LOL: Can’t I play other games professionally?

Chapter 426 Bullying Minors is My Profession

That's very knowledgeable.

In Lin Ruo's view, Li Weiqing does not currently have the strength to defeat Park Jung-hwan, a South Korean national player known for his steady performance. Considering his opponent's current form, this is a perfectly normal assessment.

Although Li Weiqing's words carried a hint of uncertainty, he could not possibly have truly asked Lin Ruo to avenge him. In reality, he wanted Lin Ruo to cheer him on and say that he could.

Lin Ruo didn't understand, but nodded in response: "Don't worry, if we meet again, I will definitely help you get revenge."

"No." Li Weiqing was a little speechless. Lin Ruo believed he would be eliminated even more than he did.

Lin Ruo was speechless. He thought that eliminating Park Jung-hwan was not enough. Did Li Weiqing want him to recruit the South Korean national team player as well?

That's an exaggeration.

Although he's opened up, it's impossible to keep up. Li Weiqing is really putting him in a difficult position. But if he treats him to a few more meals, he could try.

"Your luck is unbelievable, but I don't think you need this kind of luck. It would be better if it were Weiqing."

To celebrate their advancement to the top 32, team leader Tian Bin called to offer his congratulations after the draw.

Li Weiqing, who wasn't in a good mood, didn't say much; Lin Ruo did all the talking.

"Does the chess academy give out bonuses for the team leader advancing to the top 32? We'd like to have a nice meal this afternoon to celebrate. Team leader, are you coming? If not, then you can pay for our meal, which counts as you coming too."

Tian Bin hung up the phone quickly. He felt that Lin Ruo was a very honest person, so honest that it made him uneasy.

"Alright, now I don't have to listen to his nagging anymore." Lin Ruo felt relieved after hanging up the phone. In fact, Team Leader Tian Bin was a chatterbox. He didn't just call to ask questions. If we didn't take some measures to stop the chat, it could have gone on for half an hour.

Just a few seconds after the call ended, Lin Ruo's phone started ringing again.

Is Lao Bin really going to send money? Thinking it might be possible, Lin Ruo calmly answered the phone, only to find something unusual when she looked at the caller ID.

Whose phone number is this without a note? He probably saved it but was too lazy to write a note about it.

But it didn't matter. Lin Ruo knew who it was as soon as she answered the phone. The soft female voice made the answer obvious.

"Oh, it's Zhang Ruo. What's up?" Lin Ruo realized that he hadn't chatted with this young girl, or rather, the daughter of a powerful figure, for a long time.

Lin Ruo thought he was preparing for the college entrance examination, so she didn't bother him.

Actually, he was overthinking it. The girl had just recently participated in some kind of closed-door Go training at the Go academy, and she only came out now.

That's true. As the daughter of a powerful figure, why should she need to take the college entrance examination? She can just pursue her hobbies and interests.

"I heard you made it to the round of 32 in the Dream Lily Cup? That's amazing!"

Hearing such subtle praise, most people would smile slightly and raise the corners of their mouths, then pretend to be calm and maintain a humble attitude. But Lin Ruo was different; he would only respond very objectively.

"Advancing to the round of 32? Actually, you should congratulate me on advancing to the round of 16. You don't think I can't beat a first-dan kid, do you?"

Li Weiqing, standing to the side, watched with his mouth agape and silently thought to himself, "It seems to be the truth, but there's no need to say it out loud."

Only Zhang Ruo was used to it; wasn't this exactly how he remembered Lin Ruo?

Showing off is an essential skill.

He used to have a rather aloof personality, and would suddenly blurt out a very pretentious remark without realizing it. Now, he's all about being pretentious with just a smile.

This must be the difference between being familiar and unfamiliar.

...

After hanging up the phone, Lin Ruo didn't stay with Li Weiqing after finishing her meal. Instead, she took a taxi directly to a chess club in Haidian District, Beijing.

He didn't expect that Zhang Ruo would actually come to Beijing. He guessed that Zhang Ruo had been too tired from the recent closed training and came out to relax, and also to watch the Mlily World Championship Cup and experience the atmosphere.

Considering that she had been feeling a bit feverish lately, Lin Ruo made a point of wearing a baseball cap and sunglasses to cover her face before entering this chess club, which had a high volume of customers.

This is not necessary in other places, but it is essential in specific Go contexts.

The number of viewers who are obsessed with Go is directly proportional to the number of people who understand the tournament.

Besides, Lin Ruo's story has already gone beyond his circle. People who play Go but don't know him are probably living in the primitive era without communication devices.

He certainly didn't want to repeat what happened at the Shanghai Chess Academy.

"Welcome! Are you here to play chess? Do you have a reservation?"

"Yes, room number five." Lin Ruo truthfully told the receptionist the room Zhang Ruo had booked for the chess game. The receptionist immediately pointed in the direction; it was the third room on the left.

Lin Ruo nodded and left the front desk. There were quite a few people playing chess in the lobby, but no one could tell who he was; they just thought he was an ordinary customer.

Upon entering the private room, Zhang Ruo, who had been waiting for a long time, was sitting there quietly, looking quite elegant. Dressed in jeans and a white short-sleeved shirt, she looked very refreshed today.

However, once she saw Lin Ruo arrive, she lost all interest in putting on airs.

"You're here. Let me tell you, I've improved a lot recently. I even beat a senior female student who's a professional fourth dan at the Go academy."

"Really? That's not bad." Lin Ruo reluctantly chose to believe her, but who knew how many games they actually won?

Forget it, let's not ask that, lest we dampen the enthusiasm of a 17-year-old girl. Lin Ruo then chose to get back to the point: "You didn't invite me here just to show off this, did you?"

"Of course not, look."

Reminded, Zhang Ruo quickly took out a very eye-catching gift box from under the table, placed it on the table, and pushed it towards Lin Ruo's side.

"I bought it on the way here. You said you advanced to the round of 16 ahead of schedule, so I thought I'd buy a gift to celebrate."

Zhang Ruo's thinking was simple: as a newly promoted professional 1-dan who had just achieved a professional ranking, it was his first time participating in a world championship and he was able to reach the top 16.

If this isn't something to celebrate, then nothing is.

Lin Ruo nodded slightly, touched the gift box, and said seriously, "Why would a young girl give me a gift? Really."

These words sounded like an adult educating a child, which made Zhang Ruo scratch his head involuntarily.

Then Lin Ruo continued, "Actually, it doesn't have to be so complicated. Next time, you can just send a red envelope or transfer money via WeChat."

Zhang Ruo: ...

Well, she was successfully amused by Lin Ruo, especially since Lin Ruo didn't laugh when she said those words, but spoke in a calm tone.

Don't you feel ashamed?
"It's a shame you're not a crosstalk performer," Zhang Ruo quipped.

Lin Ruo answered confidently, "I was actually doing stand-up comedy the whole time during my live stream."

After all, he always uses both his hands and mouth to create a good show effect; otherwise, how could he keep up with the comedians? Lin Ruo felt that he was only one certificate away from becoming a crosstalk performer.

There's no way around it, he's a true professional when it comes to humor and comedy.

"By the way, what gift did you buy me?"

After talking for a while, Lin Ruo finally remembered to open the gift. The girl's ideas were definitely different; she gave him a keyboard and mouse set…

Awesome.

Lin Ruo could only silently give a thumbs up.

Well, it's completely unnecessary. After all, keyboards and mice are extremely important for professional players; they're basically custom-made because they affect the feel of the game.

Therefore, most professional players use the same mouse and keyboard throughout their careers, or always use the same brand.

Even Kim Gong smashes his keyboard every day; he wouldn't use any other unfamiliar brand.

Zhang Ruo did something quite impressive: he bought him a brand that was completely opposite to Razer.

Use it? You'd be better off kneeling on it.

"Actually, I have another gift," Zhang Ruo said excitedly, as if she had given Lin Ruo a surprise.

Of course, this is only one-sided; in Lin Ruo's view, it is not at all like that.

Although Zhang Ruo had fully considered Lin Ruo's professional work, besides League of Legends, what she had been doing most recently was immersing herself in the field of Go.

So she thoughtfully bought another set of chess pieces and chess pieces for Lin Ruo.

In this regard.

Lin Ruo could only say, "Good heavens, when buying things, they really only consider what the seller does, and never what kind of person the seller is."

Is this right?
That's right, it means the girl is at least considering it.

Lin Ruo thought for a moment before opening it.

High-end Go stones include Yunzi, Yushi stones, Japanese clam shell stones, and Hamari stone stones, among which Yunzi are the most widely used.

Lin Ruo was aware of these things. Fortunately, Zhang Ruo didn't buy him those five-figure sums. The chess pieces looked to be worth only a few thousand yuan, which was reasonable.

For professional Go players, this kind of output within the price range is a normal behavior.

If she really bought him something worth five or six figures, then Lin Ruoke would have to request a refund for being a minor.

There was no way around it; he was afraid to go inside.

However, Lin Ruo certainly couldn't let Zhang Ruo waste several thousand yuan. She looked down at the chessboard, cleared the table, and was about to play a game to see if her closed-door training had actually made any progress.

Zhang Ruo readily agreed and finished cleaning the desk even faster than Lin Ruo. Actually, she wanted Lin Ruo to check the results for her.

After nearly two hours of gameplay, in Lin Ruo's own judgment, it proved that she had made progress; at least she was no longer the naive young girl who had just achieved a certain rank.

Sure, I can offer some guidance and then treat you to an expensive meal; that would essentially offset the cost of the gifts.

Lin Ruoke didn't want to take advantage of a minor. Although he liked to take advantage of rich people, that is, the daughters of big shots, he should at least wait until they came of age, right?

However, he's definitely going to take advantage of being a minor in tomorrow's round of 32 match.

A ten-year-old prodigy? Sorry, no matter who his opponent is on the Go board, all he needs to do is strike hard and make them cry – that's the greatest proof of his strength.

(End of this chapter)