pjbooks Chapter 219 Stunned? Still want to gamble?
Chapter 219 Stunned? Still want to gamble?
Chapter 219 Stunned? Still want to gamble?
These words left the prince speechless, and upon closer examination, they actually made a damn good point.
Of course, the most important thing was that Ma Jieke saw through his deception. If it had been exposed on the spot, these newly civilized North American barbarians would have been utterly humiliated.
He then gave the other person a knowing look, indicating his willingness to help, and then, after some mystical gesturing, shouted, "Go ahead and open it!"
The onlookers curiously peered over, and the prince hooked his finger over the bottom of the bowl and flipped it open, revealing a sponge ball underneath.
"Nice!" Valentina exclaimed excitedly. "Haha, I knew it was in this bowl! How could my eyes be wrong?"
The prince shook his head with masterful acting skills, his smile forced: "Congratulations, madam, this little vase is yours. You don't need to pay a single penny for it."
"Yay, today is my lucky day. You're unlucky to run into me."
She raised her smug face, and a question nearly drove the prince to despair: "Boss, can this game be played repeatedly?"
How am I supposed to answer that? I can answer, but should I let you win or not?
If I let you win again, wouldn't you go on a crazy free shopping spree? If I don't let you win, your fellow villager might just blow my hand at any moment.
Left with no other choice, Prince Bellor looked to Ma Jack for help with his eyes. The latter quickly understood his meaning and advised Valentina, "Alright, alright, one should know how to be content. Lady Luck has smiled upon you once, but you really think she's like a sister to you? Listen to me, know when to stop, don't play around anymore."
"Fine." Valentina pursed her lips in disappointment, looking quite reluctant.
Ma Jieke also noticed her unusual behavior and realized that his actions just now seemed to have backfired.
Logically speaking, she should be thoroughly fooled once and suffer the harsh reality, otherwise she might be swindled out of her underwear the next time she encounters something like this.
Just then, a burly white man approached and asked, "Chinese friend, may I try it?"
"Of course." Seeing another fish take the bait, Prince Baylor pointed to his stall: "Pick whatever you like, everything is $99. Take whatever you like. If you guess correctly, you win a prize for free. If you guess wrong, you buy it at the original price. No matter how you play, you won't lose out."
Although he could already guess where the goods came from, Ma Jie still used his appraisal skill to take a look. He was surprised to find that the world was truly amazing.
It turns out they all came from a foreign company that established itself in Dongda University. This company purchased in bulk from various industrial bases and then distributed them to Chinatown and chain department stores. They were all low-cost industrial products, the kind that cost 9.9 yuan with free shipping on Pinduoduo. But when they arrived in the United States, their value skyrocketed more than ten times.
Perhaps seeing that Valentina had successfully gotten something for free, the white man carefully selected a small, gilded bronze Buddha statue that looked rather simple and honest. Anyone with a discerning eye could tell at a glance that it was a pure electroplated imitation gold layer, with extremely low cost.
"This gentleman has a good eye. This is a pure copper gilded Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva statue. Taking it home can suppress evil spirits, avert disasters, and also improve one's luck and attract wealth."
A long, rambling talk left the foreigners completely bewildered. Don't think that America doesn't have feudal superstitions. There are professional exorcists in churches who are responsible for driving away and sealing evil spirits. It is very common to invite clergy to your home for blessings and prayers. If you pay attention in the streets and alleys, you can also see many strange shacks, usually with an exaggeratedly dressed "witch" sitting inside, using tarot cards to predict the fate of customers.
Once the other party selected the prize, Prince Bellor used the same trick again: three small bowls and a ball, which he then rearranged to enter the guessing stage.
Throughout the entire process, Valentina stared intently at the small bowl's movement. Once it stopped, she excitedly pointed to the far right: "Jack, I saw it clearly again this time, it's definitely in here."
"Oh, what a pity." She sighed and complained in a low voice, "It's all your fault. Why did you stop me just now? Otherwise, I could have won another prize."
Ma Jie looked at her with affection: "Girl, if you think you have good judgment, how about we make a bet?"
"What are we betting on?"
"Let's bet on the little vase you have. If you guess right, I'll buy you another one just like it. If you guess wrong, then it's mine."
"You said it!" Upon hearing Ma Jie's bet, Valentina immediately agreed, afraid that he would go back on his word: "Let me confirm again. If I guessed right, you buy me an identical little vase. If I guessed wrong, this little vase is yours. Keep your word, and whoever goes back on their word is a dog."
"Pinky promise."
"Fine, I'll do it!"
With his two little fingers touching, Ma Jie smiled knowingly. The bait was ready; all he had to do was wait for the fish to bite.
Sure enough, the white man chose the same option as her: the small porcelain bowl on the far right.
This is the choice that the vast majority of people present would make, after all, no one is blind.
If you had X-ray vision, you could indeed see a sponge ball under the bowl.
But the key point is who will flip the bowl. If it is the audience who flips it, the performer will undoubtedly lose.
But if someone else flips it over, you won't have a choice; the balls will not only disappear, but they can even multiply.
"Jack, just you wait and see. You'll pay for your blind confidence. No one can beat me on my lucky day."
Just a second before the Prince turned over the small bowl, Valentina was still grumbling and mocking.
In her opinion, this Chinese man was too stupid; he was practically offering help. With such slow hand speed, what big idiot wouldn't be able to see it clearly?
When the small bowl was turned over, the smile on her face vanished instantly, replaced by confusion and bewilderment. Staring at the empty bottom of the bowl, she stammered, "This...this...this...how is this possible? I clearly saw it in this bowl. Where's the little ball?"
"Sorry, Sir, you guessed wrong." Under the equally bewildered gaze of the white old man, the Prince of Baylor pulled a fast one, flipping over the last bowl and tossing in the sponge ball he had been hiding in his palm.
To be honest, Ma Jieke had been watching him the whole time, trying to find something out, but despite the 10% visual acuity boost provided by [Eagle Eye], he still couldn't find any flaws.
This is what makes itinerant performers so amazing. One old performer, nicknamed "King of Ghost Hands," even required a high-speed camera to capture each frame clearly in order to see his techniques.
"Please pay $99, and this little bronze Buddha is yours."
The white man reluctantly paid for the transaction, but he was not willing to give up and instead challenged the man again.
With a deliciously fragrant, fat sheep laid out before him, the Prince naturally wouldn't let it pass by. He looked at him with a smile and said, "Please choose another prize; anything is fine."
While the old man was choosing a prize, Ma Jieke looked at Valentina with a wicked grin: "Give it to me, silly girl."
The latter seems to be in great pain because the psychological state of gaining and then losing something is much more painful than simply throwing it away.
"I...I must have misread it just now, can we skip this round?"
Valentina, clutching a vase, looked pitiful, trying to escape punishment by acting cute and charming.
Normally, it would be difficult for any man to resist such an offensive, but Ma Jieke was not buying it at all and responded forcefully: "No way, a loss is a loss. You understand? You said it yourself, whoever cheats is a dog. If you don't give it to me, I'll call you a dog from now on, as long as you're not afraid of losing face."
"Jack, you're awful! No girl will ever like you if you keep acting like this!"
She angrily shoved the small vase into his hand, pouting and sulking. What a hopeless case of a chauvinistic man! I'll draw a circle and curse you!
Seeing her angry expression, which was strangely cute, Ma Jie chuckled mischievously, "If you're not satisfied, we can continue. If you win, I'll give your things back; if you lose, how about a kiss?"
"Who wants to kiss you! You stink, you smell like garbage!"
"You're scared now, aren't you?"
Faced with Ma Jie's provocation, Valentina decided to go all out: "Who said I'm afraid? Let's bet! You were just lucky this time. I'm sure I'll guess right this time."
The process was the same as before. The white gentleman selected a miniature version of the Four-Sheep Square Zun, showing a particular fondness for bronze artifacts.
Needless to say, she was tricked again. It was impossible for her to guess correctly. Valentina's mentality completely collapsed, and she didn't want to stay in this heartbreaking place for another second.
"How does it feel, Luckygirl? How does it feel to be abandoned by Lady Luck?" Ma Jie caught up with her, a smug look on his face.
The silly girl looked so aggrieved that she couldn't help but shed two little golden tears from her eyes. She turned away angrily and said, "I'm so annoyed right now, don't bother me. What lucky day? It's clearly an unlucky day. I've never had a single lucky thing happen to me since I was a child."
"You still think it was just bad luck?" Ma Jie couldn't help but laugh. "Let me tell you, what you just saw was just a trick. You won the bet because of my communication with him. As for how he did it, I can't explain it to you in a few words. I'll send you a video explaining it later, and you'll understand after you watch it."
Upon hearing the explanation, Valentina realized she had been tricked and glared angrily at the nearby stall: "Isn't he a street swindler? I'm going back to expose him!"
"Come on, you don't even understand the principles, how are you going to expose him?" Ma Jie looked at her helplessly: "Besides, he explained the rules to you beforehand, and you accepted them. Who can you blame? Moreover, there are prizes to win even if you lose. Even if the police arrest him, the world won't stop being fooled just because there's one less conman."
"The reason I'm taking this gamble is to make you understand that easy money often hides traps and pitfalls. I don't care about scammers or those who get scammed, but I care about you. If I don't teach you a lesson now, you'll only suffer even greater losses in the future, understand?"
In the end, Valentina lowered her head in shame, finally understanding Majek's good intentions.
"Alright, alright, stop crying. If others see, they'll think I'm bullying you."
"You're bullying me, you bad guy, you big bad guy!"
After being punched a few times, Ma Jie handed her the small vase: "Here's the vase back. If you're interested in Chinese porcelain, I can take you to see the real thing later. American museums have plenty of these kinds of things."
"Hmph, that's more like it."
Having recovered what she had lost, she finally relaxed, her brow unfurrowing. Ma Jie, however, gripped the bottom of the bottle tightly, a playful smile on his face: "You still have a bet to keep, don't play dumb in front of me."
"Ugh!" Forced into a corner by him, Valentina had no choice but to quickly kiss him on the cheek when no one was looking, and her cheeks flushed considerably.
Seeing that it was getting late, some vendors in the market were already packing up, so the two of them quickly strolled out.
However, having spent over a thousand US dollars, Ma Jie felt he had overpaid. As he passed the stall, he entered high-frequency scanning mode, and lines of complex text information overlapped and appeared before his eyes.
Unfortunately, after looking around for a long time, I didn't see anything good. They were mostly fakes or very ordinary collectibles. Who the hell would bring real antiques to a street stall to sell?
"Hey bro, come check this out, it's all top-quality stuff. Wear this and you can hook up with all the hottest girls in Los Angeles."
As I was leaving the antique trading area and preparing to return to the parking lot, I heard a greeting typical of Black people. A Black man wearing a hoodie with a Superman logo was blocking my way and extending a warm invitation.
Ma Jie glanced at it; it was a stall specializing in collaborative clothing, which included jackets and T-shirts launched by various comic book and film IPs in collaboration with well-known clothing brands. They usually had eye-catching thematic features, such as the Marvel series, which featured individual characters or photos of Captain America, Hulk, Iron Man, Black Widow, and so on.
"Bro, didn't you see he has a hot girl with him?"
Valentina stood with her hands on her hips, deliberately mimicking the stall owner's tone of voice, looking a little jealous.
"Haha, sorry, beautiful lady." The black stall owner wasn't embarrassed at all. Instead, he spread his hands and extended an invitation again: "Come in and have a look. The market will close in less than an hour, so everything is on sale now."
"Not interested." Valentina looked at the dazzling array of clothes behind him. "Only kids like this. I haven't worn clothes with cartoon patterns since elementary school."
"Come on, Jack, before it gets dark, we can take a walk on the beach and I'll teach you some photography techniques while we're at it."
As he spoke, he took someone's arm and was about to leave, but Ma Jieke's gaze was now firmly drawn to a message.
Not far behind the Black vendor, there was an inconspicuous black jacket hanging.
The Star Wars limited edition jacket is inspired by the costumes worn by Luke Skywalker, Princess Leia, and Han Solo on Hoth in The Empire Strikes Back. It looks brand new with no signs of wear. Released in the fall of 2013, it was limited to 777 pieces worldwide. The secondhand price is estimated at $6500 to $7800.
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