I traveled through time and space and found a mute boy: That’s enough, I feel sorry for him

Chapter 127 Mahjong

Xu Shu lowered his voice and whispered like a devil: "It's not a bad idea to be the richest man in Changping County."

"What?" Li Ziguang's eyes widened, but he was still somewhat sober. "You... do you think I'm stupid? You're the richest man in Changping County. Do you think you can fool me with just those few pieces of paper?"

Xu Shu couldn't help but sigh: "Mr. Li, how could you think of me like this? You've been working hard outside for many years and you may not know that I live next door to you."

Xu Shu pointed in a direction: "That's it, that thatched house, do you see it?"

Li Ziguang hummed and glanced at Li Zile: "Really?"

Li Zile didn't know what Xu Shu was up to, but he nodded anyway.

Seeing Li Zile nod, Li Ziguang sneered again: "If you are really so powerful, why do you still live in that shabby thatched house?"

Wu Yong knew the answer to this question and quickly answered, "Brother-in-law, my brother came to Shiqiao Village a few months ago. The new house has been built and will be completed soon. It is a blue brick and tile house. You can go to the village and ask someone about it."

Li Ziguang was a little shaken by these words, but he did not say that he would go to inquire. Instead, he sat down at the table and asked Xu Shu: "Then what do you think is this place that only I can go to?"

Xu Shu smiled and said, "Mr. Li has been working outside for such a long time, his gambling skills must be very superb. What's the point of playing with ordinary people? Don't you want to open a unique gambling house of your own?"

"Open it yourself. Do you think I don't want to?" Li Ziguang took a sip of tea, frowned, and looked at Li Zile again, "Bring a pot of wine."

Li Zile rolled his eyes, but still quickly went to the kitchen to get some wine and three clean cups.

After he poured the wine for the three people, Li Ziguang began to drive him away impatiently: "Go to the house to see Dad, don't disturb us here."

Li Zile subconsciously looked at Wu Yong. After Wu Yong patted his hands and whispered a word of comfort, he reluctantly went to the inner room.

Li Ziguang took a sip of wine and then said, "Xu Shu, Brother Xu, do you think I don't want to open a gambling house? I have been hanging out in gambling houses since I was a child. I don't even know what they play, such as Pai Gow, dice, and mahjong. Even those cheating tricks, I can... catch them easily."

Li Ziguang made a gesture and smiled in a somewhat obscene manner, giving off the feeling of a spirited young man in the modern world with dyed blond hair, a cigarette in his mouth, and a "Shamatte" hairstyle.

Xu Shu secretly complained in his heart, but his face remained calm: "I have acquired many gambling houses recently, but I always feel that they are all the same, which is really not good enough."

"It's all the same," Li Ziguang was a little confused. "What do you mean?"

"That's not important." Xu Shu smiled. "What's important is that I plan to develop a new way of playing that is light, easy to learn, can benefit everyone, and is entertaining."

"This kind of thing must be both elegant and cheap. It must be pleasing to the eyes of the aristocratic families and suitable for the homes of ordinary people."

“It also needs to be simple enough that people can play it right away after hearing the rules once. And it needs to be understandable to everyone, regardless of whether they can read or not.”

"What is that?" Wu Yong didn't understand.

Xu Shu glanced at Li Ziguang and then slowly said, "Mahjong."

This name was unfamiliar, and Wu Yong and Li Ziguang stared at each other in surprise.

"Brother Li," Xu Shu suddenly stood up, "Today, Wu Yong accidentally mentioned that a talent like you was buried in such a gambling house, so I took the liberty to come and visit you. Please don't refuse me!"

Wu Yong also slammed the table and stood up, drank the wine in his hand boldly, and shouted again: "Good!"

Li Ziguang actually didn't understand a thing, but he was inexplicably infected by Xu Shu and Wu Yong. Maybe it was because he had drunk alcohol, he couldn't help but stand up and shouted, "Understand me!"

Seeing that Li Ziguang was already in a state of excitement, Xu Shu took out the contract that he had prepared long ago and handed it to Li Ziguang, saying, "This is the contract I drafted early in the morning and I have just had it stamped by the government. Brother Li, you can take a good look at it. If you think there is no problem, then press your handprint on it."

Li Ziguang said "oh" and actually picked up the contract and started reading it.

Xu Shu was a little surprised, but he reacted quickly: "This Shiqiao Village is really full of hidden dragons and crouching tigers. I have only been here for two months, and I have met many people like Brother Li who are both talented and capable."

Wu Yong added at the right moment: "Brother-in-law, you can actually read?"

Speaking of this, Li Ziguang couldn't help but sigh: "I was young at that time, only about twelve or thirteen years old. I followed my father to get wine, but I got lost and had to find the way by myself."

"I searched for a whole day and only found a copper coin on the roadside. It was very foggy that day and I was very hungry. I was dizzy and didn't know where I was. I could only hear a loud noise in my ears."

"Then someone pushed me, saying that I was a kid who hadn't even grown all my hair yet and was just joining in the fun. I refused to accept it and argued with the person who pushed me. The person then said he wanted to make a bet with me."

"I didn't understand gambling. The person next to me asked me for money, so I took out a copper coin and gave it to him. He then asked me whether I wanted to bet on big or small, so I just said big."

"Then I won. The man bet 500 copper coins, and all of them were mine. I held the purse, went to the roadside to buy a steamed bun, called a bullock cart that even my mother didn't dare to call, handed over two copper coins in a proud manner, and returned home in glory."

Xu Shu was speechless after hearing this. It was really inhumane that the gambling house allowed minors to enter.

"But," Li Ziguang sighed, "my father gave me a good beating when I got home, and then he took the remaining 400 copper coins I had and bought some wine."

Xu Shu's mouth twitched. He was just thinking what this had to do with being able to write when he heard Li Ziguang continue, "I had no money, so I could only look out the door of the gambling house. After a while, I became familiar with the old beggar at the door."

"That beggar looked like a scholar. Although he lived in a dilapidated temple, he could write beautiful characters just by dipping his finger in water. I would read his characters when I was bored. After reading them many times, I remembered a lot of characters."

Xu Shu smiled and said, "The ancients said that the masters are among the common people, and it really is true."

After Li Ziguang finished his rambling, he became impatient to look at the deed again and said to Xu Shu, "Tell me what's in it first."

Xu Shu was not annoyed and patiently explained to him: "To put it simply, I want to open a mahjong parlor to squeeze out the gambling house's business, and I specially invite Mr. Li to be a shareholder of our mahjong parlor."

“What are shareholders?”

Wu Yong remembered: "It's a share, brother-in-law. I'll give you 10% of the money earned by this mahjong parlor. If the monthly income is 30,000 taels, then you can get 3,000 taels a month."

"So many?" Li Ziguang was dumbfounded.

"But being a shareholder also has conditions. You need to investigate the conditions of each gambling house."

"I'm familiar with the gambling house, but I can't do it now." Li Ziguang frowned, "I owe some money, so it's not convenient to show up."

"It's just a small matter, what's there to be afraid of?" Xu Shu smiled again and poured a glass of wine for Li Ziguang. "You are the major shareholder of our mahjong hall. I will give you my share of the mere five thousand taels in advance."

"Is it really possible?" Li Ziguang was surprised.

Xu Shu took the wine pot and filled his and Wu Yong's glasses, raised his glasses high and said, "Cheers! Cheers, Brother Li!"