"Sir?"

It was a passenger. I put away my phone, rather impatiently.

"Off duty."

The passenger scowled and walked away cursing, but I didn't care.

My mind was filled with the impulsive bet of 10,000 yuan I had just placed.

But when I thought about going home and giving the remaining 20,000 yuan to my wife to solve our current difficulties, I felt a bit better about losing the 10,000.

After all, it was money won from an initial 500 yuan, pure profit, nothing to regret.

When I got home, my wife was in the kitchen making my favorite braised pork. My daughter ran up to me, hugged me, and sweetly called me "Daddy."

I smiled, picked her up, and playfully placed the money wrapped in cardboard in front of my wife.

"Was it necessary to get so mad a few days ago? Apologize to me over a bit of money?"

My wife was furious, ready to slap me, but when she saw the bright red money under the yellow paper, she froze. Her first reaction wasn't joy or surprise, but suspicion.

"Where did this come from?"

I was caught off guard, so I quickly made up a reason.

"Secret savings, accumulated over the years."

My wife looked at me with disbelief, but still happily accepted the money.

"You managed to save this much? I checked under the sofa and the coffee table every day. Where did you hide it?"

"Anyway, this is thoughtful of you. It's been years since we replaced some household items. Now, we can do that, and also pay for our child's tuition. It's a big relief."

With money in hand, we felt more at ease, and we were able to joke with each other during dinner.

That night, unusually, we even felt in the mood.

But after my wife fell asleep, deep into the night, I couldn't sleep.

I kept thinking about that thrilling feeling of being on the edge of heaven and hell.

I knew this mindset was wrong, but I couldn't control my thoughts.

Many times, I sat up, holding my phone, staring at the gambling app's interface, struggling with whether to deposit more money or not.

My restless movements woke up my wife several times. Half-asleep, she asked me what I was doing and why I wasn't sleeping, which startled me into a cold sweat.

Terrified, my gambling thoughts subsided, and I decided to sleep.

That night, I dreamt of two huge dice rolling to sixes, a perfect pair!

An overnight fortune!

But when I woke up, it was all empty, a profound void filled me.

I didn't want to eat or drink, just stared blankly at one spot.

Yet, knowing the disastrous outcomes of gambling, I pulled myself together, went out two hours later than usual.