The Female CEO Falls in Love with Me

"You?" Hearing Li Yan's words, a glimmer of hope arose in Hai Fu's eyes.

The two of them came together because Li Yan had caught her answering a phone call, and then escorted her to the casino to deliver money, later helping to resolve Shishan Yao's issue, turning him away from his wayward habits, which made Hai Fu very grateful.

But her hope was brief, and she shook her head rationally: "No way! You're pretending to be a disciple of the gambling king. Last time you managed to win back some money with the help of the big brother, but the situation now is completely different."

At that time, Li Yan had roughly explained to her that they were playing Texas Hold'em poker, where aside from luck, it mainly relied on the players' wits, tactics, and mental agility. All this depended on their brains, eyes, and expressions, while the casino dealers worked in shifts and the gamblers stayed as long as they could. That time, they had already played until the next morning, exhausted and reacting slowly, and some were relaxed from previous winnings, with no skilled players around. So, Li Yan pretended to be a pro, drew attention away, and boosted Shishan Yao's confidence, allowing him to play exceptionally well and win more than lose, thus making money.

However, things were different now. The time was still early; regardless of whether Shishan Yao was betting big or had been gambling since last night or during the day, the table still had many new and continuously joining gamblers. Replicating the previous achievement was nearly impossible.

"Let's go and take a look first. Understand the situation before making decisions. Moreover... he should learn a painful lesson. Simply sending money doesn't solve the problem every time."

Hai Fu was a very decisive person, but this issue involved her immediate family and was a long-standing problem, making it hard for her to stay calm. Since Li Yan had helped in this area before, she agreed to his suggestion after hearing him out.

The two of them each drove their cars again, this time at a faster speed, heading to the grand hotel they had visited previously.

Just like before, arriving at the club on the seventh floor of the hotel, they drew from their previous experience and did not haggle with the attendants, directly calling in the reception manager.

The manager was very good at recognizing and remembering people, and since Shishan Yao was a regular customer, he immediately understood upon seeing Li Yan and Hai Fu. He warmly greeted them and led them through several corridors into a secluded private room hall in the club.

At this time, there weren't many gamblers; mostly club dealers, attendants, and accompanying guests. The gamblers present were just engaging in small bets for leisure, with no big action having started yet. Ma Kui led them through the casino hall into another lounge.

"Ladies and gentlemen, please rest for a bit. Mr. Shi is not here. Please wait a moment while I report to our manager who wants to meet with you." Ma Kui said courteously, then turned to leave, making just a brief call at the bar.

Upon hearing that Shishan Yao wasn't, like last time, still in the mindset to cause trouble, Hai Fu felt slightly relieved, but upon hearing he wasn't here, she guessed he might be under house arrest.

Seeing her glance over, Li Yan gave her a reassuring look. From Ma Kui's previous words, he already gleaned a bit of information. The "manager" he mentioned naturally had a different status than Ma Kui, who was just a reception manager, likely someone with real authority in the casino. And evidently, Shishan Yao's situation was much more serious than last time.

...

Soon after, Ma Kui returned and smiled, inviting them to follow along into the lounge, where a concealed back door behind the bar led them up a staircase to the eighth floor above.

The environment here was noticeably different from below, adding an air of tranquility and elegance, without any sense of chaos, only prestige and opulence.

Ma Kui cautiously guided them inside, weaving through several corridors until they reached a door, knocked, waited for instruction, then opened it to usher them inside.

"Manager Wei, the guests have arrived."

The room was spacious, containing only a resting sofa and a large gambling table. Ma Kui respectfully reported to a man smoking a cigar at the table.

Manager Wei glanced at them and waved his hand: "Everyone, leave us."

The men and women originally in the room obediently filed out, Ma Kui included. But Manager Wei stopped him: "Ma Kui, first take this lady to see Shishan Yao."

With her current attire, Hai Fu appeared quite serious and mature, so being addressed as "lady" was not inappropriate.

Upon hearing this, Hai Fu felt anxious, wanting to see how her big brother was but also worried about leaving Li Yan alone, fearing something might happen to him.

"You go ahead, I'll be fine." Li Yan had already guessed a bit of the scenario, nodding at Hai Fu to indicate she should follow Ma Kui out first.

Hai Fu could only whisper, "Be careful," before leaving with them.

After they left, three people remained in the room: Li Yan, Manager Wei, and a young man.

"Sit down." Manager Wei pointed to the chair next to the gambling table.

Li Yan went over and sat down.

He threw a cigar over, but Li Yan just smiled, "I'm more used to smoking my own." He casually took out his cigarette and lit it.

"Manager Wei wanted me to stay. I wonder what advice you have?" Li Yan spoke as he glanced at the young man.

Manager Wei, however, was unhurried, handing over a business card: "I am Wei Zhenguo, the direct manager of this club. This is Mr. Zhou Yi. May I know your name?"

"Li Yan." Li Yan took the business card and replied simply.

"With your intelligence, Mr. Li, I'm sure you can guess my intention?" Wei Zhenguo smiled, twirling his cigar.

"Actually, I don't know. Please enlighten me, Manager Wei."

"Is Shishan Yao your friend?"

"You could say that."

"You advised him on playing poker before? Won ten times the money in just over an hour?" Wei Zhenguo continued to ask.

"I didn't really advise him, but what you said is true."

"Hahaha..." Wei Zhenguo laughed heartily, "Mr. Li, you're being modest. If you hadn't advised him, would Shishan Yao, with his skills, dare to come back and give away money? If you hadn't advised him, could his skills have improved so much in such a short time?"

Li Yan smiled faintly, "In fact, I haven't seen him since last time. He said he wouldn't gamble again, so I have no idea about his skills."

"Let me tell you what happened!" Wei Zhenguo began his expressive narration.

It turns out Shishan Yao really hadn't been back to this casino to gamble since then. But yesterday, for some reason, he couldn't resist and came back. Many people recognized him, teasing if he'd lost it all before and now, with new savings, was here to give away more money. But his skills had improved significantly; he won more than he lost, and by the end of the night, he'd won hundreds of thousands.

Shishan Yao got smart and stopped when ahead; he didn't continue betting. Yet, he couldn't resist the pleasure of winning, feeling the stroke of luck, and didn't leave. Instead, he booked a hotel room, rested well for several hours, and didn't even bring a woman in to vent. In the afternoon, feeling refreshed, he returned to make a killing again.

Since there weren't many gamblers in the afternoon, he wasn't satisfied with his wins, so he accepted the dealer's suggestion. He enjoyed the platinum VIP treatment of this casino and went to the eighth floor for the first time. Here, both the casino staff and guests were much more skilled. Shishan Yao couldn't keep being spectacularly brave and started losing more often, ultimately losing all his winnings and principal, incurring over a million in debt at the casino.

Having lost so much money and with no way to pay it back, not even his sister Hai Fu could help. So, when they questioned him, Shishan Yao revealed Li Yan's story. He said it was Li Yan who gave him confidence and exposed him to the style of a master, learning a bit from him, which gave him the courage to come.

Obviously, the focus wasn't on the money, but the person. The casino wasn't that concerned about the million; they were more interested in Li Yan. Such a talented individual needed to be assessed personally; if indeed talented, recruiting him would mean gaining a "Gate God." If left outside, he'd be a formidable adversary.

So before, when they had Shishan Yao make a call, they urged him to ensure Hai Fu brought Li Yan. But Hai Fu, worried they might harm Li Yan, didn't convey this. Instead, she planned to borrow money from Zhang Yurong to cover the million debt and settle the matter to release him.

Yet, Li Yan still came.

After hearing everything, Li Yan felt a bit moved by Hai Fu's protective secrecy, and as for Shishan Yao, seeing him unable to quit gambling wasn't disappointing anymore.

"So what do you mean now? Is this Mr. Zhou Yi your hired expert to want to gamble with me?" Li Yan's mild question directly stared at Zhou Yi, who hadn't spoken.

Zhou Yi responded coldly, "Afraid? Aren't you a disciple of Johnny Chan?"

"I think you misunderstand. I'm not particularly interested in gambling. Last time was just to help Shishan Yao. Whether before or after, I haven't been to your casino. Don't consider me your enemy nor recruit me; I'm not interested." Li Yan blew a smoke ring, outright refusing.

Wei Zhenguo spoke, "Interests can change based on conditions. If you don't gamble, I have to handle Shishan Yao myself, and I don't accept others paying in his place. If you gamble and win, Shishan Yao's debt will be off the books, and... heh, I can help make him quit gambling! Anytime he comes here, I'll have him beaten up! Is that sincere enough?"

(I intended to release two chapters at once, but the other chapter wasn't finished yet, feared it would be too late. So, here's one chapter first, continuing to work, another chapter coming later, begging for Monthly Pass support, thank you!) (To be continued, to know what happens next, please log on to www.qidian.com, more chapters to support the author, support genuine reading!)