Total pages in book: 120
Estimated words: 111252 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 556(@200wpm)___ 445(@250wpm)___ 371(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 111252 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 556(@200wpm)___ 445(@250wpm)___ 371(@300wpm)
“No, but I read books for two thousand years. I like TV and video games now.”
Closing his eyes, Kai smiled to himself, enjoying the weight of Xiang and the steady sound of his voice as he played with his new toy. “It’s been so long since I last played mah-jongg.”
Xiang huffed a laugh. “Jiejie2 used to drag Meimei, Jun-Jun, and me into games of mah-jongg, but they always devolved into a fight. Jiejie is fierce when it comes to mah-jongg. Shixiong took the tiles away and hid them when we broke a window the last time we played.”
“How did a window get broken?”
“A chair went through it.”
Kai bit his lip to hold in his laugh. He took a couple of breaths and spoke only when he was sure he could keep his tone even. “Did you throw the chair through the window?”
“I have no idea how the chair went through the window.”
“Was it your chair?”
Xiang sighed extravagantly and lowered the phone to his chest, but he didn’t move from where he lay on Kai. “Who keeps track of these things? The table flipped, a chair went through the window, and weapons might have been drawn. All I know is that Shixong came in, swept up all the tiles, and declared never again.”
“How long ago was that?”
“Seven hundred and ninety-six years ago.”
Laughter burst forth from Kai’s mouth. There was no stopping the explosion. It felt as though his entire body would tear apart if he tried. Xiang sat up like a shot and he twisted around to watch Kai as he rolled on the cushions, laughing hard enough to send tears sliding down from the corners of his eyes. He couldn’t recall the last time he’d laughed, and he was sure he’d never laughed so hard in all his life.
He caught his breath and stared up at a vampire with eyes shining brightly and lips parted in soundless wonder.
“What?” Kai asked.
“You have the best laugh I’ve ever heard. You should do it more often.”
Before Kai could come up with a reply, Xiang resumed his spot snuggled against Kai with his head on his chest, just over his racing heart.
When he was near Xiang, he wanted to laugh more often.
“You have two gege3, right?”
“Mn. Shixiong is Zhang Xiao Dan, and Chen Bo Cheng. Most of us will call him Er-ge.”
“Why didn’t they play mah-jongg too? They would have been able to keep it calmer.”
A noise escaped Xiang that was something between a snort and a choked giggle. “No way. Shixiong is even more vicious with mah-jongg. No one would have gotten out of there alive.”
“And your er-ge?”
“He likes mah-jongg, but he doesn’t get as invested in it as the others. No, his game is weiqi4.”
A tremor of excitement ran through Kai and it was a struggle to tamp it down again. “Weiqi?” he repeated, trying so hard for nonchalance. “Did your er-ge teach you how to play?”
“Of course. I—”
Kai didn’t even wait for him to finish. He jumped to his feet, spilling Xiang over onto the other pillows, while he ran through the cave to a tall bureau tucked near the rear wall. After throwing open the door, he kneeled and carefully picked up the old wood block and the pair of clay canisters beside it. With infinite care, he carried it over to where Xiang was now standing at the edge of the cushions, the phone clutched forgotten in one hand and a confused expression on his face.
“What…fuck, no way,” Xiang muttered as Kai dropped to a cushion near Xiang and gently placed the weiqi board between them on its squat round legs.
“Play with me,” Kai stated as he picked up the two clay canisters. He lifted the lid of each, checking to make sure the stones were there and to find which held the black ones.
A chuckle broke from Xiang and Kai looked up to find the vampire trying to hide his smirk behind his hand as he cleared his throat. “No. I can’t. I’m terrible. Chen would beat me all the time.”
“I don’t need you to be good. Just know the basics. I’ll even let you go first,” he begged as he held up the container of black stones. Xiang didn’t move. He stared at the small jar in Kai’s hand. “Please. It’s been a really long time.”
Centuries. It had been centuries…
“Fine,” Xiang huffed. With his left foot, he kicked over a plump yellow cushion so that it sat opposite of Kai. He dropped onto it and accepted the black stones while putting aside his new phone. “But I don’t want to hear any mocking or complaining about how bad I am. This is for fun.”
“Yes, of course. I won’t say a word,” Kai quickly agreed, even as he wiggled a little on the pillow.
Click. Xiang’s first black stone hit the board.