Chapter 563 A Dream of Youth 95
The current dynasty prohibited gambling, and the Great Zhou Criminal Law stated: "Anyone who gambles or steals money shall be punished with one hundred strokes of the cane."
Guanpu also falls under the category of "gambling games and gambling for money," and is therefore subject to regulation, with the gambling ban only lifted on major holidays.
After New Year's Eve, which is the first day of the Lunar New Year, the group dressed up and went to the night market. Because it was a festival, the night market was decorated with lanterns and colorful decorations, especially the area outside Xuande Gate, which was almost full of vendors and tourists.
Xie Ning got excited and went to play with Xie Qi. After all, playing yourself is more engaging than watching others play.
Guanpu New Year's goods include not only food, but also daily necessities, fruits, firewood and charcoal. Several women led Xie Ning to stop at the Guanpu stalls that displayed crowns, combs, pearls, hair ornaments and other jewelry. The games included spinning the wheel, ring toss and dice rolling.
There was a round plate, about three feet square, with hundreds of birds, fish and other objects painted on it, but it was no more than half an inch long and as wide as a little finger, with some as small as two soybeans.
For just one coin, you can shoot an arrow at the disc. If you hit the pattern drawn on the disc, you can win a prize.
"Bao'er wants it?"
Xie Ning looked at Xie Qi's excited little face and nodded hesitantly.
"Brother, I'll shoot you!"
The peddler smiled and accepted the ten coins that Mo Qi handed over, then gave Xie Qi ten feathered arrows. The arrows were about the size of needles, with colorful feathers attached to them.
Xie Qi was stunned when he received the arrow, and he was dumbfounded when the vendor started spinning the disc. "Wait, who can hit this?"
“My lord, this is a losing proposition for me. You buy the arrow for one coin, but if you hit the target, you can exchange it for ten or even a hundred coins worth of goods.”
Xie Qi was on the verge of tears, but had no choice but to bite the bullet and go on.
Unfortunately, he missed once out of ten attempts. Xie Qi exclaimed, "This is too difficult! Nobody can hit it!"
The peddler smiled, then picked up an arrow and started shooting. He hit the target ten times out of ten, leaving Xie Qi dumbfounded.
How embarrassing...
The onlookers burst into laughter and urged Xie to get down so they could go up themselves. However, three people in a row went up but all returned empty-handed.
Xie Qi, who hadn't left yet, finally looked much better. He had said it himself: this game was clearly too difficult.
Xie Ning glanced at the goods on the stall, then had Qing Li take ten coins and handed them to the vendor, saying, "Give me ten more feathered arrows."
"Alright." The vendor looked at Xie Qi. "Would you like to try again, young master?"
Xie Ning took the arrow. "It wasn't him, it was me."
As she spoke, she took a few steps forward, her hands moving swiftly, and needle-thin arrows flew out. Xie Qi's eyes widened, "Baby, Bao'er... Ahhhhh! Bao'er, you're so amazing!!!"
"They've all won! They've all won!"
Chen Wanniang, who was watching from the side, was also curious, "How is Bao'er so amazing?"
Xie Ning clasped his hands together, looking completely innocent as he betrayed Xie Qi, "My brother made me a slingshot and took me to hunt birds, and I could hit them every time!"
Xie Wangzhi grabbed Xie Qi by the back of his collar. "Qi'er, where did you take Bao'er to hunt birds?"
Xie Qi's hand holding the prize froze. "No, we played it in the garden..." He then desperately tried to wink at Xie Ning.
"It was taken in the garden." Xie Ning pursed her lips, trying hard to suppress a laugh.
Because of Xie Ning's skill, Xie Qi had completely admired Xie Ning and then dragged Xie Ning around to play poker.
Whether it was spinning the wheel or tossing rings, Xie Ning was adept at it, causing Xie Qi and the four or five-year-old children next to him to shout with excitement.
"Ah Qi!?"
"Yan Liang?"
Bai Yanliang looked at Xie Qi's arms, "Honey cake, honey cake, stuffed lotus root, fried lotus root, stuffed fruit, raw fruit, red-edged glutinous rice cake, pig pancreas sesame cake... Aqi, why did you buy so much?"
The students standing next to Bai Yanliang also stared wide-eyed. One of them tentatively asked, "Xie Qi, you didn't win, did you? You're actually that good?"
Xie Qi raised his chin proudly, "My darling put this on for me!"
Only then did everyone notice the little girl next to Xie Qi, dressed like a small ball. "Is this your younger sister?"
"yes!"
The students didn't believe it, so Xie Qi directly asked Xie Ning to show them what he could do.
Xie Ning remained silent, but still satisfied Xie Qi's desire to show off, and then a few more little followers appeared behind her.
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