Against the ear was a low difficulty shot, so not many people bet on it, and if they did, they didn"t bet very much. Very soon, calls for betting ended. After the pitch-pot director finished speaking, n.o.ble Son Qingyang threw his arrow.
"n.o.ble Son Qingyang makes his shot," announced the pitch-pot director.
Although this wasn"t anything to brag about, the audience clapped.
A gentleman must act as genially as a spring breeze.
Afterwards came the sounds of more bets being placed.
"Fourth section, third room, fifty taels for through the ear."
"Twenty-fourth room, thirty taels for through the ear."
About ten people placed their bets, one after the other, in total a thousand taels. This was much greater than the one, two hundred from just now, but if you lost, you had to pay it several times over.
Lin Jin"er prodded Jun Zhenzhen.
"Look, look!" she urged.
Miss Jun looked outside and saw n.o.ble Son Qingyang say something to the pitch-pot director.
"Halt," the pitch-pot director announced loudly.
So he wasn"t throwing.
Lin Jin"er covered her mouth and chuckled.
"Look, this is a special way of asking for money," she said.
Miss Jun looked at n.o.ble Son Qingyang. His clothes looked worse than the previous players. After the announcer spoke, he bowed to the crowd respectfully, then exited with lowered head and red ears.
No one laughed or jeered, and there was some spa.r.s.e applause.
Obviously there were no rules against this happening, nor any anger.
"Scholars asking for money can"t be called as such," said the attendant from by the door, a warm smile on his face. "This is a much more elegant thing."
For the rich old masters, giving charity to scholars was much better than giving to those beggars knocking on their bowls in the public parks.
Miss Jun smiled but did not say anything. Lin Jin"er spotted the attendant coming in with tea and food.
"Well, we aren"t playing such elegant things. We"re here for the snacks and tea," she said. She called for Miss Jun. "We won"t have the chance to eat these another time."
The pitch-pot was still going on outside. Fortunately, this time no one won money and ran; they continued playing the game.
There were more people making bets than before.
"First, seventeenth, esteemed guest bets thirty taels for through the ear."
The voice kept announcing.
They were first, nineteenth. The seventeenth wasn"t that far from them. If they wanted to bet, the attendants at the entrance would announce it loudly for them, so they could hear clearly.
Miss Jun was seriously studying the refreshments the attendant had brought when the servant girl sitting behind Lin Jin"er piped up.
"Young Miss, Young Miss," she said in surprise. "The seventeenth that made the bet is Miss Ning"s and them."
Lin Jin"er stared.
"Shut up," she hissed. Glancing uneasily at Miss Jun, she hastily changed the topic. "Zhenzhen, try this horse hoof cake."
Miss Jun nodded and picked up a piece, but then turned around and spoke to the retreating attendant.
"Fifty taels, through the ear," she said.
The attendant did not act surprised and genially bowed to her in confirmation.
"Wait, wait wait wait," Lin Jin"er hastily raised a hand to stop him, then grabbed Miss Jun"s hand. "Zhenzhen, don"t be like this. Didn"t we say we came here to play, not to engage in useless confrontation?"
"Yes, we did. Isn"t this playing?" Miss Jun looked at her. "Don"t tell me I can"t make a bet?"
Lin Jin"er grew nervous.
"Zhenzhen, don"t play dumb. You know what I meant," she said. "Yanyan and them have a lot of extra money…"
Miss Jun did not like to hear such words.
"What do you mean they have a lot of extra money? Could it be I don"t?" she said, raising her eyebrows.
Miss Jun turned to the servant girl behind her.
This was one of Old Lady Fang"s, Jinchuan. The private rooms were small, so only personal servants could come in. The others were left outside.
Seeing Miss Jun"s gaze, Jinchuan immediately sat up straight.
When they left, Old Lady said to not leave her side, nor let her go out out of the city. For anything else, obey Miss Jun.
Now, Miss Jun was looking at her with a raised brow.
"Who am I?" she said.
"You are Young Lady Fang," Jinchuan answered docilely.
Miss Jun went back to looking at the genial attendant.
"Does Young Lady Fang not have enough money to play?" she asked.
When she said Young Lady Fang, the attendant understood. With a small smile, he lowered his head respectfully.
"Of course not, if you do not have money, then the whole of Yangcheng are beggars." Without waiting for Lin Jin"er to speak he went out. Immediately came his voice, "First section, nineteenth bets fifty taels for a through the ear."
Each floor had someone responsible for recording bets and keeping track of their earnings.
This voice obviously would reach the neighboring rooms. At the moment, there were five or six girls seated there, their expressions unpleasant as they heard this.
"Young Miss, Young Miss, it"s her, it"s her. Miss Jun is in the nineteenth," said the servant girl sitting in the corner.
This was the servant who had met Miss Lin previously; she had mentioned it when she first went there, but said it again for fear that everyone would forget.
"Fifty taels, how generous," said one of the girls, lips curling.
Ning Yunyan smiled coldly.
"Now Young Lady Fang is a very rich person; it is quite normal for her to bet several times, unlike us unmarried girls without such a grand monthly allowance," she said.
The girls smirked.
"After marrying out and becoming a young lady, she is still deliberately confronting us," said one girl.
Little Yue had exaggerated her encounter of how she met Lin Jin"er and Jun Zhenzhen when she returned to the room.
"When she heard the young misses were here, she immediately said she wouldn"t go and called for a room close to ours," she described in great detail.
She was obviously trying to oppose them. She hadn"t bet a few times before, but when they did, she followed.
The girls were indignant, their gazes drilling a hole through the wall to glare Jun Zhenzhen to death.
"Okay, each can walk on the side of a large road. We will follow her lead," Ning Yunyan said, pressing a teacup to her lips.
From outside, the announcer transmitted the news.
That n.o.ble son did not manage to make the through the ear. He actually failed.
That meant they won money; thirty became sixty. Although it wasn"t much, it was still a very interesting fair. Accordingly, the girls were very happy, but when they thought about how next door, Jun Zhenzhen"s fifty taels became one hundred, their happiness dimmed. They could almost hear the boastful laughter in the next room.
"She really is too lucky," the girls said hatefully.
Of course, if one was unlucky, why would they continue playing?
Ning Yunyan pursed her lips in a smile. She looked at Zuo Yanzhi in the corner. Her hands were balled into fists as her eyes shone with eagerness to see some fun.
It will come.
Seeing the attendant come in with their money, Lin Jin"er could not stop herself from smiling.
"Thank heavens," she said with a sigh.
Across from her, Miss Jun was wearing an expression like she had expected as much.
Jun Zhenzhen was always so arrogant and conceited.
Lin Jin"er smiled and was about to say something when Miss Jun opened her mouth and smiled.
"Are the people playing going to bring the silver?" she asked.
The attendant handed over the money.
Fifty of those taels was what her servant had brought, and the other? It couldn"t be that the one who lost brought that much money with them? She couldn"t have been the only one to place a bet.
Could it be gambling-playing the elegant game, required to prepare a cartful of silver in advance?
"It"s the Jinyun Hall"s advance payment," Lin Jin"er explained.
Miss Jun"s expression showed her surprise. She stroked the silver.
"So you are saying that those who bet or play are not vetted by them first." She asked, "What if you lose and have no money?"
Really, that would be such shamefulness. She believed that there really was no one in this world who could deal with such embarra.s.sment.
Lin Jin"er"s lips curled.
"How could that be? This is the Jinyun Hall," she said significantly. "They have a hundred ways to get money from someone who has none."
Miss Jun gave Lin Jin"er a look.
"You are quite knowledgeable about this," she commented.
Lin Jin"er"s heart thudded, suddenly feeling nervous.