I am chasing a rough man in the 80s
Chapter 976: Let’s Think Backwards for a Moment

Chapter 976: Chapter 976: Let’s Think Backwards for a Moment

"Hmm?" Yu Jingting turned his attention to Xiaopang upon hearing this.

It didn’t seem any different—still the same expressionless face, the same unflappable gaze.

Aren’t all chess players like this?

Expressions are not allowed, and emotions must not be discernible to others.

Yu Jingting looked left and right.

"Didn’t have bubble gum today?"

In the previous few days of competition, Xiaopang always came out chewing bubble gum.

Suizi even joked that after the competition ended, the bubble gum manufacturers might approach him for endorsements.

"Not just that, look at his clothes."

Yu Jingting looked over accordingly and then noticed that Xiaopang was wearing the same chess-themed outfit as Chen Tong and the others.

Realizing that Suizi and Yu Jingting were looking at him, Xiaopang paused for a moment and stared at Suizi for over ten seconds, only moving on when urged by someone nearby.

"Wasn’t he supposed to wear it for the final match? Why did he put it on early?" Yu Jingting stroked his chin, "Could it be that Xiaopang knows he can’t win today, so he decided to give you the advertisement in advance?"

"Impossible. Xiaopang doesn’t have that sort of personality."

Suizi had undertaken an in-depth analysis of the temperament of each kid.

Xiaopang was the type with few words but extremely steadfast principles, commonly known as stubborn.

Such a person would rather die standing than submit.

Moreover, based on Suizi’s observations of his past competitions, the more dire the situation, the steadier the child’s play became. Despite his young age, his style was very mature.

If he really encountered a formidable opponent, Xiaopang should have become more excited. How could he possibly prepare to lose and leave the match early?

"There’s still some time before the match starts. Jingting, let’s go find his Assistant Coach right away."

Based solely on his clothing, Suizi had concluded that something was off with Xiaopang.

Deciding swiftly, the coach was unavailable at the moment, but it was possible to find the Assistant Coach responsible for Xiaopang and the other chess players.

"Did my brother have any abnormalities yesterday?" Suizi asked.

"Abnormalities? No, Xiaoyuan’s condition has always been very stable."

Xiaopang was currently the highest-ranked domestic player, and he carried the hopes and glory of many. Everyone was expecting this young man to perform a miracle.

"Think again carefully, what did he do yesterday?"

"Yesterday... after the game, he asked to make a phone call."

Suizi knew about that phone call; it was to her house.

The main purpose was to share the good news with his parents. Afterwards, he called Jiaojiao over and spoke to her privately for a few words.

That phone call was definitely not the primary reason for Xiaopang’s mood change. As Suizi was looking for a breakthrough, she heard the Assistant Coach mumble to himself.

"Right, there was another phone call to the team looking for him yesterday. I took it. I even asked who he was, and he said he was Xiaoyuan’s brother."

Suizi and Yu Jingting exchanged a look.

Pure nonsense.

Xiaopang was an only child; where would a brother come from?

It seemed that the issue lay with that phone call.

Yu Jingting felt like cursing.

Who is so devious and irritating to disrupt Xiaopang like this right before such an important match?

"This kid hasn’t really been foolishly manipulated, has he?" Yu Jingting asked Suizi.

Suizi also fell into a dilemma.

She needed some time to think.

At that moment, Jiaojiao came running over, tugged on Suizi, and whispered in her ear.

"Are you sure?" Suizi asked.

Jiaojiao nodded firmly.

"What whispers are you sharing?" Yu Jingting asked.

The three left under the puzzled gaze of the assistant coach and began their secret meeting.

"I’m sure. Xiaopang just told me, danger, delay," Jiaojiao relayed the intelligence she had received.

"None of us can get close to him, we can’t even speak to him, how do you know what he’s going to say?"

Jiaojiao cleared her throat awkwardly. Where should she even begin?

"It must be a secret code they developed previously when signaling with flashlights," Suizi decrypted.

In fact, she had always been aware of the covert signals between Jiaojiao and Xiaopang.

But she had not interfered with this matter.

Mainly because she clearly knew that both children had a sense of propriety and that normal interactions without going overboard didn’t need to be avoided like floods and savage beasts.

However, the Fourth Master didn’t see it that way. He was uneasy whenever he saw the brat getting close to his maiden. So the kids, like playing hide-and-seek, developed a unique set of hand signals to avoid Fourth Master.

"During the chess game, he tapped his fingers on the table three times. That means danger. I also saw him touching the palm of his left hand in a circular motion with the chess piece in his right hand fast. That means to delay," she explained.

"Is there a possibility that these could be random movements?" Yu Jingting asked.

Isn’t it normal to have a small tic under the psychological pressure of a competition?

Jiaojiao and Suizi shook their heads in unison. Impossible.

"Xiaopang told me, not just any small tic, even the frequency of his breathing and the number of times he blinks, it’s all controlled. He couldn’t let the opponent feel any fluctuations."

"How was Xiaopang in today’s game?" Suizi asked.

"Strange to say, his pace in moving chess pieces today was very slow, right down to the countdown. Watching the broadcast, I saw his coach about to go mad."

Xiaopang was known for playing speed chess with quick moves, but today he was just sticking to the countdown rule, seemingly deliberately delaying the time.

"It seems he’s signaling us," Suizi decided calmly in the face of danger.

"Jiaojiao, find a way to signal Xiaopang to keep delaying. Tell him, with us backing him, he need not fear anything."

"...." Jiaojiao looked troubled. Their codes were so limited. Did her sister-in-law think she was a communication station with that long string of instructions?

"Find a way to overcome the difficulty and reassure him. I suspect that Xiaopang intends to delay until noon."

According to the convention of international competitions, if the battle between the two sides is indecisive, there will be an adjournment at noon.

During the break, they would eat some easily digestible liquid food and not eat too much to prevent an insufficient blood supply to the brain.

Based on just a gesture Xiaopang passed to Jiaojiao, Suizi figured that Xiaopang was asking for her and Yu Jingting’s help.

"Let’s split up. Jingting, you find someone to investigate yesterday’s phone call. I guess someone must have found a hold over Xiaopang and is using it to threaten him."

"This will take too much time, think of another way," Yu Jingting responded.

Even if Xiaopang drags it out to the end, it could only delay until the adjournment of the game. If the other side dared to call, they might have been prepared already. Following this lead and wasting time means we could completely lose by the afternoon.

"You have a point..." Suizi considered before adding, "So let’s reverse our thinking. What could possibly threaten Xiaopang?"

Suizi and Yu Jingting exchanged glances for a few seconds before both said in unison:

"Xiaopang’s mom?"

Xiaopang’s family structure was relatively simple.

Three people in total, with his aunt in Beijing, who was trouble all her own.

But Suizi and her husband didn’t believe that this aunt could serve as a bargaining chip to threaten Xiaopang.

The reason they thought of Xiaopang’s mom was because she wasn’t present today.

With her son’s important game, her absence definitely meant something significant was happening. Suizi had heard her mother-in-law mention it casually, saying the aunt complained of back pain and insisted on being taken care of by Xiaopang’s mom, who couldn’t leave.

"Jingting, send someone to find Xiaopang’s mom right now. We have less than two hours," Suizi urged.