Chapter 735: 341 Talent (Sixth Watch) Chapter 735: 341 Talent (Sixth Watch) The old beggar nearly spat out a mouthful of blood—
Do young children nowadays all have such big attitudes?
The old beggar rolled up his sleeves: “If you dare, play a game with me! I’ll give you nine stones! If you can beat me… well, forget beating me, if you manage to draw, consider it a victory! Here, I’ll give you ten taels of Silver!”
“Okay.” Gu Jiao answered without hesitation.
The old beggar looked at Gu Jiao suspiciously: “You agreed so readily? Aren’t you afraid I’ll back out of paying?”
Putting aside whether she has the confidence or not, this child dares to speak so audaciously must be extremely self-confident, but he’s just a beggar, isn’t she afraid he’ll go back on his word?
“Not afraid.” Gu Jiao shook her head.
The old beggar took a deep look at her and nodded secretly.
This child might be a little arrogant, but she is pure-hearted and willing to trust others.
Gu Jiao: You’re overthinking it, if you dare to go back on your word, I’ll beat you up!
The old beggar cleared the stones from the board and placed them into two broken bowls according to colour. He put a bowl of black stones, already inked, beside Gu Jiao: “You have the black stones.”
The player with the black stones goes first.
He had already said that he would give her nine stones.
Gu Jiao did not stand on ceremony; he was the one who wanted to give in, it wasn’t she who forced him, right?
When she put down her first piece, a modest and conventional move, he realized that if he played an aggressive 3-3 point, he could immediately capture life. But he had promised to give her nine stones, he would see how she established territory and shape.
Gu Jiao’s first nine moves were so ordinary that the old beggar felt that she had completely wasted his handicap of nine stones.
Could she really play? Could her earlier disruption of his game just have been a stroke of dumb luck?
“Alright, it’s your turn.” Gu Jiao told the old beggar.
The old beggar picked up a white stone… which was actually just a pebble, and placed it on the board.
An old man and a young girl squatting on the ground playing chess, one with a book opened above his head, the other wearing a fanciful mask, the state of the board chaotic and strange.
People passing by occasionally would stop out of curiosity, but they couldn’t understand what they were playing at all.
“Does anyone play chess ?” A young scholar asked. He knew chess, but he had never seen such a way of playing. It was simply ridiculous! Not attacking where he should, not defending where he must.
“An old beggar, crazy old man, do you expect him to really know how to play chess? And that kid must have lost his mind, actually accompanying him in play.”
“I think both of them are either mad or fools, just look at what they’re playing!”
“Let’s go! Watching two idiots play chess isn’t interesting at all! It’s better to go to the Qinghuan Chess Club. I’ve heard that several masters are there, there are three master games today! Have you heard of the recluse Maoshan?”
“Who hasn’t heard of the recluse Maoshan? He’s the Grandmaster of our Zhan Country! Is he at the Qinghuan Chess Club?”
“We must hurry and go see!”
The crowd that was watching dispersed at the mention of Maoshan’s name. Only a three-year-old child remained, nibbling on candy. He didn’t understand chess, he just wanted to find a place to eat his candy in peace.
Neither the old beggar nor Gu Jiao were the types to care about what others thought. Whether there were spectators cheering or jeering and commenting had no effect on the two of them.
The two of them focused on the game.
If the recluse Maoshan were here, he would probably be able to see the undercurrents and stormy seas hidden in the seemingly chaotic game.
At first, the old beggar indeed was not playing seriously, but after a few moves, he began to sense something wrong.
The nine stones he gave her appeared randomly scattered with no strategy, but they actually formed a huge net, blocking all his possible moves tightly.
In the latter part of the game he was playing seriously, and ultimately, he drew with Gu Jiao.
The old beggar laughed incredulously: “Little one, you are the first so young to draw with me. Who is your master?”
“I don’t have a master.” In her previous life, she learned by watching others play in the park, and occasionally played with her godfather.
Her godfather was a very busy man, but as a reward for completing tasks, he would spare a little time to play with her.
The old beggar looked carefully at Gu Jiao, making sure she wasn’t lying, and was truly surprised.
Their tie today was mainly because he underestimated his young opponent and assumed she couldn’t play; hence he made careless moves. If he had taken the game seriously from the start, even giving her nine stones, he could still win.
But this girl actually did not formally learn chess from anyone, in other words, she figured it all out on her own.