The (New) Three Rules

It didn’t really matter who dealt first—anyone could start.

There were four people present, making Dou Di Zhu the perfect choice. It was widely popular, and even those unfamiliar with the game had at least seen it played.

There was another game called Guan Dan, but Shu Yunyi had only heard of it and never played, so that option was off the table.

The first round was just a practice game, and everyone played casually.

Shen Yi had a good hand and took the lead by calling the landlord, demonstrating how it worked by picking up the leftover cards.

The bottom cards weren’t great, so Shen Yi could only do his best.

While playing, Shen Yi and Cheng Jun explained the game step by step, hoping Shu Yunyi would understand it all at once.

Shu Yunyi was certainly not slow-witted, just inexperienced in this area.

She didn’t grasp the importance of teamwork yet, still used to playing solo and focusing on her own cards. She didn’t know which cards to play and which to hold back.

This often led to the farmers accidentally sabotaging each other, which allowed Shen Yi, as landlord, to get rid of a lot of cards.

Since Shu Yunyi was a beginner, Fu Nanzhi and Cheng Jun didn’t blame her. Plus, it was just the first practice round, so they patiently explained the reasons behind the strategies.

With the farmers in disarray, they were no match for Shen Yi, who quickly played out all his cards.

“How’s that? Got it now?”

Shen Yi had cleared his hand, signaling the end of the game, then turned to ask Shu Yunyi.

After thinking it over for a moment, Shu Yunyi roughly understood the flow and nodded.

“Not too hard. I’m good.”

Shen Yi relaxed and took the conversation further.

“Alright, then let’s start the real game.”

“But what should the stakes be?”

The three women fell silent, each lost in thought. Shen Yi considered for a moment and suggested,

“How about whoever loses has to clean the rooms for a week?”

A dimple flickered on Fu Nanzhi’s cheek as she scoffed dismissively.

“Dream on. Cleaning the rooms is your job anyway.”

“That can’t be the bet.”

“Exactly.”

The other two women chimed in agreement.

Seeing their refusal, Shen Yi shrugged helplessly.

“Then you tell me. I’ll accept whatever.”

Fu Nanzhi and Shu Yunyi exchanged glances, both drawing a blank.

If it was money, it felt unnecessary. If it was punishment, the stakes were tricky—too light was meaningless, too harsh would hurt feelings. After much thought, they couldn’t come up with a good idea.

Cheng Jun’s eyes darted around before boldly proposing,

“Then how about this: we bet on marriage.”

“Whoever wins marries Shen Yi.”

The situation took a sharp turn. Cheng Jun’s shocking suggestion stunned everyone present.

“Not a chance.”

“Nonsense!”

Shu Yunyi and Fu Nanzhi were quick to object, refusing outright.

Deciding something as serious as marriage based on a card game was childish and reckless.

“What if Shen Yi wins? Is he going to marry all three of us?”

Shu Yunyi pursed her lips, pointing out the obvious flaw with dissatisfaction.

Shen Yi was speechless and could only try to smooth things over.

“Uh... Cheng Jun was joking. That’s definitely not serious.”

Cheng Jun’s proposal was shot down by everyone, but her expression didn’t change in the slightest. Instead, she smiled warmly.

“Then how about we stick to the previous agreement?”

“But this time, the order will be decided by who wins and loses. How’s that?”

The two women’s expressions instantly turned serious upon hearing this. The "three rules" was a secret code, signifying that the three of them needed to establish an order for interacting with Shen Yi.

In today’s terms, it meant competing for the chance to be alone with Shen Yi first.

Although they all knew each other well, Shen Yi was only one person, and some things were worth competing for.

This was a matter too embarrassing to bring up directly, so Cheng Jun took advantage of the card game to raise the issue first.

Shen Yi’s face showed a sudden glimmer of understanding as he realized Cheng Jun’s compromise.

If she had proposed marriage outright, the other two would definitely refuse, so she settled for the next best thing—this way, the two of them would take it seriously.

It has to be said, Cheng Jun’s intuition was spot on in this regard.

“Alright.”

Fu Nanzhi’s attitude was the most laid-back; she was here mainly to have fun, so she was the first to agree.

Although Shu Yunyi still had doubts—after all, her card skills were the weakest—she didn’t want to fall behind. After thinking it over, she grit her teeth and said,

“Okay, but what if Shen Yi wins?”

Cheng Jun narrowed her eyes and smiled:

“Then he gets to decide the order himself.”

“Fine.”

“‘Landlord’ counts as three points, ‘peasants’ count as one point each. Winners add points, losers subtract. The one with the highest score at the end wins.”

Cheng Jun announced the rules.

“Let’s start then.”

Shen Yi’s scalp tingled as he listened, reacting swiftly. This was a delicate matter—practically putting him on the spot.

After all, no matter who went first or last, it was awkward. He could only hope for a draw.

Without waiting for Shen Yi’s opinion, the three women began dealing cards. The four of them exchanged turns quickly, and soon everyone’s hands were full.

Only eight cards remained on the table. Shen Yi silently assessed his hand, glanced around nervously, and asked:

“Who wants to be the landlord?”

Shu Yunyi clumsily grabbed a handful of cards, barely recalling the ranking order. Lacking confidence in her hand, she quietly shook her head.

Fu Nanzhi propped her chin on her hand, thinking it over. She had too many single cards, so the odds of winning as landlord weren’t high. She shook her head as well.

That left Cheng Jun and Shen Yi exchanging a glance. Cheng Jun wrinkled her nose, daring to take the risk with a coquettish smile:

“Then I’ll be the landlord for the first round.”

“Alright.”

Shen Yi agreed, then turned to Shu Yunyi and reminded her:

“Since Zhu Jun is the landlord, the three of us are peasants, on the same side.”

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Shu Yunyi held her cards with a serious gaze, not looking away, and simply replied:

“I know, I know.”

Seeing her so cautious, Shen Yi couldn’t help but smile inwardly and reminded her:

“As the player to the landlord’s immediate left, you have to ‘resist the wind’.”

Shu Yunyi sat directly opposite Cheng Jun, and by the unspoken rules, she had to bear the brunt of the landlord’s attacks, not letting Cheng Jun easily play small cards.

Afraid she might not understand, Shen Yi explained it clearly.

Cheng Jun wasn’t pleased upon hearing this. While taking the landlord’s remaining cards, she grumbled:

“Already planning tactics? No whispering allowed.”

Shen Yi laughed heartily and said:

“This is just the first round.”

“Yunyi doesn’t get it, so I’m just giving her a little extra guidance.”

“Hmph, this is the real deal, not a simulation.”

Cheng Jun snorted but didn’t say anything more. After sorting her cards, she was the first to play a card.

“3.”

It was the smallest single card. Shen Yi’s heart leapt with joy as he seized the opportunity to slip out a card.

“4.”

Fu Nanzhi covered her expression with her cards, quietly placing down a seven.

Shu Yunyi scratched her head, thinking for a long while, then dropped an Ace.

Seeing this, Fu Nanzhi let out a sigh of relief and smiled:

“Good move, let’s do it.”

Cheng Jun pouted and threw down a little joker:

“You’re all ganging up on me.”

Fu Nanzhi, hiding behind her cards, revealed only a pair of twinkling eyes and chuckled:

“Ha ha ha, farmers are meant to play ‘Fight the Landlord’.”

“Cheng Jun, just admit defeat.”

Cheng Jun glanced at Fu Nanzhi:

“Don’t get too cocky, Nanzhi. Who wins is still anyone’s game.”

Shen Yi then threw down a big joker, taking back the lead.

He sorted his cards and laid down a straight. As long as he could quickly get rid of all his cards, the farmers would win, and he certainly wasn’t going to hold back.

“No way.”

Seeing that she couldn’t stop him, Shen Yi kept playing aggressively, always playing as many cards as possible rather than holding back.

After all, he couldn’t throw the game; otherwise, the two women wouldn’t have agreed to this.

Fu Nanzhi and Shu Yunyi naturally stayed silent, happily letting Shen Yi run away with the game on his own.