Selected Works of A Cheng - 60 Literary Masters of the Century

Author: A Cheng
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2006-07-01
Features: The station was chaotic beyond measure, with thousands of people talking. No one paid attention to the large red banner temporarily hung up. The banner had been hung many times, and the paper was worn out. The loudspeaker played one song after another, making everyone even more anxious. My friends had all been sent to join the queue, but now it was my turn, yet no one came to see me off. My parents had some before, and they were overturned and died at the start of the movement. Alarms were placed on all the furniture, and they were taken away, which was perfectly justified. Although I was alone, I wasn’t considered an only child and wasn’t included in the policy to stay in the city. Like a wild wolf, I wandered for over a year before finally deciding to leave. The place I was going to offered a salary of over twenty yuan per month, which I greatly looked forward to and fought for, and surprisingly, I was approved. Because the place was adjacent to another country, the struggle involved not only class but also international issues. Since my background wasn’t strong, the organization didn’t fully trust me. I fought for this trust and right, and I was overjoyed, but more importantly, twenty yuan a month was more than enough for one person. However, no one came to see me off, which made me a bit impatient, so I sneaked into the train and looked for a place to sit, letting the thousands of people on the platform bid farewell. The window on one side of the carriage, facing the platform, was already crowded with from various schools, all sticking their heads out to laugh and cry. The other window faced south, and the winter sunlight slanted in, coldly illuminating the many buttocks on the northern side. Both sides of the luggage rack were packed with things. I walked around looking for my seat number but found another thin student sitting alone, his hands tucked into his sleeves, staring out the window at the empty carriages on the south side of the station. My seat was in the same compartment as him, diagonally opposite, so I sat down and tucked my hands into my sleeves as well. The student glanced at me, and suddenly his eyes lit up. He asked, “Want to play chess?” Startled, I quickly shook my head and said, “No!” He looked at me, saying, “Those long fingers of yours are perfect for holding chess pieces—you’ll definitely be good at it. Let’s play a game. I’ve got my set.” Saying that, he stood up and took his schoolbag down from the window hook, rummaging inside. I said, “I only know how the horse and the elephant move. Are you not being sent off?” By then, he had already taken out the chessboard and placed it on the table. The plastic chessboard didn’t fit, so he thought for a moment and placed it horizontally, saying, “It’s fine, we can still play. Come on, you go first.” I laughed and said, “Are you not being sent off? With this chaos, why play chess?” As he arranged the last chess piece, he said, “I don’t need anyone to see me off. I’m going to a place where there’s food to eat. Why all this crying and fussing? Come on, you go first.” I was surprised but still picked up the cannon and moved it to the center. Before my piece even moved, his horse “”, faster than me. I deliberately moved the cannon past the center and stopped it there. He quickly glanced at my chin and said, “You said you didn’t know how to play? This opening,, I once met a master in Zhengzhou who played this way and almost beat him., the head cannon opening, is an old opening but has great, and it’s very stable. Hmm? Your turn.” I didn’t know how to move and my hand wandered over the chessboard. He calmly watched the entire board and then tucked his hands into his sleeves again. Just then, the carriage got chaotic. Many people rushed in, waving their hands outside the glass. I stood up and looked out the window to the platform. Everyone on the platform had gathered in front of the carriage, shouting and creating a mess. Suddenly, the train lurched, and the crowd “”, and cries erupted. Someone poked me in the back, and I turned around to see him shielding the chessboard, saying, “You can’t play like this—move!” I really didn’t have the heart to play chess, and my heart felt a bit sour, so I stubbornly said, “I’m not playing anymore. This isn’t the time!” He looked at me in shock, then suddenly seemed to understand, his body softened, and he stopped talking. After the train had moved for a while, the carriage began to quiet down. Water was brought, and people took out cups to drink. The person next to me filled their cup and said, “Whose chess? Put it away and get your cup.” He looked pitifully and asked, “Want to play chess?” The person who wanted to put the cup away said, “It’s no fun anyway, let’s play a game.” He was very happy and quickly arranged the chess pieces. His opponent said, “What’s this sideways thing? It’s hard to look at.” He rubbed his hands together and said, “It’ll do. When you watch chess, the board isn’t always horizontal, right? Your move.” His opponent took up the pieces skillfully and called out, “Head cannon.” He jumped in with the horse. His opponent immediately ate his pawn, and he quickly ate the opponent’s cannon in return. I found this simple opening boring and really had no interest in chess, so I turned around. At that moment, a classmate walked over, as if looking for someone, and spotted me. He said, “Come on, come on, four short one, you’re missing!” I knew they were playing cards, so I shook my head. The classmate walked over to our compartment and was about to pull me in when he suddenly shouted, “Chess idiot, how are you here? Your sister just had a hard time finding you, and I said I didn’t see you. I didn’t expect you to be in this carriage from our school without a word. Look at you, playing chess again.” The chess idiot blushed and said irritably, “You’re the one who’s always meddling in everything, even in my chess? Get out, it’s your turn.” Then he urged my opponent again. At that moment, I noticed something and asked the classmate, “Is he Wang Yisheng?” The classmate widened his eyes and said, “You don’t know him? Oh, you’ve wasted your life. You don’t even know the chess idiot?” I said, “I know the chess idiot is Wang Yisheng, but I didn’t know Wang Yisheng was him.” Saying that, I looked closely at the thin student. Wang Yisheng managed a weak smile but kept looking at the chessboard. Wang Yisheng was simply famous. Our school often had chess matches between students and the other nearby middle schools. Later, a few high-level players emerged. These players often held tournaments, and gradually, almost every champion was Wang Yisheng. Since I didn’t like chess, I didn’t care much about the chess champions, but Wang Yisheng’s name was often mentioned in the mouths of a few chess enthusiasts in my class, so I heard a little about his deeds. I knew Wang Yisheng was known as the chess idiot, and that he played chess extraordinarily well, and that in their school, he was always among the top in math. It made sense that someone good at chess also had a mathematical mind, but I didn’t believe the foolish things people said about Wang Yisheng—I thought it was just that everyone was looking for amusing anecdotes to spread. Later, during the movement, it was rumored that the chess idiot had gotten into trouble during his pilgrimage and was brought back to school. I doubted that the chess idiot could go on a pilgrimage because everyone’s description of him suggested he couldn’t solve his food and drink problems. But everyone said the chess idiot had indeed gone on a pilgrimage because he often played chess and was noticed, and people would follow him around, often giving him some money, which he would just accept without asking. Later, it was found that whenever he went to a place, he would squeeze into the crowd to watch chess. If he liked a game, he would push the loser aside and play with the winner. At first, people saw him as unremarkable and didn’t play with him. But he insisted, so they had to. After a few moves, the opponent started sweating but wouldn’t give up. The chess idiot didn’t say a word, just moved extremely quickly, as if he didn’t even think about it. When the opponent finally shut up, even the people watching the game had to think carefully and stop giving advice. Then, the people with him started digging through their pockets. Just as everyone was watching intently, they realized their wallets had already been stolen. After three games, everyone was scratching their heads. By then, the chess idiot had become the master of the game, asking if anyone else wanted to play. Those who were, would sit down to play, but in the end, they still didn’t win. Later, they often worked together as one side, arguing among themselves about how to move. The chess idiot didn’t hurry, instead urging them to leave quickly, because with more masters, they would often argue about how to move. In this way, at one place, he could play for a whole day. Later, some people who had lost their wallets started making a fuss. Slowly, a few shrewd people secretly observed and saw someone taking wallets but didn’t make a sound. Later, when that person came to invite the chess idiot to play at night, they shouted and bound both the thief and the chess idiot together, to be judged by the rebellious team. The chess idiot was confused and only said that people often gave him money, probably out of pity, and didn’t know how he got it. He just liked to play chess. The judge, seeing his foolish appearance, had him brought back and the story spread across schools as an amusing anecdote. Later, it was said that the chess idiot thought there weren’t many high-level road chess players in other provinces and couldn’t improve, so he asked someone to invite a famous city player to challenge him. A classmate took him to meet his father, who was said to be a famous player in the country. The famous player didn’t say much when he saw the chess idiot and just set up a known , asking him to play. The chess idiot looked at it for a while and explained it in detail, winning for the ancient player. The famous player was surprised and wanted to take him as a disciple. But the chess idiot asked, “Have you solved this?” The famous player didn’t understand and said, “Not yet.” The chess idiot said, “Then why would I want to be your disciple?” The famous player had no choice but to ask the chess idiot to lead the way. Later, he told his son, “This classmate is rebellious, and chess style reflects character. If he keeps going like this, his chess style will only get worse.” He also mentioned some new instructions, saying that if he studied hard, his chess skills would improve. Later, the chess idiot met an old man who picked up waste paper, and the old man beat him for three days and only won one game. The chess idiot insisted on tearing the big-character newspapers for the old man instead of making him labor. But one day, he tore a “” that a rebellious group had just posted and was captured. This group then framed him for the opposing faction, accusing them of “plotting and scheming,” which was unbearable. The opposing faction then secretly stole the chess idiot’s name and used it to turn against the previous rebellious group. For a time, the name “Wang Yisheng” was posted everywhere on the streets. Many revolutionary fighters from other provinces who came to take lessons took a long time to realize that Wang Yisheng was actually a chess idiot, and some invited him to other provinces to meet some martial arts masters. After the matches, they had their share of wins and losses, but it was said that the chess idiot’s skills had only gotten better. Unfortunately, the country was busy with revolution, otherwise, who knows what the chess idiot would have become.