Chapter 7#
Jin Yan roared, expressing that although his IQ wasn’t as high as his wife’s, he could still understand a mere Weibo post!
The original poster was a chess friend with quite a spirit for gossip. The content read: “Shocking sighting of the Korean Go world’s ‘Blood Hand’ Kim Dae-sung at Yongqing Road Chess Club! Kim, 7-dan, is playing against a little shota. Live broadcasting~ Haha~”
There were only about thirty reposts, but the blogger continued to broadcast with tireless reporting spirit:
“In the opening, Kim 7-dan took the lead, and the little shota was one move behind. But in the middle game, he suddenly exerted force to slaughter the dragon, fighting extremely fiercely! Little shota gj!”
Then a photo of the little shota was posted underneath—Li Meng with his face turned to the side, brows slightly furrowed, holding a piece in deep thought, his tightly pursed lips like a blade carrying a cold aura.
Jin Yan’s looks were not bad; one could even say he was very handsome. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have successfully won over the teenage Jiang Qin back then.
Li Meng obviously inherited good genes for appearance. The photo was reposted more than sixty times, with no shortage of comments like “So cute!” and “Cute shota!"—Duan Hanzhi had been randomly searching Weibo with “cute shota” as a keyword and accidentally saw this post.
Jin Yan asked Wei Hong: “What kind of hardcore play is Director Duan into these days?!”
When they started driving, Jiang Qin refreshed to the third Weibo post. This time the photo was of the chessboard: “Shocking extra! White creates a big dragon again in the middle game. The little shota fearlessly draws his blade. Black 157, a divine move, opens up a massive ko fight. White 160 enters the endgame phase!”
The comments were full of exclamations: “Impossible!” “Definitely fake!” “Requesting verification for PS, otherwise blogger post a photo of Kim Dae-sung too!”
Of course, some people also asked: “Who is the little shota? Don’t seem to have seen him in chess tournaments.” “There are many newcomers these days. Kim 7-dan wouldn’t be intentionally going easy, right?”
Jin Yan and Jiang Qin both had splitting headaches at the same time.
Half an hour later, Duan Hanzhi called, his tone enthusiastic and friendly: “The little shota won big in the endgame. Do you want me to read the broadcast for you?”
Jiang Qin groaned: “Stop it…”
“That’s where you’re wrong, Jiang Qin. Life lies in making a fuss. A life without fuss isn’t called life. Aren’t you making a big fuss right now divorcing Jin Yan?” Duan Hanzhi spoke enthusiastically into the phone, reading: “—‘An extremely tragic endgame battle. Kim 7-dan showed powerful endgame skills, but the little shota was as steady as Mount Tai with a tough attitude! Black move 201 forcibly surrounded territory, simply an inch of land, an inch of blood! After half an hour of deep thought, Kim 7-dan finally couldn’t bear the burden and resigned!’”
Jiang Qin didn’t even want to speak, just sitting there rubbing his temples hard with his fingers.
Duan Hanzhi said with satisfaction: “Wei Hong, come over and repost this Weibo… Oh, use my account to repost it. That way, in the future, I can trick Guan Feng into thinking I actually know how to play Go.”
Jiang Qin said weakly: “That’s really enough…”
At the same moment in Qingquan Chess Club, the flat-top cut man slammed two white pieces down in the lower corner of the chessboard, his face so ugly it hardly looked like a living person’s—
Winning the endgame by seven and a half points, it was simply a god-like finish.
He was known as “Blood Hand” in Korea, famous in the chess worlds of three countries for his slaughtering ability in the middle game. Today was the first time he had been counter-slaughtered so tragically and desperately. Moreover, this child who defeated him utterly displayed a toughness and steadiness beyond imagination during the endgame, instantly giving him the illusion that “the opponent must be a battle-hardened old senior.”
The flat-top’s eyes were bloodshot as he suddenly looked up and asked: “How many years have you been learning chess?!”
Li Meng answered honestly: “Since I was two, so over ten years.”
“What dan are you?!”
“Amateur player, haven’t taken the dan exam… My dad won’t let me, says it affects my studies.”
The flat-top stood up, his expression unusually ferocious. Some people around saw it wasn’t good and secretly took a half step back, whispering: “Is he really Kim Dae-sung?”
“Should be, he just came to China for a competition last month.”
“Then if this kid beat Kim Dae-sung, he must be at least amateur 6 or 7 dan level.”
“Hard to say, maybe he’s a professional?”
The flat-top stared tightly at Li Meng’s face, wanting to find a trace of lying on it, but the boy’s face was calm and composed, completely fearless.
Just like his chess style: he always played the “correct” moves. Kill when it’s time to kill, yield when it’s time to yield. Fierce and sharp but not weird or tricky, completely unchanging his nature and pace because of the opponent, stable enough to chill one’s heart.
Kim Dae-sung was not wary of his high chess skills. Strictly speaking, Li Meng’s positioning was still somewhat limited—he was young after all, not like professional masters who had no taboos; but this terrible stability born of nature made him shudder with fear!
The Korean took a deep breath and finally bowed reluctantly: “Excuse me.”
Li Meng said politely: “Oh, it’s okay.”
“This is my business card. My name is Kim Dae-sung. If you still play chess in the future, we will meet again one day.”
The Korean handed over the business card with both hands. Li Meng took it, glanced at it, stuffed it into his jeans back pocket, and said seriously: “Okay Uncle Kim, but do you mind that I don’t have a business card? My name is Li Meng, the Meng in lemon, not the Meng in acting cute. You won’t meet me in the future because I firmly believe my parents won’t divorce anymore.”
“…” Kim Dae-sung said: “Huh?”
Li Meng was about to say something more when suddenly a piercing screech of brakes came from the entrance of the chess club, followed by Jin Yan’s roar: “Li Xiaomeng—! Get the hell out here!”
Li Meng screamed instantly and scrambled towards the door: “Dad—! Mom—!”
Kim Dae-sung turned his head stiffly.
Li Meng’s broad noodle tears fluttered in the wind, his tail wagging enough to be used as a fan. In a flash, like a small cannonball out of the chamber, he plunged headfirst into Jin Yan’s arms, nearly knocking Jin Yan’s stomach out of his mouth:
“—Dad, I’ll never run away from home again—! Did you coax Jiang Qin back—! If you divorce again, I really won’t care about you guys anymore, I really can’t take it—! I’m so hungry, so hungry, I want to eat the sweet and sour fish Jiang Qin cooks—!”
Jin Yan didn’t move for a long while.
Li Meng looked up at his dad’s face, then turned around sheepishly to ask Jiang Qin for help: “Mom…”
Jiang Qin’s face was cold as iron, rolling up his sleeves while walking over with large strides.
Li Meng’s tail fur exploded instantly, and he rushed behind Jin Yan screaming: “Jiang Qin is going to use violence on me! Jiang Qin is going to use violence on me again! A wife’s fault is the husband’s failure to teach, Dad, hurry up and control him—! Jiang Qin, please don’t use violence on me—!”
Jiang Qin grabbed Li Meng, and without a word, slapped him on the head, almost knocking his young son out on the spot.
“It doesn’t matter if you don’t accept it, Li Meng.” Jiang Qin said hoarsely: “This is the last time. After I leave, I guarantee no one will hit you again. You can do whatever you want.”
Li Meng had been pampered since childhood and had never been flicked by Jin Yan even once. Jiang Qin’s slap hadn’t ignited his anger yet, but his heart was immediately doused thoroughly cold:
“Jiang Qin… Jiang Qin, I won’t dare do it again… Please don’t leave, I don’t want to be beaten by others…”
Li Meng wailed with snot and tears. Jiang Qin came back to his senses at this time and felt that hitting a child on the street wasn’t appropriate, so he stood there, unable to continue.
Fortunately, Jin Yan’s personality was more capable of holding things up. He quickly pulled Jiang Qin with one hand and his son with the other, stuffed both into the car without a word, and stepped on the gas to drive back.
It was already very late. Li Meng hadn’t eaten all day. He hugged Jiang Qin’s thigh in the car, sobbing, crying almost to the point of suffocation. Jin Yan kept looking at them in the rearview mirror. After a while, he coughed and said: “Let’s all sleep at home tonight.”
Jiang Qin didn’t speak.
Li Meng cried until he hiccuped, asking pitifully: “Have you made up?”
Now both adults fell silent together.
“I even ran away from home, why haven’t you made up yet?!”
“…”
Li Meng felt deeply deceived: “Facing the crisis of losing your only son, you can still quarrel? Is everything on TV a lie? Shouldn’t you cry in each other’s arms and then shake hands and make peace, and upon seeing me, repent with tears that you shouldn’t have divorced and caused me spiritual damage?!”
“…” Jin Yan asked: “Do you enjoy being hurt, little student Li Xiaomeng?”
Little student Li Xiaomeng glanced at Jiang Qin’s face and instantly shrank back.
The car was silent. After a while, Li Meng got a bit bolder, snuggled up to Jiang Qin and said: “I played a very good game of chess today, it’s a pity you didn’t see it.”
“…”
“If I didn’t have to go to school in the future, how good it would be to play chess every day.”
“…”
“If I win a world championship in the future, will you not divorce?”
“…”
The little crown prince was finally angry: “Are you all mute, you useless adults! Do you still want to be the parents of a world champion, huh?! Do I need to teach you how to be emotional at a time like this? Hurry up and swear to reconcile while hugging me!”
Jin Yan held his forehead with one hand and drove with the other, not wanting to speak anymore.
Jiang Qin opened his mouth, but no sound came out.
Li Meng was quite sensitive and immediately looked over with watery eyes.
“Whether you are a world champion or not, I treat you as my own child…” Jiang Qin sighed and whispered: “No matter what happens in the future, this will be so, and it will never change.”
Li Meng asked stubbornly: “Then will you still be together?”
Jin Yan looked up in the rearview mirror. At this moment, the expression on Jiang Qin’s face was simply indescribable.
“I don’t know,” Jiang Qin said. “Adults also have many problems they need to figure out themselves. Li Meng, don’t force me.”