Linbiangui Village-Infinite Streaming Chapter 26

The Card Game Resumes

Dusk settled over the streets of Mengle Village. By the time the two returned to the entrance of the Guesthouse, the surroundings were already shrouded in darkness. The motorcycle repair shop had long since closed, with only the overhead streetlamp casting a faint, yellowish light. Mosquitoes danced around the light source, celebrating the final moments of their lives.

“Did you hear?” A few Elder Sisters, their heads wrapped in cloth scarves, sat leaning against the repair shop entrance, chatting under the light. This was the villagers’ customary post-dinner gathering, a way to aid digestion and relieve boredom.

“Sister Chen’s family?” The Elder Sister wearing a small yellow vest immediately covered her mouth with one hand, excitedly jumping into the conversation.

“That’s right, that’s right.”

The Elder Sister sitting on the very end picked her teeth with a toothpick, speaking with a hint of disdain: “I always said that Sister Chen spoiling her child like that would lead to trouble sooner or later. Letting him decide everything he does—he’s a menace.”

“Our Xiao Gang just has a bad temper, he didn’t mean to step on your land!” The yellow-vested Elder Sister vividly mimicked Sister Chen’s voice, sounding quite accurate at first listen.

“See! Who owes her family anything that everyone has to constantly give way to them?”

“…”

Chen Jin recalled the sight of the couple rushing over—Sister Chen crying until she fainted on the ground, Uncle Liao pounding his chest and stamping his feet, utterly heartbroken, their cries echoing to the heavens.

A white-haired person burying a black-haired person—there was no greater pain in the world.

“Ahem…” Chen Jin let out a cough from the shadows. The Elder Sisters instantly fell silent, looked around, and finally dispersed to their homes. “Let’s go, let’s go. Tomorrow we still have to go over there and pretend to care.”

These Elder Sisters were usually quite close to Sister Chen’s family, but behind their backs, they seemed to harbor some resentment. Was this the inherent indifference of the villagers? Or was there another hidden reason?

The card hall on the street corner lit up again, and people began trickling in.

Since the missing persons cases were all inextricably linked to this card hall, they definitely needed to go back and investigate the situation.

“You’ve arrived?” Aunt Jiu’s daughter-in-law leaned against the doorway, her eyes immediately hooking onto Wu Zeng. A slight breeze lifted her hair, swaying in the air and stirring a subtle longing.

Chen Jin took a step forward, blocking her line of sight, and looked at her innocently and politely, saying, “We’ll take the same seats as last time.”

“Alright.” The woman reached out to pull the chairs out for them, her fingers lightly brushing the chair backs as she smiled at the two of them. “Mom, you can serve the tea now.”

At the table sat a middle-aged man in a shirt, a thick silver chain hanging around his neck. His face was pale green, and he looked thoroughly displeased at the moment.

Aunt Jiu emerged from the house again, carrying a tray of teacups. Seeing the two visitors, her expression froze, and then she hastily put down the tray and turned back inside, tossing a sentence over her shoulder from afar, “A Tao needs his medicine, I’m going back now, A Qing.”

So the woman’s name was A Qing.

“Didn’t Brother Tao finish his medicine during the day, Mom?” A Qing’s tone was gentle, yet carried a hint of interrogation. She smiled as she looked at the half-closed door, her gaze seemingly piercing through the door and directly onto Aunt Jiu’s back.

“It’s… it’s newly prescribed. I told you, did you forget?” After a long pause, Aunt Jiu slowly walked out of the room, well-dressed but hunched over. Her voice held a barely perceptible tremor, and her gaze darted to the floor, avoiding A Qing.

Aunt Jiu was carrying a bundle of indistinct items wrapped in a floral cloth scarf. After retrieving a key from the wooden table drawer in the main hall, she hurried away, giving A Qing no opportunity for further questioning or rebuttal.

The light above the card table was dim and ambiguous. A Qing sat to Wu Zeng’s left, her fingertips lightly tracing the tabletop. She subtly and deliberately tried to lean closer to the man beside her.

A Qing’s small movements were too obvious. Chen Jin unconsciously glanced at Wu Zeng. Wu Zeng’s expression was normal, and the hand resting on the table maintained a distance of one palm’s width from A Qing.

As if sensing Chen Jin’s gaze, Wu Zeng smiled and turned to wink at him.

A Qing pushed the teacups toward the two of them and refilled the middle-aged man’s cup across the table. “This year’s new tea, with plum jam. It’s sweet and cooling…”

“Stop rambling! What are we waiting for? Let’s get started!” The middle-aged man slammed two hundred yuan onto the table, making the water in the small teacups slosh out. He cursed under his breath, sounding extremely impatient.

A Qing leaned over to reach for the dice cup on the edge of the table. Her sleeve quietly slid up to her elbow, revealing her fair, pink forearm. “Shall we continue with High-Low?”

Wu Zeng picked up his teacup and drained it in one gulp, then turned his face toward Chen Jin and smiled, “It’s just a card game, no need to be so irritable.”

Chen Jin distinctly felt the man rubbing his foot against his under the table. He smiled and kicked back, politely and courteously.

The middle-aged man wasn’t stupid; he immediately understood Wu Zeng’s meaning. He slammed the table and loudly snapped, “What do you mean by that?!”

A Qing covered her mouth and chuckled softly twice. She took a fresh deck of cards from the side of the table, then turned to the middle-aged man. “Brother Tang, we can start now.”

“You first.” Wu Zeng tossed down two hundred yuan, then rested one arm on the back of his chair, leaning back lazily and casually.

Chen Jin was stuck again; he still had no cash. However, Aunt Jiu’s departure had given Chen Jin an idea, though he wasn’t sure if Wu Zeng would be able to follow his lead.

A Qing’s slender fingers shuffled the cards back and forth on the table. Her eyes fell on Chen Jin, and she said with a hint of regret, “But only three people can participate in High-Low. So this young man…”

“Little brother, you can partner with me.” Wu Zeng grabbed the side of the stool with one hand and pulled Chen Jin close, so they were practically sitting pressed together.

“Clatter!” Chen Jin suddenly stood up, kicking the stool over with one leg. The teacup in front of him accidentally crashed to the floor—he hadn’t managed to drink the tea again. He yelled in a rough voice, “Coming here every day, every single day! I’m possessed, truly! You play by yourself!”

With that, Chen Jin pushed away the arm Wu Zeng had draped behind him and stormed out, looking exactly like a spoiled, hot-tempered youth.

Wu Zeng looked at his rejected hand and mused, “Truly spoiled.”

“Can we start now!!!” Brother Tang was already frantic. He rapidly drummed his index finger knuckles on the table, urging the two in front of him to begin.

Wu Zeng cupped the dice in his palm, a faint, imperceptible smile playing on his lips. “Then let’s relieve Boss Tang’s impatience first.”

Few streetlights were on in Mengle Village late at night, especially on the small paths between the farmhouses, which were almost pitch black.

After leaving the card hall, Chen Jin hurried along, managing to keep up with Aunt Jiu’s pace—after all, a young man in his twenties shouldn’t walk slower than a little old lady.

He watched as Aunt Jiu turned a corner and entered a house, shutting the door with a loud “Bang.” This must be Aunt Jiu’s home, located on the less desirable, shaded east side of Mengle Village. Two paper-pasted red lanterns hung by the door, likely decorations changed during the New Year, now looking somewhat faded.

“Ahem, ahem…” A heart-wrenching cough echoed from the small courtyard, particularly noticeable in the quiet village.

Chen Jin walked to the door. It was tightly locked, but fortunately, the walls of rural courtyards weren’t high. He backed up two steps, took a running start, and vaulted into the yard.

The courtyard was small, with many free-range chickens running around. To the east of the yard was a low shed, with some firewood near the entrance—likely a storage room for tools. The west side seemed to be the kitchen, smelling of old cooking oil. Directly facing the gate was a three-story building. It seemed the plot of land they initially received was small, so they built upward when constructing the house.

“Thud!” Chen Jin’s landing was not quiet, startling the free-range chickens in the yard, which scattered and flew up, flapping their wings in mid-air.

Aunt Jiu heard the noise and rushed out with a broom. “Who is it!”

“Cluck, cluck…” Fortunately, the free-range chickens flying up at the right moment helped conceal Chen Jin’s presence.

“Is that A Qing back?” A weak, somewhat anxious male voice came from inside the house. This must be Aunt Jiu’s son, A Tao.

“No, you hurry up and wash your face and feet and go to sleep.” Aunt Jiu put down the broom and rushed back inside anxiously. “She won’t be back until who knows when, don’t wait up.”

Taking advantage of Aunt Jiu entering the house, Chen Jin took two steps forward and hid beside the kitchen, where he could clearly see the scene inside the house. Through the slightly ajar door, Chen Jin saw the cramped main hall of the building. The decor was very simple, with only a bed placed inside. A simple wedding photo was hung on the wall near the bed; the woman was A Qing from the card hall, and the man was currently sitting on the edge of the bed washing his feet.

Aunt Jiu’s son was extremely thin; the muscles above his calves were almost completely atrophied. His bedside was cluttered with bottles and jars of medicine. Aunt Jiu took one bottle, her hands trembling as she poured out the contents and fed them to A Tao. Only then did she carry out the washbasin.

In a flash, Chen Jin clearly saw purulent ulceration on A Tao’s ankles, exactly like the sequelae of the Grass Addiction from years ago. However, A Tao’s ulceration did not appear on his abdomen, perhaps having been suppressed by something.

“Look at your son again! Why can’t he even walk now!” Chen Jin recalled the words of the villagers on the street. It seemed Aunt Jiu’s son was still unable to walk.

“A Qing had to go back to her country for a while. She’ll be back once things are settled.” Aunt Jiu returned to the room to tuck A Tao in, speaking soothingly.

A Tao seemed very unhappy. He pulled the quilt over his head without a word and buried himself to sleep.

Aunt Jiu said nothing more, slowly left the room, gently closed the door for her son, and then entered the small room next door.

Go back to her country? Was A Qing not a native?

“Brother Tang, please go first.” A Qing turned the dice cup, smiling as she gestured for Brother Tang to roll the dice first. Her slender, pale fingers brushed against Brother Tang’s hand, causing him to feel a surge of desire.

“Two sixes and a five!” Brother Tang threw the dice cup onto the table, spat out the cigarette butt in his mouth, and looked at Wu Zeng provocatively.

Wu Zeng ignored him, simply tossing out a card. “Call.”

Wu Zeng lightly tapped the table twice with his finger, and A Qing handed him the dice cup. He casually shook the cup with one hand, creating an unusually rhythmic sound. The moment he lifted the cup, the dice shattered into six faces—six sixes.

“My apologies.” Wu Zeng took the money from the center of the card table.