The Way of the Blind Girl Chess Saint

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"Please take a break, athletes."

Huh? Luo Qiu'er was suddenly stunned. She saw Ji Yingting raise her slender right hand, lifting her water lily-colored sleeve, and drop a black chess piece onto the chessboard with a thud.

Huh? She placed her piece just before the game ended!! Why...?

Her white eyebrows furrowed instantly, and Luo Qiu'er's blue pupils contracted slightly.

Is this...some kind of intention, psychological warfare? To make me nervous?

Luo Qiu'er swallowed slightly, and a light sheen of sweat appeared on her cheeks as she involuntarily became nervous.

"Phew... Time to eat."

Ji Yingting stood up, pulling on the hem of her water lily-colored skirt, and brushed past Luo Qiu'er slightly. Her light green ponytail accidentally tugged at the top of Luo Qiu'er's white head.

"Oh dear," Luo Qiu'er shook her long white hair. After Ji Yingting left, she remained sitting on the sofa, quietly contemplating the game of chess.

Most of the players had already gotten up and left the venue, leaving only a small group of people still observing the game and thinking quietly. Many of them were players who were at a disadvantage.

Her snow-white hair was constantly being blown by the warm breeze. Because there were fewer people in the venue, Luo Qiu'er could feel more of the warm breeze.

However... her heart was not at peace at this moment. Did Ji Yingting give her the right to play at the last second because he didn't like to think about the game during his rest time?

Information has become completely widespread in this era, so Luo Qiu'er couldn't possibly get nervous like Kondo Hikaru in Hikaru no Go because of who has the right to play the game... She must have consulted a lot of relevant information before taking the professional exam.

But... what exactly did Ji Yingting mean by handing over the right to play to me at the last second? Luo Qiu'er, her white eyebrows furrowed, was very puzzled.

After a few minutes of silence, she also gently stood up from the sofa, dragging her white Taoist robe, and left the competition venue.

---------------------------

After washing her hands in the restroom, Ji Yingting walked out, her long, light green ponytail swaying.

"Ouch!" Her light green ponytail accidentally hit Luo Zhuyu's cheek, making her dizzy and spinning around a few times.

"Ah, Xiaoyu? How is she?" Ji Yingting asked, brandishing the green weapon.

"Hehe, we've basically won... so I'll give my opponent the chance to think," Luo Zhuyu said happily after regaining her balance. She was in a very good mood.

Luo Zhuyu, her long, light green hair swaying, followed behind Ji Yingting's turquoise ponytail and asked softly, "Big sister, how are you? With your chess skills, it shouldn't matter who gets the right to play, right... so I guess it's your opponent's turn to think."

"Huh?" Ji Yingting narrowed her pale purple starry eyes slightly, and shook her green ponytail a few times, somewhat puzzled.

After a few seconds of silence, Ji Yingting asked with slight confusion, "What are you talking about regarding the right to play...? A four-hour-long slow chess game... what's the point of who gets the right to play?"

Chapter 159: Eating at McDonald's

Luo Zhuyu, her long, light green hair swaying, followed behind Ji Yingting's turquoise ponytail and asked softly, "Big sister, how are you? With your chess skills, it shouldn't matter who gets the right to play, right... so I guess it's your opponent's turn to think."

"Huh?" Ji Yingting narrowed her pale purple starry eyes slightly, and shook her green ponytail a few times, somewhat puzzled.

After a few seconds of silence, Ji Yingting asked with slight confusion, "What are you talking about regarding the right to play...? A four-hour-long slow chess game... what's the point of who gets the right to play?"

That's right, the four-hour game time wasn't even halfway over... As long as the two sides don't engage in extremely complex battles in the middle game, the whole game can be finished very quickly. After all, many amateur Go players only need five minutes to play a game of online Go.

Therefore... long periods of thinking are very useful for professional players, but in a professional exam... no amateur player would spend hours thinking about a single move...

The opening moves of Ji Yingting and Luo Qiu'er's game were quite stable, which is why Luo Qiu'er didn't fall too far behind Ji Yingting.

If Luo Qiu'er, with her amateur 5-dan skill level, dared to fight Ji Yingting in the opening stage, she would probably have resigned in the middle game.

……

“Oh…that makes sense, big sister, you’re right,” Luo Zhuyu nodded in response, her light green hair swaying in realization.

In reality, most of the chess players who come to take the professional exam have already researched the information about the exam... but they are misled by the information about the exam itself.

As Ji Yingting said, it doesn't matter who can think a little longer during lunchtime.

Let alone two hours per person... even if you were only given an hour and a half, a normal chess player might not be able to use it all up...

"Alright... let's go eat. Are there any good restaurants around here?" Ji Yingting said, swinging her long, light green ponytail. She planned to eat with Luo Zhuyu.

All the other acquaintances were in Group B, and their exam venue was too far from Ji Yingting's. It was on the other side of the professional chess academy, and it would take ten minutes to walk there... and the lunch break for the professional exam was only one hour.

"Hmm... let me see. How about fast food, big sister? Or something more formal?"

Looking at the map on her phone, Luo Zhuyu asked, "The professional chess academy is like a university town; there are also many fast food restaurants there."

"Mmm, let's just grab something casual, nothing too formal... By the way, let's go to McDonald's." Ji Yingting nodded, her light green ponytail swaying. McDonald's is a very popular fast food restaurant on the moon, and Luo Zhuyu also nodded in agreement.

Sitting inside McDonald's, Ji Yingting placed her large green ponytail whip on the table, gently chewing a green onion-flavored French fry between her cherry-like lips.

There was no awkward atmosphere when Luo Zhuyu sat with her, and they could talk normally... However, Ji Yingting didn't want to sit alone with An Ruotong and Hua Shenxi, those two children.

After all, An Ruotong's personality is too strange, and she's not easy to coax...

Hua Shenxi, on the other hand, is always causing trouble, or pulling her long hair and making her uncomfortable.

It's more comfortable to be with people my own age...

Ji Yingting thought Luo Zhuyu was the most mature of the three children, and besides, she had been her daughter before... Fortunately, she was not assigned to the same examination room as the others, and Ji Yingting couldn't help but feel a little proud.

I wonder how Qi Yue and the others are doing now? Are there any other strong players in Group A?

Blinking her pale purple starry eyes, Ji Yingting became slightly curious after thinking about this. She kicked her white-stockinged legs and asked softly, "Xiaoyu, who are the strongest players in Group A?"

"Strong players in Group A? I'm not too sure about those from other cities... But in our Mingyue City, there's a very strong one named Cui Jinlie. I've heard that Huangyue City also has a few pretty strong players, and of course, you're very strong too, big sister," Luo Zhuyu said while eating her hamburger.

"Hmm... I feel like you're the strongest, big sister... after all, you were able to beat Senior Sister Ye Xiaomi so easily."

Luo Zhuyu scratched the light green strands of hair that fell across her cheek and continued speaking.

"The strongest? Don't be ridiculous." A cold voice came from a distance as Ji Yingting and Luo Zhuyu were talking. A girl with a low orange ponytail stood not far away and said coldly.

.................................

Inside the professional exam venue at this very moment, the white-haired girl still sat beside the chessboard with a worried expression, her blue pupils showing a hint of hesitation.

Should we go eat... or should we take this time to think about how to turn the tide? Luo Qiu'er frowned, deep in thought.

"Xiao Qiu, let's go eat together?" A voice echoed in her ears, but Luo Qiu'er didn't hear it.

"Xiao Qiu? Xiao Qiu?" A woman with black hair asked in confusion. She lowered her medium-length black hair and glanced down at the chessboard where Luo Qiu'er and Ji Yingting were playing chess.

It's just an ordinary chess game, so what exactly is Xiao Qiu thinking about while sitting here? The black-haired girl's expression was a little strange.

Ah, she's a senior from the chess academy...

Luo Qiu'er shook her long white hair, snapping out of her thoughts. She pulled herself up from the sofa, clutching her snow-white Taoist robe with both hands.

"If we don't go eat soon, it will be too late. I can't hold on until the afternoon... Oh no... My butt is so sore." Luo Qiu'er's eyes twitched a few times. She had been sitting for almost two hours straight, and her butt was almost numb and lost all feeling.

Although she had barely recovered, Luo Qiu'er's heart was still tense. She took a deep breath and then exhaled a heavy breath from her mouth.

Don't think about it too much now... It would be terrible if it affected the game this afternoon... Don't think about it too much, don't think about it too much.

Luo Qiu'er narrowed her pale blue pupils and thought to herself, then gently patted her chest, which hadn't been bullied at all, with her small hand.

Her every move was observed by the black-haired girl, who gave a slight, cold laugh to herself.

"No way, Luo Qiu'er is this nervous in the first round? Our teacher said she had a chance to reach the professional rank this year. It would be hilarious if her final score after 29 rounds was worse than mine..."

Chapter 160: Merchant, Shang Gongying

"Strong players in Group A? I'm not too sure about those from other cities... But in our Mingyue City, there's a very strong one named Cui Jinlie. I've heard that Huangyue City also has a few pretty strong players, and of course, you're very strong too, big sister," Luo Zhuyu said while eating her hamburger.

"Hmm... I feel like you're the strongest, big sister... after all, you were able to beat Senior Sister Ye Xiaomi so easily," Luo Zhuyu continued.

"The strongest? Don't be ridiculous." A cold voice came from a distance as Ji Yingting and Luo Zhuyu were talking. A girl with a low orange ponytail stood not far away and said coldly.

The girl with the orange-yellow low ponytail had a cold face and slightly disdainful beige pupils. She was wearing a crimson Taoist robe and walked towards Ji Yingting and the other person step by step.

Because the orange-yellow eyebrows are slightly arched, a girl with an orange-yellow low ponytail isn't considered cute, but rather gives off a strong, androgynous vibe.

The crimson Taoist robe was unbuttoned in the middle, revealing a white cloth garment with an orange ribbon tied around the waist, and the long crimson robe trailed on the ground.

Ji Yingting tossed her long, light green ponytail behind her small green head and blinked her pale purple pupils with a slight look of confusion.

"Shang Gongying... an amateur fifth dan from Huangyue City." Luo Zhuyu's light green pupils contracted slightly. If she had to say who she was least confident of winning against in this Group A professional exam, then Shang Gongying from Huangyue City would definitely be in the top three.

The only Go family in Huangyue City... Shang Gongying.

"Luo Zhuyu... Don't think that just because you can't beat someone, I can't beat them either," Shang Gongying said, giving Ji Yingting a cold glare with her beige eyes.

The long, bluish-green hair and the pale purple, squinty eyes left a very deep impression on Shang Gongying... Ji Yingting, a chess player from Yongyue City who achieved a ten-game winning streak in the New Moon Province Tournament.

Since she was promoted to fifth dan in the city tournament of Aragaki City, she had only heard of Ji Yingting but had never witnessed her actual Go skills.

Ten wins? That's just because the other players are too weak... Shang Gongying thought to herself, and said disdainfully as she flicked her orange low ponytail.

"On the day we play against each other, I'll show you what true strength is..."

“………………Oh, okay,” Ji Yingting nodded, swaying her long, light green hair.

1 second, 2 seconds, 3 seconds, 4 seconds, 5 seconds.

The people eating around them were all watching what was happening, but Ji Yingting, Luo Zhuyu, and Shang Gongying remained silent.

While playing with her long, light green hair, Ji Yingting suddenly froze. She rummaged through the box with her right hand for a while, only to find that she had actually finished eating all the fries.

How embarrassing... Ji Yingting's slender right hand froze in the box of fries, and a few beads of nervous sweat gradually appeared on her cheeks.

After a few seconds of silence, the atmosphere seemed to become genuinely awkward, and a cold aura emanated from Shang Gongying's beige eyes.

Ji Yingting blinked her pale purple eyes gently, feeling a little helpless, because she really had nothing to say and didn't know what to say to this chuunibyou girl.

Then, in the next second, Ji Yingting did something unbelievable... She took the last purple fries out of her mouth and pointed at Shang Gongying with the purple fries.

"Want a fries...? This is the last one, you can have it," Ji Yingting asked softly, shaking her long, light green hair under the gaze of everyone at McDonald's.

*Smack*... Because the seats at McDonald's are very high, even when she's sitting on the chair, her long, light green ponytail doesn't reach the ground.

So, the end of the fries that Ji Yingting had been sucking on gently touched Shang Gongying's pink lips. She could even feel the moisture from Ji Yingting's small mouth on the edge of the purple fries.

Smack, smack, smack.

Ji Yingting narrowed her pale purple starry eyes. She didn't know what strange place the fries had poked to give it this strange feel. Her slender jade hand held the fries and gently pulled them in and out a few times. The purple fries, like an indescribable object, gently wriggled a few times in Shang Gongying's pink little mouth.