Harano strolled back to his own tent, Ah Man trailing behind him, head hanging in defeat.
She was the dealer at the gambling game, won a little in the beginning, but tried to go all in at the crucial moment. She failed to roll a pair of eights, couldn't get the "Mountain Whale Carrying the Iron Cannon" (Tiger's Head + Stool), and was forced to pay out all the players. She lost everything.
She was very upset about this, feeling that life had lost all meaning.
Harano glanced at her, but didn't know what to do with her. The two of them were more like friends now; even if she was incorrigible, a hopelessly wild child, he couldn't spank her or jab her forehead and scold her. All he could do was make plans slowly—he decided to go back and tattle to A Qing, and step up monitoring her cash flow again.
Then, he'd have to take some time, find an opportunity, think up a method, and see if he could finally cure her of this rotten gambling habit.
