Rose Lock - Chapter 47

Hua Manyi stepped down from the rickshaw, and the servant at the gate of the Wang residence came forward to ask. Hua Manyi replied that the Third Concubine of the Wang family had invited her over to play mahjong, and only then did the servant usher her in.

The Third Concubine had a flamboyant personality and didn’t really adhere to the rules. Most people would avoid women from the entertainment quarter like the plague, but she was different. Ever since Hua Manyi slapped her son, she had secretly observed Hua Manyi, felt that this woman was out of the ordinary, and simply invited her out for a game of mahjong to see for herself.

As the saying goes, character is revealed at the mahjong table. This time was the first, the next was the second, and the Third Concubine felt that this card partner had a much better temper than the other concubines. As they played more often, they became closer and closer. The Third Concubine didn’t even care about losing money, after all, a treasured pleasure is priceless, and wasn’t playing cards just for fun?

“Manyi, you’ve finally arrived. Come, come, everyone is waiting for you.” The Third Concubine was dressed flashily, with a white sable shawl and jewelry on her wrists that were different from the day before, all of which were fashionable, popular pieces.

“Cuizhu, go and make a fruit salad for Fourth Concubine Zhang, Mrs. Li, and Manyi. Don’t just stand there idly.”

Cuizhu quickly bowed and responded, “Yes, Third Concubine, Cuizhu will go and make the fruit salad right away!”

Hua Manyi put down her handbag and gracefully took her seat, greeting them familiarly, “Third Concubine Wang, Fourth Concubine Zhang, Mrs. Li, I’m sorry, Manyi is late. Hey, Third Concubine, is that necklace the Deep Sea Necklace that Lukfook Jewellery launched yesterday? It costs more than ten thousand silver dollars, and there’s only one Deep Sea in the whole of Haicheng. Tsk tsk, I’m so envious.”

Third Concubine Wang touched her neck, with an unconcealed smile in her eyes, “Not at all, not at all, my husband gave it to me. I told him not to buy it, but he insisted.”

The other two concubines were also very gracious, praising and expressing their envy.

Hua Manyi accidentally knocked over a mahjong tile with her elbow. As she bent down to pick it up, she noticed a bruise on the ankle beneath Mrs. Li’s qipao and took note of it. Mrs. Li’s skin was extremely well-maintained, with hardly any wrinkles on her face. While playing mahjong, Hua Manyi deliberately gave up a Nine of Bamboos, allowing Mrs. Li, who was sitting in the next position, to win the hand.

“Hey, hey, hey, Nine of Bamboos, I win!” Mrs. Li’s smile was indeed infectious. Hua Manyi immediately congratulated her, “Mrs. Li, your luck is really good today. Your complexion shows that good fortune is shining on you. I can’t see a single wrinkle on your face. What skincare do you usually use, Mrs. Li, to have such good skin?”

Mrs. Li did not hesitate to share her beauty secrets, mentioning various beauty soups and face creams. The other two women laughed and said they would also try to brew and drink them.

After two rounds, Hua Manyi was concentrating on drawing a tile, planning to discard a random one, when a hand stopped her, “Discard this one.”

A familiar voice came from above her head. Hua Manyi’s body stiffened, and she held the tile, unable to move. However, the woman behind her directly pushed out a One of Characters.

“Madam Gong, are you done with your discussion? Cuizhu, quickly bring a chair for Madam Gong.” Third Concubine Wang immediately raised her hand and instructed someone upon seeing Gong Yan behind Hua Manyi and the respectfully waiting Butler Fu by her side.

“Yes, I’m done. I just came down and saw you all playing mahjong.” Gong Yan nodded, then fixed her gaze on the top of Hua Manyi’s head and said with a smile, “I didn’t expect you to be skilled at playing cards too.”

Hua Manyi regained her composure, calmly drew and discarded tiles, not giving her a single glance, “I learned it quickly; it’s not a difficult thing, Third Concubine, don’t you agree?”

Third Concubine was suddenly mentioned and felt very accomplished, “Exactly, Manyi wasn’t very good at mahjong before, she only knew how to play poker. I taught her myself! By the way, Madam Gong, do you know how to play mahjong?”

Gong Yan: “A little bit.”

Third Concubine: “Would you like to join us for a round?”

Hua Manyi slightly furrowed her brows, “Third Concubine, you might not know, but Madam Gong is extremely busy and might not have the leisure—”

Gong Yan looked down at her, “That’s fine too.”

Hua Manyi’s voice abruptly stopped. Then, Fourth Concubine Zhang beside them stood up, “Madam Gong, please, I’ve had enough of playing cards today, so why don’t you take this seat?”

Gong Yan didn’t stand on ceremony with her and sat down to draw a tile. Fourth Concubine Zhang had indeed played enough. She had lost several hands and was in a bad mood, so she used the excuse that it was getting late to go home.

Hua Manyi sat in the position immediately after Gong Yan. The four people played harmoniously. While playing, their little fingers inevitably sometimes touched the skin of others. It didn’t take long before her little finger brushed against Madam Gong’s hand. Hua Manyi collected it without a change in expression, preparing to arrange her tiles.

The game was halfway through, with hands being ‘Punged’ and ‘Gonged’.

The Third Concubine opposite shook her head while discarding a tile, “One of Bamboos.”

Gong Yan: “Five of Dots.”

It was Hua Manyi’s turn. Hearing the term “Five of Dots,” she instantly snapped out of her daze, and a look of triumph suddenly appeared in the corners of her eyes. She took the “Five of Dots” and pushed down all her tiles, “Win!”

The Third Concubine was heartbroken, “Mine was also a ‘Five of Dots’ win, just one step short! Alas, Madam Gong’s luck doesn’t seem to be very good, it appears.”

Hua Manyi happily collected her winnings. When she got to Madam Gong, she raised an eyebrow, “Madam Gong, yours is triple.”

This was because she had been ‘Gonged’ by her twice.

Gong Yan moved her cigarette away. Through the mist, she saw Hua Manyi’s triumphant little expression, a smile played on her red lips, and she took the banknotes from the drawer, “Here, take it.”

For several consecutive hands, Hua Manyi had won against Gong Yan. The money in the drawer was probably almost completely won by her.

Third Concubine Wang had also suffered heavy losses, “Manyi, your luck is incredibly good. Look at Madam Gong, she gets won against by you every hand…”

As she spoke, Third Concubine Wang gave a meaningful “hmm,” her gaze shifting back and forth between Gong Yan and Hua Manyi, “Madam Gong, you wouldn’t be deliberately going easy on your Manyi, would you? That wouldn’t be fair, you two.”

Hua Manyi’s hands, which were counting the money, paused. The joy in her eyes instantly vanished. She looked over, wanting to see what the tiles in that woman’s hand were, and if she was really giving her a break.

Unfortunately, at the end of the game, when Gong Yan pushed the tiles into the center to shuffle, her palm blocked several tiles. She said calmly, “Why would I go easy? Third Concubine, you worry too much.”

Third Concubine Wang glanced over, unable to clearly see if she had intentionally broken up pairs or sequences to let someone win. She retracted her gaze disappointedly. Only Hua Manyi saw clearly; from her angle, she could see that the woman, Madam Gong, deliberately broke up her tiles to let her win.

She had wondered how this woman, who was so old, could be so bad at playing cards, yet always managed to let her win.

“Third Concubine, shall we continue?” Hua Manyi’s enthusiasm for the mahjong table instantly dropped by three points.

Sure enough, halfway through the game, a tile that would let her win appeared again—a One of Characters—and it was still discarded by this woman, Madam Gong. Hua Manyi stared at the tile she needed, staring for several seconds. If she wanted to, she could win now.

But… was this seriously not letting her win?!

What exactly was this woman, Madam Gong, doing?

It wasn’t until Mrs. Li reminded her that it was her turn to discard that Hua Manyi snapped out of it. She drew a tile and clenched her jaw, “Red Dragon.”

“Win, win!” Mrs. Li was rarely happy to win a hand. Hua Manyi politely congratulated her. Turning her head, she saw Madam Gong frowning at her, as if asking why she didn’t take the tile she discarded.

Hua Manyi pretended not to see it. Her peripheral vision casually swept over the tiles in Madam Gong’s hand, spread out and not yet shuffled. Heh, Thirteen Orphans. So this woman would rather break up a hand that could have been a self-drawn Thirteen Orphans than go easy on her?

With her eyes lowered, Hua Manyi didn’t know what she was trying to do, but she couldn’t accept this kind of generous offer of letting her win, and she wouldn’t benefit from it.

“Madam Gong, if I may be so bold, is it true that you are not married yet?” The Third Concubine didn’t understand the intricacies of the business world and spoke her mind. If it worked out, this Madam Gong might even thank her.

Gong Yan simply gave a noncommittal “hmm.”

The Third Concubine’s eyes instantly lit up, “Madam Gong, then… would you like me to introduce someone to you?”

Hua Manyi looked at her tiles with her eyes cast down, and upon hearing this, she squeezed a mahjong tile tightly.

“Third Concubine, you’re very kind, but I, Gong Yan, currently have no plans to get married. White Dragon.” Gong Yan didn’t even look at her. She touched a tile with her fingertip and discarded a White Dragon.

The Third Concubine sheepishly shut up and stopped talking. After a few rounds, she heard Hua Manyi across the table calmly say two words, “Self-Drawn Win.” The Third Concubine took the banknotes from the drawer and handed them over, sighing inwardly, why were all these vexing things happening one after another?

As dusk approached, the game ended. Hua Manyi came out of the Wang residence and was about to call for a rickshaw when Madam Gong stood beside her and asked, “Are you heading back? We’re going the same way, ride in my car.”

“No need, Madam Gong. I have something else to do. I’ll just call a rickshaw,” Hua Manyi politely declined.

Gong Yan turned to face her, “I don’t have anything else to do either. How about I accompany you?”

Hua Manyi was puzzled. She lifted her eyelids and looked up at her, “Madam Gong, what’s wrong with you today?”

It was one thing to openly let her win, but now she was suddenly offering to accompany her. If this were in the past, she would have been overjoyed, even fantasizing about things that shouldn’t be.

However, she had seen the reality: there was no possibility between them.

“Hua Manyi, you’re overthinking it.” Being repeatedly snubbed, the woman’s face suddenly turned cold, “If you don’t want to, just say so.”

Hua Manyi looked at Madam Gong’s cold, aloof expression—this was her normal demeanor—and felt relieved, “Yes, I don’t want to. I’m leaving now. Drive safely, Madam Gong.”

Gong Yan: “…”

Hua Manyi left in a rickshaw, leaving only Gong Yan and Butler Fu in front of the Wang residence.

It took a while before Butler Fu heard the question.

“All I did was break a bathtub? Do I deserve such an attitude?” Gong Yan closed her eyes tightly, annoyed and laughing bitterly, “She’s not old, but she certainly has a big temper.”

She let her win at mahjong, but she didn’t appreciate it. She wouldn’t take the ride that was on the way. After coming back from the South City, they were outwardly familiar, but privately she kept rejecting this and that. She almost thought the person had been replaced.

“She wasn’t like this before,” Gong Yan frowned.

Butler Fu chose his words carefully, “Perhaps Miss Manyi experienced some major setback, which caused her temperament to… change slightly.”

“What kind of setback could she have had—”

The end of her sentence suddenly stopped. Gong Yan recalled the accidental meeting at the café in South City that day. What did Hua Manyi encounter that made her seek help from Lu Nian and Lu Yu? At the time, she had even asked her in the restroom if she needed help, but Hua Manyi kept refusing her. She, Gong Yan, also had a temper. After repeated rejections, how could she still bother with her? She wouldn’t do this hot-face-to-cold-butt thing a second time.

“Help me send a telegram to Lu Nian and ask what exactly happened to Hua Manyi that day.” Gong Yan got into the car, her expression serious. Some details slowly surfaced—Hua Manyi inexplicably falling into the river, and that phrase in her sleep, “Go away! I didn’t get married, I’m not your daughter-in-law.”

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