Author: 长洱 / Chang’er
Translator: Kinky || https://kinkytranslations.com/
Chapter 306
During the meal, the atmosphere was turbulent…
Well, perhaps that adjective wasn’t quite right. Specifically, it was more like Su Fengzi unilaterally overwhelming everyone, making everything revolve around his joy.
If this meal gathering were turned into a game scene, it would be like the pea-size Wang Chao, wielding a sword, jumping to attack the giant Su Fengzi. The giant simply raised a finger and flicked the little pea to the ground. Despite the little pea’s cries, it got up and continued swinging the sword chaotically, but it couldn’t leave a scratch on the giant.
After all, it was a basic attribute for giants to have thick skin and blood.
After the meal, Lin Chen felt really full and walked back to the hotel with Xing Conglian.
Surprisingly, Su Fengzi decided to accompany them on the way, perhaps because he hadn’t encountered someone as entertaining as Wang Chao in a long time and it would be such a waste to not keep pressing Wang Chao down repeatedly.
“Come on, let’s compete in a game. I’ll use only one hand!” Wang Chao was still hopping mad.
“Why don’t you compete with me in programming?” Su Fengzi said leisurely.
“Sure, sure, let’s head to the internet café up ahead!”
Lin Chen finally couldn’t stand it anymore and turned around to remind him, “He’s mocking you.”
Wang Chao asked Su Fengzi, “Why are you mocking me?”
Lin Chen looked at Su Fengzi.
Su Fengzi smiled and didn’t answer.
Wang Chao asked, “Are you at a loss for words?”
Su Fengzi: “No, your A’Chen Gege wants to be your interpreter, so of course I’ll give him a chance.”
Lin Chen felt like he was also being mocked and couldn’t help but remain silent.
“Do you have anything else to say?” Su Fengzi added.
“A’Chen Gege, you don’t need to give me face,” Wang Chao said.
Lin Chen was helpless. Wang Chao had absolutely no awareness in this regard. The explanation Lin Chen wanted to provide him with now seemed utterly foolish. He asked Wang Chao with patience, “Why did you want to compete with him?”
“Because he kept challenging me, and I wanted to educate him!” Wang Chao replied.
“Why don’t you just plug your ears and just ignore him?” Lin Chen suggested.
Su Fengzi laughed. “Shidi, I’m still here.”
Wang Chao: “That would be a bit pretentious, and it doesn’t fit my character.”
Lin Chen: “…”
People were passing by the riverside as they walked after the meal. However, Lin Chen felt that this stroll had no meaning in aiding digestion. Fortunately, after a few random remarks, they soon arrived at the hotel entrance. Lin Chen and Xing Conglian simultaneously stopped and turned to look at Su Fengzi.
Xing Conglian cleared his throat. “Fengzi, thank you so much for today.”
Meaning: Is it possible for you to leave now?
“What are you thanking me for? Otherwise, you would have bought Wangji just to have a meal of crayfish?” Su Fengzi retorted.
Xing Conglian felt embarrassed. “How could that be?”
“Shixiong, thanks for today,” Lin Chen added.
“Are you two teaming up to drive me away?” Su Fengzi pretended to be hurt.
Lin Chen asked directly, “Are you leaving or do you have other plans?”
……
Ten minutes later.
Two decks of cards were thrown on the table.
In the small living room of a budget hotel’s family room, four people, one on each side, stared at the playing cards in the middle of the table, silent.
“To be honest, I haven’t played cards in many years.”
Wang Chao had just returned from buying the cards, panting for breath, and from the mere term “playing cards”, one could tell that the young man had neglected this practice of a human cultural heritage that has been passed down for hundreds of years.
Xing Conglian looked at him coldly. “Not playing for many years implies that you have played before. Have you ever played?”
“Eh!” Wang Chao was taken aback. “Some tablets can only play Spider Solitaire; does that count?”
“That doesn’t count.”
“Oh, then I don’t know how to play cards.”
Wang Chao admitted honestly.
“You never taught him to play cards?” Lin Chen asked Xing Conglian.
“Why teach him? With his intelligence, who would want to play cards with him? I might as well play Fight the Landlord*.”
*A card game in the genre of shedding and gambling. It is one of the most popular card games played in China.
Hearing this, Wang Chao’s eyes lit up, and he slapped the table, pointing at Su Fengzi. “You’ve walked into hell!”
Su Fengzi didn’t respond, probably feeling hot. He finally slowly took off his suit, then reached over and slowly tore the packaging off the sealed deck of cards and began to shuffle them with a rattle.
The lighting in the small living room wasn’t bright enough; Xing Conglian had just smoked a cigarette, and the indoor smoke was swirling, floating like a thin veil under the light, creating a weird and solemn atmosphere.
“Can I check the rules for the card game ‘shuang ji*’ on Baidu Encyclopedia? Will one minute be enough?”
*Also known as level up, is a trick-taking card game played in China. They have dynamic trump, which cards change every round. As these games are played over a wide area with no standardization, rules vary widely from region to region. You can go to the Wikipedia to see the rules.
Su Fengzi also looked up and seriously asked Wang Chao.
In the blink of an eye, Wang Chao had already closed the Encyclopedia page, put down his phone, and replied, “Let’s do this!”
Xing Conglian had never played cards like this before, or rather, he had never played such a serious game.
Because of seating arrangements, Su Fengzi and Wang Chao sat facing each other, becoming teammates.
Wang Chao, although intelligent, had never played cards before, and was very awkward in the first round.
Su Fengzi sternly pointed out his mistakes, and Wang Chao even apologized earnestly.
Xing Conglian looked at his teammate, Lin Chen, and the two turned a blind eye to this instructional style of play.
“Pair of 9s, pair of 10s, pair of Jacks.” Wang Chao threw down another hand.
Su Fengzi stopped him. “They’re now grabbing points. If your A’Chen Gege throws QQ, KK, AA, we’ll be in big trouble.”
Lin Chen rubbed his forehead. “Shixiong, you’ve peeked at my cards again…”
Su Fengzi shrugged. “I’m not that kind of person, Shidi.”
Lin Chen didn’t believe it at all and turned his head to check all the reflective objects around him, then noticed the metal frame on the cabinet door behind him.
Su Fengzi looked surprised. “There’s actually a metal strip there, but don’t hurry to change places; I’ve only peeked in the first round.”
Lin Chen was speechless.
Wang Chao changed his play, but because of Su Fengzi’s spoilers, the teenager had already calculated their hands and played a pair of 10s, reporting as he played, “A’Chen Gege has Q-A, and the Boss didn’t play a pair of A’s in the last round, so the probability that the Boss has AA is very small. I don’t have it, so the pair of A’s should be in the hands of the big demon king!”
Su Fengzi shook his head helplessly.
“I told you not to teach him to play cards!” Xing Conglian complained.
“Endure it.” Lin Chen threw out a pair of Kings. “We’re leaving tomorrow anyway.”
“What do you mean?” Xing Conglian was stunned. “Tomorrow?”
“Yes, a game with Teacher Su takes at least 12 hours. Otherwise, why would he pester us so much?”
“Why?” Xing Conglian threw his cards out.
“Because his playing style is too shameless, and he’s skilled at counting cards, so basically no one wants to play with him.”
Lin Chen finally said, moving his gaze to the small glass table.
“Damn it!” Wang Chao jumped up, staring at the table in a perverted way, looking at the pair of A’s that Xing Conglian had finally played.
“You obviously had cards, why didn’t you play them just now!” Wang Chao said angrily. “Why are you so calculating!”
“Because this round is 40 points, the last round was only 20.” Xing Conglian educated. “40 is greater than 20, so the pair of A’s should be used here.”
Wang Chao ignored him, turning to the next person to question. “Why didn’t you remind me that you didn’t have a pair of A’s!”
“That would be cheating.” Su Fengzi continued the education. “Mainly to let you know how treacherous people are at the card table.”
“It’s too treacherous.”
“Yes.”
The two sang in harmony, and Wang Chao believed that Su Fengzi really didn’t remind him on purpose to teach him a lesson.
For Su Fengzi, shuang ji, a two-on-two game, was like playing Fight the Landlord; he himself was the only dealer, and as long as he could trap others, any way to play was fine.
But Lin Chen understood this quite well. For him, playing cards was too simple, so creating difficulties and then solving them was much more interesting than simply winning cards.
Lin Chen had to continue playing and looked at Xing Conglian, both equally speechless.
In fact, Wang Chao soon saw through Su Fengzi’s routine without Lin Chen pointing it out.
“Fuck, you did it on purpose, didn’t you!”
The good situation was once again uncertain because Su Fengzi had thrown the game.
The teenager angrily threw the cards; he was barefoot, and at this moment one foot stepped on the chair, and the other foot almost stepped on the glass table, tipping it over.
“You must have a calm mind when playing cards; being too competitive isn’t good.” Su Fengzi laughed.
“A’Chen Gege, I don’t want to be on his team anymore!” Wang Chao said.
“I don’t want to be on his team either,” Lin Chen said seriously.
Wang Chao’s eyes moved to Xing Conglian.
Captain Xing glared at him. “Comrade Xiao Wang, who gave you the courage to break up the CP?”
Wang Chao was almost in tears.
Lin Chen was helpless, and at that moment, his phone rang.
Lin Chen answered it; it was the takeout he had ordered earlier.
“Thank you, I’ll come down right away.”
Lin Chen hung up the phone and said to Wang Chao, “I ordered ice cream for you.”
The teenager’s interest was quickly diverted. “A’Chen Gege, how can you be so nice!”
“Experience,” Lin Chen said, picking up the unfinished cards, standing up, and gesturing for Wang Chao to go downstairs with him.
“What kind of experience?”
“The experience of cooling down. The last teammate who played cards with Shixiong was so angry after five rounds that he wanted to take a heart-relieving pill.”
“Is it too late to not want to play now?” Wang Chao wanted to hit the wall.
“Do you dare? I don’t anyway,” Lin Chen said honestly.
Hearing him say that Su Fengzi was very pleased. “Shidi, you flatter me.”
He nodded, modestly.
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