Chapter Fifty-Two: The First Joint Practice—Xiao Zhang’s Card Counting Drives Him to “Crash”

Volume Three, Chapter Fifty-two: The First Joint Practice Session — Xiao Zhang’s Card Counting Causes a “System Crash”

On the stone table at the City God Temple, six decks of cards had just been neatly arranged into small “mountains” by Little Black and Little White. Wang Erma rolled up his sleeves and called out, “Everyone, take your seats! This is our Ma Master Team’s first joint practice. We have to bring the same intensity as when we played the year-end games in the neighborhood!” He pointed to the soup bucket on the table — a card rack specially brought by Granny Meng — where a few leftover hearts A cards from last night still stuck out. “Old Zhou, stop squatting there counting sunflower seeds. Xiao Li, hold your card-counting verse book carefully. Xiao Zhang… don’t forget to flip open your ledger. The card counting depends on you!”

Old Zhou begrudgingly pulled a sunflower seed from his blue cloth bag, popped it into his mouth, and shuffled slowly over to the table. As soon as he sat down, he separated his cards into red and black piles, stacking them higher than the soup bucket itself. “This way it’s easier to find them, saves time flipping through when playing — last time in the Four Clash game, I was too slow flipping and got penalized five points!” Wang Erma immediately noticed him sneakily slipping a single black spade five under the red pile. Irritated, he jabbed Old Zhou’s forehead. “Old Zhou, you’re hiding single cards again! This is practice, what’s the point of hiding cards?” Old Zhou hurriedly shoved the spade five deep into the pile. “I’m not hiding it! The wind blew it over there!”

Xiao Li held his yellow notebook, pen flying swiftly across the pages. Soon, he held up the book and read aloud, “Six Clash practice begins today; Ma Master leads with no slack; Old Zhou, no hiding cards; Xiao Zhang, don’t mess up the count!” He proudly shook the book, but the pen tip dripped ink onto the card pile, staining the queen of diamonds black. “Oh no!” Xiao Li stamped his foot anxiously. “This card’s stained! Don’t let anyone mistake it for the queen of spades when playing later!”

Pushing up his tiny glasses, Xiao Zhang opened his ledger and carefully noted: “Queen of diamonds, stained black by Xiao Li’s ink. Pay attention to suit distinction,” marking a small black circle beside the entry. Granny Meng came over with a dish of sweet soup, placing it in front of Xiao Zhang. “Xiao Zhang, if you get tired of counting cards, have a sip of soup to soothe your throat. Don’t let your memory become like the judge’s, counting so much that you forget your own cards!”

Ah Xiang weaved among the players carrying a bamboo basket, occasionally handing Wang Erma a handful of roasted sunflower seeds and slipping a cabbage leaf to Old Zhou. “Ma Master, I’ve got plenty of these ‘memory seeds.’ Eating them makes your card counting clearer! Old Zhou, if you dare hide single cards again, I’ll smack your hand with this cabbage leaf!” Old Zhou swiftly stuffed a single heart three into the pile and muttered, “I’m not hiding anymore, really…”

The joint practice officially began. After dealing six decks, everyone clutched thick stacks of cards — Wang Erma’s pile was so large he had to hold it with his elbow, Old Zhou’s cards almost hid his face, Xiao Li slipped his between his verse sheets, and Xiao Zhang spread his cards on top of his ledger, reading aloud: “Ma Master has three hearts A, two spades K, four diamonds 10; Old Zhou has two hearts 3, one spade 5 (hidden in red pile), three diamonds 2; Xiao Li has consecutive hearts 5 to 9, two spades Q, one club A…”

“Good boy, even remembered Old Zhou’s hidden spade five!” Wang Erma slapped the table laughing. Old Zhou’s face flushed instantly as he hurriedly pulled the spade five out and placed it on top of his pile, pretending casually, “I’m just… helping you remember it, so you don’t miss it!”

After only a couple of rounds, Xiao Zhang’s recitation sped up and his ledger filled with dense notes: “Opponent (assumed) played two hearts 2, remaining cards include three hearts A, four spades K; Old Zhou just played a pair of hearts 3, still has one spade 5 and three diamonds 2; Xiao Li played one spade Q, forgot to play the consecutive hearts 5 to 9…” He furrowed his brow, tracing lines across the ledger. “No, how many hearts A remain — four or three? Ma Master just played one, opponent played two…”

Xiao Li leaned over to help count, but after reading “Hearts A and spades K, don’t miscount remaining cards,” he suddenly forgot what card he was supposed to play and stood dazed for a long moment until Wang Erma urged, “Xiao Li, snap out of it! Your turn to play!” Flustered, Xiao Li drew a club A and tossed it on the table. “Play this! Club A, does it count?”

Xiao Zhang was still tangled up over the number of hearts A, sweat beading on his forehead. Rubbing his temples, he flipped through previous notes, then suddenly gasped and crouched down, clutching his head. “I’m full! My brain is full! I can’t remember anymore!” His ledger thudded to the ground, packed with tiny writing like a swarm of ants causing dizziness.

Everyone panicked — Wang Erma quickly knelt to support him. “Xiao Zhang, what’s wrong? Card counting wearing you out? Take a break, take a break!” Old Zhou forgot to hide cards and offered a sunflower seed. “Eat one of mine; these seeds clear the mind. Last time I forgot the bomb cards, ate a seed and remembered!”

Xiao Li hurriedly pulled out his pen and composed a comforting poem: “Xiao Zhang, don’t panic or fret; when full, just rest; sip sweet soup, munch seeds; clear your mind, then do your best!” He handed over the verse, “See? No need to count exactly, just recite and it’s clear!”

Ah Xiang brought a bowl of freshly stir-fried cabbage with roasted seeds, pressing it into Xiao Zhang’s hand. “Eat my ‘brain-clearing dish,’ better than anything! Last time in Four Clash I forgot consecutive cards, ate this and suddenly remembered how to play ‘stir-fried greens’ (cards 3 to 7)!”

Xiao Zhang pinched a seed, slowly chewing, tears suddenly falling. “I can’t remember… how many hearts A remain, where Old Zhou’s single cards are hidden… Am I useless?”

Granny Meng quickly handed over sweet soup. “Don’t cry, don’t cry, a sip of soup will fix it! What if you can’t remember? I’ve brewed soup for three hundred years and still can’t remember who likes coriander!” She patted his shoulder. “Your memory’s way better than the judge’s — last time he counted five times and still couldn’t tell if Landlord was a three- or four-player game!”

Wang Erma suddenly slapped his thigh, laughing. “Xiao Zhang, your brain’s ‘frozen!’ Old Zhang in my neighborhood playing mahjong gets like this too when counting too many cards! Listen to me, forget some unimportant stuff! Like Old Zhou’s single cards — he’s definitely holding onto them, no need to remember. He’ll be forced to play them eventually anyway!”

Old Zhou immediately protested, “I’m not holding! This time I’m definitely playing single cards proactively!” Saying this, he threw the spade five onto the table. Wang Erma raised an eyebrow. “That’s more like it! Xiao Zhang, see? No need to remember Old Zhou’s single cards; he’s giving them away himself!”

Wiping his tears, Xiao Zhang sobbed, “Really? Then I’ll forget Old Zhou’s single cards, and Xiao Li’s forgotten verses?” Wang Erma nodded. “Right! Focus on the opponent’s cards, our consecutive cards, and bombs. Ignore the rest — Six Clash is about ‘team chemistry,’ not ‘rote memorization’!”

Ah Xiang quickly served a chopstick of cabbage with roasted seeds. “Eat this dish, guaranteed to ‘reboot’ your brain! When counting later, just remember ‘opponent has no bombs’ and ‘Ma Master will play a string of candied hawthorns’ — easier than memorizing all those numbers!”

Xiao Zhang bit into the cabbage, eyes suddenly brightened. “Feels… clearer now!” He picked up his ledger, turned to a fresh page, and wrote: “Focus on: opponent’s remaining cards, our consecutive cards/bombs; ignore Old Zhou’s singles and Xiao Li’s forgotten verses,” drawing a smiley face beside it. “I remember now! Just now opponent played two hearts 2, leaving three hearts A; we have three diamonds 2 — can make a pair!”

“That’s the spirit!” Wang Erma clapped Xiao Zhang’s shoulder, laughing heartily. “Practice is for trial and error. If you forget, just forget. If you can’t forget, just shout. We’re the Ma Master Team — no problem we can’t solve!”

Xiao Li seized the moment to chant a new poem: “Xiao Zhang rebooted his brain, counting only the key points; Old Zhou stopped hiding singles, Ma Master Team sure to win Six Clash!” He stuck the poem onto the soup bucket. “This is our ‘practice mantra.’ If you forget next time, just recite it!”

Old Zhou also approached, pulling a handful of sunflower seeds from his blue bag and handing half to Xiao Zhang. “Here, half these seeds are yours. If we win practice, I’ll treat you to Ah Xiang’s cabbage with seeds!” Xiao Zhang accepted the seeds, smiling as he pushed up his glasses and resumed counting, speaking more slowly but never again saying “my brain is full.”

Sunlight streamed through the City God Temple’s window lattice, falling on the table, ledgers, verse sheets, and steaming bowls of cabbage with roasted seeds. Wang Erma’s commands, Xiao Li’s poetry, Xiao Zhang’s counting, and Ah Xiang’s cooking sounds blended together — the Ma Master Team’s first joint practice, despite the “Xiao Zhang system crash” episode, had brought these “peculiar” teammates closer. Even the breeze carried a lively energy, as if warming up the stage early for the upcoming Six Clash group tournament.