# Chapter 646: Attacking the Mind
After Zheng Yingjie finished shuffling the cards, everyone followed the Earth Monkey's lead and placed a single "Tao" chip on the table.
Zheng Yingjie also drew a community card and placed it in the center of the table.
"Start of Summer."
This card instantly transformed in Qi Xia's eyes into the numbers "four" and "six"—that year's Start of Summer fell on the fourth day of the sixth month.
Then Zheng Yingjie took out a card and was about to hand it to the Earth Monkey when Chen Junnan called out to him.
"Hold on, kid." Chen Junnan flashed a sly grin. "Don't give it to Brother Monkey. When he dealt, he gave himself the first card. You do the same."
"Huh? Can I?" Zheng Yingjie was taken aback.
"Absolutely you can." Chen Junnan nodded.
Zheng Yingjie took the card he was about to hand out, examined it for a long moment, and finally placed it nervously in front of himself. Then he sniffed the air and glanced at Qi Xia.
Qi Xia met his eyes at that moment.
He felt that Zheng Yingjie's state was a bit strange. Though the two hadn't communicated, there seemed to be some invisible connection between them.
Zheng Yingjie appeared to understand his thoughts.
This was also the first time Qi Xia had felt this way—as if he were cooperating with another version of himself. Unfortunately, he couldn't read Zheng Yingjie's thoughts; the cooperation could only be initiated unilaterally by Zheng Yingjie.
Thinking this, Qi Xia said silently in his mind: *"Zheng Yingjie, nod if you can hear me."*
He then looked in Zheng Yingjie's direction, but the boy showed no reaction, still fiddling with the cards in his hands.
Qi Xia now felt that his connection with Zheng Yingjie was even more subtle. It wasn't like "Heavenly Serpent" or Wei Yang's "mind-reading," but rather a more abstract link. Zheng Yingjie seemed able to grasp the general direction of his thoughts without clearly hearing his inner voice.
Zheng Yingjie revealed his "open card." It was "Winter Solstice."
"One-one-two-three..." Qi Xia narrowed his eyes, thinking.
Next came Tian Tian. She drew "Shangsi Festival," Xiao Cheng got "Summer Solstice," Chen Junnan received "Start of Winter," and Qiao Jiajin got "Lantern Festival."
Zheng Yingjie picked up his cards, climbed onto the table, and handed one each to Qi Xia and the Earth Monkey.
Qi Xia revealed his "open card." It read "Qingming." He looked up and saw the Earth Monkey's card was "New Year's Eve."
This opening wasn't ideal. From the start, Qi Xia's hand was "third month, sixth day"—only the numbers "three" and "six." Meanwhile, the Earth Monkey had "twelfth month, thirtieth day." If "zero" counted as a number, the Earth Monkey had four numbers in the first round: "one, two, three, zero."
Not only did he have more numbers, but he was also more likely to form a straight.
Could anyone's hand beat the Earth Monkey this round?
"Wait..."
Qi Xia suddenly noticed Zheng Yingjie's "Winter Solstice." That year, the lunar date for Winter Solstice was "eleventh month, twenty-third day."
"One-one-two-three..." Qi Xia furrowed his brow. "This hand is even more favorable than the Earth Monkey's."
If the rules really followed Texas Hold'em as Qiao Jiajin had suggested, then "zero" probably didn't count as a number—since only New Year's Eve involved "zero" among all the solar terms and festivals in a year. Zero couldn't form any "pairs," and if it formed a "straight," a straight starting with "zero" would be the smallest of all straights.
In summary, the game likely didn't include the number "zero."
In other words, Zheng Yingjie's hand was stronger than the Earth Monkey's at this point. He had four genuine numbers: a pair of "ones" and a straight of "one-two-three."
Now it came down to the first round's "betting" and everyone's second "hole card."
"I'm the biggest," the Earth Monkey said. "I've got 'New Year's Eve,' and I'm raising."
He tossed another "Tao" onto the table and turned to look at Zheng Yingjie.
When the turn came to Zheng Yingjie, he lifted his nose to sniff, then seemed struck by a sudden thought. "Uncle, I call."
He placed his last "Tao" on the table. Now his pockets were empty—he'd bet everything he had.
Next was Tian Tian. She wasn't stupid. After watching Qi Xia and the Earth Monkey's first round, she felt she might have an inkling.
Her hand was "Shangsi Festival," which fell on "third month, third day."
She thought this card might be decent in this game, since it had two identical numbers. Last time, both Qi Xia and the Earth Monkey had drawn cards with two identical numbers—"Qixi" and "Dragon Boat Festival"—and their hands were strong. So hers shouldn't be too weak either. She decisively called.
Then it was Xiao Cheng's turn. He hadn't caught the earlier exchange between Qi Xia and Qiao Jiajin, and was now pondering the game's possible rules.
His card was "Summer Solstice."
"Summer Solstice is 'fifth month, twenty-first day'..."
Xiao Cheng slowly looked up at the community card in the center and the Earth Monkey's hand. He felt he should probably fold this round, but if he kept folding, he'd never help the team before the game ended. Better to take a gamble here and figure out the rules sooner.
So he placed a "Tao" on the table.
Qiao Jiajin and Chen Junnan, after a moment's thought, both flipped their cards face down and chose not to call, folding from this round.
When it was Qi Xia's turn, he also put a "Tao" on the table without much deliberation. The size of his hand no longer mattered to him—what mattered was winning the entire game of "Shuowangyue."
Now the decision returned to the Earth Monkey. This was the second round of betting. If he wanted, he could still raise the stakes. After a few seconds of thought, the Earth Monkey looked up at Chen Junnan and Qiao Jiajin. Seeing they had folded, he secretly breathed a sigh of relief—those two were troublemakers, and their absence from this round put him at ease.
But his relief lasted less than a second before Chen Junnan spoke up.
"Lao Qiao, we're out of this round—so boring. Wanna play idiom chain?"
"Idiom chain...? Excellent." Qiao Jiajin nodded.
The two completely ignored the remaining players and started their own game of idiom chain.
"I'll go first," Qiao Jiajin said. "How about 'lure the tiger down the mountain'?"
"Mountain?" Chen Junnan flashed a sinister grin, glancing sideways at the Earth Monkey. "I'll follow with... 'When the tiger's away from the mountain, even a monkey plays king.'"