A faint smile appeared on his lips. Playing chess? I am not weak!
Chapter 0465: Deceptive Personnel Files
There are no private rooms, but the teahouse gives people a very quiet feeling. Many people gather together to watch chess. Even if someone expresses his opinion, he whispers, as if he is afraid of disrupting the thinking of the players. It is already past six o'clock in the evening. In other places, teahouses usually provide breakfast and are closed at night, but this Green Spring is unique and popular. The waitresses wearing silk cheongsams carry bronze long-spouted kettles to store water for chess friends; in addition to the fragrance of tea, there are also various meals that exude a rich aroma.
Fang Zhicheng searched the hall for a while but couldn't find Wan Heng. His cell phone rang. After answering the call, Wan Heng guided him through the phone: "I've seen you. I'm on your right. Walk a few steps east and you'll see me."
Fang Zhicheng had never met Wan Heng, but as the Organization Minister of the Municipal Party Committee, he should have seen his information, so it was natural for him to know what he looked like.
Fang Zhicheng walked eastward and turned a wall, then saw Wan Heng waving at him. He originally thought that Wan Heng should be a man with good looks, but he did not expect that he gave people an extremely ordinary feeling. He was not very tall, about 1.7 meters, wearing a gray coat, with a gloomy face, and his temperament was more like that of an ordinary worker.
Fang Zhicheng walked over with a smile and said, "Hello, Minister Wan!"
Wan Heng waved his hand and said calmly: "Have some tea!"
Wan Heng's attitude was just as rumored, extremely arrogant. One could sense a sense of confidence from him, a kind of confidence that did not make people uncomfortable. It was not an ordinary kind of confidence, but the connotation and taste that emanated from his every move.
When Fang Zhicheng looked at Wan Heng again, he found that he had suddenly changed. There are some people who can make others ignore their appearance, and Wan Heng is such a person. When he opens his mouth, others' attention is not on his appearance, but on his words and conversation.
This is a very special person. Fang Zhicheng has met many officials with unique personalities, but the feeling that Wan Heng gives him is unique.
Fang Zhicheng took a sip of tea, not hiding his surprise, and said, "Good tea!"
Wan Heng narrowed his eyes and asked, "What's the best way?"
Fang Zhicheng knew that Wan Heng was testing him, and he suspected that he was just being perfunctory and pretending to know something he didn't.
Fang Zhicheng said, "This tea is good because the tea soup is clear and refreshing, and it makes people salivate. For ordinary green tea, the fragrance of the tea soup is absolutely related to the quality of the tea leaves, but the tea soup used is not the best tea, but a very ordinary early spring new tea. However, the water used is definitely different. I think it should be well water, and an old well with a history of hundreds of years."
When Wan Heng heard Fang Zhicheng say this, his eyes lit up and he smiled, "Zhicheng, you haven't been to Green Lotus Spring before, have you?"
Fang Zhicheng knew that his guess was correct, but Wan Heng didn't believe it. He thought that he could tell the quality of the tea just by taking a sip.
Fang Zhicheng took another sip of tea and said, "If you, Minister Wan, think that I have been here before and therefore know the origin of this tea, then you might as well think so."
Wan Heng carefully observed Fang Zhicheng's posture of drinking tea and said with a smile: "I didn't expect you to be a master of tea ceremony. It seems that I chose the right place to meet you in this teahouse today."
Ordinary people drink tea casually, mostly because they are thirsty, like a cow drinking water. But people who are used to drinking tea have a fixed posture for holding the cup. Fang Zhicheng drank two cups of tea, and his posture for tasting tea was exactly the same each time. He first put the tea next to his nose to smell the tea fragrance, then put it to his lips to feel the water temperature, and then slowly swallowed it in three sips.
Wan Heng was also a careful observer. When Fang Zhicheng drank tea twice with the same movements exactly, he realized that Fang Zhicheng was not being mysterious and that he did have some understanding of the tea ceremony.
Wan Heng filled another cup of tea for Fang Zhicheng and explained the origin of Green Lotus Spring. "When Emperor Qianlong went to the south of the Yangtze River, the salt merchants of Hanzhou built a beautiful courtyard for Emperor Qianlong on the shore of Hanzhou Lake. One day, Emperor Qianlong changed into casual clothes and found a teahouse near the courtyard to taste tea. He found that the water used in the teahouse was very special, so he personally sealed the well where the water came out as 'the best tea well in the world'. After the founding of New China, this tea well was sealed for a time. It was not until ten years ago that it was repurchased by a businessman from Taiwan, who then invested in Green Lotus Spring."
Fang Zhicheng suddenly realized and said with a smile: "So there are such stories. The Green Rose Spring Tea House must be very famous in Hanzhou, right?"
Emperor Qianlong was quite cool. His traces and legends can be found all over the country. It is impossible to verify whether the "No. 1 Tea Well in the World" owned by Green Lotus Spring Teahouse has any connection with Emperor Qianlong, but it must be said that the tea brewed from this tea well is first-class and delicious, and coupled with this legend, it can really scare people.
Wan Heng waved his hand and said calmly, "In this era, teahouses are no longer popular. Few young people like to make and taste tea. It just attracts some people who are interested in tea ceremony and chess to relax here."
Fang Zhicheng sighed and said, "The inheritance and development of traditional culture is indeed a headache."
Wan Heng smiled and said, "I originally thought that since you are young, you might be unfamiliar with tea ceremony and chess. I am quite surprised today."
Fang Zhicheng waved his hand and said modestly: "The traditional culture of China is like the vast universe. I have only touched a tiny part of it. Minister Wan, on the other hand, has studied a lot, which is admirable."
Wan Heng had a better impression of Fang Zhicheng. He originally thought that Fang Zhicheng could become the head of Xiaguang District so quickly because of Song Wendi's push behind the scenes. He was originally very arrogant and rarely admired others sincerely, so he didn't have a good impression of Fang Zhicheng. He even invited Fang Zhicheng to meet in the Green Spring Teahouse with the potential intention of humiliating Fang Zhicheng. However, he didn't expect Fang Zhicheng to be unusual. After sitting down, he only drank two sips of tea and guessed the difference of the unique "No. 1 Tea Well in the World" in Green Spring, which made Wan Heng change his mind.
When you meet a bosom friend, a thousand cups are not enough; when you are not on the same page, a single word is too much. It was rare for Wan Heng to meet a fellow traveler, so he was naturally very happy. Fang Zhicheng could see the change in Wan Heng, and secretly sighed that he was lucky. If he had not spent some time with Taoist Master Chen Yi on Nanyuan Old Street when he was in Yinzhou, and had some understanding of the tea ceremony, he would have been really stumped by Wan Heng.
After two cups of tea, Wan Heng pointed at the chessboard and asked, "Do you know how to play Go?"
Fang Zhicheng said modestly: "Entry level."
Wan Heng laughed and said, "You won't know until you try it."
Fang Zhicheng played the black chess first, and Wan Heng followed with the white chess. After a dozen chess pieces were placed, Wan Heng said with emotion: "Zhicheng, if you are still at the entry level, I am afraid that no one in this chess hall knows chess."
An expert can tell whether something is good or not with just one look.
Fang Zhicheng played chess with Li Dehan and Tong Mengyuan every day, and even became addicted to it. His chess skills improved rapidly, and he was no longer a beginner. Fang Zhicheng was also talented in this area. Li Dehan was once a half-national player, and Fang Zhicheng could play against him on equal terms, and even won one or two games by a narrow margin. In fact, even Fang Zhicheng himself didn't know that he was already a Go master. If he wasn't a real national player, Fang Zhicheng could basically remain undefeated when playing against him.
Wan Heng's chess skills were not weak, but they were still far behind Li Dehan. When Fang Zhicheng moved a dozen black pieces, Wan Heng immediately felt the pressure, as if he was being led by the nose.
You can learn a lot about a person by watching his chess. Wan Heng felt that Fang Zhicheng was unfathomable. He might be lucky to have some knowledge of the tea ceremony, but his chess skills were unpredictable. After more than a dozen moves, Wan Heng felt a chill on his back, and was suppressed by Fang Zhicheng and could not move.
Fang Zhicheng and Wan Heng had never played chess before, so he didn't know his opponent's strength. He thought that Wan Heng was a proud man. If he lost the first game, wouldn't that make him even more disdainful of accepting him? Therefore, he played the first few moves of the first game extremely fiercely, and almost all of his pieces fell on Wan Heng's vital points.
There are many styles of Go. Fang Zhicheng's opening has the flavor of the three-point play of the famous Korean player Lee Changho, which is sharp and incisive.
After the middle game, they each made a few moves. Wan Heng threw up his hands and admitted defeat, saying with a wry smile: "Zhicheng, you must have been playing Go for quite a few years, right?"
Fang Zhicheng nodded and said, "I studied for three years and followed a good master, so I was lucky enough to beat Minister Wan."
Wan Heng waved his hands and said sincerely, "Your failure is not a fluke. I have been at a disadvantage since the beginning. Every move I made was based on your steps. By the middle of the game, the situation was already over. In ten moves at most, I will definitely lose. Since I know I will lose, I might as well lose in a decent way."
Fang Zhicheng secretly sighed that Wan Heng had a great demeanor. Although he was arrogant, he was not someone who could not stand losing. Fang Zhicheng smiled and said, "Minister Wan, you are very generous. Actually, there were many accidents in my chess moves. I was a little surprised that I won in the end."
Wan Heng laughed and said, "Your personnel file says that you are an enterprising and enthusiastic young cadre. Sometimes when you encounter problems, you dare to move forward bravely. At first glance, everyone might think you are a reckless boy. Now it seems that you know how to deal with people and things, know the limits and how to advance and retreat, and also know how to comfort a loser. Your resume is a bit deceptive."