The fat chess friend's surname is Zhang, and he is forty years old.

Everyone called him Lao Zhang.

If there is no accident, Lao Zhang's life has already completed two-thirds of the mileage.

If Lao Zhang is lucky enough, he may be able to run another third after running the last third.

Lao Zhang Lao said that two-thirds of his mileage can be described by half a poem he wrote.

"He also rode a camel and fought against the sand.

He is still alive today.

But riding a bicycle that is about to fall apart,

Carefully dodge the cars that litter the streets. ”

Life, sometimes like this half of a modern poem written by Lao Zhang that makes people laugh, first rise and then suppress.

Sometimes, some people's lives are like the first half of this half of the poem, which has been held high. However, more people are also like the second half of this poem, hanging all their lives.

Lao Zhang is a chef with a salary of six or seven thousand a month. It's not too bad, it's just that everything is okay.

Lao Zhang also got married early, and now his children are seventeen or eighteen, which is the age to take the university entrance examination. Usually, in addition to Lao Zhang's desperate efforts to make more money, even the fourth most important TV in his life does not dare to open openly.

Lao Zhang is also tired, because in addition to whispering to the guests and the boss when he goes to work, he even tiptoes home for fear of disturbing the children's studies. However, fortunately, in addition to the fourth most important TV, Lao Zhang also has the third most important chess.

He liked to play chess since he was a child, and until now Lao Zhang will deliberately take a long detour to the park every day after work to play that game.

Lao Zhang's chess skills are like the poem he wrote, first promoted and then suppressed.

When he lifted the chess pieces, he looked excited, and when he put down the chess pieces, he was full of tiredness.

When playing chess with Lao Zhang again, in addition to listening to him chattering about his family's trivial matters, he also had to endure the smell of oil smoke all over his body.

Fortunately, the people who play chess in this park are all mortals and laymen. They are not as particular as those who go on the big stage, those in suits and leather shoes, national elephants, and Go players.

It seems that they only have the future left.

……

Yang Zheng followed Lao Zhang and two chess friends to a small teahouse nearby, and the four of them evenly ordered a pot of 56 yuan frozen top oolong and a 12 yuan edamame. Under the disdainful gaze of the young waiter, they walked into the private room with the lowest budget with their chests straight.

In the private room, incense was burning in the small and delicate incense burner, and the wisps of white smoke filled the small private room, but it seemed to deliberately avoid the four middle-aged men.

The hard-pen calligraphy hanging on the wall with the words "The one who comes is a guest" seems to be following this wisp of white smoke, and the four middle-aged men who don't have to go to work today are disgusted.

They surrounded the chess pieces that Lao Zhang brought that had long been unable to see the scale, and began to have their own happiness.

Lao Zhang is the protagonist because the chessboard is his. He was held high like a peacock who had been given the right to mate, with his tail flashing. Today may also be Lao Zhang's most proud day this year.

Lao Zhang's chess is played very quickly, but his chess strength is average.

Eight minutes later, he was defeated. I could only get up in a gloomy way and let Yang Zheng take it up.

Yang Zheng's chess strength is much stronger than Lao Zhang's, especially after playing against chess nerds today, his chess is less wild and more rational. In just five minutes, he helped Lao Zhang take revenge.

Although these four people, the chess strength is completely unequal.

However, none of the four said the word "let the son".

After all, they've been letting for most of their lives. Now I finally don't have to let it go, I must have a good time on this small chessboard, be frank, and live once.

Time seems to be slowing down because of their concentration in taking turns playing chess.

The burning censer also seemed to be afraid to approach them because of their shouting.

Even the hard-pen calligraphy that read "The one who comes is a guest" blinked his left eye, secretly peeking at the simple happiness of the four middle-aged men.

"No, no more. It's time to go to work. "The first chess player to leave was a thin man, a middle-aged man who was as thin as a monkey. The middle-aged thin man lives a very chic life, has no wife and no home, and the whole family is not hungry. The thin man has the best relationship with Lao Zhang, usually he and Lao Zhang envy each other's opposite lives, but they don't want to be each other.

The thin man really has to go to work, not deliberately avoid losing.

Lao Zhang thought so, so he didn't let the thin man's army go with a wave of his hand.

"I'm going to pick up my grandson too." The second one to go is Lao Li, Lao Li is only in his early fifties, and he has already been full of children and grandchildren when he married earlier than Lao Zhang.

He should also really pick up his grandson, after all, he is his eldest grandson when he opens and closes his mouth, and the love in his eyes will not be fake.

So Lao Zhang also let him go and did not take his army.

In the end, only Lao Zhang and Yang Zheng were left. The whole chessboard has returned to its original appearance.

"I'm leaving, too." Yang Zheng took Lao Zhang three times in a row, and his stomach was also a little hungry, and when he saw that the time had reached four o'clock in the afternoon, he was also a little tired.

"Go ahead." Lao Zhang waved his hand and said like a winner.

Although he didn't win a game today, the chessboard of this game is his, so no matter whether he wins or loses, he occupies the most important position in this room.

After Lao Zhang watched Yang Zheng leave, he packed up the chessboard and lit a cigarette.

The smoke of the inferior tobacco and the incense that seemed to never burn were gradually merged.

He looked at the cigarette and was a little stupid.

It seems that the protagonist is not so easy to play, he lifted the chessboard, took a hard puff of the cigarette, and squeezed the cigarette into the ashtray.

He was also inspired, and he wrote the unfinished half of the poem he wrote with great enthusiasm.

"He thought he was dead.

Die in the desert and be reborn in the twilight.

He looked down and found his feet,

Ideal fell from his face into his shoes and pretended to escape,

He ran as hard as he could,

Finally, he ran past his ideals. ”

……

Yang Zheng was a little melancholy, so sad that he walked the road in the morning, and he didn't pay attention to whether the path that he had stepped on became a avenue.

When he went to buy flowers, he bought roses from plum blossoms.

He was so hungry that he pulled out the chocolate of his own that the chess nerd had given him and put it in his mouth.

He remembered a movie he had seen before.

There seems to be a line that says that life is like a box of chocolates, you never know what the next one will taste like.

However, nowadays chocolates are sorted by taste.

You don't have to taste it to know what the next chocolate will taste like.

Just like this chocolate ball now, it has a bitter and astringent dark chocolate flavor.

This bitter chocolate is like when a person is born, even if he doesn't cry, the nurse will pat his butt and make him cry.

Let him keep shouting bitterly, bitterly.

Because there is only one who cries and cries first, and shouts bitterly and bitterly first.

Later in life, you will taste the different sweetness full of surprises.

"Hey, it looks like I lost again today." Yang Zheng walked out of the convenience store, took the bag of chocolate chips on the counter with strong recommendations, and walked out of melancholy.

He remembered the pockmarked cashier who had checked out the bag for him, which was said to still contain durian-flavored chocolate chips.

He smiled wryly.

(End of Volume 2)