After all of us are reborn, who plays Go?

"Why are you so dejected after coming back?"

Zhan Lang was in the cafeteria looking at the exchange group members who all looked dejected after returning from Japan, and he couldn't help but feel a little confused.

Even if the grades aren't particularly good, the atmosphere shouldn't be so depressing, right?

Zhan Lang also knew the overall results of China's exchange trip to Japan, because the overall results had been faxed over before the exchange group returned yesterday.

This time, China’s winning rate in exchanges with Japan is 40 percent.

I can’t say it’s particularly good-looking, but it’s actually acceptable.

After all, China's overall Go strength is indeed not as good as Japan's. Everyone should be mentally prepared for this, and this result should be acceptable.

When faced with an event with an expected outcome, and it's not particularly bad, it shouldn't be enough to depress everyone like this, right?

Then why are they like this now?
Zhan Lang looked at Chen Long and Fang Yuan who were sitting on the other side of the cafeteria as if the sky was falling. He was too lazy to touch their heads, so he went to Wu Yuanmin, another ninth-dan who was going to Japan for exchanges, to get some information from him.

This person is well-known for being honest and good-tempered. He will not get angry even if someone has something to hide.

"Wu Jiudan, what happened this time? Why are everyone reacting like this? Aren't the results acceptable?"

Wu Yuanmin looked at Zhan Lang who was coming over with a plate and couldn't help but sigh: "The setback we suffered in Japan this time was too great. Everyone's confidence in the upcoming China-Japan competition has been hit hard."

"Isn't a 40 percent winning rate acceptable? Our team is not bad against theirs."

After listening to this, Zhan Lang said indifferently, "Hasn't it always been known that there is a gap between China and Japan? What's there to be frustrated about?"

This isn't the first time we've communicated, and it's a wake-up call for others.

You've been beaten so many times, shouldn't you be used to it?
Wu Yuanmin couldn't help but shook his head when he heard this: "You only know one side of the story. We went to three places for this exchange. In addition to other chess players, Japan sent four top-notch players to play against us."

"You take it so seriously this time?!"

Zhan Lang was stunned when he heard this. After all, whether going to Japan for exchanges or Japan coming to China for exchanges, it is rare to see top-notch people.

Just like the last time the Japan Shogi Association came to exchange, there were only two professional 9th ​​dan players who came.

When top-notch people go to Japan for exchanges in China, it is a great honor for you if they can occasionally come out and give some pointers on one or two games.

After all, in their view, there is no one in China who needs their help.

This time, not only is it an exchange competition with top-notch participants, but there are four of them.

The most important thing is that they actually played chess directly?
You should know that the formality of a game of chess is completely different from that of a single game, and the significance is self-evident.

The higher the number of rounds in a game, the more important the game is.

Ten-game chess is sometimes regarded as a symbol of an era, a peak showdown that can even make you bleed.

Of course, this kind of exchange match definitely cannot have such a formal game, but even the lowest three-game match contains a lot of meaning.

In this case, even if the score is 2-0 all the time, we still have to play at least eight games!

The other party's action didn't seem like communication at all, but rather like a disruption? Or even a deliberate revenge?
This move...

Zhan Lang couldn't help but seemed to think of something: "They won't come for me, right?"

No matter how you look at it, Japanese Go and Chinese Go do not have that much hatred. If there was anything that could make the other side put in so much effort, it was only the previous match between them.

It seems that the other party thought that he would definitely go there, and was determined to take revenge, but in the end he came to nothing.

It turned out that Fang Yuan took the blame for himself and was beaten up by the other party.

"Maybe, but if you don't go, Fang Yuan will have to take on the responsibility on his own."

Apart from Zhan Lang, the only Chinese force that can pose a threat to Japan's top-notch force is Fang Yuan.

Wu Yuanmin felt that his chance of winning was only 50% at best. Given Chen Lao's physique and age, it would be a bit difficult for him to fight...

Therefore, when it came to communication in Japan, Fang Yuan had no way out and could only take on the responsibility on his own.

"Fangyuan A went up?"

Zhan Lang just nodded when he heard this. He could probably imagine how Fang Yuan would be beaten.

If four top-notch players take turns playing three games, I'm not even sure I can hold on, let alone Fang Yuan.

Wu Yuanmin seemed to recall some painful memories: "Yes! After four rounds of chess, Fang Yuan lost to the opponent 2-0.

Until the last day, Fang Yuan didn’t win a single game, was beaten 8-0 and had his head shaved bald, and was even humiliated by the opponent…”

"Didn't win a single game?"

Zhan Lang asked in disbelief after hearing this?
Theoretically speaking, Fang Yuan shouldn't be unable to win a single game, right?

After all, no matter how strong the top ones are, they are still just human beings. They cannot reach the level of being invincible like artificial intelligence.

Just because you are better than others doesn’t mean you will definitely win 100%.

Otherwise, Lao Keshenzi would not have been often defeated by the old man and child who everyone thought had no hope before the game, and not just once or twice. Zhan Lang originally thought that Fang Yuan had a 10% to 20% chance of winning against Japan's top-notch players.

I can at least win two or three of the four games, right?

In the end, you didn’t win once?
Were we beaten 8-0?
Fang Yuan has become a member of the national football team?

To be honest, this is a bit outrageous.

No wonder Fang Yuan looked as if his soul had been taken away as he sat there eating. He just kept using his chopsticks to stuff food into his mouth.

Wu Yuanmin looked at Zhan Lang in disbelief, as if thinking of some unbearable memories: "Not only that, the last match against Fang Yuan was played by Japan's Mitsuba Kenichi, and he also won Fang Yuan 2-0.

And after winning the first game, he said that it was too easy to win, and that you couldn't possibly beat me if you had the first move, so I'll let you go first in the second game, and maybe you still have a chance."

Not only did he win, but he also killed people and destroyed their souls.

If Fang Yuan had any shame, he would never let the other party let him go first, otherwise it would be tantamount to completely admitting that he is inferior to the other party.

So even if Fang Yuan died in the second game, he had to win to prove himself and slap his opponent in the face.

But unfortunately, no matter how hard Fang Yuan tried in the second game, he was still firmly controlled by Sanye Kenichi and had no chance at all in the whole set.

After the game was over, Sanye Jianyi looked at Fang Yuan, who seemed to have collapsed, shook his head and said, "It seems that the Chinese chess player can only give me the first move."

After saying that, he left directly.

To be honest, to some extent this can no longer be considered a simple provocation, but a complete slap in the face.

But you really have no choice, you just can't win the game and get a complete bald head shaved by the opponent.

The flame that was ignited by Zhan Lang's victory over Fujii Hideaki was immediately extinguished by the cold water of Japan's reality.

Everyone was full of confidence before going to Japan, but suddenly they realized that, could the battle against the waves be just a coincidence?

You know, Mitsuba Kenichi was one of Japan's top-notch players, but he lost all his titles this year. He became the only top-notch player in Japan without a title, and was even ridiculed by Japanese newspapers as the last among the top-notch players.

Even he can still defeat Chinese Go.

After the exchange, the Chinese delegation went from originally feeling that they could defeat Japan to now just hoping that they would not lose too badly in this China-Japan competition.

There has been a huge change in the mentality of almost everyone.

"Did so much happen?"

When Zhan Lang heard this, he couldn't help rubbing his temple. It seemed that the problem was indeed quite serious.

When lunch was almost over, Chen Long, 9th Dan, stood up and shouted, "The people whose names I read, please come to my office for a meeting after 2:30 pm! Zhan Lang, Fang..."

On the other hand, China's largest-circulation sports magazine "New Sports" hosted an event for readers to predict "Who will be the force in the China-Japan competition."

Looking at all the votes that had been counted, Hao Qiang asked with mixed emotions: "What are the results of the vote count?"

The staff member looked at the data he had calculated, raised his head and said, "Twenty-four percent, 24 percent think we can win, and the rest think Japan can win."

Hearing this, Hao Qiang didn't know what to say, but this was actually within his expectations, and might even be a little higher than what he expected.

You should know that this statistics table only counts Chinese people. Judging from the statistical results, the home team's statistical results show that even Chinese chess fans do not have much confidence in this competition.

Hao Qiang was very nervous before the tickets were issued.

I am also worried that after Zhan Lang won a wave of games before, Chinese Go fans will suddenly have a burst of confidence and the voting support rate will be very high this time. They are holding too high expectations.

However, the higher the support rate, if the results are not good, the backlash against Chinese chess players may be greater, especially Zhan Lang.

Because the greater the hope, the greater the disappointment, people will resent the person who gave them hope.

But Hao Qiang was also worried that even Chinese chess fans might have no confidence in Chinese Go.

After all, if there is no such confidence, where does the confidence of Chinese chess players come from?

Now seeing the current voting results, Hao Qiang doesn’t know whether it is good or bad.

As for the results of the competition, Hao Qiang, one of the important members of the Sports Commission, was pessimistic about the results even though he strongly advocated holding the competition after receiving the communication from the Japanese side.

After all, the opponent's lineup is very strong, especially the three "generals" at the back. Many people in the Sports Commission are worried that if one of them takes over Chinese Go, wouldn't it be too embarrassing?
However, Hao Qiang still convinced a lot of people, saying that if they were really tricked, they would have to admit the gap in strength, which would force Chinese Go to work harder.

Now we can only prepare for the worst and let the final outcome determine what happens.

On the other hand, the president of the Japan Go Association couldn't help but smile when he received the readers' prediction results organized by the Japanese "Go Club" magazine.

The prediction result of my own home is really good! And it’s not the data produced.

Sure enough, one failure did not undermine everyone's confidence!

(End of this chapter)