Yunling immediately narrowed her eyes, but no matter how narrowed her eyes were, under the high-speed rotation, the images of the more than twenty animals were no different from the ink stains on a blank sheet of paper, except that they were slightly different in length.
Yunling was a little flustered. She held the dart and waited for the Bagua plate to slow down before throwing it towards the target. With a "thud," it landed on the small area of the plate.
Gangzi and Tang Ling were overjoyed and about to clap their hands when they realized something was amiss. They looked at each other, wondering how to comfort Yunling, when the stall owner spoke up first:
“Young man, your dart throwing skills are indeed quite good, but your eyesight is a bit lacking. You hit our snake, not the dragon I wanted, so I'm sorry, I can't give you this glass bulb lamp.”
Yunling suddenly realized, but the snake and dragon were indeed drawn so similarly that it was quite misleading.
"Oh, my eyesight is poor. May I try again?"
"Yes, of course, sir. You just need to give me another fifty coins."
Yunling then broke off fifty more coins from the string of copper coins, but while she was breaking them off, she didn't stop. Her eyes were fixed on the Bagua plate, not just the dragon, but also memorizing the approximate positions of the other animals before handing the coins to the stall owner.
The stall owner smiled again:
"If you want the glass bulb lamp this time, you'll have to hit the Rabbit zodiac sign. Good luck, sir."
After saying that, the Bagua compass started spinning rapidly.
Gangzi immediately panicked. "Damn it," he thought, "this must be intentional. He just wants to swallow all the copper coins his eldest son has."
Tang Ling quickly pulled Gangzi back from taking a step forward. That's how this gambling business works. If you want to get much less, the seller is not a piece of pork on a chopping block that anyone can slaughter. This is a matter of willing takers. If it gets out of hand, even if it goes to Kaifeng Prefecture, they won't get any justice.
Yunling, however, remained calm and composed. She simply raised her hand, and the dart landed with a "snap" in the area designated for the Rabbit zodiac animal. This time, Gangzi was no longer angry, and the stall owner stopped laughing. Yunling simply said:
"Oh dear, I was just thinking of shooting this rabbit, but the stall owner mentioned rabbit. It seems that the stall owner and I have some kind of tacit understanding. The glass bulb lamp and I are even more destined for each other."
The stall owner forced a smile. He had finally acquired this treasure, hoping it would earn him some more money. Now, it had been taken away for just one hundred copper coins, so he was naturally not happy.
However, this gambling deal is all about accepting the consequences; even if you're unwilling, you have no choice but to give the goods away.
"Young master is truly remarkable. This glass bulb lamp is yours."
Yunling examined the glass bulb lamp carefully for a while before handing it over to Tangling to keep. This was meant for her aunt, and she didn't want to look at it anymore, lest she develop any bad intentions and get nagged by her aunt.
However, after the incident with the glass bulb lamp, Yunling learned a valuable lesson. Whenever she took a liking to something at a stall, she would first memorize the pattern on the Bagua compass before making a transaction, so as not to be caught off guard.
The three continued towards the stalls ahead, unanimously skipping the stalls where coins were tossed, because none of them had had much luck practicing tossing coins the night before, and they didn't want to rely on luck for something like this.
Following this idea, Yunling went from one end of the street to the other, fighting her way through. Gangzi and Zifu were overwhelmed with gifts. She took two old hens, two pieces of top-quality pork belly, two pig trotters, three boxes of soft-boiled persimmons, a deer penis, a golden hat, a long jacket, two painted fans, a revolving lantern, a chessboard, and a teacup...
With so many small trinkets, Gangzi had no choice but to buy two baskets: one for fresh food and the other for toys.
However, the three of them were quickly targeted. Many stall owners were intimidated by their large and small baskets. Even if they arrived first, they would pretend to be blind and let others have their turn, leaving them to fend for themselves.
"Boss, should I put everything back first?"
"Even if you put everything back, they will still recognize us."
"Then let's go somewhere else. There are plenty of stalls selling poker in the Ma Xing Street, Songmen, and Yonglu Street outside Xiliangmen. You won't have to worry about not having anything to do."
Yunling knew about other places where stalls were being raided, but right now her feet felt like they were embedded in cement, and even if you pulled her with an ox, you couldn't move her.
Tang Ling followed Yun Ling's gaze to the stall. The glass jar was sparkling in the sunlight. She knew then that Yun Ling had taken a liking to that glass jar.
The stall owner seemed to sense Yunling's intentions, and slightly turned his body to continue welcoming the people behind them. Yunling was in no hurry. Since he wanted to stall, she would stall with him. Anyway, she absolutely had that glass jar.
"Hey, it really is you guys. I felt like you looked familiar, and I didn't expect it to be you. What, didn't Pei Er come out with you?"
Yunling was feeling bored when someone came to cheer her up. This Liu Erlang was wearing new clothes and had his hair combed; he looked quite dashing.
"No, it's just some gambling stuff, I doubt he'd be interested."
"Bullshit! If he wasn't interested, would he go home and practice darts until the roulette wheel is all bumpy?"
Liu Erlang dusted off the faint dust on his body, straightened his back, put his hands behind his back, and said in a haughty manner:
“I’m not interested in these little trinkets at all. What’s so fun about them? If I see something I like, I’ll just buy it with money. There’s no need to go through all that trouble. Hey, which one do you like? I’ll buy it for you.”
“Our boss has everything he needs, why would he need you to deliver it? He's only putting up with this mess because he wants to join in the fun. Otherwise… I’d fucking… tear it down.”
The stall owner standing nearby trembled with fear. He knew Liu Erlang, a notorious playboy in the capital who was not to be trifled with. Moreover, he vaguely heard Gangzi say that he was going to demolish his stall. He was so frightened that his legs shook.
He could tell whether the glass jar or the stall was more important, and besides, it was the first day of the Lunar New Year, so it wouldn't be good to have a bruised face.
"Young master, it's your turn. What do you want to catch?"
"Is the stall owner calling me?"
"Of course, of course."
Yunling inwardly snorted, but ultimately didn't show it to his face, only responding with a smile:
"Let's try the glass jar."
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