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㹏 Hall.
After his sisters left, Mr. Zhao dragged out an old wooden box from under the altar. When he opened it, it creaked like an old door hinge.
Inside was covered with dark red velvet, and on it lay a chess set - the edges of the chess pieces had been worn round and shiny by time, the black chess piece [General] had a small corner missing, and the white chess piece [Knight] still had a shallow mark on it, where Gu Luo accidentally bumped into it when he was a child.
He placed the chessboard on the stone table and said, "You set up the chess pieces, I'll go make some tea."
"good."
Gu Luo responded and moved the chess pieces smoothly. The black pawn and the white soldier faced each other across the river. The chariot stood at the far left and right, the horse jumped to the sun position, and the cannon was placed behind the soldier. In just a moment, the game was set up.
What Mr. Zhao called "brewing tea" was nothing more than picking up a paint-chipped tin kettle from the altar and adding hot water to the coarse porcelain teapot. The tea leaves in the pot were aged tea that had been removed, with more stems and fewer leaves, but it brewed out a mellow and astringent fragrance.
He poured two cups, the tea sloshing around in the bottom of the cups, and said with a smile, "Come on, kid, moisten your throat first. Don't cry if you lose later."
The two of them fought for a while and it was hard to tell who could win. Gu Luo had been shamelessly eating and drinking for free since he was a child, and he had already figured out Mr. Zhao's temper, so he didn't let him win on purpose.
Old Master Zhao held the black chess piece [Knight], his fingertips paused on the chessboard, his eyes swept across the Chu River and Han River, and suddenly "click" the piece was placed, the knight stepped on the sun position, and accurately captured one of Gu Luo's [pawns] on the side.
Gu Luo didn't panic. He picked up the teacup and took a sip. The hot water slid down his throat, bringing with it the sweetness of the stale tea.
When he looked up, he had already picked up the red rook with his fingertips and slid it gently across the chessboard, firmly blocking it right in front of the black cannon. He chuckled, "Grandpa Zhao, your cannon is not going to be easy to move."
The number of chess pieces on the board gradually decreased. Sunlight filtered through the skylight and landed right in the middle of the Chu River and Han River, making the chess pieces shine.
Gu Luo's red chess piece gradually gained the upper hand. He played chess neither hurriedly nor slowly, and kept a backup plan in mind for every move.
Mr. Zhao's brows furrowed more and more, and his originally straight back hunched slightly.
After a few moves, Gu Luo held the [Rook] and suddenly made a move. With a "pop", he captured the [Knight] on the left side of the black chess piece. Then, before the old man could react, he used the [Cannon] to knock down the [Knight] on the right side through the pieces.
"Yo, the two horses are gone."
Gu Luo picked up the teacup and took another sip, with a smile in his eyes.
Old Master Zhao stared at the empty horse position on the chessboard, his Adam's apple moving - he had been playing chess all his life, and was best at using the knights to set up chain formations. Now that both knights were lost, it was like having both arms broken.
For chess masters, the knight is more important than the chariot and cannon. Defeat is almost certain; it's just a matter of how long the struggle lasts.
Old Master Zhao's frown deepened as he thought about how to turn the tables. He couldn't have played chess his whole life and still be defeated by a little kid, right?
Gu Luo just drank his tea lightly, thinking that he could add a little water to the second plate to save some face for the old man.
At this moment, hurried footsteps were suddenly heard outside the yard. The wooden door of the hall shook and the door hinges creaked.
The next second, a figure in a light pink jacket rushed in, carrying a faint scent of gardenia.
Gu Ximan's hair was a little messy, with two ponytails tilted on her shoulders, and there were still traces of tears on her face. She threw herself into Gu Luo's arms.
Gu Luo was a little confused, wondering why Xiao Man was dribbling the ball and bumping into people?
The weight in his arms brought momentum, and he subconsciously wrapped his arms around her waist. He didn't hold the coarse porcelain teacup in his hand firmly, and it fell on the bluestone slab with a "clang", rolled twice and stopped at the foot of the table. Fortunately, the wall of the cup was thick, and only some glaze was chipped off, but it didn't break.
“Brother…Brother…”
Gu Ximan buried her little face in Gu Luo's white shirt, her shoulders twitching, the sound of her crying shattered the silence in the hall, and her warm tears almost soaked his clothes.
Gu Luo looked down at the trembling little girl in his arms, and slowly stroked her back with extremely gentle movements, his voice lowered an octave:
"What's wrong, Xiao Man? Brother is here. Be good and tell him if you have anything to say."
Soon, the other sisters came over and watched the scene with emotion.
I know that these tears contain so much unspoken emotion, surprise, heartache, and even more so, the warmth that is secretly placed on the tip of someone's heart.
Old Master Zhao was also stunned, the chess piece in his hand stopped in mid-air. Looking at the brother and sister hugging each other, his originally frowned brows slowly relaxed, and the corners of his mouth curled up quietly.
The chess game on the table was still in its final stages, and the coarse porcelain teacup had spun around at the table's foot, spilling tea onto the bluestone slab, leaving a small dark stain, but no one cared—the only sounds left in the hall were Gu Ximan's sobbing and Gu Luo's gentle comforting voice, mixed with the breeze outside the window.
Then, a certain old man with bad chess character began to shuffle the chess pieces without making any noise.
If you don’t finish the game, you don’t lose.
Gu Luo didn't have time to pay attention to such little actions. After a while of comforting, Gu Ximan stopped crying, and then learned from her sister what had just happened.
When he heard it was because of the wishing card on the wishing tree, he was a little amused and continued to comfort her: "Okay, okay, it's not going to cost you any money anyway, so why not write it?"
Hearing this, Mr. Zhao paused in his chessboard movements, then immediately blew his beard and glared. He glanced at Gu Ximan, who had finally stopped crying, and said slowly:
"Oh, by the way, I forgot to tell you, this kid used to eat and drink for free at my place, but he didn't eat any of the food himself. Instead, he packed it up and took it away, saying that he was going to take it to his sister to eat."
"I remember one time he went to pick apples from a tree and accidentally fell down. He was limping and his foot was swollen. But even so, he happily put the apple in his pocket, saying that the apple was sweet and Xiao Man would definitely like it."
"Oh, there was another time..."
“…”
He talked about several pieces of history about someone in a row, then lowered his head and began to drink tea silently, as if nothing had happened.
The next second, the crying sounded again.
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