Chess

Gu Nan could understand Ji Yuanyu's insistence on sending her abroad, but she couldn't agree with it. She stared at him and asked, "Am I someone you can't face?"

Ji Yuanyu explained, "Lu Yushi's assistant just contacted me. They're coming to the New Times tomorrow. I tried to subtly inquire, but he's tight-lipped and won't say why. He only said he wants to see you, just in case it's about what happened back then..."

Gu Nan was tired of hearing the rest of what was said.

Bored, she picked up the sheriff's paw and played with it, patiently licking the sheriff's fur back straight against the grain, interrupting Ji Yuanyu.

"What will you do if I run away?"

"You go first, don't worry about me."

Gu Nan yawned, a tear glistening in the corner of her eye. She chuckled and said, "Good brother."

He inexplicably angered the sheriff.

The sheriff yelled and ran out the door, squeezing it open a crack. The sound of a toilet flushing came from outside, followed by intermittent footsteps. Gu Shuping called out from outside, "Sheriff, what's wrong?"

Gu Nan stared at her empty hands, speechless: "It's time for an exorcism."

Owning a cat makes you even more prone to acting crazy than she does.

After listening for a while, Gu Shuping ignored her.

On the other end of the phone, Ji Yuanyu kept talking.

She was about to give a casual reply when she looked up and saw a new message on her phone.

The items have arrived.

He swallowed the words that were on the tip of his tongue, closed his laptop, and muttered to himself, "This has been a huge help to me."

"What?" Ji Yuanyu didn't hear clearly.

“It’s alright, come pick me up.” She instructed, “Don’t tell my aunt.”

Upon hearing her agree, Ji Yuanyu quickly relented and apologized, "It was my fault last time. I shouldn't have been so talkative and made Auntie worry..."

Gu Nan sighed.

We have to start chanting scriptures again.

I couldn't help but yawn again.

"Are you even listening to me?"

"exist."

She stared at the call icon for three seconds, then decisively muted the phone, tossed it on the table for Ji Yuanyu to do as he pleased, and got up to go to the bathroom.

Applying cool water to my face and looking up, I see a clearer reflection in the mirror.

The sudden chill could only dispel drowsiness, but could not erase the haggard look on one's face.

She shook the water droplets off herself in front of the mirror, went back to her room, squatted down, and opened the innermost drawer.

The musty smell of long-term stagnation wafted out. In the corner, under an ordinary black laptop bag, lay two cell phones. The phones were quite old, with severely peeling paint and a smooth surface from years of handling.

She gently stroked them and put the two phones into her pocket.

I got up, but the phone had already been hung up.

I wonder if Ji Yuanyu has finished analyzing his inner thoughts.

She hoped this analysis could last a while longer; spending so much time with Ji Yuanyu made her feel like a monkey being bound by a tight headband.

Perhaps fearing she might change her mind, the person chanting the incantation helped her put the tablet inside her bag.

The next second, the doorbell rang.

As the footsteps faded into the distance, Gu Shuping called out, "Nannan, Xiao Ji is here."

Gu Nan slung her bag over her shoulder, pushed open the door, and went out, straightening her clothes as she walked, her expression unchanged.

"Aunt, I'm going to Beicheng on a business trip. I'll be back next month."

Ji Yuanyu didn't understand and felt Gu Shuping's suspicious gaze.

Ji Yuanyu nodded.

"Auntie, I'm so sorry, something came up at the company and I don't feel comfortable leaving it to someone else."

"Hmm?" Gu Shuping paused for a moment, then turned her head to look directly at Gu Nan. After a few seconds of eye contact, Gu Nan unconsciously raised her hand to gently rub the tip of her nose, looked away, and pretended to tidy her handbag.

Gu Shuping's smile faded, and her eyes lowered: "Okay."

"Aunt, we're leaving."

As they reached the door, Gu Shuping suddenly called out from behind, "Nannan."

Gu Nan stopped in her tracks, took a deep breath silently, and turned back with a slight smile: "Aunt, what's wrong?"

"Take good care of yourself while you're away." Gu Shuping's lips twitched, but the smile didn't reach her eyes. "Your aunt is at home, waiting for you."

As the sound of the door closing faded, Qingqian responded, "Mm."

The two went down the steps together. Ji Yuanyu went on and on about who Gu Nan should contact abroad and how she should live. He promised to send her a message as soon as things were resolved. As he spoke, he opened the car door, but no one came for a long time.

Looking back, Gu Nan was hailing a taxi.

?

"I'll go by myself, you can go now."

After closing the door, Ji Yuanyu stood bewildered in the evening breeze. He watched the taxi drive away, feeling that something was amiss.

My phone received a new message.

Send me your flight information.

He shook his head, as if nothing was wrong.

The flight information showed that it would be 9 PM tonight. Gu Nan pulled down the message list, found a contact with a small flower avatar, and forwarded the flight information.

Send a voice message: "Refund."

After finishing speaking, regardless of whether the other party replied, she turned off her phone, closed her eyes and pretended to sleep, and then answered the driver's questions.

"North City, Xingzi Tower."

"North City, here I come." The driver happily repeated. He had just come to Xuncheng to drop off a passenger and thought he would return to North City empty-handed, but he didn't expect to be able to pick up a passenger and earn some extra money for the fare.

His joy was palpable, and he became more talkative, speaking with a thick northern accent, he chuckled and said, "Xingzilou is a great place. Does the young lady work there? I heard your boss is quite mysterious."

Gu Nan adjusted to the most comfortable position, preparing to take a nap, and quickly ended the conversation: "Looking for someone."

Once the driver started talking, regardless of whether the passengers in the back had any desire to chat, he continued with a sigh: "You probably don't know, but it's said that the Lu family was the first to set their sights on that piece of land in Xingzilou."

Gu Nan pursed her lips but didn't say anything.

"Later, the Shen family came to snatch it up. Everyone who was watching the show bet that the Lu family would win it over. But who knew that a nameless young man would come out and take it over? But I think this person was probably pushed out by the Lu family. They were afraid that the Shen family would lose face, so they deliberately put someone else's name on it. Don't you think so?"

Gu Nan was already sleepy, and the familiar accent pushed her drowsiness to its peak. She managed to squeeze out a tone as a response, and before her consciousness completely dissipated, she saw a message from Ji Yuanyu asking her why she canceled her plane ticket.

She muttered, "I didn't agree to go abroad."

She was busy all night and only managed to get half an hour of sleep at Lu Yushi's place today. She was so sleepy that her eyelids were drooping and she couldn't muster the energy to reply.

The taxi headed north, and the streetlights grew brighter and brighter.

The lush and leafy sycamore trees slept soundly in the night.

The driver called out softly, "We've arrived."

Open your eyes.

The Xingzi Tower in the northern part of the city soars into the clouds.

A power center independent of the five major families.

Gu Nan paid the fare, opened the door and got out of the car. A breeze swept by, sending a shiver through her and dispelling her drowsiness.

She lowered her head and sent the message.

【arrive. 】

Looking up, the lights in the 31st-floor office went out, and a woman in high heels walked briskly over. Her fluffy, curly hair bounced up and down with her movements. She was probably in a hurry to get downstairs, so it looked a little messy, and a few strands of hair were still hanging on the temples of her square-framed glasses.

They stood still and spoke at the same time.

What's the situation with my fiancé?

"Did your hair get bombarded?"

After a moment of silence, they both read disdain in each other's eyes.

Ye Xu spat at her and asked, "Is it really Lu Yushi?"

"Awesome, right?"

"Are you sure you're not going to run away?"

"I was planning to run away, but then we met..."

"How about we meet?"

"He's so handsome, it would be a shame not to sleep with him."

Ye Xu's expression was indescribable, and he raised his voice: "That's Lu Yushi."

Gu Nan snorted: "Sleeping with other people doesn't give you that much of a sense of accomplishment."

"Be careful not to play with fire and get burned."

Gu Nan didn't take it seriously and changed the subject: "Where's the stuff?"

Ye Xu opened the passenger door, helped her into the car, then walked around to the front of the car and took out a heavy golden nanmu gift box from the back seat, presenting it to her with both hands.

It looks quite valuable.

Gu Nan picked it up and weighed it in her hand, surprised: "It's so heavy?"

"32 chess pieces, each made of pure gold, what do you think?"

Gu Nan raised an eyebrow, opened the Luban lock in the middle of the box, and revealed 36 grooves made of gold-threaded cotton inside the box to hold the chess pieces.

The 36 chess pieces incorporate the design of "The Art of War" by Sun Tzu, each with a unique shape. Each piece is decorated with jade and diamonds, and the top is hand-set with rubies and sapphires for easy identification.

The combination of gold and jewels gives the entire box an air of extravagance, inside and out.

She closed the lid: "It's alright."

Ye Xu exclaimed in surprise: "It's amazing? I guarantee there are no more than five chess sets in the world that are more advanced than this one. What are you looking for?"

"Give it away."

"What a waste." Ye Xu scoffed. "Even the old fogies in our chess club aren't worthy of using such high-end equipment. Who would dare to show off this set?"

"Tsk." Gu Nan smacked her lips.

Ye Xu then added, "Apart from Yan Yi. If I could play a game against Yan Yi in this lifetime, I would die without regrets."

"Female fans who idolize celebrities are really scary."

Ye Xu glared at her: "What do you know? Let alone playing a game of chess, even taking a photo together or getting an autograph is fine."

Gu Nan crossed her arms behind her head and sighed calmly, "Then your life is really worthless."

"Hiss." Ye Xu: "Who are you giving it to?"

"Yan Yi".

Ye Xu slammed on the brakes, turned his head, and looked her up and down, from head to toe. He then raised his hand, turned the rearview mirror, and aimed it at her.

"Why don't you look in the mirror?"

Gu Nan leaned back, lazily lifted her eyelids, and smiled brightly: "So beautiful."

...

"Want me to get your autograph?"

Ye Xu remained silent: "Based on my understanding of you, this signature will most likely be done in 10 minutes. You'll ask the hotel reception for a piece of scrap paper, tear off a small corner, find a secluded corner, and sign it for me yourself."

"You're so smart."

Ten minutes later, she took the paper and pen she had asked for, turned around, and asked with a serious expression, "Do you want it? I can give you the whole sheet of paper."

Ye Xu glanced at her sideways, shoved the golden nanmu box into her arms, and strode away without looking back.

Gu Nan shrugged, while the two beautiful women at the front desk behind him whispered to each other.

"She looks like Professor Ye Xu."

Who is Ye Xu?

"The youngest national chess player."

Gu Nan silently shook her head, dragging the nanmu box with one hand and putting the other hand in her pocket, humming a little tune as she went upstairs.

After letting my aunt know I was safe, I caught a glimpse of Ji Yuanyu's message.

She bit her upper lip, but decided to reply to him anyway.

I'm ready to fly free.

After typing, I silently counted to two, and then the voice message started playing.

"I really know you."

Ji Yuanyu didn't respond, continuing his monologue: "Lu Yushi was able to find Xuncheng, what use is it for you to go to Beicheng? Listen to me, go..."

"Okay, you're tired. Goodnight."

"you……"

After hanging up his call again, Gu Nan yawned deeply, rubbed her chin, wiped away the tears from the corners of her eyes, switched systems, and tapped the Buddha's Hand icon.

Have you ever heard of a hypnosis method?

【What? 】

[Just say one sentence, and the other person will obediently go to sleep and do whatever you ask.]

【No. 】

Gu Nan lay on the bed, staring blankly at the ceiling, when suddenly a smile appeared on her lips.

【have. 】

Buddha's Hand head emoji: [Really? Do you know how? Can you contact someone who knows this kind of hypnosis? What's their price? Would you consider cooperating with us?]

Gu Nan, unusually patient, answered all five of her questions one by one.

Honestly, I don't know how. I probably won't be able to contact them, and their asking price is quite high, so I probably won't consider it.

The Buddha's Hand icon called directly.

Can we talk?

"It's probably impossible to talk about it face to face."

"A phone call is fine too," the Buddha's Hand icon said impatiently, sensing a business opportunity. "Male or female, and how old are you?"

"Both men and women are included."

Before the words were finished, the Buddha's hand statue exclaimed, "So many people! Are they in Xuncheng? Or Beicheng?"

Gu Nan continued to answer the question in front of the Buddha's hand statue in a slow and deliberate voice: "Their age is alright, around two thousand years old. Talking on the phone won't work; they don't have phones. If they want to communicate, they have to rely on spiritual means. As for the location, it's the Western Regions."

After a long silence, the person on the other end slowly uttered four words: "Witchcraft and sorcery."

"The longer you know me, the smarter you become."

Before I could finish speaking, the call interface automatically returned to normal.

Gu Nan chuckled and muttered to herself, "His temper is getting worse and worse."

Buddha's Hand head: "Are you using me to wake me up?!"

You've definitely become smarter; think about how you're going to thank me.

After chatting, her head finally cleared up. She squeezed her eyes shut, opened her tablet, and battled through the dense numbers until dawn.

As the first rays of dawn touched the floor, she let out a long sigh, turned off her tablet, slipped on her slippers, drew the curtains, wrapped herself in the blankets, and fell into a deep sleep.

Just before she fell into a deep sleep, her phone rang, and she hung up with her eyes closed.

The person on the other end was unusually persistent. Every time she hung up, the other end would hit her again. This happened countless times, until the weariness in Gu Nan's eyes was completely gone.

Her voice was low and menacing: “You’d better be in trouble.”

“Vice President…” Sudi.

"Here you go." Then he hung up.

Sudi called again.

“I lost the bet, and I’m a man of my word. I’ve already told Senior Brother Lu that I’m giving up.”

Gu Nan frowned, glanced at her phone which had automatically returned to the call screen, and then at the light-filled curtains.

For a moment, I couldn't tell whether I was still half asleep or the person opposite me was still half asleep.

Sleepiness came over her again, and she fell into a deep sleep.

On the bedside table, a box made of Phoebe zhennan wood gleamed in the light.