The sky was high and the clouds were light, the city walls of Jinzhou City stood majestically vast, and people were out in their fine clothes, gathered in groups of three to five, with smiles brimming. The streets were a scene of bustling excitement.
A circle of people was gathered on the east side of the street, noise abounded!
"Big or small!"
"Small!"
"Big! Big big big!"
...
This was a street gambling stall. Among the crowd of hoodlums and passersby, who fancied their luck, the most conspicuous was a woman.
She was dressed in monastic robes with a bluish-grey nun's hat on her head, a wide robe, and long sleeves—clearly a nun. This nun was about fifteen or sixteen years old, her eyes unusually lively, as if gathering all the sunlight in the sky. But her face was somewhat dark, like two dazzling gemstones embedded in smooth black mud. As her eyes moved, it was like dewdrops rolling on a lotus leaf, or black gems falling onto a plate of white jade, clear and radiant.
At this moment, she stood with one foot on the ground, the other on a stool, her sleeves rolled up to her elbows, revealing white arms. Boldly, she pointed at the gambling cup in the stall owner's hand, and with her right hand, slapped a handful of broken silver and copper coins onto the table, directly on the word "small", her voice loud: "All in, small!"
The stall owner had sharp eyes and a mouse-like mustache, his eyeballs rolled cunningly. This was a wealthy patron. In just a moment, he had already won more than twenty taels of silver from her, who would have thought this little nun could be so wealthy? He could indulge in good food and drink without doing anything for the next six months. However, greed is never satisfied; the small silver she placed this time was about two or three taels. Perhaps, finish this round and be done?
The stall owner uncovered the cup with a flourish in his voice: "Open!"
Three dice lay at the bottom of the cup, three, three, one, small!
The stall owner was stunned. The dice had been tampered with to ensure more wins than losses. He should have won this round, but he lost! Was it just a slip of the hand?
The pile of broken silver in front of the little nun grew larger. Her eyes shone brightly and she was exceedingly generous: "Want to keep going?"
The silver that was in the stall owner's hands was gone again. He hesitated for a moment, then appeared to go all in, gritting his teeth: "Continue!"
What happened next was unbelievable. The little nun, who had previously lost every round, won three in a row, turning a small pile of broken silver into a heap. The stall owner's forehead was sweating, and his eyes on the little nun had turned green.
The little nun slapped the table with laughter, boldly pushing all the silver forward: "This is too slow, not exciting enough. Let's change the game, both of us roll, the higher count wins, one round decides it all, dare you?"
The stall owner, amidst his sweating loss, was delighted upon hearing this. He was confident because the dice were filled with mercury. Though not one hundred percent accurate, the margin of error was small. The little nun actually wanted to compete with him in count; wasn't this just giving him silver?
The commotion on this side attracted more and more onlookers.
The stall owner shook first. After all, it was a decisive round. In front of the little nun was more than twenty taels of silver, making it a stake of over forty taels. He shook it for a long time before carefully unveiling it, a look of joy appeared in his eyes, six, six, five, he almost couldn't lose now. Unless the little nun could roll out a six, six, six, but the chances were almost non-existent.
The little nun's turn came. With a graceful sweep of her hand, the cup covered the three dice, her movement casual and free. Then, she wildly shook the cup, slamming it onto the table, unveiling it. The whole action was fluidly executed, though it was just a street gamble, she had a demeanor of commanding mountains and rivers, freely elegant.
The dice in the bowl hadn't completely stopped yet, but two of them, magically, showed six points. The remaining one spun around the two dice, pulling the gaze of all the onlookers. What would it land on? A five would be a draw, a six would mean victory, but it could also be one, two, three, or four points.
The little nun confidently watched the dice, very calm, clearly she was certain it would also be a six.
Initially, the crowd shouted numbers loudly, but now, one by one, they stared wide-eyed at the dice about to stop.
The die flipped over, seemingly about to stop on six, the stall owner's face had already turned gray. He should not have been greedy, but who would have guessed the little nun had such skills? Was he about to lose everything?
Suddenly, the entire table shook violently, causing the crowd to scatter. A person, caught off guard, knocked over from the side, their body leaning back. Despite trying hard to stabilize, their lower back hit the edge of the table, causing them to yelp in pain.
Following this, the die about to stop, with six facing upwards, flipped due to the impact, not only turning into a one, but also turning another six into a three.
Stall owner: "..."
Little nun: "..."
Crowd: "..."
"Ahahaha..." The stall owner laughed like a pig, his dead-gray face instantly turned bright red, without hesitation sweeping all the silver on the table towards him.
Let's face the loss gracefully! The little nun's victory was gone, her fiery eyes glaring at the culprit who had crashed into the table.
... The person was being pinned to the ground and beaten.
The one beating him was a youth of seventeen or eighteen with clear and handsome features. His thin lips were slightly pursed, dressed in pristine white, like an Immortal descended to the world. His narrow phoenix eyes seemed to contain a trace of a smile, but upon closer look, it was clear it was an illusion. His sharp and piercing gaze held no hint of a smile; instead, it was filled with an intense edge and sharpness.
This was a proud and aloof young man in white, noble and otherworldly.
The little nun ignored these, pushed the youth aside, grabbed the collar of the person on the ground, her eyes dangerous, and angrily shouted: "Pay!"
The person, beaten and bruised, struggled to open a swollen slit of his eyes. Under her fierce and angry gaze, he felt his entire body hair stand on end, miserably saying: "It's... it's not my fault, he kicked me, so I crashed into it."
The noble youth cast a sidelong glance at the little nun, his clear and immaculate face slightly changing, his eyes full of disdain, snorting: "In this world, even nuns dare to gamble on the streets? Disgraceful!"
He was dressed with precision and elegance, exuding a sense of superiority that was impossible to ignore. His remarkable uniqueness and conspicuous nobility made him stand out like a crane among chickens. This was a temperament developed from a young age, impossible to overlook.
"What's wrong with nuns? Did nuns eat your family's rice?" The little nun was displeased.
The noble youth let out a light scoff, not bothering with her. He kicked the person on the ground in the leg: "Hand it over!"
The person cried out miserably, knowing he couldn't escape. He grimaced, taking out an exquisitely embroidered, high-grade blue money pouch from his bosom. The youth took it and walked away without looking back.
The little nun turned her head; the stall owner had packed up and fled. After such a big win, wouldn't he hurriedly escape?
Apart from the onlookers, there was no one else left.
The little nun said disgruntledly: "Damn kid!"
She avoided the crowd, maneuvered through alleyways, and quickly reached a secluded doorway, slipped inside, and removed her hat, revealing a head of black hair. She swiftly shed her nun's monk robe, washed her face in the trough nearby, revealing brows like distant mountains, eyes like autumn water, skin like smooth satin, lips like red cherries. Where was the black-faced nun? Clearly, she was a beautiful young girl.
Hearing the commotion, someone emerged from the house, truly a nun. The girl said vexedly: "Really unlucky, I could have gotten you out of here." Saying this, she took out a piece of silver weighing about two taels, adding: "Fished for so long, almost won big, but met a damn kid messing it up, tried to cheat... ugh, now this is all that's left."
The nun, only eighteen or nineteen herself, had an expression tinged with world-weariness. She shook her head and said: "Miss Wenjin, don't worry about my issues. I can live here, and Ke'er's illness is improving, which already satisfies me." She glanced at the girl: "Besides, you too are not safe. Even though you go out in disguise, if recognized and caught again, what will you do?"
The young girl, Xia Wenjin, waved her hand dismissively and smiled, her eyes like gleaming gemstones. She said: "Meeting is destiny; I'm leaving soon. You have a child and can't continue as a nun. If I can help, I surely will!" She squinted slightly, thinking about the damn kid who ruined her profits. Is she the type to swallow her anger? Of course not!
He must learn why the flowers are so red!