Zhou Shaojin immediately fell silent.
Cheng Chi said helplessly, "Mother, this is a dead end. You'd better not think about it. It's getting late. It's time for dinner. And the second young lady of the Zhou family should go back too."
"I knew this was an endgame a long time ago." Mrs. Guo wiped the sweat from her forehead, but her eyes were fixed on the chessboard. She said, "I was watching how you led me to this endgame... Your chess skills are getting better and better..." The old lady said this and fell into deep thought again.
Cheng Chi brushed the chessboard.
Mrs. Guo was displeased.
Cheng Chi said: "You are old now, you shouldn't think too much, so don't play chess anymore."
Madam Guo smiled and said, "I asked you to move to Hanbi Mountain House, but I can't just watch you doing nothing all day, right? This is the only hobby you have. If I don't accompany you, who will?"
Cheng Chi glanced at Zhou Shaojin.
Zhou Shaojin suddenly realized.
It turned out that Cheng Chi asked her if she knew how to play chess because he wanted her to play chess with him so that Madam Guo could be relieved!
But she really can't do it at all!
Zhou Shaojin felt both regret and hatred.
If I had known this would happen, I should have learned to play Go from Madam Shen.
She immediately volunteered, "Uncle Chi, can you teach me how to play chess? I don't have anything else to do these days except copying scriptures."
In fact, she had just finished painting the Guanyin statue that she was going to give to her sister and was about to start wiring it.
But she could find time to embroider the Guanyin statue at any time, but the opportunity to get close to Cheng Chi was fleeting.
Madam Guo couldn't help but high-five and said with a smile, "That's great - Shaojin can come here every afternoon to copy scriptures for half an hour and play two games of Go, which is a perfect combination of work and rest!"
Zhou Shaojin nodded with a smile.
However, Cheng Chi misunderstood - most people nowadays are very humble, and many Go masters would say that they "know a little bit" or even "don't understand much" when asked about it.
Or is Zhou Shaojin one of them
He smiled and said, "Mom, you can rest assured now! If I'm bored, I'll teach Zhou's niece how to play chess. Don't worry about me, just do what you need to do!"
Mrs. Guo smiled and nodded, looking very pleased.
Cheng Chi said to Zhou Shaojin: "Then come over early tomorrow, we will play a game of chess while you go copy the scriptures."
In his opinion, using one's brain to play chess and enjoying the process of writing is the true way to achieve the best of both work and rest.
Zhou Shaojin readily agreed.
Come back and go to Aunt Shen's place in the evening.
Aunt Shen was quite surprised to hear that she wanted to learn Go, but she did not refuse. Instead, she smiled and said, "Since you are interested, come back tomorrow night!"
She needs it tomorrow afternoon, how can she come tomorrow night!
Zhou Shaojin smiled and said, "I heard that there were seventeen chessboards before the previous dynasty, but now there are nineteen. Can you tell me why there are nineteen chessboards now?"
Aunt Shen was silent for a moment.
If this had happened somewhere else, she would have chased the person away long ago if he wanted to learn chess from her without becoming her apprentice. But now, she was the female teacher hired by the Cheng family, and if the student said he wanted to learn chess from her, she had to teach him... Besides, the Cheng family had always treated her well, and the classes were arranged leisurely. If she refused, people would think she was a little ungrateful.
"Okay. Today I will tell you what Go is." Aunt Shen said, turning around to move the chessboard and chess pieces. "According to the pre-Qin classic "Shiben", 'Yao invented Go, Danzhu was good at it', this is about the origin of Go... "Zuo Zhuan? Xianggong 25" records: 'Wei Xian Gong sent Yi Yi to talk to Ning Xi, Ning Xi agreed. Uncle Wen Zi heard it and said:... Now Ning Zi regards you as inferior to playing Go, how can you avoid it? The chess player is indecisive and cannot beat his opponent, let alone the king?' This is the first official record of Go in history books... During the Wei and Jin Dynasties, imitating the Zhoutian degree, Go had 361 lines and 19 chessboards... Many great masters wrote books and theories, the most famous of which are "Shishi Xianji", "Xianji Wuku", "Shiqinglu", "Sancai Tuhui Qipu", etc... The then Prime Minister Song Jingran, the Prime Minister Yuan Weichang, the Vice Minister of the Ministry of War Hong Xiu, the Minister of Works Qu Yuan, etc. were all chess masters... You see, there are nine small dots on the chessboard, each of which is in the number of ninety-nine, called a 'star', and the one in the middle is called the 'Heavenly Element'. Each side line of the chessboard is called the 'first line', and the one next to the first line is called the second line... "
She patiently and meticulously explained to Zhou Shaojin the basic rules of Go, including what "capture", "rob", and "make alive". Fearing that Zhou Shaojin didn't understand, she practiced on the chessboard while explaining.
Zhou Shaojin breathed a sigh of relief after hearing this.
She had heard about what Aunt Shen said before, and when she explained it to her in detail, she not only understood it, but also could draw inferences about other issues. This made her very interested and she felt that playing Go was actually quite interesting.
Aunt Shen talked to her for nearly an hour, and when she saw that the rooms were about to be locked, she stopped the topic.
Zhou Shaojin thanked Aunt Shen and promised to come again tomorrow night.
Aunt Shen agreed with a smile and asked the maid to escort her out the door.
The next afternoon, Zhou Shaojin went to Hanbi Mountain Villa half an hour earlier than usual.
Mrs. Guo was still resting, so Cheng Chi certainly hadn't arrived yet.
People feel sleepy in spring and tired in autumn. Zhenzhu, the maid on duty, felt drowsy and her eyelids were fighting each other.
Zhou Shaojin couldn't help but mutter to himself.
He told me to come earlier, but he was nowhere to be seen...
She drank tea in the tea room in a bad mood.
Cheng Chi finally arrived after she had finished her fourth cup of tea.
Zhou Shaojin hurried out of the tea room.
Cheng Chi was quite surprised. He took out his pocket watch and looked at it. He smiled and said, "Playing chess is just a pastime. You don't have to be so nervous. Sometimes I have something to do, so I don't come here to play chess every day."
Therefore, it is said that when a person has no desires, his character will naturally be noble.
She needed a favor from Uncle Chi, so she had to follow his lead.
Zhou Shaojin pondered secretly, then smiled and nodded.
Cheng Chi and she went to the hall.
I met Biyu head-on.
Cheng Chi asked Biyu: "What is the old lady doing?"
"The old lady just woke up for a while, drank some tea, and fell asleep again." Biyu said respectfully.
Cheng Chi thought for a moment and said to Zhou Shaojin, "Then we won't play chess today. Go back and copy the scriptures!"
Why did you change your mind again
Zhou Shaojin was puzzled.
Cheng Chi explained: "I am afraid that the old lady will feel uneasy."
In other words, he was just trying to tease Old Madam Guo!
Zhou Shaojin said hurriedly: "Then you go ahead and do your thing. I can learn how to play chess from you anytime!"
This little girl is quite well-behaved.
Cheng Chi nodded in satisfaction and told Biyu: "When the old lady wakes up, go and tell me."
Biyu agreed respectfully.
Zhou Shaojin went to the Buddhist temple to copy scriptures.
That day, Mrs. Guo slept for the whole afternoon and she copied scriptures for the whole afternoon.
The next day, Teacher Lin’s wife came to visit Mrs. Guo.
Then Cheng Chi went to Zaoyuan.
Another day, the second wife's grandmother invited the women in the family to appreciate the peonies.
Zhou Shaojin did not go.
She was embroidering the image of Guanyin holding a bottle at home.
After seven or eight days, the second dog days of summer were about to begin. Zhou Shaojin asked Ma Fushan's family to send the two summer shirts he made for his father's birthday to Baoding Prefecture. Only then did he have time to play chess at Hanbi Shanfang.
Fortunately, Zhou Shaojin took advantage of this time to start learning Go from Aunt Shen.
Cheng Chi had no idea about Zhou Shaojin's background, so he didn't mention giving up the pieces and let Zhou Shaojin play with the white pieces.
Zhou Shaojin knew that this was Cheng Chi's courtesy to her, and hurriedly said, "Uncle Chi, let's play the white pieces! Let the black pieces go first, so I can take advantage."
Cheng Chi didn't bother to be polite with her and urged Mrs. Guo to go back to her room for a nap: "... so that you won't start to think about it again and become addicted to it!"
"I'm not a child." Mrs. Guo said angrily, but the smile in her eyes showed that she enjoyed being disciplined by her son.
Zhou Shaojin pursed his lips and smiled.
Biyu and Feicui helped Madam Guo to the inner room to rest.
Cheng Chi was obviously much more relaxed than before, and the chess piece lazily fell on the star position in the upper left corner.
Zhou Shaojin had just learned from Aunt Shen yesterday, and followed her to occupy the star position in the upper right corner.
The two of us played one piece each, and we played according to the rules.
Zhou Shaojin felt that he had played pretty well, at least he had "surrounded" Cheng Chi.
However, the more Cheng Chi went on, the more worried he became.
Does Zhou Shaojin know how to play chess
He initially thought there was some special purpose behind the pieces scattered here and there, but after playing seven or eight moves he discovered that Zhou Shaojin was a complete beginner who probably didn't even know what a layout was... No, he wasn't even a beginner, he was only in the enlightenment stage.
He couldn't help but look at Zhou Shaojin carefully.
Perhaps because the weather was getting hotter, she wore a light green vest with a yellow grape-patterned hem today. Her jet-black hair was tied up behind her head, and she tied it up in a bun, revealing her smooth and full forehead and dark eyebrows like distant mountains. She looked fresh and clean, like a newly blooming orchid. At this moment, she was concentrating on the chessboard, her tight little face was serious and solemn, revealing a little nervousness.
Cheng Chi asked: "Who did you learn Go from?"
"Ah!" Zhou Shaojin was thinking about what Aunt Shen said, trying to find a "live eye". Hearing this, he looked up blankly and said after a while, "I learned it from Aunt Shen, the teacher at Jing'an Zhai..."
Cheng Chi's forehead was covered with sweat. He asked, "How many days have you studied?"
Zhou Shaojin calculated and said, "I have been studying for nineteen days."
She was afraid that she didn't understand anything and Cheng Chi thought she was too stupid.
Cheng Chi understood.
When she said "no", she really meant "no", without any modesty.
Zhou Shaojin didn't understand why, but she was secretly excited.
Uncle Chi didn't play chess very carefully, and he didn't notice a trick. She had to pretend not to notice it and let Uncle Chi make another move. By the time she made her move, she had taken over all of Uncle Chi's seven or eight pieces, and she had occupied a large area.
She looked at Cheng Chi with eyes wide open, revealing a hint of anticipation.
Cheng Chi immediately became alert, glanced at the chessboard, and casually placed a piece at the spot where Zhou Shaojin saw the eye.
how so
Zhou Shaojin wailed, almost falling down in frustration, but Cheng Chi said calmly: "It's your turn!"
※
Sisters, there is a power outage here... I am writing a draft in the internet cafe. I am so worried about today's update. My laptop battery is running out of power...
※(To be continued)