Chapter 243

Su Xinghui went out to the hallway to light a string of firecrackers. Before they started popping, he jumped back inside and shut the door, and then the firecrackers began to pop.

Seeing his uncle's somewhat comical appearance, his young nephew Tan Weisheng couldn't help but clap his hands and laugh. Su Xinghui made a face at Tan Weisheng and said: "Fun, right?"

Tan Weisheng laughed: "Fun! Uncle, will you take me to set off firecrackers today?"

Su Xinghui said: "But you still have to go to your grandparents' house for the New Year's feast."

Tan Weisheng said: "Isn't this the New Year's feast now? Why do we have to eat two New Year's feasts?"

Guo Suhua laughed: "Because our Weisheng is too cute. After you accompany your maternal grandparents for the New Year's feast, you also have to accompany your paternal grandparents for the New Year's feast. Otherwise, wouldn't they feel lonely?"

Tan Weisheng said: "But I want Uncle to take me to set off firecrackers."

Su Xinghui said: "How about this: after you finish the New Year's feast at your paternal grandparents' house, come back to Uncle's house, and Uncle will take you to set off firecrackers. How about that?"

Tan Weisheng jumped for joy: "That's great!"

The family sat at the table and began the New Year's feast, toasting each other and exchanging beautiful wishes, full of joy.

When the feast was nearly over, Tan Weisheng shouted to his maternal grandparents and uncle, "Happy New Year, give me a red envelope!" His grandparents and uncle all took out the prepared red envelopes and handed them to him, making the little boy giddy with joy.

After the feast, Su Xingyun's family hurried out to catch another New Year's feast at the Tan family's house. By this time, the sound of firecrackers outside was rising and falling, one after another. In this era, the atmosphere of the New Year was still very strong.

Su Xinghui went out to buy some fireworks and sparklers; this was what he had promised to set off with his nephew.

Not long after he got home, Su Xingyun's family returned. Tan Mingcheng said with a helpless expression: "This kid, he hadn't eaten more than a few bites before he started shouting 'Happy New Year, give me a red envelope,' and as soon as he got the envelope, he wanted to come set off firecrackers."

Su Xinghui said: "Weisheng, you can't be like this in the future. During the New Year, you have to spend more time with your paternal grandparents!"

Tan Weisheng nodded and said: "Mm, I know, Uncle!"

Su Xinghui said: "Fine, then let's go downstairs together to set off firecrackers."

Tan Weisheng jumped up happily, grabbed Su Xinghui, and ran downstairs. Su Xingyun called out anxiously from behind: "Run slowly, don't fall."

Su Xinghui took his nephew downstairs and set off fireworks and sparklers in the open space in front of the building. In his previous life, he didn't have children of his own, so he was particularly close to this nephew.

He let his nephew stand far away and set off "two-kickers" and colorful sparklers for him. Actually, setting off such fireworks during the day didn't have the best effect, but Tan Weisheng was still jumping for joy.

After a while, Tan Weisheng wanted to set them off himself, but Su Xinghui told him: "Weisheng, you're still young, you can't set them off yourself. It's dangerous to set these off; you must have an adult with you."

Tan Weisheng nodded, half-understanding, and continued to laugh and jump happily, watching his uncle set off fireworks for him.

Just as the two were setting off fireworks, Su Xinghui suddenly felt snow pellets hitting his face. He looked up and realized it was snowing. It was snow pellets for now, but in a little while, it would turn into snowflakes.

Su Xinghui said: "Weisheng, it's snowing!"

Tan Weisheng stretched out his little hand, and a few snow pellets landed on his palm. He laughed and jumped up: "Oh, it's snowing!"

Su Xinghui originally wanted to take Tan Weisheng back, but seeing the snow, Tan Weisheng refused to go home and insisted on waiting downstairs to have a snowball fight.

However, in Shangjun County, the winter temperature wasn't particularly low, especially in recent years, where it snowed less and less. Moreover, as soon as the snow pellets hit the ground, they couldn't accumulate at all and melted immediately.

Watching the snowflakes start to fall, but seeing them melt as soon as they hit the ground, Tan Weisheng asked anxiously: "Uncle, why is the snow melting?"

Su Xinghui laughed: "The temperature is high during the day, so the snow can't accumulate. How about we go home first? I estimate that when you wake up tomorrow morning, you'll see the ground covered in snow."

Hearing Su Xinghui's words, Tan Weisheng followed him home, feeling somewhat dejected.

Back home, Su Xinghui saw his parents, sister, and brother-in-law already playing mahjong. During the New Year, the whole family playing mahjong was the best entertainment.

Seeing Su Xinghui return, Tan Mingcheng stood up and said: "Xinghui, you come play mahjong, I'll watch Weisheng."

Su Xinghui shook his head and said: "Brother-in-law, you play. I don't know how to play mahjong, I'll watch Weisheng."

Only then did Tan Mingcheng sit back down to play mahjong, but he said to Su Xinghui: "You're in the officialdom now, you have to learn mahjong. Look at all these officials in our Shangjun County, who doesn't know how to play mahjong?"

Su Wenjun said: "It's fine that Xinghui doesn't play mahjong. Do you think those officials are all playing 'sanitary mahjong' like us? They don't play mahjong just for entertainment. No matter how high an official Xinghui becomes in the future, he must not do that."

Su Xinghui certainly understood Su Wenjun's meaning. In fact, this was an almost open secret in Shangjun County. In Shangjun County, many county leaders relied on playing mahjong to generate income.

Like County Magistrate Shan Guozhi, it is said that he always had a few fixed partners when playing mahjong, such as Qian Hongye of Hongye Construction, Wu Diali, the director of the county winery, Lu Xiong, the director of the Transportation Bureau, and Sun Jinhhan, the director of the Finance Bureau, etc. And sitting behind him was always one person: Shu Rong, the announcer for the county television station.

Shu Rong sitting behind Shan Guozhi wasn't just there to pour tea and light cigarettes for him; she also shouldered an important task: passing information. Of course, she wasn't passing information to Shan Guozhi, but to his mahjong partners.

This sounds a bit hard to understand, right? Actually, it's not hard at all. If Shan Guozhi wanted to win a "two-tube," she would show two circles with her fingers, and Shan Guozhi's opponent would naturally offer up a "two-tube." If Shan Guozhi wanted to "pong" a "three-bamboo," she would hold up three fingers, and anyone who had a "three-bamboo," even if it was a pair, would have to break it up.

If Shan Guozhi wanted to wait for a single "eight-ten-thousand," Shu Rong could naturally tell them through a pre-arranged secret signal, letting them be the first to "deal the cannon."

Playing cards like this, Shan Guozhi was naturally invincible and never lost. Every year, just by relying on this, he could generate quite a bit of income. Thus, he also earned the nickname "The Ever-Victorious General of the Mahjong World" in Shangjun County.