Chapter 355 Losing the game
Ning Xi secretly stuck out her fragrant tongue, covertly blinked her clear eyes at Ye Fan, carrying quite a mischievous flavor.
Ye Fan chuckled secretly in his heart; his little girl was becoming more and more adorable.
Soon, all the students from Beichuan Dojo gathered. The result was without any surprises; in the first round of the ranking tournament, everyone won.
Regarding this result, Gu Ziyi was not surprised. While calling everyone to rest, she secretly glanced at Ning Xi and Ye Fan who were chatting and laughing, sighed helplessly.
Forget it!
One couldn't be managed, the other she couldn't bear to manage…
After a simple rest, the second round of competition began.
The ranking tournament had a total of ten matches, held over two days, five matches each day. The schedule was arranged quite tightly.
At ten thirty in the morning, the second round of competition officially ended.
Without surprise, the students of Beichuan Dojo once again all won.
Third round, fourth round…
Until the last match of the first day, which was the fifth round, a total of 12 students, including Ning Xi, all lost their matches.
This caused the originally high atmosphere to instantly drop to freezing point.?
Considering the number of participants and ranking spots in this year's ranking tournament, over ten rounds, one must win at least nine games to steadily advance. If two matches were lost, then one would have to compete based on tie-breaker points.
That is to say, those who lost the match in the fifth round basically used up their only chance for error.
If they lose again in the subsequent five matches, whether they can successfully rank will have a question mark placed over it.
The bus traveled on the road back to the dojo.
Ye Fan, sitting in the back row, noticed Ning Xi's crestfallen little face, smiled gently, comforted in a low voice: "Xiao Xi, don't think about those unhappy things. Losing one match doesn't matter, even losing two matches is fine. Your tie-breaker points are quite high, relax."
Ning Xi, who was staring blankly out the window, slowly retracted her gaze, said weakly: "Gege, the fifth round match was just that little bit off. If I hadn't been too nervous at the end, I should have been able to win. Am I… very useless?"
"What nonsense are you talking?"
The smile on Ye Fan's face disappeared. He raised his hand to stroke the black silk hair at the girl's neck, his eyes exceptionally serious.
"Your performance today was already great. Haven't you noticed that the way everyone looks at you now has undergone some subtle changes?"
"Has it?"
Ning Xi blinked her eyes adorably, after coming out of the ranking venue, she had fallen into regret, hadn't noticed these at all.
"Of course, how could I lie to you?"
Towards the girl's adorable demeanor, Ye Fan had no resistance at all. He couldn't help but wrap his left hand around the girl's jade back, landing on her slender waist that could be spanned with one hand. With a slight exertion of force, the girl's body suddenly fell into his embrace.
"You, you… what are you doing?"
Ning Xi's face reddened at a speed visible to the naked eye. She frantically looked towards the front, her eyes showing utter guilt.
Fortunately, everyone was mentally exhausted after a day of high-intensity matches, basically all resting with closed eyes, reviewing today's games in their minds, so no one noticed everything happening at the back.
"Not doing anything."
Ye Fan's left cheek read nothing/no, his right cheek read guilt [implying innocence], boundless amusement surged deep in his eyes, "I'm hugging my own girlfriend, that should be okay, right?"
"You…"
Ning Xi's eyes looked like they were about to drip water. She pleaded with a troubled little face: "There are so many people here, what if others see?"
"Let them see then."
Ye Fan's expression was light, unmoved, said: "Hugging my own girlfriend isn't against the law, what do you say? Xiao Xi!"
Ning Xi: "…"
Regarding this, she really had no temper at all.
But constrained by the current occasion, after thinking back and forth, she still couldn't help but remind in a small voice: "Letting you… hug, but you can't move around randomly, just hug like this. If you dare to misbehave, believe it or not I... hmph!"
The girl wanted to say some harsh words, thought and thought, but couldn't find suitable words, could only express the dissatisfaction in her heart with a light huff.
Tall plane trees stood erect on both sides of the road, the car drove swiftly. Sunlight filtered through the gaps in the plane tree leaves, speckling the inside of the car, carrying the breath of summer, silently eroding people's hearts…
At the dojo gate, many vehicles were parked. Many people stood beside the vehicles. Clearly, the purpose of these people was the same.
Picking people up.
Zhuang Li was also one among the crowd. From the moment the bus stopped, his gaze was firmly locked on the car door. The first moment he saw Ning Xi, he raised his hand high, shouted loudly: "Miss, here."
Such a retro form of address made everyone pause for a moment.
You should know, now is the 21st century, the term 'Miss' (小姐 - xiǎojiě, can also imply prostitute in modern context, hence the reaction) is truly somewhat rare.
Consequently, many people followed Zhuang Li's gaze and saw the masked Ning Xi. Although unable to see the girl's world-stunning face clearly, just her quiet and beautiful temperament stunned them.
Ning Xi lowered her head slightly, complained in a small voice: "Uncle Zhuang really, I've told him so many times to call me Xiao Xi, but he insists on calling me Miss…"
Listening to the girl's small complaints, Ye Fan held the girl's fragrant shoulder and walked towards Zhuang Li's direction, a faint smile hanging on the corners of his mouth, said gently: "It's fine, just a form of address, don't take it to heart."
"But…"
"Xiao Xi, don't mind others' gazes and opinions, live well for yourself."
"…Oh."
When the two arrived in front of Zhuang Li, Zhuang Li didn't hesitate at all, proactively apologized first, scratching his head awkwardly, "Miss, I didn't mean it just now, will definitely pay attention in the future, don't be angry."
Zhuang Li knew Ning Xi's personality very well, knew she disliked him calling her Miss, yet just now he actually foolishly called her Miss in front of so many people…
"It's fine, just pay attention next time."
Ning Xi didn't dwell on this matter, the corners of her eyes curved up, "Uncle Zhuang, let's go back."
"Okay."
Soon, the noisy area outside the dojo returned to its usual quiet.
Zhuang Li drove the car, occasionally stealing glances at the rearview mirror. Seeing Ning Xi's mood seemed somewhat down, after hesitating repeatedly, he tentatively asked: "Miss, you don't look very happy, was the ranking tournament performance not good?"
"Mm, indeed didn't perform well."
Ning Xi nodded lightly, her soft voice carrying a trace of self-blame.
Zhuang Li opened his mouth, wanted to comfort but didn't know how, gave two dry coughs, didn't speak further.
Ye Fan looked at the rapidly passing scenery outside the car window, said in a low voice: "There's still a chance. Since things have already happened, regret is useless. Perform well tomorrow. Remember, for a Go player, the most important thing is not Go strength and technique."
Ning Xi turned her head to stare at Ye Fan's resolute profile, her eyes filled with incomprehension, "Gege, then what is the most important thing for a Go player?"
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