The atmosphere at the card table cooled down subtly.

But the woman in the long trench coat said nothing more, as if she were completely unaware that she had just made a shocking statement.

The wealthy merchant looked at her with suspicion and uncertainty, suddenly realizing she might be a dangerous person; the smile on the woman in the red dress also froze on her face.

To prevent the atmosphere from remaining so awkward, Lin Han spoke up at the right moment.

“My girlfriend and I don’t really have any special reason for being here.”

As he spoke, a perfectly timed, helpless smile appeared on his face.

“The elders at home wanted us to come out and see the world, saying that young people can’t just stay home and study all the time, at least we should know what’s happening in the outside world.”

While speaking, Lin Han once again nudged Shen Qingshu’s leg. Her ears were flushed, and her expression was quite unnatural.

Hearing Lin Han’s words, the woman in the red dress immediately felt she understood.

Lin Han remained outwardly calm as he continued to add a few half-true details, guiding the group’s conversation to seize the opportunity to gather secrets from the higher echelons of X City.

These secrets weren’t necessarily useful, but Lin Han did it instinctively, it was likely a professional habit from his time as an intelligence operative.

Meanwhile, Shen Qingshu was about to lose her second round of chips.

Her expression was bordering on numb.

Seemingly realizing at last that she wasn’t cut out for Texas Hold’em, Shen Qingshu took a deep breath after losing yet another round and pushed all her remaining chips toward Lin Han.

“You do it.”

Lin Han found it somewhat amusing. He looked at the pile of chips, then at Shen Qingshu, who had “I’m very annoyed” written all over her face, and asked, “Are you trying to get me to avenge you?”

Shen Qingshu gave a small “Mhm.”

Lin Han shrugged, inexplicably thinking back to the scene when he first met Shen Qingshu…

It was back when Lin Han had just been swindled into the Intelligence Processing Division by Qin Zhizhi, and before Team 7 had even been formed.

On that day, Qin Zhizhi called Lin Han to her office. Pointing to the girl beside her—who had waist-length black hair, unfocused eyes, and an expression as hollow as a doll’s—she said to him:

“Her name is Shen Qingshu. From now on, she’s your first team member. Look after her well.”

Lin Han agreed at the time. So later, when Shen Qingshu ran into trouble while operating her computer, he leaned over to help—

“You need to click this button here…”

“I don’t need you to teach me.”

The doll-like girl interrupted Lin Han and said:

“I will not accept help from anyone. That would only make me weaker.”

“So, I don’t need you to teach me…”

At the time, Lin Han never could have imagined that Shen Qingshu would become like this.

To the point that even when she lost at cards, she needed him to step in and win her pride back for her.

“Do you still remember what happened when we first met?”

“I don’t remember.”

“…That stomp on my foot just now was definitely on purpose, wasn’t it?!”

Shen Qingshu silently moved behind Lin Han, standing there like a member of a disciplinary squad. It seemed she was determined to have Lin Han vent her frustrations for her.

Lin Han could only accept his fate.

After all, who told him to be the little white face kept by the Eldest Young Lady?

…His foot was stepped on again.

Watching this scene, the woman in the red dress couldn’t help but chuckle.

“While you two seem to have a wonderful relationship, card skills aren’t something that increases because of things like ‘bonds’ or ‘love,’ you know.”

Lin Han remained noncommittal.

“I’m just giving it a try.”

Then, over the next few rounds.

The smile gradually faded from the woman’s face.

In the first round, Lin Han used a modest two-pair to beat the middle-aged wealthy merchant’s top pair, winning a small pot.

In the second round, he folded a promising flush draw on the turn. As it turned out, the flush didn’t complete on the river, allowing him to avoid a trap the woman had set in advance.

In the third round, using top-tier facial control and physical tells, he bluffed the wealthy merchant out of a hand that should have been a guaranteed win.

In the fourth round, he folded immediately when the merchant raised, not losing a single extra chip.

Round after round.

Although the stack of chips in front of Lin Han didn’t explode in growth like in the movies, it was visibly increasing bit by bit.

‘How is this possible?!’

The woman in the red dress’s pupils trembled, and she could barely maintain her expression; the wealthy merchant also frowned, feeling as though this teenager had seen right through him.

At the table, no one knew how Lin Han was doing it.

Their expressions gradually shifted from initial confusion to numbness, as they could only watch Lin Han—as if he were using X-ray vision—always call or fold at exactly the right moment.

What was even more terrifying was that they couldn’t see any of the excitement a “gambler” should have on Lin Han’s face.

And that was indeed the case.

During those rounds where Shen Qingshu was losing money frantically, Lin Han had already memorized every detail of the others.

The meanings behind their movements and expressions, and whether they were bluffing, to Lin Han, these were practically like seeing the answers to the exam questions.

All that remained was to solve the problem.

Naturally, such repetitive and boring work brought no sense of excitement to Lin Han.

Of course, the foundation of all this was Lin Han’s realization that the Texas Hold’em skills of the woman in the red dress and the wealthy merchant weren’t actually that high, at least, not high enough that he couldn’t see right through them.

If he had to pick someone, the only person at the table Lin Han found a bit troublesome was the woman in the long trench coat, whose face was even more expressionless than Shen Qingshu’s.

However, this mysterious woman of unknown origin didn’t seem to have any intention of winning money; she simply kept her chips at a steady level, neither increasing nor decreasing.

In this manner, it wasn’t long before the chips Shen Qingshu had lost in the second round were back on the cart beside the two of them.

Just as Lin Han was preparing to redouble his efforts, a heavy tolling of a bell echoed through the hall—

Dong— Dong— Dong—

The bustling hall, previously filled with a cacophony of voices, gradually fell silent.

Then, one by one, waiters approached the guests in the hall and whispered, “The auction is officially beginning. Please follow me to your seats.”

The woman in the red dress and the wealthy merchant threw down their cards with a look of pure relief, their smiles finally becoming a bit more genuine.

“It looks like you won’t be able to win it all back for your girlfriend after all.”

Lin Han also shook his head helplessly, there was no helping it; Shen Qingshu had simply lost too much earlier on.

“A pity.”

“It’s enough.”

Hearing Shen Qingshu’s voice, Lin Han instinctively turned around.

And then, he saw Shen Qingshu smile.

It was an extremely faint smile; if Lin Han hadn’t turned back at that exact moment, he might have missed it entirely.

But it was, indeed, a smile.

Like a hint of spring water quietly rising beneath a frozen surface, or the winter sun stealthily peeking out…

Lin Han was dazed for a moment. He suddenly understood the legends of ancient kings who played tricks on their lords just to win a smile from a beauty.

If the wealthy men in this hall saw this smile, perhaps someone truly would be willing to spend a fortune just to see her smile once more.

But unfortunately for them, rather than for money, the girl was clearly more willing to reveal this precious expression because a young man had won back her losses in a game she wasn’t good at…

The woman in the red dress watched this scene and suddenly leaned back against her chair, saying with a sigh:

“I really can’t stand this…”