The work of the Go master

"Let's go, President. Don't come to places like this again." Ke Zhiguang's voice was calm, but it was quite forceful.

"I'm sorry, I can't agree to that." Bai Mengyin bowed, her long hair falling over her shoulders, and then listed her reasons for winning: "Among the chess scores I have, there is one that I am good at, based on the Kobayashi style opening. I have been studying this chess score at home for the past few days. I... should be able to win if I use it."

"Senior Ping Shi, come out here, get ready to take the club president back!" Ke Zhiguang ignored her reasons for believing she could win and shouted directly towards the door. The vice president was explaining the whole situation to him.

But Ping Shisheng didn't move immediately. Instead, he lowered his head and pondered for a while before slowly walking towards Ke Zhiguang, his head drooping the whole time.

this.....

Seeing his dejected expression, Ke Zhiguang already knew that he wouldn't agree.

"I'm sorry, Senior Ke, but I think we should trust the club president this time." Ping Shisheng nodded heavily, his voice quite loud.

"Vice President, what about you? You think so too?" Ke Zhiguang asked.

"Yes, I disagreed at first, but Bai Meng persuaded me. At least for me, it was a reason I couldn't refuse," the vice president said sincerely.

After sitting quietly for a while, Ke Zhiguang sighed, took a sip of tea, and started eating takoyaki again.

"President, say it again. Repeat the lines you used to impress the vice president, and see if they can move me." Ke Zhiguang said in the tone of a mentor on a singing competition show.

Chapter Sixty-Three: The Bell Has Ringed

"First and foremost, it's for Xia Kui and Guan Lian..."

“I understand this, next.” Ke Zhiguang immediately interrupted.

puff--

Both Heishi and the vice president looked like they had a fishbone stuck in their throats.

Is there a next one?

If this person were to participate in any variety talk show, they'd probably be kicked out!

Ke Zhiguang put down his teacup and said calmly, "I know they are important reasons, but they are by no means the primary reason. Even if you pay off your debts now, you still won't have any extra savings and will still have to live the life of a bounty hunter. Their lives will not change in the short term... or even in the long term. Ultimately, things will probably only change when you get a good job."

Ke Zhiguang was quite clear-headed about this. To be honest, he even felt that Bai Mengyinyu's motives for coming here were not sufficient.

Their family is currently living off continuous loans from creditors. In a sense, paying off the debts as soon as possible and severing ties with the creditors is not even the best solution. After all, if the debt is large enough, the debtor becomes the creditor's boss.

If Ke Zhiguang were her, she would definitely take a more arrogant approach, directly demanding more funds from creditors to maintain a high standard of living. After all, you've already spent so much money on me and are already trapped, so you can only continue to invest.

It's not that I won't pay back the money. When I find a good job and the market is better, I can make it all back in no time. It just means working for another year.

Just think of it as advance consumption. To put it mildly, it's like a certain advertisement; to put it more bluntly, it's like a bankrupt, young president pointing his finger at investors and saying, "If you don't continue to invest in me, you won't get a single penny back."

Bai Mengyin listened silently, her fingers constantly gripping the hem of her clothes, her expression slightly resentful, and her lips seemingly parted but not quite.

"The main reason is that I am a girl."

This time, Ke Zhiguang was choked. He was so startled that he almost dropped his teacup. His first thought was that this creditor didn't want to be human anymore.

"Now is the most youthful and beautiful time of my life... Although saying this may sound arrogant, I really know that I am beautiful and eye-catching. For girls, this period of high school is the most dazzling time of their lives, right? The time when they most want to have their life's moments captured by a camera, right?" Bai Mengyinyu suddenly became affectionate, and her voice was exceptionally beautiful.

"But nothing happened to me during my three years of high school. I didn't go singing with my friends or have any romantic relationships. I could only watch it all happen from afar. I spent most of my time in textbooks and classrooms. I'm glad I can go to a good university, but I don't want to spend so much time on it that I have to devote all four years of college to it."

Ke Zhiguang was stunned.

The reason... is almost too ordinary, but it is unexpectedly sincere, heartfelt, and impactful.

While it's essentially just another way of saying "I don't want to work hard," it's not as simple as it seems.

There's something deeper inside.

“I’m not afraid of hard work and suffering, it’s just that time… is what I’m unwilling to sacrifice. I’ve already sacrificed my high school years, and I don’t want to sacrifice my entire college years as well, or even the two years after graduation. For a girl, 18 and 24 are completely different things… When I was 18, little kids would call me ‘sister,’ but when I’m 24, I…” Bai Mengyin choked up at this point, “I’ll be called ‘auntie’!”

She shouted this in public, quite excited, drawing stunned stares from all around.

Suddenly, someone blurted out "Auntie," and nobody knew what kind of emotional drama was unfolding at this table of high school students.

Ke Zhiguang's lips twitched involuntarily, somewhat moved.

So that's how it is. He subconsciously only used the amount of effort as a standard, ignoring the purest account of time behind the effort.

That thing is called youth, the youth that is unique to women.

“I understand, it really is… a line that can touch people’s hearts. I will turn around for you.” Ke Zhiguang said affectionately, and Bai Mengyinyu also showed some relief at being understood.

The vice president and Hirashi also showed the same expression.

It passed with four votes.

"Quick, face the wall, don't look outside," Ke Zhiguang said crisply, pointing to a clean wall inside the store.

"Um, okay—wait! Why are we facing the wall?" Bai Meng asked in surprise, feeling that this was some kind of strange posture.

"There are many things here that we shouldn't be looking at. Facing the wall is good for adjusting our mind and body before the competition," Ke Zhiguang said, making up some inexplicable reason.

This street is indeed quite dangerous now, with posters, Ksitigarbha statues, and even the overhead lights are malfunctioning. The only thing Ke Zhiguang can do to help her is to keep her put and not get covered in strange debuffs when she goes to fight the boss.

Ke Zhiguang also explained why he came here, saying that he had long suspected that Bai Mengyinyu might come here, so he came to wait for her in advance.

In situations like this, evidence becomes irrelevant; he is clearly in a dominant position in the dialogue, and as long as his motives are reasonable, that's sufficient.

The vice president was brought over because Bai Meng wanted to find someone who could understand her to accompany her.

Time passed by, and the number of customers dwindled, the street grew sparse and deserted, shops closed one by one, and lights went out one by one.

The clock struck eleven.

The new customers entering this street are mostly middle-aged men who look wealthy but don't have very sophisticated tastes.

There were also some down-on-their-luck men, like Yoshida, smoking cheap cigarettes and wearing leather jackets.

There were also some greasy middle-aged men who had been lurking in various shops from the beginning, drinking silently.

In short, they all looked rather unfriendly.

Among this group, Ke Zhiguang also saw many tourists whose spiritual energy had turned dark and overflowed, and they looked quite aggressive.

This group of people clearly weren't there to browse the night market; their only purpose was likely the black market.

The scene suddenly became terrifying, with everyone waiting for the largest store at the end of the commercial street, which had been tightly closed, to open.

Chapter Sixty-Four: My name is

Ping Shisheng looked around at the scene and broke out in a cold sweat, feeling that he was about to fight with these people.

Bai Mengyinyu kept her chest tense, constantly breathing to regulate her state.

The vice president leaned close to Ke Zhiguang in a low voice and gave a weak smile: "Actually, I really didn't expect you to agree to the president doing this. I was actually prepared for you to object and for me to take action against you."

"I didn't agree to her doing that. I was just moved by her sincere determination. If you two hadn't stopped me, I definitely would have taken her away, moved to tears while carrying her away like a rice sack." Ke Zhiguang said calmly. Being moved is one thing, but taking action is another.

"Really? It seems that Ping Shi and I have taken the blame. If Bai Meng really loses, Ping Shi and I can take the fall, and you won't have to feel guilty about it," the vice president said.

"I certainly won't feel guilty about what I said. I'll only feel sorry for her failure, but I definitely won't regret it. As for you, Vice President, I think with your rationality and calmness, you should be able to stop her."

The vice president shrugged: "There's nothing I can do. I'm a woman too. She's using such a grand and magnificent topic as women's youth to pressure me. I really have no reason to refuse. I think if I were in her position, I would also be unable to resist doing the same. I can't stay rational on this point."

The vice president continued, "And you, what was it about her that moved you?"

“You and Bai Meng share a connection with the womanly side, and I naturally share a connection with her gambler side.” Ke Zhiguang unconsciously avoided addressing her as president and instead used her surname, thus slightly closing the distance between them.

If it were just a moment of passion, then it was just a matter of being impulsive.

"So you mean if you were in her position, you would do the same thing?"

Of course.

"Then do you really have the right to stop me? What happened to 'Do not do to others what you would not have them do to you'?" The vice president sighed helplessly.

“She is her, and I am me. Just because I do this doesn’t mean I allow her to do it. This has nothing to do with double standards.”

The vice president paused, then said in a low voice after a long while, "Is that so? That's truly enviable... Confidence and arrogance; what others can't do, you definitely can..."

“I support her in doing this not because I think she is right, but simply because I believe she can win. She earned my support with her determination to win,” Ke Zhiguang said. “To put it bluntly, this is just a game of chess, and it depends on strength. Her determination will definitely bring her a boost in strength, so I believe she can win.”

"What if we lose?"

"Not considering the consequences of losing can improve one's chances of winning."

"This is truly the Okehazama of the North Star..."

As time went on, the street became lively again, with barbecue restaurants opening at night and the aroma of grilled meat filling the air.

There are 15 minutes left.

Ke Zhiguang did the final work of clarifying his thoughts.

Bai Meng came prepared this time, choosing the most suitable game for her and studying it at home for so long. With her current determination, there is reason to believe that she has reached the level of 7 dan.

In the best-case scenario, it would be best if Bai Meng beat Qingzhao Xiongze once, and then she would beat him once herself.

In the worst-case scenario... he might need to step in, smash Kiyonuma Yuzawa to pieces, and then casually punch him in the stomach to expel all the luck he'd swallowed, saving a large group of people. Ideally, he could directly destroy Kiyonuma Yuzawa's ability to absorb other people's luck, allowing him to live a peaceful life as an ordinary Go club owner.

As for the 20 yuan that was paid as registration fee, it's highly unlikely that it will be recovered. Consider it a lesson learned from society.

Yes, this is the worst-case scenario!

As for the possibility of something worse, sorry, that won't happen.

—The worst outcome is that you also perish here.

Ke Zhiguang was astonished to hear such a line, as clear as if it had surfaced from the depths of his heart.

Suddenly, it was 12 o'clock, and the midnight bells rang.

The door everyone had been waiting for finally opened, pushed open from the inside out, and two employees dressed in Western-style clothing stood politely outside the door.

"Welcome everyone who arrived on time tonight. I hope each guest finds what they're looking for here." A chilly, damp aura wafted from inside the door, followed by the clatter of wooden clogs.

"My name is Kiyozuma Osawa." His figure was finally revealed in the light, and he bowed with his hands clasped.

Behind him was a luxurious space combining Japanese and Western styles, with black and white floor tiles, ukiyo-e prints and oil paintings on the walls, and soft sofas on either side of an expensive chessboard.

An ancient and elegant atmosphere emanates from the doorway, as if stepping across the threshold leads to another time and space.

The guests entered chatting and laughing, seemingly regulars. Kiyonuma Yuzawa greeted them without any airs, just like any ordinary general store owner and his customers.

“Mr. Shin-chan, your Go skill level seems to have reached 2-dan. It’s time to switch to a different brand,” Kiyonuma said to a guest named Shin-chan.

"So I've actually improved recently, huh? I hadn't even noticed." Shinichi chuckled awkwardly, but inwardly he was smug that they hadn't hidden it from him.