I'm Playing Dou Dizhu? (Seeking Recommendation Tickets!)

At dusk, three people with vastly different appearances walked down Eckley Street.

"So why are we out here?" the goblin Harper asked, looking thoroughly reluctant. "Just for the super-duper delicious barbecue this guy was talking about?"

"I take issue with your use of the word 'we'." The dwarf Mason glanced at Harper beside him and rolled his eyes. "I only invited Edith out; I didn't invite you. You're the one who tagged along like a lost puppy."

"Hmph! Who knows what kind of schemes you're plotting?" Harper snorted. "As Edith's guardian knight, how could I possibly let her go out to eat with you alone?"

"A guardian knight who isn't even one point four meters tall and can't even mount a horse?" The elf Edith glanced sideways at Harper, retorting sharply.

"Heh heh, Edith, that's where you're wrong." Harper turned to look at her, his line of sight blocked by two massive peaks, leaving him able to see only Edith's smooth forehead. "I may not have a knight's steed, but I have a knight's heart dedicated to protecting you!"

Mason, hearing this from the side, immediately felt goosebumps and a wave of nausea. "Could you say a little less? You're making me lose my appetite."

Edith was also helpless. If Professor Hicks hadn't specifically named her to be an assistant in Harper's laboratory, she would have stayed as far away from this guy as possible.

Today, Mason had brought five Nether Orchids to Harper's laboratory, and Harper and Edith had been tasked with beginning the research.

As evening approached, Mason remembered the promise he had made to Lyle, the owner of the barbecue shop, the day before, so he found Edith and invited her to have some barbecue.

As for Harper, it wasn't that Mason didn't want to invite him.

But Harper was a notorious mad scientist; unless it was absolutely necessary, he basically ate, slept, and lived in his laboratory.

So, Mason hadn't even considered him.

Edith hadn't originally been interested in barbecue, but after hearing Mason mention that the flower shop selling Nether Orchids was right next to the barbecue shop, she agreed to come along.

After all, although elves don't avoid meat, they rarely kill to taste it, so she didn't care much about the barbecue; it was the flower shop that piqued her interest.

As it turned out, the moment Harper heard Edith was going out alone with Mason, he immediately dropped his experiment, transformed into a sycophant, and followed them, keeping a close watch on Mason.

Soon, they arrived at the entrance of Ron's Wonderful Flower Shop.

"Mason, why is this flower shop closed?" Edith asked with a frown.

"This shop is only open from one to five in the afternoon; it doesn't open at any other time." Mason explained helplessly. "Let's go to the barbecue shop next door; the owner of the flower shop should be over there."

At this moment, Ron and Lyle were sitting in the shop, continuing their previous battle of Elemental Cards.

Slap!

A "5" of the Earth element was slammed onto the table by Lyle.

On the table, there was already a long row of Elemental Cards laid out, all with different numbers.

Until Lyle played that "5".

"Haha!" Lyle's eyes lit up when he saw the first card in the row was also a "5". He leaned over the table, cupping the string of cards with both hands and raking them toward his chest. "What do you call this? Destiny! A single card brings me back from the dead!"

Ron watched Lyle's hand of cards grow thick again and felt a bit helpless.

They were playing Go Fish, and this round had been going back and forth for over ten minutes; both of them had come back from the brink several times, neither able to finish the other off.

Just a moment ago, Ron had thought he was in the clear, only to have Lyle pull off a massive play.

To be honest, he was getting a bit bored. After all, he had a wealth of gaming experience, and while these mindless games were fine for a quick distraction, playing them for this long was starting to make him want to gag.

Just then, Ron saw Mason walk into the barbecue shop with two others. His eyes lit up, and he tossed his cards onto the table, standing up to wave at the door: "Mason!"

Lyle turned his head to see customers entering and could only put his cards down, still feeling unfulfilled.

When Ron and Lyle looked closely, their gazes were immediately drawn to a tall figure among them.

A slender frame, delicate and beautiful features, a pair of pointed, rosy ears, long pale green hair, and a pair of magnificent emerald eyes.

As soon as Edith walked into the shop, she instantly lit up the entire room.

Especially the heavy burden she carried on her chest, which made both men in the shop subconsciously swallow their saliva.

As Edith walked in, she felt her own eyes brighten as well.

Of the two people in the shop, she ignored the middle-aged dwarf uncle entirely; in Edith's eyes, there was only the handsome and gentle-looking Ron.

"Ron, Lyle, I've brought my friends over for some barbecue." Mason walked into the shop to greet them, adding, "This is Edith of the Elven race, and this is Harper of the Goblin race."

"Edith, Harper, this is Lyle of the Dwarven race, the owner of this shop, and this is Ron, the owner of the flower shop next door."

Both sides exchanged greetings.

Edith and Harper were both quite surprised; they hadn't expected the guy selling Nether Orchids to be so young and handsome.

"What is this?" Harper the goblin had sharp eyes and immediately noticed the cards on the table.

"Oh?" Edith looked over with curiosity as well, reaching out to pick up a card with the letter 'J' on it. "Is this a sixth-tier magic Water Dragon Bullet?"

"Fifth-tier magic, Ring of Fire." Harper picked up a "10" fire-element card.

"These are Elemental Cards I tinkered with in my spare time; you can use them to play some games." Ron introduced with a smile. "You're here for the barbecue, right? Why don't you sit down and wait a while, and maybe try playing?"

"Sure." Edith, who had a very good impression of Ron, immediately sat down at the table.

Harper took the opportunity to sit next to Edith, occupying the prime position.

"You guys go ahead and play, I'll go help you order." Mason said, walking into the kitchen with Lyle.

So, Ron sat across from Edith and briefly explained the rules of Dou Dizhu to the two of them.

Ron had originally thought that such a simple game would be easy to understand, but once they started playing, he realized things were not that simple.

"Pair of Queens," Ron said, playing his cards.

Harper glanced at Ron's two cards, then looked at the hand in his own grip. After a moment of deep thought, he cautiously pulled out two cards and slapped them onto the table with a loud thwack.

Ron took a closer look and was immediately taken aback: "Those are two Jacks. They're lower than my cards; you can't play those."

"Uh... is that not allowed?" Harper asked, looking confused, before adding with a strange expression, "Your two cards are the Fire Magic Meteor Fire and the Earth Magic Meteor Fall. The two spells can combine into the Fusion Magic Meteor Shower, which is indeed powerful."

"But my two cards are the Water Magic Sky Waterfall and the Wind Magic Piercing Gale. The two can combine into the Ice Magic Ice Fortress, which is enough to withstand your Meteor Shower."

"..." Ron stared at Harper, speechless, then looked over at Edith.

As it turned out, the elf nodded with complete seriousness: "Mm, theoretically speaking, Ice Fortress is sufficient to block Meteor Shower."

Am I actually playing Dou Dizhu or what? Ron suddenly felt a toothache coming on.

I shouldn't have drawn those magic spells on them in the first place...

Give me all your recommendation votes! Rua! ╰(‵□′)╯

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