Chapter 280 – Xixi, Who Keeps Fighting Despite Repeated Defeats

The game that Guo Ziyi wanted to play with Xixi was called Three-in-a-Row, also known as tic-tac-toe. The rules of the game were very simple: two players took turns drawing their own symbols in the nine squares. The first player to connect their symbols in a line wins.

“…Whether it’s three in a row horizontally, vertically, or diagonally, as long as three pieces are connected in a line, it counts as a win,” Guo Ziyi explained to Xixi. “Do you understand the rules?”

Guo Ziyi explained it in great detail and even gave examples. Xixi understood, but her focus was not on the rules. The little girl asked curiously, “Why do we have to draw circles or crosses? I like stars.”

The little girl asked Guo Ziyi for a pen and held it in her little hand. She drew a crooked star on the paper and then lifted her little face, and said seriously, “Look, isn’t this pretty?”

Guo Ziyi covered his forehead and said helplessly, “Alright, if you like it, it’s fine!”

The game began. The little elf Xixi, holding the protection of the star, was about to face the challenge of the fat Demon King holding the super sweet donut.1 Would she cry as she watched her homeland fall or bravely throw out the star and seal away the evil fat Demon King? Let’s see the battle report brought by the frontline reporter…

Guo Ziyi let Xixi go first. The little girl had a tense expression on her face as she drew a star in the top left square very seriously. Although it was still a bit crooked, it was much better than the first one.

Watching Xixi draw the star stroke by stroke, Guo Ziyi sighed helplessly. It was obvious that drawing circles and crosses would have been much more convenient.

Taking the pen from Xixi’s hand, Guo Ziyi didn’t even think about it and drew a circle in the center square.

“So fast?” The little girl murmured. She continued to draw her star stroke by stroke, placing it in the middle square of the left column.

Guo Ziyi immediately drew a circle below, blocking the last square that Xixi needed to connect in a line.

“Hey… You can’t do that! How can you draw here?” The little girl pouted and said reluctantly.

“Because if I don’t draw here, you will win!” Guo Ziyi said happily.

“But you can’t draw here either! If you draw, if you draw, then I won’t know what to do!” Xixi stamped her foot and complained.

“It’s still okay. There are still so many empty square. Xixi, you can continue to draw!” Guo Ziyi encouraged, but he was being mischievous and didn’t remind Xixi of a certain problem.

The little girl has a bit of a temper, but she wasn’t spoiled. She still listened to Guo Ziyi’s words and considered her next move.

Obviously, the little girl’s thought process didn’t have as many twists and turns as an adult’s. She drew the third star in the middle square of the top row.

Guo Ziyi had already raised his eyebrows and chuckled. He took the pen handed over by Xixi and drew a circle in the top right square. Then he drew a diagonal line, connecting the three circles together.

“Hahaha!” Guo Ziyi laughed triumphantly, “I won!”

“Ah? Oh!” The little girl realized a little too late and saw that the circles connected in a line were indeed Uncle Guo’s victory!

“Ah… I haven’t finished drawing yet!” Xixi looked left and right, pouted her small mouth, and admitted defeat.

“How about it? Do you still want to play?” Guo Ziyi laughed happily.

“Let’s play again! I want to win!” The little girl said, standing on the sofa, hands on her hips, full of fighting spirit.

However, how could the pure-minded Xixi win against Guo Ziyi, who was already 17 years old and has a mature IQ? Her calculations were always limited to her own little world, and she always forgot to judge the opponent’s moves.

As expected, the little girl lost to Guo Ziyi in every game except for one where they ended up with a draw because she gave up on strategic play and started playing randomly.

However, Xixi was not discouraged. She continued to fight despite repeated losses, becoming braver as she fought. It was just that watching the little girl furrow her delicate eyebrows, leaning on the table deep in thought, her look of bitterness and resentment was somewhat pitiful.

Ding Xiang, who had passed by a few times, couldn’t bear it any longer. She took advantage of the fewer customers and came over and said, “Guo Ziyi, don’t bully Xixi! She’s so young, and you won’t even let her win a game.”

“That’s right, that’s right!” With Ding Xiang supporting her, the little girl pouted her little mouth and stood confidently by her side.

“How can I intentionally lose in a game? Wouldn’t that be cheating?” Guo Ziyi protested. “Playing this game is about willingly accepting defeat. If I let Xixi win, she wouldn’t be happy either, right?”

Xixi tilted her head, pondering, unable to understand why she wouldn’t be happy.

She would be very happy!

Before the little girl could speak, Ding Xiang, who came to defend her, asked Xixi to move in a little and squeezed in with Xiao Guai. Then she sat down next to Xixi and said, “Alright, Guo Ziyi, I’ll play with you on behalf of Xixi!”

Xixi was somewhat surprised, but mostly happy. She stood on the sofa, leaning against Ding Xiang’s arm, and clapped her hands, saying, “Hee hee, great, great! Sister Ding Xiang will help me win.”

Guo Ziyi, who considered himself highly skilled, didn’t think Ding Xiang could win against him. He smiled and tore open a piece of paper, drew a tic-tac-toe grid, and then handed the pen to Ding Xiang.

“Draw a star, draw a star!” The little girl saw Ding Xiang draw a cross in the middle square of the grid and hurriedly urged her.

Ding Xiang followed the little girl’s instructions, making changes while explaining the tricks to Xixi, “Xixi, next time you play this game, if you have the chance to go first, make sure to go here. This spot has a higher chance of winning, as it can form a line horizontally, vertically, and even diagonally…”

“Right, right, right! He always goes here!” Xixi pointed at Guo Ziyi and pouted to complain.

Guo Ziyi smiled and drew circles in the middle square of the bottom row. In fact, he was a bit careless and just played casually, thinking that he should be able to crush his opponent with his IQ.

Ding Xiang saw Guo Ziyi’s move and the corners of her mouth curled up slightly. She turned her head and whispered to Xixi, “We’re going to win.”

The little girl couldn’t see it at all. She leaned in to Ding Xiang’s ear and asked softly, “Why?”

“Look!” Ding Xiang drew a star in the bottom left corner.

Guo Ziyi immediately furrowed his brow. He realized his mistake now and smiled wryly, saying, “I lost.”

“Let’s finish the game first,” Ding Xiang was somewhat dissatisfied.

Guo Ziyi had no choice but to draw a circle in the top right corner to block the line Ding Xiang was about to connect. He had no other options. Ding Xiang then drew a star in the middle square of the left column.

At this moment, the clever Xixi also saw the winning move, and she exclaimed joyfully, “I know, I know! Let me do this!”

Guo Ziyi smiled bitterly and could only use a circle to draw in the top left corner to save the situation, but Xixi took the pen, draw a star in the middle square of the right column, and instantly connected a line!

“Hee hee, Uncle Guo, you drew here, and we can win over here too!” The little girl seemed to have gained an understanding and interpreted it clearly and logically.

Finally, Xixi, who had won, no longer held any great bitterness2. She hugged Sister Ding Xiang’s neck affectionately and smiled like a flower!

“Sister Ding Xiang, let’s play another round!” This time it was Guo Ziyi’s turn to be unconvinced.

Ding Xiang patted the little girl’s bottom and told her to stand up so she wouldn’t fall, then shook her head at Guo Ziyi. “What’s the point of playing this? You also know that in front of someone who knows how to play this game, neither of us can win or lose.”

Guo Ziyi, having lost the previous game, felt that his IQ had been challenged by Ding Xiang. He gritted his teeth, took out his script, and used the blank space on the back to quickly draw many grids. “Let’s play Gobang!”3

“I don’t have time to play with you. I have work to do!” Ding Xiang shook her head, stood up, and walked towards the bar counter.

“It’s okay, I won’t disturb your work. When there are no customers, let’s play a few moves.” Guo Ziyi chased after her, holding onto the script.

“I want to watch too!” Xixi hopped off the booth seat full of enthusiasm.

……

In the evening, Yang Yi came back from the kindergarten and picked up Xixi to bring her home. “Xixi, do you want to know what the teacher praised you for today?”

However, the little girl excitedly ran into the bedroom, retrieved her drawing paper and small pencil, and ran out again, saying, “Papa, Papa, let’s play a game! I’ll teach you how to play three-in-a-row!”

“What?”