Lu Chen was not worried about whether he could get the Holy Favor. At the moment, all he could think about was his daughter's safety.
"My words and deeds were indeed absurd before, but now I have turned back. As for poetry, I have liked to recite poems and write poems since I was a child, but I have never shown it to the outside world."
Lu Chen explained.
"Looking at you like this, you probably haven't eaten for several days, right?"
Xu Youcai shook his head: "You can turn back as a prodigal son and have such a talent for poetry. Your father's spirit in heaven can also be comforted. For now, you will be an artist in my restaurant, and you will recite poems with the guests when you have nothing to do. If you have the opportunity in the future Come, I will pay for it for you, and you can go to Beijing to meet the Holy Spirit."
Upon hearing this, all the young masters present cheered.
They are all people who like poetry. There is a poetry immortal who can read poems to them every day, just like fans can hear the singer sing every day.
"Shopkeeper Xu, I..."
Just when Lu Chen was about to tell him about the trouble he was encountering, Xu Youcai waved his hand: "Don't worry, I won't treat you in vain. From now on, when you come to the restaurant, I will serve you generously. You can drink as much wine and tea as you want, and I won't give you any money for the time being." Sorry, so that you don’t go gambling again, but in the future we have to make sure that you really have turned back as a prodigal son, and we will definitely give you a penny in wages by then.”
After saying this, Xu Youcai left. He had more than one property in the city. Now that Lu Chen could relieve the boredom of these young masters, he could go about doing other things.
"Lu Chen, oh no, Lu Shixian, my surname is Zhao Mingtian, not only Lu Shixian, can you write a poem for me?"
Everyone wanted to listen to Lu Chen continue writing poems, but Lu Chen was thinking about the safety of his wife and daughter, and was really in no mood, so he hurriedly said goodbye to everyone, and stayed alone in the yard to think about countermeasures.
"Why don't this poet quit first? I have enough poems in my mind to tell them about it for decades. If I go back to Lao Xu to explain the situation carefully, advance some money, and pay back the money, I don't believe that Old Ghost Hong can still do it. Let me down."
With this in mind, Lu Chen walked to the hall, ready to entertain these young men.
But I saw them gathered around a table in twos and threes, as if they were playing some game.
Lu Chen looked closer and was dumbfounded. He saw these young men shouting something like "generals and soldiers", and then the two opponents threw wooden signs at the same time. There were three images painted on the wooden signs: the handsome one who strategized, and the handsome one who was strategizing. A heroic general and a pawn who charges into battle.
A general can defeat a pawn, a pawn can defeat a handsome man, and a handsome man can defeat a general. The loser will drink.
"Isn't this just rock, paper, scissors? My dear, are the rich second generations in ancient times so childlike?"
Lu Chen complained in his heart, but soon realized that ancient times were backward in all aspects, and entertainment methods were also lacking.
"Hey, Shixian is back. How many games should we play?"
A young man laughed.
"No, no, I'm too drunk."
Lu Chen smiled and was about to leave, but the shape of the wooden sign made him stunned.
This round wooden sign looks like mahjong.
"Wait a minute, mahjong. I remember that there was no such thing as mahjong in Dafeng at this time, otherwise these young men wouldn't be able to play rock, paper, scissors!"
Thinking of this, Lu Chen slapped his thigh excitedly and immediately called two waiters.
"Brother Lu, what do you do for a living?"
The waiter who had just wanted to beat Lu Chen and throw him out suddenly changed his face. Xu Youcai had told them to take good care of Lu Chen.
"Go, find me a carpenter!"
"I know carpentry, what are you going to do?"
Lu Chen came to the backyard and used his hands to indicate the size of mahjong: "Just cut out the wood blocks according to this size, and then polish them a little."
Although the waiter was very puzzled, after all, this was Lu Chen's order, so he still obeyed it.
Soon the waiter cut out several mahjong-sized wooden blocks. Lu Chen picked up a pen, dyed it with paint, and drew various mahjong card types such as Wanbing strips on the wooden blocks.
"Carve according to the drawn pattern."
One person is responsible for cutting the wood blocks, and the other person, under Lu Chen's arrangement, carves the patterned mahjong along the lines.
Paint will fade after being used for a long time, but with the additional process of engraving, it can be preserved for a long time.
The three of them had a clear division of labor, so they rolled up their sleeves and got to work.
Lu Chen was either studying or practicing medicine in his previous life, but he occasionally played mahjong for entertainment in his spare time. The card types of mahjong are very simple. The three main card types are Wanbingtiao, from one to nine, and then east, west, south, north There are Chinese character plaques like this, or flower plaques like plum blossoms, orchids, bamboos and chrysanthemums in spring, summer, autumn and winter.
Lu Chen kept drawing patterns according to his memory. The waiter in charge of carving made a lot of mistakes because it was his first time contacting mahjong, but Lu Chen didn't blame him. If one of the carvings was damaged, he would have to draw another one for him.
The three of them worked like this until dusk, when the setting sun dyed the earth with a layer of orange-red sunset glow.
"Have you seen Lu Chen?"
Xu Youcai's voice sounded, and Lu Chen just raised his head and saw him walking in.
"Hey, my ancestor, what are you doing?"
When Xu Youcai saw Lu Chen doing wood work, he stamped his feet angrily: "You are such a talented poet, you can just speak out your poems casually, recite poems to the guests, and still get rewards, isn't this uncomfortable? You, you Why put aside this hard work? Can you earn twenty cents a day? Are you worthy of your talent?"
"Shopkeeper Xu, you've come back just in time. Come on, I'll teach you a game."
Seeing that the last card shape had been carved, the exhausted Lu Chen stood up and stretched his limbs.
An hour later.
"Happy!"
As soon as Lu Chen's "Thirty Thousand" was played, Xu Youcai grabbed it and pushed the mahjong down with a bang, "Hey, it's interesting, it's so interesting!"
During this hour, Lu Chen was playing and teaching at the same time. Xu Youcai and the other three quickly learned Mahjong, a game that is easy to understand and easy to master.
"Mr. Lu, you are such a genius. How did you come up with this game? It's so fun!"
Zhao Wei, a second-generation official, is also very fond of mahjong.
Lu Chen smiled slightly, hiding his merit and fame.
"Yes, Lu Chen, you said that we all have only one head. How come yours is so easy to use, can write poems and invent such fun games?"
Xu Youcai was very enthusiastic when he first came into contact with mahjong, urging everyone to shuffle the cards quickly.
"Shopkeeper Xu, even if I read poems to the guests every day, they will always get tired of it after a long time. But you said that if you have this mahjong, they will have fun, why don't you come here every day?"
Lu Chen smiled and said, Xu Youcai's restaurant not only sells wine, but also sells tea, snacks and meals.
"No, I think this mahjong is not difficult to make. If it is sold to other places and a pair of mahjong is sold for one or two silver, I think it is cheap! Although it takes a long time, others can make it, after all, the card shape It’s just that much, but it’s enough for me to make a lot of money.”
After shuffling the cards and getting his own mahjong, Xu Youcai frowned because the cards were not good, but when he thought of the profits that mahjong could bring, his worries disappeared immediately.
"Oh, by the way, Lu Chen, don't be afraid that your uncle won't give you money. Although he is a businessman, he won't plot anything against you. You invented mahjong. I will give you 30% of the profits in the future!"
