Tie Ci’s gaze fell upon that elderly man. Having lived long in the deep palace, she had long cultivated the habit of reading people, and could tell at a glance what kind of person was the main character.
Although that delicate young girl had a calm temperament, that cold woman in colorful robes had calluses all over her hands clearly indicating formidable external martial arts skills, and that Young Master Qi acted with familiar ease, it was very obvious that this elderly man was the true master of this place.
This person had an ordinary face with narrow eyes and a wide mouth, but his skin was extremely well-maintained with almost no wrinkles. Set against his white hair and silver beard, wearing a simple blue robe, he had quite an otherworldly air. However, when his casual eyes swept over someone, it made people involuntarily quiet down.
Tie Ci bowed to him from the shore, saying she had mistakenly wandered into the depths of the lotus flowers and disturbed the master.
Only then did the elderly man lift his head to glance at her, nodding with a smile, but he didn’t respond and lowered his head to focus on his tiles again.
Clearly a gambling addict of the highest order.
Tie Ci focused her vision and saw the tiles of that delicate young girl across from him—an extremely good hand that should have won long ago, yet she was still feeding tiles to the elderly man, not hesitating to break up her own good combinations.
But she also didn’t dare to lose carelessly, so she racked her brains scheming, unable to win yet needing to lose in an intricate, back-and-forth interesting manner.
After watching for a while, Tie Ci found it painful to the eyes.
At the mahjong table, that petite young girl suddenly smiled and said: “Huyin, isn’t your nephew arriving today? Since he’s just arrived, shouldn’t you go greet him? Aren’t you afraid of bad rumors spreading from your side, disrupting your family harmony?”
That cold woman in colorful robes didn’t even look at her, carefully deliberating for a long time before playing a tile, then said: “Rumors say… the one skilled… in brain medicine… has also arrived… nearby. You shouldn’t… hurry to find… him for your… brother…”
The petite woman’s expression changed slightly, and she suddenly began whistling. Her whistling made Young Master Qi’s face change repeatedly as he clenched his legs together. That woman in colorful robes remained unmoved, only looking down disdainfully at the petite woman.
Listening to that whistling sound dominated by hissing and water sounds, Tie Ci inexplicably felt the urge to urinate.
The petite young girl whistled for a while, but seeing that none of the three people moved, she couldn’t help but lower her eyes in disappointment and stop. Young Master Qi sneered coldly and said: “I haven’t eaten or drunk since yesterday!”
The woman in colorful robes: “Me neither.”
The petite woman sighed mournfully, clearly deeply agreeing but very regretful.
Tie Ci: “…”
Wait, although it was still early, these people on the boat, except for that elderly man, all looked mentally exhausted with dew on their collars, and the lanterns beside them still had remnant candles. Had they been battling all night with that old fellow without eating, drinking, or urinating?
They specifically didn’t eat or drink to avoid needing to urinate?
What kind of spirit was this?
Looking around at their tiles again, the elderly man had the worst luck and poorest technique, yet his winning chances were gradually increasing. Occasionally he would lose a round, but he definitely won much more.
These three weren’t competing in winning technique but in losing technique, weren’t they?
The elderly man suddenly looked up, glancing at Tie Ci as if just noticing her, and beckoned: “Since you’ve come, young friend, come play a round and let me see what your luck is like.”
He spoke these words quite ordinarily, but those three people all changed color simultaneously. The petite young girl frowned slightly, then smiled and said: “But sir, we’re not missing one player.”
The cold woman in colorful robes said: “Your rules… first come… first served… I won’t… yield.”
Her speech was very awkward—whether she couldn’t speak properly or was stuttering was unclear.
Young Master Qi shuffled tiles without looking up: “Then just stand aside and watch, but don’t butt in.”
The elderly man threw down his tiles and said: “If none of you will yield, then this old man will yield.”
Those three immediately all stood up together.
Tie Ci laughed: “Please don’t. I don’t know how to play mahjong at all—how could I compete with you all?”
The elderly man looked at her with an ambiguous smile: “Really won’t play?”
Tie Ci said decisively: “Really don’t know how to play!”
Both women looked at her with very strange expressions, probably thinking she was an idiot who entered a treasure mountain without knowing what to pick up.
The elderly man stared at Tie Ci for a moment, nodded and waved his hand, sat down to continue playing, and ignored her.
Both women seemed to breathe sighs of relief and sat down to continue being tormented.
With no one paying attention to Tie Ci, she didn’t mind and simply squatted down to watch ants with that young boy.
Only after squatting down did she realize that the one who looked like a young boy from her crouched position actually had childish features and was obviously still a child, just tall and sturdy for his age. His appearance bore some resemblance to that petite sweet young girl—they were probably siblings.
That child didn’t pay attention to her either, holding a tree branch in his hand and poking at the ants on his own. One ant was carrying a cake crumb with great difficulty. He waved his branch to help but knocked the cake crumb to the ground. He then tried to put the crumb back on the ant’s back, instead disturbing the ant’s path. That ant had clearly lost its food and fallen behind, circling around in confusion. The child became anxious too, crying out loud as he jumped up, constantly reaching to scratch his face and pull his hair. Tie Ci watched clumps of black hair fall onto her face.
The petite young girl in the pavilion suddenly stood up: “Wei’er!” She lifted her leg to get off the table.
As soon as she lifted her leg, the other two immediately looked up at her with joyful, eager expressions. This made the petite young girl freeze at the table’s edge. She looked at the game, then at the child outside, torn for a moment before directing her anger at Tie Ci, puffing her cheeks angrily: “I ask you to play and you won’t play, but you insist on provoking him to make me leave the table. This behavior is really disgusting!”
Tie Ci was scolded for no reason, but her attention was mainly on that child. Seeing him hysterically shouting at the ants, she vaguely recalled a condition her master had mentioned. She grabbed the child’s wildly flailing hands with one hand to prevent him from hurting himself further, while with her other hand she pulled out a small bottle of honey syrup from her bosom—this was honey that Feiyu had boiled down from raiding beehives. Tie Ci quickly poured the honey in a circle on the ground. Large numbers of ants immediately went toward the sweetness, and the ground gradually revealed a dark mass in the shape of a figure—round head, squinting eyes, actually bearing some resemblance to that child.
The child was immediately attracted and sat down with a thud, staring motionlessly again. The young girl on the boat had originally seen Tie Ci grab the child and could no longer care about the game table, rushing down urgently. Just as she rushed to Tie Ci’s side, she was stunned to see this scene.
Before she could react, the woman in colorful robes on the boat had already stretched her neck toward her and said: “You… left table… forfeited.”
The petite woman’s face turned ashen, but the elderly man knocked down his tiles and laughed: “I win!”
Young Master Qi said: “Sir’s skill is superb!”
The woman in colorful robes: “I lost. Convinced… completely convinced.”
Tie Ci: “…”
They couldn’t even properly flatter—each compliment more stilted than the last.
It was hard on the elderly man to listen with smiles, actually appearing quite pleased as he nodded, but then pointed at the petite young girl: “She’s one who values loyalty and righteousness. Come accompany this old man again tomorrow.”
The petite young girl was overjoyed, her small face glowing.
The woman in colorful robes instantly had an ice-cold expression.
Young Master Qi looked surprised with hidden envy.
The elderly man continued: “By the rules, since you’ve left the table, you cannot return to the table today. So you come then.”
This latter “you” was directed at Tie Ci, and those two people’s expressions changed simultaneously again.
Tie Ci had already had her appetite whetted by these people’s mysterious mahjong game. She glanced at the elderly man, suddenly rolled up her sleeves and said: “Then I’ll accompany the old gentleman for a few more rounds.”
While quietly saying to the petite young girl who had walked to her side: “What exactly are you all gambling for? Why are you so unwilling to leave the table no matter what?”
Author’s Note: Actually adding up it’s still the same word count, not really more updates, because I really can’t write more than ten thousand words a day now—I’m using up my saved drafts.
The recent changes in update methods are to test the lottery activity effects, and also because I heard this is better for reading data—I don’t really understand, just following friends’ suggestions. Some readers might find it inconvenient or hard to adapt to, but it’s just for a few days. If you really don’t like it later, I’ll still mainly focus on fat chapters.
Routine request for monthly tickets—I’ve been updating ten thousand words for over half a month now, doesn’t that deserve encouragement?