The chandelier in the coffee shop has not yet been turned on, and the morning dawn outside the glass curtain wall of the hall provides some brightness. Occasionally, there are students walking on the street. It is still early, and everything is still quiet, just like coffee. The atmosphere in the hall is the same.
The agent lady who was waiting on the first floor stared at Shilan High School where people were gradually appearing across the street. From time to time, she looked back uneasily at the two figures playing chess behind the guardrail on the second floor. In the quiet cafe, the only sound of the chess pieces could be heard. Crisp sound.
To be honest, she regretted a little, regretting letting Mandy Gonzalez do whatever she wanted again, but she actually knew that this time would not be the last time she regretted it. If she could get through this trouble safely, she would be waiting for her in the future. There are still many good days to come.
The more she thought about this, the more the agent lady felt bald. Recently, when she got up every morning, she saw the hair falling on the pillow, which was shocking.
On the second floor, in front of the chessboard.
"What is chess to you?"
"Let me think about... everything in life so far and in the future?"
"Then why are you here?" Lin Nian moved to e4.
"Didn't you invite me here?" Mandy casually played e5, which was a very routine start. After Lin Nian sent the agent away, the two of them had such a tacit understanding that they didn't say anything and played another game of chess. Even if the players are chatting, they need to play chess as a condiment. Just like drinking alone is not enough, you have to play a game of edamame to feel comfortable.
But for both parties, there may be slightly different perceptions of what is edamame and what is wine.
"With a simple phone call, it's incredible to invite a world-class star to a foreign country for a chat."
Lin Nian Nf3, opposite Mandy also Nc6 responded, "Just like not everyone can invite Marilyn Monroe to her home to perform a skirt-covering show with just one phone call?"
"Do you compare yourself to Marilyn Monroe?" Lin Nian Fei Xiang b5, after quickly killing Mandy in the first move, the second move was very tentative, and he had no intention of making great progress. .
"What is Marilyn Monroe's label? Sexy! I think I am also quite sexy. Sex is part of my nature, and I obey my nature. She is blond, I am blond. She is the label of an era. I think I It can be, so there is no difference between us." Mandy a6 caught the elephant and said in high spirits, "But you are right, if Marilyn Monroe was really called by your phone call, it is probably not because you have a lot of money. It’s not a big deal, but Marilyn Monroe is simply interested in you.”
Lin Nianhuixiang said, "It seems that my policy is correct."
"You mean the first thing you say after getting through the phone is pawn e4? I admit, your little trick is really interesting. You can be ranked among the top three boys I met who are deliberate." Mandy said with a hum.
"Who's number one?"
"Oh, honey. Don't be jealous. (Baby, don't be jealous)" Mandy said teasingly.
It is worth mentioning that the language they always communicate with is English, and occasionally they speak a few words in Spanish. The chess queen is not very proficient in Chinese. The Chinese vocabulary is limited to hello, thank you and xiaolongbao. I probably had a deep impression after eating Xiao Yang Shengjian during the competition in Shanghai.
"If chess is interesting, people must be interesting too. If I get one, I will be interested. If I get two, it will be worth my trip to China." Mandy held her chin with her right hand and tilted her head to look at the boy sitting opposite her, smiling, "Look It seems that I am very lucky, Internet fraud and electronic fraud are just ancient legends."
"You said chess is everything to you, aren't you afraid of losing after you come here?" Lin Nian asked, casting the king's rook at the same time.
Mandy craned her neck and squinted at King Lin Nian and the rook. She was probably wondering if there was anything hidden in this move. She was probably distracted by the last game of chess and calculated the error tolerance for more than ten moves. , only after making sure there is nothing dangerous, he asked, "Why do you think I am afraid of losing?"
"According to your agent, you are now famous in chess, and you have created a persona of being an undefeated queen. If you lose to an unknown person, it will destroy your reputation, right? Throw away everything you have gained. .”
"Oh, what a coincidence, one of my favorite albums is "reputation", so I'm really not afraid." Mandy said, "Besides, it's fun, isn't it?"
"Interesting? How interesting is it."
"If this world was only about winning, losing, and drawing, it would be too monotonous." Mandy expressed a relatively strange point of view.
"Are there any other results besides winning, losing and drawing?" Lin Nian asked.
"Playing chess is for fun, my friend!" Mandy Nia said in a funny voice, "Do you sometimes get so flustered that you want to commit suicide because you have nothing to do?"
Lin Nian paused and looked up at her, "No, have you?"
"Often." Mandy lowered her head and rubbed the chess pieces on her rook, probably thinking about what to do next. "It often happens at night. I'm bored and can't find anything to do, so I want to commit suicide for fun."
"Suicide for fun." Lin Nian said.
Mandy shrugged, "Of course, I'm not an idiot, I just said that I have had such thoughts, but I have never done it. Every time I have such thoughts, I will play a game of chess... .So this goes back to where we started, do you think I play this game of chess to win, to lose, or to draw?”
"None of them." Lin Nian roughly understood what the other party meant.
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"I often play chess for peace of mind." Mandy moved her car, "to temporarily forget the idea of being bored to the point of committing suicide. People always have to find something to do for themselves, such as finding a class."
"Have you ever gone through a stage where you get tired of playing games when no one cares about you, and you don't even want to turn on the computer once? But if you need to go to work or study, you can only squeeze out a little time to play games. , that short period of time is simply a blissful enjoyment, and may even make you forget to come back.”
"I am such a person, keen to find trouble for myself." She said, "When I used to play chess and gamble with those people in parks and cafes, it was actually enough to support myself, and I even lived well. But I felt that such a day was too monotonous, so I went even further to find out the time when my agent appeared and came out, specially walked into her sight, and asked her to take me to that troublesome stage."
Mandy stuck out her tongue, "I know that once I step on the stage, all kinds of things, public opinion and pressure will come to me, but after weighing the pros and cons, I feel that this seems good, and it can make me miss the peaceful beauty of the past. , this way, life will finally give me something to look forward to, and it won’t make me want to commit suicide just for fun.”
"What is lost becomes more beautiful, so take the initiative to lose it so that the precious beauty will never fade?" Lin Nian accurately commented.
"Remember, great poet." Mandy suddenly covered her face, "Where did your habit of pulling out articles anytime and anywhere come from? I didn't expect you to be a literary person!"
"You are just looking for fun. Life is too satisfying, so let yourself be a little unhappy first, and then enjoy the pleasure of having everything you want anytime, anywhere." Lin Nian re-evaluated.
"Hey, that's right." Mandy gave a thumbs up, "Don't you still know how to speak human language?"
Lin Nian went to the army to eat Mandy's horse, "In order to commemorate happiness, I put myself into misfortune first. This approach is very dangerous."
"Girls who are looking for fun in nightclubs know that one day they will get pregnant unexpectedly, but they will still put on the most exquisite makeup every night, drink the strongest wine, and have fun until the day comes when their belly starts to cry." Man Di smiled, "At that time, they will definitely miss the day when their lower abdomen still had vest lines, right? But it is a pity that in the future, they will only have ugly stretch marks on their lower abdomen!"
"This idea is very dangerous, and sooner or later someone will be interested in it." Lin Nian said calmly, as if he was prophesying, or stating the facts that had already happened.
"Someone who cares? Like you?" Mandy suddenly tilted her head and looked at Lin Nian.
Lin Nian was stunned for a moment and was speechless.
"Just kidding, you're probably not that kind of person." Mandy lowered her head and looked at the chessboard again, and suddenly became confused, "This move... uh, there's no timer, right? How much time do I have to think?"
"Think about it slowly, there aren't that many rules." Lin Nian shook his head.
"Woohoo!" Mandy cheered softly, "I really miss this feeling, just like playing chess in the park before... You see, I am ready to miss the comfortable life in the past. This is how 'making' comes out Happiness!"
"Then do you hate your current life?" Lin Nian asked carefully.
Mandy thought for a while, pouted, and placed the palm of her right hand flat on the chessboard and shook it from side to side, "It's just so so. A fashion magazine designed new clothes for me, a perfume brand gave me samples, and there was also afternoon tea with the royal family. If you say the invitation is unpleasant, it seems a bit against your will."
"So you are living a happy life now." Lin Nian nodded.
"That's right." Mandy didn't deny it.
"According to your previous analysis of your own personality, and based on your current happy days, if there was a bigger fun in front of you, would you look for it?" Lin Nian said in a relatively common language that Mandy could understand. ask.
"It depends on the price of this fun." Mandy said immediately.
"Cost? I thought people like you wouldn't care about the cost and would rush in when you see the fun." Lin Nian seemed a little surprised by this answer.
"That's because you don't know me well enough." Mandy said casually, "I'm not a very happy person. I rush forward when I see fun. So when I'm bored, I just want to commit suicide, but I won't actually commit suicide. If I have fun, The price is too high, and I won’t give up everything I have to pursue it.”
"But you are sitting here now." Lin Nian looked at her across the chessboard and said.
Mandy looked around and said with a smile, "So? Is this the Shihongmen Banquet? Am I going to pay a price soon?"
Lin Nian looked at the girl in a daze, just looking at the flowers through a layer of fog. Finally, he just said softly, "Every time I think I understand you, but in the end I find that I still don't."
"It's normal. It's perfectly normal to feel like this, because I'm a liar." Mandy spat out the word, and the tip of her tongue gently crossed the roof of her mouth and touched her teeth. The feeling was very special, "You know what I experienced when I was a child. ?"
"My childhood experience. I remember someone said that you were from a single-parent family. Your father died early due to alcoholism, leaving your mother to raise you in a rented house. Later, your mother died of overwork, so you took to the streets to make money by gambling. I started playing chess to make some money. Later, I was noticed by my agent and became famous after entering the professional chess circle." Lin Nian said.
"Oh! You are a fundamentalist!" Mandy said suddenly.
"Varied?"
"The version you believe is the one in which both my parents died. I prefer to call this version the 'Street Little Chess King'." Mandy said proudly, "This is also my favorite version!"
"Version?" Lin Nian looked sideways at her, "You mean there are many other different versions?"
"There are also many versions of 'The God of War in Children's Palace,' 'Father's Debt and Son's Paying,' 'Occasionally Obtaining a Famous Teacher,' 'Living Under the Fence of Others,' and 'Enlightenment in the Orphanage.'" Mandy counted on her fingers, "The version you mentioned is the one that is most widely circulated. .”
"I know why you called yourself a liar." Lin Nian's expression calmed down.
"Yes, I am a liar. If I can be seen through, it will prove that my chess strategy is easy to figure out, and then I will not always win. This is a necessary disguise." Mandy shrugged.
"So the things we talked about before were also false? Those parts of your self-analysis."
"Guess whether it's true or false?" Mandy smiled slyly, "If you waste so much saliva and time, and all the information you get is false, will you feel like your life has been wasted? "
"It will be a little bit."
"But what if those are all true? I just told lies by telling lies. It is also possible."
"That will make me feel better." Lin Nian said, and then fell silent for a moment, "Is this your way of survival? Being a liar, haven't you thought that this would be very annoying?"
"Is it that bad?" Mandy moved the chess piece and smiled.
"No, I just think that if you are always like this, it will misunderstand the people around you and hurt each other." Lin Nian said slowly, "If no one can see clearly what you want to do, what you have done If things go against their ideas, it will be easy for them to become strangers to each other."
"Do you think I've hurt my fans by fabricating my life story, letting those versions spread, and creating my persona?" Mandy suddenly asked a very interesting question.
"It shouldn't...don't count, right? You don't rely on your personality to make a living." Lin Nian asked the question and answered, "Your fans like you because of your chess prowess, your birth and past, in fact, it is not important."
"The most important thing when being a liar is to be clever in your lies." Mandy said, "If my lies never involve my true core, then it doesn't matter even if the lie is exposed, because I have never really hurt anyone from beginning to end. For the benefit of those people, maybe I did hurt their emotions...but I believe that emotions will always be repaired over time, as long as both parties are unique and important to each other."
Lin Nian was quiet for a while and suddenly asked, "How old are you this year?"
"Is it true or false to ask a woman her age?" Mandy looked at him in surprise, then rolled her eyes, "I am 18 years old this year."
"Have you ever thought about falling in love?"
"Hey, have you met Tu Qiongdagger?" Mandy let out a strange laugh, but did not refuse to answer, "Of course I have thought about it, I am in my prime now! Rich, handsome and famous! Noble nobleman, brother. Line up and chase me!”
"Is there anyone you're considering?" Lin Nian said, "I'm quite curious about your mate selection criteria."
"I have money, good looks, and three views that suit my taste... To be honest, if a woman chooses a man, and a man chooses a woman, when the basic conditions are met, in the end, it's just a matter of eye-catching? As long as it's a matter of eye-catching, then Everything will fall into place.”
"How many of them suit you?"
"An oil prince in the Middle East. Others like to play sports cars. He likes to plant trees in the Middle East. He says that one day he will restore the desert to a green sea. He is a very romantic man with long eyelashes. The most important thing is that he eats with a spoon instead of using his hands. Catch. Oh, there is also a wandering painter in Italy who is very poor, but has good looks and good painting skills. His dream is to become Van Gogh. I don’t know if he can find his favorite revolver. Oh oh oh, still There is a young handsome guy from China who is very good at playing chess and even beat me once. He likes to use little tricks to bring freshness to the girls and make them very attractive." Mandy smiled and clapped her fingers as if she were counting treasures.
"Let's not talk about the first two. What are you going to do about this one right now?" Lin Nian asked.
"Nothing new, just confess, and then ask him if he is willing to have a relationship where he will jump off the cliff after breaking up. If he is willing, I will take him back to Spain, introduce him to the professional chess arena, personally train him, and let him stand up Get to the same height as me and have a fairy combination of talent and beauty!" Mandy slapped her hands and her eyes were filled with little stars.
"Is this also a lie?" Lin Nian looked at Mandy and smiled softly, "I want you to just love Cai and not like him. I want you to just like him and want to use the excuse of loving Cai to bind him. Let’s deceive him together. Lies mixed with truth can make people unable to detect you. Just like you said, hiding your intentions can make people unable to see through your chess strategy.”
"You're on the right track." Mandy shook her finger in praise, "Are you very angry now?"
"No," Lin Nian said, "because I don't know what the answer is."
"This is the key to lies." Mandy nodded and said, "You will never really fall out before a lie is truly exposed, because you always have room to guess and forgive me. Besides, for such an ambiguous lie, No matter which outcome it is, in the end I will always treat you sincerely, and it is all for your own good. This is the same as those fans who enjoy discussing one version of my life every day. It doesn’t really matter whether it is true or false, they are willing to continue The reason why I am a fan is that I am indeed very powerful at chess, and as long as it is true that I am powerful, the truth of those lies will naturally not be that important."
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"What if there are some fans who only insist that you lied to them, and they like you not because of your strong chess skills, but simply because of your personal charm? Isn't your lie a kind of betrayal? Lin Nian looked at her and asked.
"Then take off your fandom, who is afraid of whom?" Mandy said.
Lin Nian lowered his head and looked at the chess board. He had already entered the endgame, but he couldn't quite understand the pros and cons of the situation.
"Sister, what is your biggest dream in this life?" he asked.
"Are you ready to call me Senior Sister?" Mandy rubbed her hands overjoyed, very touched, "My biggest dream, how about playing the most awesome game of chess since ancient times?"
"For what? Fame, or wealth."
"In order to let chess remember me and let the world remember me, I am a woman with a strong desire to perform. Chess is the meaning of my life and the best tool for me to achieve my goals. Nothing can make me give up it. Unless I like another more meaningful thing, it would be better for me to die than to give up chess." Mandy said seriously.
"That's absolutely true. Are you really not afraid of death?"
"Afraid! Why aren't you afraid? I'm always scared to death."
"This conflicts with what you said before."
"Human beings are inherently contradictory." Mandy lamented, "Before you do it, you must be afraid, but now that you have done it, don't say you are afraid, don't be afraid of doing it, don't do it if you are afraid, just do it if you are determined to do it. In the end. If you are afraid from the beginning, then curse and stay away. But once you want to try to believe in something, then believe it to the end, just like I initially believed that I could be the best at chess and be the best in the world. , haven’t I succeeded now?”
"But you just lost to me." Lin Nian reminded her.
"I only lost once, and I have never lost to someone twice. Who is a hero if he kills at the first sight? How dare he flip me head-on for the second time?" Mandy said with a hum.
"Did you remember wrongly? I called once, and then again just now. It's been twice already."
"The phone call doesn't count. What kind of chess is blind chess? It can only be regarded as playing house at best. Do you take the victory or defeat of Chinese chess as a chess player's true level?" Mandy grabbed the queen in her hand. , a general, "Checkmate! There is no move left! Boy!"
Lin Nian glanced at his chessboard. Indeed, he was checkmate.
Just like what she said, she never loses to the same person twice.
"One more question, this is also the last question." Lin Nian raised his head and looked at the proud Mandy.
"According to what you said, you are a person who likes to have fun. If one day you choose the wrong path for an illusory fun and pay a huge price that you never expected, this price may ruin your life. Will you regret it?"
His voice was light and serious, indicating that this was a serious question.
"Yes!" Mandy nodded decisively, "Why, you won't let me regret even if I choose the wrong path?"
"Understood."
"Oh, no!" Mandy suddenly said loudly again, causing Lin Nian to look up at her.
"You have to add a premise." She raised a finger very strictly.
"What do you mean by adding a premise?"
"Aren't you asking me if I don't regret after choosing the wrong path?" Mandy said seriously, "You have to add a premise. Didn't I say that? I am not a madman. Before having fun, I will consider the cost clearly and then decide whether to act. If this price may cause me to lose everything about chess, I will usually give up without hesitation. But if, if I know the price and I still do it, this means that The thing is-"
The blond girl stated her premise solemnly. Lin Nian listened to her words, feeling a little confused and in a daze.
At this time, the door of the coffee shop downstairs was opened, and the male clerk wearing a hat poked his head in. When he saw the agent in the lobby, he seemed a little dazed and surprised. The irritable agent immediately stepped forward and asked for help. After a cup of Americano coffee to wake him up, the latter could only suddenly realize that he ran towards the store and started to set up the coffee machine.
"We've finished playing chess, finished chatting, and now our record is one win and one loss. How about you, are you interested in going to Spain with me to further your studies?" Mandy formally extended an olive branch to Lin Nian.
"No, let's talk about it later when we have the chance." Lin Nian refused, "It's a pleasure chatting and playing chess with you."
"It seems that we won't have this opportunity in the future." Mandy looked at Lin Nian regretfully, pushed away the chair and stood up, rummaged around in her pockets, and finally took out a lipstick and handed it to Lin Nian, " Then leave me your contact information!"
Lin Nian took the lipstick, looked at the delicate white arm stretched out by the other party, was silent for a moment, and then wrote his phone number on it. When he put the lipstick cap on, he suddenly chuckled and said, " Maybe the number is fake."
"Who is the liar?" Mandy raised her arm and glanced at the number above, then glanced at Lin Nian and grinned, showing her white teeth, "A professional liar will tell you that you are definitely not the kind of person who can lie. Likewise, You are also the type of person that liars like best! Because you can easily believe the words of liars like us!”
The male clerk wearing a hat came up from downstairs, fumbled his way to Mandy and Lin Nian's table, clasped his hands behind his back and spoke in somewhat broken English, "Two guests, would you like something to drink?" ?"
"Not now." Lin Nian said.
"You have to order something when you enter the store, right?" The male clerk seemed very troubled and moved his hands behind his back slightly.
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"I said, not now." Lin Nian turned his head and looked flatly into the eyes under the brim of his hat.
The male clerk wearing a hat was stunned for a moment, raised his hand...scratched his face, and stepped aside stiffly, standing motionless with his hands behind his back, like a doorman security guard.
"All in all, it's a pleasure to play chess with you and interesting to chat with."
Mandy also felt that it was almost time, stood up and stretched, "If I go back now, maybe I can catch up with the game I gave up. Although I don't want to get a bonus or anything, if I can win the championship, I will Your agent will be happy, right? So you still have to work a little harder."
"Goodbye." Lin Nian nodded.
"See you later if you have a chance," she said.
Lin Nian watched the blond girl walk towards the stairs and said a few words to her agent, who hugged her ecstatically and expressed emotions that moved her to heaven and earth.
Before they left the cafe door holding hands with each other, the blond girl wearing a sweatshirt and jeans suddenly turned back to look at him on the second floor, winked playfully, made a goodbye gesture, and jumped out of the door frame and left.
Under the dawn light, she was really free, bright, and quite self-aware, high-profile, and proud. She was so fascinated by the Shilan boys who went to school with steamed buns and soy milk that they couldn't take their eyes away.
He suddenly remembered an interesting thing. The agent advised Mandy that this trip to China might ruin her career and bring her reputation into disrepute. Her achievements in chess would collapse, but Now she is still here.
The so-called cost, the so-called weighing the pros and cons, seems to be a very subjective matter, just like what she said before.
[Unless that new pleasure is enough to surpass the meaning of chess in my life and make me willing to give up everything]
For that girl, how can the weights on the scale of weighing pros and cons be balanced? This is another unknown question. If you try to ask, I'm afraid you will get another lie.
Lin Nian watched as her figure completely disappeared from the sight outside the glass curtain wall. The light in the cafe became brighter as time went by. He turned back and returned the chess pieces on the chess board one by one.
After he completed a series of actions, the male clerk who had been standing finally couldn't bear it any longer and stepped forward to take off his hat and say something.
But Lin Nian didn't even look at him and said in advance, "Sit down first, Lu Mingfei. Put down the knife on your sleeve, I'm not going to fight you here."