"All in!"

Shff.

One man takes out every chip he is holding and sets them on the table.

A private room of some thirty square metres.

No clock and no window.

Walls in a deep blue and a few pictures hung on them, and that is all.

Under a low light hung from the ceiling, one woman dealer and six men are sunk in a card game.

The game is Texas hold'em.

They sit round the dealer, and chips are heaped high in the middle of the round table in front of them.

One middle-aged man among them checked the last card and, when his turn came, called all in.

A game that has run a full ten hours.

Tiredness stands plain on every face.

Skin greasy and shining, hair gone limp, and worn-out bodies steeped in the air of a dim room.

Anybody would see the look of ruined men.

And the eyes alone burned bright.

The casino's official highest chip is the million-won one.

But this is the VIP room.

Unofficially, gold chips of ten million won are used here as well.

Rattlllle.

Some seventy chips the man pushed out toppled over in the middle of the round table.

Seven hundred million won in cash!

He shook out every last thing he had left and went all in.

"Call!"

Another man called.

The last hand caught fire.

Rattle.

Another seven hundred million went on.

With the two men's all-ins added to what was already laid down, the pot came to two billion in one stroke.

This hand is mine!

The man looked at the chips piled in the middle of the table, not hiding the burn in his eyes.

His name is Yang Susan.

He is the chief carrying on the family business, Pacific Fisheries.

Pacific Fisheries was once a big player with the east coast fishing trade in its grip.

His father Yang Hochung handled great money on pollack and squid and sand lance.

In those days Pacific Fisheries took charge of better than twenty per cent of the east coast catch delivered into the wholesale markets…