Before long, Xi left after breakfast, following his mother-in-law's orders, and was invited by Brother Er Hu to help clean snow clams.
When Chen Lan finished tidying the kitchen, she saw a heartwarming scene. Her three younger brothers were each engrossed in reading a book, while her mother held a book in one hand and pushed the baby stroller with the other. The stroller was quiet, with only the rustling of pages and the patter of rain outside. It was a peaceful and cozy picture, and Chen Lan couldn't bear to disturb them, standing at the kitchen door and watching.
Just then, the door of the car was suddenly pushed open, and Xi shouted loudly, "Xiao Lanzi!"
Chen Lan couldn't stop him in time and could only gesture a "shush" at him.
The loud shout from Xi startled the two babies in the stroller, who began to whimper and cry. The warm and harmonious atmosphere inside the car was instantly broken.
Chen Lan glared fiercely at Xi. Xi awkwardly touched his nose and gave Chen Lan a sheepish smile, then awkwardly called out, "Wenrou Niang, Madam! Oh! No, Auntie!"
Wenrou Niang smiled gently at Xi, waved her hand to indicate she didn't mind, put down her book, and gently rocked the stroller with one hand while patting the two babies with the other, humming a lullaby.
Seeing the situation in the stroller, Xi quickly pulled Chen Lan into the kitchen, lowering his voice and saying softly, "Xiao Lanzi, look, it's still raining, and everyone can't do anything. Everyone was cooped up in the car all day yesterday, and it's still raining today. Everyone asked me to come and ask if you have anything fun here?"
Chen Lan asked softly, "Little Watermelon, didn't you go to help clean the snow clams? Why did you sneak back to be lazy? If your mother-in-law finds out, see how she deals with you?"
Xi quickly explained, "I went to help, I wasn't being lazy. We finished cleaning all the snow clams, and Lin Mai is handling them now. Lin Mai said she doesn't need us anymore, so we came back. We even dug a hole to bury the dirty stuff we cleaned."
Chen Lan looked suspicious. Seeing Chen Lan didn't believe him, Xi extended his hand and placed it in front of Chen Lan's nose, saying, "Don't believe me? Smell it, my hands still smell fishy!"
Chen Lan sniffed and indeed detected a fishy odor. She then asked, "It's only been such a short time, you're quite fast! It's all done so quickly. It's true that many hands make light work!"
Seeing Chen Lan praise their speed, Xi immediately seized the opportunity, deliberately playing the victim and saying, "Xiao Lanzi, you have no idea! Those snow clams have a fishy, sticky mucus. It's inconvenient to work with gloves, so we have to grab the snow clams with our bare hands to handle them. You have no idea! That thing is slippery in your hands, and it's alive. If you don't grab it properly, it'll escape."
"Xiao Lanzi, this job is a lot of work for your brother. It's not easy at all!"
As he spoke, he moved a step closer to Chen Lan and said softly and sheepishly,
"Xiao Lanzi, does your father-in-law have anything fun?"
Chen Lan thought about it. It would be really unpleasant to keep several grown men cooped up in the car all day with nothing to do. So she said, "Do you know how to play chess?"
Xi shook his head and said, "That's what the old men at the alley entrance play. None of us young people play that. Uncle Fu and Uncle De probably know how to play. I've seen them watching a few times when I passed by the alley entrance."
Chen Lan continued to ask, "Do you know how to play Go?"
Xi still shook his head, "No. That's too elegant. I'm a vulgar person."
When Chen Lan heard Xi say that, she directly asked, "Little Watermelon, tell me the truth, what do you really want to play?"
Xi stammered softly, "They asked me to ask you? Do you have mahjong?"
When Chen Lan heard Xi mention mahjong, she decided to tease him and make things a bit difficult. So she said, "Mahjong? Sure! But..."
Xi was waiting to be scolded by Chen Lan after telling her they wanted to play mahjong. When he heard Chen Lan say it was okay, he immediately became happy. Then, when he heard "but...", and there was no follow-up, he immediately became anxious and asked, "Xiao Lanzi, but what? Tell me, hurry up!"
Chen Lan said unhurriedly, "If you want to play mahjong, don't you at least need to know who invented mahjong?"
Xi was initially nervous about not being able to answer Chen Lan's question, but when he heard it was this question, he immediately became smug and started showing off again. "Xiao Lanzi, to be honest with you, I actually know the answer to the question you asked.
There are a few folk sayings about the origin of mahjong. Xiao Lanzi, listen carefully!"
"The first saying is that it was invented by Zheng He of the Ming Dynasty. It is said that when Zheng He sailed to the West, the sailors on the fleet felt that life was becoming monotonous during the long voyage. So Zheng He designed a game called 'Bamboo Tiles' for the sailors to pass the time when they had nothing to do.
The second saying is that it was invented by a man named Wan Bingzao in the Ming Dynasty, inspired by the 108 heroes in 'Water Margin'.
The third saying is that it was invented by Chen Yumen of Ningbo in the twenty-ninth year of Daoguang in the Qing Dynasty.
Anyway, there are all sorts of theories. Some even say in unofficial histories that mahjong was invented by Li Qingzhao!
Xiao Lanzi, I've studied mahjong. I've also summarized some winning strategies for playing mahjong.
When Xi said this, Chen Lan became interested and asked eagerly, "Little Watermelon, what are the winning strategies? Tell me quickly!"
Xi became smug again and immediately showed off, saying, "Xiao Lanzi, I'll teach you a few tricks today. Listen carefully!"
"First, don't eat the first tile. That is, don't eat the first tile played by another player if possible.
Second, whether to 'gang' or not depends on the situation. You need to observe the board carefully, so as not to let others 'gang' and win.
Third, play good tiles first. That is, any tile you don't need, no matter how good it is, should be discarded early to avoid others eating it, making a 'peng', or even causing others to 'dian pao' (discard a tile that completes another player's hand).
Fourth, if the dealer is consecutive, don't play East. This means if the dealer has won several hands in a row, their luck is strong, so you should definitely not play East first.
Fifth, play known tiles first. As the name suggests, follow with known tiles to avoid 'dian pao'.
Sixth, listen for a win with two tiles, not three. This means there is a saying in mahjong, 'Gold three, silver seven'. So winning with three or seven is more difficult than winning with two or eight.
Seventh, discard lone tiles and keep connected tiles. This means discarding single tiles that have no support first. Connected tiles with support are easier to form a winning hand.
Eighth, break pairs, keep combinations.
Ninth, don't 'nie pai' (a specific mahjong term for handling tiles). Discard broken tiles without hesitation.
Having said that, Xi paused, wanting to continue explaining to Chen Lan and improve her skills. Chen Lan quickly stopped him.
Chen Lan said, "Enough! Enough! Little Watermelon, I believe you. I believe you are a mahjong master. Tell me, how many of you want to play mahjong?"
When Xi heard Chen Lan ask this, he thought Chen Lan was going to settle accounts with others and immediately said nervously, "No one wants to play, only I want to play, really! Xiao Lanzi, I'm really not lying to you, you have to believe me!"
Chen Lan looked at Xi's nervous appearance and burst into laughter. She stopped teasing him.
Smiling, she said, "Little Watermelon, if you don't tell me how many people want to play mahjong, how do I know how many sets of mahjong to get for you?"
When Xi heard Chen Lan say this, he instantly became overjoyed, as if spring had returned to his heart. He said with a grin, "Not many people, just get us two sets of mahjong."
Chen Lan couldn't help but chuckle when she heard Xi say this. She said, "Little Watermelon, you say not many people want to play mahjong, but almost everyone is participating. And you still say not many people. You're something else!"
Xi sheepishly touched his nose and gave Chen Lan a silly smile.
Xi happily took the two sets of mahjong and the chess sets for Uncle Fu and Uncle De and strode away triumphantly!