The noise inside was even louder than it had sounded from the street.
The whole ground floor of the building had been opened up into one huge hall. Green lanterns hung from the ceiling in long rows, so many of them that the light felt like being underwater. Tables were packed together across the floor, every one of them crowded with people. Some were playing dice. Some were playing cards. Some were just drinking, banging their cups on the tables and singing songs Jin half recognized from old drinking nights in university. In one corner, a group of old women were playing a fast, loud game of yut, throwing the wooden sticks into the air and screaming every time they landed.
Music came from a stage at the far end, where a band of four played drums and a long-necked string instrument faster than Jin thought anyone could play it. People were dancing in the spaces between tables. A man walked past carrying a tray of drinks above his head and somehow didn't spill a drop.
