Chapter 46: Meng Po's "Tile Rack Upgrade" Using a Soup Barrel as a Tile Rack

Underworld Card Games: From Fight the Landlord to Six-Chong
Volume 3, Chapter 46: Meng Po's "Card Holder Upgrade": Using a Soup Bucket as a Card Holder

Before Old Zhou could properly organize his color-sorted card pile, Meng Po lumbered over carrying a half-person-tall, coarse-porcelain soup bucket. The bucket was adorned with a pattern of Manjusaka flowers, and its rim was stained with a ring of sweet soup residue. One could tell at a glance it was her trusty old vessel for brewing soup. "Master Ma, my new card holder has arrived!" She slammed the soup bucket onto the stone table with a dull thud that made the cards on the table leap. "A soup bowl wasn't big enough for Four-Chong, but Six-Chong has more cards. This soup bucket can hold sixty cards, and holding them by the slots won't hurt my hands!"

Wang Er-ma walked over and tapped the soup bucket; the walls were as thick as city wall bricks. "Your soup bucket is fine for soup, but for cards? What if you end up bringing a bowl of soup along with your play, splashing it everywhere like last time in Four-Chong?" Meng Po patted the bottom of the bucket and laughed, "I'm prepared this time!" With that, she pulled a piece of coarse cloth from her sleeve and spread it inside the bucket. "Line it with cloth, and the soup won't splash out, plus the cards can be wedged in securely!"

Little Li hurried over to recite a poem in flattery: "Meng Po's soup bucket serves as a card holder, coarse cloth at the bottom makes it steady as a boulder. Fill it with sixty cards without a shake, playing a card will surely win the Great King's stake!" After reciting, he reached out to help Meng Po insert the cards, but his hand slipped, jamming three red Ace of Hearts right into a gap in the bucket. He pulled and tugged for a long time without getting them out, shouting anxiously, "Why are these cards stuck inside? It's just like my poetry drafts getting stuck in the stone crevices!"

Old Zhou squatted nearby, staring intently at the cloth inside the soup bucket and muttering to himself, "Will this cloth get wet from the soup and ruin the cards? My melon seed shell chips can't take a soaking!" As he spoke, he reached out to pull the cloth out, but Meng Po quickly stopped him. "Don't pull! If you pull, the cards will fall out! Last time you pulled my soup ladle and spilled soup all over the Judge, have you forgotten?"

Old Zhou withdrew his hand, clutching his blue cloth bag tightly. "I won't pull, I'm just looking!" Just as he spoke, Black Impermanence and White Impermanence carried over a stack of freshly washed cards. Black Impermanence tried to hand the cards to Meng Po, but his foot slipped, and the entire stack of cards tumbled with a crash into the soup bucket. The moment the cards jammed into the bucket, the lining cloth flipped up, and several cards wrapped in the cloth tumbled to the ground, stained with the leftover sweet soup at the bottom of the bucket.

"My cards!" Meng Po panicked and reached in to fish them out. In her frantic scooping, she tipped the soup bucket sideways, and the cards inside poured out along with the sweet soup, landing squarely on the Judge's *Detailed Explanation of Six-Chong Rules*. The pages were soaked instantly, and the characters for "Detailed Rules" were reduced to an ink-blotched blur. The Judge's three pairs of reading glasses slid all the way to the tip of his nose.

"Meng Po, you—!" The Judge was so furious his hands trembled as he pointed at the soaked manual and hopped in anger. "I copied this manual for three months, and it just dried! And look at you—using a soup bucket to hold cards and splashing me with soup all over. How are we going to settle this score?" Meng Po hurriedly handed over a bowl of sweet soup. "Don't be angry, Judge. Drink a bowl of sweet soup to calm your temper, and I'll copy another copy for you!"

The Judge took the sweet soup, took a sip, and winced at the cloying sweetness, though most of his anger subsided. "Just one copy isn't enough! This manual of mine has three hundred pages! You'll help me copy at least three!" Meng Po's face fell. "Three is too many, I still have to brew soup... How about I add triple the sugar for you?"

Wang Er-ma quickly stepped in to mediate. "No arguing, no arguing, we're practicing cards! Meng Po, straighten your soup bucket, and we'll help you pick up the cards. Judge, you go dry your manual first, and later I'll have Little Li help you copy the poetic version of the rules—it's much easier to remember than your manual!"

Little Li immediately nodded. "Right! I'll compose the *Six-Chong Rule Poem*, one line of rules per line of verse. It flows off the tongue and won't be afraid of getting soaked!" With that, he pulled out a yellow paper booklet and began writing on the soggy paper: "In Six-Chong cards are many, don't panic or flurry, the soup bucket holds them without any worry. Don't tilt the bucket, don't splash the broth, or the Judge will yell at you in wrath!"

Meng Po straightened the soup bucket, relined it with the cloth, and carefully inserted the cards. As she slotted them in, she suddenly chuckled. "You know, inserting cards this way is actually quite convenient, just like putting away my soup ladle!" With that, she drew out a Black King of Spades and shouted, "I play a stewed spare rib!"—mimicking Ah Xiang's tone and calling the King of Spades a "stewed spare rib."

Wang Er-ma laughed. "You're not playing cards, you're 'stewing cards'! Next time you play a card, you might as well just shout 'Serve a bowl of card soup!'" Old Zhou leaned over, drew a red Three of Hearts from the bucket, and placed it among his pile of melon seed shells. "This card looks like stir-fried greens, I'll save it here and play it later!"

Meng Po snatched the card back immediately. "This is for playing cards, not for your storage! Last time you saved Four-Chong sequence cards, broke them up to play individually, and Master Ma called it 'demolishing the household'—have you forgotten?" Old Zhou drew back his hand and smiled sheepishly. "I'm only saving one, not many!"

Just then, the Yama King walked over with a cloth bag slung over his shoulder. The bag was bulging; inside were the card manuals he had been secretly practicing with. After the Queen of Yama confiscated his pillows, he had taken to carrying the card manuals on his person. "What are you all doing? Practicing cards?" He leaned over the soup bucket, frowned, and asked, "Meng Po, why are you using a soup bucket to hold cards? This bucket is for brewing soup, not for holding cards! Don't ruin the cards with your soup bucket!"

Meng Po grievance-ladenly replied, "I just have too many cards, the soup bowl isn't big enough, but the soup bucket can hold sixty!"

The Yama King pulled a wooden card holder from his cloth bag. "I've already prepared this for you! This is the 'Six-Chong Dedicated Card Holder' I had the minor ghosts make. It can hold eighty cards, and it's much better to use than your soup bucket!"

Meng Po's eyes lit up, and she hurriedly dumped the cards out of the soup bucket and into the wooden card holder. The holder was carved with Manjusaka flower grooves, and the cards slid in snugly without falling out. "The Great King is always so thoughtful!" She patted the card holder happily. "From now on, I'll never use the soup bucket to hold cards again!"

Black and White Impermanence seized the opportunity to carry the soup bucket to the side, with Black Impermanence muttering, "How great it would have been if you'd brought it out sooner, saving us from the splashed soup!" White Impermanence glared at him. "You still have the nerve to talk! You were the one who dumped the cards into the soup bucket just now!" The two Immortals started bickering again, and everyone burst into laughter.

Card practice continued. Using her new card holder, Meng Po played much more smoothly, occasionally shouting "Stir-fried greens, coming up!" or "Stewed spare ribs, coming down!" in a tone identical to Ah Xiang's. Wang Er-ma looked at the bustling card table: the soup bucket had been moved to a corner, holding the remaining sweet soup; the wooden card holder was packed with cards; Little Li was writing rule poems; the Judge was drying his manual; and Old Zhou was counting his melon seed shells. Though there had been a small commotion earlier, such lively hustle and bustle was what made an Underworld card game truly feel like a game.

Sunlight streamed through the window lattice of the City God Temple onto the card holder, making the carved Manjusaka flower patterns glint. Meng Po played a red Five of Hearts and shouted, "Stir-fried greens are here!" Old Zhou chimed in, "I play stewed Chinese cabbage!" and tossed out the Black Five of Hearts. Everyone laughed aloud. Regardless of whether they used a soup bucket or a wooden card holder, as long as they could play cards together, it was the happiest thing of all.