I Really Didn’t Mean to Play Go!
Chapter 8: The Key to Victory Lies Both Inside and Outside the Board

Li Kang’s announcement ended, but the students’ reaction was lukewarm at best.

Go, as a game, occupied a peculiar cultural space. On one hand, it was well-known globally. It often appeared in movies and TV shows, especially in period dramas, where characters playing Go exuded an aura of sophistication and mastery, as if they were some kind of strategic geniuses.

But on the other hand, not many people actually knew how to play Go. And even among those who did, there was a significant gap between knowing the rules and truly understanding the game.

Most people barely grasped the basics, like life-and-death problems or determining victory. They hadn’t even stepped through the metaphorical door of Go. Yet, this group made up the majority of "players."

Those who did manage to cross that threshold quickly discovered another truth: they still didn’t know how to play Go well. Concepts like judgment, sacrifice, and counting territory only scratched the surface, and understanding the bigger picture of the game was another beast entirely. Many quit at this stage.

And even for those who could play, mastering Go felt like an endlessly distant dream.

In short, the game was deep, and most people couldn’t handle it.

Adding to that, playing against a professional Go player guaranteed one thing—defeat. A crushing one at that. With no chance to show off, even those who knew how to play weren’t particularly interested.

More importantly, most students at this age were introverted and socially anxious, dreading the idea of making a fool of themselves in front of the entire school.

Li Kang seemed to anticipate this reaction. Clearing his throat, he added, “You don’t need to be particularly skilled—just knowing the basics is enough.”

After a brief pause, he played his trump card: “If you participate, you’ll earn fifty conduct points. Of course, if you don’t even know the rules, don’t embarrass yourselves. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.”

The moment those words dropped, the entire classroom’s energy shifted. Every student’s eyes lit up, including Yu Shao, who shamefully found himself tempted.

Having returned to being sixteen, Yu Shao had adapted well to most things. The only exception was the excruciating need to drag himself out of bed every morning at 6:30 for self-study.

But conduct points? That meant skipping five whole mornings of self-study!

“That’s all. Class dismissed,” Li Kang said before picking up his thermos and leaving the classroom.

“Holy sht, holy sht, holy sh*t! Yu, fifty conduct points! I’m tempted!” Zhou De exclaimed, grabbing Yu Shao’s sleeve in excitement. Like Yu Shao, Zhou De’s conduct score was teetering at sixty, as they both lived life on the edge.

“You know how to play Go?” Yu Shao asked in shock, questioning everything he thought he knew about Zhou De.

“Yu, you know me. I’m an athlete,” Zhou De said, shaking his head. “The most I could do is use the Go board to smash the opponent over the head.”

What was this—some modern-day Liu Qi?

“The key to victory lies both inside and outside the board, huh?” Yu Shao quipped, speechless.

“Then why are you so hyped?” he asked.

“I hate myself for not knowing how to play Go! Do you know how rare it is to earn conduct points like this?” Zhou De howled in frustration. “Nobody can judge me! I, Zhou De, also want to defy fate and achieve the impossible!!!”

“Why are you shouting so loud?” Yu Shao winced, his ears ringing from Zhou De’s outburst.

Suddenly, Zhou De seemed to have a realization. “But hey, it looks like the school is really trying to save face this time.”

“What do you mean?” Yu Shao asked, confused.

“You don’t know?” Zhou De’s face lit up with pride. “I heard it from my coach. The city’s high school Go league is coming up soon.”

“Back in the day, our school won first place three years in a row—all thanks to Senior Wu Shuheng during his time here. But ever since he graduated, it’s been downhill.”

“Last year, we ranked near the bottom. We couldn’t even beat a few regular high schools. Totally lost face as a key high school!” Zhou De explained animatedly.

“I heard this year we’re hosting the tournament. If we don’t put up a decent performance, we’ll lose face completely.”

“So, I bet the school invited Senior Wu Shuheng back to boost morale and prepare for the league.”

Wait, was that actually a thing?

Yu Shao was hearing about this for the first time. He had to admit, Zhou De, as an athlete, seemed to have access to all sorts of insider information—not just sports gossip but even stuff like this.

At that moment, Zhou De suddenly let out a gasp. “Holy sh*t, Xu Zijin!”

Yu Shao turned to look. Xu Zijin, dressed in her school uniform, was walking past the corridor window. She hadn’t tied her hair today, and her silky locks flowed down to her waist. A gentle breeze teased a few strands loose, giving her an ethereal, heart-stirring aura.

In an instant, nearly every boy in Class 7 had their eyes glued to the window.

Just then, as if sensing something, Xu Zijin paused and turned to glance into the Class 7 classroom. Her clear eyes seemed to reflect everything, like pristine mirrors.

For a moment, the boys felt as if their hearts had skipped a beat.

Mom, did you know? Cupid just shot me straight through the heart!

What’s that? You’re asking who I’d save if you and Xu Zijin fell into a river?

I’d save you, of course.

Then I’d jump in after her—and fall into love.

But soon, Xu Zijin broke her gaze, continued on her way, and disappeared from view.

The moment her figure vanished, the boys—despite never even having been in a relationship—felt as though they’d just experienced the bitter taste of heartbreak.

“She was looking at me!” Zhou De declared suddenly.

Zhou De’s pupils seemed to quake as he grabbed Yu Shao’s sleeve tightly, exclaiming excitedly, “Yu, Xu Zijin just stopped to sneak a look at me!”

Yu Shao gave him a well-meaning reminder: “Ah, the three great delusions of life—‘She’s looking at me,’ ‘She likes me,’ and ‘I can turn this game around.’”

“No!” Zhou De said firmly, “She was absolutely sneaking a look at me.”

“First of all,” Yu Shao corrected him, “even if Xu Zijin was looking at you, it wouldn’t be ‘sneaking.’ She’d look openly and boldly.

“Second, I was standing right next to you. If she were looking at you, don’t you think I’d know? Bro, are you really sure this isn’t just wishful thinking?”

Zhou De started to waver after hearing this.

“Wait... so she wasn’t looking at me?”

Yu Shao didn’t respond right away, because truthfully, even he thought it had seemed like Xu Zijin glanced briefly in their direction earlier.

At this moment, the other boys in Class 7 finally snapped out of their daze and began clamoring.

“Xu Zijin was looking at me!”

“Bullsht! She was clearly looking at me!”

“Dmn it, it was me!”

Now, even Zhou De started to doubt himself and sighed in defeat. “Man, if only I could sit by the window.”

“Why’s that?” Yu Shao asked, puzzled.

“That way, when Xu Zijin walks by, I’d at least get a whiff of her fragrance,” Zhou De said.

Yu Shao was baffled. “How do you know she even has a fragrance? What if she doesn’t?”

“With a face like that, she has to have one,” Zhou De said with utter seriousness. “And even if she doesn’t, just looking at that face makes the air smell sweet.”

“Wait a second, bro. I need to clarify something first,” Yu Shao said. “When you say ‘because of her face,’ do you mean because of her face, or because of her face? The meaning changes depending on the emphasis.”

“If it’s the first, then what you’re smelling is the scent of Chinese privet flowers,” Yu Shao teased with a straight face.

“Yu!” Zhou De pointed at him, looking as if his innocence had been sullied. “What are you even thinking?! I’m pure, okay? Pure!”

Yu Shao nodded, pretending to believe him.

“But seriously, Zhou, if she really does smell nice, why not wish to be in the same class as her instead?” Yu Shao asked.

“The same class?” Zhou De paused, and then, as if suddenly enlightened, slapped his thigh. “You’re right, the same class! D*mn it, those scumbags in Class 6 don’t deserve her!”

Zhou De’s mind quickly spiraled into fantasy. “If I were in the same class as Xu Zijin... if we were even seatmates... I don’t even dare to dream about it!”

“Pathetic. I do dare to dream about it,” Yu Shao said, immediately looking down on Zhou De’s lack of courage.

“What?!” Zhou De’s eyes widened as he glared at Yu Shao, indignantly pointing a finger at him. “You’re supposed to like Cheng Mengjie! You scumbag!”

There’s a peculiar kind of innocence in student days. Even if you hadn’t officially been in a relationship with someone, liking one person meant you couldn’t like anyone else.

Unless, of course, you’d made a prior public announcement: I no longer like her.

Otherwise, you’d be labeled a scumbag.

And Yu Shao’s “past self” had once firmly declared to Zhou De that he would persist in pursuing Cheng Mengjie.