In the rearmost corner of the teahouse's card-playing area was a rather special spot.
Due to its convenient location—relatively quiet yet with a good view—it was usually occupied by the first group of people to arrive each day.
Since they came so early to claim the spot, they were obviously a group of people quite obsessed with Celestial Jade!
They were basically all familiar old card-playing friends.
At the south seat, a man in a long blue robe, having just lost, took out his Jade Abacus, sent a red packet into their temporary group chat, and then tapped it, letting out a mournful wail.
"What is with my luck today!"
The Xianzhou naturally discouraged gambling. Betting large sums of money would violate the precepts and attract the attention of the Ground-Balancing Commission.
But playing just for wins and losses lacked a certain thrill, a problem the card sharks were more than capable of solving.
Some tables had exquisite little snacks on them, serving as stakes. These snacks weren't cheap, but it was nothing compared to betting large sums of money.
Others lowered the amounts, like this table, where they were only playing for a few dozen credits, and not in a way where the loser paid directly.
The three losers would send red packets in a temporary chat group, each containing four portions. Then, the four people at the table would each try to grab from the three sets of four red packets.
This way, only the winner was guaranteed to make money. As for whether the other three losers would win or lose money, that was truly hard to say.
If you were lucky, the red packets you grabbed would add up to more than what you sent out. If you were unlucky, you'd get 0.01 every time.
It was much more fun than just paying up directly.
Lamenting his terrible luck today, the man began to pack his things.
The player at the west seat asked in confusion, "Old Chen, are you done playing?"
The man called Old Chen shook his head repeatedly. "No more, no more. The academy opens in a quarter of an hour. If I don't leave now, I'll be late!"
"Ugh, I really don't want to go to the academy!" he lamented. "I'm tired, I'm sleepy, I'm annoyed!"
"Have you lost your mind from all the losing? Get a grip, Old Chen. You're a teacher now," the youthful, pretty, tea-haired woman at the north seat said with a laugh.
"A quarter of an hour? Is that enough time?" the young woman in green clothes asked, considering the distance from the teahouse to the academy.
"Don't you underestimate me!"
Having packed his things, the man gave a cool thumbs-up and rushed off.
"Don't you go grading your students' homework with Celestial Jade tile patterns!" the west-seat player shouted at Old Chen's retreating figure.
"If I did, I'd have all the time in the world to play cards with you!"
"Hahahaha!"
The others couldn't help but laugh at his words, and the atmosphere instantly filled with cheer.
"Speaking of which, Qingque, shouldn't you be at work right now? How do you have time to be here playing cards?"
The tea-haired woman's expression was peculiar. "Even if being a Diviner is a stable government job, if you keep this up, are you really not afraid of getting fired?"
"How could I? I got out of work today perfectly legitimately!"
Qingque puffed out her small chest, its curve comparable to one of Herta's puppets, and wore a proud expression.
"I was originally in the archives reading some newly acquired miscellaneous books when the Master Diviner caught me red-handed again. Then she threw a huge pile of calculation results at me to check..."
"So, how did you end up playing cards?" the tea-haired woman asked.
"The Master Diviner, her esteemed self, said it just had to be checked before the end of the workday."
Qingque threw up her little hands. "Since it just has to be done before the end of the day, that means once I finish it, I can clock out, right?!"
"Ah... that... seems to make some sense," the tea-haired woman nodded thoughtfully.
"See?"
"The hell it does! Do those two sentences even mean the same thing? The fact that you can slack off so much and not get fired is a miracle!"
"That's not true. I always finish my own work before I dare to slack off. And even then, the Master Diviner often piles on all sorts of random tasks. Good thing I slipped away decisively today!"
Qingque had a look of cleverness on her face.
"Oh, you..."
The tea-haired woman was speechless, though she was used to Qingque's lazy demeanor.
"I think she's got a point. If you finish your work and don't slip away, your boss will just throw more tasks at you. Once you finish those, they'll just raise your baseline workload the next day without a raise. Why not slip away?"
The sudden voice of an unfamiliar young man silenced the three who were chatting. They looked in the direction of the voice and saw a handsome youth with gray hair and golden eyes standing there with a smile.
"As the saying goes: a workday without slacking shows a problematic way of thinking."
"Well now, great minds think alike!"
Qingque's eyes lit up, her expression like she'd found a kindred spirit.
Blinking her big eyes, she stared at the gray-haired youth for a few seconds before letting out a soft, surprised 'Huh?' "This friend looks a bit unfamiliar."
"Oh, I haven't been on the Luofu for long. I'm here as a tourist."
Caelus pointed to the empty seat. "Are you all still playing? How about you deal me in?"
"Yes, yes!"
Having met a fellow Daoist in the art of slacking, Qingque seemed to be in an excellent mood and quickly beckoned Caelus to take a seat.
Celestial Jade could be played by four, three, or even two people.
However, it was generally more fun with four players, unless there was simply no one else around.
"Welcome, new friend!" the tea-haired woman said enthusiastically.
He sounded like a slacker just like Qingque, but he was handsome!
"Friend, this is Sister Xuan. She runs a souvenir shop nearby. This is Brother Gu; he dabbles in small crafts. My name is Qingque, and I'm a humble Diviner. What should we call you?"
Qingque graciously took a few green rice balls from a box on the table and placed them in front of Caelus, showing off her easygoing and good-natured personality.
"You can just call me Caelus."
Few people in the world were more naturally friendly than the Masked Fools, and Caelus watched Qingque with a gentle smile.
A little face carved from pink jade, intelligent with a hint of laziness—in short, she was utterly adorable.
It could be said that Qingque was one of the Star Rail characters Caelus knew the most about from before he transmigrated, mainly because her personality was just so likable.
If he had a friend with a personality like this in real life, getting along with them would surely be very comfortable!
If it were Sparkle, on the other hand, he'd definitely punch her first and ask questions later.
Caelus took out a cake he had purchased from his spatial storage, offering it to Qingque and the other two players as a gift in return.
"Whoa, isn't this the bestselling Spirit Cedar Cake from Guifang Pavilion!" Brother Gu exclaimed in surprise.
Guifang Pavilion was a famous dessert shop in Central Starskiff Haven, and the Spirit Cedar Cake was a recently launched bestseller. Its wonderfully soft and chewy texture had made it a must-eat dessert for many visitors to the Xianzhou.
With both marketing and quality on point, the price was bound to be high!
Ordinary people could only afford to buy it occasionally to try, but Caelus had brought quite a few.
"This... is a bit expensive," Qingque said, glancing at Caelus, who had started eating the rice balls she'd given him.
Was this to be expected from someone who could utter such a profound saying about slacking off? Qingque felt a sense of instant camaraderie.
"Well, I won't be polite then."
The soft Spirit Cedar Cake did a little spin in Qingque's mouth, its light, sweet fragrance causing her to half-close her eyes.
"Delicious!"
During this time, the game board had already automatically shuffled and dealt the tiles.
After finishing the Spirit Cedar Cake like an adorable little squirrel, Qingque wiped her mouth. "Let's have Caelus be the dealer this round."
Before playing mahjong, one must first decide the dealer. This is usually done by rolling dice, but when friends gather to play, they often let a respected elder or a guest be the dealer first as a sign of respect or courtesy.
"Sure."
The dealer is the first person to draw and discard a tile.
In a game of mahjong, luck is important, but so is skill.
It encompasses judging tile patterns, discard strategies, and observing opponents' actions, testing a person's calculation abilities and courage.
A skilled player can better understand the tiles, guess their opponents' hands from their discards, and more effectively adjust their strategy to increase their chances of winning.
"By the way, Qingque, you just said you're a Diviner, right? I heard that the person who created Celestial Jade was a Diviner from the Divination Commission. Do you know who it was?"
Caelus asked nonchalantly as he drew and arranged his tiles.
"Eh?"
Qingque blinked her pale green eyes and laughed. "Um, I don't know. That Diviner never revealed their name."
"When Celestial Jade first got popular, a lot of people were buzzing about the identity of that Diviner, but in the end, no one could figure out who it was," Sister Xuan chuckled.
"I don't think there's any need to get to the bottom of it. That Diviner was probably just thinking, 'This game is so much fun, I have to share it with everyone'."
Qingque looked at Caelus with a cheerful expression. With a light sweep of her soft white thumb, she felt and identified the pattern of the tiles in her hand, arranging them without even looking at their faces.
That move alone marked her as a seasoned gambler.
"Why bring that up all of a sudden?"
"It's a long story. When I was very young, I met an old beggar on my home planet."
"In a small alley, the old beggar called out to me, saying I had exceptional talent and a remarkable constitution, that I must be a one-in-a-million Celestial Jade genius. For just 2000 credits, he would pass on to me the peerless legacy of Celestial Jade..."
He recounted the tale vividly. At first, the other three listened intently, but as he went on, they started to feel like something was off.
"That's obviously a scam. Caelus, you didn't really fall for it, did you?"
Qingque mumbled indistinctly with half a Spirit Cedar Cake in her mouth.
Celestial Jade originated during the ancient imperial era, and Caelus isn't even from the Xianzhou.
Caelus chuckled and shook his head. "I bought that Celestial Jade legacy, and it did indeed record some information about the game. That's how I know there's more than just the current way to play."
There are actually many ways to play mahjong. Just off the top of his head, Caelus knew of Sichuan mahjong, which emphasizes playing to the bloody end.
There was also Wuhan mahjong with its exciting gameplay and complex scoring; Changsha mahjong, known for its simple rules, fast pace, and ease of winning; and Hangzhou mahjong, whose main feature is winning quickly.
Just by region, you could classify over 20 different styles of play.
Clack!
The jade tile in Qingque's hand fell onto the table. Her eyes went wide as she stared at Caelus.
As a little slacking sparrow with no interest in money or power, Qingque's dream was to immerse herself in Celestial Jade every day.
To promote Celestial Jade throughout the universe, find more card-playing friends, and discover more interesting ways to play—this was the only thing deep in Qingque's heart that could be called an 'ambition'.
And now, Caelus was saying he knew.
"Other ways... to play Celestial Jade!?"
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