Chapter 111 – Tsundere (1)
Xu Lao seemed to not heard Ye Zhen murmuring to herself. He looked down at the chessboard and was shocked beyond words.
He didn’t expect that the young miss would have the skill to change the trend of enclosure and killing method in the game. It would have been a dead-end, but now the whole situation became different because of her first move.
He looked up from the chessboard and gave Ye Zhen a deep calculating look. It looked like he underestimated her before.
“Mister Xu, your turn.” Ye Zhen has calmed down from the shock and ecstasy. Seeing Xu Lao looking at her, she smiled and asked him to render his attack.
“Who taught you how to play this game?” Xu Lao asked.
Ye Zhen smiled widely, “When I was a child, I liked watching my father play chess with other people, and I learned from those experiences.”
Afterward, Xu Lao didn’t speak again and played with Ye Zhen intently. After several matches, he was even more surprised to find that the young miss’ game was exactly the same as Ye Yiqing’s!
“I heard that Lu Lingzhi has a third uncle who has been living in Border Town. Is that your father?”
“Yes. Lu Shiming is his name.” Ye Zhen replied with a smile and dropped another stone. At this time, she was able to make Xu Lao’s defense vulnerable.
“And who does he often play chess with?”
Ye Zhen gazed at the chessboard, she just told him that she often watched her Lu Shiming play chess with others, but in truth, she learned from her true father, Ye Yiqing.
“I don’t remember.” was her timid answer.
“Your move is very similar to an old friend of mine. If it weren’t for her daughter’s early death, I would have thought you were his daughter.” The old man spoke nostalgically.
“Do you mean Ye Yiqing?” Ye Zhen uttered the name of her father carefully. “Perhaps, because his daughter died unwillingly, her soul was reborn in me.”
This remark made the old man snapped his gaze to the young miss, but doing so, he only saw a playful smile on her lips as if she only mean it as a jest. He shook his head and sighed, “I haven’t seen wonders in this world, but this old man wishes there be such a miracle.”
Ye Zhen wanted very much to tell Xu Lao the truth of the matter, but she didn’t dare. There’s no one in this world whom she could really trust now. She could only carefully protect her secret until the time is ripe.
“I myself would like to have such a miracle.” Ye Zhen muttered, earning a small smile from Xu Lao. Their battle continued, until such time that the teacher dropped his white stone in defeat.
“My defense is gone, and this old man has lost in the game.”
Ye Zhen laughed, “You didn’t try your best.”
Indeed, Xu Lao allowed himself to be defeated, and the young miss thanked him for that. “Are you now willing to accept my brother as your student?”
“No.” Xu Lao expressed his refusal in one word. “Since you feel wronged for Ye Yiqing in your heart, why must you help the Lu family now?”
“Because my surname is Lu, and the third house of the Lu family is very kind to me.”
“The Lu family did not show great kindness to me, nor did I promise to accept your brother as a student.” Xu Lao motioned with his hand and said that he was not afraid of being called shameless.
“But Mister Xu— ” Ye Zhen pointed at the chessboard and cried, “I have defeated you. How can you do this?”
“It’s no problem for me to promise you anything else but this.” Xu Lao remained unfazed.
In a fit of disappointment, Ye Zhen helplessly reasoned out with him. “Mister Xu, my brother is excellent. You will know it when you accept him as a student.”
“If the teacher won’t accept me, forget it, sister. Let’s go.” Lu Xiangzhi originally planned to sneak over and have a look. He knew that his sister would not break the chess game of the teacher, but he did not expect to see her begging pitifully.
Ye Zhen did not expect Lu Xiangzhi to appear suddenly. She looked at him with wide eyes.
“Brother, why are you here?”