The next day.
As soon as Yu Shao entered the classroom, he noticed that Zhou De was acting rather strangely. He had been grinning foolishly the whole time.
"Old Zhou, have you got epilepsy?" Yu Shao asked.
"Can't you say something nicer?"
Zhou De rolled his eyes, then said with a silly grin, "I'm telling you, after yesterday's hard-fought battles, I'm once again a noble Platinum player."
Yu Shao was stunned. "Seriously?"
Had this point-losing team really managed to gain points for once?
"You weren't there yesterday, and we kept winning."
Zhou De said smugly, "That proves you were the one dragging us down before. Without you, I would've reached Diamond ages ago."
"Where did you get the money to hire a booster?" Yu Shao asked.
"What do you mean? We didn't hire anyone. We climbed through sheer skill."
Yu Shao stared fixedly at Zhou De, his face filled with distrust.
Seeing Yu Shao's expression, Zhou De got angry for a moment and said, "Old Yu, you didn't believe I could learn Go, and now you don't believe I'm Platinum again. How much do you look down on your brother? You can't stand seeing me do well, can you?"
"I never said I didn't believe you."
Yu Shao took out his English textbook and said, "Didn't I tell you yesterday that I believed you could learn to play Go?"
"Did that look like belief to you?!"
"Wasn't it?"
"Was it?!"
Yu Shao had originally intended to nod solemnly, but when he imagined the heavily muscled Zhou De sitting upright and playing Go, he wanted to laugh. He couldn't hold it in and burst out laughing.
"Just you wait!"
Feeling insulted, Zhou De had indeed been planning to give up on reading the headache-inducing 38 Lectures on Go Fundamentals, but now he suddenly grew determined and pulled the book out of his desk.
"Just wait until I learn Go. I'll kill you so thoroughly you'll be calling me Dad!" Zhou De said viciously as he flipped through the book.
"Seriously, brother? You're going this far?"
Yu Shao put on a worried expression and advised him, "Brother, I've never denied your intelligence, but seriously, why not start by setting a small goal? Try earning a hundred million first."
"Just wait. You have no idea what the name Shen Yi of Jiangling is worth." Zhou De snorted.
"Shen Yi?"
Yu Shao paused and asked, "Who's that?"
"You don't know Shen Yi?"
Yu Shao's question left Zhou De dumbfounded too. Zhou De widened his eyes and exclaimed, "Old Yu, I almost believed you could play Go! You're really willing to risk your life for those Conduct Points!"
"I can play."
Yu Shao was a little puzzled. "What? If you can play Go, do you have to know him?"
"Of course! He's the Go Saint, brother!"
Zhou De raised the 38 Lectures on Go Fundamentals in his hand and said, "Even though I just started learning Go, I know Shen Yi. Let me ask you: do you know what a handicap is?"
"Isn't that obvious?"
Yu Shao nodded strangely and said, "Of course I know."
"You know about handicaps but don't know Shen Yi? That's impossible!"
Zhou De didn't quite believe him and asked, "Then tell me, what's a handicap?"
"In Go, Black moves first and therefore has a certain advantage. To ensure fairness, when the game ends, Black has to return a certain number of points to White. That's called a handicap, or komi."
Yu Shao said, "For example, if the komi is seven and a half points, then when the game ends, if White has fifty points, Black needs at least fifty-eight points to win."
After saying that, Yu Shao suddenly froze.
Right. How much was the komi in this world?
Yu Shao really didn't know. In both of his games against Zheng Qin, he had played according to a komi of seven and a half points. After all, under the Go rules of his previous life, the komi was seven and a half points.
That figure had ultimately been recognized as the fairest komi after countless experts tested it through countless real matches.
"You really do know?"
Zhou De couldn't understand it. "Then how could you not know Shen Yi? The book says the komi rule came into existence because of Shen Yi!"
"Oh?"
Yu Shao frowned slightly and asked, "How so?"
"The book says that more than a hundred years ago, Go had no komi rule. Shen Yi was a player born in that era."
Zhou De thought for a moment before continuing, "He learned Go as a child and devoted his entire life to it. Once he had mastered the game, he swept across the Go world of his time."
"Shen Yi lost some games when he was young, but later, when he was twenty-three and his Go skills had reached perfection, he never lost another game, whether he played Black or White."
"Then he felt lonely—the loneliness of having no opponents. So, in search of defeat, he proposed the komi system, saying that Black held an advantage at the start and should therefore give White four and a half points."
At this point, Zhou De shook his head and clicked his tongue. "The Invincible One seeking defeat. Tsk, tsk. Damn, he really knew how to show off."
Yu Shao quietly listened from the side without interrupting.
After a pause, Zhou De continued, "Then Shen Yi invited every famous player under heaven to play Go under the komi rule. He said that he would play Black, and if anyone could beat him while playing White, he would hand over his entire fortune."
"Once the news spread, the whole world was shaken. Countless famous Go players came to challenge Shen Yi, some for fame and some for profit. But do you know what happened?"
Zhou De suddenly leaned closer to Yu Shao and asked mysteriously.
Yu Shao glanced at Zhou De speechlessly. The answer was practically written all over his face, yet he still wanted to play the riddle game?
Still, to humor Zhou De, Yu Shao pretended not to have guessed and asked, "What? He didn't lose?"
"That's right. He didn't lose—not a single game!"
Zhou De said with extreme excitement, "Despite the pressure of giving four and a half points, Shen Yi didn't lose even once!"
"Later, Shen Yi said that four and a half points was too little and Black still had an advantage, so he proposed a komi of seven and a half points. Whoever beat him could still claim his entire fortune."
"By then, those famous Go players were no longer playing him for fame or profit. They were angry. They felt Shen Yi was looking down on them. After all, with such a huge seven-and-a-half-point handicap, they were sure they could win."
"But the result silenced everyone. Even with a komi of seven and a half points, not a single player in the Go world at the time could beat Shen Yi!"
At this point, Zhou De grew visibly excited.
"After that, Shen Yi proposed a komi of ten and a half points. Countless experts came to challenge him again, but without exception, they all left in defeat."
"It wasn't until another famous Go player, Fang Xin, appeared that someone finally managed to beat Shen Yi."
"Hmm... Saying he beat him isn't entirely accurate."
Zhou De sighed and said, "Because the game hadn't ended yet. Just as Fang Xin was about to win, he... resigned."
Yu Shao couldn't help but pause slightly when he heard this.
"Old Yu, do you want to know why he resigned?" Zhou De asked, looking at Yu Shao smugly.
Begging for follows! Begging for follows! Begging for follows!
Although this is a niche subject, with everyone's support, we've already made it onto the latest recommendation list! Thanks to everyone who voted and kept following. I hope we can keep up the momentum, so everyone, make sure you keep following!
Many thanks!
Before you continue