"Here's ten thousand taels!" Xiaoyao crumpled the ten thousand tael bank note into a ball and threw it to the middle-aged man, as if throwing away a piece of waste paper. Fortunately, the people here weren't ordinary, though somewhat surprised, they could accept it.

"Good, I accept your bet. I don't have a receipt with me, I'll make it up to you later," the middle-aged man said.

Xiaoyao shook his head and said: "No need. Your reputation should be worth more than this ten thousand taels."

"Thank you!" the middle-aged man thanked him. This expressed thanks for Xiaoyao's trust in him, and was also out of politeness.

"Xiaoyao, are you that confident? Do you think you'll win?" Qi Yanran asked. She wasn't very good at Go and didn't know Xiaoyao's skill level, hence the question.

"Naturally. I don't know about others, but against this Chu Xinan, I'm confident I can win," Xiaoyao nodded in reply. "Are you thinking of placing a bet? Then go ahead, bet with confidence."

"My little brother truly knows me, I was just thinking that! Hey you, I also want to bet ten thousand taels. No problem, right?" Qi Yanran said to the middle-aged man.

"No problem," the middle-aged man said. Currently most people favored Chu Xinan, he couldn't be happier to have someone balance the betting funds.

Bookmakers didn't want one-sided results. Best was when both sides were about even, and they calculated odds to steadily earn profits.

...

Though they liked upsets, upsets carried risks unless they could control the upset. For bookmakers, they only wanted guaranteed profits without risk, not risky big gains.

Currently, not many people were betting on Xiaoyao. Even if Xiaoyao won, the bookmaker would still earn a lot, could even be said to be more profitable. If Xiaoyao lost, then this money was essentially free...

"Yanran, you shouldn't bet so much. Your little brother is more likely to lose right now," Xu Zijing reminded her. As a friend, he had to warn her. He didn't understand Xiaoyao or know how capable he was, so he didn't have much confidence in Xiaoyao's words.

"Don't worry. Though this kid is slippery, he doesn't boast," Qi Yanran said. Over these days, she had spent more time with Xiaoyao than with her mother, more or less understanding his personality.

"I'll go bathe first, then continue playing Go later..." Xiaoyao was about to leave again. This time no one stopped him, not even Qi Yanran. What right did others have, and Xiaoyao wouldn't listen anyway.

"Sister Yanran, is he really your little brother? Why don't you look alike at all? He's very bad," Miss Xiaofeng muttered at this moment. She still very much disliked Xiaoyao.

"Of course he is, genuine article. How about it, are you envious?" Qi Yanran said with a smile. Her expression clearly showed she was proud of this little brother and hoped others would envy her.

"No thanks. If I had such a little brother, I'd die of headaches," Miss Xiaofeng immediately shook her head.

"Headaches are one thing, you have to be able to possess one to get headaches. You'd only understand this after experiencing it," Qi Yanran smiled and said something rather profound that made people ponder for a long time.

"Yanran, from your meaning, it seems you also didn't know Xiaoyao could play Go. But why do you trust him so much?" A-Yu was somewhat confused and asked about her puzzlement after a while.

"Since he said so, I'll believe him," Qi Yanran said.

"Aren't you afraid he's bragging?" Xiaofeng immediately said.

"Even if he's bragging, I'll believe him. If I can't even believe this, how can I be his sister?" Qi Yanran said with a smile. This statement again made people fall into contemplation.

"What are you all doing? Don't block the doorway. If you want to come in, come in. As long as you don't make noise, it's fine," Xiaoyao appeared again at this moment, seemingly having finished bathing and changed clothes.

"..."

"Your bathing speed is way too fast. We only said a few words," Xiaofeng's eyes widened, and others were the same, feeling Xiaoyao's speed was a bit too fast.

"Others prepared the bath water. It's just bathing, not soaking. How long do you think it should take?" Xiaoyao replied casually. "Just now I also ordered the best pastries for everyone to taste together, plus meals, though those are just for me. If you want to eat, order your own."

"Stingy! No wait, you don't need to pay for ordering these things. Calling you stingy is flattering you," Xiaofeng had just complained when she realized Xiaoyao's expenses here were all charged to this private room, which Chu Xinan had opened. The bill would obviously go to him later.

"You're making me stay here, so naturally you should cover my food and drink. Don't worry, I won't eat delicacies every day, occasionally I'll also eat vegetables and radishes," Xiaoyao said with a smile.

"Hmph, who doesn't know how much you've ordered these past few days, eating all day long..." Xiaofeng said irritably.

"It's just some food. Xiaofeng, you're calling Xiaoyao stingy, but you're the stingy one," Xu Zijing said with a smile at this moment. What did this bit of food matter? It was hospitality, how could Xiaofeng calculate such things? Besides, this bill definitely wouldn't go to her.

"Brother Zijing, you don't know, he's eaten about a thousand taels worth of stuff these past few days," Xiaofeng said. Though she wasn't here, she still knew about things here, especially about Xiaoyao.

"Pfft..."

A group of people spat out their food...

"What did you say? He ate a thousand taels worth of things these past few days?" Xu Zijing asked blankly. Even if someone could eat a lot and chose the most expensive things, a thousand taels worth couldn't be consumed in just a few days, especially by one person.

"Exactly! I don't know if he's a starving ghost reincarnated, he can really eat, and only picks the good stuff," Miss Xiaofeng said.

Xu Zijing looked at Qi Yanran, seeming to want this answer from her.

"What's strange about that? He just eats a bit more," Qi Yanran replied indifferently. Actually, at the beginning, she was also shocked. Xiaoyao's appetite was jaw-droppingly large.

People who knew Xiaoyao should be surprised by this, because Xiaoyao wasn't someone who ate a lot before. But during this period, Xiaoyao indeed ate a lot, one person could eat as much as ten people, or even more.

Xiaoyao was also strange about this point, not knowing if it was because his body was recovering from previous physical exhaustion and now needed to make up for it, or if it was because of the blood qi power in his body that required large amounts of food.

Though Xiaoyao found this strange, he couldn't figure out the reason. Since his physical condition was perfectly fine, he stopped worrying about it. What was wrong with being able to eat? Being able to eat is a blessing, understand?

"Anyway, it's eating someone else's food, so naturally I should eat the good stuff. Go ask Chu Xinan, when he treats people, doesn't he treat them to the best? If he says he can't afford it, I'll immediately switch to just eating fried rice," Xiaoyao shrugged, indicating Xiaofeng should go ahead and ask.

Xiaofeng raised her little hand, wanting to smack Xiaoyao. This detestable guy, it would be truly strange if Chu Xinan actually said such a thing. With his face-saving personality, even if it cost tens of thousands of taels, he'd say no problem, just choose the best.

"Xiaofeng, why are you angry with Xiaoyao? Don't you also dislike Chu Xinan? Now why are you feeling sorry about Chu Xinan's money?" Qi Yanran looked at Xiaofeng with some confusion in her eyes.

"Ah, right! What am I angry about? I should be happy! No, I should secretly be happy, don't tell anyone," Miss Xiaofeng only now realized she had been targeting Xiaoyao and forgot that Xiaoyao was ruthlessly eating Chu Xinan's food, not hers.

Thinking of this made her very happy, but she couldn't let people know she was happy, because that would be bad, people would say she was gloating. Actually, I am gloating, but secretly.

"Xiaofeng, many people are watching now. Everyone already knows from your expression," A-Qing spoke up at this moment, pointing to the people below, some were looking at Xiaofeng with smiles.

"Ah..." Xiaofeng cried out, then pushed open the door and went in, escaping.

"Let's go, let's all go in," Xiaoyao also followed, casually inviting others to come in too.

After entering, Xiaoyao first looked at the Go board. It seemed unchanged. Chu Xinan was still thinking about his next move. Xiaoyao sat to the side and began meditating, cultivating the Divine Farmer's Art.

"..." Xu Zijing and others fell silent. They had originally thought Xiaoyao was always thinking about the game while Chu Xinan was thinking, but now it seemed Xiaoyao wasn't really thinking much about anything. He had just gone out to bathe and order food, and now was cultivating again.

"Has he always played Go like this?" A-Yu asked Xiaofeng. Only she knew about Xiaoyao's Go-playing situation here. Qi Yanran clearly didn't know, since she didn't even know Xiaoyao could play Go.

"Yes. You all thought he was also thinking about Go while Chu Xinan was thinking, right?" Xiaofeng nodded and asked back.

"Isn't that the case?" A-Yu asked in amazement. If not, then all his previous moves were just made casually?

"I don't know if he's thinking, but he's either cultivating, reading books, or eating. Anyway, he never looks at the Go board, only when it's his turn to play," Xiaofeng said.

"No way..." Xu Zijing and others looked at Xiaoyao. Only now did they understand how wrong their previous thoughts were, he hadn't been taking advantage of the time to think about the game at all.

"Hmph, he's just pretending. Who knows if he's really reading or thinking about Go? Anyone can put on an act," Chu Xinan couldn't help saying at this moment.

"That's possible too, but I always feel he wasn't really thinking," Miss Xiaofeng nodded and shared her thoughts.

"..." Chu Xinan stopped talking. Continuing this conversation would make him lose more face. Whether this kid had really never thought about the Go game, if that were truly the case, then even if he won, he'd have nothing to be proud of and would actually be ashamed.

From beginning to end, he had spent dozens of times more time than his opponent. If they played Go at this speed, he would have lost long ago.

(End of Chapter)