Grandmaster Qin and his disciple finally left the park in a good mood. How could they not? Angel's Gambit was successfully done and his master could display the moves to the world and boast it to the other grandmasters!
Qin Kun's mood, however, didn't become bright because he finally got to see a clean path for his new moves in chess. Rather, he couldn't keep his mind away from the little boy who helped him complete Angel's Gambit.
Who could that boy's parents be? They taught him to play chess and nurtured him to be so smart about it too.
Usually, children his age would be more inclined to play mobile games at home or play simple children games in the park. But it didn't look like the little boy wanted to play with the other children in the park. On the contrary, the way his eyes lit up after teaching him how to move the chess pieces across the chessboard, made it pretty obvious that the game of chess was far more interesting to him than the playground.
Anyone who had passed by the park would eventually be drawn to the handsome features of the little boy so Grandmaster Qin had already noticed the little boy's presence even from afar. It was just that his good-looking appearance was the only thing that made the little boy stand out more than the other kids.
Thus, when the little boy stood in the pagoda and thought to him what his next moves should be, Grandmaster Qin couldn't stop feeling shocked.
Being taught by the little child was one of the things he didn't expect. However, to have the little boy complete the Angel's Gambit for him, the one who created the series of moves and couldn't finish it after several years of thinking, was unexpected and a miracle!
"Han Che, can you ask around the community who was that little boy just now?" Grandmaster Qin ordered him with renewed inspiration.
Han Che was weirded out by his master's order and asked, "Master, why do you suddenly want to know about that little boy? Are you thinking of taking him as a student?"
Grandmaster Qin's mind went back to the way the little boy taught him with equal fierceness as his moves. Honestly, the little boy's calculative ideas were far more deadlier than many old masters in the country, teaching him might not be the first thing that Grandmaster Qin wanted to do. He wanted to nurture the child and make him become a master of chess that everyone would be afraid to play against.
"Just do as I say," said Grandmaster Qin.
Han Che: "But master, this community is a bit too strict. I don't think it would be easy to find out the identity of that boy."
Grandmaster also knew this. But he didn't want to give up and said, "Your brother lives in this community, right? Why don't you ask for his help?"
Han Che was instantly shocked by this and instinctively refused, "No! My older brother is too scary, master. He once beat me because I didn't want to work for the family company and became a chess player. If I go to him now, I might get beaten up by him again."
Grandmaster Qin had already made up his mind: "Which one do you want? Do you wish to retire with me this year, or do you want to go to your brother and ask him for his help?"
What kind of tyrant is this? Are you trying to give me an early death, master?
Han Che couldn't voice out his true thoughts and said, "Master, for you, I can do anything just don't make me retire with you!"
If he retired this year with his master, people might think of him as a martyr and the best disciple of Grandmaster Qin. But Han Che didn't want to give up being the only senior disciple of this old man. The glory and honor of being this man's student and continuing his legacy would be left in his hands, if he were to retire now, wouldn't all his hard work and his decision to give up his family company turn into waste?
Han che didn't want his effort to go down the drain and wore his armor to meet his brother.
…
Ran Xueyi didn't know what happened to her son. However, she couldn't help missing Little Zhanzhan and called him through video call.
"Mommy!" Little Zhanzhan happily shouted when he saw his mother's face.
Ran Xueyi felt like her tooth was aching from the sweetness overload and said, "Baby, mommy misses you so much! Do you miss mommy?"
Little Zhanzhan nodded his head like a hen pecking corn: "En~ I miss you too! But mommy, where's A'Yu?"
Ran Xueyi looked in front of her and the sound of water in the shower didn't stop so she said, "Daddy went to take a shower. He'll look for you once he's done. Are you done with your books?"
Last time, Ran Xueyi bought him a lot of books for him to read. After understanding her son's interests, she didn't buy him any basic learning materials and instead bought a lot of advanced educational books for him to challenge himself.
As expected, Little Zhanzhan's face brightened up and he happily shared the things he learned the previous days. After a long while, Song Yu Han came out of the showers with only a bath towel wrapped around his waist and saw Ran Xueyi having a video call with their son.
Song Yu Han walked over directly to them and didn't bother drying his hair with another towel as he sat down beside her.
He looked at the phone and saw his son's enlarged face on the screen and said, "Did you have fun playing at the park? I heard from your brother Yun that you ran off to somewhere else without telling him."
Song Yun Han didn't go anywhere without knowing how their son was doing. He would always have someone monitor and protect him even if there's no danger around him.
Little Zhanzhan looked as if he swallowed something sour and denied everything: "I didn't! Brother Yun's the one who ran off to somewhere to take some calls! A'Yu, Brother Yun is so mean. He stole my food earlier!"
Ran Xueyi: "..."
Song Yu Han: "..."
Guo Yun, who was pooping in the toilet: "...Little traitor!"
After moving to the country, Little Zhanzhan gained another skill. He became talkative in nature and chattered a lot. It was quite the opposite version of himself when he didn't want anyone he disliked to get near him and didn't want to talk a lot.
Ran Xueyi had been worried a lot about him, but after the family of three meet again, Little Zhanzhan's irritability against other people seemed to be cured. He can now tolerate being around others and talking a lot.
It was a good thing that she talked with her son last time. Little Zhanzhan liked to keep everything to himself and developed a personality that no matter how much he suffered, he would be silent about it and never tell anyone. Naturally, if his mother would ask about it, he would tell her.
But he was so good at pretending to be alright that it baffled Ran Xueyi how he could act so well.
Now, Ran Xueyi understood where Little Zhanzhan inherited the ability to suffer in silence and pretend to feel nothing at all. Song Yu Han's characteristics seemed to have been passed down to their son.
Ran Xueyi watched as the father and son continued to happily talk about how their days were spent. She didn't say anything, but a trace of imperceptible relief and doting flashed through her eyes.
The two men in her life had been through a lot and kept themselves from the world. But look, the two of them seemed to understand each other a lot.
Ran Xueyi relaxed and she leaned back in her chair as if she had nothing to worry about.
Song Yu Han tested Little Zhanzhan on his homework to see what new knowledge he learned while they're away. Surprisingly, Little Zhanzhan did not disappoint him. He discovered that Little Zhanzhan had learned quite a lot of new knowledge and became a little genius.
After talking so much, Little Zhanzhan still didn't want to hang up their call and pouted, "Mommy, why do I have to stay here with Brother Yun? I want to go where mommy and A'Yu are too!"
Ran Xueyi felt warmed all over and replied helplessly, "Mommy and daddy are working. But I'll have Brother Yun take you here in a few days. Can you wait a little bit longer until that day, Baby?"
Unfortunately, even if Little Zhanzhan was brought to the village, both Ran Xueyi and Song Yu Han wouldn't have the time to be with him because of the amount of scenes they had to film. But after a few days, the scenes won't be too many and they would have the time to spend it with their son.
Thankfully, there's a villa where they could stay for a while.
Little Zhanzhan was slightly disappointed, but he still nodded happily, "Okay! I will tell Brother Yun to pack my things and books."
Ran Xueyi smiled, "Alright. You should go and sleep now."
Little Zhanzhan insisted on not sleeping and wanted to talk to them a bit longer. But the little boy was still a child in nature and eventually, he couldn't stop falling asleep.
Ran Xueyi helplessly looked at her son's sleeping face.
Song Yu Han was amused by how Little Zhanzhan slept so deeply that even a drool dripped down his chin.
"So adorable. It's too bad I can't pinch his cheeks."