Chapter 450: Idiot! Saying one thing and doing another!

Late at night.

The room was silent, with only the faint sound of a train passing in the distance occasionally drifting in from outside the window.

In the dim light, Natsume Chikage looked at Natsume Ruri, who was already drifting off to sleep beside him.

He walked over to the switch on the wall.

"Big Brother is turning off the lights."

"Mm..."

Natsume Ruri responded vaguely, already lying obediently in her own bed, pulling the quilt up to her chin.

Click—

After the slight sound of the switch, the room plunged into soft darkness.

Natsume Chikage returned to his own bed in the dark, guided by the sliver of moonlight filtering through the window.

He ignored the steady, rhythmic, faint snoring already coming from the bed next to his.

He took his phone out from under the pillow, the cold light of the screen illuminating half his face in the darkness.

He prepared to check if there were any important messages tonight; if not, he would ask his homeroom teacher, Jiu Jing Ziyuan, for leave, then write for a while before sleeping.

He clicked the LINE icon.

The ghostly blue light reflected in his pupils.

Natsume Chikage discovered that Gu Chuan Changhong, Anjing Liangdou, Huang Mu Jie, Yue Dao Lin, and Xiyuanji Qilai had sent messages.

Following the order, he first clicked on the message sent by Gu Chuan Changhong.

【Gu Chuan Changhong: Natsume-kun, do you need to work at the coffee shop after the match tomorrow? If not, are you free to come to my house and guide my granddaughter in shogi?】

The message was sent around nine in the evening.

Natsume Chikage was indeed short on money.

Currently, the most profitable part-time job with the highest hourly wage for him was guiding Xiao Cai Xu in shogi.

Therefore, for this job, as long as time permitted, Natsume Chikage would try his best to accept it.

Not to mention that the coffee shop hadn't scheduled him for Saturday afternoon anyway.

He was glad he hadn't made plans to eat out with Huang Mu Jie and the others tomorrow; otherwise, he would definitely have had to stand one side up.

As for what Jinweitong said about Xiang Yutang coming to find him, there was only that vague warning, with nothing else explained.

So Natsume Chikage had no idea when she would come tomorrow or where she would look for him.

So he simply stopped thinking about it.

Anyway, if she came, she came; if she didn't, or even couldn't find him, that was even better, as it would save him quite a bit of trouble.

【Natsume Chikage: Mm, that's fine. I don't have anything special going on after my match tomorrow afternoon.】

He typed his reply.

However, after the reply, there was no immediate "read" receipt or response.

Clearly, Xiao Cai Xu and her grandfather, Gu Chuan Changhong, must have already fallen asleep.

Natsume Chikage didn't wait around for a reply either; they would see it when they woke up tomorrow morning, so there was no need to stay up late waiting.

Next.

He clicked on the message Anjing Liangdou had sent around ten o'clock.

【Anjing Liangdou: Natsume-kun, you have a shogi match tomorrow, right?】

【Natsume Chikage: Yes, what's up?】

The message was replied to within seconds of being sent.

It seemed the other party hadn't slept yet either.

【Anjing Liangdou: Good luck, you have to win!】

Anjing Liangdou had actually secretly thought before that if Natsume Chikage lost the match, he might be able to "compare" and show himself off in front of Yue Dao Lin.

But the more he understood Natsume Chikage's actual life and predicament, the more he admired this kid.

So, thinking about it, he felt there was no need to do that.

After all, his own shogi strength was indeed much stronger than Natsume Chikage's.

He would definitely be able to go further than him and stay for more rounds.

So no matter what, he would have opportunities to show his strength in front of Yue Dao Lin.

There was no need to say one thing and do another; just offering normal encouragement was fine.

Anyway, the final result wouldn't change.

【Natsume Chikage: Thanks, I definitely will. But what day is your match, Senior?】

【Anjing Liangdou: Mine is on Sunday. I remember you should be resting then, right? Remember to watch the TV broadcast and cheer for me.】

【Natsume Chikage: Definitely, definitely.】

After replying to Anjing Liangdou.

Natsume Chikage slid his finger across the screen and clicked on the message Huang Mu Jie had sent around ten-thirty.

【Huang Mu Jie: You there?】

【Natsume Chikage: Yes.】

The message was also replied to quickly.

【Huang Mu Jie: Good luck tomorrow, don't lose face for your Sister Ai, win hard for me!】

Huang Mu Jie said that, but in her heart, she actually felt Natsume Chikage's third-round match would be somewhat difficult.

Because the previous two rounds had basically screened out more than half of the "freeloading" amateur players.

It can be said that every contestant who has made it to the third round now has some level of skill.

Whether through good luck or genuine strength, the opponent Natsume Chikage is about to face will only be stronger than Fukuda Tsukasa, who is known as the "Newcomer Killer."

Given Natsume-kun's current strength, there is a probability of winning, but it is very low.

If he is unlucky and draws a professional shogi player or a top-tier amateur, then it's game over.

But it doesn't matter; he has already broken even and made a small profit of 10,000 yen, so it's fine to just play for fun from here on out.

【Natsume Chikage: Thank you for the encouragement, Ai-jie, I definitely will!】