It had been two days since the last party and now all the friends were at the university ground waiting for their respective games to begin. Students from 5 universities participated in the games- GusuLan University, Quishan University, Ling University, Yunmeng University, and LanLing University.
The first-day event was basketball and Yibo and Zhan were totally prepared for the battle against the Wens. They were confident that they would win all the matches and would face the Wens of Quishan university in the finals. Another event of that day was a chess match but it wasn't involved with the Quishan University. Ziyi had her race event on that day as well. So all of them were warming up.
First of all the basketball match started. After a few matches, it was confirmed that GusuLan University and Quishan University were the finalists. The playground was crowded with girls and boys of the five universities. It looked like a sea of heads we're moving in a wave manner in the ground.
Zhan and Yibo were sitting in a shady region with their friends. They were breathing profusely after their consecutive wins. Zhan was wiping the drops of sweat that was rolling from his temple region to jawline, hanging there while some of the sweat drops made their way down to Zhan's neck and disappeared into his shirt. Yibo was drinking water while his towel rested around his neck. Zhan looked at Yibo who was busy watching the crowd.
"Yibo, wipe your sweat, otherwise you will catch cold," Zhan said and he wiped Yibo's neck with his towel.
"You guys played well." Ziyi smiled as she handed energy drinks to both of the players.
"Perhaps the next match is after the second break," Yibo said biting the straw of his drink. "Jiyang, when is your event?"
"After 15 minutes," Jiyang replied biting his inner cheek.
"Then what are you doing here? Let's go to the event spot." Hao Xuan immediately stood up and dragged Jiyang to the place while the others chuckled and followed Hao Xuan.
Since chess is a very intellectual game, so the tournament wasn't played in rounds. It was played between GusuLan university and LanLing University.
Soon the chess tournament started. Jiyang had a strong opponent.
A first Jiyang made an easy move. He moved the pawn before the king by two steps. The opponent moved the pawn before the king by a single step. Jiyang then moved his bishop in such a way that if he moved it as the next move, he would surely capture the Queen. Jiyang expected the opponent to move his Queen and capture his own bishop but the move made by the opponent surprised him. The opponent used his knight to protect his queen.
Seeing the opponent's move, Jiyang's lips curved to a half-moon smile as he realized that the opponent wasn't an easy one to deal with and he don't follow the process of capturing the pieces randomly.
Soon both the players focussed on the chessboard. It was almost 25 minutes and very few pieces got captured but the chessboard already took the form of a real battlefield. Jiyang already checkmate the opponent two times but the latter escaped protecting the king. Generally, it took 15 to 20 minutes for Jiyang to stalemate the opponent if the opponent was too strong. But in that particular match, it already had been 25 minutes yet Jiyang was struggling.
That made Jiyang lose his cool. He closed his eyes for a moment and took a deep breath. Then opening his eyes, he checked the chessboard and studied the details of the pieces. A smug appeared on his lips as if he discovered something. Within the next moment, he moved his rook and forced a checkmate to his opponent. The opponent's eyes bulged out as he never guessed Jiyang's move and lost his powerful piece, The Queen. The opponent was so confused at that time that he made a wrong move by moving his knight. Taking the opportunity, Jiyang moved his other rook, forcing a checkmate again.
The opponent's brows got knitted and he sharply looked at Jiyang while the latter had a smug smile on his face as if he was mocking the opponent. The opponent moved his king a step forward and then Jiyang moved his queen and forced a stalemate. As a result, the king of the opponent couldn't make a legal move as it's all ways were blocked and Jiyang won the match.
Hao Xuan and Zhan who were standing at distance clapped their hands to cheer Jiyang while Ziyi, Xuan Lu, and Yibo couldn't control their wide, genuine smile. The supporters of the opponent team were fuming and suddenly one of the girls of LanLing university started to shout.
"He clearly cheated in the game." A girl said pointing her finger towards Jiyang.
"Excuse me, Miss. I never cheated in the game. I played according to rules and won the game." Jiyang said politely keeping his voice as low as possible.
"But I clearly saw it, dumbhead!" The girl walked towards Jiyang and pushed him.
As a result, Jiyang got stumbled but controlled himself. Yibo was about to go and stand by Jiyang's side, Zhan held his hand.
"Don't go," Zhan said in a cold voice.
"Why!?" Yibo wondered and held Zhan's hand firmly to free himself. "He needs help."
"Hao Xuan will help him," Zhan said in a low voice. "Yibo, assume it as a business. At first, you need to study the situation well. Don't act recklessly. In a business, if you act recklessly and bring your emotions while taking decisions, then even a little single mistake will cost much price." Zhan said but his eyes were glued to the girl and the player of the opponent team. "In business, you need to use your brain, not your heart."
"Zhan, why are you telling me this now?" Yibo looked at Zhan with confusion in his eyes.
"Because this is related to business as well." Zhan's voice turned colder. "It looks like Wen Zhuliu paid the opponent team to cause a ruckus and point their finger on Jiyang's capability," Zhan explained. "Yibo, I am telling you this because you need to learn everything about business as soon as possible so that you can become the CEO of Wang Corporation. Sometimes you need to take a step back to move forward with a better strategy. So don't move forward to help Jiyang now." Zhan held Yibo's hand tightly while his eyes were glued at how the girl was harassing Jiyang. "The girl and the player will be doomed for sure."
The girl continued to harass Jiyang by using rude words to him while the latter gave soft replies to protect himself from the accusations. Hao Xuan was staring at the girl while his blood boiled. If she were a boy, perhaps Hao Xuan would have cut her into pieces and fed them to dogs.
The situation went out of control when the girl raised her hand to slap Jiyang. As a reflex Jiyang closed his eyes. Before her palm could touch Jiyang's delicate skin, Hao Xuan held her wrist, stopping her from slapping Jiyang. Jiyang opened his eyes as he didn't feel any sensation on his cheek.
"What do you think, huh?" Hao Xuan growled at the girl. "You can do whatever you want because you are a girl? This guy is being too gentle that he didn't even raise his voice at you. If I were at his place, I would show you where you belong to."
"Oh really? What do you know about me?" The girl smirked as she leaned towards Hao Xuan.
"Girl, don't you think you are too confident about yourself?" An evil smirk spread across Hao Xuan's face as he let go of her wrist with a force. "You are paid by Wen Zhuliu."
"What!?" The opponent player blurted out.
"What else?" Zhan said as he entered the scene and stood beside Hao Xuan. "Isn't he right?" He arched his brow as he glanced at the girl and the player.
"No!" The girl shouted but her voice trembled. "I am not cheap to take money from others, your bastard!"
"Watch your words, girl!" Hao Xuan's voice became so cold that it sent shivers down the girl's spine. "You and your player accepted money from Wens of Quishan University to accuse this innocent guy and frame him since you guys already knew that you cannot win against him." Hao Xuan said pointing his hand towards Jiyang. "Do you think we are so dumb not to find out what's exactly happening?"
"You are wrong." The girl screamed. "We are innocent."
"If you are really that innocent then why are you trembling?" Zhan said making a sorry face. Then he looked at the other students who were enjoying the scene. "All of you, leave the room," Zhan ordered and all of them left the room, leaving Xuan Lu, Ziyi, Zhan, Yibo, Hao Xuan, Jiyang and the girl and her partner.
"You...you guys know nothing about me. If I want I can destroy you." The girl yelled as she moved a step back.
"Oh really?!" Hao Xuan chuckled without humor and stepped towards the girl. "I have all the information about you as your family. Your father is a maths teacher at Jiangzai National School and your mother is a housewife. You have a little sister of 15 years who studies at Jiangzai girls school. Am I right, miss?" Hao Xuan tilted his head and a smug smile appeared on his lips.
"H-how do you know?!" The girl shuttered while her jaws slacked.
"I have my own ways." Hao Xuan replied. "Do you know, if I want, I can throw out your father from that school and your cute little sister will be bullied every day by the teachers?" Hao Xuan's facial expressions grew darker.
"How will you do it, huh?" The girl replied without a single hint of fear as if she had someone more powerful to protect her.
"You are really clueless." Hao Xuan chuckled. "My mother runs both of the schools. So I think I can have direct access to do whatever I want." He smirked when he saw the fear in her eyes. "Do you want me to destroy your entire family?"
"Please...don't do this." The girl fell on her knees. "Please don't harm my family. I am sorry." The girl began to cry.
"Then why did you accuse Jiyang?" Ziyi harshly pulled her face so that she would face Ziyi.
"I...I am paid because of this." The girl sobbed. "He...he said if I don't perform my work, by then he will kill my father."
"Who is it?" A frown formed on Zhan's face.
"It's...its..." The girl shuttered to reveal the name.
"Say the name," Yibo said softly as he knelt down to reach her level. "We will protect you."
"It's Wen Zhuliu." The girl burst into tears. "He said he will kill my father and kidnap my sister if I don't do so. I am really sorry." The girl cried.
Hao Xuan let out a deep breath and looked at Jiyang who was starting at Jiyang bewildered. He then turned to face the girl. "I am sparing you this time." He said in a stoic voice. "But if dare to harm him again, I promise I will make your life a living hell." Hao Xuan growled. "He is my man and you better stay away from him." Hao Xuan then held Jiyang's hand and left the room.
All of the people present there stared at the couple leaving the room. Most of them had seen Hao Xuan's flirting side but they never witnessed his aggressive side which left them thunderstruck. Zhan squatted beside the crying girl.
"Don't cry," Zhan said softly making the girl look at him. "Don't worry. We will protect you. Thank you for telling us the truth." Zhan smiled softly. "Hao Xuan won't do anything. He just said that to threaten you."
"Huh?" The girl looked at Zhan. "Really? He won't do anything for my family? Is my family safe." The girl asking while rays of hope were evident in her voice.
"Yes, your family is safe." Xuan Lu smiled. "Don't tell Wen Zhuliu that we are helping you, okay? Just keep it as secret. Tell him that Xiao Zhan and Wang Hao Xuan didn't let you to perform your task. Wen Zhuliu won't do anything if you say that."
"Thank you so much." The girl kept hitting her head to the ground, showing gratitude. "You all are so kind. Thank you for protecting my family."
"If you really feel sorry, then you should apologize to Song Jiyang," Yibo said in a low voice, making her stop crying.
"Sure. I will." The girl said d with a confirmed tone.
"Good. Now take rest." Ziyi said and the girl and the opponent player left the room leaving Yibo, Zhan, Ziyi and Xuan Lu.
"I never thought that Wen Zhuliu will stoop so low." Yibo scoffed.
"Don't worry about him. Our Hao Xuan will take care of him." Ziyi chuckled. "After all, he dared to lay hands on his love."
"Where is he now!?" Yibo exclaimed
"Maybe in some room, alone with his Jiyang and doing something inappropriate." Zhan wiggled his brows while a mischievous smile plastered to his face.
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I don't have much knowledge of chess. I just played with my sister a few times when I was young. I just used my imagination to write. Sorry if there are mistakes.
1. Thank you, everyone, for wishing me for exams. Yesterday my exam went well. Tomorrow is my English exam. But on Monday, it's Biology. So I think I won't get time to update on Sunday. And on Wednesday it's mathematics and then on Monday is physics. So I think I can again update on a day between Wednesday to Sunday. Then on Wednesday, I have chemistry and then, my school exams are over! But my updates will still remain slow because I will focus on entrance exams. Thank you for bearing with me and with my inconvenience.
2. Sorry for typing mistakes.
3. English is not my first language.
4. And yes, in the next chapter, our Jiyang and Hao Xuan ship will sail.