I'm Really a Superstar

Later that morning.

10.30 AM.

Downstairs, the door opened. Wu Zeqing returned.

Zhang Ye called out to the floor below, "Old Wu, you're back from grocery shopping?"

"Yes. There were so many people at the market today. I had to line up for a really long time." She placed the grocery bags in her hands down and went upstairs to the study. "What are you doing?"

Zhang Ye smiled and said, "I didn't have anything to do, so I played Go for a while."

Wu Zeqing sniffed the air. "You were smoking?"

Zhang Ye said a little embarrassed, "Hai, I tend to smoke when I'm concentrating on something. I've already opened up the windows to clear away the smell." He quickly wiped off some of the scattered ashes on the table with his hand.

"It's fine." Wu Zeqing said, "I'll buy an ashtray for you later."

Zhang Ye quickly said, "No, no, you don't have to. I'm not going to smoke anymore. I'm planning on quitting."

Wu Zeqing found a saucer for him. "Flick the ashes into this."

"Ai, thanks." Zhang Ye said, "My Old Wu is the best."

Wu Zeqing smiled. "Don't smoke so much. It's bad for your health."

Zhang Ye said, "Alright, I'll remember that and listen to your advice."

Wu Zeqing giggled. "Continue playing. I'll go and make lunch. I'll call you down when it's done."

...

Elsewhere.

Old Wu's parents' house.

A minivan suddenly pulled over at the entrance to the courtyard house. The car door opened and a tanned young man in his twenties rushed out of the car, yelling with wooden staff in hand. He ran into the courtyard with a few others trailing behind him.

"Teacher! Ma'am! We're here! What's going on? Did something happen at your house?"

"Hu Liang, why'd you bring that wooden staff along!" snapped the only girl among them.

The oldest person in the group, which was a man in his thirties, boomed, "Find out what's happening first. Little Hu, don't be rash. Let's clear things up first!"

They went into the courtyard.

Li Qinqin came out to receive them when she heard the commotion, but was given a scare. "Little Hu, what's that in your hands?"

Hu Liang said anxiously, "Ma'am, what happened?"

Li Qinqin didn't know how to react. "Put aside the staff for now. You're making me dizzy. How can a current world-class Go player behave like this."

"Aye yai yai." Hu Liang immediately let go of the staff.

Tian Weiwei, the youngest of the group, scratched his head. "Ma'am, Brother Liang was just anxious about you two. When Teacher called us over, we thought that something bad had happened."

Li Qinqin pursed her lips. "What could possibly happen to him!"

Chen Ying said, "Then what's the matter, Ma'am?"

Li Qinqin said with a laugh, "Your teacher lost a game of Go."

"Ah?"

"Is that it?"

"Doesn't Teacher lose all the time?"

Wu Changhe strode out of the northern house and glowered at his disciples. "Who are you all accusing of losing all the time? Who? I usually lose because I'm trying to coach you. I wasn't playing seriously, understand? None of you are even close to good enough and don't know a lick about humility!"

Chen Ying laughed and said, "Yes, Teacher is the greatest player."

The slightly older Xu Han said, "So you called us over just because of that? We still have a tournament to play in next week. Chen Ying will be going up against Korea's Park Jaeha 8-dan, while I will be taking on Japan's Shinji 7-dan. They're both really tough opponents to play against."

Wu Changhe stared hard at him. "You always have something to say, you always have a lot to do. Do you have to fuss over some minor international tournament? I made you all come here today because I found all of you an opponent! Come with me!" He led the group of his disciples into the house, then pointed at the computer screen. "See that? It's this guy. I want you all to annihilate him! Bury him!"

They looked at the screen.

"YE?"

"Who could he be?"

"Is it a pseudonym?"

"Not many pro Go players use pseudonyms, right?"

"I've never heard of this name before?"

"Ma'am, who is this person?"

Li Qinqin replied, "Him? He is—"

"Don't worry about who he is," Wu Changhe interrupted. "All I can tell you is that this person is an amateur. He's not even a pro Go player and has never received any kind of professional training before. Just treat him as a practice partner and destroy him! Make him cry uncle! Crush him so that he'll shudder at the mere mention of Go!"

Fuck!

Just what kind of grudge is there between the two of you!

The disciples were all sweating and looking at each other, not knowing what to do.

Li Qinqin smacked her lips. "Has Little Zhang tricked and annoyed you?"

Wu Changhe said, "Yes, yes, he has!"

"He's not even part of the Go world. You're just great. Why do you have to keep butting heads with him?" Li Qinqin really had to wash her hands of her husband. "Can you behave more like an elder to these young people? If you lost, then so be it. When did you become such a sore loser?"

Wu Changhe was getting irritated. "Who's a sore loser? Who?"

Li Qinqin pointed at him. "Look."

Hu Liang was the first to step forward. "Teacher! I'll avenge you!"

Wu Changhe nodded in satisfaction. "Good! Take him on, Little Hu!"

"Let me log in to my account first," Hu Liang said.

But Wu Changhe calmly said, "You don't have to; it's too troublesome. Isn't my account already logged on? Since I'm already logged on, just play on my account."

"Huh?"

Wu Changhe glared at him. "What are you hemming and hawing about?"

Hu Liang wiped away his sweat. "Uh, nothing."

Wu Changhe hunt-and-peck typed: "Rascal! Let's start now! I'll make sure to play you seriously this time! Don't run away!"

You'll be playing seriously?

Aren't I playing?

What's going on? I'll be playing on your behalf?

Hu Liang and his fellow disciples coughed at this for a while but were afraid to voice their thoughts.

YE replied: "I've waited forever. Come on!"

Wu Changhe patted Hu Liang on the shoulder. "Get him for me! Show him your best offense. Beat him to hell!"

Hu Liang rubbed his hands together. "I will, Teacher! Since he's just an amateur, leave him to me!"

Hu Liang.

A Go 7th dan.

As an elite pro Go player, he was ranked 27th in the world this year and ranked 11th in China. He joined the ranks of professional Go when he was 17 and defeated a once legendary Japanese player when he was 20. That match catapulted him to fame and he was recognized as a top-level professional. He was known for an aggressive playstyle and was considered an attacking player.

Unlike Wu Changhe, Hu Liang was currently a high-level star player in professional Go. In terms of experience, he was definitely far behind Wu Changhe. He didn't have as broad an outlook either, or else he wouldn't have become Wu Changhe's disciple. But if they truly played a normal game of Go, Wu Changhe clearly wouldn't defeat Hu Liang. Out of ten games, Hu Liang would probably win nine. This was the difference between an active Go player and a retired one.

As a result, no one thought that Hu Liang would lose.

YE might have been able to beat a retired 9-dan player, but he definitely wouldn't beat an active 7-dan player. No matter how good an amateur player was, even if it were that fella with the nickname Amateur Devil, they would at most be able to equal a 2nd or 3rd dan player. It would be impossible once a 4th dan player came into the picture!

Wu Changhe felt this way, as did Li Qinqin. It was also the same for all those top Chinese Go players in the house. They found a place to sit down and took this opportunity to watch the game for their entertainment and amusement.

...

The room reopened!

The fellow Go players got excited once more!

"It's starting, it's starting!"

"It's starting again!"

"Haha, let's see who will win this time!"

"Teacher Changhe was so utterly demolished in that last round!"

"Yeah, even I could feel the humiliation just from watching!"

"Could it be Amateur Devil's alt?"

"It can't be. He isn't as good as YE!"

"YE must be a Go pro, right? If he's really just an amateur, he shouldn't be known as the Devil. He should be called Amateur God instead!"

Countless people started spectating the match!

Some of them were analyzing the game, while others were gossiping.

...

At Old Wu's residence.

In the study, Zhang Ye had already made his move. He was Black this round and could go first. But this time, he went for a corner opening 1 !

His opponent placed his stone.

Zhang Ye smiled and placed another stone. He put on some music as well and hummed along as he played. He didn't concentrate fully on the game. Without giving a handicap, he could play completely casually against Wu Changhe. He did not notice that his opponent had changed even after over a dozen moves had been made. As he didn't really belong to this world, he basically had no idea about Wu Changhe's playstyle. Even the name he had learned of just yesterday, so how could anyone expect him to be able to recognize him via playstyle?

On the 15th move, his opponent forced an atari 2 on him.

Zhang Ye gasped and said to himself, "This old comrade is rather good. He's playing better and knows not to contend with me anymore? He's playing active and attacking? Come on then, let's see how you respond to this move of mine!"

Click.

He placed the stone.

"Yo, that's not a bad response. What about this move then?"

"Haha, you got bamboozled, didn't you?"

"Come, let me give you an even more ruthless move!"

"Yoho, is this your last stand? Off you go! Keep struggling! Continue struggling!"

"Oh, you're resisting now? You want to bring it into the corner?"

"See how I surround you! You walked right into my trap! Haha!"

...

At the computer.

The people in the house fell silent!

Li Qinqin was dumbfounded!

Chen Ying was dumbfounded!

Hu Liang was also dumbfounded!

At this point, Hu Liang found that he no longer had any way left to play his stones. The stones in the upper left corner were dead, while he had lost the tempo on the stones in the right corner. He was also unable to expand on the framework in the center of the board after being restricted!

Hu Liang resigned!

Chen Ying said, "Th-This guy…"

Xu Han was shocked and said, "Who the hell is this guy?"

Tian Weiwei said in astonishment, "Even Brother Liang lost?"

Hu Liang could no longer hold it in. In anguish, he looked to the somber Wu Changhe. "Teacher, I'm sorry. I, I was too careless."

Wu Changhe said angrily, "You can't even beat an amateur?"

Hu Liang gave a wry smile, not replying.

Careless?

This was just an excuse that he had come up with so that he could save some face for himself!

He had not actually been careless at all. The man who beat his teacher had to be a professional Go player at the very least. With his teacher and his wife observing the game from the sidelines, he couldn't possibly be careless. Yet Hu Liang still lost. A star professional Go player ranked top 30 in the world had lost to an amateur? And he was even crushed like he was an amateur? Thinking about how Wu Changhe had wanted him to beat this YE to hell just now, Hu Liang felt like he was about to vomit a mouthful of blood!

Who the fuck was the one beating up whom?

However, Hu Liang did not feel frustrated at all. He was not at all frustrated by the game he had just played! Nor did he speak further about it. This was because he knew that even if he played the same opponent again, he still wouldn't beat him!

In fact, Wu Changhe was feeling even more shocked than Hu Liang!

He would never have thought that this Zhang kid could have won against active 7-dan pro Hu Liang!

Fuck!

Are you on fucking steroids or something?!

1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Go_opening_theory

2. 打吃/Dǎ chī/Atari - Atari is a term used in Go for a situation where a stone or chain of stones has only one liberty | https://senseis.xmp.net/?Atari