Chapter 484: Teaching Her to Play Cards

Once everyone knew Ivy Sherwood was pregnant, how could they possibly let her drink?

Instead, they all swarmed Quentin Blackwood, declaring they had to get him drunk today no matter what.

But Quentin was very obedient. He didn’t dare drink much at all. He nursed half a glass of wine for what felt like an eternity, and it was still half-full.

"Quentin, are you raising fish in there?" Ethan Forrest couldn’t stand it anymore. "We agreed we weren’t going home sober tonight."

"I can’t drink much." Quentin’s gaze shifted to Ivy, his eyes practically glued to her.

How could Ivy possibly spoil the fun on an occasion like this?

She said, "I’m not stopping you. Go ahead and drink."

Julian Grant immediately called someone over to bring a pot of chrysanthemum tea and placed it pointedly in front of Quentin. "This is for Quentin. Specially for the elderly. Want me to add some goji berries?"

Despite Julian’s sarcasm, Quentin nodded. "Sure."

Then, with a wave of his hand, he had someone come over and clear away all the alcohol, replacing it all with various herbal teas.

Julian said, "Dude, this is a private club, not a teahouse."

"You’re making us look like a bunch of old men," Ethan Forrest chimed in.

"So, are you drinking it or not?" Quentin just looked at them coolly.

"We’re drinking..."

How could they refuse?

Graham Sherwood said, "Actually, drinking tea isn’t bad. It’s very healthy. You’re all so restless, you could use something to cool you down."

And so, a group of grown men all picked up their teacups and started drinking tea. The scene was utterly ridiculous.

This wasn’t Ivy’s intention at all. She said, "Drinking in moderation is fine."

Julian said, "It’s fine, Ivy. We drink every day, we’re sick of it anyway. A little tea is a nice change."

Even if it was just tea, they could still find ways to have fun.

The club had plenty of games. Julian had someone bring them over and asked Quentin what he wanted to play.

"How about we play cards?" Quentin looked at the others.

Speaking of cards, Ivy couldn’t help but feel that Quentin was doing this on purpose.

’Is he planning to settle the score from that time I played cards with Elijah Hawthorne?’

Ivy shook her head. "I don’t know how."

"You don’t? I thought you were a gambling goddess, Ivy. Wasn’t Elijah Hawthorne your defeated foe?"

Ivy: "..."

Talk about hitting a nerve.

Julian was also surprised. "You even beat Elijah Hawthorne? He’s a true cardsharp! You’ll have to go easy on us, then."

Then Julian looked at Quentin. "No, no way. If you two are both that good, only one of you can play. Otherwise, you’ll take all our money."

Ivy said, "I really don’t know how to play."

She wasn’t lying. The game with Elijah had been pure luck, plus he had gone easy on her.

"Ivy is just being modest. How about this? We’ll play a couple of rounds just to test the waters?"

Ivy could only bite the bullet. "Okay."

Lady Luck had never been on Ivy’s side, and today was no different. Her hands were terrible, and her playing was average at best. She quickly lost a good number of chips.

Now Julian was truly convinced that Ivy really didn’t know how to play.

"Ivy, if you’re going to go this easy on us, we won’t be polite anymore," Ethan Forrest said with a brilliant smile, having won quite a bit from her.

Ivy was a little embarrassed. She truly was a bad player.

"Again," Quentin said, starting to get serious.

"Alright." Ethan dealt the cards himself, and soon everyone had a hand.

Then Ethan discovered that Quentin seemed to be targeting him specifically, blocking his every move so he couldn’t play any of his cards.

"Boss, are you doing this on purpose?" Ethan looked at him pitifully. ’Is he getting revenge on me?’

Quentin said, "You’re overthinking it."

He was indeed overthinking it, because Quentin treated everyone equally. Whether it was Julian Grant, Graham Sherwood, or Landon Jacobs, as soon as they played a card, Quentin would block them, and then he would go easy on Ivy.

But as luck would have it, Quentin’s hands were always amazing. He kept getting high cards, ultimately letting Ivy win against all of them by herself.

Ivy, who had just about lost everything, soon had a pile of chips in front of her again.

’This feeling of being spoiled by someone is just so satisfying!’

"No way, no way!" The others started to protest.

"Quentin, you’re going too far! How can you do this to us!"

"Do what to you? Aren’t you just less skilled?" Quentin said coolly, seeing nothing wrong with his actions.

He and Ivy were a family, so of course he would help her.

"You’re going to lose all your friends this way! If you keep this up, we’re not playing with you anymore! No, no, you can’t play. Only one from your family can play. Let Ivy play with us!" Julian wouldn’t stand for it either.

Then Quentin pushed his huge pile of chips in front of Ivy. "Win them back for me."

Ivy waved her hands. "I’ll definitely lose! You should play!"

She knew she couldn’t do it. She was well aware of her own abilities.

"It’s fine. If you lose, you lose. Just think of it as giving them red envelopes," Quentin said generously.

The chips on the table represented a substantial amount of money, equivalent to tens of millions.

But for Quentin, even if she lost hundreds of millions, as long as Ivy was the one losing it, he’d be happy.

"Exactly, Ivy! Your husband makes so much money, what’s wrong with losing a little to us?" Julian said.

’Husband?’ Ivy’s face flushed red.

Quentin was very pleased. ’If Julian knows how to talk, he should talk more. I love to hear it.’

Just for those few words, even if Julian won all the chips, Quentin would throw in two major projects for him as a bonus.

"Then don’t blame me if I lose," Ivy said, looking up at Quentin.

Quentin certainly had no objections. He said, "You play, and I’ll cover the losses. They couldn’t win it all even if they played for a month."

"So what if you’re rich? You’re infuriating," Julian said, finding it outrageous. But he really couldn’t compete with Quentin.

A smile played on Quentin’s lips as he watched Ivy play from the side. Her luck really wasn’t good, and since everyone else knew how to play, Ivy did indeed keep losing at the beginning.

The guys across the table felt almost bad for winning so much, but they didn’t show any mercy. After all, it was Quentin’s money—it would be a waste not to win it.

Ivy had lost so much she was starting to feel numb. She didn’t want to "pay tuition" anymore, because the chips Quentin had given her were almost gone. She didn’t know how she was going to face him.

She looked at him with a pitiful gaze. "Are there any tricks? Can you teach me?"

Quentin leaned close to Ivy’s ear. "Studying with me requires a tuition fee."

"Then forget it." ’As if I don’t know what Quentin’s "tuition fee" would be. He’d definitely make me do something indecent.’

Quentin said, "Beating them is simple. You need to learn how to count cards, for one. There’s also the psychology of it. You should have noticed that their hands are almost never that strong, but you’re still afraid of them. That’s because you don’t have a gambler’s mindset. For now, stop worrying about what they’re holding. Just call their bets. Push in more chips. It’ll make them think you have a strong hand, and they’ll think twice before making a move."