TEFSCBSS Chapter 28

Chapter 28: Let’s Play a Game of Turtle Soup (Part 1)

“Giggle~~”

“Damn it, sooner or later I’m going to swallow that tavern across the street, slaughter their rooster, and serve it up for dinner!”

“Chasing me around every day, making all this noise. I didn’t even wake up this early before I transmigrated!”

Su Li grumbled as she dragged herself out of the coffin, her hair a wild mess, looking like a ghost.

“Master, you’re awake~”

Su Li turned to look at the girl who had played Yan Ran yesterday—Chun Ya—who had come to work.

“Master, I brought some buns and pickled vegetables for you. Eat up, I’ll go clean up.”

Su Li had one good trait—though she had a bad temper in the mornings, when there were other people around, she kept a poker face and never snapped at anyone. However, her eyes, dark and cold, were like daggers, chillingly staring into the backs of those around her.

Chun Ya didn’t mind; she was only startled the first day but got used to it after that. It was better than being scolded and beaten by her parents. Now, she had a job that earned money easily, and with the master looking after her, it was no big deal to see the “yasha” every morning—she could handle it on her own.

After eating the buns, Su Li took a big gulp of water to avoid choking, and then walked toward the front hall.

Today was the second day of the script shop’s opening. After all the commotion yesterday, she wondered if more people would come today.

Up ahead, Zhao Si and Chun Ya were sweeping the front hall with brooms and rags. The high platform outside had been taken down, and all the items were piled back into the cluttered backroom.

Oh, you’re wondering why Su Li didn’t stay in the backroom and instead slept in a coffin?

Well, she didn’t know if Prime Minister Su would come back to kill her or if he would figure out her hidden identity, so sleeping in the coffin felt safer.

As Su Li was sketching out the next script with a charcoal pencil, she was suddenly interrupted by a loud voice.

“Boss Zhao! Boss Zhao! I’m here! What do you want me to do?”

It was Liu the butcher, dressed in his usual shiny black leather. He strode in, and the entire front hall darkened as he entered.

Su Li looked up at the large man, silently stood up, and took a few steps back, not wanting to strain her neck from looking up.

She rang the bell by her side to call Zhao Si and Chun Ya over.

“You all should meet each other. These are our colleagues from the West Building, so take care of each other from now on.”

“This is Chun Ya, the one who played Yan Ran yesterday. Liu the butcher, you should be familiar with him. Just a heads up, so you don’t think a female ghost has come back to life.”

“Tch, Boss Zhao, you think I’m scared of that?” Liu the butcher flexed his bicep. “See this? I’ve been practicing butchering pigs since I was a kid. I’ve got all this killing energy. Even ghosts would be afraid of me. What do I have to fear?”

He then casually showed off the large butcher’s knife hidden at his waist.

Su Li gave him a meaningful look but didn’t say anything. Instead, she had them stop what they were doing and planned to teach them some tabletop games and their rules.

“Currently, our script shop only has yesterday’s script, ‘The Past of Huai Tree Village.’ The rest are a few tabletop games I developed, including Turtle Soup.”

As she spoke, Su Li took a few large boxes from the side, making a clattering sound.

“‘The Past of Huai Tree Village’ is pretty well-developed now, so Zhao Si and Chun Ya, you two will be in charge of it. Zhao Si, you’ll handle the customers and link the story, while Chun Ya will be in charge of setting up clues and performing. Got it?”

Both of them nodded.

“Now, let’s talk about Turtle Soup.”

“Like yesterday’s first puzzle: ‘Xiao Hong’s mother died, and she went to the funeral with her sister. A few days later, her sister died.’ This sentence is the puzzle. Players need to ask questions, and we answer ‘yes’ or ‘no,’ and then let the players figure out the truth within a fixed time. That’s what we call Turtle Soup.”

They nodded again.

Su Li continued explaining the rules for playing Turtle Soup, “See these three big boxes on the table? They’re the Bronze, Silver, and Gold Treasure Chests. Inside, I’ve written several Turtle Soup puzzles. The black charcoal pencil is for the puzzle, and the blue ink at the bottom is the answer.”

“If players want to play Turtle Soup, you first collect one coin, then randomly draw a slip of paper from the Bronze Treasure Chest and read out the puzzle.”

“Then flip the hourglass and give the players until it runs out to complete their reasoning and restore the story.”

“If they can’t figure it out by the end, the game fails. They need to pay another coin to continue playing Turtle Soup.”

Zhao Si asked, “What if they get the answer right?”

Su Li waved her hand generously, “If they get it right, besides the coin they paid, we’ll give them an extra coin and stamp it with the special Turtle Soup stamp!”

“Also, Turtle Soup comes in Bronze, Silver, and Gold levels, and each level is in a different treasure chest.”

“The Bronze Turtle Soup costs one coin, Silver costs ten coins, and Gold costs one or two silver pieces!”

“Of course, no matter the level, the rules are the same. If they answer correctly, they get double the prize!”

Su Li spoke grandly as if she didn’t care about small changes at all.

Heh, it was funny. She had spent a lot of brainpower to set up the three levels. Bronze was to give more people confidence and help them understand the rules. Silver was to create a bit of distinction—only about one in five players would be able to answer. As for Gold? Hmph! Su Li didn’t believe anyone could get it right.

While they were talking, Su Li was thinking about expanding the reward system, and figuring out how to motivate everyone to get involved in the Turtle Soup game.

Liu the butcher stroked his chin and came up with an idea, “Boss Zhao, have you ever been to a gambling house?”

“A gambling house?” Su Li was startled and quickly shook her head. “We don’t engage in gambling here! We don’t mix with gambling or drugs!”

“Ah, too bad. I was thinking, that if we added some gambling elements, we could have everyone answer a question together, with each person paying a coin. If there are ten people, that’s ten coins.”

“If someone answers the puzzle right, not only will they get the one coin we gave them, but they’ll also get half of the ten coins! The rest goes to us!”

Su Li was shocked and looked at Liu the butcher. She never expected this “honest” man to have such a clever side.

If they followed Liu the butcher’s suggestion, they’d make a lot of money. But… she couldn’t compromise her principles. Gambling and drugs were off-limits, no matter where she was. Even if she transmigrated, she would stick to this principle.

She decisively rejected Liu the butcher and said she’d think it over.

Seeing how cooperative everyone was, Su Li still wasn’t entirely at ease. She decided to have them play a few rounds to get the hang of the rules of Turtle Soup, and maybe they’d even start making their puzzles.

Just as she was about to speak, there was a noise at the door. Two monks walked in, one tall and one short. The tall monk had a handsome face, red lips, and white teeth, though he was a bit too thin. The short one looked like a steamed bun with big eyes. Upon closer inspection, they were the second and third disciples from the Vajra Temple—Wu Fei and Wu Ming.

“Guests have arrived?”

“Hello, we heard from my senior brother that there’s a fun game here. I brought my junior brother to have a look,” Wu Fei said with a smile, looking at Su Li and the others.

Wu Ming was shivering, “Help! My scary senior brother is starting his performance again!”