Will Your Go Stones Shine?

"You've had enough. Go to sleep."

Yu Shao was a little speechless. He did not want to keep shooting the breeze with Zhou De, or it would somehow circle back to Cheng Mengjie and give him a headache. After all, it was a mess his predecessor had made.

The next class was art, so Zhou De happily slept through the whole period. For an athlete like Zhou De, teachers generally could not be bothered to manage him unless they taught a core subject.

When it was time for the exercise break, Zhou De, who had only slept through one class, was already brimming with energy again. High school students really had absurdly good stamina.

After the exercise break ended, Yu Shao thought it over and ultimately headed for the teachers' office.

Yu Shao reached the teachers' office and knocked on the door.

"Come in."

Only after receiving permission did Yu Shao enter the office.

Li Kang was grading homework at the time. Seeing Yu Shao come in, he was slightly surprised and asked, "Yu Shao, what is it?"

"Sir, I'd like to sign up for next week's Go simultaneous exhibition," Yu Shao answered honestly.

Li Kang stopped his red pen over the homework, looked up at Yu Shao, and asked in surprise, "You know how to play Go?"

In his impression, Yu Shao was the sort of student who did fairly well academically but loved having fun and stirring things up. No matter how he looked at him, he did not seem like someone with the temperament to sit quietly and play Go.

Yu Shao nodded. "I do."

"How good are you?" Li Kang pressed.

"Uh..."

Being asked that question again put Yu Shao in a difficult spot.

Logically speaking, this was a great chance to show off, but showing off too much could easily make people think he was an idiot.

So after hesitating for a moment, Yu Shao finally answered, "I'm alright."

Li Kang did not think Yu Shao was lying to him. He was simply surprised that Yu Shao really knew how to play Go. After some thought, he nodded. "Alright. I'll sign you up. You can go back now."

"Thank you, sir."

Yu Shao relaxed slightly, then turned and left the teachers' office.

As soon as Yu Shao returned to the classroom, Zhou De immediately sidled up to him and asked, "Old Yu, what did you go to the teachers' office for just now?"

This kid saw me?

Yu Shao was a little surprised. After thinking about it, he felt there was no need to hide it, so he told the truth. "I signed up for next week's Go simultaneous exhibition."

Zhou De's eyes instantly widened like saucers as he exclaimed in shock, "You're risking your life just for Conduct Points?! If they find out you can't play Go, forget Conduct Points—Li Kang will kill you!"

Yu Shao glanced at Zhou De. "I know how to play Go."

"Bro, stop joking. Don't I know you?"

Zhou De did not believe him at all, his face clearly saying, "Fine, fool other people, but you think you can fool your brother too?"

Yu Shao could not be bothered to explain. Knowing Zhou De, the more he explained, the less Zhou De would believe him.

"You really can?"

Zhou De stared intently at Yu Shao, seemingly trying to spot some flaw in his expression.

But Yu Shao still did not answer, treating Zhou De as nothing but air.

"Holy crap, you really can!"

Zhou De was stunned at first, then began shouting in grief and outrage. "You secretly learned Go just to show off? I seriously underestimated you, Old Yu! You're ruthless, man!"

"Betrayal! Naked betrayal! You betrayed your brother! The wound of betrayal will never heal!"

Yu Shao felt he really ought to find a needle and sew Zhou De's filthy mouth shut. "Can you keep your voice down?"

After howling for a while, Zhou De finally leaned closer and asked mysteriously, "No, bro, let me ask you something. Since you can play Go, can you do that?"

"Do what?"

Yu Shao was a little baffled.

"That thing."

Zhou De mimicked a move with his hand and said, "You place a Go Stone, then it shines with a dazzling light, and then—whoosh! A beam of light shoots into the sky."

"You've watched too much anime, haven't you?"

Yu Shao had always known Zhou De had something wrong with his brain, but he had not expected it to be this serious.

"Go Stones don't shine?"

Zhou De looked disdainful. "Then what's the point of playing Go?"

For a moment, Yu Shao was actually left unable to refute him, because he felt that arguing would lower his IQ to Zhou De's level.

At five in the afternoon, school was over again. After the chemistry teacher—the one even Zhou De would not sleep through—said, "Class dismissed," Yu Shao began packing his books, preparing to head home.

"Old Yu, let's hit the internet cafe. You didn't go yesterday, so you have to go today!" Zhou De said.

"Yeah, Old Yu. Let's queue as five."

Old Zhang came over too and assured Yu Shao, "We're definitely ranking up today. I specifically checked the almanac."

Yu Shao thought about it and felt that he did not have much homework today. It would be fine to play at the internet cafe for a while.

Besides, since he had been reborn and intended to enjoy his youth, he had to experience gaming with his classmates at an internet cafe.

So Yu Shao nodded in agreement. "Alright, I'll play for a bit. But you know I can't stay out too late."

Zhou De wore an expression that said, "I get it." "Yeah, yeah. You have to get back before your parents come home. We'll play fifteen-minute matches. We'll have plenty of time."

Yu Shao suddenly did not feel much like going anymore.

Shanhai Chess Hall.

A man in his early thirties wearing a jacket entered the chess hall. The instant he walked in, he realized everyone's eyes had converged on him.

For a moment, the man was so stared at that he did not know what to do with himself.

But in the next moment, after recognizing who had arrived, everyone moved their gazes away in disappointment.

The man in the jacket breathed a sigh of relief. Walking to the front desk, he paid and asked, "They're all waiting for that high school student?"

"Yeah."

The receptionist nodded and looked toward Zheng Qin, who was sitting in the Go room reviewing variations. "Little Zheng has been waiting here since noon. He's been reviewing yesterday's game over and over the entire time."

"No wonder. Little Zheng is preparing to make a push for Professional Go Player status this year, yet he lost to a high school student with no professional training who had not even reached an official rank. That must have hit him hard."

The man in the jacket sighed. "Just thinking about it is unbelievable."

"But I still believe in Little Zheng."

After a pause, the man in the jacket said, "I watched yesterday's game from start to finish. I think Little Zheng simply underestimated his opponent."

"Little Zheng's opening was clearly not as meticulous as usual. During the fighting, he also did not choose to go for the throat. So many of his choices tried to have it both ways, making him look too greedy."

"Against an ordinary opponent, that would naturally be no problem. Little Zheng might even suppress them until they could barely breathe. But that high school student was obviously no ordinary opponent."

"Little Zheng underestimated him too much. By the time he finally realized it and wanted to get serious, the board was already beyond saving. It was too late."

"But if Little Zheng had gone all out from the start, that high school student definitely would not have been his match."

Hearing the man in the jacket, the receptionist could not help but laugh.

"What? Miss Su, you don't think so?" The man in the jacket found that strange and asked.

"No."

The receptionist shook her head with a smile. "It's just that you aren't the first person to say that. Everyone says so. That's why everyone is holding their breath and waiting here for that high school student."

"They're waiting for a game between Little Zheng and that high school student, with both of them going all out."

Hearing that, the man in the jacket could not help smiling as well. "I imagine it'll be quite a spectacle, won't it?"