Chapter 25 Algorithms

"algorithm?"

At this point, Duan Yu had never encountered such a term before, so naturally he couldn't understand its meaning.

Although he knew that the two words he pronounced were probably not what he meant, Lu Yusheng didn't offer any further explanation.

However, when facing a novice, she had to once again exercise the same caution she had shown when first facing Sikong Zhaixing.

After downloading the app behind his back and turning off the sound, when I handed it to him again, the screen had changed to show the game waiting to start.

Duan Yu took it blankly, then looked at the small iron block in his palm, which was only slightly larger than his hand. Nineteen black lines intersected on the white board, resembling a miniature Go board, which could be described as extremely ingenious.

If seeing this scene had already piqued his interest slightly, the next scene astonished him so much that he almost forgot the doubts he had once harbored.

Lu Yusheng, still in that position, casually tapped the iron block in his hand, and the instant his finger moved away, a black piece took shape on the chessboard.

If there was still a way to explain it up to this point, the next second he saw a white piece fall on the unattended chessboard.

"How can it move by itself?!"

Duan Yu was genuinely startled by this scene, took two steps back, and dropped his phone on the table.

Fortunately, he was already close to the edge of the table, and the phone was lowered slightly to accommodate Lu Yusheng's clicking motion, so the injury only caused minor damage to his stratum corneum.

Considering the current difficulty of restocking, Lu Yusheng picked up his phone with a pained expression and checked it. Only after confirming that everything was alright did he continue to explain: "This is the 'algorithm' playing against you. No matter who is playing, as long as you place your pieces on the board according to the rules, the 'algorithm' will naturally calculate the next piece's position based on the pieces that have already been placed."

In fact, it wasn't her intention to brag, but since she had already done something outrageous like opening an internet cafe in the agricultural era, she probably wouldn't be able to develop her business in the future if she didn't hone her skills in lying through her teeth.

Unfortunately, after all she said, the other person still had a bitter look on their face: "I still don't understand."

Oh no, this kid is the kind who's a real inquisitive type. Lu Yusheng sighed, rubbing his forehead.

“It’s okay if you don’t understand, phones don’t eat people.” She changed the subject, then comforted her, “It’s an inanimate object. Of course, you can insist on thinking it has a spirit if you want, but in my hometown it’s just a very common tool for practicing chess.”

After hearing these words, Duan Yu remained silent for a moment.

Hua Manlou had been watching the situation closely. Hearing that the man disagreed with Lu Yusheng's statement, he couldn't help but feel nervous for her.

Just as he was about to say something, he heard a slight noise coming from the direction of the young man, as if the iron block that had fallen on the table earlier had been picked up again.

Duan Yu, who was being watched by both of them, recalled the words "One flower, one world; one leaf, one Bodhi" from the Avatamsaka Sutra after hearing Lu Yusheng's explanation.

Could it be that this block of iron also contains a small world? He wondered.

Upon closer inspection, one finds the scene within the thin iron block to be quite exquisite.

Not only is the chessboard reproduced, but there are also two boxes of chess pieces, one black and one white, on the top and bottom sides of the chessboard, which are also identical to the real thing.

He turned to look at Lu Yusheng, his expression ashamed: "It's all my fault. This item must have been crafted by a skilled artisan with great effort. I was so reckless that I almost ruined the young lady's treasure."

Lu Yusheng felt even more ashamed: "That was too much."

Seeing that the other party seemed to have convinced himself, she felt much more at ease and continued to persuade him, "Why don't you give it a try, young master? Since you know how to play chess, you can use this opportunity to test your skills."

Duan Yu didn't refuse again. He tentatively tapped the chessboard on the screen, just like Lu Yusheng had done. When he moved his finger away, a black piece was already in the position he had just pointed to.

At this moment, Lu Yusheng had his arms crossed over his chest, about to watch the battle, but then he remembered something and interrupted his actions.

"Excuse me, there must be some rules to playing chess, right? I made the first move. To avoid affecting your strategy, let's start a new game."

As she spoke, she clicked the three black dots in the upper right corner of the screen, and then smoothly selected "Clear Chessboard" from the three pop-up function keys.

Duan Yu: ...

Seeing the surprised look on the other person's face again, Lu Yusheng felt somewhat helpless.

Although I know it would be difficult enough to convince him to accept this "finger chessboard," even if the other party has a low tolerance, the remaining functions still need to be demonstrated.

So before he could speak, she said seriously, "Since I said this chessboard can defeat everyone, there must be a reason. It contains countless chess games played on this board from ancient times to the present. How could it do this without some special function? Wouldn't I just be spouting empty words?"

"Then this chessboard..." Duan Yu paused, swallowed hard, and continued, "How old is this chessboard?"

"If you only consider the chess games it records, they probably go back eight hundred years."

After a moment's thought, Lu Yusheng decided to phrase it more tactfully.

Even so, it was enough to shock the young scholar in front of him once again.

That makes sense. If one couldn't quickly put the chessboard back in place like this, or had some other ability, it's unlikely that famous figures from ancient and modern times would be able to play chess on it.

He composed himself, finally setting aside those superfluous emotions and focusing solely on the small chessboard before him.

At first, Duan Yu's moves were very swift, and his "opponent" didn't even have to worry about whether the position of the move on the small chessboard would be off, and didn't even have a thought process.

In this back-and-forth exchange, the pieces on the board quickly covered a large area.

But as time went on, the gap between Duan Yu's two chess pieces gradually increased, and Lu Yusheng guessed that it must be the match point.

Of course, she could only barely understand a little about Go; the rest she guessed from his expressions.

Sure enough, after a few more moves, Duan Yu's hand was hanging in the air, unable to fall.

His eyes widened in disbelief.

Duan Yu was always very confident in his chess skills, but in the current situation, he looked at the pieces on the board again and again but still couldn't find a way out.

Unexpectedly, he was defeated in their very first encounter, and could only sigh helplessly, "The algorithm master is a cut above the rest. Duan Yu is ashamed."

He spoke so earnestly that even though Lu Yusheng couldn't help but laugh, he couldn't help but feel embarrassed.

He had no choice but to change the subject, asking, "Is your name, young master, Duan Yu?"

Upon hearing this, the latter immediately regretted his rudeness and hurriedly said, "Indeed, I am Duan Yu. I do not know the lady's name?"

"Lu Yusheng".

She gave her name, and to her surprise, Duan Yu praised her the next second: "'Reflecting the sky's color on the ground, and making the sound of rain in the air,' what a beautiful name, young lady."

Although Lu Yusheng had never heard of that poem, judging from its meaning, the two characters in his name should mean he couldn't fly. So he explained with a bit of a laugh, "It's the 'Yu' in 'talking to oneself' and the 'Sheng' in 'peace and prosperity'."

Realizing his mistake, Duan Yu felt even more ashamed and quickly said, "That's an even better name. I misunderstood."

In this way, the atmosphere finally became less awkward.

However, since they had already exchanged names, Lu Yusheng felt it was inappropriate to treat him with a cold business relationship. After much deliberation, he could only advise him to try again, without mentioning anything about internet fees.

Unfortunately, after she started the second round of the game for the other player, the system deliberately coughed in her mind.

Feeling urged on, she stopped worrying about her slightly embarrassed feelings.

"Forget it, it's not expensive anyway, I'll need it sooner or later, and it would be even more fraudulent to make him pay later." After convincing herself this, she cheered herself up and prepared to bring up the cost with Duan Yu.

Before she could speak, Duan Yu, as if struck by a sudden inspiration, took the initiative to say, "Since Miss Lu is in business, I cannot take advantage of her like this. I should still pay the money that is due."

As he spoke, he casually pulled out ten taels of silver from his sleeve and handed it to her.

No, you were so perceptive, you should have said so earlier. If you had, would I have been wasting so much time agonizing over this?

However, Lu Yusheng was happy to receive the silver, but she felt a little embarrassed after weighing it slightly.

Even though her shop has been open for a while and she seems to have handled a lot of money, the little money she had left after upgrading the software and hardware was really embarrassing.

However, saying "I can't make change" wasn't as difficult as asking for money, and fortunately, the other party didn't make things difficult for her on that point either.

"Since it's hard to find a place, consider the extra money as rent," Duan Yu said with a smile. At the start of the game, he had a good rhythm and could vaguely discern some of his "opponent's" thoughts, so he was able to talk to Lu Yusheng while playing the game.

"Room fee?" Lu Yusheng didn't react for a moment: "I'm sorry, young master, as you know, this isn't an inn..."

“I know—” He placed a few more pieces in succession during the conversation, and after these few moves, he began to struggle again. Duan Yu frowned and stared intently at the chessboard in front of him, which was only an inch in size, but his tone was still gentle and light when he spoke to Lu Yusheng.

"The layout of this floor is laid out clearly. I just saw you go upstairs to get something, so I suppose you usually live upstairs. If there are any vacant rooms, could you please arrange one for me? I'm here sightseeing, and it's rare to find someone I can spar with. If possible, I hope you'll allow me to bother you for a couple more days."

Although Duan Yu was born into a noble family, he did not have a strong desire for material things; otherwise, he would not have left the Dali Palace and traveled all the way here.

After speaking, his gaze then turned to Hua Manlou, who sat upright and looked quite content, unlike the usual listless and self-conscious people with disabilities.

No matter how he looked at it, he still felt regret. After feeling regret, he couldn't help but feel annoyed that he hadn't taken the initiative to talk to the other person and had ignored him.

Before he could finish his sentence, he changed the subject: "May I ask who this young master is?"

His name is Hua Manlou.

Unexpectedly, the other party changed the topic so quickly, but Lu Yusheng, who was listening attentively, still answered the other party without thinking. Hua Manlou also smiled and raised his teacup in acknowledgment.

Duan Yu gave a brief reply, ultimately suppressing the words he had wanted to say earlier.

—The questions about his health, and my own guess that he probably lived there too, based on the fact that his clothes were not wet and he looked relaxed.

After he finished speaking, it was Lu Yusheng's turn to struggle with the situation.

With limited funds, there aren't many well-decorated areas upstairs and downstairs, and the private rooms on the second floor are only enough for her and Hua Manlou to stay temporarily.

But thinking about the future business and to prevent other friends from wanting to stay overnight, I started calculating the remaining balance.

Fortunately, the system was willing to give some leeway in terms of investment and operation, and after some communication, the specific rooms to be repaired were finalized.

She put away the loan balance, which had become negative, smiled at the other party, and agreed.