Please play Fate/Go with me.

"Ah, so you're the daughter of Mr. Zhou, who owns an internet company," Shirou said, suddenly realizing.

"There's really no way around it. A normal person would have thought of this by now." Zhou Meimei rolled her eyes at Shirou, her smiling eyes like blooming peach blossoms. Although she looked much smaller than Komachi, she revealed a touch of charm.

At this moment, two girls called out, one with a single ponytail tied on the left and the other with a single ponytail tied on the right, and they ran over like loyal dogs.

"Princess! Don't run away! You still have a performance to do!"

"Princess! Where have you run off to? Take me with you! And who is this?"

"Wan'er, Lingyue, this is Qianye Shirou," Zhou Meimei said to the two classmates.

"Polys?"

'Am I just an unwanted piece of flesh that needs to be cut off?'

"Cristiano Ronaldo?"

'I'm not that Portuguese person either.'

"Hello, if you really can't pronounce it properly, just call me Shirou in Mandarin, I can understand you." The boy was speechless and embarrassed.

"It's okay, Polyp! Please don't try to get close to the princess. Don't let her petite stature and seemingly nonexistent chest fool you. She's already a junior high student, about to enter high school, and will soon inherit the family business. I'll become the CEO and make a name for myself!" The girl on the left, named Wan'er, shouted aggressively.

"I didn't ask you anything, eh! But if that's the case, isn't this girl in the same grade as Komachi?" Shirou looked at the little girl Zhou Meimei, whose head only reached his waist, in surprise and asked, "Did you skip a grade? No wonder you're a genius."

I've heard that foreign teenagers are full of ambition, some even wanting to pursue a PhD at 14 to become theoretical physicists, researching string theory, and asking questions like why Superman caught his girlfriend falling from a tall building but didn't cut her into three pieces—questions about the realistic plausibility of superhero abilities.

This girl is exceptionally gifted in memory and language learning; she's probably a genius.

Zhou Meimei waved her hands, clearly dissatisfied, and said, "That's not right! I'm 15 years old! I'll be an adult in 3 more years!"

"That's right! Lolicon classmate! Please don't have any fantasies about the princess's loli figure, delicate body and soft body! The princess is a rare female powerhouse in this world! Exams, arts, sports, none of them are difficult for her, one or two pretty boys are definitely not enough for her! So give up your shallow thoughts." The girl on the left named Reiyue spoke about the little girl with an admiring look, and then pointed at Shirou.

Zhou Meimei shouted angrily, "Who's a loli?! I'll grow up soon!"

“No, you’ve really misunderstood,” Shirou explained.

"No need to explain! What you say won't make a difference! The princess is the legitimate daughter of the president of a super famous internet company in all of China! Moreover, she is a peerless genius who appears only once in thousands of years. With her sudden emergence, becoming the world's richest person is not impossible!"

"Yes! It's impossible for you and the princess! If you insist on having a cross-cultural romance, even though I'm taller than the princess, please bear with me!"

"Hey! You two, stop it! I'm getting angry! Shirou is an acquaintance of my dad's business partner, so I was just saying hello to him!" The little girl was so angry that her long twin ponytails seemed to float up.

"Oh... I see." The two girls looked at each other, suddenly realizing.

"Apologize properly to the guest!" Zhou Meimei ordered.

"I'm sorry!!!" the two girls obediently apologized.

"It's nothing, it's nothing," Shirou waved his hand, preoccupied with his surprise, and it didn't seem like he had the right to be angry.

"Shirou, on behalf of both of them, I apologize to you. Please forgive their rudeness," Zhou Meimei said.

"We'll follow the princess our whole lives! She's rich and smart; following her means you'll save at least ten years of hard work."

"Yes, we are the princess's little sisters! The princess is a genius, and it's definitely the right thing to do to follow her. Besides, I can accept men that the princess has used but doesn't want. NTR can give you twice the pleasure, hehehe."

"You should just get rid of these two and find some more reliable subordinates," Shirou said to Zhou Meimei.

"I'll think about it." Zhou Meimei nodded.

"How could this be?! Princess, you can't forget your best friend just because you have a boyfriend!" the two girls exclaimed.

"By the way, Shirou, you seem pretty reliable. Why don't you just stay and work with me? I guarantee that in ten years, 99.9% of the business world will know your name and envy your situation." Zhou Meimei said with a smile, her eyes sparkling. Her youthful face now revealed a hint of authority and domineering presence.

"Thank you for your support, but I also have my own ideals. So, Meimei, let's just be friends. You all need to prepare for the performance later, so I'll be going now." Shirou chuckled and waved, following the group of visitors ahead.

"Hmm... Hahaha, I'm even more interested now! Even if you want to tame a wild horse like 'Lion Steed,' you'll have to go through three steps: whip, hammer, and dagger." The little girl turned her bright, intelligent eyes, smiling sweetly as she watched the boy leave. Then she turned back to the two somewhat frightened girls and said, "Of course I won't actually use a knife! Let's go!"

"Great! The princess was so cool when she put away the whip just now!"

"Princess, I've already fetched your clothes. Now you can just go to the dressing room to change."

"Yes, thank you for your hard work, Wan'er!" Zhou Meimei turned and walked towards the auditorium, with the two girls following behind her attentively.

After Shirou toured the school with the group, they returned to the auditorium. The auditorium had been renovated; a red curtain had been lowered onto the platform, and spotlights had been turned on.

Below the platform, rows of chairs were set up, and the principal, the dean of studies, and other teachers and students of Xunyang School were already seated.

"Please have a seat, everyone. Next, our school will present a talent show to welcome you from so far away," the teacher said with a smile.

"Thank you." After everyone at the Chiba branch school was seated, the performance officially began.

The lights shone, the curtain was drawn back, and three young women dressed in traditional Chinese dresses appeared on the stage.

Zhou Meimei, that petite and adorable girl, had her beautiful long curly ponytail tied into a bun and secured at the back of her head with a blue bow adorned with pink flowers. At this moment, she was wearing an exquisite dress and sitting in the chair at the front, holding an oval-shaped traditional Chinese musical instrument, the pipa, in her arms.

Behind her were her attendants, one with a guzheng in front of him and the other holding a xiao (vertical bamboo flute).

The girl spoke softly into the microphone in front of her:

"What I'm going to perform is the story of the tenth year of the Yuanhe era of Emperor Xianzong of Tang, which is 815 AD. The poet Bai Juyi was demoted to this place and served as the Sima of Jiujiang Prefecture. At night, when he was seeing guests off on a boat, he heard the sound of a pipa that could only be heard in the capital.

Upon inquiring, I learned that the pipa player was originally a courtesan from Chang'an, now married to a merchant, who had just played a few pieces to entertain her guests. However, she seemed melancholy afterward, as she recalled the joys of her youth. She had once been a highly popular courtesan in Chang'an, but now she could only wander the world, a nomadic life.

"Bai Juyi had not appreciated such a beautiful pipa piece for a long time. Upon hearing about the singer's plight, he realized that he had been demoted and removed from the court for more than two years. Bai Juyi, who had always taken a life philosophy of accepting one's fate with optimism, also recalled that he had been successful in his official career when he was young, but now he had been ostracized and demoted by powerful officials in the court.

Overwhelmed with emotion, he wrote this poem, "The Song of the Pipa," and dedicated it to the singing girl.

The girl spoke in her light, melodious voice, reciting the poem in a tone completely different from modern ones. Her voice rose and fell gracefully, her breath was steady, and every word was clearly enunciated, expressing the thoughts that this Yuefu poem wanted to convey.

"

Suddenly heard the sound of pipa on the water, the host forgot to return.

Following the sound, I secretly inquired who was playing the pipa. The music stopped, and the player hesitated to speak.

…………

After all the calls came out, he still hugged the pipa and covered his face.

The revolving shaft plucks the strings three or two times, and there is love before it becomes a tune.

The girl held the pipa, plucking the strings with effortless grace—a single stroke, a pluck, a strum, a flick—perfectly executed. Behind her, two other girls played the guzheng and xiao, their voices complementing the warbling of the oriole, making it even more moving and poignant. The pipa's music shifted between fast and slow, sometimes sounding like weeping, like the splashing of a silver wine cup falling into water, or the clear clang of clashing swords on a battlefield.

…………

A silver bottle shatters, water gushing forth; iron cavalry charges forth, swords and spears clashing. The music ends, the plectrum is drawn across the strings, a single note like tearing silk. East and west boats are silent, only the white autumn moon shines on the river's heart.

"............

We are both wanderers in this world, why should we need to have known each other before? Since I left the capital last year, I have been living in exile and ill in Xunyang. Xunyang is a remote place with no music; all year round I have not heard the sound of strings or bamboo instruments.

…………

"

As the song ended, the poignant ancient melody seemed to linger in the spacious auditorium, only fading away after a long while.

Both the faculty and students of the main campus and the people from the Chiba branch campus spontaneously applauded, offering their blessings and gratitude to the girls who had given them such a wonderful performance.

"Amazing..." Shirou didn't have time to say it before the girl's excited voice drowned him out.

"Wow, Shirou! Did you hear that?! That little girl was amazing! I felt it just now, like I was really in the Tang Dynasty, listening to that piece of music with Bai Letian!"

At this moment, Kasumigaoka Utaha was like a fangirl seeing her idol, jumping slightly, grabbing the boy's clothes, and bouncing up and down, completely unaware that she had completely rubbed against the boy's shoulder.

"Senior, calm down," Shirou called out to the girl.

"Ah... I'm sorry, I didn't expect to hear such wonderful poetry here." Kasumigaoka Utaha blushed slightly, but managed to calm herself down.

"Can you understand it, senior?" Shirou asked in surprise. The ancient-style songs were indeed beautiful, and the poems were indeed very beautiful, but he couldn't feel it as deeply as the girl with the headband. She was so excited, so her understanding must be much deeper than his.

Kasumigaoka Utaha smiled and shook her head, her eyes still shining with emotion. "I don't quite understand it, but I know what it means and I can feel the mood it evokes."

'I don't quite understand, yet you're so excited. Just how much do you like Bai Juyi... So that's what you meant by studying Bai Juyi on the plane...' Shirou was starting to understand the true nature of this difficult senior. Just as troublesome as Eriri. No wonder they're so close.

But... if that's the case, he needs to find Merlin and have a proper talk with him. Since he can't accept it, he needs to refuse him properly. Otherwise, this senior isn't as strong as she seems.

After two more performances by the Xunyang branch, today's exchange activity came to an end.

Next, the Chiba branch and Xunyang branch will conduct an exchange program divided into three categories: talent, ability, and comparison.

The "three talents" refer to the mutual performance of talents. The Chiba branch school is divided into flower arranging, poetry, and archery, which Shirou will be demonstrating, all of which belong to the category of cultural exchange.

The third category consists of competitions in Go, table tennis, and badminton. After all, it's for friendly exchange between the two schools; they're not here to challenge each other, nor are they going to play football. Well, women's football is a different story, but it seems there's no intention to do so this time.

The next day, the competition began, starting with a rapid Go game.

According to the rules of the Chinese version, Black moves first, gives a komi of 3 3/4 stones, or 7 points, and takes 30 seconds to move one stone. At the end of the game, the points of each side's enclosed territory are counted. After Black subtracts the komi, the result is compared with half the board's area, which is 180 1/2. If Black has more points, Black wins; if Black has fewer, Black loses.

In other words, the player with the black pieces needs 185 pieces to win the game.

On Chiba's side, it's Ochi, a second-year high school student with the strength of a Go academy graduate.

Chiba's classmates smiled and said to him.

"It's up to you now, Ochi-kun!"

"Go for it, Ochi-kun."

"Don't make that little girl cry."

"I will not show mercy to any opponent, no matter who I face." The boy with tea-colored hair and a watermelon-shaped haircut wiped his glasses with a handkerchief, staring at the opponent with a cool and expressionless face.

Japan was the first country to professionalize Go and establish formal Go competitions, including title matches and friendly matches. Japan had its most glorious era, the "Six Superstars Era," where six top-tier players led the world. As the center of Go, domestic competitions were even more exciting than international ones.

That is the memory of a generation, the Go masters admired by a generation, seeking victory in all kinds of battles, mental battles, and chess battles, pursuing that legendary 'divine move'! Wu Qingyuan's disciple 'evergreen' Lin Haifeng, the aesthetic Go player Otake Hideo, half-point Kato, the imaginative universe style of Takemiya Masaki, the rigorous and pragmatic Kobayashi Koichi, and the seven-title winner Cho Chikun.

The girl with long twin ponytails casually placed her black pieces, starting with '3-3, Star, Center'.

Ochi looked shocked.

However… that system began to decline thirty years ago. Currently, in the world rankings, Park and Ko are vying for first place, while in the top ten there are 6 from China, 3 from South Korea, and only one from Japan. In the top thirty, China has 18 from China, 11 from South Korea, and still only one from Japan.

"I lost!" At Chiba International High School, the boy with tea-colored watermelon haircut named Ochi lowered his head deeply, clenching his fists on his lap with great resentment.

"Don't worry about it. My master is a top-three player in the country, and rapid chess is the rule I'm best at. It's only natural that you lost to me," Zhou Meimei, a girl with long curly hair and pigtails sitting opposite the boy, comforted him in a sweet voice.

Go is an ancient and artistic two-player competitive game that also has a winner and a loser.

In addition to the students of the Go Academy, there are many schools of thought in China. While pursuing victory and defeat, China also wants to regard Go as an art, pursuing the most perfect and beautiful move, the "divine move". They pursue the orthodox school, emphasizing the overall shape, feeling, and brilliant moves, and the whole game. They emphasize the aspect of making Go look beautiful, but they neglect the basics, endgame and calculation.

When a chess player reaches middle age and feels that his skills have reached a certain bottleneck and he can no longer strive for higher ranks or titles, he will stop and start taking on some talented children as disciples to train and mentor them.

Some even became "inner disciples," living in their teacher's home until they completed their apprenticeship. While this method of training involved both verbal instruction and personal example, the teachers themselves also had to compete while teaching the students, making it far from efficient.

With the nation's continued decline in strength, declining birth rate, and lack of passion in recent years, and with the older generation of players unable to keep up with international competition, a situation of "no successors" has emerged. Fewer and fewer young people are interested in Go, and even the legendary "Hikaru no Go" (a famous Go player) couldn't save the situation.

International competition is becoming increasingly fierce, and according to the basic modern rule that when two strong players clash, bystanders become increasingly powerless, it's like how Jiaduobao and Wanglaoji split up and fought, causing Heqizheng to inexplicably lose a large portion of its sales.

In contrast, China and South Korea conduct semi-military-style training every day.

Occasionally, top-level national players, former national players who have participated in the world's top competitions, will come to teach. They also provide categorized instruction, with dedicated teachers for life-and-death situations and teachers specializing in opening strategies and standard openings.

Starting at four or five years old isn't early, six or seven is normal, and ten is already late. I've been studying game records every day, practicing the fundamentals, playing against players of similar skill levels, and then practicing online chess with players from all over the world in the evenings.

There's a saying in China that if you're not a national team player by age 20, you have no hope for the rest of your life. Of course, there are also many examples of players who only make it into the national team in their late twenties.

This statement mainly means that if, after more than ten years of hard work, one still hasn't made a name for oneself by the age of 20, then it can only be said that one truly lacks talent.

As people get older, they face more challenges and become more distracted, making it difficult to maintain a childlike heart and further improve their chess skills.

In modern times, chess players have started to compete in strength and calculation, resulting in a constant emergence of young masters and their elimination.

Now, AlphaGo has emerged out of nowhere, slapping the world in the face and diminishing the prestige of competitive Go. However, it has also made learning Go easier for future generations. AlphaGo's moves are not aesthetically pleasing, but they are effective.

So, what does the future hold for Go?

Is it like international Go, where the computer analyzes the opponent before the game, uses the player's phone to find weaknesses during the game, and ultimately wins through computer calculations? Or is it a more professional competitive board game that relies more on strategic calculations?

Or, without losing the will to win, play a game of exquisite and aesthetically pleasing art that artificial intelligence cannot comprehend?

It is still unknown.

After the victory, the composed and magnanimous little princess Zhou Meimei asked, "Shall we do a debriefing?"

"No, no need... Thank you for your guidance, I'll take my leave now." The boy sheepishly took his leave.

"Hey, Ochi, where are you going?" Hiratsuka Shizuka asked with some concern.

"I'm going to the restroom..." Ochi said, taking off his glasses and covering his face with his arm.

Image: "It's her, it's her, it's definitely her", Location: "Images/1525537005-100062415-101886327.jpg"

Image: "Our Empress", Location: "Images/1525537031-100062415-101886327.jpg"