Chapter 375: Gathering Intelligence

Su Chen smiled gently. "Take your time, Miss Gu. There’s no rush. I’ll wait for you."

He walked over to the main hall and sat down. Lian’er, who was in the middle of her meal, quickly set down her bowl, brewed a pot of tea, and brought it over.

Su Chen was supposed to return to the academy this morning. However, when he went to bid his mother farewell, he found she was too sick to get out of bed.

As a good son, Su Chen couldn’t just leave. He called for a doctor, had medicine prescribed, and after the herbal decoction was prepared, he watched his mother drink it. All the delays pushed his departure to nearly noon.

He decided to just eat lunch at home before finally setting off for the academy.

But before leaving, he was still worried about Gu Fei, so he came by to see her.

Gu Fei wolfed down the rest of her meal in a few bites, went to the backyard to rinse her mouth, and then sat down across from Su Chen. "Young Master Su," she began, "I’d like to ask you about someone."

"Qin Ying... You know Miss Qin, right, Young Master Su?"

Su Chen’s expression flickered. A rumor of unknown origin had been circulating through the academy recently, claiming the Mountain Master intended to betroth his granddaughter to him.

He couldn’t very well go and ask the Mountain Master about it, so he had simply reprimanded a few of the classmates spreading the rumor.

Hearing Gu Fei’s question, Su Chen assumed she had heard the rumor. A wave of embarrassment and panic washed over him, his face nearly flushing red. He blurted out, "I may know Miss Qin, but we’re not at all familiar!"

Gu Fei’s face fell in disappointment. She had been hoping to get some intel from Su Chen.

Seeing that Gu Fei looked disappointed rather than pleased as he’d expected, Su Chen had a feeling he’d misunderstood the situation. He quickly asked, "Why are you asking about Miss Qin?"

Gu Fei thought for a moment, then told him about Qin Ying’s visit.

Su Chen understood, and his expression relaxed. ’Ah, so that’s what this is about.’ "What do you plan on competing with her in?"

Gu Fei gave a sheepish smile. "I just wanted to ask about her skill level in those areas."

Su Chen cleared his throat. "Well..."

"First of all, calligraphy requires years of arduous practice, so I’m afraid..."

Gu Fei got the message. ’He’s saying my calligraphy is no match for Qin Ying’s.’

She volunteered, "I can’t play the zither. And while I can sketch a little, my painting is hardly refined."

"And Go...?"

A small smile touched Su Chen’s lips. "I’ve played Go with Miss Qin before. I lost the first game."

Gu Fei’s lips twitched. "And how skilled are you at Go?"

Su Chen smiled. "I rarely meet my match."

’Then just how good must Qin Ying be?’ Gu Fei felt completely deflated.

She had lost her parents as a child and grew up in an orphanage, where she learned to play Go from the kindly old director. Later, in college, she joined the Go club and was considered one of its better players. But if Qin Ying could defeat even Su Chen—a man who rarely met his match—then Gu Fei was clearly out of her league.

Seeing her so dejected, Su Chen’s gaze softened with affection. "Don’t worry, Miss Gu. I was teasing you. Miss Qin may have won a game against me, but it was only one. Starting from the second game, she never beat me again."

"The only reason I lost that first game was because I was overthinking things and hadn’t yet figured out her play style."

Hearing this, Gu Fei’s spirits lifted, and she was eager to give it a try. "Then in that case—"

Su Chen nodded with a smile. "Why don’t we play a game? It will give me a chance to see your style."

Gu Fei immediately stood up and called for Yan’er. She handed her a silver ingot. "Go buy a Go set. I need to use it now."

Yan’er hurried out.

Gu Fei actually had a Go set in her dimensional space, but it was made of glass and would be too conspicuous to use.

Before long, Yan’er returned with the Go set. Gu Fei and Su Chen sat across from each other and began their match.

Half an hour later, the game was over. Unsurprisingly, Gu Fei lost. It was a complete and utter defeat.