Chapter 49: The Interview - The Card-Memorizing Ghost Has a "Photographic Memory Ghost"

Underworld Card Games: From Fight the Landlord to Liuchong
Volume Three, Chapter 49: Interviewing a "Card-Counting Ghost": Meeting a "Photographic Memory Ghost"

Around the card table in the City God Temple, a crowd of ghosts had gathered for the recruitment: the Accountant Ghost squatted on the ground, picking up abacus beads; the Night Wandering Ghost dozed off atop a stack of cards; the Gluttonous Ghost drooled as it stared at Ah Xiang’s cabbage-stir-fried melon seeds; and Lady Meng walked back and forth carrying a tray of melon seeds, calling out, "Everyone here to sign up, take a memory melon seed and boost your recall!"

Wang Ermazi was just fretting over not having a reliable candidate when a bespectacled ghost carrying a cloth ledger drifted over. The ghost looked scholarly, with a few smudges of ink on his clothes, clearly someone who had spent his life dealing with account books. "Master Ma, I am called Little Zhang. In my mortal life, I managed accounts. Hearing that you are short of a card counter here, I've come to try out!" He placed the ledger on the stone table. On its cover were the words "Underworld Income and Expense Details"—ironically, the very ledger the Judge had lost last year.

"An accountant? Can you count cards?" Wang Ermazi asked, squinting sideways as he casually pulled a few cards and laid them out on the table. "I'll deal a few cards, you memorize them. If you get them right, you're hired!" With that, he tossed down the Three of Hearts, Five of Spades, Queen of Diamonds, and Ace of Clubs, then swiftly scooped them back up. "Did you commit them to memory? Old Zhang from my neighborhood district doesn't remember mahjong tiles this fast!"

Little Zhang pushed up his small glasses and rattled off instantly: "One Three of Hearts, one Five of Spades, one Queen of Diamonds, and one Ace of Clubs, in the exact order you threw them down, right?" He even flipped open his ledger and quickly sketched four tiny symbols. "I've jotted them all down in the ledger: a circle for hearts, a cross for spades, a square for diamonds, and a petal for clubs. Much clearer than Little Li's poetry!"

Little Li sauntered over to take a look. The ledger was covered in clumsy, crooked drawings, and he couldn't help reciting a verse: "Little Zhang wears glasses and carries a ledger, counting cards faster than a gusty breeze; hearts get circles and spades get crosses, much easier than my poetic rhyming!" After finishing, he patted Little Zhang on the shoulder. "Not bad, not bad! From now on, we'll split the work: you count cards, and I write poems!"

Old Zhou hurriedly crowded in, stealthily slipping an Ace of Hearts into the card pile, then fished out three other cards and laid them on the table. "Let me test you further! What are these three? Get it right!" He deliberately scrambled the cards into a messy jumble and blocked Little Zhang's view with his hand, terrified he might see clearly.

Little Zhang leaned forward for a peek and immediately stated, "One King of Hearts, two Tens of Spades, and besides those, you hid an Ace of Hearts in the left card pile—the corner of the card is sticking out!"

Old Zhou's face flushed red. He quickly dug out the hidden Ace of Hearts and shoved it into his tunic. "I didn't hide it! The wind blew it in!"

Everyone burst into laughter. Wang Ermazi slapped the table. "This memory is more reliable than the Judge's rulebook!"

Just as they were talking, Black Impermanence and White Impermanence trotted over to make trouble. Black Impermanence pulled out a handful of cards, scattered them into the air, and shouted, "Memorize these!" The cards fluttered all over the floor, and White Impermanence even deliberately stepped on a Jack of Clubs. "Let's see if you can get them all!"

Little Zhang squatted on the ground, swept his gaze across the floor, and began counting: "Two Twos of Hearts, three Sevens of Spades, one Eight of Diamonds, and the Jack of Clubs is pinned under White Impermanence's foot. That's seven cards in total, correct?"

White Impermanence hurriedly shuffled his feet away, revealing the Jack of Clubs underneath, and stuck out his tongue. "Your memory is even more formidable than Black Impermanence's card-hiding tricks!"

Lady Meng walked over with a bowl of sweet soup and handed it to Little Zhang. "Come, drink a bowl of sweet soup to moisten your throat. Later, play a couple of trial rounds to see how you do in actual combat!"

Little Zhang accepted the bowl, sipping it in small sips while managing to record the previous cards into his ledger. "When I managed accounts in life, I could keep track of a whole stack of silver banknotes; a few cards are nothing!"

The trial match began. Wang Ermazi, Old Zhou, Little Li, and Little Zhang formed a table. The moment the six decks of cards were dealt out, Little Zhang started calling out the holdings: "Master Ma, you have three Aces of Hearts and two Kings of Spades; Old Zhou has four Twos of Diamonds (a bomb) and a single Five of Clubs; Little Li has a straight from the Three to the Seven of Hearts and two Queens of Spades. Among the remaining cards, there are still three Aces of Hearts left, and four Kings of Spades..."

Hearing this, Old Zhou panicked instantly. "How do you know I have a bomb? Don't broadcast it! If the opponents find out, my bomb becomes useless!" He hurriedly shoved the four Twos of Diamonds to the bottom of his card pile, terrified someone might see.

Wang Ermazi chuckled. "What are you hiding, Old Zhou? Little Zhang counting cards is helping us, not the opponents!"

They hadn't played a couple of rounds before Little Zhang spotted a problem—Old Zhou was holding a single Five of Clubs, refusing to play it, and had even broken up his straight to play singles instead, causing his teammate unable to follow up. "Old Zhou, you ought to play this Five of Clubs. Holding onto it is useless, and the opposing side has run out of low club cards!" Little Zhang reminded him.

Old Zhou was reluctant to part with it. "Let me hold onto it a bit longer; what if I can pair it up later?"

As a result, the opponents played a Four-to-Eight heart straight that nobody could beat, directly winning the hand. Seeing that they lost, Little Zhang's eyes instantly turned red, his mouth drooped, and tears began to fall *pat, pat, pat*: "I remembered every single card, and yet we still lost... It's all my fault for not reminding you properly..."

Everyone panicked. Lady Meng hurried over with the sweet soup: "Don't cry, don't cry, drink a bowl of sweet soup and you'll feel better. Losing is nothing, we'll win it back next time!"

Little Li quickly composed a verse: "Little Zhang, don't cry and don't be sad; your card-counting skills are simply top-notch. Next time Old Zhou listens to your advice, you'll surely defeat the opposing side!"

Wang Ermazi patted Little Zhang's shoulder, laughing heartily. "What's there to cry about? When we win we share melon seeds, when we lose we drink sweet soup together! When we play cards in our neighborhood district, losing even gives us a chance to scold Old Zhang! With a memory like yours—as long as you don't burst into tears every time we lose—our Team Master Ma will take you in!"

Little Zhang wiped away his tears and said with a sniffle, "I... I just can't control it. In my mortal life managing accounts, even being off by a single cent would make me cry, let alone losing a card game... But I can count cards, and I will definitely help Team Master Ma win the Liuchong tournament!" He even fished out his ledger and wrote "Team Master Ma Wins" inside. The writing was crooked and stained with tear prints.

Old Zhou stepped closer, pulled a melon seed out of his blue cloth pouch, and handed it to Little Zhang. "Stop crying. Here's a melon seed for you. When we win, I'll share more with you!"

Little Zhang took the seed, shelled it, and popped it into his mouth. His tears finally stopped, and he nodded. "Thank you, Old Zhou. I will definitely count the cards properly!"

The Judge happened to pass by the City God Temple. Hearing the ruckus inside, he poked his head in to look. "What are you all up to? The Liuchong match is about to start, and you're still making a racket here?"

Wang Ermazi pointed at Little Zhang. "Judge, we've newly recruited a card counter whose memory is even better than yours. Test him on a couple of rules and see for yourself!"

The Judge pulled out his *Detailed Explanation of Liuchong Rules* and flipped open a random page. "In Liuchong, what is the minimum number of cards in a straight? How many ranks of bombs are there?"

Little Zhang replied instantly without missing a beat: "A straight requires at least five cards, and bombs are divided into four ranks. Six identical cards are the highest, called the 'Supreme Bomb'—it's written right there on page twenty-three of the rulebook!"

The Judge was so shocked that all three pairs of his presbyopic glasses slid down his nose. "You... you actually read my handbook?!"

"I picked it up outside the Earth Temple yesterday, and after reading it once, I memorized it!" Little Zhang pulled out his ledger, flipped to the back page, which was densely filled with rules. "I even highlighted the key points. It's much clearer than your handbook!"

The Judge's whiskers twitched with fury. "My handbook has been missing for half a month! So it was with you! Give it back!" With that, he lunged to snatch the ledger back.

Little Zhang quickly hid the ledger behind his back. "I haven't finished reading it yet. I'll return it to you after the Liuchong match is over!"

Everyone burst into fits of laughter, and Wang Ermazi made the final ruling. "Alright, alright! Little Zhang belongs to Team Master Ma now! From now on, you're in charge of card counting. Crying a bit when we lose is fine; we've got Lady Meng's sweet soup and Little Li's poetry, guaranteed to cheer you right back up!"

Little Zhang nodded and immediately resumed calculating the cards from the trial match just now, muttering under his breath, "Old Zhou didn't play his Twos of Diamonds just now; next time I must remind him to bomb earlier..."

Hearing this, Old Zhou hastily shoved the Twos of Diamonds in his hand deep into the card pile, muttering, "I won't bomb early; I'll save them for the critical moment!"

Sunshine streamed through the lattice windows of the City God Temple, spilling across the ledger. The tear stains on Little Zhang's page had dried into tiny water marks, making the words "Team Master Ma Wins" stand out with striking clarity. Looking at the lively scene before him—Little Zhang counting cards, Old Zhou hiding them, Little Li composing poems, Lady Meng serving soup, and Black and White Impermanence making mischief—Wang Ermazi thought to himself: With a team this interesting before the Liuchong match has even begun, we're bound to win!