Chen Hao poured the last piece of shredded radish into the pot, oil splattering onto the back of his hand, which he shook off.
"Is it hot?" Nana asked.
"It's alright." He stirred it a couple of times. "I want it spicy tomorrow."
After the dishes were cooked, the two of them sat down at a small table in the living area, bowls in hand. After the meal, he leaned back in his chair, put his feet up on another stool, and stared at the ceiling.
"I get tired of playing chess every day," he said.
"You said you wanted to play chess yesterday."
“Yes, but just playing chess makes my brain feel like it’s filled with rooks, knights, and cannons.” He sat up straight. “Can’t we do something else?”
Nana didn't move, and the optical lens flickered slightly.
“Expandable entertainment modules,” she said. “I have complete rules for Go, Gomoku, Snakes and Ladders, and Monopoly.”
"Monopoly? Doesn't that involve rolling dice?"
"It can be done."
"You actually take it seriously."
"You said you wanted to upgrade."
He laughed, "Alright, let's do it."
After finishing their meal and cleaning up the kitchen, the two went straight to the materials room. Chen Hao squatted down and rummaged through boxes, pulling out a metal plate.
“This can be used as the base of a chessboard,” he said.
"I suggest using an etching method to create the grid," Nana said, taking the metal plate. "Different games can use different cover paper to switch between them."
"I'll listen to you."
She took an electro-etching pen from the tool cabinet, turned it on, and drew nineteen vertical and horizontal lines on the metal plate. The lines were even, and the intersections were precise.
"Go is ready," she said.
"Looks pretty professional." He touched it. "Where's the Gomoku game?"
“Use the same base plate and switch to 15-way marking.” She pulled up the drawings. “Only the top layer of paper needs to be replaced.”
"save trouble."
Next came the chess pieces. They dug out a pile of discarded plastic parts, ready to melt them down and mold them into shapes.
"The black color is achieved by dyeing the circuit board with toner," Nana said. "The white color is achieved by mixing plaster with glue."
"You even know this?"
"The database contains 327 simple chess piece manufacturing plans."
"You're a walking encyclopedia."
The plastic was placed in the furnace and heated, slowly softening. Nana controlled the temperature, while Chen Hao used a mold to press out round pieces. The first batch came out crooked, so he picked them up and examined them.
"Looks like it's been gnawed by a cat."
"The second batch of parameters has been adjusted."
Sure enough, the later batches were much neater. After cooling, the black pieces were glossy black, and the white pieces were whitish. He grabbed a handful and rubbed them in his hand.
"It feels good," he said. "Although they are different sizes, as long as you can tell the black from the white, it's fine."
"The count is complete," she said. "180 black, 178 white."
"Two short?"
"The spare parts are in the box."
He divided the chess pieces into two small tin boxes and labeled them. Black was labeled "Ink" and white was labeled "Snow".
"Have you chosen a name yet?"
"We can't just call them number one or number two."
She didn't say anything, but scanned the label into the system.
After finishing Go, they moved on to Gomoku (Five in a Row). They printed 15 lines on a piece of paper, marking the edges with numbers and letters to make it easier to record the placement of pieces.
"Do you want to memorize the coordinates?" he joked.
"It has been recorded in memory."
"I'm speaking like a human being."
"I know."
The two of them smiled.
The next morning, we started playing Snakes and Ladders.
“That’s easy.” Chen Hao found a large waterproof sheet. “Just draw a grid and add a pattern.”
"A start point, an end point, and an event cell need to be set."
“When you reach the ‘power outage’, take three steps back; when you reach the ‘newly harvested potatoes’, take five steps forward.”
"Reasonable."
He drew a hundred spiral paths on the cloth with a marker, and Nana corrected the lines with a laser pointer. He drew a smiley face to represent himself and stuck it at the starting point.
What are you drawing?
"avatar."
"It doesn't look like it."
"Abstract art".
Next up is Monopoly. The most difficult one is the dice.
“There are no molds,” he said.
“The bearing is usable.” Nana disassembled an old calculator. “A hexahedral ball bearing, standard size.”
"What are you planning to do?"
She used a laser engraving tool to carve dots on each side. Once finished, she tossed it gently onto the table, where it landed with a crisp sound.
"six."
"It's really useful."
"The center of gravity has been calibrated."
The card section uses waterproof label paper. Chen Hao handwritten the rules: "Purchase a greenhouse, rent is two screws." "Pass by the fuel warehouse, collect basic supplies."
“Drip irrigation malfunction?” he wrote. “Stop one cycle.”
"It makes sense."
"There's also a 'sudden power outage' event, where you draw a crisis card."
"There are only two at the moment."
"That's enough, we don't have anyone else to play with anyway."
He suddenly stopped. "What if there are more people later?"
"Can increase player slots."
"Then leave more empty seats."
They made twenty land cards and ten event cards, stuffing them all into a small plastic bag.
Finally, there's storage.
Chen Hao pulled out a discarded toolbox with three shelves that came in handy. The bottom shelf held a metal chessboard, the middle shelf was divided into compartments for chess pieces, dice, and card packs, and the top shelf was left empty.
"We'll put new games here from now on," he said.
Nana pasted a diagram on the inside of the box lid, showing the layout and rule summary of all the games. She also plugged in the base's power and installed a small display screen in the corner.
"Current game: Not enabled." The screen lights up, "Number of pieces remaining: Black 180, White 178."
"It can still count?"
"The infrared sensor array is embedded in the bottom of the box."
"You're too curly."
"It's just optimization."
He placed the dice into the special slot and closed the box. Under the night light, the box sat in the center of the table, like a formally released suit.
“Give it a name,” he said.
"Winter Entertainment Set"
"Okay, let's call it that."
He sat back in his folding chair, crossed his legs, and said, "Let's call up the others tomorrow and have a championship match."
"Currently, it supports up to four people participating at the same time."
"First come, first served."
"The rules and regulations need to be issued in advance."
"You're in charge of sending the winnings, and I'll be in charge of winning."
"You lost to me three times in chess last week."
That's a warm-up.
"Data records show that you take an average of seven seconds to think each step."
"Fast means efficient."
"It could also be an impulse."
"Anyway, we'll play a different game tomorrow." He stretched. "I'm definitely good at Go."
"You never got off."
"I'm getting the feeling."
"There is no basis for this judgment."
"One must have faith in oneself."
He stood up and walked to the window. Outside, it was still snowing, everything was white. Inside, the light was steady, the box on the table was closed, and all the parts were back in their places.
“Before, I was only thinking about how to survive,” he said. “Now I can think about other things, which is good.”
"Entertainment helps regulate mental state."
“I’m not doing this for relaxation,” he said, turning back. “I really want to have fun.”
She stood in front of the control panel, the optical lens turned towards him.
"The sentiment index rose by 19 percent."
"Then you shouldn't keep track of the data."
"Why?"
"You should try it too."
“I can learn the rules.”
“It’s not about studying,” he said, walking back. “It’s about being fully engaged.”
"Investment?"
"Don't keep thinking about win rate and loss rate." He opened the box, took out the dice, and said, "Roll one."
She took it, pressed her fingers against it, and tossed it gently.
The dice spun on the table, hit the game box, and stopped.
five.
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