DTTM 17

Chapter 17: If you want them to perish, you must first throw them into chaos.

“Medical personnel, come quick!”

Zong Yanlei dismounted and, in a few steps, removed his helmet and mallet before tossing them aside. He knelt on one knee beside Tang Yu. He glanced at Tang Yu’s knee, his gaze sweeping coldly across his face. He grabbed Tang Yu’s arm and pulling him up to lean against him.

Tang Yu cried out in pain, his face turning even pale, but even so, he still managed to grab Zong Yanlei’s hand firmly, his voice was strained: “It hurts! My leg hurts so much… Mr. Zong, please save me… Am I… am I going to die?”

Zong Yanlei shook off his hand and raised his hand to signal the stretcher to enter: “If you save your energy and don’t talk, it won’t hurt so much.”

“How is it? Is the injury serious?”

“Why is today so unlucky…”

“Give me a hand, one, two, three…”

More people gathered around Zong Yanlei and Tang Yu. Seeing that I couldn’t help them, I gradually retreated to the outer perimeter.

“Ha, you’re really ruthless.” Ms. Mu crossed her arms and stood next to me, watching the crowd hurriedly lift Tang Yu onto the stretcher. She said I was really ruthless, but her tone was full of schadenfreude.

“Jie, I didn’t mean it. Besides…” I crossed my arms as well, “I’m a Wo. It’s understandable that Wo people can’t ride a horse and aren’t good at ball.”

She nodded repeatedly: “Yes, yes, it’s understandable. I can testify that what happened to Tang Yu was an accident, and what happened to you was even more of an accident.”

Tang Yu was quickly taken to the hospital by ambulance. After we finished filming the remaining footage, Zong Yanlei left Melanie’s business card with the production team, indicating that all lost wages, medical expenses, and any personal losses Tang Yu might incur would be covered by the Sun God Racing Team. He added that they should contact him if there were any problems.

He handled things perfectly, decisively and meticulously, even… his actions bore a resemblance to Wuxi Li. However, once back in the car, all his masks fell away, and in an instant, he revealed his vicious true nature.

“What exactly do you want?” He grabbed the back of my neck and pushed me against the seat.

My face was distorted by the pressure, and I could only brace myself with my hands against the seat to try to offset some of the force on the back of my neck.

“It really was just an accident, young master.” I repeated the same excuse.

“Stop.” Zong Yanlei clearly didn’t believe me. “I told you, don’t try to fool me. Didn’t you remember that at all?”

“How could I dare to…”

He suddenly tightened his grip, and I trembled in pain. I reached behind me with my right hand and grabbed his wrist. He simply grabbed that hand and twisted it behind my back, giving me no chance to resist.

“He’s a nobleman, and you’re just a commoner. Killing you would be easier for him than killing a bug. Where did you get the guts to attack him in public?”

[It seems I’ve been too lenient with you, which has emboldened you. Do you even know you’re just a lowly commoner? Killing you is easier for him than killing a bug.]

Old memories surfaced in my mind, and I was somewhat stunned.

“I was wrong…”

Only after saying the last word did I realize what I had said, I was repeating a conversation from the past.

“You actually know you were wrong? Do you think I can’t win the championship without you, which is why you acted so recklessly? He’s just a fallen nobleman trying to make it in the entertainment industry. I’ll always find a way to cover for you. Is that what you’re thinking?”

Zong Yanlei, however, gave a completely different answer than before.

…It turns out only I remember.

“I’m innocent, young master! I have no grudge against Mr. Tang. Why would I attack him? Just because… he injured my horse?” I closed my eyes, swept away the slight sense of loss in my heart, and readjusted my tone before speaking.

Zong Yanlei wasn’t entirely wrong. Before swinging the mallet, I did indeed weigh the pros and cons in a very short time, and only after discovering that I had more chips did I feel confident enough to hit Tang Yu. I’ve finally figured out the social structure of Penglai, where big fish eat small fish and small fish eat shrimp.

“Jiang Man, do you really think I can’t live without you? Don’t be so presumptuous!”

Whether it was the hand gripping the back of my neck or the hand tightly holding my arm, the pressure was immense, as if he wanted to break my bones. However, what stunned me even more than his brutal behavior was the resentment in his words.

“I do want the championship, but it’s not like I can’t do without you.”

“Young Master…”

“In the next match, you and Yi You will switch places.” After saying this, he immediately released his grip.

“Young Master?” I was taken aback by his sudden decision. Although theoretically, as long as the registered contestants remained the same, it was possible to switch partners, no one would ever do that. This was simply playing with the competition.

I slowly turned around, and Zong Yanlei was already sitting opposite me.

“Get down. Return to the team on your own.”

He didn’t look at me as he spoke. He opened the cigar box on the side table, casually took one out and held it between his long, slender fingers, then picked up a lighter and slowly lit it.

Realizing he was really angry, I rubbed my aching arm and racked my brains for ways to appease him.

After much thought, the only method that came to mind was one that he had recently tried and seemed to like.

Just ten minutes, it wouldn’t take long.

Fortunately, this car was a self-driving hovercar with privacy film on the windows, otherwise things would have been much more complicated…

“Ahem…Young Master, don’t be angry…” I cleared my throat and got up from the seat. But the hovercar suddenly swayed, making me lose my footing and fall forward.

My calm demeanor instantly turned into a disheveled state. I knelt down between Zong Yanlei’s legs, holding onto his knees with one hand and bracing myself against the seat with the other, my face close to his private parts.

“What are you doing?” Zong Yanlei grabbed my hair and forced me to lift my face. As he spoke, smoke slowly exhaled from his mouth, covering my face before quickly dissipating and being drawn away by the car’s air purifier.

I smiled, my hand on his knee now rubbing it suggestively.: “An apology? Or a thank you. Whatever you think it is.”

“What, are you addicted to sucking?” He understood my hint, but his eyes didn’t show the same interest as before. Instead, he looked disgusted. “This trick doesn’t always work, Jiang Man. I’m not a stray dog that’s always in heat. I won’t cooperate and spread my legs every time you come to me.” After saying that, he threw me aside and slammed the “Exit” button on the door.

“Get out!”

I plopped down on the ground. Seeing his unpleasant expression, as if he was getting angrier the more I coaxed him, I knew I couldn’t stay in front of him any longer. As soon as the car stopped, I wisely opened the door and got out.

I hailed a taxi on the roadside and went back to the team. Fortunately, the place where Zong Yanlei dropped me off was not remote, and I arrived at the headquarters in just half an hour.

As soon as I entered the main gate, the receptionist called me over and asked me to go to the conference room on the second floor.

I had a feeling this would happen, but I didn’t expect it to happen so soon.

“Don’t you know that once he’s made up his mind, no one can change it!”

“The competition starts in three days! Are you kidding me, replacing someone now?”

“What the hell were they doing today? Who took this job…”

Before I even stepped inside, I could hear a chaotic argument escalating within. I took a deep breath, knocked on the door and pushed it open.

“I took over for Yi You and Jiang Man, how would I know…” Xu Chengye rubbed his forehead and immediately fell silent when he saw me come in.

An oval conference table was half full, occupied by the team’s top executives.

I nodded to everyone and found a seat nearby.

“Jiang Man, what exactly happened between you and Mr. Zong at the variety show today? How come you accidentally injured a guest one minute, and then Mr. Zong wanted to change his partner the next? Did you two get into a fight?” Melanie asked impatiently before I could even sit down.

Regarding Tang Yu, I naturally maintained a consistent story.

“Oh, here’s what happened. Back then…” I vividly described the chaotic and tense atmosphere of the polo match to them, “and then… I remember I swung my mallet and accidentally injured Mr. Tang.”

“What about changing partners?” Consultant Yan asked.

“What did Mr. Zong say?” I asked in return.

“He didn’t say anything.” Xu Chengye took off his glasses, rubbed his temples repeatedly, and sighed, “Damn it, he didn’t say anything! What is he trying to do…”

After thinking for a moment, I decided to omit the part about arguing with Zong Yanlei for now.

“Then let’s just say… he wanted to give Yi You some training.”

The people at the table looked as if they were constipated after hearing what I said, and no one said a word for a long time.

Zong Yanlei didn’t return to his dormitory that night. He probably had abandoned this temporary place of residence.

The next morning, the entire team set off for Fantong.

The high-speed train from Baiyujing to Fantong took only two hours. The team booked an entire VIP car, reserving the two largest and most luxurious compartments for the four drivers and navigators.

Actually, each private compartment can seat six or seven people. The reason we needed two compartments was because Zong Yanlei had a private compartment by himself and wasn’t with us.

“Is this supposed to be training me? This is clearly sabotaging me!” Yi You angrily stuffed potato chips into his mouth. “What if my performance isn’t good? The haters will call me useless again. These bastards, they criticize me when my performance is good, and they still criticize me when it isn’t! I’m just a navigator! Is it my fault that the Demon King can’t make it into the top three?”

Inside the deep red train compartment, between two soft leather benches was a large wooden table. Tan Yunmei and Yi You sat facing each other, playing a game of chess, while I sat to the side reading an e-book to pass the time.

“It’s your turn.” Tan Yunmei ignored what Yi You said and just kept urging him to start playing chess quickly.

“Oh no, Xiao Mei, I’m so nervous. What if I need to pee in the navigation cabin…?” Yi You frowned and moved his white bishop.

“Wear diapers.” Tan Yunmei said coldly as she picked up the black soldier and placed it in D6.

Yi You grabbed another handful of potato chips and put them in his mouth. “I don’t want them. If word gets out, it will be a stain on my reputation for the rest of my life.” As he spoke, he pinched the white knight between his ring and little fingers and placed it in the F2 position.

Tan Yunmei charged forward again, moving the black soldier in C6 forward another space to face Yi You’s bishop.

The chessboard was an 8×8 square, with eight squares in each direction, for a total of 64 squares. The squares were arranged alternately between black and white. The horizontal rows were numbered 1 to 8 starting from the white baseline; the vertical columns were marked A to H from left to right. Each player had 16 pieces, and each piece had its own movement and function.

Every board game had its strategies, and chess was no exception. Generally, in the opening, players would first occupy the central area, which consisted of the four squares d4, d5, e4, and e5 on the board, to gain an advantage. However, if beginners rigidly adhered to this strategy and had an overly strong desire to occupy the central area, their opponents might find weaknesses in their moves.

Tan Yunmei’s move was not well executed. Yi You was using the bishop as bait to lure her into sending troops, while the real piece worth paying attention to was obviously not in the center.

As expected, Yi You chuckled and moved the white knight to G5, directly threatening Tan Yunmei’s F7 black soldier.

Tan Yunmei frowned when she made another beginner’s mistake. She moved the black soldier on the far right to H6, attempting to fight the white knight, but the white knight immediately jumped to F7, ate the black soldier, and then achieved a double kill with the rook and the queen.

Having reached this point, Tan Yunmei realized that her chances of winning were slim. She picked up a chess piece, put it down again, and then suddenly stood up, saying that she needed to use the restroom. She then disrupted the chess game and went into the restroom inside the private room.

“You’re cheating again.” Yi You pouted and put the chess pieces back in their places. “Xiao Man, what are you looking at? Want to play a game?”

I put down my phone and shifted my position: “Okay, but I prefer to play white.”

“That’s easy.” Yi You turned the chessboard and moved the white flag in front of me.

A new game began. Since we weren’t complete beginners, we moved our pieces very quickly, and within just two minutes we had reached the middle game.

Chess games are essentially games of memory; players must not only memorize various game records but also apply them in practice. Therefore, the outcome of some games can often be predicted from the very beginning.

“You’re reading ‘The Prince’? You’re interested in that?” Yi You expressed surprise upon hearing about the e-book I was reading.

Our game had entered a situation very similar to the previous game between him and Tan Yunmei, the white knight was approaching the enemy camp, aiming at the piece at F7, and Yi You immediately responded at H6, sending out a pawn to try to drive away the knight.

“I enjoy reading a variety of books.”

As we spoke, the white knight decisively took down F7 and moved closer to the black king. The black bishop was forced to step forward to meet the attack and killed the white knight.

In chess, “capturing” a piece does not necessarily mean actually removing it from the board. It can also be a tactical maneuver to lure the piece into a useless position, making it unable to participate in defense.

Therefore, the white knight effectively crippled the black bishop by sacrificing himself. With the black king’s flank eliminated, Yi You’s defenses began to crumble.

My major pieces began to reap the rewards. The white queen moved to E5, occupying the center. The black king felt the pressure and had to retreat to G7.

“Is it interesting?” Yi You asked, frowning as he stared at the situation on the chessboard.

As the game progressed, he stopped eating potato chips.

“Not bad. Do you know how to overthrow a hereditary monarchy?”

The white rook initiated a checkmate along line 7, forcing the black king to retreat to F8, further compressing its room for maneuver.

What followed was a chaotic and disorganized escape for the black king.

The white queen checkmated again, and the black king attempted to escape to the center, reaching E7. At this moment, a second white knight jumped out from the flank, occupying the strategic position of D6. It perfectly cut off all possible escape routes for the black king, effectively trapping it in a small area around E7.

“I don’t know. Wow, your firepower is amazing…” Yi You had already foreseen his defeat and could only move the black king in vain.

“The people of a hereditary monarchy are used to a peaceful life. Anyone who disrupts their peace is their enemy. To try to break through from the outside would be to oppose the entire nation and inevitably provoke a resistance. So…” I glanced at the white knight in my hand, gently placed it on F5, and completed the final checkmate, “If you want them to perish, you must first throw them into chaos.”

“Oh, that’s interesting. You win.” Yi You looked up, hesitated for a moment, and asked, “So you and Mr. Zong had a fight? Don’t give me that nonsense about training me. Just the day before, he told me to train with Xiao Mei more and not to always think about playing. Do you know that he even restricts the reserve team members from contacting you?”

Playing with the black king I had “captured” in my hand, I looked at him in surprise upon hearing his words: “Huh?”

“He told those people that if they couldn’t even guarantee a win in human-machine simulation training matches, they shouldn’t waste their time.” Yi You shrugged. “He also said that you’re not a navigator for losers.”