Why bother with dating when you already have a cat?

"Don't talk like I have a low status in the family." Ai Qing rolled her eyes and rubbed her little head. "You can keep them for yourself, they're all your spoils."

After finishing their mahjong game, the five of them got up and went to the long table next to them.

The long table in the recreation room is used for playing board games, and there's a whole bunch of board games in the cabinet next to it.

However, after a few people gathered around and looked around, they found that most of them didn't know how to play, and many had never even heard of it.

It's similar to games like Three Kingdoms Kill and Werewolf, which are more popular and are more likely to be played by the general public.

However, girls don't really like playing Three Kingdoms Kill, and the rules are quite complicated, so Ai Qing thinks Xiao Yu probably won't be able to learn it in a short time.

But in Werewolf, five people are too few.

So after much deliberation, they finally chose Ludo.

"Suddenly, I feel like playing mahjong is better." Kong Fugui said, his lips twitching as he looked at the spread-out Flying Chess pieces in front of him.

"Who was it that said they wanted to change to something else? Don't be so picky." Xiao Youqian rolled her eyes at him, but was now quite enthusiastic.

Ludo is a bit childish for elementary school students, but it's just right for them at this age.

Moreover, the rules of Ludo are relatively simple, so it's not difficult for Xiaoyu to learn them.

Although only four players can participate, Ai Qing and Xiao Yu are originally one.

Mahjong can't be played by two people, but Ludo can be played by two people, at least to see who has better luck.

This set of Ludo is the deluxe version, and the board itself is very large. When unfolded, it fits directly against the short side of the long table.

After the five people sat down at the long table, they chose their own colors.

Li Qiqi chose red, Xiao Youqian chose blue, Kong Fugui chose green, and Ai Qing and Xiaoyu chose yellow.

“Rolling a 6 will launch one of the planes.” Ai Qing placed the dice in Xiao Yu’s hand and then said, “And every time you roll a 6, you get another chance to roll the dice. The number you roll determines how many spaces the plane will move forward. You win if you get all four planes to the finish line.”

Ai Qing briefly explained the most basic rules to Xiao Yu, and then watched as she rolled a die.

Number 2.

"Phew..." Kong Fugui breathed a slight sigh of relief. "Thank goodness. If Xiaoyu's luck had been like it was when we were playing mahjong, we wouldn't have been able to play at all."

"So scared?" Ai Qing chuckled. "There's no punishment for losing."

“You’re right,” Kong Fugui said, picking up the dice and blowing on them to increase his luck. “Then we should have some stakes, otherwise it’s no fun.”

As he spoke, Kong Fugui threw a 6, and was immediately overjoyed. He launched a plane, then threw a 2, which jumped six spaces.

Xiao Youqian, who was standing next to her, took the dice, rolled a 3, and said with a pout, "It's just a case of the early bird getting the worm. What's the punishment for losing later?"

"How about running to the rooftop and shouting 'I'm a pig' three times?" Li Qiqi suggested enthusiastically while picking up the dice.

"Shout three times what?" Ai Qing asked abruptly.

"Am I a pig?" Li Qiqi said subconsciously as she threw the dice in her hand.

"Oh, okay." Ai Qing looked at the 5 she rolled, and picked up the dice with a smile.

Li Qiqi, who was standing to the side, finally realized what was happening and smacked Ai Qing on the shoulder with wide eyes: "Brother, you're so boring! This is a trick that elementary school students play!"

"Then you're not even as good as an elementary school student." Ai Qing hid behind Xiao Yu, threw the dice in her hand, and rolled a 6. She then patted Xiao Yu's shoulder happily, "Come on, let's go. You can roll it again."

The little fish picked up a plane and placed it at the runway entrance. Then it rolled a die, which came to 5. So it took the plane and tapped it five times on the chessboard.

Kong Fugui initially thought it was childish, but after rolling the dice a few times, he got completely into the swing of things, holding the dice and chanting incantations to the heavens and earth to perform rituals.

However, in the game of Ludo, unexpected events can happen at any time.

It's possible that you throw four 6s in a row, releasing all your planes, only to have them all shot back one by one.

While others may only have one plane each time, they don't cause trouble on the way and no one attacks them, so they may just pass the level without realizing it.

If the game is close, a game of Ludo can last for two hours without stopping.

From time to time, loud screams and shouts could be heard from the recreation room.

Don't be fooled by how simple this game of Ludo is; if you really want to play it seriously, you need to form alliances and understand human relationships.

Maybe if you act pitiful, they'll let you off the hook and not bomb your plane.

If you're too arrogant at first, the other three might deliberately target you and quickly bring you back to square one.

Therefore, even playing a game like Ludo can contain many principles of life.

A guy like Kong Fugui, who's rather arrogant, gets incredibly cocky after just a few extra sixes.

When the others were bombing his plane, they didn't feel any psychological burden at all.

If Xiaoyu's plane could be bombed by someone else, then Xiaoyu could pitifully beg and maybe get away with it.

When it was time to blow up the person, Xiaoyu hesitated for a moment and even reached out to stop Aiqing, but in the end Aiqing still managed to control the plane and blow them up.

The couple played the roles of "good cop" and "bad cop" perfectly, and quickly won the first round.

When they finally came back to review the situation, the other three belatedly realized the insidious scheme of the two adulterers and decided to take them down.

The second game was extremely intense. Everyone put aside their pride and bombed each other's planes, having a great time and shouting from time to time.

When Wu Yong and Xie Qiaohe emerged from the hot spring room with flushed faces, the five of them were still engaged in a fierce battle.

"What are you playing?" Xie Qiaohe poked her head in, her cheeks rosy and her hair still a little damp. Her whole face looked much more refreshed and beautiful after soaking in the hot spring.

However, when she and Wu Yong walked in and glanced at the chessboard on the long table, they were taken aback. They hadn't expected that these people were playing Ludo.

The second game had just entered the late stages.

Xiao Youqian was the first to send off her four planes, thus securing a victory.

Seeing Xie Qiaohe and Wu Yong come in, he greeted them with a smile, "Perfect timing, perfect timing, you two come and have fun, Qiqi and I are going to soak in the hot springs."

After saying that, Xiao Youqian waved to Li Qiqi, got up from her chair, stretched, and then looked at everyone in the room, adding:

"Oh right, we need to get up at 5:30 tomorrow morning to take the minibus to the top of the mountain to watch the sunrise. Everyone should go to bed early tonight, so you don't have trouble getting up tomorrow morning."

"So early?" Kong Fugui raised an eyebrow, then looked around, glanced at Ai Qing and Xiao Yu, then at Wu Yong and Xie Qiaohe, and immediately got up and patted his bottom.

"In that case, I need to go to bed early. I won't play with you guys anymore. I'm going back to my room to take a shower and go to sleep."

After having barbecue at 7 p.m., they returned to the recreation room to play mahjong and billiards. About half an hour later, Wu Yong and Xie Qiaohe went to soak in the hot springs.

These two soaked in the hot spring pool for over an hour, and it's almost 9 p.m. now. I wonder what they were doing in there.

However, if I have to get up at 5:30 tomorrow morning, I definitely need to go to bed earlier.

"Let's go soak in the hot springs, and then come back to sleep," Xiao Youqian said, taking Li Qiqi's hand as they walked out of the recreation room.

Kong Fugui quickly followed, hastily fleeing this place where only the adulterous couple remained, lest he be splashed with dog food from the entire room.

Watching the three leave, Ai Qing's gaze then fell on Wu Yong and Xie Qiaohe. She looked down at the Ludo board in front of her, blinked, and said, "How about we continue?"

"Um... let's skip the Ludo." Wu Yong scratched his head and then said, "I was chatting with Qiaohe in the hot spring just now, and I was thinking that after we finished soaking, I could take her to play billiards. She's never played it before."

"Mmm." Xie Qiaohe nodded, then looked at Xiaoyu and immediately invited, "Why don't you come too? I'm afraid Wu Yong is too powerful and I can't beat him."

"Then let's play together." Ai Qing smiled and put the chessboard on the long table back in the cabinet. Then she took Xiao Yu's hand and walked out. "Xiao Yu has never played before."

"Is billiards fun?" Xiaoyu asked curiously.

"You'll know once you try it." Ai Qing pulled Xiao Yu out of the recreation room first, then turned to the two behind her and called out, "Come on, I'll teach Xiao Yu, and you teach your girlfriend. Let's see how good you are as a PE teacher."

"Then let's go."

Wu Yong was quite confident, partly because Ai Qing's billiards skills were just so-so, even worse than Kong Fugui's.

On the one hand, Xiaoyu is not tall and her hands and feet are not as advantageous as Xie Qiaohe's, who is tall. On the other hand, she is quite confident in her abilities.

But Ai Qing, who was walking ahead, quietly pulled Xiao Yu along as they went down the stairs and whispered in her ear, "Don't use the warm current to bully people later, okay?"

"Can't it be used?" Little Fish asked in confusion.

"Let's not use it." Ai Qing shook her head. "It's not like we have to compete to see who wins. We're here to have fun, not to compete. Entertainment comes first."

“Okay.” Xiaoyu nodded and obediently followed Ai Qing to the pool table on the second floor.

Wu Yong and Xie Qiaohe followed and came down.

The two couples each took a pool cue from the wall and took it down. Xiaoyu held the cue in her hand and gestured with it a couple of times.

Wu Yong then took all the pool balls that had been shot into the table from under the table, placed them on the table, surrounded them with a tripod, and looked at the others.

"The rules are simple." Ai Qing placed a white ball on the opposite tee spot, took the cue from Xiao Yu, positioned herself on the table, and then hit the ball, scattering the pile. "Look at the balls on the table."

"Numbers one through seven are solid-colored balls, numbers nine through sixteen are half-colored balls, and there is also a black ball number eight."

"Our goal is, for example, if I pocket a 6-ball, then I have to pocket all the 6-balls, and finally pocket the 8-ball, and that's how I win."

"The other side has to pocket all the half-colored balls and then the black ball. Whoever completes this goal first is the winner."

The basic rules are that simple; Xie Qiaohe and Xiaoyu understood them immediately.

Xiao Yu took the cue from Ai Qing, circled half a circle around the pool table, then aimed directly at a ball right next to the hole, poked its bottom, and the ball went into the hole.

"Is that right?" Xiaoyu looked up at Ai Qing with a grin. "It seems very simple."

"Little Fish, you should be able to hit the white ball to touch another ball," Xie Qiaohe whispered a reminder from the side.

Although Xie Qiaohe had never played billiards, she had at least seen how to play and knew that you had to hit the cue ball.

But the little fish clearly didn't know that.

"My problem." Ai Qing chuckled and covered her forehead. "You have to hit the white ball when you play. Xiao Yu, you're committing a foul by doing that."

"Oh...I see." Little Fish retracted the rod a little embarrassedly.

"Now that the rules are clear, I'll teach you how to hold the rod," Ai Qing said, walking over to Xiao Yu.

He first took the cue stick, then leaned over the pool table, stretched out his left hand, rested the front of the cue stick on the back of his hand, and passed it between his fingers.

The right hand firmly grips the butt of the cue stick, at a perpendicular angle to the table.

"Memorize my stance first, and then I'll adjust it for you in a bit." Ai Qing said as she took a shot. The white ball flew off the table, accurately hitting the black 8 and grazing the edge before going into the middle pocket.

With a calm expression, Ai Qing put the rod away, subtly withdrawing the warm current that had just been stirred up. Then she handed the rod to Xiao Yu: "Here, you can try it too."

Little Fish enthusiastically took the rod. Remembering Ai Qing's reminder, he didn't use the warm current. Following Ai Qing's example, he leaned his upper body down onto the table and then set up the rod in a very professional manner.

However, a beginner's posture will definitely be full of flaws.

First, the upper body is leaning forward, but the angle is not low enough. Second, the hand holding the butt of the club is not perpendicular to the ground, but crooked, which will definitely result in a loose application of force.