"You're not welcome here, Mr. Wu!" the man said seriously while slowly stepping in their way.
"I know, Jose." Mr. Wu gestured at Sun Mei and Yu Zan. "I was just showing the girls around. But it's nice to see that you remember me," he added with a smile.
"How can I forget you? You cost me 280,000 dollars. I almost lost my job!"
"What?"
"How much?"
Sun Mei and Yu Zan stared at the man in shock.
"Mr. Wu here visited our casino a few years ago and robbed us!"
Sun Mei gasped and looked at Mr. Wu in horror. "Literally?"
"Of course not literally!" Mr. Wu protested. "You might as well tell the whole story, Jose. Don't misinform people by withholding information!"
"He was a cheater," Jose told the girls bluntly.
"How is that not misinformation?" Mr. Wu exclaimed. "I never cheated. I just had an extra… advantage. I did not count cards or anything."
"You did not need to, Mr. Wu. Your brain counted them for you."
"I'm kind of lost…" Yu Zan muttered.
Sun Mei hesitated. "If I've put all the pieces of the story together correctly, I think Jose is trying to say that Mr. Wu has an extraordinarily good memory."
"Exactly!" said Mr. Wu. "Thank you, Sun Mei."
"Wait, you can memorize anything?" Yu Zan asked. "Why did you let them find out, Mr. Wu? You could have tried winning less money a little less frequently. I can't believe you didn't think of it… You might have a good memory, but you also need to use the rest of your brain."
"I was young and I wanted to show off to Jenny," Mr. Wu told Yu Zan with a shrug. Then, as if he had suddenly realized something, he turned to Sun Mei and asked, "Did she just indirectly call me stupid? Why did I invite this girl along?"
"Because it's my birthday and she's my only friend?" Sun Mei told him while batting her eyelids innocently.
"Also because I'm way cooler than both of you and I'll make this trip more fun," Yu Zan said smugly.
"Excuse me for interrupting your conversation," said Jose irritably. "But Mr. Wu has to leave."
"This one has to leave too." Sun Mei pointed at Yu Zan. "She's underage. You can't let her gamble."
"You backstabbing traitor!" Yu Zan glared at her.
"Actually, she can hang around. As long as she doesn't gamble herself, she's allowed to keep you company. Mr. Wu, follow me."
"But why can't Mr. Wu hang around too?" Sun Mei asked Jose.
"I don't trust him. He might give you some kind of secret sign to help you win. For all I know, you have talked about this beforehand."
"No, we have not. Mr. Wu would never do that!"
Sun Mei was about to beg Jose some more, when Mr. Wu's phone suddenly rang.
"Hello? Yes, thank you. I'll be right there!"
As soon as he hung up, Mr. Wu turned to the girls and said, "There's no need to put pressure on Jose. Lily just woke up. I'm heading over there, but you can stay and gamble as much as you like. We'll catch up with you later."
Although Sun Mei was a little sad to see him go, Yu Zan seemed unfazed. "Bye, Mr. Wu. Now let's go play, little traitor!"