Peaceful Farm Life

Chapter 502: Chapter 502: Although We Lost, There’s No Shame_1

At the dinner table, Meng Lanqing and Meng Zhuqing also toasted Xiao Changyi. Though Xiao Changyi had not spoken to them during the meal, he drank the toasts, showing great face.

Meng Lanqing and Meng Zhuqing were quite pleased in their hearts.

They hadn’t truly experienced the New Year’s celebration in a long time, having joined the army at fourteen. At nineteen, on the battlefield, they had heard their father’s dying command to serve their grandfather as slaves. Now they were twenty-five, and it had been eleven years since they had properly celebrated the New Year. Whenever New Year’s came, it was just the two brothers casually having a meal together, with nothing prepared, so naturally, they felt none of the festive spirit.

Once the New Year’s Eve dinner was finished, the four of them gathered around the stove to keep the vigil of the New Year’s Eve.

Peeled melon seeds, walnuts, red dates, and such were placed to one side for anyone to take as they wished, and there was also tea available.

An Jing and Xiao Changyi had brought back a set of Go from the palace, which was perfect for passing the time.

”Do you know how to play?” An Jing asked Meng Zhuqing and Meng Lanqing.

Meng Zhuqing smiled somewhat embarrassingly and said, ”I am not very skilled at it, but my brother is very proficient.”

An Jing immediately looked at Meng Lanqing with excitement, ”You’re very proficient at this? Then you should play a game with my husband. He has never had a worthy opponent and always lets me win. It’s quite embarrassing for me.”

Meng Lanqing had no choice but to tough it out and play. However, he had already planned to give his dear brother a good thrashing when they got back tomorrow! His dear brother must have had too much to drink to be so talkative! Otherwise, how could he fail to see that their master wanted to play Go with his wife, and not him?

To express his respect for his master, Meng Lanqing naturally wouldn’t go easy on him and had to bring out his true skill against Xiao Changyi, the master.

As the experts dueled, the two spectators—An Jing and Meng Zhuqing—watched with great interest. The board gradually filled up with pieces, and they could only see each move being played without being able to tell who would win or lose. It was indeed thrilling.

Just when An Jing and Meng Zhuqing thought it would be a draw, Xiao Changyi made a move that instantly breached Meng Lanqing’s defenses, costing Meng Lanqing many pieces. Meng Lanqing was greatly alarmed and tried to salvage the situation, but in the end, he still lost.

Despite losing, it wasn’t shameful.

Once Meng Lanqing confirmed his defeat and saw no way to recover, he respectfully said, ”Master’s Go skills are superb, I am inferior.”

”You’re not bad either,” Xiao Changyi rarely voiced his praise. He had played many games of Go, but this was the first time he had needed to be fully concentrated to play.

Meng Lanqing humbly replied, ”Master flatters me too much.”

”It’s not flattery, your Go skills are truly good,” An Jing also praised him. Then, she looked at Xiao Changyi with a beaming smile, ”Husband, do you want to play another game with him?”

Before Xiao Changyi could speak, Meng Lanqing interjected, ”Perhaps the lady should play a game with the master. I am already fatigued after one game and cannot endure another.”

An Jing, considering that the game between Xiao Changyi and Meng Lanqing had indeed lasted quite a while and was mentally exhausting, decided not to insist. Instead of immediately starting another game with Xiao Changyi, she took a handful of walnut kernels and placed them in Xiao Changyi’s hand.

”Husband, eat these,” An Jing remembered that walnuts were good for the brain, and even though she felt her husband didn’t need it, eating some wouldn’t hurt.

Xiao Changyi only ate two walnut kernels, then gradually handed the rest to An Jing’s lips, letting her eat them.

Meng Lanqing and Meng Zhuqing had grown accustomed to Xiao Changyi and An Jing’s occasional displays of intimacy, but still respectfully averted their gaze, refraining from observing the couple’s affectionate behaviors.