northernbook Chapter 187 Cards
Chapter 187 Cards
With the sound of firecrackers, the old year was over, and time quickly passed to the 29th day of the twelfth lunar month.
Several days ago, Shen's mother said that the weather was gloomy and cold and it might snow soon.
This morning, when Shen Cao got up and opened the door, there was a thin layer of snow in the yard, and light snow was falling from the sky.
In her previous life, she was from the south and had never seen snow.
Seeing snow for the first time, I excitedly ran into the yard and raised my hand to catch the snowflakes falling from the sky.
She looked up at the sky, where snowflakes were falling like willow catkins in March, thousands upon thousands of them descending from the sky and landing on her eyelashes, making her shiver from the cold.
She raised her arm and caught a snowflake.
Amazingly, the snowflakes were exactly the same as those in the pictures I had seen before, small snowflakes with six perfectly symmetrical petals.
This discovery delighted her, just as Shen Chen came out of the room.
"Big brother, it's snowing!!!"
"Let me tell you something amazing: snowflakes are actually shaped like flower petals."
She caught a snowflake and held it up to Shen Chen's face. "Big brother, look, it'll melt in a minute."
Shen Chen pretended to be very curious and leaned over to take a look, then nodded.
"I never imagined snowflakes could be so beautiful."
Shen Cao happily collected snowflakes in the yard, made a small snowball, and threw it at Shen Chen.
Shen Chen looked at her with doting eyes. He had almost forgotten that his younger sister was just a fourteen-year-old child.
Normally, she is the head of the Shen family's restaurant. The Shen family's success today is mainly due to her eldest sister.
Sometimes she made him feel like his older sister was the younger one, and he was the one who needed to be protected.
The snow fell heavier and heavier, soon turning into a heavy snowfall.
Father Shen and Shen Chen heated the floor in the main room to make it exceptionally warm.
Shen Cao and his mother simply brought all the ingredients to the main room, and the family sat around the table, chatting and preparing for the New Year's Eve dinner.
She had already prepared the menu for the New Year's Eve dinner in advance, including four cold dishes and eight hot dishes.
Since most of the ingredients were already prepared, the New Year's Eve dinner was prepared quickly.
Shen Cao found it incredibly boring to watch the family sitting around the table eating sunflower seeds.
She found some bamboo strips that she didn't know what they were used for before, cut them into fifty-four pieces, and made them into playing cards from her previous life.
I taught my family how to play the simplest game of turtle-spinning.
Mr. and Mrs. Shen also participated; it was a rare occasion for Shen Chen to join in during the Lunar New Year. The loser had a turtle drawn on their face.
"Sister, what are you drawing on this piece of paper?"
"It looks like scribbles."
Looking at the familiar characters, Mr. Shen replied, "These seem to be the numbers Cao'er taught me before. This one is seven."
He held up a seven of diamonds and pointed to the number on it.
Shen Cao explained the playing cards made of bamboo strips to them according to their suits.
"What I made is called playing cards, and there are fifty-four of them in total."
"Each number has four types: hearts, diamonds, spades, and clubs."
"You can take a look at these four types."
"This one is the heart, this square shape is the diamond, this shape that looks a bit like a peach is the spade, and this shape that looks a bit like a club is the club."
There are thirteen types of numbers in each category.
"And these two are special cards."
"In this game, we only need to find the numbers in the top right corner that match."
Shen Cao explained the rules of playing turtle drawing to them in great detail.
Apart from Shen Chen, everyone else was completely confused.
Mother Shen shook her head. "I don't understand what you're saying. I'd rather not play. What kind of behavior is it for an adult like me to play with you kids?"
Mr. Shen picked up the playing cards. “Let me tell you, it’s rare for the child to be in such a good mood. The whole family can play at home. What’s there to be afraid of?”
"I've closed the front gate to my yard, so don't worry, no one will come."
Mr. Shen took the playing cards and began to explain them to Mrs. Shen in detail.
The others also pricked up their ears to listen.
"How about this, let's give it a try first, and we'll know once we try it."
"Very simple."
Shen Cao took out an eight and a king, and shuffled the remaining cards several times.
Although the edges of the bamboo strips had been polished, they were still a bit prickly to the touch.
She hadn't played cards in a long time and was a little rusty.
She dealt the cards slowly.
After the cards were dealt, the others followed her example and held the cards in their hands.
Younger children can't hold it because their hands are too small.
"Haha, if you can't hold on to it, then don't rush."
"The rule of our game is to take out two cards with the same number."
“For example, like this.” Shen Cao took out a pair of identical fours and placed them in the middle of the table.
"No matching cards remain in your hand at the end."
"You guys go first, pick out the two cards with the same number."
Shen Cao quickly picked out the same cards from her hand; she had three left.
"What about this kind?" Shen Chen asked Shen Cao, holding up a card.
When Shen Cao saw the King in his brother's hand, he first laughed gleefully, "This is the King. There will also be an eight left. Whoever keeps this card in their hand at the end loses; they are the 'Turtle Eight'."
Shen Chen nodded and turned his card face down.
"Sister, do you think this is right?" Shen Wan took out a pair of nines and asked Shen Cao.
Shen Cao nodded, "Wan'er is so smart, that's exactly right."
One by one, everyone had found all the pairs in their hands, leaving only the single cards.
"Next, we will draw the cards of the people next to us in order, from left to right."
"If the card you draw matches the card in your hand, you can put down both of those matching cards."
"If you have no cards left in your hand, you win; if you have two cards left, you lose."
Hearing the rules, Shen Qing was eager to start. He only had two cards left in his hand. "Let's draw them quickly."
“Starting with Mother, Mother will draw Father’s first, and then we’ll proceed in order.”
After the first round of drawing, Shen Cao had two cards left in his hand. Xiao Qi was lucky and drew the same card as him, winning in advance.
"Hahaha, I won!" he said smugly, slapping the table.
"I'm almost there too," Shen Qing said anxiously. "Hurry up and continue."
Round and round, as everyone became more familiar with the rules, they didn't even need Shen Cao to remind them before switching players after drawing their cards.
In the end, only Shen Wan and Shen Qing were left; the others had no cards left.
"I'm so unlucky. I only had two at the beginning. Xiaoqiao had more than me at the beginning, but they're all gone now."
"Yay, I only have one card left, and if you draw it, I'll be out of cards!" Shen Wan shouted happily after drawing the same card as her.
Finally, Shen Qing reluctantly took the last card from her hand, saying, "I lost."
"Hmph, I'm not a turtle."
Shen Cao smiled and took out the cards from his hand. "Look, these are the 'Turtle' cards. Whoever has them left at the end loses."
"Got it, got it, sister, let's continue playing. That last round doesn't count. I'm going to get serious now," Shen Qing urged Shen Cao.