Chapter 19: Supreme Treasure? Monkey King Pair?

Holding the chicken, Ye Yaodong looked at the group of childhood friends seated around the table, his eyes filled with laughter.

Money or no money, happiness was what mattered most!

He silently counted heads in his heart—Little Little, Azheng, Fatty, Mouse, Chen Wei, plus Guang who had gone to the dock. The Seven Scoundrels of Baisha were all here!

At this time in his life, he was closest with Little Little, Azheng, and Guang. But only a few years later, the three of them would all leave and go their separate ways. Only the others remained in the village, occasionally returning many years later.

He told Guang’s younger sister to boil some water while he took out a bowl to collect the chicken blood later.

After sharpening the kitchen knife a few more times, he skillfully grabbed the rooster by the comb, plucked a small patch of feathers from its neck, then raised the sharp blade and slit its throat cleanly in one stroke.

The rooster struggled desperately, splattering a few drops of blood, but most of it dripped neatly into the bowl. Later, they only needed to mix in a spoonful of saltwater and let it sit for twenty minutes. It would solidify into chicken blood curd, which could then be stir-fried with the innards into a delicious dish.

The water hadn’t boiled yet, so Ye Yaodong casually tossed the still-twitching rooster aside and wandered over to watch them gamble.

“Oh ho, not playing Fifty-K anymore? Switched to Pai Gow?”

“With only five people, we can’t play Fifty-K, so we’re using poker cards to play Pai Gow instead. You wanna bet? This round’s about to reveal. If you want in, wait for the next one.”

He shook his head. He didn’t plan to gamble.

This stuff was different from regular card games. Better not touch it if possible. Watching was enough.

Little Little held his two cards and casually responded while pressing his thumb against the upper-left corner of the cards, slowly inching it upward little by little…

At the same time, he shouted excitedly, “Hearts… hearts… there it is! No border… no border… it’s coming, it’s coming…”

Stretching his neck forward, Ye Yaodong saw that the first card was a Joker. The second card revealed a sliver of red under Little Little’s thumb. As it slid a bit farther, it was obvious there was no edge marking!

“Holy crap, no border? Then it’s either a 2 or a 3! Are you about to get Supreme Treasure?”

They were using poker cards in place of Pai Gow tiles. The Joker represented a 6, and the 3 of Hearts represented a 3. That combination together was called Supreme Treasure—the Monkey King Pair!

Little Little was also incredibly excited. There was no border pattern and no visible number edge, meaning the card underneath could only be a 2 or a 3.

He carefully pushed the two cards back together and shouted at the others, “Did any of you guys get a 3?”

The others urged impatiently:

“Stop dragging it out already! We’ve all checked our cards. We’re just waiting for you to reveal yours!”

“Yeah, hurry up! Is it Supreme Treasure or not?”

“Want us to help you flip it?”

“No! I’ll do it myself!”

Little Little twisted his body around to dodge them.

“Then hurry up! You’re gonna bend the cards to death!”

“What’s the rush? Men shouldn’t be fast!”

Keeping his thumb pressed on the upper-left corner, already knowing the hidden card was either a 2 or a 3, he stopped pulling to the right and instead slowly slid the first card downward.

The moment the first heart symbol appeared, he started chanting excitedly again:

“3! 3! 3! Hearts… hearts… holy crap, Supreme Treasure…”

He slammed the two cards onto the table excitedly.

“It really is Supreme Treasure! Monkey King Pair! Hurry up, pay up! Pay up!”

The two cards had already been bent by how tightly he had squeezed them. Everyone else clearly saw the Joker and the 3 of Hearts and immediately started cursing.

“Damn it, it really is Supreme Treasure!”

At that moment, Guang returned. From far away, he had already heard them shouting about Supreme Treasure. Shock drove him to run over quickly.

“What Supreme Treasure? Who got Supreme Treasure? That insane?”

“Little Little! Damn it, his luck’s ridiculous! And he was the banker too! He swept everyone!”

“What kind of bullshit luck is this? I even got the Heavenly King Pair with a mixed Nine!”

“That’s nothing! I got a pair of red eights—the Human Pair! I thought I’d won for sure, but I ran into Supreme Treasure instead. Damn it, such a good hand wasted! Got me excited for nothing!”

“Heh, luckily I only had a 4 and a 6. At least I died honorably!”

Azheng also grinned and said, “Same. I had a 5 and a 6. No hope from the start.”

Amid everyone’s swearing and complaints, Little Little happily swept all the crumpled bills in front of them into his hands, though he still sounded slightly regretful.

“The stakes were too small. Just a few mao each. No fun at all~ What a waste of my Supreme Treasure~”

“Be satisfied already! You wiped everyone out! We’ve been playing for so long and none of us have ever gotten Supreme Treasure before!”

Guang felt fortunate he had returned late. Otherwise, he definitely would’ve placed a bet too.

Supreme Treasure… he’d narrowly escaped disaster. Today actually seemed pretty lucky!

“We should’ve made an exception and let Dongzi bet too. Could’ve squeezed one more victim out of him!”

Ye Yaodong rolled his eyes.

“What, you want my two cents too?”

“Of course! Even mosquito meat is still meat!”

“Forget it. While your luck’s hot, hurry and play a few more rounds!”

“Right, right, again, again!”

Little Little grabbed the cards to shuffle for another round, but Fatty suddenly refused.

“I’m done! Finally got a pair of red eights and still ran into Supreme Treasure. What rotten luck!”

“Come on, it’s not like you’re poor anyway. We’re barely betting anything. A little gambling is good for the mood. Keep going!”

In those days, anyone who could grow that fat clearly came from a well-off family. And his entire family was fat too!

The reason was simple: everyone in his family worked as cooks.

As the old saying went, “If cooks don’t steal, the grain stores won’t fill.”

So his family had always eaten the best food in the village.

Fatty’s massive body proved he definitely never lacked good meals!

“Then let me be banker, or I’m not playing anymore!”

“Fine, fine~”

Anyway, the stakes were tiny. Money just circulated among the group, and most of the winnings ended up spent on food. Nobody really lost out.

After Guang returned, he casually handed the crabs and mantis shrimp he had bought to his younger sister before joining the game himself.

Entertainment options for adults in the countryside were pitifully few in those days. They weren’t children anymore—the joy of climbing mountains and diving into the sea had all been experienced long ago. In the scorching heat, nobody wanted to go outside and roast under the sun, so all they could do was stay indoors and play cards.

Ye Yaodong also watched with great interest.

Actually, he still had two yuan in his pocket, probably money he had won gambling yesterday. He wasn’t entirely sure—his memory was fuzzy.

Watching them play, he touched his pocket several times but restrained himself in the end.

This was all the money he had.

Pai Gow depended too much on luck. But regular card games? Those he could play. His skills were pretty good, and he rarely lost money.

After watching for a while, Guang’s younger sister told him the water had boiled, so he reluctantly pulled his gaze away and went back to work.

“Hiss~ Damn, that’s hot!”

Ye Yaodong shook his hands while plucking the rooster’s feathers.

You had to scald the chicken with boiling water first to make plucking easier, but it was seriously burning him alive.

When had he ever done this kind of work before?

Wasn’t watching cards more entertaining?

Seriously, seeing all his old friends in their younger days had made him so happy that he completely lost himself.

(End of Chapter)