Lin Yanru was the first to sit down at the board.
Few people in the industry knew she liked Go. She had studied it with her grandfather for a few years as a child, then set it aside when work got busy, but her foundation remained.
So she was the first to step forward and play against Qiguan Yuan.
She took black and went first.
Her hand was steady as she placed her stones.
Her first move was on the three-four point, her second a large knight's move-both perfectly conventional plays.
Qiguan Yuan sat opposite her, silver hair spilling over his dark red clothes, a white stone pinched in his right hand as he leisurely answered her moves.
Nothing was apparent in the first ten moves. After twenty, Lin Yanru's brow furrowed.
Qiguan Yuan's white stones squeezed hers little by little, like a net slowly tightening.
They were not fierce killing moves. Instead, with every move she made, she found herself stepping into a smaller cage.
After another dozen or so moves, Lin Yanru stopped and studied the board for a long time.
Then she returned the black stone in her hand to its bowl and shook her head.
"I resign."
Shen Yuzhou leaned over. "Sister Lin, can't you keep playing? There are still loads of empty spots on the board."
Lin Yanru stood and gave him her seat, her tone calm. "I'd lose even if I kept playing. Mr. Qiguan is at least professional level, if not higher. My skills are nowhere near enough."
She said it frankly, without any resentment.
Turning to glance at Qiguan Yuan, she nodded in a polite acknowledgment of her defeat.
Qiguan Yuan gave a slight nod in return and said nothing.
Shen Yuzhou plopped down and reached for the black stones, then stopped halfway.
He looked at the board, then at Qiguan Yuan, a slightly embarrassed smile rising on his face.
"Um... Mr. Qiguan, I have a question."
Qiguan Yuan looked at him.
Shen Yuzhou scratched his head. "I don't know how to play Go."
Cheng Yanqiu nearly laughed beside him. Then she remembered that she did not know how to play Go either, and her smile froze.
Shen Yuzhou hurried to add, "But I can play five-in-a-row! Do you know that one? The game where whoever gets five stones in a row first wins."
Qiguan Yuan tilted his head, silver hair slipping from his shoulder.
"Five-in-a-row?"
"Yes, exactly!" Shen Yuzhou perked up, pushed the stones on the board aside, and placed a black stone right in the center. "Like this. We each place one stone at a time, and whoever gets five in a straight line first wins. Horizontal, vertical, diagonal, anything goes. As long as you line up five, you win. Simple rules, right?"
He explained earnestly, gesturing as he spoke, almost wishing he could draw over the whole board.
Qiguan Yuan watched his gestures, the corner of his mouth shifting slightly, and said slowly, "Understood."
Shen Yuzhou's eyes lit up. "Then will you play?"
Qiguan Yuan moved the bowl of white stones in front of himself, took one out, and turned it between his fingers. "Do you want me to?"
It was a perfectly ordinary question, yet for some reason, Shen Yuzhou's ears reddened. "I... I'd like you to play, Mr. Qiguan."
"Oh," Qiguan Yuan said, drawing out the sound. "Then let's play, kid. You first."
Shen Yuzhou was delighted.
He figured Qiguan Yuan had not even known the rules and had only just learned them, so there was no way he could beat him. This game was his for sure.
He picked up a black stone and set it down in the very center with a click.
Qiguan Yuan placed a white stone beside his black one. Shen Yuzhou placed another, and Qiguan Yuan followed with another.
By his third stone, Shen Yuzhou began to feel something was wrong.
Rather than blocking his path, Qiguan Yuan's white stones were doing their own thing on the other side of the board.
Shen Yuzhou glanced at them, paid them no mind, and continued setting up his formation.
Qiguan Yuan blocked him, seemingly on the defensive.
Then Shen Yuzhou's black stones formed a line of three.
Before he could celebrate, Qiguan Yuan placed a white stone, giving himself three in a row too.
And he had three in two directions. Whichever side Shen Yuzhou blocked, the other could immediately become four.
Shen Yuzhou stared at the board for three seconds.
"Huh?"
He looked for another three seconds.
"Wait... this..."
He tossed the black stone in his hand back into the bowl and slumped in his chair, looking as though he had been struck by lightning.
"I lost."
"No, wait, how did I lose?! Isn't this the invincible formation that expert on Doule taught? This makes no sense!"
Cheng Yanqiu finally lost it and laughed aloud.
Shen Yuzhou turned to her, looking aggrieved. "Stop laughing, Sister Cheng. I didn't even last two minutes."
The bullet comments had already gone wild with laughter.
[Not even two minutes hahahaha]
[Shen Yuzhou: I thought I had this in the bag]
[Qiguan Yuan only just learned and he's already better than him]
[Is this what an IQ stomp looks like?]
Cheng Yanqiu pulled Shen Yuzhou out of the chair and sat down herself.
"My turn."
She did not know Go either, but she had played five-in-a-row before. She was far steadier than Shen Yuzhou, thinking over every move before placing her stone.
But Qiguan Yuan's pace never changed from beginning to end, leisurely as a stroll.
Five minutes later, Cheng Yanqiu lost.
Ji Shiyu went next.
He played very carefully, blocking Qiguan Yuan at every move, but covering one side left another exposed. In the end, Qiguan Yuan cornered him with a double open three.
He showed little expression when he lost, merely letting out a soft sigh.
Jiang Wantang was the last to play apart from Pei Yubai. She sat before the board and gently picked up a black stone. Her fingers were long, her nails neatly rounded, and the way she held the stone was beautiful.
She played more slowly than anyone else, considering each move for a long time.
But her slowness was different from the others'. She was not calculating moves; she was feeling them. Just as she felt the rhythm of music when dancing, she was feeling the rhythm of the board.
Qiguan Yuan's gaze lingered briefly on the hand she used to place her stones.
Then he placed a white stone, not blocking her path, but setting it in an empty corner of the board.
Jiang Wantang glanced at that white stone and suddenly smiled. She returned the black stone in her hand to the bowl.
"I lost."
Qiguan Yuan said nothing, but his gaze held a little more warmth for her than it had for the others.
Bullet comments drifted past:
[Qiguan Yuan seems to treat Jiang Wantang differently]
[Something's up...]
Now only Pei Yubai remained.
He had been sitting on the bench without moving.
Qiguan Yuan slowly picked the white stones off the board one by one and returned them to their bowl. When he finished, he raised his head, looking past the people in front of him to Pei Yubai.
"What about you?"
Pei Yubai stood and walked over.
He did not sit down immediately, but stood before the board, looking down at its empty surface.
Qiguan Yuan propped his chin on his hand, silver hair hanging over his shoulders, his posture languid.
His fingers tapped the tabletop lightly twice as he asked unhurriedly, "Five-in-a-row or Go?"
Pei Yubai did not hesitate.
"Five-in-a-row."
The others beside them all glanced at him. Lin Yanru raised an eyebrow slightly but said nothing.
Pei Yubai sat down and reached for the bowl of black stones. His movements were unhurried but steady, as though he had long since decided what to choose.
Pei Yubai did know how to play Go, and he was quite good at it.
But watching Qiguan Yuan's game against Lin Yanru earlier, he had also realized he could not possibly beat Qiguan Yuan.
Since he could not win, why choose Go?
Qiguan Yuan looked at him, the corner of his mouth shifting slightly. "All right."
He put away the few white stones still on the board, only withdrawing his hands and resting them on his knees after making sure not a single stone remained.
"Let's begin."
He let Pei Yubai go first.
Pei Yubai did not stand on ceremony. He picked up a black stone and placed it in the center of the board.
Qiguan Yuan picked up a white stone and casually placed it beside the black one.
His movements were no different from before, unhurried, as though he were doing something perfectly ordinary.
They took turns placing their stones. Pei Yubai's play was very orthodox, every move conventional, with nothing particularly notable about it.
There was nothing particularly notable about Qiguan Yuan's play either. He blocked where he should and advanced where he should, much as he had in the previous games.
But Pei Yubai could feel it.
Qiguan Yuan was going easy on him.
Not in an obvious, deliberate way.
It was the sort where, despite being able to see three moves ahead,
he only looked one move ahead. Where he could have sealed every route, he left one open.
Every move seemed perfunctory, yet he was so earnest about going through the motions that there was nothing to fault.
Pei Yubai did not call him out. He played at his own pace, neither hurried nor impatient.
After a dozen or so moves, the black and white stones were intertwined on the board, and no one could tell who had the advantage.
A few moves later, Pei Yubai deliberately left an opening.
Qiguan Yuan immediately placed a white stone there, forming a line of four.
Pei Yubai glanced at those four white stones, then at the black stone in his hand. His hand hovered in midair for two seconds.
Then he returned the black stone to the bowl.
"I lost."
His tone was level as he said those words, as though remarking that the weather was nice today.
Qiguan Yuan looked at him without speaking.
Beside them, Shen Yuzhou murmured, "Brother Pei lost too..."
Cheng Yanqiu glanced at him, signaling him to keep quiet.
Qiguan Yuan lowered his head, reached into his sleeve, and drew out the marriage fortune stick.
It was a bamboo stick tied with red cord, with two lines of small characters carved into it.
He glanced at those two lines, then set it on the table and pushed it toward Pei Yubai.
The bamboo stick slid across the wooden table with a faint sound.
Pei Yubai looked down at the stick, then up at Qiguan Yuan.
Qiguan Yuan had already leaned back in his chair.
His fingers tapped the tabletop lightly twice, his gaze sweeping across everyone's faces before finally settling outside the window.
The setting sun had dyed the entire village orange-red. The distant mountains were indistinct, their outlines hazy.
He suddenly spoke. "Five-in-a-row really is a marvelous way to play."
His tone was languid, as though he were speaking to himself, or to everyone.
Then he stood.
His movements were slow. First, he pushed his chair back a little, then rose and brushed the silver hair hanging over his chest behind him.
His dark red robe swayed slightly with his movements, its hem brushing the bamboo mat almost soundlessly. "I look forward to playing you all again."
He gave them a slight nod. It was a small gesture, not quite formal, yet somehow just right.
Then he turned and walked toward the door.
His pace was neither fast nor slow, his silver hair hanging down his back and glinting pale gold in the sunset. Against the wooden walls, his dark red robe looked deep and heavy, like a dark flame stirred by the wind.
Pei Yubai sat before the board without moving.
When Qiguan Yuan passed him, less than a foot separated their shoulders.
A faint fragrance drifted over. Not the scent of perfume, but something like wood warmed by the sun, or the smell left in clothes soaked through by mountain mist.
Cool, clean, barely there.
Then he walked past.
Footsteps creaked a few times on the wooden stairs, growing more distant. Then all was quiet.
Shen Yuzhou was the first to react. "He left?"
Cheng Yanqiu did not answer, looking down at the marriage fortune stick on the table.
The bamboo stick lay quietly on the wooden tabletop, its red cord trailing over the edge and swaying gently in the breeze.
Ji Shiyu said softly, "We got the stick. Brother Pei won."
Although none of them had won, Qiguan Yuan had clearly given the marriage fortune stick to Pei Yubai.
So Pei Yubai became the ultimate winner.
Lin Yanru walked over, picked up the stick, and turned it over to look. The fortune was carved into it, the characters small but clear.
She read it aloud. "When golden wind meets jade dew."
Shen Yuzhou leaned over to look. "What does that mean?"
Lin Yanru did not answer. She put the fortune stick back on the table.
The barrage of comments started up again.
[When golden wind and jade dew meet-what was the next line again?]
[They surpass countless earthly encounters.]
[Well... well... this humble girl has something to say, but I don't know if I should.]
[You above, leave that thought here.]
[Qiguan Yuan gave that fortune stick to Pei Yubai, didn't he?]
[Didn't he say whoever won would get it? Pei Yubai lost, and he still gave it to him.]
[The great beauty just wanted to give the stick to Pei Yubai, right?]
[You up there have spotted the key detail.]
Pei Yubai was still sitting at the board. He did not look at the fortune stick or in the direction Qiguan Yuan had left.
He kept his head lowered, looking at the black and white stones scattered across the board.
The black and white stones were tangled together. At the spot where he had deliberately played to throw the game, there were already five in a diagonal row.
He reached out and picked the black stones off the board one by one, returning them to their container. His movements were slow, just as slow as Qiguan Yuan's had been when he picked up the stones.
Once he finished, he stood up, picked up the marriage fortune stick from the table, and glanced at the verse on it.
"When golden wind and jade dew meet."
He slipped the stick into his sleeve, turned, and headed downstairs.
Shen Yuzhou called after him, "Brother Pei, where are you going?"
Pei Yubai did not look back. "To gather."
Shen Yuzhou looked at Cheng Yanqiu, then at Lin Yanru, and asked quietly, "What's up with him?"
Cheng Yanqiu ignored him. She picked up the teapot on the table and poured herself a cup.
The tea had already gone cold, but she took a sip.
Lin Yanru stood by the window, looking down at the street. The setting sun bathed the entire street in gold. In the distance, a dark red figure was slowly walking farther away.
She watched for a while, then turned and said, "Let's go. It's almost time to head to Yue Lao Temple."
They went downstairs one after another.
Under the wonton stall's awning, the old woman was still cooking wontons amid billowing steam. Seeing them come down, she asked with a smile, "Did you find the person you were looking for?"
Shen Yuzhou nodded. "We did!"
The old woman smiled and asked nothing more.
Pei Yubai walked at the front. He headed back along Fated Marriage Village's main street, the setting sun stretching a long shadow behind him. His frost-white robe fluttered slightly backward in the wind.
After walking for a while, he suddenly stopped.
He took the marriage fortune stick from his sleeve and looked at it again.
He turned the stick over. There was nothing on the back, only bare bamboo, polished smooth and gleaming faintly.
He put the stick away.
Meng Xu was still waiting beneath the old locust tree at the village entrance. Seeing them return, he stood and brushed the dust off his trousers.
"Found it?"
Shen Yuzhou handed him the marriage fortune stick. "Found it."
Meng Xu took it, glanced at it, and put it in his folder. He looked at Pei Yubai, then at the others.
"Pei Yubai won today's task. He gets the private courtyard. Everyone else gets the communal sleeping quarters."
Shen Yuzhou sighed but said nothing.
Cheng Yanqiu glanced at the sky. "It's almost dark. Let's head up the mountain."
They gathered their things and headed toward Cloud-Hidden Mountain.
Pei Yubai walked at the rear. After a while, he looked back at Fated Marriage Village.
The setting sun had dyed the village orange-red. In a distant alley, a faint patch of dark red could be seen flickering between the blue-gray walls.
Then it vanished.