The Factory District Girl of the 1980s Becomes Queen of the Chess World

When she was fourteen, Xu Zhaoning secretly signed herself up for a Go tournament without telling her mother.

She wanted to win a fountain pen, and she also wanted to know whether there could be a Go board of her own beyond the factory walls.

Her father had died young, and her mother supported their family of two children with hands roughened by hard work. Being sensible, attending vocational school, and earning money as soon as possible: that was the stable life others had planned for her.

But on the day of the final, she held a Go stone and, for the first time, didn't immediately go home with her mother.

"Mom, wait until I finish this game."

Later, she left the factory district.

From an unnoticed little girl to a female Go player her opponents dared not underestimate, she had won thunderous applause and lost so badly that she doubted herself. The name her mother had sewn into her collar went with her far away, and made her fear letting her mother down.

Her childhood friend Chen Wangchuan said, "When you're tired, come home. I can provide for a family."

Lu Zheng, her equal at the Go board, understood every move she made, but might not understand how to keep the woman she was beyond the board.

She had fallen in love and shed tears. At the moment she most wanted to win, she had even lost the relationship she treasured most.

Meanwhile, the tide of the times was rising beyond the familiar factory walls. The loom her mother had tended for half her life, the job her younger brother longed for, and the quiet lives of the old neighbors were all heading into the unknown.

When fate pushed her toward a new Go board, whose hand should she hold, and where should she place her own dreams?

In this life, how many times must she win before she dares to believe that even if she loses, someone will be waiting for her at home?