Sheng Jingchu usually spends his time at the Go academy, and on his days off, he gives lectures at Xie Hanzhou's Go dojo.
Xie Hanzhou's Go dojo is very close to Cheng Liao's house, so after her father was discharged from the hospital, she would often visit the dojo to check on Sheng Jingchu whenever she had free time.
The Go dojo accepts children under the age of fifteen.
Sheng Jingchu initially taught the advanced class, but after just a few days, Cao Xihe insisted on switching with him, so he ended up in the beginner's class. The students there were very young, with the oldest being no more than eight years old and the youngest around five or six, often licking their fingers while playing.
The children were relatively quiet during the games, but as soon as they had nothing to do, the noise level soared, so loud that even the swallows nesting under the eaves had to relocate.
After making hairpins, Cheng Liao became obsessed with knitting. She even promised everyone that she would knit a thick pair of gloves for her grandmother, woolen pants for her father, a beautiful shawl for Cheng Yi, and a vest for Cheng Nuo.
As for Sheng Jingchu, she made a grand vow to knit a wool blanket for him.
While Sheng Jingchu was teaching, Cheng Liao would sit in the back of the classroom, knitting. Unfortunately, while the idea was good, her skills were lacking. She couldn't even finish a wrist warmer, let alone a pair of gloves. She would knit and then unravel her work repeatedly, turning the straight yarn into waves.
Sheng Jingchu often held the smallest child, Tian Tian, on his lap, guiding his hand to place a Go stone on the board.
The other children would gather around, chirping their opinions.
One of the children, named Liang Liang, was unhappy and squeezed next to Sheng Jingchu. "Teacher, teacher, why do you hold Tian Tian but not me?"
Hearing this, Tian Tian tightly hugged Sheng Jingchu's waist, burying his face in Sheng Jingchu's chest and occasionally glaring at Liang Liang, who was trying to take his place.
Sheng Jingchu seemed to have infinite patience. He smiled and patted Liang Liang's head. "If you win against Tian Tian in this game, I'll hold you, okay?"
Tian Tian, upon hearing this, poked his head out, sucking on his fingers and drooling as he spoke. "I don't want to play against him!"
Liang Liang had already seated himself across from Sheng Jingchu. "I do, I do!"
Reluctantly, Tian Tian agreed to play against Liang Liang.
Tian Tian had just learned the rules and played haphazardly, so Liang Liang easily won.
Tian Tian, with his big, innocent eyes, looked incredulous, and soon tears welled up in them.
Liang Liang pushed Tian Tian aside and smirked, "Crybaby!"
Now without his spot and pride, Tian Tian started crying even louder.
Sheng Jingchu crouched down and gently wiped away Tian Tian's tears. "A man shouldn't cry just because he lost a game."
Hearing this, Tian Tian's sobs quieted, though his little chest still heaved.
Sheng Jingchu pulled out a tissue and wiped his nose. "Alright, now take a moment to think about why you lost. I'll give you five minutes, and if you get it right, I'll give you a little reward, okay?"
Tian Tian nodded and obediently stood aside.
Meanwhile, Liang Liang couldn't wait any longer and quickly climbed onto Sheng Jingchu's knee, proudly looking around at the other students.
Sheng Jingchu asked him, "Liang Liang, you've been learning Go for a year now, right?"
Liang Liang nodded.
"And are you the student who's been learning the longest in this class?"
Liang Liang nodded again.
"Tian Tian has been learning Go for less than a month. There's not much to boast about in beating him, is there?"
Liang Liang looked a bit embarrassed and lowered his head.
"Now, let me tell you why, even though you could have won immediately, you only managed to win on the tenth move."
The first time Cheng Liao saw Sheng Jingchu like this, her eyes nearly popped out of her head.
He clearly had a cold and distant personality, was sparing with words, and never used two words when one would suffice. But with the children, he spoke softly and gently, never losing his temper when they cried or made a fuss, patiently coaxing them. When they were too unruly, he would even hold and soothe them.
It wasn't just Cheng Liao; even Cao Xihe never imagined that his aloof senior brother could be so patient with children.
After all, when Cao Xihe first took over the beginner's class, he almost lost his mind. One child was even wearing crotchless pants and wet himself when he got upset, leaving Cao Xihe no choice but to cry along with them.
Fortunately, he managed to pass the beginner's class to Sheng Jingchu. He thought teaching the advanced class would be easier, but the kids there were in their teenage years, each harboring their own thoughts. No matter how much he reasoned with them, it didn't work. So, he ended up scaring them into submission with a teaching stick.
The students were outwardly obedient but inwardly resentful, frequently complaining to the higher-ups. The dojo's headmaster often called Cao Xihe in for talks, making him so angry that he almost quit. It was only after a call from his teacher that he reluctantly returned.
But then the students started going to Sheng Jingchu's class for help, leaving Cao Xihe feeling humiliated as their official teacher.
Cao Xihe eventually learned that punishment alone wasn't effective; some encouragement was also necessary.
His way of encouraging the students was to take the monthly competition winner on a tour of the National Go Institute.
It was a good idea, but for three consecutive months, the same student won, and after three visits, the boy became unhappy. "I'd rather go to the amusement park."
Downstairs, in Sheng Jingchu's beginner's class, the best-performing child each month would be taken to the amusement park by Sheng Jingchu.
Cao Xihe was furious. "Then you can start over in the beginner's class!"
The boy didn't argue, packed up his Go board, and went downstairs.
In the end, Cao Xihe reluctantly agreed, his face dark as he brought the boy to find Sheng Jingchu.
"So, uh, this afternoon, we're going to the amusement park with you."
The fourth week's afternoon was when Sheng Jingchu fulfilled his reward. This month, Tian Tian was the one who earned it.
Sheng Jingchu didn't mind either way. He drove, Cheng Liao sat in the front passenger seat, and Tian Tian, Cao Xihe, and the boy sat in the back.
Tian Tian insisted on sitting on Cao Xihe's lap, which he was not at all pleased about. But seeing the child about to cry, he grudgingly held him. Throughout the trip, he fumed and fed the child bitter words.
Cao Xihe asked the boy in his arms, "Your name is Tian Tian, right?"
Tian Tian nodded.
"Let me tell you," Cao Xihe smiled like a sly fox, "a name like Tian Tian doesn't sound like a champion's name."
Tian Tian looked at him with wide, innocent eyes.
"You don't get it, do you?" Cao Xihe "kindly" explained, "It means with a name like yours, you don't look like a winner. You can forget about entering big tournaments like the China-Japan-Korea Go Championship or the King of the Board Invitational."
Cheng Liao couldn't stand it any longer and was about to speak when Sheng Jingchu, driving in front, said, "Xiao Cao, I remember you used to be called Lele."
Cao Xihe instantly fell silent.
Of course, with someone as talkative as Cao Xihe, it's impossible to keep him quiet for long. After a while, he started up again.
"Sister-in-law, when my senior was a child, our teacher had some foreign guests over, including a German boy who loved Chinese culture and had learned to play Go. He wanted to play a game with my senior. Our teacher pulled my senior aside and told him, 'Jingchu, when you play with him, just go easy on him.'
"So guess what? My senior won so thoroughly that the German boy was nearly in tears. Our teacher was furious and asked, 'I told you to go easy on him. Why did you make him lose so badly?'
"And guess what my senior said? He said, 'Teacher, doesn't going easy on him mean making sure he loses every single piece?'"
After finishing the story, Cao Xihe laughed so hard he slapped his thigh.
"My teacher laughed too, forgetting that he was just a seven or eight-year-old kid who didn't understand what 'go easy on him' meant."
Sheng Jingchu asked him, "Do you want me to talk about what happened the first time you drank soju in Korea?"
Cao Xihe immediately fell silent again.
When they arrived at the destination, Cao Xihe finally realized he had been tricked. "You guys are going to a children's amusement park?"
There are two amusement parks in Jiangcheng. The Children's Amusement Park was built years ago, followed by a more modern amusement park called Jiangcheng Amusement Park.
Cao Xihe glanced at the boy next to him. "How about I take you to the Go academy instead? This afternoon, Teacher Jiang Chunlai is giving a lecture, specifically analyzing Zhao Yanxun's games."
The boy's resolve was shaky, and as soon as he heard about Jiang Chunlai's lecture, he happily agreed to go with Cao Xihe, leaving Cheng Liao and Sheng Jingchu to exchange bewildered looks.
Cheng Liao held back for a while before finally asking Sheng Jingchu, "What happened after Cao Xihe drank soju in Korea?"
Sheng Jingchu didn't answer and started heading toward the ticket booth.
She tugged on his sleeve. "Come on, tell me... I'll trade you one of my embarrassing stories."
Sheng Jingchu couldn't resist her.
"It was Xiao Cao's first time in Korea. The Korean Go association invited the Chinese players for drinks. He doesn't have much of a tolerance and drank quite a bit. He ended up hugging a pillar in the restaurant, insisting on dancing for everyone. The next day, he was so embarrassed that he didn't dare participate in the China-Japan-Korea Go Invitational the following year.
"The reason he's so determined to defeat Zhao Yanxun is because Zhao Yanxun supposedly has a photo of him dancing."
Cheng Liao smiled knowingly at him. "See, that's why drinking leads to trouble."
He urged her, "Your turn."
Cheng Liao thought seriously for a moment, then suddenly pointed at the ground and jumped back, "Ah, an earthworm!"
Sheng Jingchu quickly stepped back, but when he looked again, there was no earthworm.
Cheng Liao laughed so hard she nearly doubled over. "Ha, gotcha! You're afraid of earthworms!"
All that talk about fearing earthworms dying in front of him—turns out, he’s afraid of the earthworms themselves.
"Oh, I’ve got it. I'll tell you about the time I went fishing as a kid. You need bait to fish, right? So, you have to dig up earthworms from the ground. You can't find them in dry places; you need to dig in wet areas, preferably by the river. If you lift a stone, there's a good chance you'll find some."
Sheng Jingchu frowned, quickening his pace with Tian Tian in tow, leaving Cheng Liao behind.
Cheng Liao caught up, continuing, "Earthworms are slimy and sticky. You pick them up, and they still wriggle in your hand."
Tian Tian found everything fascinating. He played on the carousel, the spinning chairs, and then wanted to ride the wild mouse roller coaster.
Tian Tian pointed at the Ferris wheel and asked Cheng Liao what it was.
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