The Cannon Fodder Ex-Wife Returns as the Black Moonlight - Chapter 16

The next day, Shang Shiqian went to Dongcheng University at the time she and Chen Yixun had agreed on to play Go.

Noticing that Chen Yixun didn’t look too well, she asked, “Did you not sleep well last night?”

Chen Yixun replied, “I was arguing with people online all night.”

“Huh?”

Chen Yixun opened her mouth to say more but swallowed the words.

There was no way she could tell Shang Shiqian that after posting the video of her playing Go yesterday, it unexpectedly attracted a group of hand fetishists. As the video gained popularity, all sorts of strange people began to appear. Because it had a Go tag, some people who sold Go lessons started criticizing her, claiming she was just posing and faking her skills. Chen Yixun was so furious that she started arguing with them, only for the other party to take advantage of the attention. Not only did they insinuate that she was a “Go beauty” who used her looks to get ahead, they also posted their professional third-dan certificates to promote their own Go classes.

Chen Yixun ended up arguing with them until the middle of the night.

“It’s nothing,” she said, waving it off and changing the subject.

Seeing that she didn’t want to talk more about it, Shang Shiqian didn’t press her.

That day, she didn’t play a solo match because she came across a student from the Go club. He didn’t have an opponent either and had been sitting in the corner reading a Go book.

During her conversation with Chen Yixun, the student learned that Chen Yixun didn’t know how to play. That gave him an idea, and he walked over to ask Shang Shiqian if she wanted to play with him.

She accepted with a smile.

The student said, “You’re a girl, so I won’t take advantage. I’ll play black.”

Playing black and going first seemed like an advantage, but it wasn’t.

According to the current Go rules in the Xia Kingdom, black had to give a 3.75-point compensation. That meant when the winner was decided, points were deducted from black’s score. Under this rule, playing black was actually more burdensome and had a lower win rate. Most players preferred white.

In recent years, almost all major championship matches had ended with white winning, leading to some voices calling for a return to the pre-2002 compensation rules.

Shang Shiqian picked up a handful of white stones and said, “Let’s just do a guess for who goes first.”

The student paused, then picked two black stones. “Even.”

Shang Shiqian let go of her white stones and counted. She smiled brightly. “It’s odd.”

The student handed her the container of black stones.

After they switched, Shang Shiqian played black and went first.

More than an hour passed.

The student, now nervously biting his fingers, heard the class bell ring. It was as if he had been granted a pardon. He quickly said, “I have class next. Let’s play again another day.”

With that, he practically sprinted out of the Go room. His retreating figure even looked a little embarrassed.

Chen Yixun had already gone to class, but a few students who didn’t have classes remained in the Go room.

Some of them recognized the student and, curious about why he had left in such a hurry, gathered around to look at the game board. Though there were still many empty spaces on the board, anyone with a basic understanding of Go could see that the white stones were already completely cornered. No matter how the game continued, the outcome wouldn’t change.

That stirred up some competitive spirit in the room.

One person sat across from Shang Shiqian. “Let me play a round with you.”

When Chen Yixun came back after class to take Shang Shiqian to lunch, she found a crowd gathered around her. They were all watching how she dominated her opponents.

She even overheard someone saying, “When did our club get such a strong member?”

“She’s definitely not from our club. If someone that pretty joined, I’d remember.”

“She looks kind of familiar.”

“It’s already 2024, and people are still using cheesy pick-up lines like that?”

“I’m not joking. I think she might be a pro. When I first started learning Go, I think I saw her in a televised match.”

“Didn’t you say you started Go classes when you were seven? That was over twelve years ago. Look at her… If you were seven, how old was she back then?”

Shang Shiqian looked like she was just in her early twenties, about the same age as them.

The youngest ever recorded professional Go player in the world had joined at nine years and seven months old. Even if someone went pro at seven or eight, that would require prodigious talent. How could someone like that not be famous by now?

The person instantly changed their mind. “Maybe I’m remembering wrong.”

They let the matter go.

Chen Yixun didn’t know much about Go and wasn’t all that interested in it either.

But she could still hear the admiration and recognition in everyone’s voices as they spoke about Shang Shiqian. That made her feel genuinely happy.

Later, while they were having lunch, she asked, “Can I record your games with others next time? I won’t film your face, just the board.”

She wanted to slap back at the people online who accused Shang Shiqian of faking it.

She smiled. “Sure.”

She asked again, “Are you a professional Go player?”

She replied, “I’m not an active professional.”

Chen Yixun suddenly understood.

Not active meant she had left the Go world.

Combined with the backstory she had imagined about her, she became even more intrigued by her mysterious past.

As she returned to Tianhao Garden at sunset, Shang Shiqian was suddenly stopped by a strange man.

“Shang Shiqian.”

This was the first time since she came back to life that someone had called her by that name.

Unlike Wei Yixian, who mistakenly called her that while drunk, this man had clearly addressed her intentionally.

Even though she had tried hard to forget what happened before her death, the memory of being stopped and attacked by a stranger surged back uncontrollably.

Her back instantly went cold. She instinctively stepped back a few paces, then hurried toward the security office of Tianhao Garden.

Seeing her panic, the man quickly threw away his cigarette and chased after her.

“Hey, don’t run. I’m a police officer!”

Shang Shiqian stopped in her tracks.

She steadied herself and looked at him with suspicion. “I don’t know you.”

Even though he had already seen this face in surveillance footage, Sun Wei couldn’t help but suck in a sharp breath when he saw her in person.

She looked exactly the same.

Exactly the same, for god’s sake!

Could it be that when Shang Yunyu gave birth back then, she had twins but only announced the birth of Shang Shiqian, hiding the other child?

But why would the Shang family do that?

And if she and Shang Shiqian really were twins, then she should be twenty-nine by now.

How could she look exactly the same after eight years?

Sun Wei said, “The morning of the 21st, two days ago, I searched for you for a long time at the Huayang Park bus stop.”

When he said that, a long-forgotten memory resurfaced in her mind.

Suddenly it clicked. “You’re Xiao Luomeng’s mentor?”

Sun Wei nodded.

Shang Shiqian let out a breath of relief.

So he knew her name because of Xiao Luomeng.

Back then, she hadn’t thought of using a fake name yet. She had given her real name instinctively.

“Sorry about that day. I wandered into the park and lost track of time.”

Sun Wei’s expression remained stiff.

He already knew the real reason.

He had tracked her movements that day using SkyNet footage. Once he saw she had left with Wei Yixian, his headache began.

It wasn’t just the Shang family involved. Now, even Wei Yixian was tangled in this?

Realizing how complicated the situation was, he cursed under his breath, feeling that he really shouldn’t have gotten involved.

Yet after work, he had found herself loitering near Tianhao Garden.

He hadn’t expected to get lucky and run into her so soon.

Just as Sun Wei was about to investigate her identity further, a maid came out to meet her.

“Miss Shang.”

Her eyes landed on Sun Wei. “And this gentleman is…?”

Sun Wei took out his badge. “I’m the Captain of the Public Security Operations Unit.”

Since Shang Shiqian was a guest of Wei Yixian, the maid asked with concern, “Is Miss Shang in any kind of trouble?”

Before Shang Shiqian could respond, Sun Wei cut in. “It’s nothing. I just happened to run into her while on duty, so I asked a few questions.”

With Wei Yixian’s people around, Sun Wei couldn’t ask more questions and left first.

The maid didn’t press further.

But it was the kind of thing she would definitely report to Wei Yixian.

The next morning.

It was rare to find Wei Yixian having breakfast in the dining room.

“Wei Yixian, good morning!”

She took a sip of coffee and slowly picked up a napkin to wipe the corner of her lips.

“Going to Dongcheng University again today?”

Shang Shiqian still vividly remembered her drunken outburst the night before, so she hesitated. “Yes.”

Fortunately, she didn’t question whether she was impersonating “Shang Shiqian” again. She merely said casually, “I’ll drive you.”

“…Huh?”

At the same time, a mechanical voice sounded:

“Affection level: 1%”

Shang Shiqian: …
Huh???
——————

Miss Shang: Huh?

Miss Wei: …?