Siheyuan: Big City, Small Love

This year, tasks like pasting Spring Festival couplets were all done by the He old couple, so He Lai could only accompany them and chat.

Fortunately, Shazhu came over after a while.

"Brother Zhuzi, come on, I'll cook with you."

He Lai saw Sha Zhu and pulled him into the kitchen.

"Hey, this kid doesn't even know how to be polite." Old Mrs. He muttered as she watched the silly Zhu being pulled into the kitchen by He Lai as soon as he came in.

"Mom, it's okay. They are used to it. Just let them be." Wu Juan explained.

In the kitchen

"Xiao Laizi, how about we play poker together after the New Year's Eve dinner?"

Sha Zhu said to He while cutting a carp.

"Oh? Brother Zhuzi, you've started playing poker now."

He Lai heard this and asked, "Are playing cards becoming popular now? This is possible."

"Hey, isn't this the time to go fishing? Listen to what Xu Damao said. He asked me to call you. Besides, we have to keep watch at night."

"Okay, but do you know how to play?" He Lai was also curious about how to play poker in this era. Should he first teach them how to play Landlord and Double Knock?

"I haven't played it either. It's okay. Xu Damao knows how to play it."

"Okay, where do we play?"

"In Liu Guangtian's house in the front yard, other places are not convenient, right? If there are many people, the rain room will do, it's right next to it.

"Okay, Brother Zhuzi, aren't you afraid of the rain telling your dad about it?" When He Lai heard this, he was no wonder he was looking for him, it turned out that he had this idea!

"You are here, go talk to Yu Shui, there will be no problem."

Sha Zhu said with a smile.

He Lai rolled his eyes and could only agree reluctantly. He also wanted to play poker, but he had never played it since he came here.

He Lai suddenly thought of his own abilities. Isn't playing poker the same as cheating? If he goes to Macau or Las Vegas, he will be rich instantly!

Well, it’s good to have space here. You can have whatever you want.

During the few months that He Lai had been sleeping in space, he had gradually discovered that his physical strength had far exceeded that of ordinary people. It seemed that even without any special skills, he could still become stronger.

"Hey, He Lai, what are you thinking about? The fire is out." It was not the first time that Sha Zhu saw He Lai in a daze, so he could only go up and shake him.

He Lai then came to his senses and quickly stuffed two pieces of firewood into the stove.

"I was wondering how much money I should win from you tonight. Hey, by then, I'm going to get all of Zhuzi's private money."

"Just win, one point per game, more than that, no play." Sha Zhu said directly.

"It would be better to shave your nose."

"Okay, shave his nose! I'm going to break Xu Damao's nose."

Sha Zhu laughed.

After a while, the New Year’s Eve dinner was ready, and He Zhan finally returned in time for dinner.

The He Lai family sat around the dinner table, waiting for Grandpa He to announce that it was time to eat.

"Old man, say a few words." Seeing that Old Man He was slow to speak, Old Mrs. He reminded him.

"Oh, yes, yes, let me say a few words. I feel relieved now that San'er is back this year.

San'er, don't mess around anymore. You've been married for almost 20 years, but you've only been at home for a few years. You owe Juanzi and Xiaolaizi too much, and you have to make it up to them."

Mr. He said to He Zhan.

"Got it, Dad. I will definitely not go anywhere from now on and will always be with them."

After He Zhan finished speaking, he took Wu Juan's hand and looked at her with guilt.

Wu Juan's eyes also turned red. Pregnant women are so sensitive.

"Oh, it's New Year's Day and I asked you to say something happy. Why are you saying this? Forget it, forget it, let's eat."

Old Lady He couldn't stand it anymore and invited everyone to eat the New Year's Eve dinner. Old Man He was also a little embarrassed. Usually in the countryside, he would just announce the dinner directly, and he didn't want to let himself say a few words.

This sumptuous New Year's Eve dinner ended happily with everyone laughing and sharing food with each other.

Time passed quickly and before they knew it, it was dark. Everyone's faces were filled with happy smiles.

"Xiao Laizi, this is the New Year's money your grandparents gave you."

Old Mrs. He took out a thick red envelope and handed it to He Lai.

"Thank you, grandma. I wish you a happy new year. I hope you will be healthy, smile often, and have as much happiness as the East Sea and as long life as the Southern Mountains in the new year!"

He Lai bowed and blessed.

"Okay, okay, my dear grandson." Old Mrs. He pulled He over with a loving look on her face, smiling all the time.

"Dad, where is my New Year's money? You owe me a lot."

He Lai said to He Zhan with a smile in Old Lady He's arms.

"That father's money is all with your mother, just ask your mother to give it to you."

He Zhan looked embarrassed. He really had no money and he didn't have any side job. Wu Juan knew how much his salary was and when it would be paid. He really didn't have much money in his pocket.

"If you want New Year's money, come here and kowtow to your mother." Wu Juan said with a smile.

"Then I don't want it. I have a high salary now and I don't care about this little money."

He Lai said proudly.

Just as the stalemate was going on, Sha Zhu came over with rain.

"Godmother, grandpa, grandma, Uncle He, happy New Year." Yu Shui said with a smile.

"Come here quickly, mom has a big red envelope, and since someone doesn't want it, I'll give it to you."

Wu Juan immediately called Yu Shui to come forward and took out the New Year's money that she had prepared for He Lai.

"Thank you, mother." Yu Shui sat next to Wu Juan and took the red envelope.

After hanging around for a while, He Lai saw Sha Zhu winking at him and understood what he meant.

"Mom, Brother Zhuzi and I are going to go out and play for a while. You guys can chat. Yes, it's raining. When the time comes, maybe I'll have to borrow the room in the front yard for my brother to use."

After He finished speaking, he left with Sha Zhu.

"What room? Come on, brother, wait for me." When Yu Shui heard He Lai wanted the room in his front yard, he immediately followed him.

……

"Well, we wanted to play poker, but there was nowhere to play, so we played in broad daylight in the front yard," He Lai explained.

"Then you guys can play at Brother Guangtian's house. Why do you need my room? Chun'er and the others want to play too."

"Oh, didn't I say it was possible? I'm afraid there will be too many people and the room won't be able to accommodate them."

"Oh, but only you and your brothers are allowed into my room. No one else is allowed to enter."

"Brother Lai, you haven't given me the New Year's money yet."

"When I win your brother's money, I'll give you New Year's money."

"Then come on, brother, you win more." After saying that, Yu Shui went to find Chun'er and the others.

He Lai and his companion came to the front yard, and Xu Damao and his companions were already waiting in Guangtian's house.

The two walked into the room and saw Xu Damao discussing the rules of the game with Liu Guangtian and his brother.

"Brother Lai, come quickly, come quickly. Have you ever played poker? What Brother Damao says is too hard to understand." Liu Guangtian immediately greeted He Lai and Sha Zhu when he saw them.

"I haven't played it much, Brother Damao, how do you play it?" He Lai sat down and asked first.

"Hey, there are many ways to play. I know three of them. One is knocking three houses; one is lying on three houses; and one is catching the black cross."

Xu Damao collected the playing cards and introduced them.

"Are there six people who can play? Let's try it out while playing first." He Lai became interested when he heard the name.

"Then let's try to play knock three first."

"Row!"

In this way, six people sat at the table, and Xu Damao started to deal the cards, 9 cards per person.

He Lai smacked his lips, thinking that there were too few cards. After listening to Xu Damao's introduction, He Lai also knew the rules.

6 people are divided into two groups to participate in the game. Each person has 9 cards and sits at intervals. The gameplay is very simple.

After playing it a few times, everyone became familiar with it.

"How about it? Do you understand everything?" Xu Damao said with a smile.

All five of them nodded, indicating that they would understand once they got the hang of it.

"Then let's divide into groups. Brother Damao and I will pick the people."

"Okay, I'll be in a group with Xiao Laizi." Sha Zhu said first.

Xu Damao chose Huzi and Guangtian, and Guangfu went to Helai.

"Xiao Laizi, where did you agree to shave your nose?" Sha Zhu said with a smile.

"Look at you guys? I'm fine with it." He Lai said with a smile.

"Okay, one cent for one nose." Xu Damao also agreed.

After a few rounds, He Lai's team won most of the rounds thanks to He Lai's special abilities.

"No more playing, no more playing, Xiao Laizi is too good." Xu Damao thought that his team was already 24 points behind, so he quickly called a timeout.

"Okay, come on, 24 points, 8 points each, scratch your nose, scratch your nose." Sha Zhu smiled and was about to scratch Xu Damao's nose.

Xu Damao had no choice but to accept it.

"Damn, He Yuzhu, you shave so hard!" Xu Damao couldn't stand it anymore after being shaved five times by Shazhu at once. He turned his head away and refused to let him shave anymore.

"Hey, don't cheat, there are still three." This time, Sha Zhu prepared to scratch them one by one.

Xu Damao refused to give in.

"Brother Zhuzi, that's enough. It's New Year's Day." He Lai also found it funny and hurried to try to make peace.

"Okay, I'll let you go, do you want to play?" Seeing that He Lai had spoken, Sha Zhu had no choice but to give up.

"You can play, but I want to be in a group with Xiao Laizi." Xu Damao spoke up immediately, and the other three made the same request.

"How about trying my new way of playing?" He Lai said with a wry smile.

"Okay." "Okay." All five of them agreed.

He Lai quickly demonstrated to them how to play Landlord.

"This is good, this is good. Continue!" Xu Damao said.

Soon, He Lai started playing without using any abilities.

The noises of people vying for the title of landlord came one after another. In the end, after five rounds, Shazhu became the landlord and won every time. This hand was really good.

"He Yuzhu, what are you doing!"

"Scrape your nose? What are you doing? Don't you know it's the fifth inning?" Sha Zhu raised his hand with the thumbs up and leaned towards Xu Damao.

"I didn't say anything about the Landlord game just now. What do you think, Xiao Laizi?" Xu Damao argued while pushing away Sha Zhu's hand.

"Well, it seems that nothing was said. Why not just forget it?" He Lai thought about it and immediately suggested that he also had five.

"I can't let it go. I'll just owe it to you first and continue. Continue." Sha Zhu couldn't let it go like this.

"Come and play in broad daylight, I'll get you some fruit."

After He finished speaking, he gave his seat to Guangtian and ran out.

He Lai returned to the ear room in the central courtyard and immediately took out some apples, pears and dates from the space. He decided not to take grapes or the like as it was difficult to explain.