Ma Fuquan had a smile on his face. He met Jian Ning's gaze and said with a smile, "This little girl is quite bold. Not bad."
Not bad? Jian Ning's eyes darkened. Ma Fuquan seemed to admire Ah Man's character. They say it's easy for a woman to pursue a man. Could it be that her previous reserve and passive waiting made her miss out on a lifetime of happiness?
"Auntie Jian." Ma Xiaodou stepped forward and tugged at Jian Ning's sleeve. "Why does Ah Man call you mother?" Ma Xiaomi shouted, "Stupid, she is Dabao's wife, so of course she should call her mother."
Dabao had already walked to the door of the east room with Maoqiu, but he turned back when he heard the words: "She is not."
"Mom!" Ah Man hugged Jian Ning's neck and shook her legs twice. Jian Ning coaxed her, "Be good, I'll get the fur ball out for you later." Ma Xiaodou scratched his head and looked up at Jian Ning: "That Sanniu is my wife, should I call you mom too?"
"You kid, you're dreaming of having a wife, and you're just thinking about beautiful things!" Ma Fuquan laughed. If he hadn't seen it with his own eyes and heard it with his own ears, he wouldn't have believed that the children in ancient times were so unrestrained.
"Brother Ma." Ding Youtian came over from the backyard, looking particularly energetic. He smiled at Ma Fuquan and said, "I don't have time to play chess with you right now. My wife said she wants to help copy Journey to the West."
"It's okay. I'll do the same thing if I go to the old blind man."
"You can't even defeat my disciple, so how can you defeat this old blind man?" Blind Liu came out of the dining hall and glanced at Ma Fuquan with a proud look on his face.
Ma Fuquan raised his hand and pointed at him with a smile: "Listen, old blind man, I admit defeat if I can't beat you. But listen carefully, I, Ma Fuquan, admit defeat but I am not afraid of losing, understand?"
Blind Liu stood with his hands behind his back, looking up at the night sky. "You're not afraid of losing, but this old blind man won't even give you a chance to lose. I won't play with you. So, are you angry?"
He lowered his head and looked at Ma Fuquan again.
"You have no moral principles. What's the matter? Your apprentice beat me, so you and your apprentice are so proud of it? Are you afraid of losing to me and embarrassing me?" Ma Fuquan smiled slightly. "That's fine. As long as you both admit that you are afraid of losing, then don't bother."
Blind Liu scoffed, "Provocation doesn't work. I'm not interested in playing with you."
"Uncle Liu." He wasn't interested in playing all the money with Ma Fu, but Jian Ning was. "How about we play a round together later?"
"My wife..." For a moment, Ding Youtian wanted to dig a hole in the ground and crawl into it. He had never thought that his wife would dare to challenge his master. But then he thought that if his wife lost miserably, she would be in a very bad mood. Then he might not even have a place to sleep tonight. So he changed his tone and said, "Don't be afraid. Your husband will work hand in hand with you and will never let you lose too embarrassingly."
"What are you talking about? Are you trying to boost your master's morale and destroy my prestige?" Jian Ning rolled his eyes at him and carried Ah Man to the east room.
"I told you not to talk too much!" Blind Liu pretended to kick Ding Youtian.
After Jian Ning finished telling two episodes of Journey to the West, Ma Fuquan urged Ding Youtian to set up the chessboard. Blind Liu was a master of Liubo, but three cobblers could not be as good as one Zhuge Liang. He didn't believe that the three of them could not defeat Blind Liu!
Ding Youtian brought the chessboard and set it up in the yard. Liu Xiazi didn't give him a handicap. Normally, he'd give two pieces when playing Liubo with Ma Fuquan and Ding Youtian. Just as Ding Youtian was about to say he didn't give him a handicap, Liu Xiazi glanced at him. He suddenly remembered what Liu Xiazi had told him: never underestimate children or women.
Yes, his wife is not a reckless person. If she is not sure, how could she dare to challenge his master? It was he who was too concerned and ignored this point.
He felt inexplicably at peace.
A master's single move reveals its success. Ma Xiaomai and Ma Xiaomi watched as both sides placed their pieces and played out a few moves, essentially watching a static chessboard and the resulting chess pieces. But both players were startled, feeling as if they were on a vast battlefield, a sea of dust and swirling sand, accompanied by the roar of war drums. Blind Liu grew increasingly nervous as the game progressed, his every move a matter of utmost caution. The two players placed their pieces more and more slowly.
Ding Youtian and Ma Fuquan, who had originally intended to offer advice, were now completely useless. They both noticed that Jian Ning's moves were very similar to Liu Xiazi's, which was what alarmed Liu Xiazi. His chess skills were taught by his master, and combined with his own later insights, his master's moves might not be clear to him, but Jian Ning seemed to know them perfectly, always cracking them beforehand.
If there is anyone else in this world who is familiar with his chess style besides himself, it is probably no one else except his deceased master!
Finally, Blind Liu put down his unmoved chess piece, suppressed his fear, and said, "Draw."
Ding Youtian seemed to have come back to his senses from the midst of a thousand horses galloping. He touched his nose, looked at the chessboard and couldn't help shaking his head. "It's not a draw, it seems that Master is half a move behind, and my wife seems to have a slight advantage."
"I said draw, so it's draw!" Blind Liu suddenly got angry, flipped the chessboard over, stood up and glared at Ding Youtian, "Stop talking!"
After saying that, he turned away.
"Why is this old man so embarrassed by defeat?" Ding Youtian didn't care whether his master was happy or not. He was happy that his wife had won. He picked up the chess piece that had fallen to the ground and casually asked Ma Fuquan, "Brother Ma, how did you feel about going to the county government office today? It must be much more complicated than the affairs of the town government office."
"Of course." Speaking of this, Ma Fuquan couldn't help but say to Jian Ning, "There was a strange thing. The night before last, the county government office caught fire and a body was missing. Later, someone broke into the prison and rescued the man surnamed Luo. Yesterday morning, Feng Qingzi's body was hung on the city gate, but someone also stole it away."
Jian Ning raised her eyebrows, but before she could say anything, Blind Liu, who was walking towards the gate of the courtyard, stopped, paused for a moment, and turned back.
He sat down and looked at Jian Ning: "Who did you learn chess from?" Jian Ning was stunned for a moment, then said: "I learned it from my father when I was young."
"What's your father's surname?" Blind Liu asked, and he knew he was asking nonsense.
"His surname is Jian, and his name is Jian Yanxu." Jian Ning's eyes inadvertently swept across Ma Fuquan, and brought up his name from his previous life. Hearing this, Ma Fuquan's mouth curled up slightly.
Jian Ning naturally wouldn't tell Blind Liu that she learned it from Grandma Wu, so she could only have learned it from her original self, Jian Xiu Gu's father. Xiu Gu hadn't recovered her memory, and she only received her memories after she was seven years old, so she didn't know Xiu Gu's father's surname or name.
Even the name Jian Xiu Gu was randomly chosen by Old Ding. The original body's real name was forgotten by the original body itself, so she naturally didn't know it. She was still thinking about what Ma Fuquan said. She turned to look at him and said, "Could someone have come back to life? It shouldn't be possible. Captain Guan is an experienced person. I see they have checked it carefully."
"Is it strange to come back to life?" Blind Liu smiled coldly and glanced at Jian Ning. She was shocked and had a strong feeling that Blind Liu knew her background and knew that she was not Jian Xiu'gu. She had only suspected it before, but now she had a strong feeling that Blind Liu must know it.
Blind Liu glanced at her and then looked at Ma Fuquan: "This old blind man has heard from other storytellers that there are extraordinary people in this world who can transfer souls, so it is not surprising that they can be brought back to life."
"What is the soul-transferring technique?" Ding Youtian asked.
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