HBWMA -Chapter 63 Character Setting Game

Black and red chess pieces clashed back and forth across the Chu River boundary, locked in a fierce struggle.

In the teacup of Longjing, the tea shimmered with the glow of the bright sun. Cicadas’ chirping filled the summer air with its most pleasant kind of noise.

Shen Guiling moved a pawn calmly, as if untouched by emotion. “Checkmate.”

The moment the game ended, Old Master Shen was first stunned—then burst into delighted laughter.

“Incredible! You sacrificed your cannon and your rook just to protect that seemingly insignificant pawn. Such an experienced, ruthless style—excellent! Excellent! Excellent!”

He lifted his teacup and savored a sip, still immersed in the thrill of the game, as though unwilling to leave the aftertaste of the battle behind.

Shen Guiling remained composed. He didn’t care about winning or losing a single game and said objectively, “It’s because Grandpa underestimated me at the start. If you had taken it seriously from the beginning, although the outcome wouldn’t have changed, you could’ve held on for another twenty minutes.”

Old Master Shen paused, raising an eyebrow as he studied the young man before him—then suddenly burst into loud laughter.

Good.

Earlier, he had worried Shen Guiling might be too gentle to handle pressure. But now it seemed that gentleness was only his way of dealing with the world. The sharp edges of the boy were still intact. From the earlier clash, Old Master Shen could clearly sense his confidence in controlling the entire situation and seeing the whole board.

The old man carefully reviewed the game and shook his head in admiration. “I’m getting old! My thinking can’t keep up anymore. In a few days, I’ll take you to meet some of my old chess friends. Help me knock some of their arrogance down!”

Shen Zhi glanced at Shen Guiling without drawing attention, quietly pouring tea.

The “chess friends” Old Master Shen referred to were no ordinary people—any one of them could shake Jinggang just by stomping their foot. The fact that he was willing to take Shen Guiling out to meet them showed how highly he valued this grandson.

Shen Guiling understood the implication. A softer smile appeared in his eyes. “Alright.”

Not “thank you, Grandpa,” but simply “alright.”

The boy’s pride surfaced in that fleeting moment.

Old Master Shen patted his shoulder with satisfaction. “A-Ling, Grandpa is truly glad you are a member of the Shen family.”

Shen Guiling’s gaze shifted slightly. He lowered his eyes, avoiding the old man’s look. “Grandpa, another round?”

Rarely finding such a worthy opponent, Old Master Shen’s chess addiction was rekindled. He tapped the board. “Come, come! This time I won’t go easy on you.”

Shen Zhi quickly stepped forward to set up the pieces. The old man glanced at him, then suddenly looked toward the back courtyard as if remembering something.

“Where’s that girl?”

Before Shen Zhi could respond, a weak, ghost-like voice drifted over.

“Grandpa~”

Old Master Shen looked up—and was startled.

“What are you doing looking like that?”

Jiang Huashan had dark circles under her eyes like bruises, her whole body limp as if boneless as she drifted to the octagonal table.

“Grandpa, those 230 ‘character-setting rules’ are just too difficult. To prevent you from eventually hating me in the future, I’ve decided to set my character in advance today—think of it as a precautionary measure.”

Old Master Shen was baffled. What kind of nonsense game were kids playing these days?

Still, as an elder, he didn’t want to dampen her enthusiasm. He patted her head.

“What kind of character are you setting for yourself? Don’t worry, Grandpa likes Xiaohua the most. He’ll never dislike you.”

Jiang Huashan pulled two words from her pocket and stuck them on her forehead.

“…”

Old Master Shen’s expression became even more complicated.

“Crazy?”

“Lazy?”

Shen Guiling: “……”

Suddenly, Jiang Huashan straightened up as if briefly revived.

“Grandpa, I might occasionally act crazy in the future. I’ll try my best to control it—but this laziness… that’s probably permanent. Please don’t dislike me!”

Old Master Shen pressed a hand to his forehead.

“Xiaohua… Grandpa can play along with your game, but can you change the character? For example, be a ‘grandpa’s girl’ type—go home whenever Grandpa tells you to. That’s a pretty good character too.”

Jiang Huashan’s face suddenly collapsed. Tears seemed ready to fall.

“I can’t change it. I’m useless. Those 230 rules are 460,000 words long… longer than my life.”

It wasn’t an exaggeration—at the very moment she covered her face and turned away, no special effects were needed at all. With Jiang Huashan at the center and a one-meter radius around her, the scorching summer instantly felt like winter; the atmosphere turned bleak and desolate.

Shen Guiling: “……”

Shen Zhuang had no way to deal with her and waved his hand helplessly. “Alright, alright. Grandpa accepts your character setting. Grandpa will play this game with you.”

Shen Guiling glanced at the old man without a word.

“It’s true!” Jiang Huashan’s eyes suddenly lit up, her ethereal peach-blossom eyes shimmering like a galaxy of stars.

Shen Zhuang, however, liked her lively energy more. He looked at her indulgently. “Not only will Grandpa play with you, I’ll have the entire Shen Manor play along with you. As long as you’re happy.”

The old man’s thoughts were simple—children were just curious by nature. She’d probably get bored of it after a few days.

Jiang Huashan hugged Shen Zhuang’s arm tightly. “Grandpa, you’re so good to me. You’ll definitely live to a hundred years.”

Shen Zhuang laughed heartily, and Shen Zhi immediately placed another teacup on the table.

Only then did Jiang Huashan notice the chessboard. She straightened up slowly. “Grandpa, were you playing chess?”

Shen Zhuang nodded. “Of course. You came late—you didn’t see how impressive A-Ling was just now. Even Grandpa couldn’t handle him.”

Jiang Huashan looked surprised. “Grandpa, you lost?”

Shen Zhuang pretended to be annoyed. “Of course I did. I lost badly.”

She turned to look at Shen Guiling. Just as he thought she was about to speak nonsense again, she suddenly smiled gently at him.

“Brother A-Ling is so amazing~”

“…”
Shen Guiling’s eyelid twitched. That was somehow even worse than her nonsense.

The chess game finally began.

Jiang Huashan slowly shifted herself closer and closer to Shen Guiling.

In the opening phase, both sides were still positioning. Shen Zhuang had clearly become serious, and after only a few moves, the board turned tense and deadlocked. Likewise, Shen Guiling was taking noticeably longer to think than in the first game.

Just as he finished calculating his move and was about to act, someone suddenly tapped his arm.

Shen Guiling looked up at the culprit.

“Brother A-Ling, could you pass me the tea?”

His gaze dropped to the teacup that was less than thirty centimeters in front of her. His eyelid lifted slightly.

Jiang Huashan pointed at the “lazy” label above her head, her smile sweet and pure, but her eyes teasing.

Sorry—my game has started too.

Shen Guiling smiled faintly anyway. With one hand, he politely lifted the tea and brought it to her lips, while with the other he moved his black cannon forward across the river.

In less than ten minutes, he was interrupted countless times. Yet he remained indulgent throughout. Even when these interruptions caused him to make a few suboptimal moves, his emotions stayed steady, and he calmly adjusted his strategy without a hint of impatience.

The old man could obviously see that Jiang Huashan was deliberately messing around, but he was happy to see the grandchildren growing closer and pretended not to notice, focusing on his game.

Both players were using their full skill, so the match dragged on for a long time.

Shen Guiling gradually caught onto a pattern—whenever he paused too long, the “little troublemaker” would act up.

So he began predicting her predictions. Every time she leaned over, he would preemptively pick up the teacup. From initial awkwardness, he became completely at ease, even casually tapping the table to signal Shen Zhi for more tea when his cup emptied.

The game lasted an hour.

Jiang Huashan kept drinking tea, Shen Zhi kept refilling it, and in the end she couldn’t take it anymore and ran off to the restroom holding her stomach.

Shen Guiling looked at her retreating figure, a faint smile tugging at his lips, and moved his cannon forward, preparing to attack.

The old man sipped his tea calmly. “Oh? Starting to make your move?”

Shen Guiling smiled. “Grandpa, be careful.”