Even as a "normie," I'm completely oblivious to it.

Ugh, this is so hard.

After looking around the bustling area, Yu Zhe looked down and asked, "Sister Ye, is there any work left? If so, leave it to me, I'll help you."

With Yu Zhe's words, Qi Xinye didn't feel tired at all.

"No need, Xiao Zhe. Don't worry, there's nothing to do now. The rest of the competition will be over by the afternoon."

"And Xiao Zhe." Qi Xinye's eyes shone with love. "Really, you don't need to say anything about helping. You've already helped your sister a lot this time. I haven't had a chance to thank you yet. Sigh, if it weren't for this event, to be honest, I really don't know when the cooperation between the Su family and the Qi family would have been able to resume. But after this, your sister feels more confident."

"Sister Ye, it's no fun if you thank me."

Yu Zhe laughed and said, "Is there any such thing as who helps whom or who thanks whom between us? If that's the case, then this event you and Yu Che and Zi Xiao organized together was to make me happy, right? Then I should thank you too... ah..."

Oh no, I let it slip. Yu Zhe shouldn't know this.

Yu Che pretended to look at the scenery in the distance, and Zi Xiao followed suit and pretended to look at the scenery in the distance as well.

"Xiao Zhe, so you knew all along..."

The main purpose of this match was actually to help Yu Zhe relax.

Even facilitating the cooperation between the Su family and the Qi family was just a side effect.

"As expected, nothing can be hidden from you."

Qi Xinye smiled and said, "Now that you know, I wish you a happy time playing chess and enjoy the process."

"Uh-huh!"

At the same time, a burst of enthusiastic cheers erupted from the crowd.

Yu Zhe looked at the screen and understood why they were cheering.

The quarterfinals have concluded, and the four finalists have been determined.

36. The semi-finals begin.

Oh right, I forgot about that again. The so-called top four only have three people.

Yu Zhe, who has a photographic memory, remembers two of the three people on the big screen.

Didn't Sister Ye show him some contestant information yesterday?

Two of them are currently on the big screen; both appeared in the materials I reviewed yesterday.

There was a young man wearing glasses, around thirty years old, named Lü Jun, a rising star in the chess world.

There was also an old man with a long beard and an air of otherworldly wisdom, whose name appeared on the screen as Xiang Hong'an. He seemed to be a true master.

After all, those who made it to the semifinals, where only four remained out of over a thousand, were certainly no ordinary players.

The host on the platform first congratulated each of the participants and then gave a brief introduction to their ages and chess experience to the audience.

After that…

"Alright! The guest everyone's been waiting for is about to appear. Are you ready?"

The director announced the next steps in a high-spirited tone that stirred the emotions of the audience.

Therefore, Yu Zhe knew it was time for him to go on stage.

At the same time, cheers and shouts erupted from the crowd, as if they were waiting for their idol, and one could faintly hear them chanting Yu Zhe's name.

Well... it wouldn't be wrong to call him an idol. Although Yu Zhe isn't a real idol, in Fenghai City, he used to lead the Su Group in doing a lot of charitable work, and recently he also brought down the old Qi family led by Qi Jiang, who was harmful to society.

His fame soared, a true hero emerging from among the young.

Ahem... Although her appearance as an absolutely stunningly beautiful girl is also an extremely important reason.

"Then I'll go on first."

Yu Zhe stood up with a smile; his eyes were now...

All I see is the chessboard. That's right, I hope I can have a good game of chess today.

The girls all cheered for Yu Zhe, but no one felt that winning or losing didn't matter, as long as Yu Zhe had fun.

However, due to the atmosphere at the scene, everyone still felt a little nervous.

Perhaps the only ones who felt no tension were Yu Zhe, who strolled in with an air of nonchalance, and Yu Che, who knew him completely.

The moment Yu Zhe stepped down the steps and onto the field, the entire audience erupted in cheers that grew louder and louder, like waves crashing on the shore.

Yu Zhe had no idea that he was so popular in Fenghai City.

He waved helplessly toward the audience, which immediately sparked an even louder round of cheers, and Yu Zhe quickly lowered his arm.

I dared not wave anymore.

"Prediction survey on the young master winning the finals."

Lu Ling opened the software for this competition, which showed the results of the competition, namely the results of the audience votes.

She showed the tablet to Zixiao and the others: "This result shows that most people think that the young master should be ranked fourth among these four people."

That's last place!

"This is outrageous!" This infuriated Little Lychee. "They just don't understand! Brother Yuzhe is clearly the most amazing one!"

"Well, there's nothing we can do about it."

Zixiao's words were very objective: "After all, apart from my brother, the other three who made it to the semifinals either have high rankings in the chess league or have shown their strength in previous competitions. The audience doesn't know much about my brother, so it's reasonable to make such a prediction."

"However, as for the popularity ranking..." Lu Ling opened another voting interface, "In the popularity ranking, Young Master is definitely number one, with a vote share of over 99%."

"Haha... I think you can tell from the reactions at the scene."

Qi Xinye glanced around at the audience seats in the distance. There were quite a few people standing up and cheering. That's what you call popularity. No wonder he's Xiao Zhe.

After Yu Zhe took the stage, the electronic chessboard for the competition was much easier to find than yesterday.

The huge venue now only has two chessboards occupied.

According to the groupings on the screen, the player who will face Yu Zhe in the semi-finals (four-in-two) is the eighty-year-old hermit, Xiang Hong'an.

The four people need to gather in the middle of the venue first. After confirming that everyone has arrived, the two groups can go to the west area and the east area respectively to compete for the final spot.

When Yu Zhe arrived, the other three had also arrived.

I observed the three of them carefully.

As expected of a reclusive master, Xiang Hong'an was a remarkable man in real life. Compared to the photo, the old man in real life, though eighty years old, was not hunched over at all. He stood straight, smiling, stroking his long beard, and wearing a white robe.

It really gives you that feeling of a Taoist seeker in a movie.

As for Lü Jun, a chess player in his thirties who is currently enjoying great success, he is clearly much more unruly.

He had short, black hair parted in a 3/7 ratio and was dressed in a neat suit.

When he saw Yu Zhe arrive, he simply adjusted his black-rimmed glasses, nodded slightly, and remained silent.

Yu Zhe also gave a brief response and then walked to his designated spot in the venue.

At this moment, the director picked up the microphone and said, "The guests are all here! The top four are all present, and the most intense final stage is about to begin. Of course, before that, we would like to thank our sponsors..."

Okay, as is customary on the show, they suddenly started listing an outrageously large number of sponsors.

Taking advantage of this opportunity, Yu Zhe looked at the last person among the four.

This man was also an old man, with white hair. He didn't look as elegant as Xiang Hong'an at all, and his clothes were more casual, making him look more like one of those old men playing chess on the roadside.

He chuckled and suddenly said to Xiang Hong'an, "Senior brother, this is really something. We two old men never expected to run into a greenhorn in the finals, and a little girl... oh no, it seems like two greenhorns, right?"

Even though you corrected it, Yu Zhe still finds it very unpleasant.

Then the old man continued, "I really didn't expect that Old Li and Old Zhang would be eliminated so early. They're useless. We thought they were so capable, but they can't even beat the young people. They've lived such a long life in vain."

“Junior brother, say less.” Xiang Hong’an’s voice was very steady. “Although you have been away from the mountains for some years, you can’t let your mind become more and more impetuous. Old Li and Old Zhang are good at chess, but that doesn’t mean that young people are bad at chess. You will suffer if you continue like this.”

"Haha, senior brother, you're still as inflexible as ever. I can't speak for anything else, but when it comes to chess, we dare say we're second to none in the world."

Xiang Hongan shook his head. His junior brother had always been like this, too straightforward, saying whatever came to mind.

However, his confidence was not unfounded. In the past, many famous chess players came to challenge him in the deep mountains and forests where Xiang Hong'an lived in seclusion.

The results were all positive: Xiang Hong'an and his fellow students almost never lost to professional players, which made his fellow student very arrogant at one point.

However, he couldn't be sure whether he would suffer a loss or not, because this junior brother was still very strong, even when facing Lü Jun.

Xiang Hong'an still felt that his junior brother had a better chance of winning.

37. Play the game seriously!

The reason he came out of seclusion to compete was because this junior brother found Xiang Hong'an, saying that there were experts gathered from all over the country.

Xiang Hong'an initially didn't want to come, but then he thought that he hadn't found a worthy opponent in all these years, so if he could compete...

Finding an opponent in the competition is a form of self-cultivation, so I signed up with my junior brother to participate.

The journey to the semifinals went smoothly, but to be honest, Xiang Hong'an didn't expect that his opponents in the finals would be two young men.

Well, Lü Jun can still be considered a young man, but Su Yuzhe's age is only that of a child compared to Xiang Hong'an.

Upon hearing the announcement on the radio that the competition was about to begin, the junior brother laughed loudly, "Haha, senior brother, don't think too much about it. Hurry up and finish this match so we can meet in the finals! Let's have a good match!"

"Are you ready to play?"

The one who spoke was Lü Jun, who had been silent until now.

The current world number one in professional chess was clearly extremely impatient with the old man's remarks.

Yu Zhe didn't care. In a competition, there are always one or two people who make tough statements. It's a kind of psychological warfare before the competition.

Clearly, Lü Jun's words displeased the old man, but he was reluctant to give the referee the signal to start the game.

He could only click his tongue and say, "Alright, alright, young people these days really have no patience. It's probably a common problem on the chessboard too. Let's go, let's have a match with these young people today."

After saying that, he and Lü Jun walked towards the West District arena, and he didn't forget to turn back and smile at Xiang Hong'an.

"Senior, you should finish quickly too. I'm waiting for you to play in the finals."

"Sigh, after all these years, he still hasn't changed his ways."

Xiang Hong'an put his hands behind his back and shook his head helplessly. His junior brother had been like this for decades, and there was no way to persuade him.

Seeing that their group had already taken their seats in the competition area, Yu Zhe said at the opportune moment, "Then, senior, shouldn't we go and compete as well?"

"of course."