Rebirth: Saving the Lovely Girl from the Start

Chapter 225: Chapter 223: Play Against My Disciple

Old Liu had lost two games in a row, but the more he lost, the more fired up he got. He was now playing his third game against Xue Rui.

"Uncle Liu, maybe you should just call it quits," Xue Rui said nonchalantly.

The main reason was that Xue Rui sensed something was off. ’The old man seems to be figuring out the computer’s strategy and adapting to its rhythm.’

Suddenly, the word "DEFEAT" flashed on his screen!

"What the hell?" Xue Rui cursed inwardly. ’This old man is incredible. He actually beat the AI?’

"You’re not so tough after all, kid. Want me to give you a rook and cannon handicap?" Old Liu said smugly, taking a sip of tea.

Another old man to the side commented, "His playing style is a bit odd."

Xue Rui said shamelessly, "Best two out of three. I still won, didn’t I?"

"Got the guts for another round?" Old Liu taunted.

Xue Rui frowned. ’With something like an AI opponent, once you beat it the first time, you can beat it countless more times.’

There wasn’t any real AI in those days, so the skill level of computer opponents was rather low.

Just as he was about to refuse, his phone suddenly rang. It was a FaceTime call from Old Mrs. Wang.

’The old lady learned how to make video calls?’

He tapped the accept button, puzzled. The pretty face of the young girl appeared on the screen.

Xue Rui smiled. ’What is this little girl up to now?’ he wondered.

"Grandma, this is a video call. You can see Xue Rui, too," came Lin Ruoxi’s sweet voice.

Xue Rui glanced at the old man’s smug expression, and his brow twitched. ’It’s just one win against a computer, so what? Lin Ruoxi could do it too—she’s the one who developed this software in the first place.’

Xue Rui said in a grave voice, "Come over here. Your master has something for you to do."

Lin Ruoxi paused. ’Is Xue Rui trying to cosplay again?’ Right now, Xue Rui was playing the role of the Tang Monk.

"Mm, I’ll be right there," Lin Ruoxi said.

Xue Rui turned to the old man and said flatly, "I’ll have my disciple play chess with you."

"You? The guy who uses a computer to play? You have a disciple?" Old Liu scoffed.

"Holy crap, you knew, old man?" Xue Rui looked astonished. The old fellow had actually seen through him.

Old Liu fanned himself. "I’m old, not stupid. You can play Chinese chess on phones now? Times sure are changing fast."

Xue Rui had barely looked at the board, and he had even set up the pieces like an amateur, yet he was able to make all the right moves.

How could it be any more obvious?

"Enough talk. If you can beat my disciple, then I’ll admit you’re good," Xue Rui said without batting an eye.

’So the old man had known all along,’ Xue Rui realized. ’He was just messing with me since the third game started.’

Lin Ruoxi stood on the steps and scanned the area, quickly spotting Xue Rui. She walked over to his side and called out respectfully, "Master."

She enjoyed playing along with Xue Rui.

"Disciple, come and play a round of chess with this gentleman," Xue Rui said, making room for Lin Ruoxi.

Lin Ruoxi whispered, "Is the Little White Dragon a disciple, too? I thought he was a mount."

"He’s a disciple." The corner of Xue Rui’s eye twitched. He pushed the young girl down onto the stone stool. ’What kind of things does this girl even worry about?’

The old man glanced over. ’These two are about the same age. Why are they calling each other master and disciple?’

He recognized the girl; she often came to visit Old Mrs. Wang.

"Young lady, is he your master who teaches you chess?" Old Liu asked.

"Umm..." Lin Ruoxi fell into thought. She already knew how to play Chinese chess, but she didn’t have any friends to play with, so she always just played against herself.

But Xue Rui had guided her into playing on the computer, and she had also made a chess game herself.

"Mm, Xue Rui taught me," Lin Ruoxi said with a nod.

As she spoke, the young girl reached out and gently moved a chess piece.

Having just been rushed by Xue Rui’s fast-paced game, Old Liu’s thinking had sped up considerably, and he responded quickly.

However, Lin Ruoxi was even faster than Xue Rui had been when he was cheating with the phone app. She made her next move almost the instant Old Liu’s fingers left his piece.

After all, Xue Rui had needed to see the old man’s move, enter it into his phone, and then copy the computer’s response onto the board...

That whole process took at least three to five seconds, but Lin Ruoxi didn’t pause for a moment.

"You’re not just moving randomly, are you?" Old Liu muttered. Who played this fast?

Xue Rui smiled. "Hurry up and play."

Lin Ruoxi’s thought process and reaction speed were incredibly fast, like a human computer. Her brain was faster than her hands.

After each move, Lin Ruoxi would quietly watch her opponent, waiting politely.

Old Liu scratched his head and ears in frustration. ’I’ve run into a monster,’ he thought.

After a while, the old man had scratched so much that red marks appeared on his bald head...

"Old Liu, bullying kids again," an old woman said as she walked over.

"What do you mean, bullying?" Old Liu’s train of thought was broken, and he became flustered.

"Young lady, don’t play with him. This old codger used to be in the Chinese Chess Association. He comes to our Federation of Literary and Art Circles every day looking for a game," the old woman teased.

Old Liu’s cheeks flushed. Normally, dropping that title earned him a lot of respect.

But now, he was about to lose this game!

Wasn’t this a total slap in the face?

Lin Ruoxi moved her cannon into position and said softly, "Grandpa, you’ve lost."

Old Liu stared at the board for a long time. It was a checkmate.

"You’re incredible, young lady," Old Liu sighed in admiration.

"Old Liu, I didn’t know you knew how to praise people," the old woman chuckled.

Xue Rui thought, ’The Chinese Chess Association?’

He’d never had any contact with that organization, though he had heard of the Federation of Literary and Art Circles.

’Looks like you find all sorts of people in a high-end nursing home.’

"Ah, I’m getting old," Old Liu sighed.

Xue Rui said to Lin Ruoxi, "Chess is physically demanding, too. Uncle Liu already played several games against a master-level computer. Your victory was dishonorable."

"Yes, my victory was dishonorable," Lin Ruoxi agreed with a smiling nod.

Hearing this, Old Liu felt a lot better.

But he knew in his heart that even at his peak, he couldn’t have beaten this girl.

There was an insurmountable gap between a genius and an ordinary person.

"Kid, do you want to join the Chinese Chess Association? Your skill is already beyond the amateur level," Old Liu said with a smile.

’This girl is a rare talent. With proper training, she could achieve great things.’

Xue Rui smiled. With Lin Ruoxi’s talent, she could excel in any field. An introduction like this might be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for someone else;

but he didn’t want Lin Ruoxi to waste her energy on such things. It would be a waste of her genius brain.

The young girl looked at Xue Rui, who gave a slight shake of his head.

"Mm, I don’t want to go," Lin Ruoxi said.

Old Liu sighed. ’If she doesn’t want to go, she doesn’t want to go.’

"Who have you played chess with before?" Old Liu asked. A girl with such superb skill—who among her peers could possibly be her opponent?

"Mm, I play against myself."

"How do you play against yourself?" Old Liu was stunned. ’Like fighting your left hand with your right?’

"Like this." As she spoke, Lin Ruoxi began to demonstrate for Old Liu, playing both sides of the board by herself.

...

Just then, Xue Rui received a reply to his private message from Gu Muxue: *Guess if they’re family?*

Xue Rui laughed. He had just been joking around. How could he not recognize his own mother?

’What is this little lady hinting at?’

He replied: *I can’t guess.*

Xue Rui watched the "typing..." indicator for a long while, but in the end, the girl only sent a couple of words.

Gu Muxue: *It’s possible.*

Xue Rui was startled. ’What is she talking about?’

’Is she saying that she and Ren Qunfang could be family?’

’That has a lot of implications...’

Gu Muxue regretted it as soon as she sent it. Her face flushed red, and she spammed a bunch of emojis to push the text up, changing the subject: *What are you doing?*

Xue Rui: *Playing chess with an old man.*

Gu Muxue: *Did you win?*

Xue Rui: *I won. He admitted his defeat wholeheartedly.*

Gu Muxue: *[snicker] Keep bragging.*

...

After chatting with Gu Muxue for a bit, Xue Rui remembered that the girl also had a Facebook account. He opened it up and saw she had posted some recent content—humming a short melody or something like that. It was surprisingly pleasant to listen to.

Xue Rui thought, ’Now that the exams are over and she has free time, the little lady has the chance to do things she likes.’

’I wonder if this girl will be able to achieve anything on this path. Gu Muxue has quite a few hobbies. Maybe I should offer her some advice?’

Of course, the thought only lasted for a moment before he shook his head and gave up on it.

He didn’t remember many melodies, and in fact, there weren’t many songs after 2014 that he even liked...

But even if he could write down the music, so what?

Who knew if those songs had already been composed and were just sitting unpublished in a drawer somewhere.

In any case, he didn’t understand the world of art. It was better to use this time to mass-produce the product he had developed earlier.

Suddenly, he got a call from his driving school instructor.

"We’ll start practicing for Subject Three tomorrow. On the last day, we’ll go to the test site for a simulation," Coach Li said.

He had made the arrangements for Xue Rui based on the appointment times for several people.

"Okay..."

Xue Rui chatted briefly, then hung up and contacted Yu Minlan.

Yu Minlan’s university was in Guangdong Province. He had her go to Shencheng to find a place to stay in advance and also receive Lin Ruoxi’s luggage, so he could head straight over when the time came.

"Boss Xue, I’ve been in Shencheng for days. Why aren’t you here yet?" Yu Minlan said. She had already visited all the places she wanted to see with her classmates and was eager to go shopping with Lin Ruoxi.

"It’s all booked. We’ll be there on the 23rd. You can pick us up then."

"Remember to move the luggage. It weighs dozens of kilograms, so you’d better find someone to help." After saying that, Xue Rui hung up and glanced in Lin Ruoxi’s direction.

He suddenly remembered that the Gaokao scores were supposed to be released around the 25th. He figured he would probably get a call from the Qingbei admissions office around that time.

By then, however, he and the little lass would already be on the road.

He never thought he’d one day have the chance to get into Qingbei, but he had no intention of going.

Lin Ruoxi was getting in through the Gaokao, but there was a whole other group of talented students who were admitted through recommendations.

In reality, he knew that Qingbei wasn’t just full of good students. There were those who got in through recommendations using various certificates, and others who played games with their household registration...

’Top universities might have more resources, but would the little girl really get to use them?’

Besides, starting a business in a place like that would be too difficult.

He sighed. There was too much going on lately. He couldn’t just hang out carefree in internet cafes like Qiu Mengze. That kid had just messaged him asking him to get online.

He turned and walked toward Old Mrs. Wang’s doorway. The old woman was sitting there, watching Lin Ruoxi play chess with the old man under the setting sun.

Xue Rui asked, "How are you finding it here?"

"It’s very nice," Old Mrs. Wang said.

That kid Xue Rui was true to his word. The day after he brought her here, he had a new TV delivered. She had become something of a celebrity in the nursing home; many of the old men and women knew her, and people often came to chat with her.

"Well, I’m taking Xixi out of the province for a while," Xue Rui said.

"You watch over her." As she spoke, Old Mrs. Wang pressed a button on her screen again.

Xue Rui’s phone rang. It was a call from Old Mrs. Wang.

"Stop pressing that. If you call me randomly again, I’m blocking you immediately," Xue Rui said through gritted teeth.