Chapter 59 Interview
When Li Xiangping first heard Zhao Daokai say that he wanted to "fawn on" Cai Shanshan, his first reaction was to despise him, but then he thought again and realized that yes, if Zhao Daokai needed to fawn on her, then now he... seemed to have even more reason to fawn on this little loli.
After passing this qualifying competition, let’s not talk about whether he will pursue a career in professional Go in the future (in fact, Li Xiangping hasn’t thought it through yet), but at the very least, he has to finish this competition.
The "Samsung Cup" these days is held across the New Year, and the schedule is extremely scattered. If you can make it to the finals or semi-finals, it will be next year.
Can he go that far in this competition? To be honest, before going to Korea, Li Xiangping actually had no confidence at all, or rather, he had never thought about going that far at that time.
After all, he is well aware of his own level. In the cruel world of professional Go, his level is not even half a bottle of water. Even with the help of the external plug-in, the chess master Shi, Li Xiangping believes that in the modern Go rules, Shi's weaknesses or defects are still quite obvious.
However, the journey of this qualifying round was so easy, as if it was a piece of cake. This gave Li Xiangping a new understanding of Shi's strength. He never expected that in less than two months, Shi's strength would improve so fast. Korean backbones like Choi Myung-hoon and Kim Sung-yong were simply unable to force the great chess master Shi to reveal his flaws. This was something Li Xiangping had not expected before.
It is precisely because of this relaxation and new understanding that Li Xiangping now has more ideas.
If the mediocre chess players are unable to force out Lao Shi’s weaknesses, then what about the world’s top chess players and super-top chess players?
Li Xiangping analyzed the problem as objectively as possible: although he did not think that the current Lao Shi was definitely stronger than the contemporary top players, if he met a chess player of a higher level than Cui and Jin, it would be entirely possible to seize his weaknesses and defeat him.
But no matter what, given the qualities of chess master Shi, his demonstrated learning and adaptability, and especially his astonishing speed of improvement, Li Xiangping is looking forward to it.
Li Xiangping believes that if Shi meets any top chess player nowadays, he should be able to fight. Whether it is the "Four Heavenly Kings" of South Korea, the "Six Supers" of Japan, or the Chinese Nie, Ma, and the Seven Little Dragons, it is not to say that Shi will definitely win, but against these top chess players in today's chess world, I believe that the great chess master Shi should have a chance to win.
With Lao Shi's hard power as a foundation, if I add some tricks I brought from the future...
Li Xiangping really doesn't think that he is inflated or arrogant. He really believes that in this "Samsung Cup", although he himself may be able to do something, the combination of himself Lao Shi will definitely be one of the candidates for the championship.
Yes! That’s what Li Xiangping thinks now!
Although this understanding is not something that can be told to outsiders, it can only be a secret hidden in Li Xiangping's heart forever, but this is what he thinks now!
It can be said that it is precisely because of Li Xiangping's understanding that he is determined to do a great job in the next game. You know, he is now an amateur chess player. Apart from this game, Li Xiangping has no other games to play.
He is not qualified to participate in other world competitions, not qualified to participate in various domestic professional title competitions, not qualified to participate in national individual and team competitions, not qualified to participate in the Weiqi League... Let alone the Weiqi League, even for the Weiqi League B and C, with a teenager like him who has failed to get promoted to the professional level for three consecutive years, it is estimated that no one will invite him to join.
It is precisely this reality that makes Li Xiangping particularly cherish and attach great importance to the only competition he can participate in. He is holding back his energy and wants to do his best.
Now that you have decided to do something big, there are of course many practical problems that need to be solved.
So what is the most realistic problem at the moment? Li Xiangping thinks it is nothing else but his current identity as a child. As a 13-year-old boy, he must go to school. So where should he go to school next? This should be the most realistic problem at the moment, and this will not change just because he is a time traveler.
In his previous life, Li Xiangping spent his middle school years in his hometown, Ganyuan Province. Although his father, Li Yuanhu, was assigned to Beijing after graduating from university, and his later career focus was also in Beijing, because his mother died early, Li Xiangping had been living with his grandparents in his hometown. He finished high school in his hometown, and then was admitted to a second-rate university in Beijing and came to Beijing.
But now, Li Xiangping knew that it seemed impossible to go back to his hometown to study. At least, it was impossible this semester.
You should know that it is already late October, and the first stage of this year's "Samsung Cup", that is, the first two rounds of the top 32 and the top 16, will start in early December, more than a month later, and the venue is not anywhere else, but precisely at the Chinese Chess Institute...
It is precisely by taking these practical issues into consideration that the importance of currying favor with Cai Shanshan becomes apparent. Why do we say this?
You have to know that Li Xiangping was a typical poor student in middle school. Although he thought that his academic performance was far from as bad as Zhao Daokai, to be honest, the two were actually about the same. As the saying goes, the eldest brother should not laugh at the second brother.
If I were to come to Beijing to attend middle school this year, it would be necessary to curry favor with a top student like Cai Shanshan. Firstly, I don’t have many friends in Beijing right now, and I’m completely unfamiliar with the place. Secondly, although I’m a time traveler, my mental age is 31, and I seem to have gotten a college diploma in my previous life, if I really go to school, I’ll always have a lot of homework to do, right?
It must be specially pointed out here that Li Xiangping is certainly not worried that he cannot do the junior high school homework these days. It’s just that as a time traveler, if he spends a lot of time doing junior high school homework, Li Xiangping can’t afford to lose face, right?
Since you want to be lazy but don't want to embarrass yourself, the best way, of course, is to quickly curry favor with a top student and hope that she will do you a favor in the coming days.
And the candidate for this top student, of course, is none other than Cai Shanshan. After all, at this stage, she is actually the only candidate. In such a big city as Beijing, she doesn't know any other people of her age except her friend Zhao Daokai. If she doesn't curry favor with her, how can she still count on a poor student like Zhao Daokai?
After figuring out the connection, Li Xiangping glared at Zhao Daokai fiercely. This guy must have thought the same as him. He knew that his best friend was definitely unreliable, so he tried to curry favor with Cai Shanshan.
"Oh, if I had known that I would need to curry favor with her, I shouldn't have won a few games of chess from her a few days ago. She wouldn't hold a grudge against me for this, would she? Well, although I didn't get along with her in my previous life, from what I know, Cai Shanshan doesn't seem to be a petty person... No, no, who can understand a woman's heart? To be on the safe side, I have to find an opportunity to repair our relationship..."
Just when Li Xiangpingzi was daydreaming;
"Haha, I'm late, I'm late..."
At this time, two more people came to the private room. Seeing one of the guests, Li Xiangping quickly stood up and greeted him politely:
"Hello, Coach Wu."
Among the two people who came together, one was reporter Zhang Xiaoyong from "Go World", and the other was head coach Wu of the national youth team.
It was not surprising to see reporter Zhang. Li Xiangping knew that he was a friend . They had met each other last time. What really surprised Li Xiangping was Coach Wu. Coach Wu was on the same flight back to China as him. Why did he show up at this time? And why didn't the old man pick him up when he picked him up just now?
However, Li Xiangping soon felt relieved after thinking about it. You know, there were more than 10 people returning to China with him on the same flight. Unless these people were invited at the same time, it would definitely not be appropriate to pick up Coach Wu alone.
"Okay, everyone is here, let's have dinner now."
When everyone was present, Mr. Cai, the host, clapped his hands and motioned for everyone to take a seat.
There was naturally nothing much to say about such an ordinary banquet. During the meal, well, although this was a meal at "Heaven on Earth", Li Xiangping only heard two things related to himself during the meal.
The first thing is that because I passed the Samsung Cup preliminaries, through Lao Cai's contact, I can go to the Chinese Chess Academy for training and preparation in the next month and a half. This is actually the reason why Coach Wu appeared here at this time.
The second thing is related to Zhang Da, a reporter from "Go World".
"What? You...you want to do an interview about me? No, no..."
