"Let’s go play some mahjong."

Mahjong.

One of Shen Zhou’s cultural treasures.

There’s still an afternoon to go before the wedding banquet tonight, so we need to find something to pass the time.

"Sister Tong Dan, aren’t you tired? Why don’t you rest for a while?"

Hong Xiaoyu, who was exhausted from the wedding pick-up, showed concern.

"I was tired just now, but I’m not anymore. Sign me up, who’s playing?"

Tong Dan, who had been mumbling about being unable to move at the Wen Family’s place, showed no trace of fatigue.

Mahjong is typically played by four people, and the current number of people is more than enough.

"You all play."

"No way, you have to play. You helped someone cheat, and I haven’t confronted you about it."

"..."

The beautiful Tong Dan seemed to understand everything but chose not to reveal it.

Fang Qing fell silent.

"I’m not playing."

Hong Xiaoyu followed suit.

"Why aren’t you playing?"

"I don’t know how."

"You don’t know the easiest Laio? Are you even a Sha City person?"

"Let’s go."

Fu Zili said exuberantly, "If you lose, it’s on me."

"Great!"

Tong Dan praised, then asked Ji Ailin, "Do you know how to play?"

Ji Ailin nodded; a girl from Sha City who doesn’t play mahjong is one in a thousand.

"Just a little bit. But I’m not very familiar with it."

"Not being familiar is good. If you’re too skilled, I won’t play with you."

Tong Dan joked and then looked at Wu Yubin, "Leader Wu is definitely a pro. Hong’an is a mahjong town; he can teach you."

Ji Ailin blushed and remained silent.

Wu Yubin was frank, "Don’t blame me if I win too much."

"To gamble is to accept the loss."

The players were settled.

Three bridesmaids and Hong Xiaoyu, an emperor’s round as the jargon goes.

A vacant hall was turned into a temporary game room, bustling with mahjong, card games, poker...

"A little gambling lightens the mood. One or two hundred is fine."

Boss Jiang spoke up to join the fun.

Ji Ailin was taken aback.

One or two hundred?

With the ceiling in a round reaching 6400.

If luck turns bad, she could lose a whole month’s salary in one go!

But she had already agreed, and it was awkward to speak up at this point; Hong Xiaoyu spoke up.

"Bro, isn’t that a bit too much?"

"With someone covering for you, what’s there to fear?"

"Don’t listen to him."

Tong Dan ignored someone and asked Ji Ailin, "How much do you guys usually play for?"

"... The highest I’ve played is ten or twenty a round."

That’s reduced by tenfold.

Maximum 640 per round.

By the end of a game, the win or loss would generally be around two thousand yuan.

"Okay, let’s play ten or twenty."

Tong Dan wasn’t bothered by the amount.

Although someone wasn’t in the game, he chose to stand behind Qing Mei, acting as the military strategist, directing Jiangshan, offering strategies.

"Play eight bamboos."

"Nine thousand."

"Three bars."

"Pung!"

"Mahjong!"

Indeed.

Under Boss Jiang’s command, Fang Qing took the lead, winning the first round and even with Laio.

Eight per household.

"Who’s actually playing between you two?"

Having lost money, Tong Dan was naturally unimpressed.

"Sister Tong Dan, no worries, it’s said you’d rather face trouble with a thousand cuts than win the first round."

Hong Xiaoyu was quite good at comforting others and himself.

Somehow, one really needs to believe in luck.

"Don’t take the win, go for Pung!"

In the second round, Boss Jiang, aiming for continuous victory, Punged a Laio, Fang Qing drew another one, according to the rules, she could have won, yet Boss Jiang urged her to keep pressing forward.

"If you win like this, it’s only 20 per house, but if you Pung the second Laio, it’s 160 per house."

Fang Qing supposed she was convinced, placed down the Laio, "Pung."

Oops.

She picked up a small bird.

Her winning combination was five or eight thousand, which wasn’t right.

"No problem. You’ll definitely self-pick."

Boss Jiang remained calm.

Indeed.

If one could flourish after Pung, well and good; if not, it’s fine, hoping for a self-draw, yet after several rounds, five or eight thousand was still elusive, but the others seemed to have prepared to finish themselves.

"Pung!"

There we go.

Tong Dan drew the Laio.

"Six or nine bamboos! Mahjong!"

Tong Dan beamed joyfully, slapping the nine bamboos she Punged on the table and then revealed her tiles.

Indeed.

It really was six or nine bamboos.

Relying on his command, Fang Qing, clearly winning earlier, suffered a blow.

"How much is it?"

"320, haha!"

Tong Dan was ecstatic, beaming as she went from winning 240 in the first round to losing all and even paying 80.

"Mahjong God, great directing!"

Tong Dan seized the moment, showering praise on the person standing behind Fang Qing.

"I’ll win it back for you in the next round."

The person remained unfazed, offering Qing Mei reassurance, but received a response, "Get away from me."

"Haha."

The table burst into cheerful laughter.

"Forget it, let’s go for a walk nearby."

Fu Zili invited, suggesting the person stop being a nuisance there.

The two of them left the temporary game room.

In front of the corridor’s floor-to-ceiling window.

Fu Zili took out a cigarette, aware Jiang Chen doesn’t smoke, and lit one for himself.

"The lawsuit for Greenfield Phase II seems to have concluded."

Jiang Chen responded with a nonchalant "hmm," gazing calmly at the traffic flowing outside.

Fu Zili inhaled a puff, "I’m already prepared."

Jiang Chen smiled.

"Afraid I’ll let you down?"

Fu Zili shook his head, "I just want to say I’m ready to be at your beck and call anytime."

Jiang Chen nodded, "It won’t be long."

Fu Zili exhaled the smoke, though he had mentally prepared himself for this period, he couldn’t help but feel the surge of emotions.

"Since you’re willing to give me this opportunity, Jiang Chen, I won’t let you down."

A man’s promise doesn’t always need to be loud and clear.

"My face isn’t the important thing. Real estate is different from your previous business; don’t end up cornering yourself."

Fu Zili chuckled.

"Rest assured. Building houses properly is already profitable. Why would I take unnecessary risks? Isn’t Hengsheng a prime example, having lots of money which can’t be spent, what’s the point?"

Fu Zili continued smoking.

"Of course, before Boss Geng made his fortunes, he must have thought so too. Just like those addicts, most people initially understand the dangers of drugs and believe they’ll never touch them in their lifetime, yet eventually, they succumb to temptation."