Chapter 282: Fighting the Landlord
Translator: Noodletown Translations Editor: Noodletown Translations
[TL Note: Dou Dizhu literally means fighting the landlord, and it is a card game in the genre of shedding and gambling. It is one of the most popular card games played in China.]
“Hey! It’s not fun!” In the Jiuhua City Shop, Song Qingfeng exited virtual reality mode and sighed, “The people from the Morning Star Sea Realm stopped fighting after only two charges. I thought they would last longer!”
“They had to retreat since they were defeated,” Lin Shao said, “Their items were dropped everywhere; many of them don’t have complete skills, so they couldn’t continue the battle.”
“By the way, should we go back and collect vegetables?”
Beside them sat Nalan Mingxue and Lan Yan, and they both yelled, “Let’s go and collect vegetables!”
Shen Qingqing looked worried. “Did the shop owner steal from us again?”
Nalan Mingxue said mildly, “I’m afraid that he won’t dare to come anymore.”
“Ugh?” Shen Qingqing and the others looked at her in surprise.
“I bought a dog yesterday,” Nalan Mingxue’s lips curved with smugness while she explained.
“You had enough money to buy a dog?” Shen Qingqing asked in surprise.
“She bought a small one,” Lan Yan explained for her, “I checked the information, and it said that this dog will be as ferocious as a wolf when it grows up. It is enough to guard the courtyard.”
“Really?” Shen Qingqing said in resentment, “I wish it would bite him! Then, I’ll see if he dares to steal vegetables from us in the future!”
“Did you buy a dog too?” Dong Qingli heard their conversation and asked, “Is it cute? Is it as silly as the shop owner’s dog?”
“Ugh…” Nalan Mingxue said, “It’s okay.”
“It’s very cute!” Lan Yan added, “It’s young and loves to play. Do you want to come and have a look?”
“Good!”
The girls accepted the invitations and came to Nalan Mingxue’s Qzone.
“Ms. Nalan’s dog is very obedient except that it likes to nibble on things…” Lan Yan told them in excitement, “It’s chubby and very cute.”
While she spoke, they walked into the courtyard. “Yuanyuan! Yuan…?”
Then, she was stupefied.
The whole vegetable field was ravaged, and it looked as if a tornado had swept through it!
What happened?!
“Where’s the dog?! Did that villain Fang Qi hit it?!” Lan Yan was worried about the dog.
A black-and-white silly dog was sitting on the ground. Seeing its master, it wagged its tail wildly and trotted up as if it wanted to show off its ‘achievement’.
When it saw Nalan Mingxue, it rubbed itself on her snow-white boots.
“Wu… Wu…” With half a piece of a vegetable leaf hanging from its mouth, it looked up at her with big, watery eyes.
Nalan Mingxue had the urge to stomp this silly dog with her foot!
Looking at its face that seemed like it was asking for a compliment, she was torn between laughing and giving it a lesson. She stood facing the wind in stupefaction.
At this moment, a beep sounded in QQ.
It came from Mr. Fang. [When did you buy the Husky? It’s super cute.]
Then, he sent a picture in which he and the little Husky each held a daikon, saying, [It can even help its master pull out daikons.]
Nalan Mingxue who was always calm and collected couldn’t remain cool any more!
“Hahahaha!” Mr. Fang sent a meme of the Akita Inu’s laughing face, very happy at her ‘misfortune and misery’.
[I will tell you one thing; the Husky will work with me.]
How dare she use a Husky to guard her home?
[Don’t be smug! (Akita Inu’s disdainful face) (Akita Inu’s ferocious face)]
– In Nalan Mingxue’s Qzone –
“The dog is so cute!” With stars in her eyes, Dong Qingli picked it up and put it in her arms, not caring that it was dirty.
“So warm! Look at its face!”
“It’s more fun than Mr. Fang’s memes!”
“What are Mr. Fang’s memes?” Lan Yan was baffled.
“The pictures that Mr. Fang uses every day!”
Lan Yan was at a loss for words.
In her mind, the funny face of the Akita Inu that Mr. Fang used every day and the sneaky smile on Mr. Fang’s face after stealing vegetables came together, and the two pictures had an equal sign connecting them.
“Hahahaha!”
She laughed so hard she that bent her back.
Then, all the people in the field understood the joke and laughed as hard as they could.
It seemed to be the only way that could alleviate their misery of being robbed by Mr. Fang.
…
Oblivious to the fact that the girls were making fun of him, Mr. Fang was now browsing the items in the shop.
He remembered that one could buy computers and even games such as Street Fighter in the shop. After glancing at the prices, he found that the computers were expensive. He could barely buy one with the big fortune that he made by growing and stealing vegetables everyday. After buying the computer, he had no money left to buy games.
The objects for pure entertainment were rather cheap, but other games such as Street Fighter were expensive since they could unlock new features after certain conditions were met.
Therefore, Mr. Fang reached out his evil hands toward a very cheap little game which looked like a set of poker cards – Happy Fight the Landlord!
Since he was chatting with Nalan Mingxue in QQ, he sent her a message, [Want to come and play Fight the Landlord?]
“What’s that?”
[A small game to test players’ IQs,] Mr. Fang tempted her with a straight face.
[Testing IQ? This is obviously a way to provoke me. It must be a trick (Akita Inu’s disdainful face)]
[d.a.m.n!]
…
On the other side, seeing that she had only about ten minutes of computer time left, Su Tianji sat down on the bed in her Qzone and sulked.
She sprawled on the bed.
“What’s wrong with me? I don’t want to cultivate or battle…”
She rolled over and got up.
On the verge of going offline, she suddenly felt bored with life.
She cursed when she remembered that she had to go to battle in a few days, “d.a.m.n it!”
Instead of being worried about the crisis, she just wanted to sleep.
In QQ, Mr. Fang suddenly sent her a message. [Want to come and play Fight the Landlord ??]
Su Tianji asked, [What’s that?]
[It’s a little game to test players’ IQs.] Mr. Fang replied with a straight face. [Come on! I called Young Master Song and others too!]
[I’ll get offline in ten minutes; what game can I play?] Su Tianji lost interest.
[Don’t worry! We can play several rounds in 10 minutes!]
[Ugh? Really?]
[Coming! Coming!]
After Fang Qi explained the rules to them, they learned the game fast. Soon, voices sounded in Mr. Fang’s room.
“I call Landlord!”
“I will rob it!”
“Plane!”
“Trio with a single card!”
“Pa.s.s!”
“Little Joker!”
“Big Joker!”
“…”
…
“What’s fun about this game?” Xiao Yulv mumbled to himself while he watched them play, “It’s just a bit more complicated than Pai Gow…”
[TL Note: Pai gow is a Chinese gambling game, played with a set of 32 Chinese dominoes. It is played in major casinos in China, the United States, Canada, Australia, and, New Zealand.]
On the next day, Xiao Yulv sat down on the couch with a set of cards identical to the ones that Fang Qi played with yesterday.
“Come on! Let’s play Fight the Landlord! Anyone who has finished their computer time or can’t get online, come and play Fight the Landlord with me!”
Meanwhile, Mr. Fang was counting his winnings. “Playing two more days of cards and I will be able to buy Street Fighter…”
His QQ was flooded with the messages. [Sc.u.mmy shop owner! Return our hard-earned money!]
“…”