Chapter 176: Chapter 176: You Have My Respect
Speaking of which, what a person likes to do isn’t set in stone, especially someone like Mrs. Pei, who enjoys many things in her daily life. It’s hard to pinpoint her favorite activity.
Otherwise, Third Miss and Fang Yuan wouldn’t have guessed wrong.
One said Mrs. Pei loves matchmaking, pairing up couples one by one.
Another said she likes feeding fish.
Both have their reasons, as these are indeed Mrs. Pei’s usual habits.
As for why Qu Fulan thought of Mrs. Pei chanting Buddhist scriptures, there’s a reason for that too.
When Qu Fulan was a maidservant to Heir Pei, she noticed the thing Heir Pei did most was collecting Buddha Beads for Mrs. Pei.
So Qu Fulan wrote down that answer, and it turned out to be correct.
But how did Cheng Ru guess it?
She’s not Mrs. Pei’s personal maid nor a lady of Pei Mansion; she only greets Mrs. Pei morning and evening and occasionally joins Third Miss and others to chat with Mrs. Pei for company.
Sending Buddha and chanting scriptures are things they rarely see.
Since two people wrote down the correct answer, the competition had to continue.
But with all matters concerning Mrs. Pei guessed, the subject couldn’t revolve around her anymore.
"Let’s decide the winner with one more round; we can’t drag this on," suggested Prince An.
They were enjoying a Truth or Dare game when unexpectedly there was a competition for the Luminous Pearl. They weren’t particularly interested in it and didn’t want to spend much effort on it.
"Yes, let Mrs. Pei come up with one last question, something slightly difficult that requires some thought," Mr. Wei recommended.
This suggestion was agreed upon by everyone.
But what question to pose? Mrs. Pei couldn’t think of one immediately.
After all, it couldn’t be something no one knows, which would be boring, nor something everyone knows, which is equally dull.
Mrs. Pei found herself in a dilemma after much thought.
Pei Ji’an laughed, "How about shaking dice? Whoever has the highest number wins."
This idea was good, unless one was an expert who could cheat, otherwise, it was completely random.
Third Miss and Fang Yuan immediately clapped their hands in agreement.
Yao Xing didn’t want to agree; she only thought of setting conditions most favorable to herself. Now, dice shaking is purely luck-based, which she certainly didn’t like, yet she couldn’t object, only hoping for good luck.
Cheng Ru’s lips curved slightly upward.
She might not say anything about other games, but dice shaking, she played it often at home; none of her sisters could beat her, and few among her brothers could.
In the Capital City, she only found that girls rarely played such games, maybe thinking it vulgar.
So for others, dice shaking is luck, but for her, it’s skill.
Qu Fulan, having played dice shaking in modern times, wasn’t an expert and relied entirely on luck. She had seen others who were good, controlling the numbers at will; she could only envy.
But now using this method to decide victory, it was the fairest way. Though she liked the Luminous Pearl, if luck wasn’t on her side, she couldn’t help it.
Everyone agreed, even Mrs. Pei thought it was good, "Let’s do it, one die isn’t enough; everyone shake five dice simultaneously, usually resulting in different outcomes."
It was Prince An and several others who showed subtle expressions.
Soon, everyone put their hands on the bowls and began shaking the dice under them.
Third Miss and Fang Yuan shook randomly by feel, just assuming the harder, the better.
In contrast, Cheng Ru shook three times to feel it, then continued shaking.
Yao Xing also shook by feel, thinking it was enough after a while.
Qu Fulan thought it was a matter of probability anyway, so she didn’t bother much, shaking a few times casually before stopping.
When Mrs. Pei called to stop, everyone stopped.
"Let’s start with Fang Yuan," Mrs. Pei smiled.
Fang Yuan cheerfully opened her bowl.
The result was surprisingly five ones.
"I’m amazed; it’s not easy to shake such a number," Cheng Ru laughed.
Third Miss also laughed, "If they were all six, you’d win."
Fang Yuan knew she couldn’t win; at least no one would shake a lower number, so she didn’t mind, thinking it was just a game for fun, unlike some people.
This so-called some people undoubtedly referred to Yao Xing.
She opened her bowl as the second one, revealing a mix of three, four, five, and six, which wasn’t bad but certainly not the best.
Indeed, when Third Miss opened hers, she surprisingly had two sixes and three fours.
This was pretty good, but she couldn’t declare it the best until the end.
Following were Prince An and several others, mostly similar to Third Miss’s, unimpressive.
Finally, only Cheng Ru and Qu Fulan were left.
Cheng Ru opened hers first, and Fang Yuan exclaimed "Wow," evidently impressed.
Prince An and others craned their necks to see, exclaiming with approval, four sixes and one five.
Wow, who knew, there was someone skilled here, with some flair.
This was currently the highest number among all, unless Qu Fulan could shake five sixes.
But that was impossible unless one was an expert; how could anyone have such luck?
Nearly everyone thought it was impossible to have such luck.
So Fang Yuan assumed Cheng Ru had won, asking if she played this frequently.
Cheng Ru didn’t deny, "Sometimes playing a bit with my sisters at home, so it’s somewhat about luck."
"That’s some great luck!" Fang Yuan marveled, "Seems like the Luminous Pearl is yours."
"Fulan hasn’t opened hers yet; don’t rush to conclusions," Third Miss laughed.
Mrs. Pei also believed Miss Cheng was sure to win, unless Miss Qiu could shake five sixes, which was nearly impossible.
"Miss Qiu, it’s your turn. Even if you lose, don’t worry; it’s your new home feast today. I can reward you with other nice things later."
Qu Fulan thought she couldn’t shake anything significant and didn’t care, just opened her bowl; inexplicably, maybe it was her illusion, a gust of wind seemed to blow when she opened it, fleeting.
If Cheng Ru previously opened her bowl to everyone’s exclamations.
Now Qu Fulan opened hers to total silence.
Typically such silence means one of two things: the result is too poor, but Fang Yuan already had too poor a result, so it couldn’t be that.
The only possibility was...
"Five sixes!" It was Fang Yuan who exclaimed first.
Qu Fulan looked at the situation before her, stunned; had her luck exploded?
She never shook such a number in her lifetime.
Third Miss and Mrs. Pei couldn’t help but gasp.
Cheng Ru’s smile froze, her grip on the teacup tightening.
Meanwhile, Prince An and several others remained calm, as if they had anticipated it, casting a glance at Pei Ji’an, who simply rubbed his wine cup with his long fingers, expression tranquil.