After a good night's sleep, both Gao Han and Su Lin woke up refreshed. Gao Han warmed up half a dozen frozen baozi (buns with pork filling) and heated the pre-made corn chowder soup. He had never cooked for himself, and his meals were generally all over the place. This was another reason why he didn't insist on taking little Su's guardianship. He just bought whatever ready-to-eat stuff was on discount, and required the least effort to cook. Today's Chinese-Western weird breakfast combination was just another example.
Of course, Su Lin was very happy with it. She had no idea about whats-its-name Chinese meal or whats-it-called Western breakfast, but was simply delighted to have someone to eat together with. Her parents used to leave early for work, putting her breakfast either on the dining table or in the microwave for the nanny to heat up later. Eating together surely made the food more delicious.
"Little Su, first come with me to the academy. After I finish the lessons, I will take you to the orphanage to see the head of the institute. Later in the evening, we need to go back to your parent's home to get your things. We have a long day ahead of us. Keep up your energy," Gao Han explained, pinching the bridge of his glasses out of habit. He was nervous about this whole thing.
Su Lin nodded obediently, and picked up the backpack the instructor gave her filled with snacks, a water bottle and her inhalers. Then she remembered the ♕-shaped pendant on her neck that had also appeared in her dreams. She held it up, and asked, "Teacher, this?" Meaning, she wanted to ask- teacher, did you give me this? What is this? Why did it appear in my dreams? Why was it talking? Where did it go in the end? Of course, not being used to saying so many words, she shortened it to just that.
Naturally, Gao Han couldn't read minds and had no knowledge of what she wanted to ask. "You keep it. That's a protective amulet passed down from one of my ancestors, who was also an accomplished chess player. That will keep you safe and healthy," he replied. He was offering empty platitudes, but little Su took him seriously and thanked him properly. After all, this had saved her life.
Gao Han drove to the academy with Su Lin. The other kids were excited to see her. The bossy kid Lin Cheng was immediately curious, "Why did you come with teacher? Why didn't teacher hold classes the past three days? Hey, hey, how did you become so thin so quickly? Can you tell my mom your secret- she needs to lose weight too." Of course, little Su could never answer so many rapid-fire questions. She mouthed three words, " I was sick", averted her eyes uneasily, and got relieved when they started the lessons. Finally, she could escape this chatty boy.
Today, they were learning to solve simple king and pawn end games. "See this position- white has a material advantage," Gao Han explained pointing to the setup on the board (Link for setup: https://bit.ly/2KD51KA).
"But no matter how you try, white cannot win unless black makes a blunder. This implies that not all endings with material advantages lead to a win. You need to learn these setups by heart so that your opponent cannot lead you into them. Contrarily, if you are the one with a material disadvantage, you should aim for these types of setups where you can achieve a draw. This is just like in life; you need to have knowledge of the possible outcomes so that you can take action to achieve your desired outcome regardless of whether you are faring well or not," instructor Gao's fascinating lecture continued.
Su Lin absorbed knowledge like a sponge in water, paying close attention to teacher's every word. She knew these would be helpful, even if they didn't seem to be right now. She didn't have much, so she had to hold tight to whatever she was given, especially such precious words.