Qingyu felt incredibly bored and pestered Lin Wanwan to play, unable to sit still anymore.
Lin Wanwan turned her head and beckoned Yun Shang, who was waiting behind her. Yun Shang leaned in to listen, and after Lin Wanwan whispered a command, she left the room. When she returned, she was carrying a wooden box.
Everyone around was drawn to the wooden box in her hands, and the first to speak was Xiao Xianghua, sitting next to Lin Wanwan: "Wanwan sister, what is this?"
Lin Wanwan placed the wooden box on the small table. Before she could open it, the sharp-eyed Qingyu rushed over, eagerly answering, "This is Jumping Chinese Checkers! Awesome, awesome, Mother, let’s play Jumping Checkers!"
As soon as the lid of the wooden box was opened, the glass marbles arranged in grids dazzled everyone’s eyes. A group of noblewomen gasped collectively – how could there be so many beautiful glass marbles?
Qingyu didn’t understand why her aunts suddenly fell silent, thinking they all wanted to play with her. She cheerfully began explaining the rules of Jumping Checkers.
This was a hexagonal glass jumping checkers set, allowing six people to play at the same time. The rules were simple and easy to explain.
However, everyone was astonished that Lin Wanwan would use such priceless glass marbles as checkers for kids to play with. Qingyu’s skilled demeanor clearly showed she was used to it!
The group played with mixed emotions. Initially, their thoughts were mostly on the value of the glass marbles, but once the wins and losses started, the emotions surged.
Essentially, they were just a group of teenage girls who didn’t have many entertainment activities. Now, with a game like Jumping Checkers that they could all play, their competitiveness quickly rose.
Four daughters of the Xiao Family plus Lin Wanwan and Qingyu gathered their six heads around the table, playing joyfully.
Not far from them, Lady Lu, who was narrating her fascinating experiences to the noblewomen around her, noticed the lively game and craned her neck to look over, "What are you all playing? It’s so lively."
Having won two games against her own mother, Qingyu proudly stuck out her little stomach and replied loudly, "We are playing Jumping Checkers! Little Yu’er has beaten Mother."
"Jumping Checkers? What is this new thing? Did it come from Chang’an?"
The Xiao family girls had no answers; they too saw this for the first time tonight, so they all looked at Lin Wanwan.
Lin Wanwan calmly said, "Lady Lu, this didn’t come from Chang’an; it’s an imported item my senior brother brought back from the Western Regions for my little Qingyu."
Lady Lu had already seen the glass jumping checkers on the table, and a trace of surprise flickered in her eyes.
So many glass marbles, certainly worth a fortune. She couldn’t help but regard Lin Wanwan a bit more highly. The latest_epɪ_sodes are on_the 𝓷𝓸𝓿𝓮𝓵·𝓯𝓲𝓻𝓮·𝓷𝓮𝓽
"Such generosity, may I ask from which family your senior brother comes? What noble gentleman is he?"
Lin Wanwan replied, "My senior brother’s surname is Zhen, and his given name is Shiyin. I don’t know where he is from. Like me, he lived in the mountains with our master since childhood, unaware of worldly matters."
Lady Lu raised her eyebrows and said, "Surname Zhen?"
There is no household with the surname Zhen among the Great Tang’s gate valves, indicating he came from a humble background. After all, the Lin family of Hou Tao is just a small patriarchal family, so how noble could her senior brother be?
Her curiosity now satisfied, Lady Lu promptly lost interest. Commoners weren’t worth understanding deeply; she turned back to continue chatting with the noblewomen around her.
Meanwhile, Xiao Chong, drawn into conversation by Lu Ying’er and Lu Haoming, also cast a curious glance toward the lively game.
Following his gaze, Lu Ying’er saw Lin Wanwan, illuminated by lamplight as if cloaked in a halo. She felt a tinge of jealousy and blurted out, "Cousin Zifang, look at that Lin family, bringing such a small child to the banquet. It’s quite disrespectful."
Xiao Chong disagreed, "A sincere mother’s heart, how could it be disrespectful?"
"Oh, Cousin Zifang makes sense. Ying’er spoke out of turn."
Having piqued his curiosity, Lu Haoming spoke, "Cousin, sister, let’s go over there and see what they’re playing, shall we?"
The other two followed suit, and the three cousins walked over together.
Upon closer inspection, even the treasure-savvy Lu siblings were startled by the glass marbles in the table’s grids, while Xiao Chong remained elegantly unperturbed.
Lu Ying’er curiously asked, "Why are there so many glass marbles here, and what are they used for?"
The lively Xiao Liwei, upon seeing Lu Ying’er, eagerly explained, "Ying’er, this is called Jumping Checkers. Opposing parties take turns; the first to jump all their marbles into the opponent’s camp wins.
Glass marbles can jump step by step along directions connected by straight lines. If there are opponent’s marbles in adjacent spots, and if the next spot in the straight line is empty, you can jump to the empty spot. As long as the conditions are met, you can keep jumping until victory."
Lu Ying’er understood, "I see."
Then she turned to Xiao Chong, "Cousin Zifang, why don’t we play a game? It sounds really fun!"
Qingyu looked at Lu Ying’er, then at Xiao Chong, clapping her little hands, "Let’s all play together."
Xiao Chong smiled and patted her head, "Alright then, why don’t you play on behalf of your uncle and aunt? If you win, uncle will give you something fun."
Lu Ying’er felt quite unhappy that Xiao Chong let a child play against her, but her noble demeanor made her restrain herself and nod in agreement.
"Let’s play a game with the little one first."
Lu Ying’er assumed with such simple rules, and facing a child not even aged ten, she was bound to win. Little did she expect that fifteen minutes later, Qingyu’s last glass marble would jump several times quickly, unexpectedly reaching the goal, winning the game!
"Oh! Little Yu’er won! Mother, Little Yu’er won." Qingyu excitedly looked at Lin Wanwan, her large watery eyes full of joy.
It was the first time she had won against adults other than her mother, and she was delighted!
Lin Wanwan smiled and patted her head, praising, "My little treasure is so amazing!"
Having lost to a small child, Lu Ying’er felt humiliated, fueled by her competitive spirit, she declared, "Let’s play again!"
Qingyu was a master at Jumping Checkers, often playing with her little friends, Yun Shang, Hua Nong, and Lin Wanwan. Her skills were quite impressive.
But Lu Ying’er had only been introduced to Jumping Checkers that evening, naturally losing to Qingyu. After losing three rounds, her face was flushed with embarrassment.
Xiao Xianghua noticed things were awry and quickly said, "We’ve played for quite a while now. It’s getting boring, Sister Ying’er, why don’t you play the piano instead? You’re quite the expert in music; quickly play a tune for us sisters to learn from."
Lu Ying’er saw someone offering her a graceful exit, so she took it, saying, "Hmm, alright, I recently acquired a new tune; let me play it for you all."
After speaking, she secretly glanced at Xiao Chong, whose expression was as calm as ever, seemingly unmoved by anything.