The next day, after Yang Zheng finished his work, he left the chess club early and went to look for the chess club opened by Gou Amo according to the address on the Internet.

He walked to a secluded alley, looking at the dilapidated building with the sign of "Chess Training Class", he hesitated for a long time and did not enter it.

He repeatedly wondered if he was in the wrong place, and this was probably the most dilapidated chess club he had ever seen.

"Are you here to learn chess?" When Yang Zheng finally mustered up the courage to push open the iron-stained iron door, an old and delicate voice suddenly appeared behind him. With this prestige, a gray-haired old man appeared in front of Yang Zheng's eyes.

This old man was about eighty, and the wrinkles on his face were denser than those of Lao Zhou, and he was looking at himself with a smile.

"I'm here to learn chess..."Yang Zheng hesitated again and again, and finally nodded numbly.

"That's a good feeling! Come on in. As soon as the old man heard that Yang Zheng had come to learn chess, his staggering steps seemed to be much lighter, and he pushed open the iron door while babbling: "It's been a long time since anyone came to learn chess." Why do you say that young people always forget their roots? ”

The old man's speech was slow, but it was also very heavy, especially in the case of the two words forgotten, which he almost hummed in a nasal voice.

It also seems that he hates the young people in his mouth who forget their roots.

Yang Zheng inexplicably wanted to refute, and wanted to say to the old man that young people are not forgetting their roots now. Although it is true that there are a group of keyboard warriors who worship foreign people on the Internet, the vast majority of young people have positive views.

However, when the door opened.

As he looked at the tiny, densely packed newspaper bulletin posted inside the door, he suddenly swallowed all the words in his heart.

On the walls, there are countless bulletins about chess, all marked with different years.

In the 70s, chess was in the hottest era, and the battle between chess and Go has always been the most interesting topic for young people in that era, and the focus of the media is not only on the representatives of the two major chess schools, but also on the chess itself. In order to support and promote the game they love, countless selfless chess lovers have dedicated their most proud chess skills to newspapers and even the media. Also in that era, many martial arts-style chess paths, such as the West Wind Exhibition Chess, and the Broken Willow and Plum Hands, were endowed with a different kind of romance. By the 80s, Xiangqi had continued the style of the 70s, and it became more fascinated by young people, and countless successful companies would hold Go tournaments to raise their reputation, and many of the most skilled chess players could support their families with their own hands.

But in the 90s, the emergence of artificial intelligence and the impact of new entertainment made the popularity of chess slowly decrease. By the beginning of the 21st century, chess was in decline. And now, chess has slowly fallen to the bottom of the times, along with the newspaper that once recorded his glory.

Yang Zheng stared at the silhouette of the newspaper that had been empty from 2022 to the present, and he seemed to have a kind of anger that had been suppressed in his heart.

He asked himself casually.

What does the future hold?

He couldn't tell whether this future referred to chess or his.

But he knew he had to do something to change.

"Young man, what do you want to learn?" The old man didn't know how angry Yang Zheng was at this moment, he turned on the light that had not been turned on for a long time, he also took out a dusty wooden board, he pointed to the words on the wooden board and said: "There are charging standards here." ”

Yang Zheng took a closer look, and there were only three lines of words on the huge blackboard:

"The fee for five games is five yuan;

The fee for learning chess routines is 5 yuan for one hour;

The endgame is cracked for five dollars in one game. ”

This small chess club seems to only provide these three services, and this cheap price makes Yang Zheng feel a little sad.

But when he raised his head and saw the old man's suddenly lit up move, he quickly put away his original extra sadness and sympathy. He didn't want to desecrate the dignity of the old man.

He took out twenty dollars and put it on the table, and told the old man with his actions that he wanted to come again.

The old man smiled and brought him to a chess table with a missing corner, he set up the chess pieces that were old one by one, and on this broken table, dim light, and this ancient chess, light people, he suddenly said a loud word "please".

As the word "please" fell, this game of chess that had just been laid out seemed to suddenly have life.

The horses are barking, the soldiers are roaring, and the two cannons are silent.

Will sharpen the knife, the soldier is laughing, and the two look at each other from a distance and calculate each other.

The elephant walks the field, the car goes straight, and the two armies are fighting differently than others.

Horses eat artillery, soldiers stall cars, and there is no one to win or lose on the chessboard.

Playing the old lightly, laughing at the old and laughing little, life is like chess and is meaningless.

Chess laughs at people, people compare chess, right and wrong have no wings.

It is difficult for the superior, the laity laughs, and the laity has its own vulgarity.

Chess is absolutely powerful, so what, the chess is free.

……

In the first game, Yang Zheng unexpectedly crushed the old man on the opposite side with his chess power, but because of the game just now, Yang Zheng felt in his heart that the chess power of the old man on the opposite side should not be the only one.

He seems to be hiding something, and he doesn't seem to care about winning or losing.

The old man did perform the same, he still had a smile on his face after losing the chess, and he was full of praise for Yang Zheng's chess strength. But Yang Zheng could still see that there was a faint trace of longing behind the old man's eyes.

That's right, it's craving.

This desire, like a long drought and nectar, made Yang Zheng unconsciously diverge from the idea of continuing to play the second game.

He diverted the topic and asked the old man in a low voice about Gou Am.

But unexpectedly, such a kind old man heard the three words Gou Ame, and he was as angry as someone had opened an old scar.

"Don't mention this forgetful thing!" The old man almost shouted these words, and he seemed to feel puzzled, and said the same words as Lao Zhou.

"This sacrificial thing! Do you know that everything he does is destroying the foundation of chess? Just like the chess game that came out now, the most important thing in chess, the root of man and man, is transferred to man and machine. ”

"As everyone knows, the more this is the case, the more the foundation of chess is broken!"