Chapter 23: Rising to Fame
Middle-aged people brag about their children to each other, which is actually quite shameless sometimes. After hearing what Li Yuanhu just said, Old Cai became anxious and shouted on the phone:
"Hey, what do you mean my daughter is not worthy of your boy? Old Li, let me tell you, my daughter is as beautiful as a flower, and is more than enough to match your boy. But your boy is still unknown whether he is as good as you say. I heard that your boy failed to enter the professional league again this year, right?"
Li Yuanhu was angry: "He failed to become a professional chess player because of his health problems. You know he is still in the hospital. How can he play chess well when he is sick?"
It should be said that Li Yuanhu's words were a bit far-fetched. However, how can I put it? For some middle-aged people, it is okay to beat or scold their own children, but they cannot tolerate others saying a bad word about them.
The two middle-aged men on the phone were exactly this kind of people, so Lao Cai didn't care about Li Yuanhu's emotions. Not only did he not care, he even gave in immediately:
"Blame me for saying the wrong thing just now, Lao Li, don't be angry...By the way, is the child okay now?"
"Hmph!" Li Yuanhu snorted, and then briefly explained to Cai Zhixiong the situation of Li Xiangping's "illness":
"His illness is really strange. There was no sign when he fainted, and the hospital couldn't find out the cause. So even though he's awake now, we dare not do anything rash. There's nothing we can do. We can only stay in the hospital for observation for a while."
“I see…”
Cai Zhixiong expressed his understanding of Li Yuanhu's feelings. What is the most terrifying thing for humans ? Without a doubt, "the unknown" is definitely one of the most terrifying things.
For example, in Li Xiangping's current situation, his fainting with unknown cause is obviously more worrying than the fainting with known cause, even though he looks lively and energetic now.
After expressing his understanding to Li Yuanhu, Old Cai continued to say to her: "It's not a good idea to keep failing to find the cause. Old Li, I think we should do this. If there is still no solution in Nanjing, you can bring the child to Beijing. I happen to know a few people in the Union Hospital..."
What else can I say? This is probably what the saying "pity all parents in the world" means. When Li Yuanhu heard what Cai Zhixiong said, his attitude changed immediately. Not only did he keep saying thank you, but in the following conversation, his tone even had a hint of fawning.
After chatting for a long time, the two finally got to the point.
Li Yuanhu: "By the way, Mr. Cai..." Hearing that the other party might be able to help, Li Yuanhu even changed his address: "Why did you call me so late at night? What do you want to tell me?"
Cai Zhixiong: "Haha, what else can I say? I just want to talk about your son. The two games today were very interesting. Old Li, you know, when I was watching the game just now, there was an expert sitting next to me. Do you know what this expert said about your son?"
Li Yuanhu did not immediately ask what the expert said, but first asked who the "expert" Cai Zhixiong mentioned was:
"The expert Mr. Cai is talking about is..."
"Coach Wu of the National Youth Team."
"Hey! You were with Coach Wu just now. Then tell me what Coach Wu said just now."
When Li Yuanhu heard that it was Coach Wu of the national junior team, his voice became anxious. The "Coach Wu" they were talking about was a professional 6th dan player and currently one of the deputy head coaches , mainly in charge of the national junior team.
Go experts can usually be divided into two types: one with superb skills, and the other with the ability to judge people. Although Coach Wu's level is not top-notch, he is obviously an expert with the ability to "judge people", otherwise he would not have been able to sit in that position for more than 10 years.
Especially for chess players of Li Xiangping's age, Coach Wu naturally has more say. It is for this reason that Li Yuanhu seems so anxious. He is eager to know what Coach Wu thinks of Li Xiangping.
"Hehe, Coach Wu didn't say much. He just said that Jueyi is definitely a top player in the Chinese Weiqi League. So when I told him that Jueyi is actually your kid, Coach Wu didn't believe it at all. That's why I called you to confirm it again."
Li Yuanhu was surprised and delighted to hear that Coach Wu gave such a high evaluation.
To understand why this evaluation is so high, we must first understand what the "main force level of the Chinese Weiqi League" is.
There are currently only 12 Chinese Weiqi teams, with an average of 5 players per team, so there are only 60 players eligible to participate in the Weiqi League. In other words, if someone has a "Weiqi League level", it basically means that this person can be ranked in the top 60 in China.
However, the "level of the Weiqi League" is different from the "level of the main players of the Weiqi League". Take NBA players as an example. People often divide NBA players into "star players," "main players," "rotation players," and "water cooler guards."
Just like NBA players, there are different levels of players who can participate in Weiqi League. The highest level is of course the players who can serve as the main generals in the team, which can be called "Weiqi League main general level". These main generals are basically the players of the national team, so it can also be called "national team level".
And below the "level of the main general of the Weiqi League" is naturally the "level of the main force of the Weiqi League".
So what level can be called the "main force level of Weiqi League" ? The most basic prerequisite is that you must at least ensure that your winning rate can reach more than 50% when participating in Weiqi League, so that you can gain a firm foothold in the team.
Don't think that 50% is a low standard. You should know that in the Weiqi League, the number of games won and lost is the same, and there are as many losers as there are wins. So in theory, if you want to become a "Weiqi League main force", you must at least be ranked in the top 30 in the country.
Li Yuanhu understands this clearly, so he thinks Coach Wu's evaluation is a bit high.
"Mr. Cai, you are not lying to me, are you? The level of his two opponents today was not very high. Duo Wen is only an amateur 5th dan, and he can't even be a professional 6th dan. And that 'Qin Wuyang' is a professional, but I think I heard that he retired a long time ago. What does it mean to win against these two opponents?"
"Haha, Old Li, you don't know, I asked Old Wu the same question at that time, guess what Old Wu said?"
"What did Coach Wu say?"
"He said that when watching chess, we should not only look at who the opponent is, but also how the opponent wins. Take Qin Wuyang for example. Coach Wu said that with his level, if his group of kids played against him, it would be normal for anyone to win or lose. But it is impossible for his group of kids to win like your kid did today."
"That seems to make some sense."
After hearing what Cai Zhixiong said, Li Yuanhu was surprised again.
After all, he was a person with professional level, so Li Yuanhu still had vision. When he thought back to the two games today, the ancient style of play was obviously not like Li Xiangping's usual play. But this kind of play, which was obviously done deliberately and impulsively, actually killed a professional? And he won so beautifully?
But after the surprise, Li Yuanhu became suspicious again:
"I... Lao Cai, do you think my kid has deceived me this time? Did he really hire someone to do it?"
Unexpectedly, it was Cai Zhixiong who denied this statement:
"Haha, Lao Li, don't worry. Let's talk about the gunman issue. Coach Wu and I analyzed it later. Coach Wu said that there is more than 80% chance that there is no gunman. This chess game is most likely played by your child himself."
"Um?"
"Coach Wu said at the time that with the level and play style displayed by this 'Jueyi', he could not think of any domestic masters who played chess in the same way. Even those who have done the most in-depth research on ancient chess in China either did not have such a high level or were definitely not there."
"Hmm? What do you mean by not being there?"
"Haha, Old Li, let me tell you, in order to satisfy our curiosity, or to find out the truth, Old Wu and I went to the backend of Qingfeng.com to check it out. We found out that this 'Jueyi' was indeed launched in Jinling, so it must be your child who downloaded it himself."
"Haha, so that's how it is..."
After listening to what Lao Cai said, Li Yuanhu's doubts were mostly gone.
You know, Coach Wu said, "I can't think of any domestic chess master who plays chess like this no matter how hard I try." So if we narrow the scope to a small city like Jinling, the possibility of a gunman is naturally even smaller.
"This matter...haha, the kid only knows how to do things recklessly. At the same time, I'm just lucky today..."
On the other end of the phone, Li Yuanhu began to smile foolishly and pretend to be humble.
"Haha, Lao Li, you bastard..."
There was a long laugh on the other end of the phone, and then he continued, "Although the possibility of hiring a ghost player is not high, this matter still needs to be verified. Old Li, you don't know that 'Jueyi' has aroused great interest in Coach Wu. He said that if it is really a 13-year-old child, then this person must have a bright future. So you have to keep a close eye on Jinling, and don't let a ghost player really appear in the end. As for me, I will go and talk to Duowen later, and ask them to arrange two stronger chess players tomorrow to test the quality of your kid. If your kid can still win, Coach Wu said that he will go to the national team to ask for help to see what level your kid is at."
This is of course a great thing. Li Yuanhu was delighted when he heard it:
"Haha, okay, okay, I will definitely keep an eye on Jinling. Thank you, Old Cai... By the way, where is your daughter? How about this, Old Cai, you bring your daughter to my place to play tomorrow? No, no, I will go there tomorrow. I will come to visit you in person tomorrow..."
Li Xiangping was naturally unaware of what was happening in the capital. The only thing he could feel was that the next day, after Jueyi won two more games, this account seemed to have attracted a lot of attention.
At the same time, "Jueyi" also began to gain fame on Qingfeng.com.
