The bedroom of Apartment 1105 was hazy with smoke, the stove burning fiercely.

Four men sat around a square gambling table. Saul Archer and Clark Summers were seated opposite each other, flanked by two other men.

Saul Archer irritably slammed down the dice cup in his hand and said to Clark Summers, "Not bad, kid. Your luck is really something today!"

With that, he pulled an IOU from a drawer. Signed at the bottom was Cameron Summers’s name.

Saul Archer tossed the IOU to Clark Summers opposite him and snorted. "There. You’ve won back the two hundred pounds of rice, ten cases of ham sausage, and five hundred pounds of coal. We’re even now! Here’s the IOU. Take it, grab your dad, and go home."

Despite losing so many supplies, Saul Archer didn’t look the least bit annoyed. He was even in the mood to tease the man next to him, saying to the bald man, "Sheffield, your luck’s run out today, hasn’t it? You’re already down a hundred pounds of coal."

The bald man, Sheffield, had a grim expression. He seemed numb from his losses. Despite the low temperature in the room, his forehead was beaded with sweat.

Sheffield wiped the sweat from his brow and forced a smile at Saul Archer. "Just not my day. I can’t play anymore. I’m heading out."

"I’ll have that hundred pounds of coal brought over later. Don’t worry, I won’t skip out on my debt. You know I live in 1704."

Saul Archer chuckled. "Come on, Sheffield, of course we trust you. We know you’re good for it. See yourself out."

After Sheffield left, Saul Archer turned back to Clark Summers, his voice laced with impatience. "Why are you still here, kid? Didn’t I give you the IOU? What are you still sitting here for?"

Clark Summers tore the IOU in his hands to shreds. He looked at Saul Archer and said slowly, "When did I say I was leaving? We’re not done. Let’s keep gambling!"

Hearing this, Saul Archer and Jay Lowell exchanged a look and let out a derisive laugh.

Saul Archer leaned back in his chair, looking Clark Summers up and down with contempt. "Kiddo, we’re all square. I don’t owe you anything. What are you going to bet with? You got any stakes? Money? Supplies? What’ve you got?"

Clark Summers gritted his teeth. "I can write you an IOU! I’ll borrow ten pounds of rice from you to start! Let’s keep going!"

Saul Archer couldn’t help but laugh again. He watched Clark Summers with a thoughtful expression and said in a low voice, "Kid, you’re still wet behind the ears, and you’re already trying to borrow money to gamble? Don’t you know when to quit while you’re ahead?"

Clark was just a kid; you couldn’t squeeze much out of him. Saul Archer couldn’t be bothered to play with him, which was why he offered a few words of well-intentioned advice.

But Clark wasn’t listening to a word of it.

After one win after another, Clark felt his luck had finally turned. ’I’ve been blessed by Lady Luck herself,’ he thought. ’How could I possibly stop now?’

His eyes held a fanatical gleam as he stubbornly told Saul Archer, "I’m sixteen years old! I can write an IOU! I have to keep playing. If you don’t let me, it just means you’re scared to lose!"

Hearing this, the smile on Saul Archer’s face slowly vanished.

Since Clark didn’t know what was good for him, there was no need for Saul to say anything more.

He nodded at Clark. "Fine. As you wish!"

Once Clark signed the IOU, the three of them started gambling again.

It seemed Clark truly had been blessed by Lady Luck. For the next half hour, he played like a man possessed, winning fifty pounds of rice and fifty pounds of coal.

"I won again! Let’s go! Double the stakes on the next one!" A wide grin stretched across Clark’s face, his expression taking on a frenzied edge.

’At this rate, I’ll win back that hundred pounds of rice and hundred pounds of coal in no time!’ 𝙛𝒓𝓮𝙚𝔀𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝒐𝒎

’I’ve got it all planned out,’ Clark thought. ’Just another hundred pounds of rice and another hundred pounds of coal. Once I win that, I’ll stop. I absolutely can’t get greedy!’

’With these supplies, my family and I can get through this blizzard safely...’

...

An hour later, the game in the bedroom of Apartment 1105 was still going on.

Jay Lowell stood up and added a few lumps of coal to the stove. The flames roared to life with a loud CRACKLE, like a wild celebration.

At the square gambling table, Clark’s hands trembled as he wrote out a new IOU.

He then slammed the IOU down in front of Saul Archer. His eyes were bloodshot as he roared in a hoarse voice, "There’s your IOU! One more round!"

Saul Archer held the newly signed IOU. He glanced at the writing, snorted, and said, "One more round? What ’one more round’? You now owe us two thousand pounds of rice and five thousand pounds of coal. How are you going to pay that back?"

Clark irritably ran a hand through his messy hair. He glared at Saul with bloodshot eyes and shot back, "One more round, double the stakes! I know I can win it all back!"

Saul Archer sneered, folded the IOU, and said to Clark, "Why don’t you worry about paying back the two thousand pounds of rice and five thousand pounds of coal first!"

Seeing that Saul wouldn’t play anymore, Clark grew frantic and blurted out, "You don’t dare to play me? Are you scared to lose?!"

At that, Saul Archer’s face darkened completely.

’This kid is just asking for a beating!’

Without another word, he shot up from his chair, strode over to Clark, and sent a vicious kick into his chest, knocking him clean out of his seat!

Caught completely off guard, Clark hit the floor with a startled "Ah!"

Saul Archer loomed over him. SLAP! SLAP! Two hard slaps cracked across Clark’s face. "You little shit," Saul snarled, his face a dark mask. "Dare to say I’m scared to lose? You got a death wish?!"

Saul’s slaps seemed to knock the sense back into Clark, his mind slowly clearing from the gambling-induced haze.

As clarity returned, it felt like a bucket of ice water had been dumped over his head in a frozen wasteland, chilling him to the core. Only then did he realize what he had done—he was now in debt for two thousand pounds of rice and five thousand pounds of coal.

His mind went completely blank.

’How did this happen! What have I done?!’

’I couldn’t pay this back even if they sold me!’

Just then, Jay Lowell walked over. He frowned at Clark’s stunned expression.

Jay Lowell grabbed Clark by the collar with one hand and slapped his cheek with the other. "Don’t play dead, you little bastard," he sneered. "Have you figured it out yet? How are you going to repay us?"

Despair flooded Clark’s heart. He shook his head instinctively and stammered, "I... I don’t have that much..."

’There was truly no way he could pay it all back.’

At his words, a dangerous glint flashed in Jay Lowell’s eyes.

He tightened his grip on Clark’s collar. "You dare say you don’t have it?" he said in a low, threatening voice. "Are you looking for a way to die?!"

Sensing the raw killing intent in Jay’s eyes, Clark immediately started begging for his life. "I have it! I have it! Don’t kill me! My... my relatives have supplies!"

In a frantic panic, he gave Jay a torrent of assurances. "My grandma’s place has lots of supplies! I’m her favorite grandson! She’ll definitely give them to me! I’ll go get them right now!"

Hearing this, Jay Lowell released his collar. He frowned and said, "You have two days to bring everything over. Or else... you know what’ll happen!"

Staring at Jay’s grim face, Clark felt a chill run through his entire body. He wanted to cry, but no tears would come.