On weekends, it was raining in Tokyo.

Pedestrians on both sides of the street were walking in a hurry with umbrellas, and outside a chess hall, several black cars stopped.

"Teacher He Xi, be careful of the water on the roadside..."

As soon as the vehicle stopped, some people who had already been waiting at the entrance of the chess hall helped open the car door and then held umbrellas for the guests who walked out inside. These were some generally older guests, but there was a very young figure in the middle - Meng Huo.

Around the street, a girl immediately recognized him and couldn't help but scream: "It's Teacher He Xi!"

As soon as her voice sounded, others noticed the situation here one after another. Someone curiously asked who He Xi was, but more people screamed in surprise, and then there were a series of sounds of taking photos on mobile phones.

Meng Huo smiled at the girl who screamed in the lead, but said nothing, turned around and walked into the chess hall with the others.

"Teacher He Xi, it's really Teacher He Xi! He smiled at me. This must be the luckiest day in my life!"

"It's incredible. I saw Teacher He Xi for the first time, how could he come here!"

"The chess hall must be for the "Go" matters... Go in and take a look!"

Some young people were very excited. After seeing Meng Huo walking into the chess hall, they also wanted to walk in, but they were stopped by others at the door. The staff of several chess halls stopped them. They said apologetically: "Sorry, we didn't pick up new customers during Teacher He Xi's visit."

The chess hall is open normally today, but the power of "He Xi" cannot be underestimated. During his visit to the store, the store manager of the chess hall asked not to allow anyone to enter.

Meng Huo was visiting the chess hall. This was the second thing he had done after returning to Tokyo. After Ninghai handled the "Clannad" matters, he turned around and came to Tokyo, but the animation of "Mobile Suit Gundam 00" went smoother than he expected, and Meng Huo did not ask for overtime.

He was invited by the Go Association, and he also wanted to see what the chess hall in this world looked like on the spot, so he agreed.

However, Meng Huo did not expect that the formation was so large. He turned around and saw the passerby blocked outside the door and frowned and said, "Is this OK? What I want to see is a normal chess hall, what should I do if I stop the guests..."

He wanted to make comics closer to reality. So this time he came to an ordinary chess hall, and wanted to see the real Go atmosphere.

"It doesn't matter, this is what the chess hall is like." The chess store manager smiled and said, "There are not many people coming to play a day. Old customers can recognize it. If it is an old customer, it will be released outside the door."

"Is this what your chess hall usually looks like?"

Meng Huo was shocked. The area of ​​this chess hall looked quite large, about four or five hundred square meters, and there were also quite a few chess tables, but there were only a handful of people playing chess. At first glance, there were only twenty people, and they were all old men.

"Isn't it because it rained today?" Meng Huo frowned. The number of people was too small.

"No, whether it rains or not has no effect on us." The store manager sighed. Chess halls in various parts of China are not much different from here. The guests are basically old people and there are very few young customers, which also symbolizes the situation where Chinese Go is in decline.

However, this cannot be said that all young people who learn Go are gone. In fact, the number of young players is still within the scope of the Go circle. However, these players are often playing in the chess academy where they learn chess, on computers, or at homes of other players, and will not come to the chess hall.

The 'chess hall' here refers to a place where ordinary people play chess like Internet cafes and coffee shops. Such a bleak situation also means that Go is too far away from ordinary people and no one comes to play.

"Since that's the case, why do you still need to build such a large chess hall?"

Meng Huo frowned slightly. He investigated the chess hall when he was preparing for "Chess Soul". The average area of ​​the chess hall is relatively large, but with such a dismal performance, it is meaningless to maintain such a large chess hall except to make money.

"Teacher He Xi doesn't know, there are historical reasons here." The store manager did not answer, and a professional chess player who accompanied Meng Huo spoke: "In the past, the Go Association also had a thorough change, launched leagues and related industries, and made the Go skill regain its glory. The chess hall only appeared at that time - and before that, there was no folk chess hall in China."

The chess player explained the reason to Meng Huo. In the period of great changes in the past, the Go Association was full of confidence and made requirements for the chess halls. Almost all chess halls were prepared according to professional standards. Later, due to some changes, their plan was not successful, but the requirements for the chess hall were retained.

Although China's chess halls are open to the public, there are actually no ordinary people doing this business. All chess halls are industries of the Go Association, similar to official chain stores, and their performance is not banned.

"...You guys are really rich."

Meng Huo looked weird.

"This...is not that we have money..."

The expressions of professional chess players are also very complicated. He doesn’t know much, but there is a large consortium behind the Chinese Go industry, which is a consensus among many people. If it weren’t for that consortium, the Go Association would have been shattered long ago.

The failure of the previous major change was also due to an accident in the consortium. However, despite this, their economic support for Go has not decreased - the huge number of chess halls in the Go Association were able to maintain it because of their confidence.

However, this is actually an unethical thing, and the players naturally would not mention it too much. If the Go Association had no selfish intentions, they should have taken the initiative to change their requirements and lower the scale and standards of the chess hall.

At this moment, Meng Huo was a little disappointed. The media has been pursuing "The Soul of Chess" during this period. The players also respect him very much. He thought its role had already been revealed, but now he saw that this comic still has a long way to go.

The guests in the chess hall are the best evaluation ruler. There has not been more and more guests playing chess here. Then "Chess Soul" has shown its role. "Chess Soul" in the previous life has had a driving role in the Go industry in several countries, and Meng Huo felt very failed.

"Is there a fee to play chess here?" Meng Huo asked.

"Yes, but very cheap." The chess player nodded: "Ten yuan per hour."

Meng Huo was stunned: "Ten yuan? Are you teasing me? This is cheap!"

He suddenly felt funny. The Go Association's shelf is too big, and it costs ten yuan per hour. If Go is a popular event, it will naturally be a price. But now Go is half dead, who is willing to pay it ten yuan?

Especially for young people, an ordinary Internet cafe costs only four or five yuan per hour. You tell him that the Go cafe costs ten yuan per hour. Can the attraction of the two be compared? Besides, there are many entertainment venues in this world, and the pricing of chess halls is simply seeking death, so it is no wonder that they cannot develop.

Although Meng Huo doesn't go out to play often, he knows that in China's first- and second-tier cities, people can basically find suitable places where they want to play. The social life in this world is much richer than in his previous life, and this can be seen from the prosperity of the Internet.

China's Internet is no worse than in its previous life, but the obsession of netizens is far different. The reason is that the real society has rich resources and many entertainment is quite cheap, so people do not need to rely on the Internet to pass the time.

"There is a chess hall now?" Meng Huo asked: "How much does a chess hall cost?"

"Chess hall?" The chess player frowned: "There are not many chess halls, but the price is a little more expensive than us, about twenty yuan per hour."

Meng Huo was silent. He forgot that chess and Go were different. In fact, he also investigated chess. Chess is popular. The targets of chess halls are basically some more powerful chess masters, not very common people - ordinary people spend money on playing chess, and they can be played everywhere on the streets and alleys.

"Forget it, let alone chess, what about other chess and cards?"

Meng Huo continued to ask.

"Teacher He Xi, we Go is the cheapest." The player seemed to understand what he meant and frowned: "The mahjong shop also costs twenty yuan."

"Okay, I understand..." Meng Huo was helpless and said in vain that there were fewer chess and card sports in China that had things like 'chess hall', and some were not popular types without exception. Only popular can there be shops for ordinary people to play.

Go is an exception. It does not need to build a 'chess hall' for ordinary people, because no one can play it at all. But they still built it, and after it was built, it was maintained with huge sums of money. It really fits the old saying - if you have money, you willful.

Meng Huo had a little change in the Go Association. This association looked weak, but it was rich and very strange.

"Teacher He Xi, do you think the price is high?" The store manager looked at Meng Huo's speech and asked cautiously: "Then what price do you think is better?"

"Three dollars can only be less than this one, no more..." Meng Huo said a little disappointed and said, "I don't believe that ten dollars can let others come in. If you really want to develop Go, this price is your biggest obstacle. Anyway, you can't make money, why not let it go?"

Meng Huo actually didn't care about the price of the Go restaurant, but since he had painted "Go", he didn't want to see him and just go on like this.

The price of the chess hall is too expensive, which is enough to affect the effect of "Chess Soul". No wonder there are no new customers. Even if someone is interested in reading the comics, he will come to the chess hall for ten yuan per hour and ask them, and those people should turn around and leave.

There are not many people who can play Go originally. The chess hall should serve as a place where ordinary people can learn chess. The price should be lower than other activities, or even lower than Internet cafes. Not to mention ten yuan, even three yuan, Meng Huo thinks it is too much. He even thinks it is best to be free, but this seems unrealistic.
Chapter completed!