No matter what, she must make sure that she and her children will live a good life again.

"Then in the future, if you see Manman, and the people from the Fourth Household, do you know what to do?" Lady Gu pressed her hand against her chest and asked Lian Duoduo.

"I know." Lian Duoduo nodded, "But, Mom, they’re coming here less and less often, and even when they do come, if we want to talk to them..." She glanced towards the east room, "...they’re all watching us."

"It’s not easy, we’ll have to wait for an opportunity. Fortunately, your sister-in-law is still around..." Lady Gu pondered as she spoke.

"Mom." Lian Duoduo glanced towards the east room again and lowered her voice even more, "Is my sister-in-law still on our side?...Even if she wanted to stop me, she didn’t have to do it so forcefully, she burned my hand. Now I see her siding more with Manman..."

"Shh..." Lady Gu immediately hushed Lian Duoduo, "What nonsense are you talking about? Of course your sister-in-law is on our side."

"Didn’t you already ask her to pass on a message to Manman’s mother? Why hasn’t she done it yet?" Lian Duoduo asked.

"It’s not a message that can be passed on just like that, your sister-in-law, she also needs to find the right opportunity..." Lady Gu said, her gaze becoming distant and complicated.

...

On the fourth day of the new year, the constant laughter of the young girls echoed from the West Room of the Upper Room in the backyard of the Lian Family. Pushing open the door to the West Room, you could see several young girls sitting on the kang in the outer room.

Lian Zhizhi and Lian Manman were naturally there, along with Zhang Caiyun, Wu Jiayu, and Lian Yeye.

On the second day of the new year, Lady Zhang took the family back to Burner Pot Village to visit Zhang Qingshan and Lady Li. On the way back, they brought Zhang Caiyun and agreed she’d stay until spring planting before going back. Wu Jiayu came with Lady Wu Wang to visit Lian Manman’s family today, and as for Lian Yeye, she’s a frequent visitor to Manman’s family.

The young girls were all dressed in brightly colored clothes, sitting in a circle on the kang covered with thick felt, playing a game called Zhuazi’er.

Zhuazi’er is one of the most popular and beloved games among young girls in Liaodong Prefecture. In some places, this game is also called Zhuaguai or Zhua Galaha. It is essentially a simple toss-and-catch game.

It’s said that in different places, girls use different "Zier" to play this game, and in Liaodong Prefecture, Zhuazi’er is mostly played using sheep or pig Zier.

The "Zier" refers to a small bone, which is the carpal bone at the connecting point of the foreleg knee of a pig or sheep.

Sheep Zier is smaller, more delicate, and more suitable for playing Zhuazi’er. But at the same time, it’s rarer because there are fewer families raising sheep around here. Just like when Lian Manman’s family wants to buy sheep meat, they have to ask people to go to the west to villages where people populate more densely. Pig Zier, on the other hand, is easier to obtain. Each year, when a pig is slaughtered, a person can collect two pig Zier; over several years, enough can be gathered to make up a set needed for Zhuazi’er. Of course, this is presuming the family lives sufficiently to afford slaughtering a pig annually.

Today, the girls, including Lian Manman, are playing Zhuazi’er with sheep Zier.

These sheep Zier were dyed with red paint, but because they’ve been played with for a long time, some of the paint has faded.

To play the Zhuazi’er game, it’s simple enough to just use five sheep Zier at a time.

The rules for this game are straightforward: First, the order of Zhuazi’er must be determined. The young girls each grab five sheep Zier and throw them onto the felt. Whoever throws out the most "Zhuanyun" plays first, and the others follow in the order of who has the most "Zhuanyun."

There are many variations to the Zhuazi’er game. Today, the girls are playing "Ban Zhuanyun." When it’s someone’s turn, they hold the five sheep Zier in their hand and then toss them onto the felt. This tossing requires some skill; it’s best if the five sheep Zier are evenly distributed, neither too scattered nor too clustered.

Then, from these five sheep Zier, one is chosen and tossed high into the air, and then caught back in hand. During this time, another sheep Zier must be moved into a predetermined shape.

The sheep Zier are named based on how they land on the felt: back up as Beimang, hollow side up as Keteng, genuine top up as Zhuanyun, and side up as Lu’er. There is a very small chance that a sheep Zier might stand up, but because of the sheep Zier’s shape, it’s challenging to move them into such a position, so the game usually requires only the first four formations.

Lian Manman and her friends’ "Ban Zhuanyun" involves one of the sheep Zier being tossed in the air while the remaining four are moved into uniform positions named Beimang, Keteng, Zhuanyun, and Lu’er. The usual order is to first move Lu’er, then Beimang, Keteng, and lastly to move the four sheep Zier into Lu’er, Beimang, Keteng, and Zhuanyun positions. Finally, the initially tossed sheep Zier is thrown up again, and all four sheep Zier are collected into the hand before catching the tossed sheep Zier once more.

Completing all these perfectly means winning the game. If someone fails to catch the tossed sheep Zier or doesn’t manage to move any of the other sheep Zier into the designated positions in one go, they lose the game and must pass all the sheep Zier to the next person to continue playing.

Besides Ban Zhuanyun, the Zhuazi’er game has many other variations like Double Pair Grasp, and it isn’t limited to using only five sheep Zier. The game can be played with ten or even fifteen sheep Zier, and in those instances, it’s common for two players to form a team as primary and secondary, allowing for even more play possibilities.

********

Here’s another update, asking for pink tickets.

I played the Zhuazi’er game when I was a child, and our family once had a full wooden box of beautifully crafted sheep Zier. Unfortunately, one time a few of us sisters got into a fierce argument while playing, and the adults in the house were so angry that they burned all the sheep Zier.

Sigh, it’s understandable that children are immature, but the adults were so immature too, humph.

— Well, the quarreling children are little devils. (To be continued. If you like this work, you’re welcome to Qidian (qidian.com) to vote for recommendations and monthly tickets. Your support is my greatest motivation.)

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