Why it never ends

"Then do you have any suggestions?"

"There are suggestions, but they are just the same old routine: listen more, speak less, don't refute, agree more..." Yu Xuekun paused for a moment, "Always smile, pay attention to your clothes."

"clothes?"

Yu Xuekun looked at her and said, "Don't be messy, whether it's your clothes or your demeanor."

Hesta couldn't help but look down at her clothes - were they messy?It seems not.

"I'll try my best." Hesta stood up and made a phone gesture, "That's it for today. I'll be waiting for your news."

Yu Xuekun nodded and watched her go out.

……

After evening classes, Hesta returned home as usual. She opened the door and saw Ding Yuqing sitting in the living room with Shi Yimiao.

The two of them had long heard the sound of the elevator arriving outside, and now they were looking straight at Hesta, who had just entered the entrance hall.In the entire living room, only two lights were turned on above the dining table.

Not far away, Ding Guisheng was leaning on the sofa watching TV. He was dozing off, and not even the sound of the door opening could wake him up.In front of him, half a bowl of washed tomatoes was still on the coffee table, and many tomato pedicles were thrown aside by him. The wet tabletop reflected the blue light of the screen.

"...What's wrong?" Hesta suddenly became wary, "Are you waiting for me?"

Ding Yuqing yawned. She put away her homework spread out on the table, stood up and said, "Do you have anything else to do tonight?"

Hesta glanced at the bright-eyed child next to her, "...it depends on the situation."

"If you have time, can you play a game of chess with Miaomiao?"

"What chess?"

"General chess." Ding Yuqing said softly.

"I do not know."

Ding Yuqing looked at Miaomiao, "She said she couldn't."

Shi Yimiao immediately raised his hand high, "I can teach!"

This sudden child's voice woke up Ding Guisheng on the sofa. He looked this way in confusion, and then followed the girls' gaze to the entrance.

"...Oh, I'm back." Ding Guisheng stood up holding the sofa, "What time is it now?"

"It's 09:30." Ding Yuqing replied.

Ding Guisheng walked slowly to the dining table with his hands behind his back. There was always something stuck in his throat, and he kept making low coughing sounds.

He looked at the children and then at Ding Yuqing: "What do you want to teach?"

"Miaomiao wants to play chess with Jane. Jane doesn't know how. Miaomiao wants to teach her."

Ding Guisheng let out an unknown chuckle. He pulled out the chair next to Shi Yimiao and sat down. "Okay, I'll take a look too."

Although Hesta was a little confused, she still put down her schoolbag and sat across from Shi Yimiao.

Ding Yuqing put away everything else on the table before pushing a mahogany chessboard between Hesta and Shi Yimiao.

With Ding Yuqing's blessing, the children roughly described to Hesta the movement and function of each chess piece - the knight that can only move the sun, the bishop that can attack long distances along the diagonal, and the pawn that can only move forward but not retreat. And the changes when it hits the bottom... Hesta listened very carefully, and reviewed it several times by holding the chess pieces, and quickly got the general idea.

"Chess," Shi Yimiao stood on the chair, holding the table with both hands, "it's very simple!"

"Then what?" Hesta looked at the chessboard, "How do you count as a winner?" "Whoever checks the opponent's king first will win." Shi Yimiao pointed to the chessboard, "No matter who eats it or how it is eaten. , it all counts as a win.”

"Okay." Hesta reset the chessboard, "Let's try it."

Seeing Hesta clumsily imitating Miao Miao's chess moves, Ding Guisheng was a little amused, "...the king and queen are reversed. The positions of your queens should be exactly opposite and cannot be mirror images."

Ding Yuqing also reminded softly and helped Hesta exchange the positions of the two chess pieces.

Ding Guisheng held his chin, "Start playing now, I'm afraid you won't win!"

"My dad said you can't win." Ding Yuqing looked at the chessboard and said softly.

"Really," Hesta glanced at the person next to him, "Miao is very good at chess?"

"It's quite impressive. She advanced to the chess finals of the Northern Province Children's Group last year," Ding Yuqing said softly. "It's a pity that she had a fever on the day she played."

"You choose first!" Shi Yimiao said loudly, "Do you want to hold black or white?"

Hesta pointed to the chess piece in front of him, "Black."

"Okay! I'll go first then!"

Shi Yimiao grabbed the pawn in the center of the chessboard and said, "Pawn, e4."

Hesta was lost in thought.

After a while, she imitated Shi Yimiao's move and moved the pawns in the same column to e5.

Ding Guisheng made another strange groan, and Shi Yimiao almost didn't think about it, directly grabbed the f1 bishop, and landed on the c4 position with confidence.

It was Hestad's turn. She thought for a long time again and decided to jump the knight on b8 to c6, far away from the bishop on the opposite side.

Shi Yimiao immediately moved the queen and landed on h5 - Hesta could vaguely feel that Ding Guisheng next to her was already a little uncontrollable and wanted to laugh.She carefully examined the intricately arranged chessboard in front of her, but no matter how hard she glanced left and right, she could not detect any danger.

After hesitation, Hesta chose vault f6. However, just as she took her hand back, Shi Yimiao shouted excitedly, "Checkmate! You lose!"

Hesta still didn't understand. The next moment, the little girl grabbed the white queen on h5 and ate Hesta's pawn on f7.

Only then did Hesta realize that her king was immobilized—all escape routes were either blocked by her own pieces or completely exposed to White's attack.

——From start to finish, there are only four steps.

Ding Yuqing looked at her niece speechlessly, "...She has just learned the rules, and you are just going to use the 'Four Steps to Kill' like others?"

"Anyway, I won!!" Shi Yimiao's eyes lit up, "Keep playing, keep playing!!"

The little girl quickly put her chess pieces back into place, and so did Hesta.

"Come on, I can't let others say that I bully the newcomers," Shi Yimiao turned the chessboard, "This time you use the white chess piece, you play first!"

Hesta frowned slightly, and after some thought, walked out of the g4 soldier.Shi Yimiao blinked and charged e6.

With the lesson learned from the last time, Hestad no longer tried to mirror the opposite move. After a moment of thinking, she raised her hand and walked out of the f4 pawn - almost at the same moment, Hestad realized that she must have made a move. Stinky chess, because Ding Guisheng diagonally opposite laughed again, while Ding Yuqing reached out to hold her forehead.

"Hahahahahahaha - checkmate!" Shi Yimiao once again sent out the black queen and jumped directly to h4. Only then did Hesta realize that he had inadvertently given up an empty path to the king.

"Two-step kill!!" Shi Yimiao jumped out of the chair excitedly, "I took a two-step kill!! Grandpa and grandpa - look!!"

Ding Guisheng also stood up and picked up Shi Yimiao from the ground, "Haha, we Miao Miao are really amazing."