The Pride of a Genius

The final game was unexpectedly long.

The middle game was a tight contest between black and white, with victory hanging in the balance and the outcome capable of reversing at any moment. After an intense battle in the mid-game, it finally entered the endgame.

The result of this game was still uncertain, and even Yu Shao couldn't predict it in advance.

This was because the gap between the two sides was very small at this point. One moment he might think black was winning, but the next, black would throw away that slight advantage. The same applied to white.

At this moment, everyone was gathered around watching this game, waiting for it to conclude.

Everyone except Xu Ziqin.

Xu Ziqin remained seated, silently gazing at the board in front of her. She first picked up a black stone and placed it, then picked up a white stone and placed it.

Tap, tap, tap.

The stones continued to fall.

If white truly chose to defend the territory, the situation would become unimaginably complex, and the board would be so fiercely contested that she couldn't control or calculate it.

However, could white actually make a move to escape?

Therefore, she was independently analyzing all the possible variations after white's territorial defense.

And the deeper she analyzed, the more silent she became.

She analyzed many variations, and in the end, white couldn't make any significant moves. However, after she played the "tiger" move with white, everything changed...

If white could play the tiger move within black's sphere of influence, the situation would suddenly become far more dire than she could have ever imagined!

The tiger move was incredibly difficult to conceive. If not for that, she wouldn't have realized that white had this option after analyzing so many other possibilities.

Xu Ziqin turned her head and looked at Yu Shao, who was also watching the final game.

"So, he only saw the method for white to defend its territory."

"Or, while seeing the territorial defense... did he also see the white tiger move?"

Meanwhile.

Finally, after another full fifteen minutes, the endgame concluded, and both sides began counting the territory.

"Black wins."

Chen Jiaming said softly, "After the komi, black wins by one and a half points."

The young man sitting opposite Zhong Yufei clenched his fist unwillingly and lowered his head, saying, "I lost."

Hearing this, Zhong Yufei also let out a sigh of relief, wiped the sweat from his face, and said, "Thank you for the guidance."

"Thank you for the guidance."

The young man opposite Zhong Yufei, his face full of resentment, gritted his teeth and admitted defeat.

Of course, he was unconvinced in his heart because the gap between them was not large; he had been just a little bit away from winning this game.

But even if he was just a little bit away from winning, losing was still losing.

As for the other two, they didn't have this kind of trouble. The gap was too large. One had no hope of winning at all, and the other, even with a glimmer of hope, hadn't seen it.

It was over.

Wang Rui remained silent.

The three of them ultimately didn't win a single game; all three matches were lost.

"You played well."

Chen Jiaming patted his shoulder, looked at Wang Rui and the other two, and smiled, "You all played very well. You've improved so much since last year. If I didn't play my best against you, I might even lose."

Wang Rui and the other two lowered their heads, remaining silent.

"I'll say it again, all you need to do is your best for yourselves, and that's enough."

Chen Jiaming smiled, "Although you lost the games, seeing your progress makes me feel that your year of hard work wasn't in vain. I'm proud of you."

"Teacher Chen..."

Hearing this, Wang Rui and the other two were moved.

Chen Jiaming glanced at the clock on the wall and said, "It's getting late. That's all for today. Everyone can go home."

After speaking, Chen Jiaming looked at Yu Shao and the other two and said, "Remember to come to the activity room after school to practice Go. However..."

Chen Jiaming paused, then smiled, "My skills aren't good enough, so I probably can't beat you, let alone teach you. You'll have to practice against each other and study game records yourselves."

"Oh, right. The school will provide dinner, so you can eat at school."

Meanwhile, at the Go professional qualification preliminary matches.

"I... I lost!"

A boy just over thirteen years old looked at the board in front of him, his head lowered in unconcealed unwillingness.

"Thank you for the guidance."

Although he had won the game, Zheng Qin's expression was very calm. He nodded to his opponent, quickly gathered his stones, stood up, and turned to leave.

The two referees silently watched Zheng Qin leave.

Only after Zheng Qin had exited the Go room did the two referees finally couldn't help but start discussing in hushed tones.

"He's so amazing, that's three wins in a row."

"Wasn't his opponent that kid from a Go dojo? And yet he still lost so quickly, utterly crushed in the middle game."

"They say he's never trained at a dojo, no professional training there, but to be able to play like this is truly astonishing!"

"If Zheng Qin can maintain this level, passing the preliminaries is a sure thing."

"Yeah, the people participating in this year's professional qualification match are under pressure. After all, the number of spots to become a professional Go player is limited."

"I heard he actually had the strength to challenge for professional status a long time ago, but he chose to go to university first."

"Huh? Really?"

"Yes, I heard it from Xia Wen, a 3-dan player. He was once invited as a guest to a university Go league. Zheng Qin was the winner of that match, and his performance in that game already showed strength close to that of a professional."

Upon hearing this, the referee wearing glasses looked surprised and asked, "If that's true, why didn't he go for professional qualification earlier? Why drag it out until university?"

"I heard he felt that at the time, he only had a chance to qualify, but not a sure bet. He needed a bit of luck, like a good draw, to qualify."

Another referee chimed in, "He said that if he were to participate in the professional qualification match, he didn't want to rely on any sliver of luck... he wanted to become a professional player with absolute skill, with a perfect winning record."

Hearing this, the referee with glasses was speechless for a moment, his heart filled with an indescribable shock.

A moment later, he finally came to his senses, shook his head, and sighed, "Is this the pride of a genius? It's hard to understand..."

Then, he added with some regret, "It's a shame he didn't receive professional training at a dojo. Otherwise, he should be much stronger than he is now, right?"

"Rumor has it he doesn't have much interest in Go."

Another referee said, "Because he felt he could play Go well with ease, and passing the professional qualification match wouldn't be difficult, he wasn't willing to join a dojo, and didn't even have much interest in becoming a professional Go player."

"Really?"

The referee with glasses looked somewhat incredulous, "But, watching him play, he seems very serious and focused, as if he really wants to become a professional player!"

"This is also something I don't understand."

The other referee nodded, puzzled, "What exactly happened to make him suddenly change his mind? And he doesn't seem as arrogant as the rumors say."

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