Chapter Forty-Seven Mahjong

  The next day, Song Kai rubbed his panda eyes and got up early. He was pulled by Nie Lingdang and played until late at night.

  Nie Lingdang can sleep in, after all the hotel opens late, but Song Kai is not allowed to do so, he has to go for morning training every day and cannot oversleep.

  Mounted his horse and galloped towards the back mountain of Suzhou city.

  Carrying a wooden stump while running, practicing fist and footwork, doing push-ups, after finishing the whole set, Song Kai was panting heavily.

  "Song Kai! You've also been practicing for over half a month now, I see that your strength and speed have increased quite well recently, it's time to engage in actual combat. Niu Er, you come and spar with Song Kai today," said Team Leader Ma Chao as he walked over towards Song Kai.

  "Good!"

  Song Kai jumped up, these days he had been watching others fight and kill all day long, now it was finally his turn to take the stage.

  Niu Er was someone Song Kai naturally knew, they were in cahoots. This guy smiled all day long, not very tall, but those bulging muscles were absolutely no worse than Ma Chao's.

  Niu Er also walked over, grinning at Song Kai with a silly smile.

  Song Kai said with a smile, "Niu Er, if you laugh at me again, I won't show any mercy."

  "I'll go easy on you," Niu Er said with a silly grin.

  As they spoke, Song Kai and Niu Er charged at each other with their fists flying.

  Before the fist even landed on Niu Er's body, Song Kai felt his body go empty, and then with a "bang" sound, Song Kai felt like his bones were splitting apart as he crashed to the ground.

  "Let's go!" Song Kai shouted, this gap is too big!

  Niu Er walked over, helped Song Kai up, grinned foolishly and said, "When fighting with others, you must be alert and not afraid."

  Song Kai suddenly understood and nodded, he was a good student in his previous life, later became a doctor, this life's body is even more of a scholar's body, where would he have experience fighting.

  "Good, come on!"

  Song Kai and Niu Er started fighting again, with no surprise, Song Kai was thrown into the air once more. It wasn't until then that Song Kai realized Niu Er was incredibly skilled at wrestling.

  Two people compared their fist and foot skills, then picked up wooden weapons again. This time Song Kai and Niu Er were evenly matched. Niu Er used an axe, while Song Kai chose a wooden sword. The weapon was stained with white powder, whoever had more white spots on his body would lose. Looking at the number of points on both people, it seemed that Song Kai won slightly more.

  Ma Chao nodded and waved his hand: "Not bad, since you're a martial artist, it's fine if you don't fight normally, but once you start fighting, it's a matter of life and death. Your fist and footwork are not good, but your knife skills are not weak. In a life-and-death battle, you can hold your own. From now on, focus on practicing your knife skills."

  Song Kai nodded his head, secretly sighing in his heart that his knife skills were passed down by Zhou Ce, so they should be good enough.

  After morning training, Song Kai's face had two bruises on it as he rode his horse back to the Red Dust Inn.

  Nie Lingdang couldn't help but mock him a bit, and after mocking him, he pulled Song Kai down to play chess.

  Song Kai didn't care about this guy, after eating, he continued to carve mahjong.

  In the afternoon, a group of young people chattered and laughed as they entered the KFC restaurant, led by the round-faced and lovely Li Menghan.

  Li Menghan arrived at the counter and looked at Nie Lingting with an incredulous expression.

  Nie Lingdang was lowering her head to work on the account book, when she saw Li Menghan's gaze, her eyes widened and she said: "What are you looking at? Quickly go upstairs and sit properly." This Nie Lingdang wasn't that she didn't like Li Menghan, but rather she disliked Li Menghan's status. They were both county princesses, but Li Menghan was dressed in brocade and jade, while she herself was lucky to have met Song Kai, otherwise by now she would have been sold into servitude as a maid, insulted by some man.

  Li Menghan didn't get angry, but instead exclaimed in surprise: "So the shopkeeper is actually so beautiful! I used to think you were extremely ugly with that dog skin plaster on your face."

  When Li Menghuan boasted about her beauty, Nie Lingdang couldn't help but retort, casting a glance at Li Menghuan and saying: "You weren't born beautiful either. Are you here to find Song Kai again today?"

  Li Menghan nodded and looked around before turning back to the young men and women, saying: "You all go up first, today's meal needs to be paid in cash, got it?"

  Nie Ling Tong's expression softened even more upon hearing this, and she pulled Li Meng Huan's hand, "Come on, little sister, I'll take you to find Song Kai."

  Several young men and women saw Nie Zhong's face change so quickly, and they all felt a wave of disdain in their hearts.

  In the backyard, Song Kai was carving symbols on a piece of square wood.

  "What's this?" Li Menghan walked over and asked.

  Song Kai greeted Li Menghan and said, "This is Mahjong, a new type of chessboard I invented."

  As soon as she mentioned the chess game, Nie Lingdang suddenly remembered that although she didn't like Li Menghan's identity very much, she still quite liked Li Menghan as a person.

  "Come on, Meng Huan, let's play Go, it was also developed by Song Dynasty," Nie Lingdang dragged Li Menghuan to the counter.

  "But... I'm here to study..." Li Menghan hesitated.

  "What did you learn?" Song Kai asked.

  "It was that arithmetic problem from yesterday, my dad said to let you tell me the solution and the meaning of those symbols," Li Menghuan said.

  "Oh, let Nie Zhong teach you addition and subtraction first," said Song Kai.

  "Come on, let's play chess while I teach you," Nie Zhong still hadn't forgotten about the game of Go.

  In the afternoon, Song Kai carved a good mahjong and went to the front hall. The front hall was bustling with excitement. Li Menghan, Dabao, Erbao and others were all quarreling and playing chess. These people are also good at Go, but their skills are not very good. Five-in-a-row is much simpler, no need to look at the big picture, just look at three or four steps. A group of people surrounded and made a loud noise.

  "Watching chess without speaking is a true gentleman!" Nie Zhongzheng shouted, but no one paid attention to him, and some people were still pointing and whispering.

  Song Kai called out from beside them, saying: "Come on over, there's a new game here, who wants to come, I'll teach you."

  "I'm coming," Li Menghan threw down his Go pieces and ran over.

  Nie Lingdang hesitated for a moment, but thinking it was a new game, he also ran over. Just as Song Kai was about to call Dabao, Xue Weihai walked in from outside and laughed: "Song Kai, little friend, can you take an old man with you?"

  Li Menghan saw Xue Weihai and called out "Grandpa Xue".

  Song Kai said: "Just right, Xue Lao, come quickly, four people, let's play while I explain the rules."

  Four people sat down, Song Kai said the rules.

  Xue Weihai was initially a bit distracted and seemed to have a lot on his mind, but after listening to Song Kai's explanation for half a day, he was also drawn in.

  Song Kai taught the most common mahjong playing method, without any rules such as "pointing a gun" or "opening flowers". After four people played two rounds, each had some gains.

  After everyone hastily finished lunch, they continued to sit at the table. Song Kai switched to a big bao and took turns making a few moves. Even Xue Wei Hai, this old man, was having so much fun.

  The lively chess game in the guest house naturally attracted some guests. In this era, there are really too few entertainment projects. Apart from Go and listening to music, it's basically just chatting. As for going to a brothel, ordinary people can't afford it, and occasionally consuming once is enough. It's impossible to consume all day long.

  The more people gathered, the more they asked to play, but Mahjong only had one set, and Go and Chess were simple, so Song Kai gave some brief instructions on how to play.

  In the afternoon, two or three groups of people walked into the inn. These people had heard Autumn Moon's words and found Red Dust Inn.

  Qiu Yue was grateful to Song Kai, although she had not yet won the title of Huakui, she had already started helping Song Kai promote his Hongchen Guest House.

  Nie Ling's eyes lit up with a smile, and the business of the guest house finally had a glimmer of hope for improvement, although it was only a slight improvement.

  Song Kai took a look at the scene and thought it was feasible, so he let Ah Fu contact the carpenter to find a reliable and tight-lipped one to make a few more mahjong tables in the store.

  Xue Weihai walked over while busy in the backyard.

  "Xue Lao, aren't you going to play anymore?" Song Kai asked with a smile and a bow.

  Xue Weihai laughed a few times, stroked his beard and said, "The thing you invented is indeed good, but where did you learn it from?"

  "Our hometown, uh, I mean, from Shu's side, slightly improved, it became," Song Kai touched his nose, feeling a bit guilty.

  Xue Weihai didn't pursue the loopholes in Song Kai's words, he nodded and sighed, "If every day is peaceful and joyful like this, life isn't bad."

  "It's really not bad, and, Old Xue, aren't you more at ease? Every day is idle and has nothing to do, come to my shop and sit for a while. Unlike me, I still have to be busy with the guest house business," Song Kai said with a smile, moving a wooden stool over for Xue Weihai.

  Xue Wei Hai stared into Song Kai's eyes, not sitting down, and said: "Although it's still okay now, it's just the calm before the storm. You're a scholar, you must also know about the current situation of the Tang Dynasty. I...I want to invite you, not just me, but also the Crown Prince and the Princess, to invite you to serve the court, do you..."

  Song Kai waved his hand, "Xue Lao, I myself know how much weight I have, perhaps in these small matters, you think I'm quite clever, but actually, all of this is just petty cleverness, I'm a person who doesn't like to be restricted too much."

  As he spoke, Song Kai's expression turned serious. He said in a low voice: "Song Mou's shoulders are too small, and his vision is narrow. If one day, on the one hand, the country is in trouble, and on the other hand, the family is lost, Mr. Xue, Song Mou will not hesitate to choose to protect his family and abandon the country!"

  Xue Weihai's face changed slightly, and he glared at Song Kai for a moment before shaking his head gently. "Song Lang, I didn't expect you to be so selfish... Never mind, never mind. Today, I didn't come here to persuade you anyway. I came to tell you that Sun Tang has gone to Chang'an."

  "Has Sun Lao left Suzhou City? Why?" Song Kai wondered, then remembered that yesterday at the Princess's Mansion, he seemed to have seen Xue Weihai and Sun Tang discussing something.

  "He went to Chang'an as an imperial physician, before leaving, he thought for a long time and still wanted to tell you that your surgical holy formula, please...please keep it secret, don't let others know, he was in great pain, as a doctor should save lives and heal wounds, but Sun Lao said that your formula, if used in the military, can increase the survival rate of a 10,000-man army by one percent, if it falls into enemy hands..."

  At this point, Xue Weihai stopped talking and looked somewhat embarrassed.

  Song Kai waved his hand generously, "I understand, Old Xue, don't worry, I may be selfish, but I also know what's right and wrong. As for the formula, I might use it again, but I won't spread it around, at least not for now. Who knows, maybe decades later, when everything is stable, I'll release it for free, haha."

  "Goodbye," Xue Weihai nodded and turned to leave.