Generally those who came were strangers, people he hadn’t played against before, so he usually looked quite pleased and happy, at least at first. After a couple of games, however, his face would transform: he’d become silent and that familiar and expert look of dissatisfaction would appear. At times, his opponent’s level would simply be too low and so he would berate them, exasperated by their overall inability – it was very embarrassing. They all left feeling really upset, and I realized that the numbers of people showing up to learn from Father would become fewer and fewer; and so Father’s chances of finding a truly worthy opponent would likewise grow slimmer and slimmer – perhaps impossible. At that point I talked things over with Ah-bing, and advised him to plan to do his graduate studies in the provincial capital. I even thought if he eventually went off to study there, we could move the whole family to the provincial capital. That would have pleased Little Lü as well, since his parents lived in the capital. To tell you the truth, though, I didn’t think of this for Little Lü, I thought of it for Father. I thought perhaps he could find new challengers in the provincial capital – that there were bound to be more worthy opponents there than here. In fact, that’s why Ah-bing decided to go to graduate school. But by the time he was preparing for his final undergraduate exams two years later, Father would no longer seem to have a reason to go to the provincial capital …