Supreme Treasure? Monkey King Pair?

[Liang Yusheng novels

Ye Yaodong held the chicken and looked at his childhood friends sitting around the table, his eyes brimming with amusement. Rich or poor, having fun was what mattered most!

He silently counted heads: Xiaoxiao, A-Zheng, Fatty, Mouse, Chen Wei, and A-Guang, who had gone to the wharf. All the White Sand Seven Rogues were accounted for!

At this point in his life, he was closest to Xiaoxiao, A-Zheng, and A-Guang. But within a few years, those three would leave and go their separate ways. Only the others would remain in the village, with the three returning occasionally years later.

He asked A-Guang's younger sister to boil some water, then fetched a bowl to catch the chicken's blood.

After sharpening the cleaver a few more times, he deftly grabbed the rooster's comb, plucked a small patch of feathers from its neck, and slit its throat with the sharp blade.

The rooster struggled desperately. A few drops of blood splashed out, but most dripped into the bowl. He would add a small spoonful of salt water and let it sit for twenty minutes to set. Stir-fried with the giblets later, it would make a delicious dish.

The water had not boiled yet, so Ye Yaodong casually tossed the still-twitching rooster aside and went over to watch them play cards.

"Oh-ho, no more Fifty-K? Switched to pai gow?"

"There are five of us. We can't play Fifty-K, so we're using playing cards for pai gow instead. Want to place a bet? We're about to show our hands, so you'll have to wait until the next round."

He shook his head, not intending to join in. This was nothing like a regular card game. Better to stay away if he could. Watching was enough.

Holding his two cards, Xiaoxiao finished speaking offhandedly, pressed his thumb over their upper-left corners, and began moving it away little by little...

He called out excitedly as he did, "Hearts... hearts... there it is! No side pips... no side pips... here it comes..."

Ye Yaodong craned his neck. All he could see was that the first card was the big joker. A tiny bit of the second card showed a heart beneath Xiaoxiao's thumb. When he pulled it out a little farther, it was clear there were no pips along the sides!

"Holy shit, no side pips! It's either a two or a three! Are we about to see Supreme Treasure?"

They were using playing cards in place of pai gow tiles. The big joker stood for six, and the three of hearts stood for three. Together, they made Supreme Treasure, the Monkey King Pair!

Xiaoxiao was just as excited. With neither side pips nor the edges of a number showing, the card had to be either a two or a three.

He pushed the two cards back together after separating them a fraction, then shouted at the others, "Did any of you get a three?"

The others urged him on. "Stop dragging it out! We've all checked our cards. We're just waiting for you to show yours. Hurry up and quit wasting time."

"Yeah, hurry up! Is it Supreme Treasure or not?"

"Let us help you..."

"No, I'll do it myself!" Xiaoxiao twisted away from their hands.

"Then get on with it! You're going to ruin those cards!"

"Since when should a man finish fast?"

Xiaoxiao kept his thumb over the number in the upper-left corner. Now that he knew the bottom card was either a two or a three, he stopped sliding it to the right and slowly pulled the top card downward instead.

After revealing the first heart, he chanted excitedly again, "Three! Three! Three! Hearts... hearts... holy shit, Supreme Treasure..."

He flung the two cards onto the table in excitement. "It really is Supreme Treasure! Monkey King Pair! Come on, pay up! Pay up!"

He had squeezed both cards until they bent. The others could clearly see the big joker and the three of hearts, and they all cursed. "Fuck, it really is Supreme Treasure!"

Just then, A-Guang returned. Hearing them shouting about Supreme Treasure from a distance, he hurried over in surprise. "What Supreme Treasure? Who got Supreme Treasure? How'd you pull that off?"

"Xiaoxiao! Fucking hell, his luck's incredible, and he's the banker too! He cleaned us all out!"

"What kind of bullshit luck is that? I even had a Heaven Card with a Miscellaneous Nine Card!"

"That's nothing! I had a pair of red eights, the Man Card! I thought I'd won, only to run into Supreme Treasure. Fuck, what a waste of a good hand! Got me all excited for nothing!"

"Heh, good thing I had a four and a six. At least mine died a worthy death!"

A-Zheng grinned too. "Same here. I had a five and a six. No hope to begin with!"

Amid all their cursing, Xiaoxiao gleefully pocketed the small-denomination notes in front of them, then said with a hint of regret, "The stakes are too low. Just a few mao each. Hardly worth it-what a waste of my Supreme Treasure!"

"Be grateful! You beat everyone. We've been playing for ages and haven't ever drawn Supreme Treasure!"

A-Guang felt rather glad he had returned late. Otherwise, he definitely would have placed a bet too.

Supreme Treasure! Dodged a bullet there. My luck seems pretty good today!

"We should've made an exception and let Dongzi bet just now. That would've been one more person to collect from!"

Ye Yaodong rolled his eyes. "Would you take a two-fen bet?"

"Of course! Even a mosquito's leg has meat on it!"

"Oh, give it a rest. While your luck's hot, hurry up and deal a few more rounds!"

"Right, right! Again, again!"

Xiaoxiao picked up the cards to shuffle and keep playing, but Fatty objected. "I'm done! I finally get a pair of red eights, only to run into Supreme Treasure. What rotten luck!"

"Come on, it's not like you're short of money. We aren't playing for much anyway. A little gambling's just for fun. Keep going!"

For someone to grow fat in those days, Fatty's family clearly had to be pretty well-off. In fact, everyone in his family was fat!

That was because his family were all cooks. As the old saying went, a cook who didn't pilfer would have an empty pantry. His family had always eaten better than anyone else in the village.

All that flesh on Fatty made it obvious he had never lacked food!

"Let me be the banker, or I'm done!"

"Fine, fine!"

They were not playing for much anyway. The money only passed back and forth among their little group, and most of the winnings went toward food, so nobody really lost out.

After returning, A-Guang handed the crabs and mantis shrimp he had bought to his younger sister, then joined them!

In those days, adults in the countryside had very few forms of entertainment. They were not children anymore; they had already enjoyed roaming the hills and playing in the sea when they were young. With the weather so hot, they did not want to go out into the sun, leaving little to do but play cards indoors.

Ye Yaodong watched with great interest too. He actually still had two yuan in his pocket, probably winnings from yesterday's card game. He was not sure; he did not remember much.

Watching them play, he felt his pocket several times, but resisted every time. That was all the money he had. Pai gow relied too much on luck. An ordinary card game, though, he could join-he was good at those and rarely lost money.

After he had watched for a while, Ah Guang's younger sister told him the water had boiled. He had to tear his eyes away and get back to work.

"Shit-that's fucking hot!"

Ye Yaodong shook his hands as he plucked the rooster.

The chicken had to be scalded with boiling water to make the feathers easy to pluck, but it was hot enough to kill him. Why had he volunteered for this job earlier?

Wasn't watching cards more fun?

Honestly, seeing his old friends young again had made him so happy that he had gotten carried away.

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