In the chess room, Zheng Qin looked at the board in front of him, holding both black and white stones himself, alternating between them.
But even though he was just replaying the game alone, with no one sitting across from him, when he placed those stones as he had yesterday, he still felt a deep pressure coming from across.
As if that high school student named Yu Shao was still sitting across from him.
"He was like he could see through all my moves completely..."
But soon Zheng Qin rejected this speculation himself.
"No, impossible!"
"In such a complex position, how could a high school student without professional training see all the moves? Even see more than ten moves ahead for all variations!"
"That's too exaggerated. Even professional players who've received training since childhood don't necessarily have that kind of reading ability and vision. This requires playing against countless masters in numerous games to develop such hyena-like instinct!"
Zheng Qin took a deep breath, picked up a stone from the bowl, and placed it again.
"From yesterday's game, he should be an attacking player - his moves are very sharp, his attacks very fierce, giving no breathing room."
"But perhaps this is also where my chance lies!"
Zheng Qin's eyes looked toward the upper left corner of the board, his hand reaching into the stone bowl again, feeling the cold touch of the stones against his fingertips.
"And there's that 3-3 invasion."
"Although I lost yesterday's game, no matter what, the 3-3 invasion was definitely bad play."
"But the 3-3 invasion was indeed solid and hard to attack, so when he suddenly attacked me proactively, I was caught off guard, and I was too eager to counterattack afterward. At that time, my stone formations weren't even stable."
"If I could have calmed down and thought it through, the best play at that time would have been to defend while continuing to develop outside influence, handling it coolly."
"I was still too careless. I didn't expect him to have that level of skill."
Just then, the automatic glass door of the chess hall opened again.
Zheng Qin heard the sound and immediately looked up toward the entrance.
But when he saw who came in, Zheng Qin couldn't help but be slightly stunned.
The person who came wasn't the high school student named Yu Shao from before, but it was another student wearing a Jiangling No. 1 High School uniform - a girl with waist-length hair and exceptionally beautiful features.
"She is..."
Zheng Qin had some impression of this girl - he'd seen her at the chess hall yesterday.
After all, no matter who it was, even other girls would have difficulty forgetting such a beautiful girl like Xu Zijin.
It's just that Zheng Qin hadn't expected this girl to also be a student at Jiangling No. 1 High School.
After Xu Zijin entered the chess hall, she looked around, finally looking at Zheng Qin, then at the empty seat across from him, before withdrawing her gaze.
"Little sister, you're here again?" the receptionist said with a smile. "Are you here to watch Little Zheng and that boy play chess today too?"
"Mm," Xu Zijin nodded lightly.
"But that boy hasn't come yet," the receptionist also noticed Xu Zijin's school uniform at this time and said with pleasant surprise: "You're also from Jiangling No. 1 High School! Do you know that boy named Yu Shao? Will he come today?"
"Sorry, I don't know," Xu Zijin shook her head apologetically. "I've only seen him at school - we're not familiar."
"I see." Getting this answer, the receptionist was slightly disappointed, but still smiled and said, "Are you going to wait for him together? Want to order a drink - milk tea maybe - to have while waiting?"
Xu Zijin thought about it and asked, "Do you have lemon yuzu tea?"
"Yes, we do," the receptionist nodded and asked with a smile, "Little sister, would you like ice?"
"Yes, thank you."
Xu Zijin nodded, then took out her phone, scanned the QR code to pay, and then walked into the chess room, finding an unoccupied chair to sit down.
The entire chess hall became quiet again.
Everyone looked preoccupied, occasionally glancing toward the outside of the chess hall. Few people were actually playing, and even those who were seemed absent-minded.
Everyone was waiting.
Waiting for that high school student named Yu Shao.
Time passed minute by minute, and the sky gradually began to darken.
From time to time, people would lift their wrists to check the time on their watches, then look at the chess hall's entrance.
"It's already 6:30. That kid probably won't come, right?" someone muttered.
As time continued to pass, some people couldn't wait any longer and chose to leave, but even more people chose to continue waiting.
Perhaps they really did expect Zheng Qin to redeem himself in this game, but what truly supported them in continuing to wait was that they wanted to see an exciting game.
If that high school student named Yu Shao came, then his game with Zheng Qin would definitely be spectacular.
They didn't want to miss it.
Even though they could watch the game record afterward, watching live and reviewing afterward were two completely different experiences.
The time reached 7:30.
By now the sky outside was completely dark, night had fallen, neon lights flashed outside the chess hall, and the busy street was full of people coming and going, but Yu Shao was nowhere to be seen.
At this point, everyone realized that the high school student named Yu Shao probably wouldn't come today, at least.
Xu Zijin also stood up from her chair at this time, preparing to leave.
"Hey, classmate, wait a moment."
Just as Xu Zijin was about to leave Shanhai Chess Hall, Zheng Qin called out to stop her.
Xu Zijin immediately stopped, turned her head to look at Zheng Qin, waiting for him to explain why he'd stopped her.
"You're classmates with that high school student named Yu Shao, right?" Zheng Qin asked.
"We're not familiar," Xu Zijin said.
"Uh..." Hearing this, Zheng Qin immediately felt somewhat awkward, but after hesitating, he still steeled himself to ask: "Could you help me pass along a message to him?"
Xu Zijin didn't agree or refuse, just looked at Zheng Qin with those amber-like crystal-clear eyes.
Zheng Qin didn't know why, but being stared at by a girl so much younger than him actually made him feel tremendous pressure.
But finally, Zheng Qin still endured the pressure and said with utmost sincerity: "Please just tell him that I'll still be waiting for him at the chess hall tomorrow, okay?"
After a moment, Xu Zijin finally nodded and answered: "Alright."
"It's okay if you can't, don't worry about it... Ah?" Zheng Qin had already prepared to be refused, but unexpectedly Xu Zijin agreed, and he was overjoyed, immediately saying: "Classmate, thank you so much! Next time you come to the chess hall to play, it's on me!"
"Thank you, but no need," Xu Zijin shook her head, politely declining, then turned and left.
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