I really don’t want to play Go!

Chapter 369 Before the Finals
The National Player Tournament has finally come to an end, and the internet is buzzing with discussion about the National Player Tournament Challenge.

Because he was going to Beijing to film a promotional video immediately after the National Players Tournament, Yu Shao didn't plan to return to Jiangling. Instead, he planned to fly directly from Donghai to Beijing and video-called his parents to let them know.

"Okay, then be careful. Call me if anything happens. It's not that hot in Beijing, do you want me to send you some spring clothes?"

On the other end of the video call, Cai Xiaomei kept nagging, "It's really true, you've been in Donghai for so long, and the chess academy doesn't even give you a break or let you go home."

Yu Shao listened quietly without interrupting, feeling quite warm inside.

He's been away from home for quite a while now. He spent the entire main tournament in Donghai, almost two months, and now he's going to Beijing for the finals. It'll probably be another month before he can go home.

"Okay, Mom. I'll be right back after the competition," Yu Shao said.

"Okay, don't feel pressured during the challenge. Just play to your best ability. When you get home after the competition, Mom will cook you something delicious..."

Cai Xiaomei seemed to have a lot to say, and even though Yu Shao didn't reply much, he talked to himself for a long time. Finally, when he saw customers coming into the store, he hurriedly hung up the phone.

After resting in the hotel for three days, Yu Shao finally set off from Donghai and flew to Beijing.

After a flight of several hours, Yu Shao finally disembarked.

The airport was bustling with people coming and going. As the capital city, Beijing has a fast pace of life, and everyone was in a hurry, as if they were racing against time.

There were also some people who were obviously tourists from other places visiting Beijing. Their tired faces hid a hint of joy as they curiously looked around at the bustling yet unfamiliar Beijing airport.

After leaving the airport, Yu Shao quickly hailed a taxi and headed to the hotel arranged for him by the Chess Academy. It took him about forty minutes to finally arrive.

"You're staying at this hotel?"

The taxi driver, who had been holding back all the way, finally couldn't help but ask when he saw that Yu Shao was about to get out of the car.

"Correct."

Yu Shao nodded, took out his phone to scan the code to pay the fare, and casually replied.

"Tsk, tsk."

Upon hearing this, the driver couldn't help but smack his lips and said, "This is the best hotel in Beijing. Even the most basic room costs several thousand a night. Young man, what do you do? You don't seem like a student, but you don't look very old either."

"me?"

Yu Shao smiled and said, "Playing chess."

Although Go is very popular in the world, not everyone pays attention to it, so Yu Shao was not surprised that the driver did not recognize him.

"Playing chess?"

The driver was somewhat taken aback, then shook his head with a smile and said, "A Go player, right? I don't really know much about it. I know An Hongshi and Zhuang Weisheng, but it's a bit amazing that playing Go can be a profession."

Upon hearing the driver's words, Yu Shao simply smiled and said nothing.

"By the way, young man, what's your name? You're so young, and you're staying at a hotel like this, you must be quite famous, right?"

The driver asked curiously, "Of course, I was just asking casually. If you don't want to tell me, then forget it."

"My name is Yu Shao."

Yu Shao smiled, finally paid the fare, put away his phone, and prepared to get off the bus.

"Yu Shao?"

The driver looked a little embarrassed and scratched his head, saying, "I've never heard of him... I do know a chess player named Zhu Huai'an, who seems quite young. I thought you were him."

Yu Shao said with a smile, "Maybe I'm not that famous yet."

"You're still so young, you'll make a name for yourself eventually," the driver said with a smile.

"I accept your good advice."

Yu Shao smiled, finally opened the car door, and got out.

Seeing Yu Shao get out of the car, the driver stepped on the gas and quickly drove away. After driving for a while, he suddenly remembered something and made a phone call to a friend.

"Hello, is this Old Li?"

He turned on speakerphone and chatted with his friend while driving: "Don't you like playing Go? I picked up a passenger today, guess who I picked up?"

The person on the other end of the phone paused for a moment, then asked with some skepticism, "Zhuang Weisheng?"

"Uh... that's not it."

The driver chuckled awkwardly twice, then quickly added, "But he must be really impressive. Do you know where he stays? He stays at the Jinghua Hotel!"

"Who is it? What's their name?"

The friend on the other end of the phone was clearly intrigued and couldn't help but ask further questions.

The driver thought for a moment and asked, "Yu Shao, did you say that?"

"Yu—"

There was a pause on the other end of the phone, then the voice suddenly became louder: "What? Yu Shao?!"

"Ouch, my god, why are you yelling so loudly?"

The driver was startled by his friend's sudden increase in volume, and his hand on the steering wheel trembled involuntarily. He slammed on the brakes and stopped the car. He felt a pain in his eardrums from his friend's shouting.

"Yu Shao! Really?! You got to meet Yu Shao? Where did you meet him? Didn't you ask for a photo or autograph?"

My friend on the other end of the phone sounded a little excited and asked several questions in a row.

"What's the point of having this? He doesn't even look twenty yet. I'm already an adult. Asking someone so much younger than me for an autograph and a photo, wouldn't that be embarrassing if word got out?"

The driver asked, somewhat puzzled, "What, is he famous?"

"famous?"

My friend on the other end of the phone laughed in exasperation: "You really don't care about Go at all?"

"I don't care. I'm a rough guy, I don't know any of the arts, like music, chess, calligraphy, or painting. You know that."

The driver looked puzzled and said while turning the steering wheel, "Although I don't know much about Go, I have heard of some Go players over the years, but I don't recognize this Yu Shao."

“The chess players you know have been competing in the professional chess world for five or six years or more. He only became a professional chess player last year,” the friend on the other end of the phone said.

"You only became a professional Go player last year?"

The driver chuckled and said, "He's just a new chess player, why are you getting so worked up? Are you crazy?"

"..."

The friend on the other end of the phone was speechless for a moment before finally saying, "He only became a professional Go player last year, but..."

"If I'm not mistaken, he came to Beijing this time to participate in this year's National Player Challenge."

click -

The driver, who had just started moving, slammed on the brakes again and asked incredulously, "What did you say? The National Player Challenge?"

"That's right, he has already qualified for the National Masters Challenge. If he wins against National Master Jiang Changdong in the final best-of-three match, he will be the next holder of the National Masters title, a National Master at only seventeen years old!"

My friend took a deep breath, and like a barrage of cannon fire, continued, "You know Zhuang Weisheng, right? He just beat Zhuang Weisheng not long ago!"

"More importantly, many people now believe that because of him, Go has entered its third era, and the new era of Go will be led by Yu Shao!"

"Nowadays, who who plays Go doesn't know the name Yu Shao?"

“Every time I watch his chess game, it gets my blood pumping. He’s my idol! How many years of good deeds have you accumulated to be able to pick up Yu Shao as a passenger?” After hearing this, the driver’s mind went blank.

Is it that exaggerated?
Did I not go and ask for a photo and autograph?

……

……

After getting out of the car, Yu Shao quickly walked into the lobby of the Jinghua Hotel.

As the most luxurious five-star hotel in Beijing, the Jinghua Hotel is indeed magnificent in its decoration and furnishings. Every design exudes a sense of luxury, and the crystal chandelier on the lobby ceiling sparkles with the light of money.

"It truly lives up to its reputation as the most luxurious five-star hotel in Beijing."

Yu Shao was also somewhat taken aback upon seeing this.

However, as far as Yu Shao knew, the chess academy did not actually pay him a single penny for his stay here.

At first, after hearing Ma Zhengyu's explanation, he thought that he was participating in a competition and that all expenses would be covered by the chess academy. However, when he played online chess with Wu Zhixuan that night, Wu Zhixuan said that it was actually sponsored by the hotel.

In his previous life, he had participated in many competitions. If the competition was organized by the chess academy, the academy would cover all the expenses, such as venue and accommodation. However, in his previous life, he had to pay out of his own pocket for things like renting venues.

Of course, if there is sponsorship, that's a different story, in which case the organizer pays.

The chess academy here organizes its own competitions, not only without paying for them, but also collecting fees. However, he doesn't get a single penny of that money; it all goes into the academy's pocket. It's like even the richest landlords don't have surplus grain!
Yu Shao was speechless when he recalled the boastful tone Ma Zhengyu had used when he told him about this.

I never expected that old bastard Ma Zhengyu would have such a bad heart. He's taking advantage of people, selling them out and then expecting them to help him count the money. He's treating them like Japanese.

Other professional Go players are well aware of this way of making extra money at the Go academy, so they only take advantage of newcomers like him who haven't been professional Go players for long.

Yu Shao quickly went to the front desk, gave his name to the receptionist, received his room key, and then, with the help of the housekeeper, took his luggage and rode the elevator to his room.

The promotional video shoot would take a few more days, so for the next few days, Yu Shao stayed in the hotel analyzing and reviewing the game, and at most, he would wander around the hotel area.

Fortunately, Ma Zhengyu was right about one thing: the meals the hotel arranged for him these past few days were all local specialties of Beijing, such as Peking duck, which were specially prepared by the hotel's chef and were very delicious.

Three days later, Yu Shao finally received a notice from the chess academy to film a promotional video. He got out of bed early in the morning, got dressed, and took a taxi to the Northern Chess Academy.

Although he was a seasoned professional Go player in his previous life, this was his first time filming a promotional video for Go, and it was a novel experience for him.

Soon after, Yu Shao arrived at the entrance of the Northern Chess Academy, got out of the car, and walked into the academy.

As soon as Yu Shao entered the chess academy's main hall, he saw a familiar figure.

"You came."

Upon seeing Yu Shao, Qin Lang took two cans of Coca-Cola from the vending machine's dispenser, tossed one of them to Yu Shao, and then pulled the tab on his own can.

"Thanks, long time no see."

Yu Shao took the Coke, smiled, and thanked him.

"Knowing you were coming to the Northern Chess Academy, I waited in the lobby. The academy knew I knew you, so they asked me to greet you."

Qin Lang glanced at Yu Shao and said, "You're a little late. Professor Jiang Changdong has already arrived."

"Really? The chess academy notified me that someone would be coming to pick me up. I didn't expect it to be you."

Yu Shao smiled and said, "Didn't you say that arriving before nine o'clock would be fine?"

"But you can't stick to the exact time, it's already 8:50."

Qin Lang was somewhat speechless and said, "Let's go, I'll take you to the game room."

"Will you film it in the game room?"

Yu Shao asked curiously, "I was wondering why we had to come to the chess academy to film a promotional video."

"It doesn't necessarily have to be filmed at the chess academy. It depends on the director's idea. Director Li wanted to film in the chess room at the chess academy, so it was decided to film at the chess academy."

Qin Lang relaxed his shoulders and led the way, saying, "I'm actually quite curious about how we're going to film it."

The two chatted as they walked toward the game room.

Many professional Go players noticed the two on the way and cast their gazes at them. However, most of their attention was focused on Yu Shao, and they whispered among themselves.

"That must be Yu Shao, right?"

"Although I have studied his game records countless times, this is the first time I have met him in person."

"He hasn't been to the Northern Chess Academy before, has he? It's a good thing he's not a player from our Northern Chess Academy, otherwise, with him around, the pressure would be too great."

"It's unbelievable that he went from qualifying tournaments to title challenge matches in just one year..."

"Thanks to him, I feel like I've wasted twenty years of my Go studies."

The gazes of the crowd held curiosity, awe, longing, apprehension, and even envy...

Almost everyone has heard of Yu Shao, and they have studied his game records countless times. For most players at the Northern Chess Academy, this is the first time they have met Yu Shao.

Not long after, Yu Shao followed Qin Lang and finally arrived at the door of the video studio where the promotional video was being filmed.

"Here we are, right here."

Qin Lang turned to Yu Shao and said something, then pushed open the door and went in first.

Yu Shao followed Qin Lang into the game room.

The moment the two entered the game room, they immediately attracted everyone's attention.

At this time, several professional film-grade cameras had been set up in the call room, and more than a dozen people were crammed into the small call room.

Jiang Changdong was sitting on one side of the chess table in the center of the game room. When he saw Yu Shao arrive, he immediately looked up at Yu Shao, who was also looking at Jiang Changdong at that moment.

Their eyes met briefly in mid-air.

"Good morning, Yu Shao, third dan."

Jiang Changdong spoke first, offering a greeting, his face revealing no emotion.

Upon hearing this, Yu Shao also withdrew his gaze and returned Jiang Changdong's greeting, saying, "Good morning, Teacher Jiang Changdong."

Just then, another familiar voice rang out—

"Long time no see, Yu Shao, third dan."

Yu Shao was startled and turned to look at the source of the sound, and was immediately surprised.

Beneath the calligraphy scroll that read "Sitting and Discussing the Way" hanging high in the game room, a burly man with a stubble-covered face and rugged features was looking at him with a complicated expression.

"Teacher Kong Zi."

Yu Shao immediately greeted Kong Zi.

"The last time we met was during the Torch Relay. A year has passed, and now you've made it to the title challenge."

Kong Zi looked at Yu Shao, remained silent for a moment, and then said, "Truly... quite remarkable."

"So let me see for myself what moves you can make in the title match final."

…………

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(End of this chapter)