The Big Landlord - Chapter 92.2

Soon it was time for lunch.

The two went to the dining hall. Qiu Lan had already brought the little bun over.

The lao wang ye was also there. Although he was sitting properly in his chair, his eyes would dart over to the little bun from time to time. But it was just limited to this, because Head Steward Fu was also there today.

Seeing that the two of them have arrived, Head Steward Fu ordered the kitchen to begin serving the food. This was the first time that he was eating at the same table as An Zi Ran. After learning his identity, An Zi Ran was not a bit surprised.

The little bun did not eat much. Being eight months old meant that he had already weaned off milk. Nowadays, what he ate was the rice paste made by grinding the best rice grains. The texture was very good and the little bun liked to eat it. Usually, it took some time for little babies to wean off milk, but the little bun didn’t need it at all, and was adapting very well.

There were more people than usual this afternoon. Qiu Lan was a bit nervous and made several mistakes while feeding the baby.

The little bun ate and ate and then refused to eat anymore. His watery eyes looked at the group of adults who were eating, looking very innocent and naïve.

Lao wang ye couldn’t help but look at the little bun a couple of times. He opened his mouth, wanting to talk, but then Head Steward Fu stared at him and he swallowed back his words. He looked really pitiful, but no one sympathized with him.

An Zi Ran couldn’t bear to watch any longer, and mercifully sent Qiu Lan away. Then he took the little bun into his arms and personally fed him the rice paste. When the little bun ate, he was very quiet. He didn’t cry, didn’t make trouble, and didn’t squirm about. When the rice paste was delivered to his little mouth, he automatically opened up and ate it.

“This little guy is so cute, just like Wu Tian when he was little.”

Fu Yi looked at them happily and suddenly recalled the time twenty years ago when he personally took care of Fu Wu Tian. At that time, Fu Wu Tian was also only a few months old. His parents were already not by his side. Babies usually cried and made a lot of noise, but he was not like that.

Lao wang ye echoed this sentiment right away. “Just like Wu Tian. They must be father and son.”

The people who heard this sentence didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.

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But Fu Wu Tian smiled without a word.

The meal ended in this harmonious atmosphere and everyone moved into the main hall. An Zi Ran held on to the little bun, who suddenly became excited and lively after eating the rice paste. Originally, he wanted to coax the child to sleep, but those deep crow-black eyes were opened wider than anyone’s. There wasn’t even a bit of sleepiness in those eyes.

Not long after, two servants moved a set of table and chairs over.

An Zi Ran had Fu Wu Tian bring out a set of the playing cards from the wooden box that they had brought back from the engraving workshop that morning. The novelty immediately caught the lao wang ye and Head Steward Fu’s attention.

“What is this?” Head Steward Fu was flabbergasted as he looked at the paper with strange patterns printed on it. However, when he saw the two characters on the back of the card he guessed what it was for. He knew that An Zi Ran was getting ready to open up Tian Long Gambling House, but he didn’t know what An Zi Ran was planning to do with it. At first, he had thought it would be about the same as other casinos.

“Playing cards. You can play a lot of games with them. I intend to add these into the gambling house and promote them in order to attract gambling customers.” An ZI Ran explained.

Lao wang ye also became interested. “Granddaughter-in-law, how do you play with this?”

An Zi Ran placed the little bun atop the table. The little bun also seemed to be very curious. He braced himself with his arms, sitting right in the center of the group of adults, appearing both comical and cute.

An Zi Ran set out thirteen cards of the same color and suit, as well as the two jokers. For the convenience of the gambling customers, cards one through ten used Chinese characters in the upper and lower corners, as opposed to Arabic numerals. The only ones that did not change were the jack, queen, king, and two jokers – these five.

An Zi Ran first explained to them the meaning of each card, and then taught them the most popular game that would circulate in later generations, which was ‘Fight the Landlord!’

“Fight the Landlord?”

Upon hearing the name of this game, Fu Wu Tian’s smiling eyes fell on An Zi Ran. There was a hint of scrutiny in his gaze.

Fu Wu Tian smiled and said, “Very interesting name.”

An Zi Ran expected that there would be such a reaction, and then explained, “This is a two against one game. Two farmers form a coalition to go up against one landlord. You play until the landlord or one of the two farmers finishes putting down all the cards in their hand. Whoever finishes first is the winner. This is a relatively common form of game play. It’s not very fitting for the gambling table, but it is a suitable game for when a group of people have nothing to do.”

After listening to the explanation, they were eager to give the game a try.

Three generations of the same family, each holding a deck of cards.

An Zi Ran went beside the lao wang ye to give guidance. Head Steward Fu and Fu Wu Tian were smarter, they understood after listening to An Zi Ran’s instructions. Only the lao wang ye was still inadequate at grasping the game, but after a few rounds of playing, he also understood. He shouted “landlord, landlord” with such a loud and majestic voice, that unsuspecting people would think he was on the battlefield.

Translations by Vanilla Muse.

Only after looking at his cards did An Zi Ran know that he was shouting randomly. As a result, not long after he was slaughtered on the playing card table. Lao wang ye wailed in anger, demanding yet another game, but he was once again soundly thrashed and lost.

“One more time, this time I will definitely win.” Lao wang ye was unwilling to forgive (those who kicked his ass at cards).

An Zi Ran was worried that he would renege again, and warned him in advance, “When your cards are not good enough, don’t casually shout out ‘landlord,’ otherwise you will die very miserably.”

Lao wang ye nodded, but he only half-understood. He was not the banker, so he had to wait until Fu Wu Tian went before it was his turn. Lao wang ye saw that his grandson did not call, and so he glibly called out ‘landlord’ with vigor. Then he happily and smoothly picked up the three cards on the table and put them into his hand.

What he didn’t know was that Fu Wu Tian did this deliberately.

Because what they were betting was that every time the lao wang ye lost a round of cards, he would be grounded for a few days. Contrarily, if he won, they would cancel out a few days of grounding.

Head Steward Fu smiled very gently, because he liked this bet very much.

This kind of game play disadvantaged the lao wang ye the most, but the person in question was very excited. He did not notice the unfairness at all. By the time he realized it, he had accumulated three years worth of grounding.

Head Steward Fu stood up and straightened out the creases on his clothes. He turned to the lao wang ye who had a dull expression on his face, and said meaningful and heartfelt words: “Three years!” After saying this, he left the prince’s palace to attend to work. It was the first time he felt that it was worth it to squander an hour worth of time with the lao wang ye.

An Zi Ran left the main hall with the tired little bun.

Fu Wu Tian followed after him.

Lao wang ye was left all alone in the aftermath of his tragic lost.

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