Gomoku

Zhuang Zhuang heard her laughter and looked up in disbelief.

“Mother?” After hesitating for a moment, Zhuang Zhuang called out to Xiaoguo.

“Yes?”

“I’m sorry…”

Xiaoguo pursed her lips and suppressed a smile. She shook her head in mock calmness. “It’s okay.”

Today was a good day. Zhuang Zhuang had learnt to lose his temper…

When Zhuang Zhuang heard this, he lowered his head guiltily and wiped his snot. Just as he was about to speak, his snot flowed down uncontrollably.

Xiaoguo picked up a handkerchief beside him and cleaned his nose vigorously. “We can talk after dinner. Let’s eat first.”

Zhuang Zhuang nodded and lowered his head to eat his porridge in silence.

Xiaoguo put down her handkerchief and picked up the bowl with her hand to hide the smile on her face. “He’s so cute. He is so cute even when he loses his temper.”

At the dining table, no one spoke. Xiaoguo did not speak because she was afraid that she would burst into laughter again and hurt Zhuang Zhuang’s pride. Zhuang Zhuang did not speak because he felt ashamed.

After dinner, Zhuang Zhuang washed the dishes quickly and retreated into his room.

Xiaoguo followed behind slowly, looking confused. She didn’t know why Zhuang Zhuang was running so fast.

As soon as she stepped into the room, she saw Zhuang Zhuang sitting upright on the bed with a worried expression.

It wasn’t easy for her to hold back her laughter, but now it was surging again. Xiaoguo quickly stepped out of the room.

Zhuang Zhuang was ready with a bunch of apologies. When he saw Xiaoguo, he was about to say something when he saw her quickly retreating. Luckily he was quite confident about his eyesight, otherwise, he would have thought that he was hallucinating.

After a while, Xiaoguo walked in calmly.

Zhuang Zhuang was quite serious at first, but when he saw the smile on her face, he found it hard to keep a straight face.

Mother and son inadvertently looked at each other and burst out laughing.

The little episode came and went quickly. After calming down, the two of them sat down across from each other.

“Mother, I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have lost my temper.”

Zhuang Zhuang was the first to lower his head and admit his mistake. He was really annoyed with himself. Why did he get angry and even threw his chopsticks?

“It’s okay. I forgive you, but don’t do it again. I don’t advocate breaking things. You can vent your anger in other ways.”

After all, Zhuang Zhuang was only four years old. There were many children at this age who threw tantrums. However, based on her recollection, Zhuang Zhuang had never thrown a tantrum before. Even when he was younger, he was obedient and hardly kicked up a fuss.

Therefore, Xiaoguo was a little relieved to see Zhuang Zhuang venting his emotions now. It is unhealthy to suppress one’s emotions over a long period of time. This applies to both adults and children. Just as she had mentioned, venting one’s frustrations was fine, but if it goes overboard, then something must be done to keep it in check. In the long run, such behavior could become a bad habit where he would throw things whenever he got angry.

However, she didn’t harp on it for too long. She believed that Zhuang Zhuang knew what to do. Although he was young, he was very sensible.

At the thought of this, Xiaoguo felt so emotional that she kissed him on the forehead. Who wouldn’t love this precious baby? She was so in love with this baby of hers.

Zhuang Zhuang started blushing from head to toe. He was fair-skinned to begin with, so the flush on his skin was pretty obvious. He looked like a white steamed bun that was on the verge of being cooked.

“Mother, I really won’t throw things in the future. I know my mistake now. I’ll find a suitable way to vent my anger in the future. Please forgive me this time, okay?”

“Yes! Mother will forgive you this time!”

When Zhuang Zhuang heard this, he was overjoyed. The gloom on his face dissipated and he smiled brightly again.

Xiaoguo did not immediately ask him about finding a teacher for him. Instead, she played with him for the entire day. After strolling through the entire village and eliminating all the worries in his heart, it was already night time.

After dinner, the two of them sat opposite each other on the bed in their undergarments. There was a chessboard in front of them. Xiaoguo played the white stones, while Zhuang Zhuang played the black stones.

Looking at the serious expressions on their faces, one would have thought that they were playing an exciting and serious game. But on closer look, the two of them were actually playing Gomoku instead of Go.

To Xiaoguo, Go was too difficult as compared to Gomoku.

It was Zhuang Zhuang who had read about Go in the books and became interested in the game. That was why he begged her to buy it. Unfortunately, this was Xiaoguo’s first time playing the game tonight. Zhuang Zhuang had been studying Go books on his own and had slowly figured out some basic knowledge about the game. However, it was a pity that he didn’t have a teacher and there was no one who could play with him. As a result, Zhuang Zhuang often had to play on his own.

There was nothing much that Xiaoguo could do either. If the subject was about planting vegetables or cooking, she could still explain a few things to him. But if it was about anything else, she had nothing to share.

This was especially so for chess games. Other than Gomoku, she knew nothing about Go, Chinese chess, or even checkers.

Xiaoguo was delighted to see that Zhuang Zhuang had a wide range of hobbies. In particular, the activities that he enjoyed were mostly intellectual. He definitely had her full support.

As long as Zhuang Zhuang did not practice martial arts like his father, she would support him in whatever field he was interested in.

Within the short while that Xiaoguo was distracted, Zhuang Zhuang had successfully connected his stones into a line

“Haha, Mother, you lost again!”

That’s right, she had lost again!

Zhuang Zhuang didn’t know how to play Gomoku initially, so Xiaoguo taught him as they played. She didn’t expect him to get the hang of it so soon once he started playing. Other than winning the first round, she failed miserably in the subsequent rounds.

“Huh?!”

Xiaoguo covered her face helplessly. She was too ashamed to face Zhuang Zhuang. If she had seen this coming, she wouldn’t have bragged about being the best in Gomoku!

If she hadn’t blown her abilities out of proportion, she wouldn’t have embarrassed herself so much.

“Zhuang Zhuang, can you be gentler?”

Xiaoguo smiled and tried to negotiate with Zhuang Zhuang.

“No, you said so yourself. We have to take everything seriously.”

Zhuang Zhuang shook his head without thinking and continued, “Hurry up and stick your head out.”

Looking at the heartless kid in front of her, Xiaoguo wished she could go back to the first round and give him a good smack on the head.

No matter what she was thinking now, it was a fact that she had lost the game. Xiaoguo let out a long sigh and resigned herself to her fate. She leaned forward and shut her eyes tightly. All her facial features were squeezed together in anticipation.

Zhuang Zhuang looked at her red forehead and hesitated for a moment. In the end, he only flicked it gently. Although it was called a flick, it was actually just a light tap.

Xiaoguo’s heart skipped a beat and she felt so touched that she opened her eyes. She was wrong. Zhuang Zhuang was not a brat. He was clearly a sweet boy.

Zhuang Zhuang smiled at Xiaoguo. After all, she was his mother. He should give in to her whenever possible. It wouldn’t be good if she started crying.

Hence, in the next few rounds, Zhuang Zhuang continued winning. But Xiaoguo did not lose every game.

After every two rounds, Zhuang Zhuang would deliberately lose one game to her. Xiaoguo definitely noticed it since it was so obvious, but she didn’t say it out loud. She wasn’t upright to that extent. Zhuang Zhuang was already giving in to her, whether intentionally or unintentionally. There was no need for her to say the obvious, she just played along with it.

Moreover, she didn’t think that losing to her son was embarrassing. What embarrassed her more was her bragging.

When the Gomoku game ended, Xiaoguo’s forehead had turned completely red. Zhuang Zhuang was no better.

Xiaoguo didn’t let him have his way just because he was a child. If he had not shown mercy and let her win a few games. she probably wouldn’t get the chance to touch his forehead.

Halfway through the games, the two of them started flicking each other’s foreheads with increasing strength. In the end, their foreheads became as red as a monkey’s butt.

Zhuang Zhuang went to keep the chessboard while Xiaoguo made the bed.

Laying on the bed,. Zhuang Zhuang wrapped his arms around Xiaoguo’s neck and rested his head beside her face.

“Mother, about learning from a teacher…”

Xiaoguo was surprised that Zhuang Zhuang would bring it up first. She was planning to discuss this matter the next day.

“Zhuang Zhuang, can you tell me why you’re unwilling to learn from a teacher?”

As she spoke, Xiaoguo rubbed his back with her hands.

Zhuang Zhuang slowly relaxed because of Xiaoguo’s actions and told her the reason for his resistance.