The game continued.
After brief discussion, everyone quieted down again, all staring intently at the board, immersed in the battle.
As black and white stones continued falling, more and more people showed bewildered expressions.
Not just Xu Zijin—now they were all beginning to see that White had somehow started gradually falling into a disadvantage.
Initially, facing Black's aggressive moves, White was somewhat caught off guard but could still respond calmly, even counterattack locally.
But later, White could only maintain a stalemate with Black. Then Black gained the offensive while White became defensive. Finally, now White was starting to struggle to defend!
The tide of battle had turned!
Black was like a python that had coiled around White's neck, about to bite down hard!
It would be one thing if White had made some obvious blunder, but White had played perfectly from start to finish—there was nothing to criticize.
But if White hadn't made mistakes, why was he falling behind?
After several more moves, it was Black's turn again.
Yu Shao gently placed his stone.
*Click.*
Seventh column, ninth row. Crawl.
With this stone placed, the entire venue fell into deathly silence—so quiet it was almost frightening.
Because everyone knew exactly what this move meant.
Zheng Qin stared down at the board, dazed.
With this black stone placed, the white stones in the upper left corner were completely killed by Black—there was no saving them.
In this local battle, he'd been easily slaughtered by this calm-faced high school student.
"No!"
"I haven't lost yet—I still have a chance."
Zheng Qin took a deep breath. Although he was at a disadvantage now, he felt it could still be salvaged—he still had hope for a comeback.
His eyes focused intently on one spot on the board.
"Although Black controls the upper left corner, because he played 3-3, he doesn't have enough control over the center, while I still have influence there!"
Zheng Qin reached into the stone bowl and picked up another stone!
*Clap!*
Thirteenth column, fifth row. Attach!
"Attach?"
Seeing this move, someone was initially puzzled, thinking it was questionable since the white stones in the upper left looked dead no matter what.
But after thinking more carefully and understanding the move's intention, his eyes lit up and his face flushed red!
"I see... I see now!"
He was somewhat incoherent:
"Although the upper left battle was lost! But White still controls a large central area. The upper left corner is dead, but this attachment prevents Black from comfortably expanding toward the center!"
"This way, White can use this time to build up outside influence and develop the center!"
"White is actually using his own loss to his advantage!"
More and more people saw the brilliance of this move, getting excited.
"Looking at it this way, maybe losing the upper left wasn't even bad? Maybe it was actually a sacrifice?"
"Genius, truly genius—this is absolutely a brilliant move!"
"As expected of Little Zheng, even in adversity he can play such a dazzling move!"
"I'm almost wondering if Zheng Qin deliberately sacrificed in the upper right to set a trap for Black!"
Then someone noticed Yu Shao still hadn't placed his stone.
"That kid was playing fast before, but now he hasn't moved—he must be finding this troublesome too."
"Haha, if it were me, seeing this move would give me quite a shock too."
Seeing such a brilliant move, they were so excited they could barely contain their voices.
Xu Zijin also looked up at Yu Shao, wanting to see his reaction.
But seeing Yu Shao's expression, Xu Zijin was slightly stunned.
Yu Shao's expression remained calm, his profile clear, eyes lowered toward the board, hand in the stone bowl but not picking up a stone.
After a moment, the bowl finally produced the "click-clack" sound of stones colliding.
Yu Shao finally picked up another stone and gently placed it.
*Click.*
Fifteenth column, tenth row. Bump.
Instantly, all discussion stopped.
"This... bump?"
"What does that mean?"
"I don't understand!"
Zheng Qin across from him was also confused, staring blankly at the board for a long time before coming to his senses.
Zheng Qin picked up a stone, hesitated, but finally placed it.
Black's bump made no sense—Zheng Qin couldn't understand it at all. He chose to continue with his previous plan, developing toward the center, waiting to build up enough influence before surrounding Black.
Yu Shao remained calm and continued playing.
*Click.*
Fifteenth column, twelfth row. Jump.
Both sides began alternating moves again, frequent placement sounds echoing through the quiet game room.
Soon, more than ten moves had passed, and it was Yu Shao's turn again.
Yu Shao reached into the stone bowl and picked up a stone.
*Click.*
The stone fell.
Twelfth column, tenth row. Press!
Seeing this move, Zheng Qin froze.
Then Zheng Qin's pupils contracted to pinpoints, and he involuntarily stood up from his chair.
He leaned forward slightly, staring at this black stone as if unable to believe his eyes.
"Actually... it's a press...?"
The surrounding spectators looked at each other in confusion, not understanding Zheng Qin's strong reaction.
"It's just a press, right?"
"What's wrong with this move?"
Puzzled, they frowned and began reexamining the game.
Looking more carefully, many people's expressions gradually changed—from confusion to shock, from shock to horror, mouths agape but unable to make a sound!
However, some still couldn't understand this press and asked: "Brother, what's wrong with this move? I can't see anything special."
The person asked swallowed hard, feeling somewhat dry-mouthed.
"If you only look at the current position, of course... you can't see anything..."
His voice trembled: "But if you think ahead? From White's perspective, think ahead..."
Think ahead?
That person was full of questions, patiently looking at the game again. Then his expression changed too, his face full of disbelief: "This is?"
"Yes, White... is constrained everywhere now! It started from that inexplicable bump... no, even earlier!"
The person who'd answered nodded, looking at Yu Shao incredulously: "That kid didn't fail to see White's attachment—quite the opposite, he'd calculated it all through!"
"That's why he immediately chose to bump after White's attachment—because that was the key point more than ten moves later!"
"And after securing that position, White's attachment leads to... quick defeat!"
"In such a complex position with countless possible moves, he calculated White's every step and the consequences ten-plus moves ahead..."
"But is this... even possible?"
Everyone fell silent.
Zheng Qin opened his mouth but couldn't speak, his throat dry.
"I... lost."
After a long moment, Zheng Qin finally managed to say these words, choosing to resign.
The game could actually continue, but precisely because his skill wasn't poor, he could already see the endgame result—there was no point in a meaningless game.
"Thank you for the game."
Seeing the game finally end, Yu Shao sighed in relief, nodded to Zheng Qin, and prepared to clean up the stones and leave.
"No need, just leave them."
Zheng Qin stopped Yu Shao. His voice was somewhat weak, as if that game had drained all his energy. He asked: "How long have you been playing Go?"
"For some time now," Yu Shao answered.
"Have you really... never participated in amateur tournaments or trained at a Go school?"
Yu Shao answered honestly: "No."
"Then do you have a Go teacher? Who is it?"
Yu Shao shook his head, indicating he had no teacher.
Getting Yu Shao's answer, Zheng Qin fell silent.
"I'll head out then—I have quite a bit of homework today."
Seeing Zheng Qin had no more questions, Yu Shao picked up his bag, stood up, and prepared to leave.
"Could you come tomorrow and play another game with me?"
Just then, Zheng Qin suddenly looked up at Yu Shao and said: "I'll pay your entrance fee."
"Tomorrow..."
Yu Shao hesitated, then said: "I'll see if I have time."
In the adult world, "I'll see if I have time" usually means a polite refusal.
But Zheng Qin seemed not to understand, saying seriously: "I'll wait for you."
Yu Shao immediately felt a headache coming on, gave a forced smile, then turned to leave.
"Hm?"
Only then did Yu Shao finally notice Xu Zijin in the crowd, and he was slightly startled.
Xu Zijin had been staring at the board until now, finally shifting her gaze from it to look up at Yu Shao with those amber-like crystalline eyes.
"Why is she here?"
Out of politeness, Yu Shao nodded to Xu Zijin. Though somewhat curious, he had no intention of chatting with her extensively, so he left with his bag.
Only after Yu Shao left did news of Zheng Qin's loss gradually spread.
"What? Zheng Qin lost?"
"Impossible—Zheng Qin won first place in the university Go tournament and has the strength to challenge for professional status!"
"How many points did he lose by? Did he give handicap stones?"
"I just saw that high school student leave after playing 3-3, and that high school student won? How's that possible?"
"He resigned in the middle game—you're pulling my leg, right?"
More and more people rushed to the table, some even abandoning their own games. Soon the area was packed.