Dragon Clan: Lu Mingfei Returns from Japan

Chapter 693 Extra IF: What if Lu Mingfei was a Go prodigy (Part 5)
"Lost."

Less than an hour ago, she was spouting nonsense, saying something cool like "I will never admit defeat until the very last moment." But after just thirty moves, her position collapsed to the point that even a freshman who had just joined the club could tell at a glance who had won.

Chen Motong couldn't help but cover her face, thinking to herself that she absolutely couldn't let Lu Mingfei know about this. If he found out, he would definitely laugh at her. She could even picture his face.

Sitting opposite Chen Motong, Su Enxi gently and steadily placed the black stone she had been holding between her fingers into the chess box, breathed a sigh of relief without making a sound, and smiled: "In the end, I still won."

Although her tone was casual, only Su Enxi knew that winning this game of chess was far from as easy as she sounded.

In those final thirty moves, Chen Motong chose to abandon her previous awkward and imitative style of play, and rediscovered her own sharp, incisive, and close-quarters combat style.

Those relentless, deadly battles, brimming with chilling killing intent, truly sent a chill down Su Enxi's spine.

Even in the middle game, she had already gained a huge advantage by taking advantage of the flaws left by her opponent's opening imitation. A thick black dragon almost completely suppressed Chen Motong's white stones in a small central area, and the balance of victory seemed to be unshakable.

Unexpectedly, Chen Motong was so decisive, abandoning the seemingly important central territory so readily. It was as if she had suddenly transformed into a cunning assassin, choosing to take a risky approach and desperately seeking an opportunity to cut off the lifeline of her dragon.

Chen Motong's initial attempt to imitate Lu Mingfei's playing style, coupled with her unfamiliarity with the game, put her at a disadvantage from the start, and by the middlegame, her position had completely collapsed. A series of miscalculations and oversights had become glaringly obvious. Logically, she should have no chance of a comeback.

Chen Motong's relentless pressure was actually making Su Enxi somewhat exhausted. Every time Chen Motong made a move to close the gap, Su Enxi would cautiously and passively follow suit. Chen Motong's aggressive and unrestrained style was unacceptable, while Su Enxi had to be extremely careful, repeatedly considering her moves. Each move required significantly more thought than her opponent's, fearing that she would make the same mistake as before, allowing her opponent to cut off her large group of stones.

Fortunately, she already held a significant advantage in the game, and even after Chen Motong managed to capture a small area, she still won by more than ten points on the entire board.

Su Enxi knew that if she had made even the slightest mistake, Chen Motong might have found a chance to turn the tables.

"You won."

Chen Motong pursed her lips and looked at Su Enxi, saying, "Are you planning to expose the fact that I wasn't the one you played online chess with that day?"

Su Enxi shook her head: "Why would I do something so boring?"

It was just playing a game of online Go for someone else; it wasn't a battle of honor. Besides, she was the one who challenged the other team that day. Although the opponent wasn't a member of the Shilan Go Club, since they were a student at Shilan Middle School and had even won against her in a head-to-head Go match, it meant that her challenge to Shilan Middle School had failed.

The reason I went to such lengths to arrange this meeting with Nuonuo today, to play this game of chess, was simply because she was a little resentful...

If it happened again... she would definitely win.

"Then...?" Chen Motong's voice carried a hint of doubt.

Su Enxi looked up: "What's that guy's name?"

Chen Motong paused for a moment, then immediately understood who Su Enxi was asking about. She was asking about the person she played chess with that day.

"Lu Mingfei."

"Lu Mingfei? A boy?" Su Enxi chewed on the name lightly for a moment, then continued, "That guy is from your Shilan Middle School, right?"

"Yes."

"Then could you arrange another game of chess between me and him, online or in person? You must know him quite well, right?"

Su Enxi's voice was somewhat impatient. The day she carelessly lost to Lu Mingfei had troubled her for a week, and she was determined to get revenge.

As for whether Chen Motong would agree to help her arrange a game of chess with that boy named Lu Mingfei... if Chen Motong refused, she could only make a small threat to him.

Chen Motong...you don't want others to know that Lu Mingfei helped you play online chess, do you?
However, Chen Motong did not reject her.

Chen Motong paused for a moment before saying, "Helping you arrange a game of chess with that guy is no problem. However, I need to correct something."

"Correct something? What is it?" Su Enxi blinked and asked curiously.

Chen Motong's pretty face tightened, and she replied coldly, "I'm not familiar with that guy."

……

"so……"

Lu Mingfei blinked in disbelief: "You just agreed to let 'Green Bean Ice Cream' agree to let me play another game of chess with her? And this weekend? And the location is Baidi Chess Club?"

Across from Lu Mingfei, Chen Motong shifted to a more comfortable position, her slender legs, clad in black fitted trousers, crossed over the cool stone chair, one foot unconsciously swinging slightly. Hearing this, she rolled her eyes—her signature look—and said irritably, "Yeah, right. I deliberately chose a place you're familiar with, playing on your home turf. That should give you a psychological advantage, right? Pretty generous of me."

It was now after Chen Motong had left the No. 1 Middle School Go Club. In the backyard of the Baidi Go Club, the two sat facing each other in front of the Go board under the old locust tree. The shadow of the old locust tree was cast obliquely on the wooden floor of the Go club, scattering light like broken gold.

Lu Mingfei's gaze inadvertently swept over Chen Motong's slender feet, which were crossed on the chair. His Adam's apple bobbed as he tried to make a last-ditch effort: "I went to the toilet because of a stomachache... and you didn't even ask me a question before agreeing. What if I had something to do that day?"

Chen Motong's slender fingers fiddled with the chess pieces in the chess box, idly playing with them. Hearing this, she pouted, her beautiful eyebrows rising like two unsheathed swords: "What is it? Are you playing StarCraft or watching the latest anime? Or is there some kind of cataclysmic event somewhere, and you're preparing to save the world?"

Lu Mingfei hesitated for a moment. Well, he really wasn't in any trouble. Every weekend when he was a child, he spent his time playing chess and memorizing game scores. After he stopped playing chess, he developed two other hobbies: StarCraft and watching anime. He spent his weekends at home playing StarCraft and watching anime to pass the time.

As someone who practically grew up with him, Nuonuo was obviously aware of his hobby. Knowing he would definitely be free, she took it upon herself to agree to the game against the mung bean ice cream on his behalf.

"I've never seen her play chess, so I don't know her playing style."

"You've met her before, weren't you the one who played online chess with her last time?"

“Online chess…” Lu Mingfei argued, “Online chess can’t be considered chess… Online chess! Can a game between chess players be considered chess online?”

"Stop imitating Kong Yiji. Focus on how to beat 'Mung Bean Ice Cream.' She's a near-professional chess player." Nuonuo shrugged: "You represent not just yourself, but Shilan Middle School as well. Here, this is the game record from my game against her today. Let's analyze it together and see if we can find any weaknesses in her game."

Lu Mingfei was taken aback and looked down at the chessboard in front of him. He then realized that a game record had already been laid out on the board. It turned out that Nuonuo hadn't been playing with the pieces, but rather reviewing the game record from her match with Su Enxi earlier that day.

Memorizing game records is, of course, a fundamental skill for every Go player. Players with a basic level of amateur 5-dan or 6-dan or above can accurately memorize the games they played not long ago. However, like him, Nono hadn't spent much time practicing Go for a long time, yet she could still casually recount the games she had played while chatting and joking.

Even Lu Mingfei was somewhat surprised by Nuonuo's memory, but thinking about it, he also felt it was a bit of a pity.

If Nono had pursued a professional Go career...would she have already achieved a rank of 1-dan and become a professional Go player by now?
Is that very possible?
"Why are you dazed?"

Chen Motong, with a chess piece stuck to his hand, slammed it onto the star point with a "thud," causing the chess pieces on the board to bounce.

“I just studied the game I played with her earlier, as well as the game you played with her before, and I found that ‘Green Bean Ice Cream’ seems to really like using the ‘Missed Small Eye’ opening. Look here.”

She pointed her finger at a black stone in the lower left corner of the board. "She deliberately played it on the outside to lure me to extend my territory on that side, and then used a 'small knight' move to secure territory in the middle game. I did fall for her trap."

Lu Mingfei's gaze fell on the chess piece between Chen Motong's slender fingers, and he frowned: "Luring the enemy in deep is a very risky move. If successful, the rewards will be huge."

“Yes.” Chen Motong nodded: “She likes to dig traps for you to fall into. But conversely, if the other party doesn’t fall for it, then she’ll be the one who ends up in the trap.”

“I had a feeling about it last time. When I used the move of breaking the corner with the 3-3 point, she was trying to lure me into her territory, but I ignored her,” Lu Mingfei said.

"Yes, and then she could only use 'Big Fly' to turn around and flank you."

Chen Motong shrugged: "Your style of playing chess by only caring about yourself and ignoring others is indeed a natural counter to 'Green Bean Ice Cream'."

Naturally naive and arrogant? That's probably the feeling.

However, seeing Lu Mingfei scratching his messy hair and actually seriously studying the chess game on the board, Chen Motong was still somewhat surprised.

She had initially thought that Lu Mingfei would likely refuse her firmly. Even if he didn't refuse outright, she thought she would have to plead with him for several rounds before he reluctantly agreed. She just hadn't expected him to agree to the game so readily.

...Could it be because I showed him the photo of the 'mung bean ice cream' that I secretly took? Was it lust at first sight? Did he abandon his usual principle of "not playing chess" just because he saw a beautiful woman?

For some reason, Chen Motong suddenly felt a little annoyed and asked, "You agreed so readily? Last time I asked you to play a game of online chess for me, you kept putting it off. Didn't you keep saying you wanted to play chess again?"

"No."

Lu Mingfei, his eyes fixed on the chessboard, replied without looking up, "I just said I don't want to play competitive Go anymore. Playing occasionally isn't a big deal. Besides, didn't you already promise 'Green Bean Ice Cream'? I'd actually like to refuse if possible. But wouldn't that mean you'd break your promise?"

Chen Motong sneered: "Oh? So, you only agreed to the game with 'Mung Bean Ice Cream' because of me?"

Lu Mingfei said, "Yeah. Of course it's for you, who else would it be for?"

This almost instinctive, unadorned, and unpretentious answer, like a pebble thrown into a calm lake, suddenly created ripples in Chen Motong's heart.

Even the string of teasing and sarcastic remarks she had prepared in her mind instantly got stuck in her throat. Her lips parted slightly, but she couldn't utter a single word.

Unexpectedly, Lu Mingfei was able to say such a sentence in such a natural, even somewhat matter-of-fact, tone.

This guy... is sometimes infuriatingly slow-witted, but his occasional outbursts are surprisingly direct and unexpected.

Looking at the boy in front of her, who was now engrossed in the world of chess and completely oblivious to the subtle atmosphere created by his words, she had to confirm once again that Lu Mingfei did indeed possess an almost innate slowness and directness.

In every aspect.

However, the girl's feelings were fleeting in the little witch's heart. Looking at Lu Mingfei, who was seriously pondering Go, she shrugged and thought that this was fine too, wasn't it?
It felt like going back to a long time ago.

Besides... the reason she agreed to the green bean ice cream's request to help Lu Mingfei arrange a chess game was originally to get Lu Mingfei to play chess again. Now that her goal has been achieved, everyone is happy.

"Senior sister, come and take a look at this move with me. Is there something wrong with Green Bean Ice Cream's move?" Lu Mingfei, who was engrossed in studying the game, reached out to Nuonuo.

Chen Motong blinked, a hint of helplessness showing on her pretty face, and answered confidently with her eyes closed, "Coming, coming... Which step was it again?"

Lu Mingfei pointed to the chessboard: "This move."

"Oh...right, I have something to tell you. She has a name, Su Enxi. When you meet her this weekend, don't keep calling her 'green bean cake, green bean cake,' it's so embarrassing," Nuonuo said.

"Su Enxi, that's a pretty name."

"Does that mean my name doesn't sound good?"

"No no……"

"Also, when we meet this weekend, dress neatly, at least comb your messy hair. Don't go to meet the girl with a bird's nest-like head. You represent not only yourself, but also the face of me, Chen Motong, and the entire Shilan Middle School."

"Okay, okay, whatever you say, senior sister. Senior sister, please take a look at this move first."

"..."

……

(End of this chapter)