"Check."
At the Liu Family home, Yang Ge and Liu Mang sat playing chess in the courtyard, while the old innkeeper watched from the side, leaning on his cane. Zhao Miao stood outside the kitchen with Little Guangzong in her arms, chatting with Liu Deng-shi as she cooked inside. Little Yellow ran around the courtyard, wagging his tail.
Liu Mang stared at the board and racked his brains for a long while before hesitantly moving a piece to block Yang Ge's cannon: "Advisor across!"
Yang Ge took one look and unhesitatingly pushed his other cannon beside Liu Mang's general: "Double-cannon check."
Liu Mang said, "Elephant up."
Yang Ge pushed his chariot beside the exposed general to serve as a cannon platform: "Check again..."
Liu Mang stared fixedly at the board, scratching his head furiously.
The old innkeeper tapped his cane and laughed as he scolded him. "What the hell are you still looking at? You're checkmated... move, move! Let me have a couple of games with the lad!"
Liu Mang reluctantly got up to give his father the seat, still muttering, "If you weren't sitting beside me, I'd definitely have beaten him once."
"Bullshit!"
The old innkeeper laughed and scolded him. "I've been sitting here all this time. Have I made a single peep?"
Liu Mang argued with conviction, "Just having you sitting beside me puts me under pressure, even if you don't make a sound..."
Yang Ge chuckled as he deftly reset the pieces, staying out of the father and son's usual bickering.
"Brother Fu Yu, what do you keep yourself busy with all day?"
Playing against the old man, Yang Ge casually asked, "I see you running off to the martial hall every day, but your martial arts haven't improved much... it's been almost three years since you