"Then what next?"
"Isn"t it the same even if they continue competing?"
"Yea, there"s no meaning to it if they continue to compete based on poetry."
"Why not tweak the rules a little and compete based on some other standard?"
"Master Zhou, let"s not keep doing poetry. The opponent"s advantage is too unfair. We are in the calligraphy field, so how could we possibly defeat someone in literature studies through poetry?"
"Right, we should change the format."
"As long as it isn"t poetry, anything else is fine."
"Right, anything except poetry. He definitely won"t be able to do well in other topics."
Everyone was convinced of the literary skills of the youth in shades. Since this was a calligraphy compet.i.tion, they were unconvinced. Many of the calligraphers were embarra.s.sed by this and were disputing the issue.
Master Zhou smiled, "If you want to continue competing, then please draw a lot from the box. There are still other topics in there besides poetry."
"Alright."
"Come on then."
The tension against the youth was increasing.
Master Zhou announced, "First, let"s take a two minutes break before we continue."
Everyone had no objections and some went to get a drink while the others who were a little hungry went to grab some refreshments.
Zhang Ye went to the toilet which was inside the restaurant premises. Inside the male toilet, another person followed him in. This person appeared to be Master Wei"s disciple and was also part of Master Wei"s team.
"Wait a moment." Chen Mo called out to him.
Zhang Ye turned around, "What"s the matter, my friend?"
Chen Mo looked at him and said, "Aren"t you going a little too far today?"
Zhang Ye smiled, "What do you mean by that? How did I go too far?"
"It"s Master Wei"s birthday today. Why are you being such a wet blanket? What"s the meaning of this? You are also someone from this circle, so don"t tell me you don"t intend to show some respect to the seniors?" Chen Mo did not hold back on his words and tone.
Zhang Ye was stirred. "Sorry, but I"m not from the your circle. I respect my seniors, but my senior is not Master Wei. It is President Wu. My path is also not that of calligraphy, so don"t try that on me."
You are even trying to accuse me now?
Hur, who do you think you are!
Chen Mo lectured him, "Never push things too far so that we can meet amiably in the future."
Zhang Ye replied, "You are the ones who are bullying a woman like President Wu. Why didn"t you not push things too far earlier? And I’m not allowed to help her?"
Chen Mo spoke in a well-grounded manner. "President Wu does not truly belong in the calligraphy world. Most of those present today are also on better terms with Master Wei. Since it"s his birthday, of course we"d naturally choose to stand by his side. How can you say that"s bullying? It"s only a friendly compet.i.tion to make the gathering more lively. No one would be concerned by that. I believe President Wu is not so petty too, but you, you have caused the event to become awkward!"
Zhang Ye was tickled by his logic, so he said, "You are really amusing. A bunch of people bullying President Wu so as to win the auspicious item. You mentioned that this was just a compet.i.tion, which is not meant to be taken too seriously. Yet, you don"t mention how your team has so many more people, saying it"s for fun only. Yet now when you have lost, you are claiming that we should have left some face for your respected teacher, saying that we disrespected him. Why does it feel like you are right no matter what? As if your team deserves to win just because of the occasion and that"s logical? So whatever we do is unacceptable? Other than losing to you, we would be in the wrong regardless of what we do?"
Chen Mo glared with his eyes cold. "You are distorting my words!"
"But that"s what you were driving at!" Zhang Ye said, "I"m sorry, but using seniority as a reason does not work on me! I was invited by President Wu and I"m here to wish her a happy birthday. However the others want to think of me, they can think what they want. It does not concern me. I know how to handle myself, so you can save your effort in telling me what I should or shouldn"t do." After saying that, he went to use the toilet and did not bother about him anymore.
Chen Mo was angered! This person does not appreciate his advice! He turned around and left.
Actually, winning or losing this compet.i.tion did not matter to Zhang Ye. He only cared about Wu Zeqing"s treatment. If they wanted to bully Old Wu and leave her embarra.s.sed, then Zhang Ye would not sit back and do nothing. It was that simple. Since he had already helped President Wu by winning up to this point, Zhang Ye was already happy enough. Even if he were to lose the last match, he was fine with it. His thoughts were not in the calligraphy world, so winning or losing did not affect him in any way, but now, someone had actually tried to come up to him to sort him out. He even tried to lecture and threaten him? Then did Zhang Ye still need to hold back?
He was infamous for being a hooligan!
F**k! If you didn"t say anything, everything would have been fine. I didn"t necessarily have to win every round!
Let me tell you, don"t even think of winning a single match now! Do you think I"m afraid of threats?
In the backyard.
The next match was about to begin.
When it was time to pick topics, Chen Mo stepped forward, "Teacher, let me do it."
Master Wei smiled and nodded. He kindly said, "Sure, Little Mo. I"ll leave it to you."
Master Wei did not step forward this entire time. It was possible that he had never planned on taking part in the compet.i.tion himself. As a master of the calligraphy world, even if he won, it would not look good since it would be similar to bullying. If he lost, it would look even worse.
Zhang Ye asked, "Who is that?"
Wu Zeqing looked at the man in his thirties who was drawing the topic, "Master Wei"s disciple I guess. I don"t know him or his name. What"s the matter? Why are you so interested in him?"
Zhang Ye shrugged and said, "Just now in the bathroom, he came to me and tried to give me a piece of his mind, telling me to respect his teacher and stuff like that. What he meant was that I was going too far."
Wu Zeqing asked gently, "Are you going to concede this match then?"
"Of course not!" Zhang Ye said, "I"m not a charity organization! The more he tries to accuse me, the more I want to win! Since we are winning, we should win to the end!"
Chen Mo had picked his topic.
He picked a topic that caused a minor uproar!
Master Zhou was also a little stunned as he announced, "There"s no need to pick the 2nd part. The next topic is — couplets. According to the rules, both parties will come to a decision on who gets to give the couplet and who gets to match the couplet. If the couplet can be matched, the matcher will win. If the couplet can"t be matched, the giver will be the winner. Of course this is not an absolute, even if it could be matched, we will still be looking at the calligraphy writing. As to how the judging will be done, I will be the one deciding. As couplet matching is a little special, the time given will be 10 minutes. Alright then, will the 2 compet.i.tors decide on the sequence now?"
Couplets?
It actually turned out to be couplets?
Couplets and calligraphy were inextricably linked, but this kind of a topic was still a rarity. In past gatherings, there weren"t many people who had drawn this topic.
"Haha, we got a good show to watch now!"
"At last we got an interesting topic!"
"As long as it is not poetry, that youth doesn’t stand a chance!"
"Little Mo"s luck is quite good. This match is definitely ours!"
"Teacher Su, this is your field. No one is more suitable than you to represent us for this topic. Your accomplishments in couplets can be considered to be in the top 10 of the country. Not many people would be able to match you."
"Teacher Su, it"s yours."
"We can"t keep letting Little Wu win, otherwise us old folks would have no face left! Ha!"
Chen Mo also smiled a little. He glanced at Zhang Ye and thought to himself that this guy still wanted to act tough with him? This time it"s not about poetry anymore, let"s see how badly you lose!
Su Na"s father stepped up, "OK, let me do it!"
Master Zhou also shook his head, he knew there would be no surprises. When Old Su showed his hand, not many people in the couplet field would be able to best him, except for those few monsters.
But what left everyone feeling a little strange was how the youth standing opposite him hardly had any reaction at all. He was seated there in a calm manner, occasionally taking a sip of wine.
Master Wei laughed, "Little Wu, will you be taking this round instead?"
Wu Zeqing looked at the topic and laughed, "I don"t think I"m needed here."
Zhang Ye had stood up by now, "Uncle Su, who will give the couplet?"
Father Su was very magnanimous. With a wave of his hand, he said, "Young man, you can set the question. Hur Hur."
"Sure, then I won"t hold back." Zhang Ye walked up to the front.
The person who had the most animated expression was Su Na. When she saw that the drawn topic was about couplets, she nearly fainted. Seeing how Master Wei"s team looked as if they already had it in the bag made Su Na at a loss whether to laugh or cry. Do you think you would win for sure? You guys don’t know fart!
This was Zhang Ye we"re talking about!
Poetry, song writing, couplets, essays, novels, and speeches, all of that was nothing to him!
Especially regarding achievements in couplets, Teacher Zhang Ye was one of those monsters!
Su Na could not help but remember the scene at the Beijing Couplet Compet.i.tion. Every compet.i.tion would have a champion, but a champion and a CHAMPION were not the same. The level of measurement was different. Those other champions would usually fight head to head with other compet.i.tors until one was finally victorious, but what about Zhang Ye? Su Na had watched the Couplet Compet.i.tion online back then. She had witness Zhang Ye stand up to more than fifty others and came out winning comfortably, not even letting his opponents gain a single point. They had all been utterly defeated by Zhang Ye!
What was the reason for that?
The reason boiled down to their levels being too far apart!
Su Na knew her father"s specialty was in couplets and was even considered a top couplet master, but even though she knew that her father might come out tops against 10,000 others, he would not be able to outmatch Zhang Ye!
"Dad!" Su Na quickly called him out.
Father Su looked towards her, "Yes?"
Su Na waved her hands quickly and winked her eyes, meaning to tell him not to take part.
But Father Su did not understand and instead smiled and nodded his head. He thought his daughter was cheering him on.
Chen Mo and those calligraphers were all looking on in a relaxed mood. They were laughing and smiling as they looked over at Zhang Ye while waiting for him to give the couplet. They believed that no matter what verse he came up with, Teacher Su would be able to match it perfectly.
Immediately, Zhang Ye began writing the couplet"s verse.
There wasn"t a lot of characters and he wrote it very casually, as if he did not even think before he started writing. He gave off a feeling as though as he had already conceded defeated, yet it also felt like he did not take it too seriously.
— 寂寞寒窗空守寡 (jì mò hán chuāng kōng shǒu guǎ, in this lonely and tiny unit as a widow).
Zhang Ye raised his head smiling, "I"ve finished writing."
"OK, I will match it!" Father Su proclaimed confidently while walking over as the crowd cheered him on. He took a look at the first half of the verse.
Then.
Then Father Su plopped down and almost vomited blood!
d.a.m.n you to your ninth great-grandmother! What the f**k was this verse?! Do you want to win so badly!?
Zhang Ye was really being inconsiderate. This couplet verse was also a Millennial Impossibility in his previous world. The verse, which he used at the previous Beijing Couplet Compet.i.tion ,"烟锁池塘柳 (yān suǒ chí táng liǔ, willow pond locked in smoke)" had some matches which could be considered close matches, even if they did not satisfy all the conditions to be considered perfect, but this "寂寞寒窗空守寡 (jì mò hán chuāng kōng shǒu guǎ, in this lonely and tiny unit as a widow)" had existed for hundreds of years without a second half even coming close, it could be said that Father Su did not even stand a chance!
A Millennial Impossibility!
This verse could not possibly be matched by anyone!
Even if future generations would come up with something, it would still be a few hundred or several thousand years later!