Zhou Shaojin immediately fell silent.

Cheng Chi said rather helplessly, “Mother, this is an unwinnable position. You should stop thinking about it. It’s getting late, time for dinner. Besides, Second Miss Zhou should return home.”

“I saw long ago this was an unwinnable position.” Old Madam Guo wiped the sweat from her forehead, but her eyes remained fixed on the board. “I’m trying to see how you led me into this unwinnable position… Your chess skills are becoming increasingly refined…” As the old lady spoke, she fell into contemplation again.

Cheng Chi swept the board clear.

Old Madam Guo was displeased.

Cheng Chi said, “You’re advanced in years and shouldn’t overtax your mind. Better not to play chess anymore.”

Old Madam Guo smiled, “I had you move to Cold Jade Mountain Studio, so I can’t just watch you idle away all day, can I? This is your only hobby. If I don’t accompany you, who will?”

Cheng Chi glanced at Zhou Shaojin.

Zhou Shaojin suddenly understood.

So when Cheng Chi asked if she could play chess, he wanted her to play with him to relieve Old Madam Guo!

But she truly didn’t know how at all!

Zhou Shaojin felt regret and resentment.

If she’d known, she should have learned go from Madam Shen.

She immediately volunteered, “Uncle Chi, you can teach me to play chess! Anyway, these days besides copying sutras, I don’t have anything else to do.”

In reality, she had just finished drawing the Guanyin image she was preparing to give her sister and was about to start matching threads.

But she could embroider the Guanyin image in her spare time anytime. Opportunities to get close to Cheng Chi were fleeting.

Old Madam Guo couldn’t help clapping her hands and laughing, “Excellent—Shaojin can come every afternoon to copy sutras for half a shichen, then play two games of go. A perfect balance of work and rest!”

Zhou Shaojin nodded with a smile.

But Cheng Chi misunderstood—people nowadays were often modest. Many go masters, when asked about their skills, would say they only “knew a bit” or even “didn’t really understand.”

Could Zhou Shaojin be one of them?

He smiled, “Mother, now you can rest easy! If I’m bored, I’ll just teach Niece Zhou chess. You needn’t worry about me anymore. Go do whatever you need to do!”

Old Madam Guo nodded with a gratified smile.

Cheng Chi said to Zhou Shaojin, “Then come a bit earlier tomorrow. We’ll play a game of chess before you go copy sutras.”

In his view, engaging one’s mind with chess, then enjoying the process of copying characters—that was truly balancing work and rest.

Zhou Shaojin readily agreed.

That evening when she returned, she went to Grand Madam Shen.

When Grand Madam Shen heard she wanted to learn go, she was somewhat surprised. But she didn’t refuse, instead smiling and saying, “Since you’re interested, come again tomorrow evening!”

She needed to use it tomorrow afternoon. How could she wait until tomorrow evening!

Zhou Shaojin smiled, “I heard that in previous dynasties they used seventeen-line boards, but now they use nineteen-line boards. Can you tell me why we now use nineteen-line boards?”

Grand Madam Shen was silent for a moment.

If this were anywhere else, if someone wanted to learn chess from her without formally becoming her student, she would certainly have driven them away. But now, she was a female teacher employed by the Cheng family. When a student said they wanted to learn chess from her, she had to teach… Moreover, the Cheng family had always treated her generously and arranged her schedule leisurely. If she refused, it would inevitably make people think her ungrateful.

“Very well. Today I’ll explain what go is.” Grand Madam Shen turned to fetch a board and stones. “According to the pre-Qin text ‘Shiben,’ ‘Yao created go, and Danzhu excelled at it.’ This is about the origins of go…

“The ‘Zuo Zhuan: Year 25 of Duke Xiang’ records: ‘Duke Xian of Wei sent someone from Yiyi to speak with Ning Xi, and Ning Xi agreed. Grand Master Wenzi heard this and said: …Now Ning treats the duke as less important than a game of go. How can he be spared? A go player who cannot decide where to place a stone cannot defeat his opponent, much less can one who treats the duke as negligible make proper decisions?’ This is the first formal historical record of go…

“During the Wei and Jin dynasties, imitating the cycles of heaven, go had three hundred and sixty-one points, using a nineteen-line board… Many great masters wrote treatises. The most famous include ‘Stone Chamber Celestial Secrets,’ ‘Celestial Arsenal,’ ‘Records of Contentment,’ ‘Illustrated Compendium of the Three Powers Chess Manual,’ and others…

“In the current dynasty, Chief Minister Song Jingran, Grand Secretary Yuan Weichang, Vice Minister of War Hong Xiu, Minister of Works Qu Yuan are all exceptional go players…

“Look, on this board there are nine small circular dots. Each dot is positioned at the intersection of nine lines, called ‘stars,’ and the one in the very center is called ‘tianyuan.’ Each edge line of the board is called the ‘first line,’ and the line next to the first line is called the second line…”

She patiently and meticulously explained the basic rules of go to Zhou Shaojin—what “capturing stones” meant, what “ko” meant, what “making life” meant. Worried Zhou Shaojin wouldn’t understand, she demonstrated on the board as she explained.

Zhou Shaojin listened with relief.

She had heard bits and pieces about what Grand Madam Shen was explaining before. Now having it specifically explained to her in detail, she not only understood but could also think of other questions by analogy. This made her enthusiastic, feeling that playing go was actually quite interesting.

Grand Madam Shen taught her for nearly a full shichen. Seeing that all the courtyards would soon be locked up, she finally stopped.

Zhou Shaojin thanked Grand Madam Shen and promised to come again tomorrow evening.

Grand Madam Shen smiled in agreement and had the maid serving her see her out.

The next afternoon, Zhou Shaojin went to Cold Jade Mountain Studio half a shichen earlier than usual.

Old Madam Guo was still resting, and of course Cheng Chi hadn’t arrived yet.

Spring drowsiness—even Zhenzhu, the senior maid on duty, had her upper and lower eyelids fighting each other, dozing off.

Zhou Shaojin couldn’t help muttering to herself.

He told her to come early, but he’s nowhere to be seen…

She sat in the tea room drinking tea somewhat resentfully.

Only after she finished her fourth cup of tea did Cheng Chi finally arrive leisurely.

Zhou Shaojin quickly came out of the tea room.

Cheng Chi was somewhat surprised. He took out his pocket watch to look, then smiled, “Playing chess is just a pastime. You don’t need to be so anxious. I sometimes have matters to attend to and won’t come every day to play chess with you.”

As the saying goes, when one has no desires, one’s character is naturally noble.

She had requests of Uncle Chi, so she could only act according to his mood.

Zhou Shaojin thought to herself, smiling and nodding slightly.

Cheng Chi headed toward the hall with her.

They ran into Biyu coming toward them.

Cheng Chi asked Biyu, “What is Old Madam doing?”

“Old Madam just woke up a moment ago, had some tea, then went back to sleep,” Biyu said respectfully.

Cheng Chi thought for a moment, then said to Zhou Shaojin, “Then we won’t play chess today. You go back and copy sutras!”

How had things changed again?

Zhou Shaojin was puzzled.

Cheng Chi explained, “I’m afraid Old Madam would feel uneasy.”

In other words, he was just humoring Old Madam Guo!

Zhou Shaojin quickly said, “Then you attend to your matters. I can learn chess from you anytime!”

This little girl was quite sensible.

Cheng Chi nodded with satisfaction and instructed Biyu, “When Old Madam wakes, come tell me.”

Biyu respectfully acknowledged.

Zhou Shaojin went to the Buddhist hall to copy sutras.

That day Old Madam Guo slept all afternoon, so she copied sutras all afternoon.

The next day, Instructor Lin’s wife came to visit Old Madam Guo.

Then Cheng Chi went to Algae Garden.

Another day, Second Branch’s Grand Madam Shi invited the family’s womenfolk to view peonies.

Zhou Shaojin didn’t go.

She stayed home embroidering the Guanyin Holding a Vase image.

This time seven or eight days passed. As they entered the second ten-day period of summer heat, Zhou Shaojin had the two summer shirts she’d made for her father’s birthday sent to Baoding Prefecture via Ma Fushan’s family. Only then did Cold Jade Mountain Studio have leisure time for chess.

Fortunately, Zhou Shaojin had already started learning go from Grand Madam Shen during this time.

Cheng Chi couldn’t gauge Zhou Shaojin’s skill level, so he didn’t mention giving her a handicap. He had Zhou Shaojin play the white stones.

Zhou Shaojin knew this was Cheng Chi being courteous to her and quickly said, “You should play white, Uncle Chi! Black plays first, so I’ll take that advantage.”

Cheng Chi didn’t stand on ceremony with her and urged Old Madam Guo to return to her room for her afternoon nap: “…Otherwise you’ll start thinking and pondering again, becoming completely absorbed and unable to extricate yourself!”

“I’m not a child,” Old Madam Guo chided, but the smile in her eyes showed she enjoyed being managed by her son.

Zhou Shaojin smiled with pursed lips.

Biyu and Feicui helped Old Madam Guo to the inner chamber to rest.

Cheng Chi was clearly much more relaxed than before. He lazily placed a stone at the star point in the upper left corner.

Zhou Shaojin, having just learned from Grand Madam Shen yesterday, imitated him by taking the star point in the upper right corner.

The two played stone by stone, proceeding according to the rules.

Zhou Shaojin thought she was playing quite well. At least she had “surrounded” Cheng Chi.

But the more Cheng Chi played, the more he felt uncertain.

Did this Zhou Shaojin actually know how to play chess?

One stone here, another there—at first he thought she had some special intention, but after seven or eight moves he discovered Zhou Shaojin was completely the kind of beginner who probably didn’t even know what board position meant… No, she couldn’t even be called a beginner. She was still in the elementary stage.

He couldn’t help scrutinizing Zhou Shaojin carefully.

Perhaps because the weather was getting hotter, she wore a tender green vest today, trimmed with goose-yellow fabric woven with grape and vine patterns. Her jet-black hair was all gathered at the back of her head, loosely tied in a simple bun, revealing a smooth, full forehead and eyebrows like distant mountains. She looked fresh and clean, like a newly blooming orchid. At this moment she was staring intently at the board, her tense little face serious and solemn, revealing a hint of nervousness.

Cheng Chi asked, “Who did you learn go from?”

“Ah!” Zhou Shaojin was thinking about Grand Madam Shen’s words, trying to find a “living eye.” Hearing this, she looked up blankly, and only after a long moment said, “I learned from Grand Madam Shen, the teacher at Tranquil Peace Studio…”

Sweat appeared on Cheng Chi’s forehead. “How many days have you been learning?”

Zhou Shaojin calculated and said, “Nineteen days.”

She was afraid that if she didn’t know anything at all, Cheng Chi would think her too stupid.

Cheng Chi understood.

When she said she “didn’t know how,” she truly didn’t know how, without any modesty whatsoever.

Zhou Shaojin, however, didn’t understand. Her heart was secretly rejoicing.

Uncle Chi wasn’t playing very attentively—there was a living eye he hadn’t noticed. She just had to pretend not to notice and let Uncle Chi make another move. When it was her turn to place a stone, she could capture those seven or eight stones of Uncle Chi’s, and she would occupy a large territory.

She opened her eyes wide looking at Cheng Chi, faintly showing some anticipation.

Cheng Chi immediately became alert. He glanced at the board and casually placed a stone exactly where Zhou Shaojin had mentioned the living eye.

How could this happen?

Zhou Shaojin wailed, so dejected she almost collapsed on the table. To make matters worse, Cheng Chi said lightly, “Your turn!”