I Really Didn’t Mean to Play Go!
Chapter 38: "Our Sect Has Produced a Dragon!"

Yu Shao quickly arrived at the hallway and stopped in front of Li Kang, greeting him, "Mr. Li."

Li Kang nodded slightly, his gaze on Yu Shao indescribable. It was a complex mix of shock, delight, surprise, and doubt. After hesitating briefly, Li Kang finally spoke in an affectedly calm tone, "I didn’t know you were this good at Go. How long have you been playing?"

When Yu Shao had asked to sign up for the simultaneous Go matches, Li Kang had already been surprised—he hadn’t even known Yu Shao could play Go.

At the time, he assumed Yu Shao merely knew the basics and hadn’t for a second considered that Yu Shao might actually beat Wu Shuheng.

Even though it was a two-stone handicap match, Wu Shuheng was still a professional Go player!

Had other students volunteered for the match, Li Kang might not have let Yu Shao participate, even if he’d signed up first. In his impression, Yu Shao didn’t seem like someone capable of excelling at Go.

This stark contrast between expectations and reality left Li Kang’s emotions in turmoil.

"It’s been a while," Yu Shao replied, still puzzled as to why Li Kang had pulled him out just to ask this.

Li Kang noticed his confusion and thought about explaining but decided against it. Instead, he said briefly, "Follow me."

Yu Shao was momentarily stunned but quickly followed. He assumed they were heading to the teachers' office, but soon realized otherwise—Li Kang led him downstairs instead.

Eventually, they stopped in front of the principal’s office.

"Go on in. The principal wants to see you," Li Kang explained.

"The principal?" Yu Shao blinked in surprise before stepping forward and knocking on the door.

"Come in," came the principal’s voice from within.

Just as Yu Shao was about to open the door, he noticed Li Kang wasn’t following. Perplexed, he asked, "Mr. Li, aren’t you coming in?"

"The principal asked for you, not me," Li Kang replied, giving Yu Shao a glance before turning and leaving.

Only then did Yu Shao realize Li Kang was just the messenger.

"What could the principal want with me?" Yu Shao wondered as he pushed open the door and entered.

Inside, Yu Shao noticed not just the principal but also Xu Zijin and four other students who had participated in the simultaneous matches earlier.

A middle-aged man with gold-rimmed glasses and a scholarly air was also present. Yu Shao vaguely recognized him as a teacher at the school, though he didn’t know which subject or grade he taught.

The moment Yu Shao entered, everyone’s gaze fell on him. Even Xu Zijin turned her head to glance at him before looking away.

"Ah, it’s Yu Shao," the principal said with a beaming smile. "You’re finally here. We’ve all been waiting for you."

Waiting for me?

Yu Shao was still baffled, unsure of the purpose of this meeting.

The principal chuckled, glancing at Xu Zijin and then at Yu Shao, his mood visibly improving. His smile grew even brighter.

Originally, the principal had invited Wu Shuheng to the school to host a Go lecture, hoping to inspire the students, especially the three who were set to represent Jiangling High School in the upcoming high school Go league.

He’d expected the simultaneous matches to motivate them, pushing them to strive harder after experiencing defeat.

But he never expected…

That this year, two freshmen would beat Wu Shuheng in the simultaneous matches!

Jiangling High School had struck gold this time.

To borrow a phrase from a fantasy novel: Our sect has produced a dragon!

The principal’s smile deepened as he began, "Now that everyone’s here, I’ll get straight to the point."

"Next month is the annual high school Go league. Our school’s performance in recent years has been… less than stellar."

Hearing this, the expressions of the senior students dimmed, their heads lowering in silence.

Last year, these same students had represented Jiangling High in the league, and to say their results were "less than stellar" was putting it mildly.

"And this year, we’re the host school. I hope we can achieve better results and bring honor to our school."

Looking at the three senior students, the principal continued, "In the simultaneous matches, Yu Shao, Xu Zijin, and Zhong Yufei demonstrated outstanding skill."

"Of course, you all played well too, but there’s still room for improvement. For the sake of our school’s honor, I’d like to have them take your place in this year’s Go league. What do you think?"

The three senior students fell silent.

When they were summoned to the principal’s office and saw Xu Zijin and the others arrive, they had already guessed what was coming.

Although the principal had phrased it as a question, they knew they couldn’t refuse.

What else could they do?

They had no choice but to step aside and let the more skilled take their place. Even so, it was hard not to feel a pang of regret.

After all, since last year’s humiliating defeat, they had been training tirelessly, determined to redeem themselves. And now, they wouldn’t even get the chance to seek redemption?

But reality was reality. They were outmatched.

Having seen the games played by Xu Zijin and Yu Shao, they were keenly aware of the vast skill gap between them.

After a moment of silence, one of the senior students shook his head and said weakly, "I have no objections."

"Me neither," another murmured.

"I don’t either," the third admitted.

Seeing the trio’s agreement, the principal nodded in satisfaction and turned his attention to Yu Shao, Xu Zijin, and Zhong Yufei. With a warm smile, he asked, "And what about you three? Are you willing to represent our school in this year’s Go league?"

"No problem at all!" Zhong Yufei, the second-year student who had been the last to concede in the simultaneous matches, immediately agreed without hesitation. "I’ll do my best to bring home the championship trophy for our school!"

The principal then looked at Xu Zijin, who pondered briefly before giving a small nod.

Finally, the principal turned his expectant gaze to Yu Shao.

Yu Shao suddenly felt the weight of the situation pressing down on him.

Everyone else had already agreed—how could he say no? If he refused, he’d be branded as someone with no sense of team spirit, and that label would haunt him in school.

After hesitating for what felt like an eternity, Yu Shao finally nodded in agreement.

"Excellent! I’m confident you’ll achieve great results!"

The principal was overjoyed. He turned to the scholarly middle-aged man and introduced him, "This is Mr. Chen Jiaming, who teaches physics for the second-year students. He’s also an amateur Fifth Dan Go player."

"From now on, after school, the three of you will practice in the activity room for two hours daily under Mr. Chen’s guidance. I’ll call your parents to explain the situation," the principal added.