Chapter Thirty-Seven: Meeting A Talented Person With An Air Of Arrogance

  General An broke Qian's killing move, and the situation suddenly became clear. Qian's offense was weak, his defense inadequate, and he was taken down in just a few moves. Qian had lost a crucial game of chess, and he was extremely dissatisfied. He glared at General An, grabbed the sun hat on the table, and strode away, muttering to himself "Impossible, how could this be".

  "Good kid, just now if you hadn't reminded me, that old man Qian would have really forced me to lose face. How could I bear it? Are you sneering at us two old men behind our backs? Come on, come on, play a game with this old man and see how much weight you carry." General An was drinking tea without even turning his head, while the guards and An Weihong beside him didn't know who he was talking to.

  "General, you're overpraising me. I'm just a young man who's been busy for nothing. You must have seen the way out too." The one speaking was Xue Xiang, who had been watching the chess game from the side for a while. The two old men's chess skills were evenly matched, neither of them being an amateur. Of course, they couldn't be considered masters either. Compared to himself, a veteran player in the QQ chess room, they still had much to learn. Just now, he saw Old General An stuck in a long deliberation, unable to break through, and Xue Xiang quickly came up with an idea. He used his wrist to reflect sunlight onto the chessboard from the back of his watch, giving a hint. The old general was able to turn defeat into victory, thanks to Xue Xiang's timely assistance.

  "You're not a straightforward person, watching chess without speaking is truly gentlemanly. You just watch from the side, why are you giving blind advice? You're not my old man's strategist, playing chess is like going to war, one wrong move and the whole game is lost! Luckily my old man is wise and decisive, his chess skills are superior, otherwise you would have caused a big disaster!" The old man slowly shook his fan, with an expression of being wise after the event, eating and drinking without acknowledging the account, which made Xue's blood pressure rise instantly.

  "Who said that? Was anyone talking while you were playing chess just now? Wei Hong, were you serving as a senior advisor to the old general just now?" Xue also pretended to be stupid and confused, anyway, you don't take it seriously, I won't admit it.

  An Weihong was asked by Xue Xiang, "Just now you admitted to giving the old master advice, how come you're not acknowledging it now?" Ah, that's right, he didn't make any other moves earlier, and he was too far away from the old man to give advice. Old Wang was behind the old master's back, only he had the opportunity to write on the old man's back to give advice. An Weihong thought he had won, and smiled: "No, I didn't say anything, nor did I give any advice. Besides, I'm not good at Chinese chess, but I'm okay at poker." Old Wang, is it you who gave the advice? Well done! No wonder the old master always wins, it turns out you're the one fanning from behind. You have to keep this a secret, if Grandfather Qian finds out that his many years of victories were all because of you, he'll tear you apart. An Weihong was diverted by Xue Xiang and gave a thumbs up to the middle-aged guard standing next to General An.

  Old Wang hadn't had time to explain when he was interrupted by General An, who slammed his hand on the table and glared at An Weihong, saying: "You little brat, where did you drink cat's urine? You're talking nonsense! Am I someone who would cheat even in a game of chess? You scoundrel, all my accomplishments in life are nothing but tricks to your eyes? I'll beat you to death!" With that, the old man stood up and made as if to hit An Weihong.

  An Weihong suddenly jumped behind Xue Xiang, and Xue Xiang quickly stretched out his hand to support An Lao Jiangjun: "Old man, calm down, don't blame him for not knowing."

  "You little scoundrel, you dare to play tricks on me? This kid was led astray by you. Come, sit down, I'll give my chess skills a chance to speak for themselves." The old man didn't give Xue Xiang a good face, and with a wave of his large hand, he ordered Xue Xiang to sit down and play against him.

  Xue Xiang took his seat, and now he didn't have the slightest excitement of seeing his idol. Because when they first met, it was just two old men playing chess, competing, chatting and laughing as if they were ordinary old people, without revealing any majesty of a veteran general. He only felt fresh. This time, after talking, the freshness went away by half, and playing chess was just like a challenge between chess friends. Xue Xiang also had some itchiness, having traveled through so long without touching a chessboard yet.

  Both sides reorganized the battlefield, Xue Xiang held black and An Lao Jiang held red. Xue Xiang let An Lao Jiang go first, and the old general didn't waste any words, raising his hand to make a powerful move. As soon as this move was made, Xue Xiang knew that he was walking on the path of Wu Qi, with bold and fierce moves, emphasizing invasion like fire and offense like a tide. Xue Xiang calmly responded with a screen horse, and the first few moves were not particularly new, each side setting up defenses or preparing to attack in their own camp. The formation was set, and the attack began, with the old general launching the main attack and Xue Xiang defending. The old general's two rooks came out together, flying on both wings, while Xue Xiang's knights and elephants all moved, leaving one side of the bottom line empty, with only one rook left to guard the old general.

  ………..

  Half an hour passed, and the old general's offensive had weakened. Xue Xiang defended against the wind and rain, using one cannon to exchange for the old general's car. The old general's double wings became single wings, and he could no longer attack. Xue Xiang's nine-square grid was as stable as Mount Tai. Now it was Xue Xiang's turn to counterattack, with two horses rushing forward, directly inserting into the old general's nine squares. The old general's central road was originally empty, and Xue Xiang continuously exchanged blows, leaving the defending general dead or wounded. In the end, Xue Xiang easily beheaded the old general.

  "This game doesn't count, I was just testing your level, I only used 30% of my strength. Alright, you young man's chess skills are not bad, can accompany the old man for a few moves, come on, this time the old man won't let you off." The old general said with a fan in his hand, his face unchanged.

  "Alright, let's just say the last game was yours to give away, and you were gracious in victory. This time, don't hold back, let's have a real showdown." Xue Xiang smiled and flattered, but in his heart he had already begun to mock: These old men are all the same after losing, saying they only used 30% of their strength - that broken fan of yours was almost shaken into an electric fan earlier.

  Both sides regrouped and redeployed for another battle.

  ………..

  An hour had passed, and the old general was drenched in sweat, his long eyebrows dripping with water, and he had handed over the fan to Old Wang to help him cool down. The old general's eyes were fixed on the chessboard, his fists clenched, a pose he had maintained for almost ten minutes. On the board, the old general had two rooks, one knight, and one cannon, while Xue Xiang had only one rook and one knight left. But Xue Xiang's lone knight and rook had cornered the old general's king, leaving it no way out, checkmated.

  "General, are you going to make a move or not?" Xue gently tapped on the chessboard, reminding him.

  The old general's old general had long since died, and he was powerless to return to heaven. He really didn't understand that his situation was very good, and the opponent's main general had been exchanged for his own soldiers and officials, but how did it end up like this? It was really unbearable, unbearable! The old man picked up his teacup, gulped down a big mouthful, and his Adam's apple moved up and down, apparently drinking happily. He didn't know if the old man was using tea to cover up his own embarrassment. The old general put down his teacup, spoke seriously: "How can I say it? You also knew the situation earlier, it was a crime of not fighting, it seems that being light on the enemy is always unacceptable. The little guy's chess skills are not bad, only slightly inferior to the old man. It looks like the old man used eight points of skill, and couldn't take you down. Okay, let's play another game, and I'll show you my true skills."

  Xue Xiang was speechless for a moment, and then said, "You're not going to let me win again, are you? You have to be serious, don't you?" He also thought to himself, "Don't blame me for being disrespectful to my elders." Xue Xiang put on a fake smile: "General, this time you absolutely mustn't let me win again. If you let me win two games in a row, I really won't be able to handle the favor you're showing me."

  "Cut the crap, you sly thing, I'm leaving first."

  ………….

  Lao Wang's face was filled with anxiety, and he gave An Weihong a look, meaning "look at the friend you've brought, why don't you advise him to back off?" An Weihong returned a glance, meaning "you go and advise him, if the old man finds out, I'll be beaten to death for sure."

  The situation is very complicated, yet very simple. On the entire chessboard, only three pieces are left: Xue's general and soldier, and the old general's solitary piece. Xue's general sits steadily in the center, while his soldier has Old General's piece cornered in the nine-square grid, trembling with fear. The soldier seems to be triumphantly commanding Old General to surrender without a fight.

  This is a soldier's death, an old general's most miserable way to die. The old man's eyes were wide open, staring viciously at Xue Xiang, if there was a gun by his side, he would have shot this smiling little rascal dead. It's infuriating, it's humiliating, the death is too tragic, too shameful.

  Xue Xiang took a big sip from the teacup left by Lao Tou, he was extremely thirsty, but no one served tea, and it wasn't good to order Old Wang to pour some. He really couldn't hold it in anymore, so he had to drink the remaining tea.

  Xue Xiang ignored the old man's murderous gaze, smiled and said: "General, I'm sure you've weighed my strength, it's quite heavy, isn't it? It's pressing down on your hand, haha..."

  Xue Xiang couldn't hold back his excitement and burst out laughing. He wasn't usually a person who didn't know when to advance or retreat, but the old man's "disrespect for the elderly", refusing to admit defeat, and being smug had triggered his competitive spirit.

  Originally, Xue Xiang was reminding himself to lose this round, and to do so without revealing any signs of intentional losing. But then the old man said he hadn't used his full strength, so Xue Xiang decided that in the third round, he would show no mercy and strip him bare.

  "Who cares about winning or losing, you don't even know how to respect your elders. I've played chess for my whole life and never been so humiliated. You little brat, don't you dare go out and brag about this! Today's win doesn't count, first because I wasn't in the right state of mind, second because you and Old Qian ganged up on me with a pincer movement. Of course, chess favors the young, but I've played for so long with Old Qian, wasting my energy... and you just happened to take advantage of it. No way, this isn't over! Tomorrow we'll continue the game, I don't believe in this bad luck. My big ship won't capsize in your stinky ditch!" The old man snatched the fan away and began fanning himself vigorously, spitting out words as if trying to regain his lost momentum on the chessboard from the conversation.

  Xue Xiang is really helpless with his old man, only heard that boxing fears young and vigorous, where does the chess fear young and vigorous come from, but it's true that people become more skilled with age.

  Xue Xiang could only change the subject: "Your chess skills are impressive, I've long admired them. Today was a valuable lesson for me. If I have the chance, I'll definitely come again to learn from you. The reason I came today is...".

  "Stop it, you young whippersnapper! I'm a mute eating tangyuan - I have my own calculations. Don't mention this for now, what's with saying my chess skills are high and clever? You've already experienced it. Didn't I say so? Today you defeated me when I wasn't in top form, don't go defining me like that, my level is far beyond this. And what's with 'visit another day to learn from you'? You think you can just run away after winning? In the future, you'll go out and brag about how you skinned old An, right? I knew you weren't a good kid." Xue Xiang hadn't even finished speaking when he was interrupted by the old man's torrent of words.