You Will Definitely Become a Professional Go Player

As a mature man reborn into a new life, Yu Shao knew very well that this was not the time to explain. The more he explained, the more troublesome it would become.

Therefore, Yu Shao pretended to be calm, nodded at Xu Ziqin, and then simply ignored Zhou De and continued toward the restroom.

"Old Yu, wait for me!"

Zhou De finally came back to his senses. Under the immense pressure of Xu Ziqin's gaze, he stumbled after Yu Shao.

Xu Ziqin watched the two of them leave, then slowly withdrew her gaze. She raised her fair hand and tucked a few loose strands of hair behind her ear.

Her expression was perfectly calm, as if she had not heard Yu Shao and Zhou De's conversation in the hallway at all.

"Brother, are you really planning to pursue Xu Ziqin?"

After catching up with Yu Shao, Zhou De could not help advising him, "Brother, you won't be able to win her over. You can't hang yourself from a single tree. Some girls are only meant to be admired from afar."

"I was just talking nonsense."

Yu Shao shot him a sidelong glance. "It's your fault for keeping asking me about it."

"No, but who exactly have you fallen for, then?"

Zhou De still felt that Yu Shao must have someone else on the side, so he kept pressing until he got to the bottom of it.

Yu Shao reiterated, "I really haven't."

As a man whose psychological age was approaching thirty, Yu Shao's mindset had become considerably younger after being reborn, but he truly could not develop any interest in girls under eighteen.

Even with Xu Ziqin, he merely thought she was pretty.

She was a little too young.

At the very least, he had to wait until she was eighteen. Raise her from a B cup to a C cup, perhaps?

"All right, brother. I believe you."

Zhou De stared intently at Yu Shao and said solemnly, "But you have to promise me that you won't like girls with long legs, large breasts, and perky bottoms."

"Why not?" Yu Shao asked, somewhat puzzled.

Zhou De patted Yu Shao on the shoulder and said earnestly, "Because I like them too."

The next two days passed in complete tranquility.

Just as Yu Shao had expected, after holding out for two days, Zhou De finally forgot his bold declarations from before. He put down 38 Lectures on Go Fundamentals and began studying Why Do Married Women Stay Out Late?

Poor Shen Yi of Jiangling had not even made his comeback before officially announcing his retirement!

After school on Friday, Zhou De dragged Yu Shao off to play games, beaming with excitement. "Old Yu, let's go! We've finally made it to Friday. Let's head to the internet café and wreak havoc!"

"No."

Yu Shao refused. "I've already lost who knows how many points these past two days. I'd rather queue solo at home!"

"Are points more important than your brothers?"

Zhou De looked outraged and persisted with his invitation. "The guys are all waiting for you."

"Do you really need to ask?"

Yu Shao gave Zhou De a strange look. "Even girlfriends aren't more important than games. Do you think you guys are?"

"You're abandoning brotherhood for a woman!"

Zhou De angrily accused Yu Shao.

Yu Shao shrugged and continued packing up his textbooks.

"Come on, this time for real. I'll carry you!" Zhou De urged him a few more times.

"I'm really not going. We've gone every day these past few days. I'm numb from playing." Yu Shao shook his head.

Seeing how firm Yu Shao was, Zhou De stopped insisting. He only threw out one last line: "Once we climb the ranks, Old Yu, you'll regret this!"

With that, Zhou De hurried away with Old Zhang and several other players who were notorious for bringing disaster to the Rift, their arms slung over one another's shoulders.

Climb the ranks? Who would believe you could climb?

The day before yesterday, he had trusted Zhou De and been dragged to the internet café, only to lose game after game.

Yesterday, after Zhou De repeatedly invited him, he went again and was rewarded with a demotion.

Come to think of it, Zhou De's group was rather amusing. From Monday to Friday, they lost points nonstop whenever they queued as five. On the weekends, they all chose solo queue and then climbed like mad.

Once the weekend ended, they returned to school and started losing points in five-man queues again, as if the whole purpose of climbing was to lose points.

However, Yu Shao was unwilling to go to the internet café today not entirely because he feared losing points. More importantly, they had gone every day lately, and he was starting to feel tired.

Soon, Yu Shao finished packing his schoolbag, left school, and began walking home.

As he walked, Yu Shao passed Shanhai Chess Hall once more.

Just as Yu Shao was about to continue forward, the glass door of Shanhai Chess Hall opened, and a man in his early thirties wearing a jacket walked out.

When he saw Yu Shao, the man in the jacket froze for a moment, then immediately called out to him. "Hey! Student!"

Yu Shao stopped, turned around, and looked at the man in the jacket. "You are?"

"You don't know me."

The man in the jacket smiled. "But I personally witnessed that game between you and Little Zheng at the chess hall. It was absolutely brilliant!"

"Then why did you call me?" Yu Shao asked in confusion.

"Uh..."

The man in the jacket smiled awkwardly. "Actually, it's nothing. I just saw you and called out to you without thinking."

Yu Shao was momentarily dumbfounded.

"Oh, right."

The man in the jacket seemed to remember something. "The professional Go tournament for this year will be held in another month, and Little Zheng will be participating."

"He said he wants to become a professional Go player."

"In the past, he did want to become a professional Go player, but he always seemed rather halfhearted about it. Yet I feel that he changed after playing that game against you."

The man in the jacket sighed with emotion.

"Before, he played Go very well, but he didn't know why he was playing. Now, he knows."

"He also said that once his Go skills improved further, he looked forward to playing you again."

"I'm really looking forward to it. I wonder what kind of game you'll play next time."

The man in the jacket paused, then asked, "You'll become a professional Go player in the future too, right?"

At this question, Yu Shao froze. For a moment, he hesitated.

"You don't plan on becoming a professional Go player?"

Seeing Yu Shao's reaction, the man in the jacket was rather surprised.

"Well... I don't know."

Yu Shao shook his head.

He truly had not made up his mind about this. In his previous life, he had become a professional Go player at the age of twelve and grown up with Go as his constant companion. In this life, he actually wanted to try living differently.

"You don't know?"

The man in the jacket looked at Yu Shao, then suddenly shook his head and laughed. "You definitely will."

I don't even know myself, yet you do?

Yu Shao looked at the man in the jacket strangely.

"After all, how could someone who can play a game like that not want to become a professional Go player?"

The man in the jacket smiled. "If you didn't like Go, you absolutely couldn't have played a game like that. And if you like Go, how could you not want to become a professional Go player?"

"I'm also curious how far a child like you could go if you entered the professional Go world."

"I'll be watching with interest."

At those words, Yu Shao fell silent for a moment, not knowing how to respond.

"All right, I won't keep you any longer."

The man in the jacket waved and smiled. "I should get going. Goodbye."

"Goodbye."

Yu Shao nodded, said goodbye to the man in the jacket, and continued along the road home.

As he walked home, the man's words kept involuntarily resurfacing in Yu Shao's mind.

How could someone who can play a game like that not want to become a professional Go player?

Yu Shao shook his head, let out a long breath, and continued walking home.

When he returned, the food had already been prepared and set on the table. As usual, there was also a note beside the dishes, reminding Yu Shao to heat them up.