The Go Promotion Tournant, Won’s Winner’s Bracket.
Inside the playing room, the crisp sound of stones being placed on the board echoed continuously.
A young woman, about eighteen years old, with delicate features, stared at the board in front of her. She bit her lower lip, hesitated for a long mont, then couldn't help but look up at Xu Zijin, who sat calmly across from her.
"This... is way too strong!"
"I was completely dominated. I had no chance at all."
"How does she have this level of skill? With her strength, she’d do just fine even competing in the n's division..."
She withdrew her gaze from Xu Zijin and looked back at the board.
After a long silence, she finally let out a deep sigh, shook her head helplessly, and lowered her head in resignation.
“I lost,” she admitted.
“Thank you for the ga.”
Xu Zijin remained composed, giving a small nod as she replied, “Thank you for the ga.”
The girl across from her imdiately returned the gesture.
The two referees had been observing the match the entire ti. Now that it had ended, they exchanged glances, both seeing the astonishnt in each other’s eyes.
Even though this was the final round of the winner’s bracket, aning that every remaining player was exceptionally strong, Xu Zijin had still crushed her opponent. The ga ended so quickly—so effortlessly—that it was almost unbelievable.
Xu Zijin stood up and turned toward the two referees. Under her gaze, they inexplicably felt a faint pressure.
The match they had just witnessed was so intense that even they, as referees, had been on edge. It was hard to believe that such a style of play ca from a young woman.
After a brief pause, the older referee was the first to react. He nodded slightly toward Xu Zijin, signaling that he had registered the match result.
Seeing his acknowledgnt, Xu Zijin turned and left the playing room, making her way to the hotel lobby.
This ti, however, she didn’t leave the hotel right away. Instead, she headed toward the n’s winner’s bracket playing room.
It didn’t take long for her to arrive.
Sweeping her gaze around the room, she quickly located Su Yiming’s table—Table Five.
Then, she looked toward Yu Shao’s direction and saw that his match was still ongoing as well. Without hesitation, she made her way to Table Twelve, stopping at the side to observe the board.
"White's large dragon on the right flank has been cut off, and the shape is full of inefficiencies. The corners have been invaded by Black, and only the central area has so space left to play..."
Even though positional judgnt in complex situations could be difficult, this ga was too easy to assess. Xu Zijin only needed a single glance to reach a conclusion.
"White can keep playing, but there’s no point in resisting any further. He should already be conceding."
Although she had sowhat expected this outco, seeing Yu Shao force his opponent into such a desperate position still left her with complicated feelings.
Her own match had been quick, but even so, she had to struggle for a while before exploiting her opponent’s weaknesses and launching a relentless attack to secure victory.
Yet in this ga, White’s position was even more tragic—he had absolutely no way to compete against Black.
Across from Yu Shao, Sha Xinrui’s face was as pale as a sheet, and sweat had soaked through his back.
He stared blankly at the board, his expression dazed, his hand resting in the stone container, and his lips trembling slightly.
Seconds ticked by, yet Sha Xinrui still hadn’t made a move.
"Click."
Finally, after a long silence, the sound of stones clashing against each other was heard once again.
But Sha Xinrui wasn’t placing a move—he had taken two white stones from the container and slowly placed them on the board.
His hands trembled slightly as he did so.
"Tap, tap."
The two stones landed on the board, producing a crisp sound.
Then, Sha Xinrui lowered his head deeply and sat motionless in his chair, silent.
He had conceded.
“Thank you for the ga,” Yu Shao said with a small nod toward Sha Xinrui.
Just as he was about to stand up, he suddenly caught sight of Xu Zijin standing nearby, slightly surprised.
The n’s and won’s divisions were separate, and Xu Zijin had never co over to the n’s side before.
She hesitated for a mont, then unexpectedly asked, “Do you want to check out Su Yiming’s ga? Or…?”
Xu Zijin paused, then finally asked, “Want to go out for dinner? My treat.”
Dinner?
Yu Shao was montarily taken aback.
He glanced in Su Yiming’s direction, then back at Xu Zijin before finally saying, “Let’s go eat.”
Xu Zijin nodded without further words.
After Yu Shao reported his match result to the referees, the two of them quickly left the playing room together.
“You eat noodles?”
As they walked out, Xu Zijin suddenly asked, “I found a noodle shop nearby. It’s pretty good.”
“I thought you’d take to so fancy French restaurant,” Yu Shao said with a laugh. “As the daughter of Jinxiu Group’s CEO, you’re treating to noodles?”
Xu Zijin blinked slightly at that, then asked seriously, “Do you want to eat sothing else?”
“No, no, noodles are fine,” Yu Shao quickly waved his hand and chuckled. “I was just joking.”
The two left the hotel, and under Xu Zijin’s guidance, they soon arrived at a small street-side noodle shop nestled in an alley nearby. Each of them ordered a bowl of spicy beef noodles.
“I thought you’d go watch Su Yiming’s ga,” Xu Zijin suddenly remarked as they waited for their food.
“No need.”
Yu Shao shook his head and smiled. “With his skill, he’ll definitely win. Besides, you invited to dinner, and you’re paying. If I turned you down, wouldn’t the guys at school kill ?”
Xu Zijin was montarily taken aback by his words.
Then, unexpectedly, a rare smile appeared on her face.
“You look good when you smile,” Yu Shao teased. “Why do you always act so cold?”
Xu Zijin was stunned for a mont.
After a brief silence, she tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and said, “I just think most things are boring. But now, I’ve found sothing interesting.”
“What is it?”
Yu Shao asked curiously.
“Playing Go.”
Xu Zijin looked at Yu Shao and said, “At first, I just wanted to play Go because losing to you was too humiliating. But over this past year, I suddenly realized…”
She paused for a mont before continuing, “I still don’t want to lose to anyone, but at the sa ti, even if I do lose, as long as I can play a great ga, I’ll still be happy.”
Hearing this, Yu Shao was slightly stunned.
“…I don’t think I have your contact info.”
Xu Zijin’s next words were abrupt and awkwardly delivered.
Yu Shao was caught off guard for a mont, not imdiately processing her sudden shift in topic.
That escalated quickly.
It was only now that he realized why Xu Zijin had asked him out for dinner. In fact, he had a strong suspicion that all the roundabout conversation had been leading up to this mont.
“Right, right.”
Of course, Yu Shao wasn’t going to ask if she had invited him out just for this. Instead, he imdiately pulled out his phone and said, “Scan my code.”
n’s Winner’s Bracket – Inside the Playing Room
“I lost.”
The young man sitting across from Zhuang Fei stared at the board, his voice filled with reluctance.
“Thank you for the ga.”
Zhuang Fei remained calm and indifferent, nodding slightly as he spoke.
His opponent lowered his head, forcing out the words through clenched teeth, “Thank you… for the ga.”
He had given it his all.
During the opening phase, the ga had been evenly matched, but once Zhuang Fei launched his attack in the midga, the difference in strength beca painfully clear.
His white stones had collapsed almost instantly, and Black had swiftly taken control of the board.
It was a total defeat.
Zhuang Fei stood up and suddenly noticed Sha Xinrui still sitting motionless at Table Twelve. He found it a bit odd but didn’t dwell on it. Instead, he turned his attention toward Table Five.
At this mont, both players at Table Five were already gone.
“Did Fang Haoxin already win?”
Zhuang Fei frowned slightly, feeling a bit unsettled.
Of course, the speed at which a ga ended didn’t always reflect the players’ relative strength. So matches dragged on simply because one player refused to resign, or because of long periods of deep thought—even if one side was clearly stronger, the ga could still last a while.
But if anyone else had finished before him, that would’ve been fine. The problem was, Fang Haoxin had finished faster than him.
That didn’t sit well with Zhuang Fei.
Exhaling slowly, he made his way toward the tournant director, Ma Zhengyu, ready to report his result. However, when he arrived, he found Ma Zhengyu staring blankly into space, looking utterly lost in thought.
“Uncle Ma?”
Zhuang Fei called out in confusion.
As the vice president of the Southern Go Association, Ma Zhengyu was soone Zhuang Fei knew well—being the son of Zhuang Weisheng, he naturally addressed him as “Uncle” instead of “Referee Ma.”
Hearing Zhuang Fei’s voice snapped Ma Zhengyu out of his daze. He turned to look at him and asked, “Zhuang Fei… you won?”
“Yes, I won.”
Zhuang Fei nodded, then asked, “Uncle Ma, did you see Fang Haoxin’s ga? How did he finish even faster than ? Was his opponent weak?”
During his own match, he had noticed that Ma Zhengyu had been focused entirely on Fang Haoxin’s ga—he hadn’t even glanced at Zhuang Fei’s.
At this question, Ma Zhengyu fell silent.
“Uncle Ma?”
Seeing his hesitation, Zhuang Fei grew even more puzzled.
“Fang Haoxin…”
Ma Zhengyu gave Zhuang Fei a complicated look, hesitated for another mont, then finally said, “…lost.”
“What?”
Zhuang Fei’s eyes widened in shock, and he lost control of his voice as he blurted out, “Fang Haoxin lost?!”
The entire playing room heard his outburst.
Imdiately, every player looked up, their expressions filled with disbelief.
Even those who had just been locked in fierce battles, trying every possible move to defeat their opponents, now exchanged glances, seeing the sa shock reflected in each other’s eyes.
What?!
Fang Haoxin lost?!
How is that possible?!
Other than Zhuang Fei, who else could have possibly beaten Fang Haoxin this year?!
“The tournant is still ongoing—keep your voice down.”
One of the referees quickly stepped in to reprimand him, “Zhuang Fei, you’re disturbing the other players!”
Only then did Zhuang Fei force himself to suppress his emotions. He turned back to Ma Zhengyu, lowering his voice as he asked, “Uncle Ma… how did he lose?”
“The stones are still on the board.”
Ma Zhengyu hesitated again before finally looking at Zhuang Fei and saying, “Go take a look for yourself.”
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