Pinnacle

On the day of the New Year's Eve, neighbors have come to deliver some homemade food since early in the morning, such as sauced elbows and fried octopus.

People in the alleys hung up red lanterns, and red silk was hung on the stone lions in front of the chess club. There were far fewer people on the street than usual, and they all went home for the New Year.

It was the first time for Chen Jing to feel such a strong Chinese New Year atmosphere.It's not that the New Year flavor in the south is not as strong as in Beijing, but Chen Jing has been living in Nanjing with his grandfather. Although the family is big, there are only the two of them, and the rest are servants who clean or tidy up.

As Mr. Chen got older, it was inevitable that he would be quiet. Three out of five times during the Chinese New Year, his father and uncle would not come back, only Mr. Chen and Chen Jing.

Naturally, there will also be a large table of delicacies from mountains and seas, such as fried octopus with sauced elbow, etc., all of which cannot be served on the table.

The first day of the new year was supposed to be the day for New Year greetings. Naturally, there will be many people who come to Chen’s old house to pay New Year’s greetings. The Chen family is a big family, and there are many side branches. But no emotion.

Chen Jing put the dried fruit in the newly bought fruit bowl, and just put it on the table in the hall, Li Zhen rushed over, sat on the chair with his legs crossed, peeled the pistachios one by one, and threw them into his mouth. While eating, he said: "Ah, it's quite sweet, and it's also big. Next time, buy more...you can eat it too."

Chen Jing looked at him playing tricks, and sighed helplessly. Anyway, let Li Zhen work, the whole courtyard house would collapse, and maybe the whole hutong would also be affected. The gain outweighs the gain...

If Li Yizhi was asked to work, there might be another bump in the bucket, and Chen Jing would still be busy by herself, so she got used to the two live treasures and walked out of the main hall.

Chen Jing washed the dishes for the New Year's Eve in the evening, and caught a glimpse of the small plastic bag casually placed beside the stove.

It was given by the boss when I went to buy new year's goods, a pack of colorful balloons, the small ones.Anyway, there is nothing to do right now, so Chen Jing thought about filling up these balloons, and they looked pretty nice.

A mini pump was included in the bag. Chen Jing took the pump and the balloon and was about to go back to the house to fill it up. He saw Li Yizhi as soon as he came out of the kitchen.

Li Yizhi said: "What are you doing, do you need my help?"

Obviously Li Yizhi is not as thick-skinned as Li Zhen, but despite his good attitude, if he is really asked to help, he must be asking for trouble.

Chen Jing said: "I want to blow up the balloon I brought back last time."

"Let me fasten the buttons for you."

Li Yizhi replied without even thinking about it. He seemed very excited. Chen Jing thought about it, and it seemed that there would be no troubles and no danger factors. The two went to the main room and sat down. Chen Jing encouraged Li Yizhi. Button up.

The two cooperated tacitly, and Li Yizhi was also very proficient at fastening the buttons. Except for the occasional inability to hold the balloon tightly and let the balloon leak, there was nothing else.

After a busy afternoon, when Chen Jing finished frying the dishes and came out, most of the dried fruits on the table in the hall had been wiped out. Chen Jing gave Li Zhen a slightly "disdainful" look.

Li Zhen even patted his stomach, "Don't worry, I can still eat dinner."

Chen Jing's eyelids twitched several times, thinking that it would be great if you couldn't eat it...

Although there were only three people having the New Year's Eve dinner, with Li Zhen as a professional and Li Yizhi as an amateur, the New Year's Eve dinner was quite lively.

Halfway through the meal, Li Zhen remembered that he wanted to give red envelopes to the juniors, and hurried to his room to search for it for a long time.

Li Yizhi took advantage of his time to go in and picked out all the shrimps.

When Li Zhen came out, he saw that the bowls of Li Yizhi and Chen Jing were full of shrimps, but the plate was already empty, so he couldn't help jumping up angrily.

It is already a custom for elders to give red envelopes to younger generations during the Chinese New Year, and it is also a good luck. Li Zhen gave two identical red envelopes to Li Yizhi and Chen Jing respectively, and took out another big red envelope, which was bulging inside and gave it to Chen Jing.

"I've thought about it, and I don't know what to give you. I think you children should like it."

Hearing this, Chen Jing felt something was wrong, took the big red envelope, the contents were still soft, opened it, and found that it was the clown baby that Li Zhen won from a kid in the chess club a few days ago.

Chen Jing looked down at the ugly baby in her hand, and could only say dryly, "Thank you, Li Jiuduan."

Li Zhen smiled and said: "Like it! I knew you liked it. Don't call me Li Jiuduan. If you are a weirdo, just call me Uncle Li."

Li Yizhi interrupted: "Xiaojing is my apprentice, how can I call you uncle, you should be called Grandpa Li."

Li Zhen: "..."

Chen Jing looked at the ugly baby in his hand. To be honest, it was the first time he received a toy, and it was a fabric toy.Maybe it's because his family thinks he is a boy and shouldn't play with toys. Since he was a child, Chen Jing has almost no childhood memories.

After the meal, Li Zhen asked for the first time to wash the dishes. He took the bowls to the kitchen and cleaned them while saying, "Wash the dishes once a year."

Chen Jing wiped the table clean and put out the fruit plate. Li Yizhi had nothing to do beside him, so he picked up the red envelope and opened it.

Living with Li Zhen for so long, Li Zhen will forget the red envelope every Spring Festival. This is the first red envelope Li Yizhi received from Li Zhen.

Chen Jing just glanced up after wiping the table, and immediately felt a deep sense of powerlessness, even the red envelopes could show Li Zhen's style.

Li Yizhi opened the red envelope, shook it out, and suddenly fell out... 15 yuan.

Beijing’s Spring Festival fireworks are restricted and banned, but there is still no ban these years. After dinner, some people are setting off fireworks outside. Back and forth fireworks, these fireworks are more "bold and unrestrained", and the movement is very loud.

Naturally, thousands of firecrackers are indispensable.

The three of them set off a thousand-shot firecracker in front of the door, and it was very cold outside, so they rushed back into the house to keep warm.

After the meal, it should be time to play chess, but the Chinese New Year is too lively, and the sound of firecrackers keeps coming and going. In this environment, it is difficult for people to calm down and think.

Li Zhen smiled and said: "I can't play chess, let's chat, especially Chen Jing, who usually talks too little."

It's just that among the three, Li Zhen is the best at talking, and in the end it was Li Zhen who talked about his Go career.

He learned chess at the age of eight, set a dan at the age of ten, and rose all the way to the professional [-]th ​​dan. In Li Zhen's era, no one paid much attention to Go. After all, Go has no future, so many people have never heard of Li Zhen's name.

After the ninth dan, Li Zhen gradually faded out of the Go world, because this kind of day-to-day game mode made Li Zhen feel very boring and boring. He didn't know what he was learning chess for.

"That's why I have a bad reputation in the chess world. When people mention Jiuduan, no one will think of me. Occasionally, they will say that I am a person with a lot of eccentricities. But then I met someone..."

Later, Li Zhen met a person who didn't even have an amateur rank.

That man was born with a smiling face. When he found Li Zhen, he only hoped that Li Zhen could come out again. Li Zhen naturally refused, so the man made a bet with Li Zhen. If he won, Li Zhen would come back.

Li Zhen was very disdainful at that time, and many people with high self-esteem would come to provoke him. After all, there are not many [-]th dans, so Li Zhen agreed immediately, and told the man with a smile that if it was a draw, he would be regarded as winning. .

It's just that Li Zhen didn't expect such an ending.

"I never dreamed that I would end up in a draw with someone who is not even an amateur chess player, or a draw in a cycle of four kalpas."

The cycle of four kalpas is a rare draw in the game of Go. Four kalpas appear simultaneously in a certain part or overall situation of the situation. The two sides refuse to admit defeat or break the deadlock, which is an endless cycle.

This situation is generally judged to be a tie.

"I was a little stupid at the time, and I had never reflected on myself in this way. No wonder many people in the chess world said that I had eccentricities. It was because I was too arrogant. Playing chess itself is endless, and no one can always win. Winning or losing is not terrible, the cruelest thing is that you are not on the same plane at all, yet he wins you easily."

It was the first time Chen Jing heard of this kind of draw. In fact, he had seen it in the chess records before, but he had never heard of it. When it was mentioned like this, it seemed that the person who challenged Li Zhen was very powerful.

It was almost twelve o'clock after Li Zhen finished telling the story. If you live near the Dazhong Temple, you can hear the New Year's bell.

The sound of firecrackers and fireworks outside suddenly became louder with the ringing of the bell. The three of them pushed all the balloons that had been blown to the ground and stepped on them one by one.

The sound of balloons bursting was loud. It was the first time Chen Jing played like this. The crackling sound made people's eyebrows jump, but he had to pretend to be calm. The three of them were gone.

After twelve o'clock, everyone was going to bed. Li Zhen walked back with a chuckle, and Chen Jing suddenly said, "May I ask, who is the one who made a draw with you?"

Li Zhen stopped, but didn't look back. He raised his head slightly as if he was meditating, and finally uttered three words softly...

"Chen Songrui."

Chen Jing was stunned for a moment. Chen Songrui was his uncle. Although Chen Jing knew that the man knew how to play chess, he never thought that he could be equal to Li Zhen.

When Li Yizhi walked to the door, he didn't hear Chen Jing's movements behind him, so he couldn't help but said, "I'm going to sleep, did I get scared by the firecrackers?"

Chen Jing shook her head. Just as she was about to express that she was not afraid of shooting cannons, she heard Li Yizhi say, "It's going to stay outside until dawn. If you're afraid, sleep with me."

"..."

Chen Jing suddenly felt that the three words "not afraid" seemed to be stuck in her throat, and she was very unfamiliar. Finally, she coughed and said instead: "Scared."