Of course, there were some gamblers too, but they didn’t play big in this small shop, and Chen Yan hadn’t seen any in action.
When Chen Yan sat down, the three people at the table joked with him: "You look like a stranger, young man. You’re not from our village, are you?"
"I’m from the county, here to visit a classmate," Chen Yan replied casually.
The middle-aged man directly opposite him, with a cigarette tucked behind his ear, teased, "Visiting a classmate? Or visiting a girlfriend?"
Chen Yan didn’t answer, just smiled and waited for them to finish rolling the dice, and then skillfully arranged the tiles.
Another person said, "Old Stick, don’t tease him. This young man is good-looking. Your daughter will be looking for a partner in a few years too, and I bet she won’t find someone as good-looking as him."
The man called "Old Stick" blushed, "Nonsense! My daughter is studying in the city, and she will marry someone from there too."
A skinny man sitting upstream from Chen Yan curiously sized him up and asked, "Young man, which family is your girlfriend from?"
Chen Yan glanced at the guy and smiled, "Why? Afraid I’ll lose money and not pay up? Do we need to ask for a background check just to play cards?"
This last line, asking for a background check, was a local phrase Chen Yan had learned today, and he said it smoothly.
The few people chuckled. Before anyone could say more, Chen Yan had already played a tile: "East Wind."
With the game starting, everyone focused on the tiles and stopped questioning Chen Yan.
Chen Yan’s mahjong skills were average, not particularly good or bad. The local rules were different from what he was used to, making the game a bit awkward for him.
After playing for over an hour, he only won a small hand, but he also paid twice. Once, he even gave the old man downstream a big win. The thin, old guy beamed with joy and looked at Chen Yan with more friendliness.
The three of them noticed that this young man won without boasting and lost without showing any emotion, praising his good game demeanor. Chen Yan took the chance to ask the boss to bring a pack of Furong Wang cigarettes, opened it, and shared one with everyone, making the atmosphere even more harmonious.
Taking advantage of the game, Chen Yan started to fish for information. Before long, he learned some news he wanted to know.
First, he inquired about Boss He and his family—this did not arouse any suspicion.
After all, Boss He was quite famous for making it to the billionaire’s list. People naturally were curious, and the villagers often enjoyed gossiping about him.
Boss He’s reputation in the village was generally good. After getting successful, he had spent a lot of money on village improvements, like building roads and bridges. Every year during the Chinese New Year, he gave every family in the village a gift.
Many people spoke well of him—of course, there were certainly some envious and jealous people talking behind his back too.
Recently, there had been a lot of buzzes because the grave of Boss He’s family—Mrs. He’s grave—collapsed and her body went missing. This was the hottest gossip locally.
On the day of the exhumation, the He Family held a large ceremony, and many watched the event. When the coffin was opened, Mrs. He’s body was nowhere to be found, which everyone witnessed—there was no hiding such a thing. News spread instantly.
Villagers speculated wildly, some saying Boss He had offended enemies, some that he had angered the Mountain God, and some believed he had encountered some evil...
The rumors got more and more outlandish.
However, when the three at the table mentioned the late Mrs. He, they only spoke well of her, not a single bad word.
Firstly, villagers held firmly to the belief that "the dead are paramount."
Secondly, from what Chen Yan heard, Mrs. He indeed had a good reputation, having been kind and benevolent during her life.
According to them, Mrs. He had been kind-hearted and gentle. When any family in the village faced difficulties and asked her for help, she never sent them away empty-handed.
When the He family clan renovated their old ancestral hall, Mrs. He directly promised to cover ninety percent of the costs—although she could have paid it all, she believed the hall wasn’t only for her family. She wanted everyone to contribute symbolically to maintain decorum, giving everyone a sense of participation while reducing their financial burden.
The manner in which it was settled was quite commendable.
On the mountain where the He family ancestral graves were, Mrs. He’s family paid for over ninety percent of the plot, with the same reasoning for renovating the hall.
Chen Yan casually brought up the topic and asked if Mrs. He was good at feng shui or fortune-telling, given how successful Boss He had become.
The people at the table shook their heads, saying they’d never heard of that.
When she was young, Mrs. He had been widowed.
Other than raising Boss He, she rarely left the house. The family’s fields were rented out to other villagers for farming at a low rent.
Despite the saying that widowed women attract trouble, Mrs. He had a good reputation in the village.
"You should ask Old Stick; he’s directly related to the He family." Old Deng, sitting downstream, had been very friendly since Chen Yan helped him win big.
Old Stick, sitting across from Chen Yan, looked a bit proud as he cleared his throat, then began in a slightly proud tone, "Speaking of Mrs. He, I have to call her my grand-aunt. My grand-aunt had a tough life; her husband died young. But her husband, that distant granduncle of mine, left behind some family wealth."