"Alright, let’s go." Yu Cheng stood up, hands in his pockets, coolly watching Jiang Mianmian.
Jiang Mianmian still found him quite charming, so her voice couldn’t help but sound excited, "Brother Yu, there’s a Go board in my dad’s room, let’s take it outside and play."
"Are you any good at it?" Yu Cheng casually asked.
Alright, he was doing it on purpose; he enjoyed teasing her occasionally.
"Of course, I play really well," Jiang Mianmian retorted, unwilling to admit defeat.
In truth, she had only recently started learning from her dad, who had himself only picked up the game not long ago from his factory coworkers. But she wouldn’t show weakness before even playing; how could she concede so easily?
Yu Cheng chuckled, saying with a hint of mischief, "Really? Then I must experience Master Jiang’s skills firsthand."
"Hmph, just you wait," Jiang Mianmian said, and then scampered off to Jiang Changhai’s room to fetch the Go board.
The two of them grabbed a couple of small stools, set up a little table, and sat down under the big banyan tree, beginning their game of exchanging moves.
Yu Cheng had learned Go from Old Master Yu, and when he was at home, he often played with the old man. Jiang Mianmian, just a novice, was naturally no match for him.
Just as Yu Cheng placed a stone, Jiang Mianmian exclaimed, "Ah, Brother Yu, I saw that wrong. I shouldn’t have played here; I should have played here."
As she spoke, Jiang Mianmian took the white stone Yu Cheng had just placed and swapped it with her previous black stone.
"Little Lamb, no regrets in placing your stones, how can you cheat ?" Yu Cheng teasingly asked.
"Ah, Brother Yu, just let me off this once, look, you’re much older than me; it won’t hurt you to let me win once," Jiang Mianmian pleaded, putting her hands together and bowing to him.
"Alright, alright, I’ll let you take back your move, but stop bowing to me," Yu Cheng said, his face full of indulgence.
During one game, Jiang Mianmian made three illegal moves, but still couldn’t escape her fate of defeat.
"Let’s play again," Jiang Mianmian said, unwilling to accept defeat as she gathered the stones.
Yu Cheng also picked up his stones, and just as the second match was starting, Wang Li and Li Lan, with their school bags, came over.
"Mianmian, are you guys playing Go?" Li Lan asked curiously as she approached.
"Yeah, Sister Lanzi, you go ahead and do your homework first. Come ask me if there’s something you don’t understand," Jiang Mianmian said.
"Okay," Li Lan replied, and then sneakily glanced at the handsome Yu Cheng sitting under the big banyan tree before blushing and entering the house.
Wang Li had been scared by Yu Cheng’s look yesterday, and now seeing him still felt a bit afraid, but his curiosity got the better of him and he edged closer to Jiang Mianmian to watch them play.
Wang Li also knew how to play Go and was quite good at it; he was known as the unbeaten player among his peers in this area.
With an audience, Jiang Mianmian felt embarrassed to make any more dishonest moves and focused more seriously on her game with Yu Cheng.
But no matter how seriously she played, the gap between them was still significant, and she quickly found herself defeated again.
Yu Cheng’s offensive was too strong, and with his experienced and mature play, Jiang Mianmian, in comparison, was as naive as a newborn baby facing an adult armed with weapons; she had no chance of winning.
Watching from the side, Wang Li found himself itching to play.
"Jiang Mianmian, you play so terribly, who taught you? Come on, move over, let me show you how it’s done," Wang Li confidently said.
Jiang Mianmian gave him a look and immediately stood up to give him her place.
Fine, you think you can do better, go ahead.