Chapter 663: A Sudden Turn for the Worse

“Huh?” Qiao Jiajing was taken aback. “There are rules for haircuts inland too?”

“Of course there are!” Chen Junnan explained patiently. “You can’t cut your hair during the first month of the lunar year—doing so would kill your uncle. You have to wait until the Dragon Raises Its…”

“Hey!” Dihou slammed the table. “Are you two done yet? Deal the damn cards!”

Chen Junnan wasn’t bothered by the interruption. He turned back calmly with a faint smile. “No rush, Monkey Bro. How’s your uncle doing, by the way?”

Seeing that Dihou ignored him, Chen Junnan casually picked up a card and slapped it in front of himself.

“Monkey Bro, I don’t even need to look at this card to know my odds are great. Wanna chat?”

Dihou slowly raised his head and met Chen Junnan’s gaze before shaking his head. “Don’t embarrass yourself. You’re not skilled enough yet. Just check your damn card.”

“Oh?” Chen Junnan smirked. “And what if this card turns out to be absolutely massive? How will you handle that?”

“Then you’d lose,” Dihou retorted, frowning. “You already figured out the rules—if you go over ‘sixteen,’ you bust. If you draw something ‘massive,’ you’re out in the first round.”

Chen Junnan paused, realizing Dihou had a point. There was a real chance of losing the moment the first card was drawn.

But if that were the case… didn’t this game have a huge flaw?

His gaze drifted to the communal card in the center of the table—”She Day.” A faint idea began forming in his mind.

“Hey, are you flipping your card or not?” Dihou snapped. “Your first draw is supposed to be an open card. What’s the point of keeping it face down?”

Chen Junnan snapped back to reality and glanced at Dihou, who was scowling. Naturally, Chen Junnan mirrored the defiance.

“Fine, I’ll flip it. See if you don’t piss yourself.”

With that, he turned his card over and slammed it onto the table.

A brief silence fell over the group.

“Start of Spring.”

Another “Start of Spring.”

“Damn it…” Chen Junnan groaned, clutching his side. “Another fucking ‘Start of Spring’?! Is this deck just thirty-six copies of ‘Start of Spring’?!”

“You wanna check what you’re saying?” Dihou sneered dryly. “You guys not only looked through that deck but also reshuffled it yourselves. Who’s to blame here?”

“Ugh… whatever. ‘Start of Spring’ it is…” Chen Junnan scratched his head. “Still better than busting.”

Chen Junnan’s current hand was “Start of Spring” (sixth day of the first lunar month) plus “Second Day of the Second Month,” bringing his total to eleven.

“Next draw can’t push me over five…”

He quickly ran through the possibilities in his head but couldn’t immediately think of any card combinations that wouldn’t exceed five—aside from “Spring Festival” (first day of the first month) and “She Day” (second day of the second month).

“Shit…”

“Hey!!” Dihou was losing patience. “Deal the damn cards!”

“Fine, fine.” Chen Junnan hastily drew a card and slid it toward Qiao Jiajing. “Old Qiao, this round’s on you.”

Qiao Jiajing nervously took the card and flipped it over.

“Shangsi Festival!”

“Hell yeah, Old Qiao!!” Chen Junnan cheered. “No instant bust!”

“Yeah!” Qiao Jiajing grinned. “Shangsi Festival!!”

Their celebration lasted all of three seconds before Qiao Jiajing blinked and asked, “So… uh, Junnan, what’s the date for ‘Shangsi Festival’?”

“Uh…?” Chen Junnan’s smile froze. “How the hell should I know?”

An awkward silence settled between them.

“Third day of the third month…” Qi Xia muttered weakly from the side. “Fists, your hand’s good.”

“Huh?” Qiao Jiajing relaxed at Qi Xia’s input. “See? Third day of the third month! I knew my hand was solid.”

He quickly calculated—his “3/3” plus the communal “She Day” (2/2) added up to ten. His next draw couldn’t push the total past six.

Next was Qi Xia’s turn.

Chen Junnan placed a card in front of him. Qi Xia slowly raised his trembling right hand—his pinky already turning a sickly purple-black—and flipped the card.

“Lantern Festival.”

“Fifteenth day of the first month…” Qi Xia’s face turned ashen.

Just this one card—”1/15″—totaled seven points. Combined with the communal “She Day,” his hand now stood at eleven, same as Chen Junnan.

The only path to victory now was seeing which of them could draw “Spring Festival.” That might offer a sliver of hope.

But luck had other plans.

When Chen Junnan dealt Dihou’s card, the latter flipped it with a triumphant slap.

The two menacing characters on the card read: “Spring Festival.”

“Ha… hahaha!” Dihou couldn’t hold back his laughter. “What a shame… gentlemen. This card ended up with me.”

Chen Junnan stared for half a second before snatching Dihou’s card. “Sorry, the deck wasn’t shuffled properly. Let me get you another one.”

Dihou was stunned, then immediately grabbed Chen Junnan’s wrist. “Hey! What do you mean ‘not shuffled properly’?! Since when do you get to do that?!”

“Clearly it wasn’t!” Chen Junnan argued. “What kind of shuffle was that?! I got ‘Start of Spring’ twice in a row, and now ‘Spring Festival’ goes to you? This round’s invalid. Let’s restart.”

“Enough!” Dihou tightened his grip. “You were the ones who shuffled last. My patience has limits.”

Chen Junnan, now restrained, toned it down slightly and glanced back at Qi Xia.

Qi Xia just sighed helplessly, offering no instructions.

This round wasn’t entirely hopeless—just nearly so. Their last sliver of hope rested entirely on Qiao Jiajing.

Because in the next round, both Qi Xia and Chen Junnan would inevitably exceed sixteen. But Qiao Jiajing still had a chance to survive.

Unfortunately, Dihou held “1/1″—his current total was just six, making him the safest player at the table.

“Wait… am I the highest?” Qiao Jiajing held his “Shangsi” card, baffled. “I can actually talk with ‘3/3’?”

Dihou shrugged and gestured for him to proceed.

“I’ll raise one.” Qiao Jiajing declared. “Fat Monkey, someone I once respected told me: ‘If your hand’s small but you can still talk, even his dad ain’t bigger than you.'”