The Big Landlord - Chapter 99.2 – Portrait

Chapter 99.2 – Portrait

Jiang Sheng rarely appeared in front of people, so not many people knew him. Thus, he was the best person to go to Tian Long Gambling House.

“The matter of the small garden can be temporarily set aside, but the card game must be figured out as soon as possible.” Luo Yang said uneasily.

Jiang Sheng took the gold card. The corner of his mouth twitched. “Rest assured. I’m not like the useless men under your command. The master told me yesterday that I must figure out the secret of Tian Long Gambling House, and he takes this matter very seriously.”

Luo Yang’s eyelids jumped.

The master went over him, and furthermore, only told Jiang Sheng this?

Jiang Sheng ignored the complications in Luo Yang’s heart and left the gambling house after speaking.

At the same time, on the first day of opening, the handsome man who accidentally barged into the small garden also brought his guard, Da Hei, to Tian Long Gambling House. These days, he had Da Hei keeping an eye out on Tian Long Gambling House. He learned about the membership program two days ago, but didn’t have an opportunity to go out until today.

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“Gong zi, do you really want to buy a gold card for five hundred silvers?”

Da Hei felt pain whenever he thought about this amount of money. Although he knew that the gong zi did not lack silver, he was short of money. He would rather hide it in his pocket than waste it on gambling.

“We’re already here. This time, no matter what I must satisfy myself.” The handsome man closed his fan and went in.

Da Hei quickly followed.

Following instructions, the two arrived at the counter.

There was a middle-aged person at the counter. When he saw them coming over, he immediately stood up with a pleasant smile on his face and said very politely, “Is there something these two customers need help with?”

The handsome man said, “This gong zi wants to get a gold card.”

The middle-aged person’s eyes lit up. Everyone who applied for a gold card was considered the casino’s financial backer. They either had money or power. None of them could be slighted. “Please wait a moment, gong zi. Gold card applications are on the second floor. This little one will immediately have someone bring you up there.” After he finished speaking, he immediately called over another servant.

The servant smiled at the two and said, “Gong zi, please follow this little one.”

The handsome man’s eyes brightened. On the first day, because there were too many people, he didn’t notice, but all the people working at Tian Long Gambling House were all smiles, but they were not exaggerated smiles and they were very polite. More and more, he felt that the person behind the casino was unfathomable, and the means of operating the casino were absolutely first-rate.

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The gold card was different from the silver card. The gold card had a portrait on it, so it was necessary to draw the image of the cardholder first. This drawing was then passed along, and the card would be completed the next day.

Due to his identity, it was inconvenient for the handsome man to have his image painted, so he asked the artist at the casino to draw Da Hei’s face. The cardholder could only take a maximum of two people with them into the small garden. Thus, as long as he always brought Da Hei along, then it would not be a problem.

The speed of the young artist was very fast. The two waited for only a quarter of an hour before Da Hei’s face was drawn.

The handsome man glanced at it. That artist’s skill was very high. It looked almost the same as the real person. There was no need to worry about the portrait not being recognizable.

Then, the handsome man put down a deposit of two hundred and fifty silvers. After paying, he suddenly thought of a question and asked, “If I suddenly regret it and don’t want the gold card, can I still get my money back?”

Translations by Vanilla Muse.

The young artist looked at him, unsurprised. Obviously, this was not the first time someone had asked him this question. He replied, “Responding to gong zi, if you regret it now, you can only get back two hundred silvers.”

“Why only two hundred silvers?” The handsome man asked.

The young artist pointed at himself. “Gong zi, what do you think of this little one’s painting?”

The handsome man looked again. “Skills are superb. Brushwork is very expressive. I* have seen a lot of portrait painters. You* are among the top five.”

[*T/N: He uses 在下 to refer to himself here, which is a humble way of saying “I,” and he uses 阁下 to refer to the painter, which is an honorific way of saying “you,” and can also be translated as “your distinguished self,” “sire,” or even “your majesty.”]

The young artist started to laugh. “One of my* portraits costs fifty silvers.”

[*T/N: The painter also uses the humble pronoun 在下]

His smile was full of confidence.

The handsome man wanted to say that it was quite expensive, but when he thought of what he had said just now, wouldn’t that be like hitting himself in the face if he said it out loud. Suddenly he laughed. That trick was very well played. He wholeheartedly accepted defeat. But the more it was like this, the more interested he became in the person who operated behind the scenes of Tian Long Gambling House.

After the two left, the young artist gave the dozens of portraits drawn today to a servant and had him deliver the paintings.

There were so many portraits, but the young artist was not exhausted. A few days ago, he would never have thought that his portraits could sell for fifty silvers.

All his success today was thanks to that person.