The little scholar's home was in the most remote corner of Lingqi City, with a toppled fence, a yard full of barren grass, and a withered persimmon tree standing next to a well.

When the little scholar saw his house from afar, his face turned red, he buried his head deeply, and said, "I'm smiling!"

Ying Longzhen laughed out loud, he laughed and said, "What you say, I can come with you, I don't care about anything."

The old door "squeaked" opened, the gray yard was very clean, the two houses were close together, there was a kitchen on the side, the windows were pasted with a layer of pulp paper, the roof tiles were full of wild grass, a woman was beating her clothes with a mallet, and when she saw that the two were back, she hurriedly threw away the mallet, rubbed her wet hands on the short coat, and said, "Come back, this is—who is this?"

Ying Long put a large pile of vegetables, flesh and fruits on the ground and said, "Auntie, where are these things!"

The eldest lady remembered, ran over and pushed open the kitchen door, watched Ying Long carry a large push of things in, pinched her fingers, and said, "There are so many things, you can't finish eating and you have to waste it!"

Ying Long: "Auntie, don't worry! I have a lot of food, so I will ask you to cook, I heard the little scholar say, you have good cooking skills! ”

The eldest lady smiled innocently, she was a thin southern woman, the coarse cloth on her body was white, but her hands were a pair of fleshy hands, she lowered her head and took out the things in the cloth bag one by one, and said: "He is talking nonsense again, what kind of cooking skills am I, just making wowotou, stir-frying home-cooked food, where will I make these precious things."

Ying Long also squatted down to help, he said: "I will eat whatever the eldest lady makes!"

The eldest lady snatched the things from Ying Long's hand, pushed Ying Long out of the kitchen, and said, "You go and wait with him, the meal will be ready soon."

As soon as Ying Long was pushed out of the kitchen, he saw the little scholar struggling to chop firewood, and Rhubarb squatting on the side and sticking out his tongue, so he walked over and shouted, "I'll come!"

The little scholar stubbornly hugged the axe and muttered, "No, I'll chop wood, you wait at home!

The atmosphere of hospitality that the mother and son bothered to create was ruined by Ying Long's good voice and bad temper.

Ying Long got angry and shouted, "What is this called!" He didn't grab the axe in the little scholar's hand, picked up a short piece of wood, and tore it in half with both hands.

The little scholar was stunned, along with the rhubarb, and the tongue in his hand forgot to swallow it back, Ying Long turned his head and asked, "Is it strange? There is something even more strange!" He picked up a large push of wood, and the palm knife struggled to split, the sawdust flew sideways, and the wood was broken into several pieces, and they were all carried to the kitchen by Ying Long.

The little scholar pursed his lips, dropped the axe, tears hung in the corners of his eyes, and muttered: "I can't do anything except play chess, I'm a scholar for nothing, I'm a scholar for nothing!"

Ying Long was stunned, piled the firewood in the low wall of the kitchen, and he said: "It's good to be able to play chess, some people don't even know the words on the chessboard!"

The little scholar smiled, smiled very childishly, looked up at the persimmon tree in the courtyard, and said: "That's easy to know, as long as you want to think very much, there is nothing you can't do, let alone recognize a few words."

Ying Long: "This sentence makes sense!"

As they said this, the smell wafted out of the kitchen, and the eldest lady poked her head out: "Mai Lang (the name of the little scholar), you go buy some vinegar and soy sauce, look at this kitchen, where is there still a kitchen", the kitchen window poked out the fleshy hands, and a shriveled flower cloth bag was placed on the window edge, probably some money.

Mai Lang hurriedly stood up, and was about to take away the bag of money, when Ying Long grabbed his hand, pulled him out of the yard, and shouted into the kitchen: "Auntie, I'll go with him!"

Auntie: "It's okay, Mai Lang, this kid, is very careless, with you, I'm more relieved!"

The two of them walked on the streets of Lingqi City again, it was still early, and there was no sign of stopping those chess games, in the commotion one by one, some people were defeated, and some people took over the battle, and the crisp sound of "pop-pop-pop" was often accompanied by a cheering scream, or a long sigh of amazement.

Mai Lang walked along, glanced at the chess game and could tell what to do next, the chess player suddenly patted his head and shouted: "Wonderful move! Wonderful move!" When he looked back, Mai Lang and Ying Long had already walked away.

Along the way, Mai Lang has dismantled dozens of chess games, each time in one sentence, Ying Long sighed in his heart: "Is this little scholar's chess strength already so powerful?", he asked: "Little scholar, how long have you been playing chess?"

Mai Lang didn't speak, he stopped next to a chess game, his eyes stared at the chess game in a daze, this time he didn't look like the previous times, he looked confused, his lips trembled a few times but he couldn't say anything, Ying Long shouted at him that he shouldn't, pushed him and he didn't go, he just remembered: "Everyone here is a chess nerd!"

On one side of the chessboard sat a man wearing a mask, his face looked like a poignant white-faced ghost mask, his long hair was fluttering, the folding fan in his hand tapped the chess table, and said lightly: "According to the rules of 'big hands', you have overtime!"

Opposite the white-faced ghost was an ordinary chess player, his back was wet with sweat, his hands trembled and moved here and there, but the chess pieces didn't know where to put them, and then his eyes widened, his body was crooked, and the blood in his mouth sprayed wildly and he fainted.

The white-faced ghost smiled indifferently, shook the folding fan gently, and pushed aside the crowd to leave.

A shout rang out from the crowd: "I'll go with you!"

The white-faced ghost looked back and saw the tattered Mai Lang, he was stunned for a while, pointed to the man who vomited blood and passed out, and asked, "Do you want to end up with him?"

Mai Lang didn't say anything, sat on the seat and stacked the chess, and then stretched out his hand to him, even if it was an invitation from the chess man.

The white-faced ghost tilted his head slightly, he was very curious about this young man who was not afraid of death, it was with such curiosity that he also sat on the seat, and with a wave of the folding fan, those chess pieces were automatically placed.

Mai Lang: "Who's first!"

The white-faced ghost was stunned by this question, and behind the mask he sneered, and he asked in a tone of disbelief, "Can you still win if I go first?"

The little scholar ignored this sentence, and he took the first step with his hand on the chess piece.

As soon as the white-faced ghost waved his fan, the chess piece in his heart fell where he wanted, and he looked at Mai Lang while watching the chess, and then sighed, not wanting to say anything more.

Ying Long couldn't understand the chess game, and he also knew that he couldn't call the little scholar, so he went to buy soy sauce and vinegar by himself.