neighbor Lao Wang's family across the way."

"Who's to say she isn't? Chen Daya gave a lot of the He Family's furniture to the Ma Family, why don't we get a share?" Guangqi said.

Seeing the timing was right, Xu Damao waved his hand: "What are you still standing there for? Take whatever you can, move it home!"

Before the words had even faded, Xu Damao rushed in first, grabbed the most valuable mantel clock, and ran toward his home.

Guangqi was not to be outdone; he grabbed a kerosene lamp in his left hand and a large porcelain vase in his right, then ran off.

The other children also rushed in one after another to find things, and soon, all the small items worth some money were carried away, leaving only some large pieces of furniture.

Yan Jiecheng was the last to enter, and seeing that everything except for the heavy, large items was gone, he picked up a kang table and ran, but he hadn't run more than a few steps when he tripped and fell flat on his face, and the kang table in his hands flew away.

By the time he scrambled up, his mouth was full of blood, and one of his front teeth had actually been knocked out!