The Grand Gamble

Li Ruoying pulled Liu Jun up and sat down by herself, saying to the others behind her, “Whoever wants to play, take a seat.” Liu Jun had lost all his own possessions, and had even gambled away his brothers’ things, so he had no choice but to drop out. Mu Qingxi looked at Lao Hou, Lao San, and Lao Si and said, “Two out of you three, let’s have a real, honest high-stakes match.”

Lao Hou understood what Mu Qingxi meant—this round would be played straight, no tricks. “Alright, in that case, I’ll join in. I’ll wager one week of free drinks at this bar.” He sat down and looked at the others. “Which of you two will play?”

Without hesitation, Lao Si took a seat. “I will. It’s been ages since I played, and I’d like to match wits with these two lovely ladies. I’ll put up this lighter that’s been with me for years.”

“Zippo, black ice, that’s a hefty bet, Lao Si!” Lao Hou laughed.

“If you’re all being so generous, I can’t be stingy either, can I? I’ll put in all the junk I just won.” Mu Qingxi was secretly delighted—this way, she wouldn’t have to risk her own belongings. If she had to bet her own things and lost, that would be a real shame. Just looking at Lao Hou and Lao Si’s high stakes made her ache—a week’s worth of bar tabs, and even though the black ice lighter wasn’t so expensive now, back then Lao Si had saved up for ages to buy it.

The others, hearing Mu Qingxi’s words, couldn’t help but twitch at the corners of their mouths. Lao Hou started coughing, “Ahem, ahem, ahem.”

Liu Jun suddenly stood up, wanting to scold Mu Qingxi, but managed to restrain himself.

Li Ruoying reacted the most strongly, pointing a finger right at Mu Qingxi’s face. “Mu Qingxi, have you no shame? Are those even your things?”

“How are they not mine? I won them fair and square—unless you think they’re yours?” Qin Yu retorted.

“And another thing, Li Ruoying,” Mu Qingxi continued, following up on Qin Yu’s words, “you’re pointing one finger at me, but three back at yourself. Best put it away. Are we playing or not? If not, forget it.”

Fuming, Li Ruoying dropped her hand and snapped, “Fine, I’ll play.” The four of them began to shuffle the tiles.

“Dealer. Three bamboos,” Lao Hou declared, tossing down his tiles.

“One dot,” Mu Qingxi announced, looking at her hand.

“East wind,” said Lao Si.

“White dragon,” Li Ruoying said hesitantly.

“Four bamboos.”

“Pung!” Li Ruoying called.

When it was Li Ruoying’s turn again: “Four bamboos, kong.”

...

A few minutes passed, and Li Ruoying complained, “What’s with these lousy tiles today? It’s been so long and nothing. South wind.”

“One dot.”

When Mu Qingxi’s turn came, she reached for a tile, felt it for a moment, and cursed silently. How could it be like this? After all the effort, she’d drawn this! Should she play it or not? A heavenly hand! She didn’t like it at all.

Forget it, she’d just discard it. Better to believe in fate. Mu Qingxi tossed out a tile. “Six bamboos.”

No sooner had she put it down than Li Ruoying jumped up, exclaiming, “Ha! I win!”

“Heavenly hand! Well, isn’t that something!” Lao Hou said sarcastically. He’d noticed Mu Qingxi’s conflicted expression and was sure she’d had a heavenly hand too, but she’d let it go.

Liu Jun’s expression changed as well, while Li Ruoying was still shouting excitedly, “Heavenly hand? Of course it’s good—I win, you all lose!”

“Come on, Li Ruoying, we’re breaking up.” Liu Jun said, and without another word, they left, not even bothering to take their things, as if they didn’t want them anymore.

Mu Qingxi thought to herself, no one would want something won with a heavenly hand anyway!

Only the clueless Li Ruoying was left standing by the table, looking dazed.

Mu Qingxi, Qin Yu, Lao Hou, and the rest also left. Mu Qingxi hadn’t expected that Li Ruoying didn’t really understand mahjong at all, that she could play and not even know what a heavenly hand was—clearly, she’d just been collecting tiles at random.