Xu Ziqin's Secret

Yu Shao glanced at Teacher Chen, then nodded.

"Principal, if there's nothing else, I'll be leaving first?" Yu Shao said.

"Go ahead."

The principal waved his hand and spoke.

Soon, Yu Shao and the others turned around and left the office one after another. After watching the last person leave and closing the office door, the principal couldn't help but rise from his seat.

He no longer concealed the excitement and smugness on his face. Turning to Chen Jiaming, he asked, "Teacher Chen, who would've thought that this year's new senior high school students would be so full of hidden talents!"

The principal continued with a radiant smile, "Our school's results in the previous Go tournaments were terrible. Last year, we nearly came in last, and those people from the other key high schools mocked us mercilessly."

"But now, with Yu Shao and Xu Ziqin, those two kids, once the Go tournament arrives, they'll definitely give those people a shock! We'll finally vent all that pent-up frustration!"

"Hahahaha, just thinking about it makes me happy!"

The thing that had troubled him the most recently was the upcoming high school Go tournament. It had already been embarrassing enough for the host school to come in last; if they came in last again this year as the host, they would truly lose all face!

If not for that, he wouldn't have invited Wu Shuheng to the school to hold this Go lecture.

But now, the situation had suddenly taken a turn. Two unbelievably formidable new students had emerged from the first year. Although the second-year student hadn't won the simultaneous game, he wasn't weak either—he was an overlooked talent they simply hadn't discovered before.

However, when he saw Chen Jiaming's expression at that moment, the principal couldn't help but pause.

There was no joy on Chen Jiaming's face. In fact, he even seemed faintly worried.

"Teacher Chen, what's wrong?"

The principal asked in puzzlement, "Don't you also want to achieve good results in the upcoming high school Go tournament?"

Chen Jiaming smiled and shook his head. "Although that's true, Wang Rui and the other two prepared and worked very hard for this tournament."

"Now that they've suddenly been replaced by others, they must be feeling awful, right?"

The smile on the principal's face gradually faded. He actually knew that as well.

After a moment of silence, the principal finally let out a long sigh and said, "Teacher Chen, I know you've taught them for two years."

"But many things are like this. The weak are eliminated and the fittest survive. There's no room for sentiment."

After the three of them left the principal's office, they were preparing to return to their respective classrooms when the three students who had been replaced suddenly approached and blocked their path.

Zhong Yufei sensed that they meant trouble. Suspecting that they resented being replaced and had come to cause trouble for the three of them, he asked warily, "What do you want?"

Xu Ziqin said nothing. She merely looked at Wang Rui and the other two with a cool, detached gaze.

"My name is Wang Rui."

The tallest boy among them looked at the three of them with a complicated expression and spoke.

"And?"

Zhong Yufei asked with a frown.

Wang Rui was silent for a moment before continuing, "Last year, the three of us represented our school in the Go tournament."

"We... lost terribly in that match."

"At the time, we swore that we would wash away that humiliation in the next tournament. For that reason, whenever we had free time, we practiced Go and reviewed game records, constantly playing against each other in hopes of improving our Go skills."

"Judging from that earlier simultaneous game, you really are stronger than us. In fact... much stronger."

A self-mocking smile appeared on Wang Rui's face.

"But..."

"I'm not willing to accept it."

"Even if we know that you may truly be stronger than us, we still aren't willing to accept it."

Wang Rui drew a deep breath and stared intently at the three of them. "After school, meet us in the activity room for a game."

The three of them were all taken aback by this.

Xu Ziqin gazed at Wang Rui, her eyes seeming capable of seeing straight through people's hearts.

After a moment, she was the first to nod lightly and answer in her clear voice, "All right."

Yu Shao looked at Wang Rui's burning gaze and fell silent for a moment. After thinking it over, he nodded as well.

As for Zhong Yufei, seeing that the other two had agreed, he agreed too.

"Good. Then it's settled. We'll meet in the activity room after school."

After saying that, Wang Rui took a deep look at the three of them before hurriedly turning around and leaving with the other two.

After Wang Rui and the others left, Zhong Yufei soon parted ways with Yu Shao and Xu Ziqin as well, heading alone toward the building where the second-year classes were located.

Yu Shao and Xu Ziqin were both first-year students, and their classrooms were on the same floor, so they went upstairs together, preparing to return to their respective classrooms.

It was already lunchtime, so there was no one else in the stairwell besides Yu Shao and Xu Ziqin.

They weren't very far apart. For some reason, Yu Shao suddenly remembered the outrageous claim Zhou De had made earlier: since Xu Ziqin was so beautiful, she must naturally have a body fragrance.

Unexpectedly, once he thought of that outrageous claim, Yu Shao really did seem to catch a faint fragrance drifting over from Xu Ziqin.

It was somewhat like the scent of shampoo, but not entirely. It was as if the smell of shampoo had blended with some other fragrance. It was very, very faint, yet pleasant, making him feel that it was clean and refreshing.

Holy crap?

Yu Shao was startled. Could that kid Zhou De actually have been telling the truth? Do beautiful girls really come with their own body fragrance?

"You don't seem very interested in playing Go?"

Just then, Xu Ziqin suddenly spoke.

Yu Shao froze for a moment and looked at Xu Ziqin in confusion.

"I can tell."

Xu Ziqin looked at Yu Shao with clear, bright eyes and asked, "Why?"

"Uh..."

The question caught Yu Shao off guard.

He simply had spent his entire previous life playing Go, so in this life, he wanted to properly enjoy these wonderful youthful years. But he obviously couldn't say that.

He could have casually made up a lie, but under Xu Ziqin's gaze, Yu Shao somehow felt that the moment he lied, he would immediately be overwhelmed by immense guilt.

Did Xu Ziqin come with a truth-serum ability too?

Yu Shao thought for a moment, then finally said, "It's a secret."

Xu Ziqin's expression froze for an instant, as if she hadn't expected Yu Shao to give that answer.

Normally, whenever she asked someone a question, she would get an answer nearly one hundred percent of the time. She had almost grown used to it herself.

This was the first time she had voluntarily asked a boy a question, only for that boy to answer that it was a secret.

"A secret has to be exchanged for another secret."

Yu Shao smiled and said, "So unless you tell me one of your secrets, I won't tell you mine."

Based on what he knew about Xu Ziqin and her personality, he figured the conversation would end there. Xu Ziqin would never tell a boy anything about herself, let alone a secret.

But, contrary to Yu Shao's expectations, after hearing what he said, hesitation actually appeared on Xu Ziqin's face!

Yu Shao was completely stunned!

No way, bro?

You're taking this that far?

That doesn't fit your character at all, does it?

Seeing Xu Ziqin's hesitant expression, Yu Shao was a little dumbfounded.

Fortunately, Xu Ziqin ultimately maintained her usual persona.

She didn't say a word, much less reveal her secret. She simply turned her head away and continued walking, as if none of the conversation from moments ago had happened.

P.S. To all esteemed readers who think this book is pretty good, please add it to your reading list. It would be even better if you could throw in some support! Your humble author thanks you!

Watching the S-game completely wrecked my mindset. I feel like I wasn't in the right state to write today. A strong man weeps.