The world of film and television begins with Hikaru no Go

Yu Liang arrived early the next morning; to be precise, he left home just as dawn was breaking.

When he arrived, the gates of the dojo were still closed, and a thin layer of dew covered the steps at the entrance.

Yesterday, Zhang Rui only told him to come and spar with the students at the dojo, but he didn't mention a specific time. Yu Liang also didn't know the daily schedule of the Yijianghu Dojo.

Ban Heng opened the door at 7:30, as was his usual habit.

Pushing open the door, I saw someone standing there. I paused for a moment, then asked, "Is this Yu Liang?"

Yu Liang bowed respectfully: "Hello, I am Yu Liang. Zhang Rui, 9-dan, sent me here."

"Hello, hello, I'm Ban Heng, a teacher at the dojo. When...did you arrive?"

"We just arrived not long ago."

Ban Heng glanced at the dew-dampened shoulders on his coat and roughly guessed that the boy had probably been waiting for a while.

"Come in, it's cold outside."

"Thank you, Teacher Ban."

As Yu Liang passed by Ban Heng, Ban Heng noticed that there were traces of dew on his shoes, but his trouser legs were clean, indicating that he had been standing outside without sitting down.

This child is really...

Ban Heng led Yu Liang into the lobby on the first floor and poured him a cup of hot water.

"You sit down and warm up first, I'll go prepare the game room. Group One isn't all here yet, we'll have to wait a bit."

"It's okay, I'm not in a hurry."

Yu Liang held a water glass in both hands, sitting upright in a chair against the wall.

Ban Heng went to Zhu Dayong's office, where Zhu Dayong was making tea.

Zhang Rui only told Ban Heng the general situation yesterday, but since he wasn't sure if Yu Liang would come, he didn't tell Zhu Dayong.

When Zhu Dayong heard this news, he was shocked: "Yu Liang? Yu Xiaoyang's son, a 9th-dan master? Coming to our dojo as a sparring partner?"

"He's not here as a sparring partner," Ban Heng corrected. "Zhang Rui sent him. He wants to play chess with Zhang Rui, and Zhang Rui made him pass this round first."

Zhu Dayong paused for two seconds, then slapped his thigh: "Great news! The world champion's son is our students' free sparring partner! We might as well take advantage of this!"

"Old Zhu, he's not a sparring partner—"

"Who cares what it is, as long as he can get off the plane. Those guys in Group One, always so arrogant and useless, let them see what real professionalism is." Zhu Dayong put down the teapot, picked up his coat, and asked, "What time did he arrive?"

"I don't know, he was already there when I arrived."

"This kid...didn't Zhang Rui tell him the time?"

"He didn't say that, did he? You know Zhang Rui's personality."

Zhu Dayong shook his head, said nothing, put on his coat, and went downstairs.

He walked to the lobby on the first floor and saw Yu Liang sitting there, the tea in front of him barely touched, his gaze calmly fixed on the door.

"Yu Liang".

Yu Liang stood up: "Hello."

"I'm Zhu Dayong, the teacher in charge of this group. Have you had breakfast?"

Yu Liang hesitated for a moment and did not answer.

Zhu Dayong understood immediately, turned around and shouted towards the cafeteria, "Old Liu, do you still have steamed buns?"

"Yes! Freshly cooked!"

Zhu Dayong turned to Yu Liang and said, "Let's go eat breakfast first. We can talk about the chess game after we finish eating."

Yu Liang opened his mouth, wanting to say no, but Zhu Dayong had already strode towards the cafeteria, giving him no chance to refuse, so he could only follow.

In the canteen, several students who got up late were still eating.

When they saw Zhu Dayong bring in a stranger, they were all stunned for a moment and began to whisper among themselves.

"Who is that? I've never seen him before?"

"This year's freshmen?"

"Isn't it time to recruit students yet? That's strange, yesterday Teacher Ban brought one, and today Teacher Da brought one too..."

Zhu Dayong glared at them: "Eat your food, and then go wait in the classroom."

The trainees shrank back and continued eating with their heads down.

Zhu Dayong pressed Yu Liang down to an empty table, then went to the window and took out a steamer of steamed buns and a bowl of millet porridge, placing them in front of him.

"eat."

Yu Liang looked at the steaming buns in front of him, paused for a moment, then picked up his chopsticks and said softly, "Thank you, Teacher Zhu."

Zhu Dayong didn't respond. He stood there for a while, watched, and then turned and left.

At eight o'clock, a group of students arrived.

Zhu Dayong stood on the podium, his expression serious: "Listen up, everyone! Zhang Rui specially found a top player outside to be your sparring partner. One game each, starting with Li Zhouli, who's ranked sixteenth, one by one. Winners get a reward, and losers aren't allowed to cry. Did you all understand?"

"I heard you—" came the scattered reply.

"Speak louder!"

"I heard you!"

Zhu Dayong nodded in satisfaction: "Li Zhouli, go to the match room. You don't need to attend the morning class. Similarly, the practice matches within the group this afternoon will be postponed."

Li Zhouli stood up from his seat and felt a surge of nervousness when he saw how seriously Zhu Dayong was taking it.

Yu Liang was already seated in the game room, his coat draped over the back of the chair, wearing a light gray thin sweater with the sleeves rolled up to his forearms, revealing his fair wrists.

Li Zhouli walked to the chessboard and bowed to Yu Liang: "Please give me your guidance."

Yu Liang stood up and returned the greeting, then sat down again.

"Guess first."

Yu Liang grabbed a handful of black pieces from the chess basket and placed them on the chessboard.

Li Zhouli picked up two white pieces, hesitated for a moment, and placed them on the chessboard.

Yu Liang opened his palm—five black stones, an odd number.

Li Zhouli guessed correctly and went first with the black pieces.

Li Zhouli took a deep breath, picked up a black piece, and placed it on the upper right corner star position.

The game begins.

To avoid putting pressure on the trainees, Zhang Rui didn't go to check; in fact, he hadn't even gotten up yet.

Ban Heng knocked on the door and came in, carrying a packed breakfast.

"Yu Liang's here, playing against Li Zhouli. Aren't you going to go check it out?"

"There's nothing to see."

"Didn't you tell him what time it was yesterday? He was already there when I opened the door this morning. He looked like he'd been waiting for quite a while."

Zhang Rui paused in his dressing: "...I forgot."

Ban Heng glanced at him, smiled, and said nothing more.

The two games on the first day ended quickly.

I won both matches in the middle game against Li Zhouli in the morning and Li Zihao in the afternoon.

Li Zhouli and Li Zihao had only recently been promoted to the same group, and their skill level was significantly lower than Yu Liang's, so their loss was hardly surprising.

But Yu Liang was very serious when reviewing the game, spending nearly half an hour on each game and pointing out the key moments one by one.

At first, Li Zhouli was too nervous to speak, but he was inspired by Yu Liang's patience and began to ask questions.

Yu Liang answered each question in turn, his tone remaining calm throughout.

Ban Heng stood at the door for a while, then turned to Zhu Dayong and said, "This kid is more patient than you when it comes to teaching chess."

Zhu Dayong snorted: "I'm a strict teacher who produces outstanding students."

"I think it's the murderer who escaped."

"..."