Feicui, who was sitting beside Old Madam Guo helping her watch her cards, saw Zhou Shaojin play the Three of Coins and quickly called out “Claim it!” before Old Madam Guo could make any move.

Old Madam Guo glanced at her own cards and immediately smiled as she threw out a pair of Three of Coins and discarded a Two of Coins.

Nanny Lü glanced at Zhou Shaojin.

Zhou Shaojin was staring intently at the cards in her hand, forming sequences one by one. How could she pay attention to the cards on the table or what others had played?

Nanny Lü smiled faintly, claimed the Two of Coins, thought for a moment, and played a Four of Bamboo.

Zhou Shaojin sat to Nanny Lü’s right.

Cheng Chi called out “Claim the card.”

Zhou Shaojin held one Two of Bamboo, one Three of Bamboo, one Four of Bamboo, one Five of Bamboo, one Six of Bamboo, and one Seven of Bamboo. If she got another Two of Bamboo, Five of Bamboo, or Eight of Bamboo, she could win. In other words, she was already waiting to win.

She glanced at Cheng Chi.

Cheng Chi’s face showed no expression.

She quickly asked in a low voice, “Which one should I play?”

Zhou Shaojin didn’t dare ask which card to claim, fearing the other three players would catch on.

Cheng Chi said, “Play the Seven of Bamboo.”

Not Two of Bamboo, Five of Bamboo, or Eight of Bamboo, but just Five of Bamboo alone?

Zhou Shaojin felt the chances of completing her hand this way were too slim.

But with Cheng Chi telling her to play the Seven of Bamboo in front of so many people, how could she make him lose face?

Zhou Shaojin played the Seven of Bamboo.

Biyu, to her right, looked at the cards on the table, then at the cards in her hand, pondered for quite a while, and also played a Seven of Bamboo.

Old Madam Guo’s expression was no longer as relaxed as before.

The old lady thought for a moment and very carefully also played a Seven of Bamboo.

Without thinking, Nanny Lü played another Four of Bamboo.

Old Madam Guo frowned and said, “Why are you breaking up pairs to play?”

Nanny Lü said aggrieved, “I’ll show you my cards in a moment! The cards I wanted to claim as triplets just wouldn’t come out. Who knew that as soon as I broke them up, Second Young Cousin Miss would play them.”

Old Madam Guo said nothing.

Zhou Shaojin drew a card.

It was actually a Five of Bamboo.

She was dumbfounded, looking at Cheng Chi, then at Old Madam Guo.

Old Madam Guo asked sensitively, “What’s wrong?”

“I… I won by self-draw!” Zhou Shaojin stammered as she laid her cards on the table.

“She could actually draw that!” Biyu pulled out the sequence with Five of Bamboo from her hand. “I thought something was off when Fourth Master told Second Young Cousin Miss to play the Seven of Bamboo. I broke up a sequence to follow suit, but didn’t expect Second Young Cousin Miss to actually draw it.”

Zhou Shaojin was even more confused.

According to what everyone said, she had drawn the only Five of Bamboo.

How did Cheng Chi know she would definitely win after claiming Nanny Lü’s card?

She glanced sideways at Cheng Chi.

Cheng Chi’s face showed complete lack of interest.

Zhou Shaojin lowered her head to shuffle the cards.

Biyu covered her mouth and laughed, reminding her, “Second Young Cousin Miss, it’s Nanny Lü’s deal.”

Zhou Shaojin felt embarrassed.

Nanny Lü teased her with a smile, “Second Young Cousin Miss, this won’t do! You’ve already lost four consecutive rounds and now you want to steal my deal.”

Old Madam Guo and the others laughed heartily.

Zhou Shaojin’s face turned red.

After starting fresh, Cheng Chi continued standing beside her, guiding her play.

Inexplicably, she won six consecutive dealer rounds. On the seventh round, she actually assembled a large hand of all pairs.

Old Madam Guo couldn’t help herself and said reproachfully, “Fourth Son, if you have nothing to do, why don’t you join us in playing!”

Zhou Shaojin’s face burned like fire. She quickly stood up and said, “Fourth Uncle Chi, let me play for you!”

Biyu also cleverly stood up and said, “Fourth Master, this servant doesn’t play cards well. Old Madam has scolded me several times. If there wasn’t a shortage of players, Old Madam would have already driven me from the table. Please take my seat! Otherwise, when I lose money, Old Madam will complain I’m losing too slowly.”

Everyone laughed again.

But Cheng Chi pulled out his pocket watch to check the time and said, “I have matters to attend to later. I’m just wandering around here. Don’t mind me.”

Since he said this, everyone couldn’t very well force him. They sat down again to play.

Only this time he said nothing more, just sat leisurely to the side watching.

Zhou Shaojin’s mood became unprecedentedly tense.

She was terrified of playing the wrong card and making Cheng Chi think her foolish and clumsy.

This made her playing extremely hesitant—she felt playing this card was wrong, but playing another seemed wrong too… In her fluster, she lost twelve consecutive rounds. Fortunately, Old Madam Guo and the others didn’t assemble any large hands, so she only slowly lost the money she had won earlier. By dinner time, she had broken even.

Zhou Shaojin couldn’t help but breathe a long sigh of relief.

But Cheng Chi said to her in a low voice, “After dinner, come to my cabin.”

Zhou Shaojin didn’t know what it was about. Looking at Old Madam Guo’s back ahead of them, she didn’t dare speak and just nodded slightly.

After dinner, she accompanied Old Madam Guo for tea. She finally found an opportunity to take her leave somewhat earlier than usual.

Old Madam Guo was also tired and didn’t keep her, instructing Biyu to see her out.

Zhou Shaojin turned a corner and went to Cheng Chi’s cabin.

Cheng Chi was sitting behind the large desk in the cabin study, fiddling with something.

Qingfeng and Langyue were attending—one tending to the lamps and candles in the cabin, one kneeling on a bamboo mat beside, attending to the boiling water on the small red clay stove, preparing to make tea.

Zhou Shaojin stepped forward with light yet steady steps and respectfully curtsied to Cheng Chi.

Cheng Chi beckoned to her.

Zhou Shaojin approached and only then discovered the large desk held a set of leaf cards.

She was quite surprised.

But Cheng Chi asked her, “Do you know how many cards are in a set of leaf cards?”

Zhou Shaojin shook her head.

Cheng Chi said, “Count them yourself.”

Zhou Shaojin was silent for a moment, then said, “One hundred and eight cards.”

“Correct.” Cheng Chi smiled faintly and said, “Then do you know how many suits there are in total? And how many cards in each suit?”

“I know.” Zhou Shaojin answered while thinking, “There are four suits in total—Coins, Bamboo, Myriads, and Circles. Each suit has cards from one to nine, with four of each.”

She answered in even more detail than Cheng Chi had asked.

Cheng Chi showed a satisfied expression. Fiddling with the cards in his hand, he said, “Look, every type of card has a fixed number. If you have these cards in your hand, then only these cards remain. If others have played these cards, then only these cards are left. From this you can deduce roughly what cards others hold in their hands, how many cards remain, and which cards you have a higher probability of waiting for when playing…” As he spoke, from the corner of his eye he inadvertently caught sight of Zhou Shaojin’s exquisitely flawless face with a slightly bewildered look in her eyes. He couldn’t help but pause slightly in his tone, sighed softly, and said, “I think we should forget it—this is too complex for you. You only need to remember which cards you have in your hand, how many cards have been played, and what cards others have played. Then you can roughly know which suits have more cards outside, and you can wait for those cards. Do you understand what I’m saying?”

Zhou Shaojin nodded repeatedly and said, “I understand. I need to calculate my own cards and also calculate others’ cards. That way I’ll know how to play and break up my cards.”

Cheng Chi secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

He had really feared she wouldn’t understand and he’d have to explain everything from the beginning.

“Good. Let’s practice then.” Cheng Chi arranged the cards, his slender fingers nimble and quick. The cards flipped back and forth between his fingers as if they had come alive. “These two stacks of cards are mine, these two stacks are yours… You play first.”

Zhou Shaojin stared carefully at the cards in her hand for quite a while, then played a Nine of Bamboo that neither connected with anything before nor after, then picked up another stack, looked at it for a long time, and played a Six of Bamboo.

Cheng Chi said, “Very good! Don’t rush. Although playing cards is a four-person affair, if you accommodate others too much, you’ll get anxious. Once anxious, you’ll easily play wrong cards.” He then played a Six of Bamboo from each of his two stacks. “At this point you need to pay attention to what cards everyone has played. So tell me, how many Nine of Bamboo and Six of Bamboo remain in total?”

Zhou Shaojin said without thinking, “One Six of Bamboo remains, and three Nine of Bamboo.”

“So at this point you must consider—with only one Six of Bamboo, it’s very difficult to form a sequence of Six-Seven-Eight of Bamboo, and also difficult to form a Four-Five-Six sequence. If you have one Seven of Bamboo and one Eight of Bamboo in your hand, and also happen to have one Four of Coins and one Five of Coins, then you must consider breaking up the Seven and Eight of Bamboo, because there’s only one Six of Bamboo left…” Cheng Chi patiently and carefully practiced with her.

Zhou Shaojin gradually became absorbed in it.

Cheng Chi stopped speaking and had Langyue bring an armchair for Zhou Shaojin.

Zhou Shaojin followed Cheng Chi’s instructions, manipulating those leaf cards herself.

The water gurgled and bubbled.

Cheng Chi knelt on the orchid mat, leisurely drinking tea.

From the county town where they were moored for the night came the faint sound of night watchmen calling “Beware of fire and candles.”

Cheng Chi set down his tea cup and smiled, “All right, that’s enough for today. If my mother invites you to play cards again tomorrow, just slowly explore according to what I’ve taught you. There are no fixed rules for this sort of thing—you still have to learn through practice.”

Only then did Zhou Shaojin realize it was already midnight. She hastily stood up, “Fourth Uncle Chi, I didn’t realize it was so late…”

When she left, she had only told Chun Wan. She didn’t know if Chun Wan had been searching everywhere for her.

If Old Madam Guo found out and suspected she and Cheng Chi were conspiring to trick the old lady, that would be troublesome.

“It’s fine.” Cheng Chi’s smile was warm. “There’s nothing much to do on the boat anyway.”

But Zhou Shaojin was still very grateful.

She gave Cheng Chi a proper salute before returning to her own cabin.

Chun Wan and the others were frantically worried. Seeing her was like seeing a lifesaving plank—they all surrounded her.

“Second Young Miss, why are you only returning now?”

“Second Young Miss, you’ve worried me to death. We didn’t dare go looking for you, but were afraid others would come looking for you… My heart is still pounding!”

“Second Young Miss, are you all right? What did Fourth Master call you for? He didn’t scold you, did he?”

Various questions came all at once, leaving Zhou Shaojin momentarily unsure who to answer. She could only say, “I’m fine. Fourth Master called me to play a few games of chess, so I’m a bit late.”

Everyone finally calmed down with relief. Some went to fetch water to help Zhou Shaojin wash up, some helped get her change of clothes, and others began making the bed and burning incense… Even after Zhou Shaojin lay down in bed, her mind was still spinning with all varieties of leaf cards.