Chapter 204: Chapter 204: Admit When Outmatched
Fifteen minutes passed, and Jillian Lynch completely lost the game.
Although it took fifteen minutes, Ashley Shaw’s total time didn’t exceed three minutes; the rest was Jillian Lynch hesitating and thinking.
But neither Warren Prescott nor Elder Prescott would care about this once they knew Ashley Shaw’s level.
After all, before Jillian Lynch even sat in that chair, the outcome was already decided.
So they didn’t treat it as a match at all.
They just saw it as Jillian Lynch learning from Ashley Shaw.
Since it’s about learning, does winning or losing really matter?
But Jillian Lynch didn’t think so; she was still in shock and disbelief over losing to someone she looked down upon.
"Black wins! Ashley, you won, congratulations!"
Ariana Grant said excitedly.
Ever since that day she watched Ashley Shaw play chess, she had gone back and studied Go herself, so she could already tell who was winning halfway through the match.
She wasn’t blind; she could see that this little girl didn’t take her Ashley seriously at all in the beginning.
Otherwise, she wouldn’t have bragged, "I don’t want to bully you."
Now that Ashley had won deservedly, Ariana felt a rush of pleasure.
Slap in the face, this was a straightforward slap in the face!
Let you look down on Ashley, you little girl, just because you won some championship, you think you’re invincible and can look down on anyone.
Ariana controlled her smile and said, "Congratulations to you too, little sister. Lasting fifteen minutes against Ashley is quite an achievement."
After saying this, she saw the ugly expressions on the faces of Mrs. Lynch and her two daughters, and she felt even better.
Mrs. Lynch gritted her teeth and said, "Jill is young, and she gave up the black pieces, so losing is a bit unfair. If she had played with black from the beginning, she might not have lost."
Saying that, she paused and gave Ashley Shaw a half-smile. "Ashley, your win...isn’t quite honorable, is it?"
Ashley Shaw looked at Mrs. Lynch expressionlessly.
"I offered the black pieces to her at the start, but she insisted on giving them to me. Auntie, did you not see that? So you think I bullied Jillian?"
"That’s not what I meant, don’t misunderstand me," Mrs. Lynch said with an innocent look on her face.
Ashley Shaw now understood where Rosalind Lynch learned her innocent acts and accusations.
Sure enough, the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.
But she wasn’t one to be bullied easily either.
When she entered earlier, she didn’t want to waste her breath arguing with Mrs. Lynch, but now she wasn’t going to be so polite.
She curled her lips into a slight sneer and said, "Auntie, you probably don’t know much about Go, do you? If you don’t understand, you can just stay quiet, or you could ask Jillian if she lost because she played the white pieces or because of my chess skills. I think as the person involved, she knows best."
Jillian Lynch’s face changed, and her ears turned red with shame.
She felt both embarrassed and unwilling to accept losing to Ashley Shaw.
Especially in front of Warren.
However, Mrs. Lynch really was clueless about Go and didn’t understand what was going on.
She believed that her daughter, who had won a national championship, must be better than Ashley Shaw.
It had to be about the black and white pieces.
"Jillian, tell me, was it just because you played the white pieces and went second?"
"Mom...please stop..."
Jillian Lynch felt even more embarrassed.
She had never thought her mother was an idiot before, but now she deeply understood what stupidity was and what it meant to be annoyed by stupidity.
"Why stop? Aren’t you better than..."
Halfway through her sentence, Mrs. Lynch suddenly choked up, her heavily made-up eyes wide with shock.
Could it be...
She quickly looked at her younger daughter, who was awkwardly lowering her head.
Jillian Lynch didn’t want to say another word.
She was mortified.
Rosalind Lynch simply walked away.
She was brainless to have been influenced by her mom, acting stupid alongside her.
How could she have thought her sister could win over Ashley Shaw and embarrass her?
In the end, it only backfired, and Ashley Shaw slapped them back.
She must have planned this, knowing they were coming, so she pretended not to know how to play.
What a vicious girl!
Mrs. Lynch watched her daughters’ different reactions, realizing what her younger daughter meant.
It wasn’t about the pieces; her daughter was just outclassed.
Mrs. Lynch’s face turned bright red.
Elder Prescott wasn’t just trying to cover for Ashley Shaw; she really was that impressive.
When Elder Prescott said he had never won against Ashley and today was no different, he really meant it.
Damn! How could this happen!
Mrs. Lynch was nearly furious.
Partly at Ashley Shaw and partly at her daughter’s incompetence.
Why take on a task you can’t handle?
Mrs. Lynch completely forgot it was her idea from the start; she encouraged Jillian to play Go with Elder Prescott, leading to this situation.
Ariana Grant noticed Mrs. Lynch’s complexion and felt a surge of happiness.
Imitating Mrs. Lynch’s initial tone and words, she mockingly reassured Jillian, "It’s okay, little one. Go requires talent and effort. If your skills aren’t there yet, you can keep learning. If you work hard for another ten or twenty years, you’ll surely have a chance to surpass Ashley."
Jillian Lynch and Mrs. Lynch immediately recognized the words Mrs. Lynch had initially said to Ashley Shaw, and their faces turned green.
Ashley Shaw couldn’t help but mentally give Ariana Grant a thumbs-up.
When it comes to retorts, nobody’s better than my Ariana.
So strong, truly strong!
Jillian Lynch clenched her fists tight in anger, almost about to retort, when Elder Prescott cleared his throat and said, "Winning or losing isn’t important; what’s important is what you can learn from it."
Elder Prescott never deliberately set it up for Jillian Lynch to lose to Ashley Shaw.
Embarrassing the Lynch Family wasn’t even a thought.
He simply wanted Jillian Lynch to learn some skills from playing against Ashley Shaw.
Because every time he played with Ashley, he could learn and improve his skills.
That’s the meaning of playing against a master.
But clearly, Jillian Lynch’s mind wasn’t on that.
She just wanted to beat Ashley Shaw.
Jillian Lynch took a deep breath and forced a smile, "Grandpa Prescott is right, I learned a lot today. Sometimes playing Go isn’t just about skill; pretending you don’t know and deceiving your opponent is important too."
This implied Ashley Shaw had pretended to be clueless and then beat her.
Ashley Shaw furrowed her brows, about to speak, when Warren Prescott said, "Jill, you’re outmatched, admit it."