Actually, it was fine as long as he knew the moves and the rules.

  He did not need to defeat the old master. In fact, if he defeated the old master, he might be angry and would have a bad impression of him.

  Wei De was just a layman in Chinese chess. Apart from the moves, he knew nothing about it.

  Unlike Qiao Nan, who was very skilled at it.

  Although Old Master Zhai had not reached Ping Cheng, Zhai Hua was certain that he would definitely accept Qiao Nan as his granddaughter-in-law.

  Old Master Zhai liked women who were down-to-earth and hardworking. She heard that he used his wife as a yardstick to choose his daughter-in-law and granddaughter-in-law.

  Household chores……

  Her mother was better in farming than Qiao Nan. Apart from that, they were both skilled in household chores. As for culinary skills……

  Back when Qiao Dongliang was hospitalized, Zhai Sheng had put on weight from eating the food that Qiao Nan prepared. Zhai Hua had a share of the food as well.

  As a result, Zhai Hua knew that Qiao Nan was better in culinary skills than her mother.

  She had good results and she managed the house well. Furthermore, she knew how to play Chinese chess. She had a lot of positive traits. The old master might be much more pleased at Qiao Nan than when he first saw her mother.

  Zhai Hua would always worry that when Old Master Zhai was here, he might have the same reaction as the Zhai family, or perhaps reacted even more strongly, objecting to her relationship with Wei De.

  Zhai Sheng did not have to worry about this at all. If the full score was one hundred marks, the old master might even give a hundred and two points to Qiao Nan when he was in a good mood.

  Why was there such a big difference between people?

  \r \r \r

  “Sister Zhai Hua, if you continue to be in a daze, you will lose half of your army.” After Qiao Nan captured another soldier in Zhai Hua’s army, she was left with half of the army.

  As for Qiao Nan, she only lost one horse and two soldiers.

  “!” Zhai Hua was shocked. She took a closer look at the chess set. Half of her army was gone.

  Zhai Hua focused her full attention on the game. Her intention was to prove to Qiao Nan that she was good at the game. She did not want to look like a fool in the end.

  Zhai Hua concentrated on the game and dared not let her thoughts wander off. Her moves became more and more lethal.

  Even so, Zhai Hua had lost half of her army. She was not Qiao Nan’s opponent. Within a minute, Qiao Nan shouted loudly. “Checkmate.”

  “Let’s have another game!” Zhai Hua did not like to make the final struggle. This was just a game of chess. If she lost, she could play another game. She would not underestimate Qiao Nan in the next game. “You can take the first move.”

  “Sure.” Qiao Nan placed the red pieces on the chess paper again. She started with Pan Tou Ma[1] again.

  Zhai Hua believed that she was very serious in the second game and that she would never lose to Qiao Nan again.

  A lot of the red pieces and the black pieces were being captured. However, Qiao Nan was the final winner. “Checkmate.”

  “.……” Zhai Hua threw the pieces away. “Three games, two wins. You keep winning. I shall not play anymore!”

  Since Zhai Hua said that she wanted to play no more, Shi Qing kept the chess pieces immediately. Whenever Qiao Nan was free, she would play Chinese chess with her father. Sister Zhai Hua might not know, but Qiao Nan was being easy on her.

  Forget it. She had to preserve Sister Zhai Hua’s dignity, lest she felt too depressed.

  Zhai Hua sat on the floor and took a peach that Qiao Nan had washed from the table beside her. She took a bite and said, “I am here because I want to lighten my mood. Are you sure you should be doing this to me?” She felt more depressed than before.

  “Shall we have another game and I will go easy on you?” Should she let her win?

  “No!” Zhai Hua refused. Went easy on her? What was the point in that?

  Qiao Nan ate a peach and watched the television after being rejected by Zhai Hua. “Sister Zhai Hua, don’t blame me for being a busybody. I heard that Wei De has a younger sister who has a child out of wedlock. Is that true?”

  “.……” Zhai Hua blushed. This was not something to be proud of. “Yes. The sister is not blood-related to them. The family took her in and took care of her as if she were their daughter. Wei De told me that the child was abandoned by her parents at a young age. They left her outside their house. Actually, nobody knows who her biological parents are. Many people said that somebody must have passed by the village and left the child randomly outside the Wei family’s residence. Wei De’s parents feel sorry for the child. Therefore, they decided to take her in.”

  “Is it that easy to adopt her?” Qiao Nan took another bite of the peach. “I remember that the country implemented family planning in the 70s. However, many places still feel that it is a good fortune to have lots of children. Although the first child is a boy, I find it strange that the Wei family only has one child, and that the second child is an adopted child.”

  “Wei De said that…… his mother has been in poor health ever since giving birth to him. She could no longer bear another child.”

  “Do you mean that the reason for not having another child is not due to poverty?”

  “It could be part of the reason.” The Wei family was not doing well. Before Wei De joined the army, they had difficulties to make ends meet.

  “Even if they could no longer have children, they may not necessarily adopt another child. Besides, the Wei family is not doing well. Since they have difficulties to make ends meet, why were they willing to adopt a child whose parents they know nothing about? Furthermore, the child is five to six years younger than Wei De. Back then, given the Wei family’s situation, how could they have the ability to adopt a child? How did they complete the procedures?”

  The Wei family already had Wei De as their son. Since it was not allowed to have a second child, they could not adopt a child as well.

  However, the sister was not an unregistered resident under the household.

  No matter what, if the sister was to be registered under the household, they would be fined a huge sum of money.

  In order to register the child under the household, the Wei family would have to pay the fines. Besides, it would be another expense to take her in and raise her up. The Wei family was not doing well, so why would they do that?

  “I am sorry. I am used to being frank and straightforward. You should know the situation in my family. I may not understand the complicated issues, but I pay a lot of attention to details. There are some problems that have been bothering me. Since you are here, I decided to check with you. If you are unhappy, you can choose not to answer.”

  The Zhai family was a political and military family. Furthermore, Zhai Hua was born during that time. She knew very well about the policies back then.

  Take for instance the Zhai family. They went through a lot to have Zhai Sheng.

  If the Zhai family was a family of farmers and the first child was a girl, they would be allowed to have another child.

  However, the Zhai family and the Qiao family were classified as non-agricultural household registers. Therefore, they were not allowed to have another child. Qiao Dongliang had to leave the army and pay a fine to have a second child and to register Qiao Nan under his household.

  Therefore, after having Zhai Hua, the Zhai family was not allowed to have a second child.

  However, Miao Jing was pregnant with another child.

  Old Master Zhai felt that it was a pity, but he could not take the lead to go against the national policy as well. His intention was for Miao Jing to have an abortion at the hospital.

  [1] One of the offensive strategies in Chinese chess that allows the player to play by ear and to change one’s strategy flexibly in order to counterattack the opponent.