The Key to Victory Lies Not Only on the Go Board, but Off It Too

After Li Kang finished speaking, the reaction below the stage was far from enthusiastic.

Go was actually a rather ambiguous thing. You could call it niche, yet practically everyone in the world knew about it. People often saw someone playing Go in TV dramas, especially historical ones.

And whenever someone played Go in a drama, they somehow gave off the impression of being incredibly badass, like some big shot.

But if you called it mainstream, there actually weren't that many people who could play Go. And being able to play Go was vastly different from merely knowing how to play it.

Those who only understood the basic rules of life and death and winning and losing could barely be said to have even entered the door, yet they were often the majority.

Once people entered the door of Go, they would discover that they still didn't know how to play Go at all. They knew evaluation, sacrifice and gain, and counting territory, but they didn't understand the overall game. Once many people realized this, they gave up.

And after learning how to play Go, they would discover that there was still an incredibly long road ahead before they could play it well.

In short, the waters ran a little too deep. Hard to get a handle on it.

Besides, they would be playing against a Professional Go Player this time. The outcome was practically guaranteed to be a loss, and a crushing one at that. There was no chance to show off, so naturally, students who knew how Go was played had little interest.

More importantly, during their student days, most people were still introverts. They were generally socially anxious and ashamed to show their faces in front of the entire school.

Li Kang seemed to have anticipated the students' reaction. He cleared his throat and continued, "You don't need to play particularly well. Just knowing how to play is enough."

After a pause, Li Kang dropped the bombshell. "If you sign up, you'll receive fifty Conduct Points. Of course, those who have no idea how to play Go shouldn't embarrass themselves. Don't say I didn't warn you."

The moment he said that, every student in the class lit up. Even Yu Shao was shamefully tempted.

Returning to the age of sixteen had been great in every other way. The only thing that made Yu Shao miserable was having to drag himself out of bed at six-thirty every morning for early study session.

But Conduct Points meant he could skip five early study sessions!!!

"That's all. Class dismissed."

After saying that, Li Kang picked up his thermos and turned to leave the classroom.

"Holy shit, holy shit, holy shit! Old Yu, Conduct Points! I'm tempted!"

Zhou De grabbed Yu Shao's sleeve, visibly excited. Like Yu Shao, he only had sixty Conduct Points left. They were both the type who lived for thrills.

"You can play Go?"

Yu Shao stared at Zhou De in shock, beginning to question reality.

"Old Yu, you know me. I'm an athlete."

Zhou De shook his head. "At most, I can use the Go Board to beat the other guy to death."

What kind of modern-day Liu Qi was that?

The key to victory lay not only on the Go Board, but off it too, huh?

Yu Shao was speechless. "Then why are you so excited?"

"I hate that I can't play Go! How rare is a chance to earn Conduct Points?" Zhou De howled in indignation. "No one can judge me! I, Zhou De, want to defy heaven too!!!"

"Why are you yelling so loudly?"

Zhou De's shout made Yu Shao's ears go a little numb.

Suddenly, Zhou De seemed to think of something. "Still, it looks like our school really wants to wipe away its past humiliation this time."

"What are you talking about?" Yu Shao asked, confused.

"You don't know?"

Zhou De immediately looked pleased with himself. "I heard it from my coach. Our city's high school Go league is about to begin."

"You should know that our school won first place for three consecutive years back then, during the three years Senior Wu Shuheng was here. But after Senior Wu Shuheng graduated, we got worse every year."

"Last year, our school was near the bottom. We couldn't even beat several ordinary high schools. We completely disgraced ourselves as a key high school!"

"I heard our school is hosting it this time. If we still can't get a good result, we really won't have any face left."

"So the school invited Senior Wu Shuheng back this time. I'm guessing it's to boost morale and prepare for the league."

So there was something like that going on?

It was Yu Shao's first time hearing about it too. Athletes really did have broad sources of information. They knew not only all sorts of gossip, but things like this as well.

Just then, Zhou De suddenly exclaimed, "Holy shit, Xu Ziqin!"

Yu Shao turned to look. Xu Ziqin, dressed in her school uniform, was passing by the corridor window. She hadn't tied up her hair today. Her long black hair reached her waist, and as the breeze swept past, several strands drifted in the wind, utterly captivating.

For a moment, nearly every boy in Class Seven turned his gaze toward the window.

Just then, Xu Ziqin seemed to notice something. She suddenly stopped, then turned to glance into Class Seven's classroom. Her eyes were clear, as if they could reflect someone's figure.

The boys of Class Seven all felt as though their hearts had skipped half a beat.

Mom, did you know? Cupid shot an arrow through my heart!

What, you're asking who I'd save first if you and Xu Ziqin fell into a river?

I'd definitely save you first.

Then I'd jump in and fall in love with her.

But Xu Ziqin quickly withdrew her gaze and continued walking. Before long, she disappeared from the window.

After Xu Ziqin was no longer in sight, the boys somehow felt the bitterness of heartbreak despite not even having been in love.

"Xu Ziqin was looking at me!"

Zhou De's eyes went wide. He clutched Yu Shao's sleeve tightly and said excitedly, "Old Yu, Xu Ziqin stopped just now to sneak a look at me!"

"The three great illusions of life: she's sneaking looks at me, she likes me, and I can turn the tables." Yu Shao kindly reminded him.

"No!"

Zhou De said with absolute certainty, "She was definitely sneaking a look at me."

"First, even if Xu Ziqin really was looking at you, she wasn't sneaking a look. She was looking openly."

Yu Shao corrected him, "Second, I was standing right beside you. If she was looking at you, how could I not know? Bro, do you really not think it might be your imagination?"

After Yu Shao said that, Zhou De really became uncertain.

"Was she really not looking at me?"

Yu Shao didn't say anything this time.

Because he had actually felt that Xu Ziqin seemed to have looked in his direction too.

At that moment, the other boys in Class Seven finally came back to their senses, and immediately began arguing.

"Xu Ziqin was looking at me just now!"

"Bullshit, she was obviously looking at me!"

"Damn it, it was me! Me!"

Only then did Zhou De finally feel that perhaps he really had imagined it.

Zhou De sighed dejectedly. "Sigh, if only I could sit by the window."

"Why?"

Yu Shao didn't understand.

"Then when Xu Ziqin walks past the window, I could still smell her natural fragrance," Zhou De said.

Yu Shao was a little puzzled. "How do you know she has a natural fragrance? Maybe she doesn't."

"With that face of hers, she definitely does."

Zhou De said with a serious expression, "Even if she doesn't, seeing her face makes the air smell sweet."

"Wait, brother, first I need to confirm whether you mean because of her face, or because of her face. Those have different meanings."

Yu Shao emphasized, "If you mean the former, then what you're smelling is the scent of pear blossoms."

"Old Yu!"

Zhou De pointed at Yu Shao, looking as if he had been tainted. "What are you thinking about? I'm very pure!"

Yu Shao believed him.

"Still, Old Zhou, even if she really does smell nice, why not wish you were in the same class as her?" Yu Shao asked.

"The same class?"

Zhou De thought for a moment, then slapped his thigh as if waking from a dream. "Right, the same class! Damn it, those animals in Class Six really deserve to die!"

Zhou De immediately began indulging in fantasies. "If Xu Ziqin and I were in the same class... if we were desk mates... I don't even dare imagine it!"

"Trash. I dare."

Yu Shao immediately looked down on Zhou De's cowardice.

"What?"

Zhou De's eyes widened as he rebuked him indignantly, "Don't you like Cheng Mengjie? Scumbag!"

There was a strange kind of innocent devotion during one's student days. If you liked someone, even if the two of you weren't together, you couldn't like anyone else.

Unless, before liking someone else, you publicly issued a disclaimer beforehand: I don't like her anymore.

Otherwise, you were a scumbag.

And Yu Shao's former self had once firmly told Zhou De that he would continue pursuing Cheng Mengjie.

Brothers, if you think the story's decent, please be sure to bookmark it and keep reading. The subject matter is pretty niche, so I hope everyone can support it.