I Really Didn’t Mean to Play Go!
Chapter 101: I Can Play Like That Too!

Tuesday, 5:00 PM.

As soon as the final chemistry class ended and the teacher assigned homework before leaving, the classroom immediately erupted into lively chatter.

"Yo, Yu Shao, hitting the internet café today?"

Zhou De leaned over and asked.

"Nah, I lost so badly yesterday. Gonna take a break for a few days."

Yu Shao shook his head while packing his bag.

He expected Zhou De to keep pestering him, but surprisingly, after some thought, Zhou De actually said, "Yeah, makes sense. Losing at games all the time is frustrating. Playing Go is way more fun."

"...Aren’t you always losing at Go too?"

Yu Shao couldn’t help but roast him. "Have you ever won a single game?"

Zhou De puffed up proudly. "I played some online matches last night and actually won a few! And let me tell you, winning feels amazing. Now I get why so many people love Go!"

"You know that feeling, right, Yu Shao? When you're playing, it’s like you can see into your opponent’s mind. You know exactly what they’re planning."

"And when you completely mess up their plans, when you play a move they never saw coming, watching them sit there in deep thought, scratching their head—that feeling? Pure bliss!"

"Especially when you win in the end—I can’t even explain it! It’s better than getting a solo kill in a game!"

"I was playing Black, and at one point, my stones were running out of liberties—dangerous as hell. But then I suddenly noticed White didn’t have many liberties either!"

"So I calculated carefully and instead of extending, I just waited for them to capture, and then I cut!"

"BOOM. My opponent froze, went into deep thought for ages."

"And before long, their White stones were completely trapped by my Black stones! They had no choice but to resign, bowing down before me—the Jiangling Shen Yi!"

"Absolute intellectual dominance! This is pure, unfiltered intellectual dominance!"

Zhou De was getting more and more excited, practically spraying spit everywhere as he talked.

Yu Shao finally understood—Zhou De just wanted to brag about winning a game. And from the sound of it, his opponent was probably just a beginner who made a basic life-and-death mistake.

"Alright, I’m off! Tonight, I’m gonna dominate online!"

Zhou De was full of ambition, packing up quickly before rushing out of the classroom.

Yu Shao watched him leave and shook his head.

He also finished packing up and left the classroom. But after taking just a few steps, he suddenly stopped.

Xu Zijin was standing outside Class 7’s corridor.

Her demeanor was as cool and distant as ever, strands of her hair swaying gently in the summer breeze, making her look even more captivating.

Several students nearby were sneaking glances at her, their faces filled with curiosity and gossip.

When Xu Zijin saw Yu Shao step out, she immediately looked his way.

She hadn’t even spoken yet, but the moment her gaze landed on him, Yu Shao knew—she was here for him.

"Something up?" Yu Shao asked, puzzled.

"Do you have time?"

Xu Zijin’s voice was calm. "I want to play another game with you. In the activity room."

Yu Shao was a little surprised.

After thinking for a moment, he didn’t refuse. He nodded and said, "Alright."

Together, they headed downstairs toward the activity room.

Watching them leave together, the boys who had been secretly observing from afar gritted their teeth and clutched their chests, feeling like their hearts had just shattered.

—Yu Shao, you damn traitor! Come face your doom!

The activity room was empty.

Normally, if a boy and a girl were alone in a room together, there would be some kind of tension in the air.

But Xu Zijin carried a natural air of aloofness that erased any potential awkwardness.

She walked to an empty Go table, pulled out a chair, and sat down.

Yu Shao also took a seat across from her.

Xu Zijin opened the Go set, then looked up, her eyes clear and direct. "Let’s determine turn order."

Yu Shao nodded, grabbing a handful of white stones from the container. Xu Zijin took some black stones as well.

"Two, four… five."

Yu Shao counted. "Five stones."

Xu Zijin had one black stone in her palm, meaning she would play Black in this game.

"Please guide me," Xu Zijin said, bowing her head slightly.

Yu Shao returned the gesture. "Please guide me as well."

She focused on the board, picked up a black stone, and played the first move.

Tap.

Column 16, Row 4—Star Point.

Yu Shao reached into the container and placed his stone.

Column 4, Row 16—Star Point.

The game proceeded, each taking turns.

Soon, the only sound in the quiet activity room was the steady rhythm of stones being placed on the board.

Time ticked by.

After about half an hour, Xu Zijin stopped playing.

She stared at the board for a moment, then finally spoke.

"...I lost."

Yu Shao let out a small sigh of relief. "Thank you for the game."

"Thank you for the game," Xu Zijin echoed.

Then, she looked at the board and suddenly asked, "You weren’t playing seriously, were you?"

"...Huh?"

Yu Shao was momentarily stunned, unsure how to respond.

He hadn’t played at full strength. He had held back a lot, avoiding any harsh, win-at-all-costs moves.

"I could tell."

Xu Zijin didn’t seem to expect an answer from him. She simply continued, "If you had skipped the Flying Press and invaded the edge directly, threatening to wipe out White’s territory, that would have been the most severe move."

"But even so, I still lost..."

She lowered her gaze to the board. "I never studied Go formally at a dojo, but I always thought I was naturally talented."

A hint of doubt flickered across her usually composed face. She paused before continuing, "But now, I realize... I’m still far behind. Behind you… behind Su Yiming."

"I just... I have no way to fight back against either of you."

Yu Shao didn’t know what to say.

"I used to think Go was just one of my many hobbies, like painting, like piano..."

"But after playing against you two, I’ve realized... it’s not that simple."

"Even though… even though I might not be your match right now,"

Xu Zijin suddenly looked up, locking eyes with Yu Shao.

She stared at him stubbornly, determination shining through. "But if I spend more time on it, I can play the kind of Go you and Su Yiming played in the tournament!"

Yu Shao was momentarily stunned.

He met Xu Zijin’s defiant gaze—it was firm, yet beneath the stubbornness, there was an almost imperceptible hint of hesitation, maybe even a silent plea for reassurance.

It softened something in his heart.

She truly was a proud girl. And she had every right to be—no matter what she pursued, she always excelled effortlessly.

But that game from before… it had shaken her.

For the first time, she had found a goal worth chasing, convinced she could catch up. But then, in the tiebreaker match, she saw the game between Yu Shao and Su Yiming—saw a level of skill that was still so far beyond her reach.

That last shred of pride had been utterly shattered.

And yet, knowing this, she refused to accept it.

So, she could only stubbornly declare: I can do it too.

Xu Zijin had always been like a lion—proud, untouchable.

But now, with her pride wounded, she looked more like a little Bichon Frise trying to bare its teeth in defiance.

…Weirdly enough, kind of cute?

"You absolutely can," Yu Shao finally said, smiling as he nodded.

"Playing against you wasn’t pressure-free for me, you know. That squeeze move you played earlier was really well-executed. You just didn’t handle the follow-up properly."

"Really?"

Xu Zijin seemed to realize she was getting too emotional. She quickly looked away, pretending nothing had happened—though the faint flush on her ears betrayed her.

"Yeah. After you squeezed, I jumped away, and you followed up with a peep. But actually, a clamp here would’ve been a stronger move."

"A clamp? Wouldn’t that make Black’s central influence even thicker?" Xu Zijin asked, puzzled.

"It would, but White has an engulfing tactic here. Black may be thick, but they’d struggle to find an effective way forward. On the other hand, with the peep, Black could simply press down, and then White would be in trouble."

"But if Black presses, wouldn’t White be in a favorable position for a capturing race?"

"Well, what if Black plays an outside hane here instead?"

After reviewing the game, Xu Zijin left school and walked a short distance to a waiting black Bentley. She opened the door and got in.

The car stopped at her house a little while later. She thanked Uncle Wang, the driver, before stepping inside.

The living room was empty.

Her parents had been busy lately, negotiating a deal with a multinational company overseas. They wouldn’t be back for another two months.

It also wasn’t one of Xia Wen’s tutoring days.

Xu Zijin pulled out her homework from her bag, took a quick picture with her phone, and used a problem-solving app to get the answers. Then, she picked up a pen and started copying them down.

This was her little secret.

Even though she was the class representative for Class 6, she never did her homework.

Not because she couldn’t—her grades were proof of that—but simply because she couldn’t be bothered.

Once she finished copying, Xu Zijin headed to the shower.

Afterwards, she wrapped herself in a bathrobe, barefoot, and walked soundlessly to her bedroom like a cat.

Her feet were beautiful—slender ankles, defined bone structure, soft curves, smooth and pale, without a single visible vein.

She sat on her bed, lost in thought.

After a while, she reached over and picked up a Go record from her nightstand.

It was a reconstructed game between Yang Shirong and Gong Sheng—one that Yu Shao had worked on.

She had always loved this historical game.

It was a pity that the original record was incomplete. Many people online had attempted to fill in the missing moves, but none of them ever felt right to her.

Except for Yu Shao’s version.

His reconstruction felt like the real game Yang Shirong and Gong Sheng would have played—their distinct styles, their strengths and weaknesses, their attention to detail… It was as if every move had been carefully considered.

Xu Zijin stared at the record for a long time, but today, she couldn’t focus on it.

Her mind kept circling around one thought:

Would he laugh at me?

The moment she said those words earlier, she regretted them.

After losing to Yu Shao again today, she didn’t even know why, but her emotions had flared up, making her say things she normally never would.

Now, just recalling them made her face heat up.

It felt like she had stripped herself bare and let someone examine every inch of her.

She had always been someone who kept her emotions hidden.

So why… Why had she been like this today?

She couldn't figure it out.

In the end, she carefully placed the game record back on the table, deciding not to think about it anymore.

Instead, she reached under her pillow and took out her phone, planning to send Yu Shao a message on WeChat—just to test his reaction.

But as soon as she opened the app, she froze.

She realized something.

She didn’t even have Yu Shao’s WeChat.

Not just him—she didn’t have any of her classmates' contacts.

Other than her teachers, her WeChat was completely empty.

She never liked chatting online. She had no interest in forming connections with her peers. Whenever someone asked for her WeChat, she always refused.

Sometimes, she felt a little lonely.

But loneliness was preferable to wasting time on socializing.

Over time, she had grown used to it.

She had even believed she preferred being alone, that she enjoyed moving through life without any disturbances.

But now, as she sat there staring at her empty contacts list, she was struck by a realization:

She would be turning seventeen in two months.

And she didn’t have a single friend to talk to.