"Grandmaster, what ti did you sleep last night?"
"I went to bed after the transfer was over; I slept early, which is why I got up early today."
"Grandmaster, do you rember what you did after the transfer?"
"What else could I have done? Of course, I went to bed and slept."
"Do you rember what happened after you threw down the talisman paper, Grandmaster?"
"Of course, I rember. How could I not? I didn’t drink last night, and I wouldn’t have blackouts."
"Do you really rember?"
"Little Yuanhou, what’s wrong with you?"
"Grandmaster, did I say anything to you after the ritual ended last night?"
"You said goodnight to , then you went back to your room. What’s really going on, did you have a nightmare?"
"No, it’s nothing. Maybe I slept too well last night, and I can’t rember so things clearly."
"That’s normal. Not to ntion you’re a young lad, even adults can experience that. Sleeping well is good; it shows that the transfer was effective."
While they were talking, Li Zhiyuan saw Alii coming up the stairs. Alii was dressed in a lady’s attire today, dignified and cute.
Li Sanjiang, while drying his hair, smacked his lips and said, "No kidding, Little Yuanhou, this girl is really pretty. In the past, I thought ’beauty in the making’ was just flattering small talk until I saw this girl."
Li Zhiyuan nodded, "Alii is indeed pretty."
In the past, it was a great pleasure for the elderly to watch the young n and won playing together and to randomly match them up.
But Li Sanjiang just shook his head and sighed, "If only she wasn’t ill."
The old man still rembered the scene when the girl suddenly lashed out after he stuffed sugar into her hands.
"Grandmaster, Alii is not ill."
"Yeah, she’s not ill, but you are. Are we done now?"
"Yeah."
Li Zhiyuan knew he indeed had an illness; he had just had an episode that morning.
"By the way, Grandmaster, Brother Runsheng is going back to Xiting Town to see Mr. Shan today. I’m thinking of going with him."
"Then go. Oh, wait for . I’ll go back to the room and get so money for you so you can take so gifts as well."
"Grandmaster, you are really kind to Mr. Shan."
"I’m afraid that Shan Pao might end up gambling all his money away and starve to death."
Li Sanjiang went into the room to get so money for Li Zhiyuan, then went downstairs, calling out, "Ting Hou, make breakfast early today, I’m hungry!"
Li Zhiyuan looked at the money in his hand, added the rest of his pocket money, and smiled. He had enough capital now.
Alii looked at the boy and then at the money in his hand, her eyelashes twitching slightly.
On the dam, Liu Yui was making tea.
Li Sanjiang ca downstairs, stretching, and said sentintally, "Yo, the weather should be good today; it’s going to be a sunny day."
Liu Yui responded, "Then aren’t you going out for a walk today?"
"What’s there to wander about? With such fine weather, it’s perfect just to lie on the rattan chair, bask in the sun, and nap."
Liu Yui smiled and said no more, instead she delicately lifted the teacup with her right hand’s ring finger and index finger.
But as she lifted it midway, the cup shook and so tea spilled out.
Liu Yui ignored her fingertips that had reddened from the burn, staring incredulously at the teacup in her hand, or more precisely, at the half-remaining tea inside it.
"How co so much spilled out all of a sudden?"
Although the moon waxes and wanes and the tides ebb and flow, there are usually traces to follow, and amidst changes, tranquility can be found. Thus, such sudden fluctuations are uncommon.
What exactly had happened?
At that mont, Li Zhiyuan and Qin Li ca downstairs.
Liu Yui naturally turned her gaze to the boy, closely observing his face while her left hand tucked in her sleeve kept twitching her fingertips alternately.
As if to amuse the girl, Li Zhiyuan pulled a funny face at Alii.
Liu Yui’s fingers had to stop their movents because the facial features had changed.
Li Zhiyuan turned towards Liu Yui and greeted her politely, "Good morning, Grandma Liu."
"Morning, Xiao Yuan."
Li Zhiyuan went to the kitchen to help Aunt Liu carry the porridge and pickles.
He noticed in the corner of the venue that there were many new incense sticks drying and asked, "Aunt Liu, could you please make so short incense for ?"
"Of course, how short do you want them?"
"About the sa length as the cigarettes in the box."
"But such short incense, what’s it good for? It’ll burn out in no ti."
"It doesn’t need to burn for too long, just as long as a cigarette takes."
"Alright, I’ll make it for you."
"Thank you, Aunt Liu."
After having breakfast, Li Zhiyuan set off with Run Sheng.
Excited to be going back ho, Run Sheng sang loudly as they moved along, singing snippets from various songs. Li Zhiyuan, sitting behind, felt as though he was listening to a dley.
Xiting Town wasn’t too far away, and despite Run Sheng’s singing, he cycled quickly, and it didn’t take them long to arrive at his doorstep.
Li Zhiyuan observed that compared to other houses they saw when entering the village, this one was truly dilapidated.
After shouting several tis with no response inside, Run Sheng ca out and told Li Zhiyuan, "Xiao Yuan, my grandpa’s not ho; must’ve gone to play cards. But there’s still rice and flour at ho, so we’ve got lunch, hehe."
"Then let’s go find Mr. Shan."
"Let’s go; I’ll take you there."
There are several "gaming halls" in the village, all located inside residential houses. The smaller ones have three or four tables, and the larger ones have a dozen or twenty tables.
By unspoken rules, playing cards in these halls required paying a fee for tea, and if soone won big, the owner had to receive a cut of the good fortune.
Besides providing tea, sunflower seeds, and peanuts, the owner also needed to help arrange card gas, a skill that determined whether a hall could grow big.
It was still sumr, not the peak season for the gaming halls. The real high season cos around Chinese New Year.
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