Chapter 39 – Is your name Chen Zhou?

The next day.

Chen Zhou left his house to buy breakfast and took a leave from the store before taking a cab to the competition.

This was the first mahjong competition to be hosted in Tian Hai city, and Chen Zhou didn’t expect his luck to be so good that the competition happened just as he had gotten his gambling skill.

The competition was hosted in an open-air hall in a big hotel, and there were dozens of mahjong tables placed neatly in the room.

With the participation certificate around his neck, no one stopped Chen Zhou from entering.

Seeing that someone had entered, one of the employees handed him ten cards.

Chen Zhou read the competition rules that were stuck to the walls.

After reading, Chen Zhou felt as though this competition was a trial for Tian Hai city, the rules were a bit vague.

Everyone had ten cards, and if they lost a round, they had to give the winner one of their cards. Once they had no more cards, they would be disqualified.

There was a total of 80 participants in this competition, and they were divided into 20 tables that would start playing at the same time.

It didn’t take long for the competition to begin.

After the opening ceremony ended, the participants were seated according to the numbers assigned to them.

Chen Zhou took a look at his surroundings, there were close to 400 people gathered at the outer area of the competition, and most of them were taking pictures on their phones.

“It’s just a game, why are they acting as if this was the Oscars.” Chen Zhou grumbled uncomfortably, this was his first time in such an event.

“Di!”

The automatic mahjong table shuffled the tiles, and the person seated in front of Chen Zhou was assigned to press the button that rolled the dice. After spinning for a few seconds inside a glass dome, the dice stopped.

It was the start of the game.

Chen Zhou had practised for two hours with the elderly last night, and he was now able to comfortably navigate the memories of his gambling skill in his mind, he was completely unfazed.

However, he wasn’t going to play carelessly. 

His target was the one million, and if he was caught being suspicious from the beginning, not only would he lose the money, it would be shameful as well.

It was a pity for the other participants that were playing with him, they weren’t half bad at touching the tiles and memorising them, and they seemed to have a decent amount of experience and judgement. It was a pity that they had met someone that had a cheat.

No matter how complacent he was, Chen Zhou hid it well.

His expression changed constantly, he would furrow his brows, smile widely, or even appear to be in deep thought. It was as if he was an A-lister actor.

It didn’t take long for his first round to end.

Unsurprisingly, Chen Zhou had won easily.

“Young man, you play pretty well!” The old man that had lost to him patted Chen Zhou’s shoulders while shaking his head with a sigh.

“Waves which come later are stronger and higher, you have a bright future!”

Chen Zhou scratched his head as he laughed politely, “Luck, it’s luck, truthfully, your skills are much better than mine!”

He wasn’t lying, if it weren’t for the gambling skill from the system, even ten of him wouldn’t be able to beat this old man.

The old man had played for dozens of years, and his familiarity with the game was something Chen Zhou, who had only played two games, couldn’t compare with.

After finishing his game, he sat at the side to rest, and just as he was about to fall asleep, the other games finally ended.

Mahjong was very time-consuming, it was a game that was described to be more complicated than chess, and if it weren’t for the time limit, each game could go for over 30 minutes easily.

And when the second round started, the number of participants dropped drastically. The people remaining were people who truly understood how to play the game.

But once Chen Zhou joined a table, the three other participants would not be able to stop themselves from being complacent. He looked young, and no matter how good he seemed, how good could he actually be? Could he actually defeat an auntie who spent years honing her skill?

It wasn’t their fault for thinking this way, most of the players of mahjong were those that were older and had nothing better to do.

Chen Zhou could see what they were thinking, but he simply kept silent and  smiled as he continued to play.

Seeing his attitude, they believed that he was trying to throw the game.

Of course, he didn’t bother explaining himself.

And so –

“Congrajulations to……Chen Zhou……for entering the quarterfinals!”

At this time, it was time for the break and everyone was leaving to eat their lunch.

Chen Zhou’s mood was pretty good.

He knew now that his proficient level of gambling skill was definitely within the top 100 rankings in the country.

And since most of the players in this competition were uncles and aunties, Chen Zhou had already thought of the prize as good as his.

However, he did feel a bit strange. Why were all the players in such a big competition uncles and aunties that could easily be found in mahjong rooms on the street?

Chen Zhou didn’t believe that he was the only person in Tian Hai that would cheat.

In such a big place……

“Forget it, at most I’ll quit gambling after I get the one million.” Chen Zhou shrugged it off.

Despite the huge rewards, the risks were equally huge for gambling. If he wasn’t careful and got caught……he didn’t even dare to think of what would happen.

And as the rounds progressed, it was time for the finals.

And as Chen Zhou sat in his seat, his heart relaxed, but it immediately clenched in the next second.

“Is your name Chen Zhou?”

Seated in front of him was a casually dressed man, and then the other players were an old man and a woman.

Chen Zhou looked at the man before him, and then at the woman. Both of them were young and attractive.

“I thought I was the only young person here.” Chen Zhou spoke disheartenedly.

He didn’t see them when he was looking around at the competition area.

Did he see wrongly?

As Chen Zhou was lost in his thought, the man suddenly spoke, “How could we let the elderly look down on us? We’re young! We can’t embarrass ourselves and our efforts like this!”

It seemed as though the man’s words had an underlying meaning, but Chen Zhou didn’t have the time to think about it.

The woman looked at him, her eyes shining.

“Are you Chen Zhou? I’ve heard of you, aren’t you really good at drawing? Could you draw for me in my room after the competition ends?” As she teased, the woman batted her eyelids.

And as Chen Zhou’s imagination ran wild, all kinds of colourful imagery popped up in his mind.

Then, the woman spoke again.

“My friend said, not only can you draw, but you also know magic?”

Chen Zhou smiled as he nodded, not saying a word.

In the beginning, he had even done homework for middle school students.

“And, and……”

The woman continued speaking, her voice was exaggerated and filled with amazement.

“I also heard my friend say that you also know how to carve intricate wooden carvings, huh? Can you carve one for me?”

Chen Zhou was stunned, and an uneasy feeling rose from his heart.

“And, and……I also heard my friend say that you also know how to cook! I even ate your cooking! It melts in your mouth, and the flavour is unforgettable! I really want to eat it again!”

“……”

Hearing the woman’s words, Chen Zhou’s brows were now furrowed.

“You investigated me……?”