Chapter 643: Lunar Month Rules

At that moment, the words Di Hou had spoken before opening the cards echoed in Qi Xia's ears.

He had mentioned that among the thirty-plus cards, only one could lead to his victory.

And that card was "Chu Shu".

This suggested that "Chu Shu" was special, or at least special in this round of the game.

But what made "Chu Shu" so unique that this trait wasn't found in any of the other thirty-plus cards?

"That's not right... My thinking is still limited..." Qi Xia glanced at the scattered cards on the table; at that time, Di Hou was picking them up one by one.

One possibility was that other cards lethal enough to win had already appeared on the table, so it wasn't that "Chu Shu" was particularly special, but rather that it was the only card that hadn't shown up and could beat Di Hou's hand.

He quickly recalled the cards Di Hou could have seen at the time.

First, the community card in the center of the table: "Zhong Yuan".

Next, his own hand: "Xia Zhi" and "Duan Wu".

Then, everyone's open cards: Zheng Yingxiong's "Shuang Jiang", Tian Tian's "Da Xue", Xiao Cheng's "Qing Ming", Chen Jun Nan's "Li Chun", Qiao Jia Jin's "Da Shu", and his own "Qi Xi".

Qi Xia felt his mind was still a bit muddled, as if he were missing an important clue.

He narrowed his eyes, visualizing all the cards in his mind, and in that moment, the various card faces transformed into a series of numbers in his thoughts.

"Ah..." Qi Xia slowly opened his mouth; indeed, there was a tiny clue he had almost overlooked.

Di Hou had said that right when Qiao Jia Jin revealed his "hidden card".

So, was it possible that Di Hou only came up with the idea after seeing Qiao Jia Jin's "hidden card" "Li Qiu"?

"That means 'Li Qiu' is also one of the cards that could make me win..." Qi Xia slowly closed his eyes and murmured to himself, "'Li Qiu'... 'Chu Shu'..."

What did these two cards have in common? Why could both lead to victory?

In just a few seconds, Qi Xia opened his eyes, and the clues in his mind connected like a suddenly lit circuit, gradually becoming clear.

This year's "Li Qiu" should fall on "Qi Chu Ba".

And "Chu Shu" was on "Qi Yue Er Shi San".

These two cards were, aside from his own "Qi Xi" and the central "Zhong Yuan", the only remaining cards from "Qi Yue".

Besides these two, no other cards featured solar terms or festivals from July, so when Qiao Jia Jin revealed "Li Qiu", Di Hou would clearly assume that only one card of that type was left.

But Qi Xia had already deduced that this game didn't have much to do with "months", since Di Hou had dared to bet with a card from May against his July card. So, where was the key point?

"The key point isn't 'Qi Yue', but the number 'seven'..."

Qiao Jia Jin watched Qi Xia lost in thought, waited patiently for a while, and only spoke once Qi Xia's expression had fully relaxed.

"De Ren Zai, do you know the rules now?"

Qi Xia turned his head, pondered for a few seconds, and said:

"Di Hou's 'four fives' lost to my 'four sevens'."

"What...?"

"Dezhou Pukie? Four of a kind?"

"I don't understand Dezhou Pukie... What exactly are the rules?"

"Explaining it is quite troublesome... In short, it's like..."

Qiao Jia Jin said halfway and suddenly paused.

"Hey! De Ren Zai! This rule really resembles Dezhou Pukie!"

"Oh? It does?"

"I can only say the form is a bit similar..."

Qiao Jia Jin scratched his head and recalled.

"But players have more cards than we do, and there are more community cards on the table. If you say 'four sevens' can beat 'four fives', then this rule is even more like Dezhou Pukie; it's a major hand called 'four of a kind', which means having four identical numbers, and when two people have four identical numbers, the one with the larger number wins."

"I see."

Qi Xia nodded; he had never participated in gambling games, so he wasn't clear on these poker rules.

"So, do you think this game is simply Dezhou Pukie?"

Qiao Jia Jin also showed a thoughtful expression.

"It's about using numbers to form various combinations to compare with the opponent; overall, it's a bit like the rules of Mahjong, as long as you can form fixed combinations, you can win the game, like 'straight', 'four of a kind', 'three of a kind', and so on."

"It's not that simple..."

Qi Xia shook his head.

"Just because I won this round, I can only deduce this rule, but it should be quite different from the Dezhou Pukie you mentioned."

After hearing this, Qiao Jia Jin slowly leaned in and asked in a low voice:

"Where is the difference?"

"If we convert each of our cards into number cards, theoretically, when we get each card, we'll get several numbers."

Qi Xia said.

"For example, 'Da Han', from the lunar calendar, is 'Shi Er Yue Er Shi San', which translates to cards as four cards: 'one', 'two', 'two', 'three'. Do you see the problem?"

"I don't understand."

Qiao Jia Jin answered straightforwardly.

"It's that the number of cards in each person's hand will vary greatly."

Qi Xia said.

"For example, 'Duan Wu' is 'Wu Yue Chu Wu', which translates to just 'five' and 'five', two cards. But if two people both get a 'Shuo Wang Yue'—wait, no; whereas 'Da Han' equals getting four cards at once, but 'Duan Wu' is only two. This variation means that when we finally reveal our cards, the number of digits each person can use is different; some people have a lot of digits to form various hands to compare with the opponent, but some don't."

"I think I kind of get it..."

Qiao Jia Jin said while thinking.

"De Ren Zai, so in a way, the later the month, the bigger the card—that statement is correct."

Qi Xia nodded after hearing this; earlier, Di Hou had questioned why Chen Jun Nan was betting with a "Li Chun", because "Li Chun" only has two numbers, 'one' and 'six', which can't form a pair, and even the possibility of a straight is small.

"First... Now I need to know..."

Qi Xia turned to Qiao Jia Jin.

"In this Dezhou Pukie rule, what is the largest hand?"

Qiao Jia Jin thought for a moment and said:

"This seems to be the part I'm a bit confused about... It's also the biggest difference between this deck and regular Dezhou Pukie..."

"Oh? What is it?"

"It's the 'Huang Jia Tong Hua Shun'."