ushernet Chapter 127 Chinese New Year
Chapter 127 Chinese New Year
"Chitose!"
"Chitose!"
That evening, during the Lin family's New Year's Eve dinner, Lin's father, Quan Rongxing, and Li Zhongwei began a drinking party.
Quan Sinian was repeatedly pulled into drinking sessions, but he always managed to back down gracefully, appearing obedient with a smile, though he was actually being shrewd and avoiding the drinks.
Lin Yan took out a jar and poured some for everyone. It contained a pale yellow liquid. "We don't drink alcohol, but try this."
Lin Yu took a sip, and his eyes lit up.
Quan Wenxue also took a sip. "Hmm? It's sweet and sour, delicious! What is this?"
"This is plum syrup I brewed a month ago, just waiting to drink it during the New Year! We can't just stand by and watch them drink!"
Lin's mother and Madam Quan were very satisfied and drank several cups in succession.
After dinner, except for the three who were drunk, the rest of the people gathered together to start making dumplings for tomorrow.
Although there were many to wrap, there were also many of them. Some rolled out the dough, some wrapped it, and everyone did their own thing, so it was enough in no time.
"I'm sleepy!" Lin Yan squinted.
"We have to stay up all night tonight!" Quan Wenxue rubbed her face.
"Sigh!" Lin Yan definitely didn't believe in staying up all night on New Year's Eve anymore. In later generations, the custom of staying up all night on New Year's Eve was no longer necessary. Some people would stay up, but most people would just go to sleep as usual.
However, she wouldn't voice any objections at this moment, because people in this era still care quite a bit about this custom.
Lin Yan was drowsy and bored, listening to the occasional firecrackers outside, since she couldn't watch the Spring Festival Gala anyway.
Lin Yu also went into the study; since he wasn't going to sleep anyway, he might as well study.
Quan Sinian went out with Lin's father to set off firecrackers. After a series of crackling sounds, they came back in.
Lin's mother and Madam Quan were fine. The two chatted about how to make clothes, and when they got excited, they even took out the newly bought fabric and started making clothes.
Lin Yan suddenly remembered something, "It's boring to just sit around, let's find something to do!"
Quan Wenxue was also a little bored, recalling, "At this time of year, I would probably be playing cards with the maids, but not now, so we can't play anymore."
Lin Yan smiled and said, "We don't have the Leaf brand, but we do have some others! Wait a minute, I'll go get them!"
She ran back into the house and pulled out a mahjong set from her storage space. She had collected it while gathering supplies, because in the later stages of the apocalypse, they didn't have many entertainment options and would occasionally play cards.
She carried the mahjong set back to the main room and placed it on the table. "Let's play mahjong!"
"Mahjong? What's that?" Quan Wenxue frowned, pondering for a long time, but still couldn't figure it out.
Watching Lin Yan open the box, she rummaged through the boxes and pulled out small squares with patterns drawn on them.
I leaned closer, picked one up, and took a look.
"What is this? It looks quite exquisite, but what material is it made of? I don't think I've ever seen it before..."
Quan Sinian was drawn to it, picked one up and weighed it in his hand, saying, "I've never seen this material before. The color is like ivory, but it's very light, so it's clearly not. It's not jade, not bone, and not wood either! What is this thing?"
"Uh, I don't know either, someone gave it to me!" Lin Yan didn't say what it was made of, only that she didn't know.
Melamine is commonly used to make mahjong tiles, but Lin Yan couldn't say that, otherwise the two of them would definitely ask her what melamine was...
However, Lin Yan thought, "Next time I can make some made of wood or bone to give away."
"Come on! Let me explain how to play!" Lin Yan called out to everyone, but Lin's mother and Madam Quan were already close friends and didn't have time to pay attention to her, only saying, "Ah Yan, you guys play by yourselves!"
Looking around, he saw only Quan Wenxue and Quan Sinian beside him, while Lin's father and his two companions were talking in a drunken stupor on the other side.
Lin Yan clicked her tongue; she definitely couldn't hire those three.
"I'll go call Lin Yu! We can't keep studying all the time! We need to learn to relax!"
Without feeling guilty, Lin Yan pulled her younger brother, who was engrossed in his studies, out of the daze and made up for the missing one in the game.
Then the game rules were explained: "If you have four sets of three cards, plus a pair, you win. You can also meld the cards played by the player to your left..."
The three nodded in agreement, indicating their understanding.
Lin Yan only introduced the simple gameplay, which everyone accepted very well. They understood it in no time and then started the game.
However, Lin Yan was winning most of the time at the beginning. Although she wasn't very good at it, she was still quite skilled compared to the three beginners.
Quan Wenxue got more and more into the game, exclaiming in surprise and delight at the same time, "Oh my! Ayan won again! I only need one more card."
Quan Sinian was arranging his tiles, looking quite regretful. "I should have taken your tile just now! Why didn't I? Otherwise, I would have won!"
After some initial stumbling and awkward moments, the three of them gradually got the hang of it and became more skilled, and began to win against Lin Yan.
"Huh!" Quan Wenxue's youngest daughter, completely abandoning her composure, slammed her hand on the table with a flourish and stood up laughing.
He exclaimed excitedly, "Hahahaha! It's finally my turn!"
Startled, Lin Yan no longer felt sleepy and said, "Calm down! Calm down!"
Then, looking at his younger brother, he said, "Ah Yu, you're having bad luck! Try harder!"
Lin Yu frowned as he pondered. He understood the rules of the game, but his brain was still a bit overloaded. The probabilities were confusing, and making choices was always very difficult. Whenever it was his turn to play a card, he always hesitated.
Lin Yan looked at his slightly furrowed brows and knew that this guy was overthinking things and was definitely calculating how to increase his chances of winning.
She's the type of person who doesn't use her brain much when playing cards; she relies purely on luck to get the cards. Since it's just a game, why take it so seriously?
However, she didn't stop Lin Yu; everyone has their own unique characteristics.
"Self-draw!" Lin Yu finally won, and it was a big hand, making things much easier for him.
"Not bad, Ayu!" Lin Yan and Quan Wenxue began to praise.
Quan Sinian felt he was a bit unlucky; he hadn't won a single game yet, and several times he was just a little short, but the three of them would steal the win.
"I don't believe it! Let's go again!" Quan Sinian waved his hand, arranged his cards again, and joined the battle.
Quan Wenxue said with a grin, "Big brother, you just have bad luck. It was the same when you played leaf cards before, you just couldn't win!"
Looking at the three of them so enthusiastically, Lin Yan thought to herself, "Luckily, we didn't gamble with money. Playing cards really is addictive!"
With the four of them busy, the time to stay up all night passed quickly. Time flew by with the clatter of mahjong tiles, and soon it was past midnight, ending the New Year's Eve vigil.
Lin's mother began urging everyone to go to sleep.
"Stop playing! Stop playing! You guys, go to sleep!"
As soon as she left the card table, Lin Yan lost all her energy. She yawned, went back to her room, and collapsed onto the bed, falling asleep immediately.
The others weren't much better off; they all fell asleep as soon as their heads hit the pillow.
Outside, the occasional sound of firecrackers could still be heard, but only Huang was awakened and huddled in the corner of his doghouse. The others, who were sleeping soundly, couldn't hear it at all.