??Chapter 75: Chapter 76: Playing Landlord Ga_1
Chapter 75: Chapter 76: Playing Landlord Ga_1
The fat pig of a landlord was petrified, pointing dumbly at Wu Haoli for a long while without being able to utter a word. It was Mr. Li who first snapped out of it, cursing loudly, “You’re deliberately toying with us, aren’t you? Saying you would sell the land if you lost, to find you were rely jesting all along. Do you think we all have as much idle ti on our hands as you?!”
The others began to curse as well, “Exactly! With Old Mr. Wu passing away so early, it must have been the frustration you caused that killed him. Seeing how frivolously you behave now, he surely won’t rest in peace underground!”
Muniang scoffed to herself. When they spoke of gambling and winning three taels per mu, they all eagerly crowded in, yet the mont they lost, each one started preaching—such is human nature!
Wu Haoli’s face remained unrippled by the profanity hurled at him, rely laughing softly, “Bla only your own ill luck, why make so many excuses. Don’t worry, though my father may not rest easy underground, he certainly won’t disturb you.”
“You! How dare you utter such unfilial words so casually?!” barked the fat pig of a landlord.
Mr. Li, who was originally so angry he was about to explode, suddenly cald down and said sternly, “It will be, we have no desire to ddle in your family affairs. We also don’t have the ti to indulge your antics. Just na your price for these thousand mu of fertile land, how much silver?!”
Wu Haoli raised his eyebrows, “But aren’t there still those who haven’t gambled?”
Upon saying this, everyone’s gaze fell on Muniang and Hong Luo. It was with reason they had been previously overlooked: Hong Luo was clearly an imbecile, how could he possibly gamble? As for that Muniang, a woman’s place is in gambling? Hah! Ridiculous!
“Those two? Better to forget it!” said everyone, their tone not without disdain.
Yet Muniang stepped forward and declared loudly, “Since I’ve co here today, whether to call it off or not is for
to decide!”
This display of spirit was by no ans inferior to that of the n, causing them to stiffen in shock. Was this young lady really intent on joining the gambling table?
Wu Haoli seed to anticipate Muniang’s actions and gestured for her to proceed.
Muniang picked up the dice cup, inspected it, and disdainfully tossed it onto the gambling table: “Such childish playthings that require no intellect whatsoever really don’t interest .”
With astonishnt, Wu Haoli inquired, “Then what do you propose?”
The gentlen were even more shocked; such words from a young lady!
Muniang tilted her head, “I want to play sothing fresh, sothing beyond child’s play, sothing interesting!”
Wu Haoli’s lips curved into an intrigued smile, “And what would that ‘sothing fresh’ be?”
With a light smile, Muniang said, “Fight the Landlord!”
“What?” Everyone looked at Muniang with bewildered eyes; naturally, people from ancient tis would not recognize what ‘Fight the Landlord’ was.
Muniang replied with a smile, “However, I didn’t bring my tools today. I shall visit again tomorrow, at which ti, I fully intend to give Mr. Wu a lesson or two.”
Mr. Li scoffed coldly, “Tomorrow? You’re not trying to buy ti, are you? If you can’t gamble, just say so—no need to pretend to be sothing you’re not.”
Such people, obviously, cannot stand to see others succeed when they themselves have failed!
Muniang didn’t even look at him, only saying to Wu Haoli, “You only ntioned winning before, not specifically dice. I just want to change the thod of gambling. What do you say, Mr. Wu? If you don’t even have the guts for that, I really must have overestimated you.”
Wu Haoli’s lips quirked up, goading? That trick really didn’t work on him, but—
“Very well, I’ll await you here tomorrow, and I hope that your ‘Fight the Landlord’ won’t disappoint .”
Life is so long, you’ve got to find yourself so fun.
Muniang smiled contentedly and said, “It’s a deal!”
When she got ho, Muniang began cutting sheets of paper into small pieces. Because the paper was very thin and there was no cardboard, it was awkward to handle. So Muniang simply pasted three small pieces of paper together with glue. Once they dried, they beca quite stiff.
Erliang also helped out, accustod as he was to Muniang occasionally coming up with sothing novel, and thus he wasn’t too surprised.
The two were busy working inside when they saw Hong Luo assisting Mrs. Lin in.
“Muniang, how did things go with the land today?”
Upon seeing Mrs. Lin, Muniang hurried over to support her, “Mother, you’re still not fully recovered. What if you fall while wandering around?”
“With Hong Luo accompanying , what could possibly happen,” Mrs. Lin said, clearly pleased to hear Muniang’s concern.
Mrs. Lin sat down on the kang, and only then did Muniang speak, “That matter isn’t settled yet, we’ll have to go again tomorrow. Mother, you should just focus on your recovery. Leave the outside affairs to . Don’t worry yourself.”
Mrs. Lin scolded, “Aren’t I just afraid you’ll be too impulsive and waste the silver? It wasn’t easy for you to earn this money. I’m already content with our life as it is. I’m just worried your ambition is too great, and one misstep could beco a lifelong regret.”
Muniang chuckled softly, “Alright, I know. This land, we might just get it for three or two silver pieces an acre.”
Mrs. Lin exclaid in surprise, “Three or two? That cheap? Could it be a scam?”
“Don’t worry, your daughter isn’t that foolish. That young master just likes to squander money for fun. We’re just picking up a great bargain, isn’t that wonderful?”
Mrs. Lin was clearly still skeptical, but seeing Muniang so confident, she didn’t say much more. Her gaze then fell on the pile of small pieces of paper on the table, and she asked in puzzlent, “Muniang, what are you up to with these?”
“Oh, these? They’re playing cards. The last ti I went to the town, I saw two people playing at a wonton stall in the street. I got interested and learned a bit, just in ti to take these and trick Mr. Wu.”
Muniang had intended to just say it was sothing she’d co up with on a whim, but felt that might be unreliable. Her “talent” in cooking was shocking enough already, and adding yet another skill might arouse suspicion. So she simply said it was sothing she learned.
Mrs. Lin was sowhat astonished, “We have such things in our town? I’ve never heard of it.”
Muniang smiled and said, “Their accents were not from around here. They must be traders from afar. Not many people here would know of it.”
Mrs. Lin was thus relieved of her doubts. Muniang’s eyes twinkled as she suddenly said, “How about I make you a set too? It’s so boring for you always staying at ho. If you had these playing cards, you could pass the ti.”
Mrs. Lin waved her hands dismissively, “Let it be, I’m just fine sewing clothes and shoes for you all. Those are the kinds of things for the gentlen to play with. How would it be fitting for
to dabble in such things?”
Muniang teased with a grin, “Don’t worry, it’ll be just between the two of us. We won’t tell anyone else. I’ll teach you, it’s not hard.”
Mrs. Lin was actually tempted, but traditional thinking in her mind prevented her from agreeing. Muniang, of course, could see this and preemptively decided for her. As soon as Mrs. Lin heard it was a secret just between mother and daughter, she found it hard to refuse.
Seeing her daughter busying herself with making these, Mrs. Lin naturally joined in to help with pasting the paper. After all, there was nothing else to do.
Before long, a small figure walked in quietly, with a gentle voice, “Good day, Second Aunt, Mu, Brother-in-law.”
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