~ Shuhai Pavilion-~ After eating a pound of steamed buns and five fried dough sticks, Xue Xiang wiped his lips and was thinking of finding an excuse to take off the dust-cleaning duties so that he could meet his sweetheart. Ding-ling-ring, ding-ling-ring...

..The phone on the square table rang.

Xue Xiang grabbed the phone and just said "hello" when An Zaihai's deep voice came from over there.

…………..

Every time Xue Xiang steps into Songzhu Zhai, he can't help but be fascinated by the sea of ​​flowers and forests in Songzhu Zhai. The sceneries of the sea of ​​flowers and forests in Songzhu Zhai are really different in the four seasons, and the joy is endless. Last night, the north wind was strong and heavy snow fell. This Songzhu Zhai

He also changed into plain silver clothing.

In the courtyard, the paved roads are covered with white snow, and the flower garden is surrounded by snow-capped mountains. As soon as you turn out of a pine formation, your field of vision suddenly opens up. Outside of the white snow, the half-acre plum grove on the left side of the pavilion is particularly eye-catching. The red plum blossoms stand proudly in the wind.

The snow is standing on the branches, and they are covered with colorful flowers, as if winter has turned into spring in just one step.

Xue Xiang looked at the naturally twisted plum trees and asked, "Is it Long Youmei?"

Lao Wang was leading the way. Hearing this, he turned around and said with a smile: "You kid still knows everything. It's Long Youmei, arranged by Comrade Zai Hai. He said it was winter and he thought the garden was too plain, so he planted some dragons."

Youmei is more lively than Qumei and Zhimei. No, you just caught up with me just a few days after planting."

Lao Wang usually spoke very little, and it was rare for him to accept people who visited Songzhuzhai, either high-ranking officials or relatives of the An clan. Only Xue Xiang always made him cordial and happy every time he visited, and the two of them could always chat.

Come together. Therefore, Lao Wang always greets Xue Xiang's arrival in person. Otherwise, as Lao Wang, and based on Xue Xiang's familiarity with Songzhuzhai, he can just send a guard to inform him.

The two chatted and laughed for a while before arriving in the lobby. Mr. An was playing chess with someone again. The person playing chess was known to Xue Xiang. He was Mr. An's eldest son-in-law, the former deputy director of the Jianghuai Provincial Revolutionary Committee, and the current deputy minister of the Ministry of Railways, Zuo

Qiu Ming. Zuo Qiu Ming's figure is still the same as before, tall and fat, but his fat face is more red than before, and his hair that is not thick is swept back, making him look full of energy.

Xue Xiang thought to himself: It seems that this person in the Ministry of Railways has a good job. However, if you think about it, the capital city is not as good as the place. The An family is nearby, and with the east wind blowing from the father-in-law, how can the son-in-law not be nourished?

Woolen cloth.

Xue Xiang came in. The old man didn't even raise his head. He was holding a cup in one hand and tapping the chess board with the chess pieces in the other. He seemed to be concentrating on thinking about the chess game. On the contrary, Zuo Qiuming raised his head and smiled at Xue Xiang. After Xue Xiang smiled back, he

He focused his attention on the chessboard again. After all, Lao Taishan was beside him. He didn't dare to feint.

On the other hand, An Zaihai, who was watching the game from the sidelines, did not have so many worries. He stood up and shook hands with Xue Xiang in a grand manner. After shaking hands, he pulled Xue Xiang to sit down and watch the chess game.

It was still the same small square table as last time. Xue Xiang sat on the free side and lowered his head to watch the chess game. On the chessboard, Mr. An was in a good situation. He had all the soldiers and elephants, the main general had one chariot, one horse and one cannon, and all the generals had been killed.

Crossing the Chu River and the Han border, facing the left

The old commander of Qiu Ming's Jiugong Grid launched a siege; while Zuo Qiu Ming's side only had a bicycle and a horse, and a pawn crossing the river. Both of them were dead. Only the two men were left struggling to support, and the chariot and horse were all near the Jiugong Grid.

Hold on tight, the situation is extremely dangerous.

"Check! There's no chess left." Mr. An pushed back his sparse, dyed black hair. He probably defeated an unskilled opponent, which left the old man without much sense of accomplishment, but he didn't show a smile on his face.

"You, from the beginning of the layout, you have fallen behind. You know how to build a defensive line and defend with all your strength. With your butt stuck out and being beaten like this, you don't dare to win at all. How can you not lose?"

Zuo Qiuming was also in his fifties. Being scolded by his father-in-law, Zuo Qiuming was not embarrassed at all. Instead, he was all smiles: "Dad, you have great chess skills and winning potential (- Shuhai Pavilion - The fastest in the house)

Update) Obviously, I built a defense line as early as possible based on objective reality and prepared for a rainy day. If I were to attack you, I would probably lose even more miserably."

Mr. An waved his hand: "What kind of bullshit is this? Why does it have the same tone as Wang Jingwei during the Anti-Japanese War? To put it bluntly, it is capitulationism. If we all think like you, when we were fighting with the little devils, we just surrendered our weapons? What a fool.

What the heck! Back then, if it weren’t for the Chairman and his old man leading our group of hard-nosed people to fight to the death, fighting to the death even if they couldn’t be beaten, we would have the republic we have now..."

After Zuo Qiuming was scolded, he still had to look "taught" on his face. He kept nodding his head, but in his heart he shouted injustice: If I had known this was the case, I wouldn't have made do with it. I would have just played a chess game.

, and also caught up with a political class.

An Zaihai smiled lightly at the side, with an expression as if he had known this. It turned out that he was the one who was next, and Zuo Qiuming happened to arrive, so he gave way to the elder brother-in-law who didn't know what was going on, and Zuo Qiuming was shocked.

.He knew that the old man was not in a good mood during this period, and was holding back on something.

Mr. An took a sip of tea and was about to open fire again when Xue Xiang interrupted: "Old man, I think my uncle knows himself and the enemy, assesses the situation, and lures the enemy deeper. How come you have become capitulationist? This is too far-fetched.

Alright?"

"Oh, good boy, this is a different way of saying that my old man is relying on his old age to sell his old age."

"I don't mean anything like that. Don't wear your hat in such a mess."

"I don't care if you mean it or not, if you don't tell me the truth today, we're not done!"

"You keep saying this, but you are not basing it on objective reality. You are always a member of the Party, and you don't like to act arrogantly."

"Oh, why didn't I start from the objective facts? You even said that my old man was acting arrogant. It was just you who came to me and used strong words. Where did this game of chess come from, luring the enemy deep, luring the enemy deep could lead to death.

What a joke!"

"Who said that my uncle lured the enemy in so deeply that he lured himself to death? Do you think you have won? I asked you why you were so excited just now." Xue Xiang slapped his thigh, and he finally understood.

Cause and effect are general.

"What, you kid didn't wake up. Do you mean that we have reached this point and there is still hope?" Mr. An was really excited now, his eyes were bright and his white eyebrows were trembling.

Xue Xiang smiled and said: "There is no hope of rescue. The situation is simply great, but you should be careful over there."

"Good boy, I hope you're not a eloquent person. Cheng, I want to see how the situation turns out. My general, it's your turn."

Mr. An and Xue Xiang played chess, often winning one and losing nine. Even the few victories came with great difficulty. At this moment, although it was the end game, Xue Xiang said so boldly that the old man was immediately overjoyed: Such a situation is simply

The overall situation has been decided. Today, I will make Xue Xiaozi fall into trouble and see if he still dares to talk.

"Branch"

"I thought there was nothing strange about me, vaulting horse. Again!"

"Vault!"

"Stop my horse's legs. I've expected this move."

"Gongpeng"

"Crooked veteran"

"Fire up the cannon and then general!"

"Get out of the car!"

"The rook kills the warrior, then the general! There is no chess, haha." The old man was so happy that his white eyebrows trembled with laughter. He kept stroking his non-existent beard.

At this time, the chessboard looks like this. The four chess pieces are in a straight line, which are Mr. An's cannon, Xue Xiang's rook, Mr. An's rook (this was originally Xue Xiang's taxi, which was eaten by the rook), Xue Xiang's rook, and Xue Xiang's rook.

To the veteran.

Now it's Xue Xiang's turn to play chess, and he is being defeated by Mr. An's rook general. Originally, Xue Xiang could use his veteran general or rook to capture Mr. An's rook. However, once he captures Mr. An's rook, Xue Xiang's veteran officer will have to take a beating. This can be said to be

It's a series of moves; normally Xue Xiang's veteran can retreat to the center, but Mr. An's horse is covering the middle position, and there are really dead ends everywhere.

That's why Mr. An is so proud. He has seen all these changes in the chess game.

"Young man Xue, give up. Haha, I've only been in the countryside for a few days, and my head has gone crazy." It's a rare opportunity for Mr. An to confidently ask for Xue Xiang's winnings on the chess board. At this moment, it's like drinking honey water.

, sweet to the heart.

"You must be too happy too early. I have expected your move. Watch your move and kill the rook!" Xue Xiang slammed the chessboard hard and took away Mr. An's rook.

"Alas, what's going on with you? Why are you using a horse to eat my cart? You don't want the horse's legs, the veteran doesn't want them!" Mr. An slapped his legs so hard that they almost reached Xue Xiang's hands.

Take back the car that was eaten.

"I won't stop riding. If you can step on a veteran, I'll admire you."

It turns out that at this moment, the old man's horse was able to guard the center position and could not reach Xue Xiang's veteran at all.

"This, this... oh, fixed thinking can kill people." With a snap, Mr. An slapped his thigh again: "This can't work. I just talked nonsense with you, delayed my train of thought, and gave away my car.

Put it back and regret it!"

"Old man, we are all very particular people. Don't do this. We are all men with no regrets." Xue Xiang shook his head like a rattle.

"I'm either a man or a bad old man. I must regret this move, otherwise I won't be able to make it..."

He didn't even act like a real man, so what else could Xue Xiang do, so he had to make the old man regret a step.

Although Mr. An fought hard and regretted his move, Xue Xiang was not at Zuo Qiuming's level after all. He responded calmly and fired frequent secret arrows. He took on the old man's stormy attacks one by one and frequently mobilized idle soldiers.

Keep attacking.

Just like that, the two of them had a good fight. Mr. An had the advantage of troops on his side, but his chess skills were slightly inferior;

After a few hours, the game ended in a draw. In the end, Xue Xiang only had a single soldier and veteran general left on his side; Mr. An still had all his soldiers, but since there was no chess piece to cross the river, he had to sigh and give up.

But they say that when Xue Xiang and Mr. An play chess, they are never calm, gentle and speechless. It is no different from talking about cross talk. The two of them say something to each other, and their tongues are shining like lotus flowers, and the ground is full of golden lotus. Suddenly they quote scriptures.

, mocking each other; suddenly the old man and the brat screamed randomly, and they were so familiar with each other that they could only call each other brothers and sisters.

It was the first time for Zuo Qiuming to see this kind of scene. He did not play chess, but listened to the conversation between the two. He was dumbfounded. An Zaihai, however, was not surprised. He leaned back in his chair, held the tea cup, closed his eyes, and raised his eyebrows.

I raised my legs and tapped my thighs with my fingers while listening. From time to time I took a sip of tea and shook my head. It was as if I was listening to Shan Tianfang's "The Romance of the Sui and Tang Dynasties". It was very comfortable.

"Oh, I was careless, I was careless, let you kid...Oh, I won't say anything." Mr. An played this game of chess that he was determined to win, and he regretted it for more than ten minutes, and he still hasn't rested his breath yet.

An Zaihaiyou opened his eyes and interjected: "Dad, should we go to the study room?"

An Zaihai called early in the morning, naturally not specifically to ask Xue Xianglai to play chess with the old man. The reason why he didn't interrupt before was just that it was rare to see the old man happy, and he wanted to make the old man happy for a while. After all, the old man wanted to do that.

, I have been worried about it for half a month.

"I know." The old man stopped sighing and said hello to Lao Wang. He asked to bring the charcoal fire into the room, and then left first.
To be continued...