The exchange meeting began.
Everyone's expressions were filled with confidence.
The older generation sat in the pavilion, watching the show.
Most of the young people sat by the water channel. Youthful passion often led to spirited competition, and even cultured individuals sought to outdo each other.
Among these young people, Wu Xiaomeng remained the most composed. This was her domain, reciting poetry and composing couplets, a skill even Shen Chun couldn't match.
Su Yu's livestream trio sat together.
Wu Xiaomeng and her companions sat together.
Although close, there were several paces between them.
At this moment, three wine cups were placed in the water channel.
Soon after.
The wine cups bumped against the bank and stopped in front of a man named Tian Guangzhi.
He was a postgraduate student of Chinese literature and quite renowned in the field.
He picked up the wine cup, took a sip, and then placed it beside him.
"Since I'm starting, let's begin with couplets," he said.
He had a slight advantage, as the upper line was usually prepared in advance, while the lower line was conceived on the spot.
However, at such exchange meetings, there was no need for humility. Everyone's goal was simple: to be praised and recognized for their cultural depth.
"My upper line is: Two, three, four, five," Tian Guangzhi announced, then scanned the crowd, adding, "Feel free to respond."
Everyone present frowned.
Two, three, four, five – all numbers. How could one possibly create a couplet from this?
"Shen Chun, I've already composed a lower line, but I can let you go first," Wu Xiaomeng said with a smile to Shen Chun beside her.
"I don't need anyone to yield. Sis, would you like to go first?" Shen Chun gave her a sideward glance, then turned to Zhou Sisi beside him.
"Huh? Me?" Although Zhou Sisi hadn't specifically studied ancient culture, she had some understanding of couplets from growing up surrounded by them.
Upon hearing the upper line, she had already thought of a lower line.
She hadn't expected Shen Chun to offer her this opportunity.
"Hmph, it's just a couplet challenge, I'll do it!"
At this moment, something unexpected happened.
Gong Juren, standing nearby, suddenly stood up.
"What are you barging in for?" Zhou Sisi exclaimed, quickly saying to him.
Everyone here was cultured; what did Gong Juren, a mere follower, know about couplets? Wasn't this just causing trouble?
She tried to stop him, but they were several paces apart, and it was too late.
Not only her, but even Su Yu looked taken aback.
He tilted his head slightly, looking at Gong Juren's flushed face.
He couldn't help but sigh inwardly; love truly made people lose their minds…
"My esteemed friend, please provide the lower line."
Tian Guangzhi, seeing that Gong Juren knew Shen Chun's group, mistook him for a prodigy from a distinguished cultural family and said with a smile.
Gong Juren's bold move attracted everyone's attention.
"Listen carefully, the lower line is: Six, seven, eight, nine." Gong Juren said with a confident smile.
After speaking, he sat down.
Upon hearing his lower line, everyone in the venue fell into contemplation.
Wu Xiaomeng was dumbfounded.
Shen Chun was also dumbfounded.
Zhou Sisi turned to look at Gong Juren's self-assured demeanor, her eyes filled with admiration.
"Brilliant! Two, three, four, five paired with six, seven, eight, nine!"
"I see! The upper line, though a sequence of numbers, implies a missing one, meaning 'lack of clothing.' And the lower line, missing ten, when put together, means 'lack of clothing and food'!"
"Hiss… Who is this person, to so quickly come up with such a magnificent lower line!"
"Look at his attendant's attire, I never expected him to be playing the fool to catch the tiger!"
A wave of astonished exclamations filled the hall.
"Little Gong, have you studied couplets?" Su Yu asked with some curiosity.
In his past life, while browsing websites, he had seen a couplet that was an encoded message. He hadn't expected Little Gong to be able to decipher it.
"Brother Yu, isn't this couplet very simple? Why are these people making such faces?" Now it was Gong Juren's turn to be bewildered.
"Little attendant, so you're this talented!" Zhou Sisi's eyes overflowed with adoration.
Shen Chun, standing nearby, felt a pang of jealousy.
He actually let this attendant come up with the answer. He regretted not letting him go first.
"Awesome." Su Yu was impressed, looking at him with newfound respect.
"Little Gong, I didn't realize you could also compose couplets," Lin Yanyu said with a smile, also praising him.
"Couplets are just about having the same number of characters and similar meaning, right?" Gong Juren scratched his head and whispered into Su Yu's ear, "Two, three, four, five, if you keep counting, it becomes six, seven, eight, nine…"
Upon hearing this, Su Yu's smile froze instantly.
"Is that how you thought of it?"
"What else could I think? Should I have said seven, eight, nine, ten? I have OCD, and having a number missing in the middle bothers me." Gong Juren chuckled.
Su Yu felt a momentary urge to curse.
However, with so many cultured people present, such behavior would be ungentlemanly, so he restrained himself.
Was this the legendary good fortune of fools?
He managed to guess correctly through sheer luck…
But, Little Gong was one of their own. Su Yu was happy for him to have succeeded in impressing everyone.
As they were whispering, the next wine cup stopped in front of a young man in a grey robe.
He smiled calmly and then stood up, saying, "I happen to have an upper line with numbers as well: One, two, three, four, five, six, seven."
"I invite everyone to provide the lower line."
After speaking, the young man glanced at the crowd, who were all engrossed in thought.
Finally, his gaze landed on Gong Juren, who had just answered.
Upon hearing the upper line, Gong Juren decided to use his method again but was suddenly taken aback.
The numbers went into the tens, and he couldn't continue.
"I get it, let's go backward!"
As he said this and was about to stand up, Su Yu gently pushed him back down.
"One accidental success is enough…" Little Gong was Su Yu's friend, and he didn't want to see him embarrassed.
Then, he explained the rules of couplets to him, clarifying that simply guessing wouldn't lead to a correct answer.
"I'll do it!" This time, Shen Chun had learned his lesson and no longer offered to yield.
He stood up and, with a smile, delivered the lower line: "Filial piety, fraternity, loyalty, trustworthiness, propriety, righteousness, frugality."
After he finished.
The entire hall erupted in cheers.
"As expected of one of the Four Great Talents, I am truly impressed." The young man also clapped his hands in admiration.
His couplet was also an encoded message. The upper line implicitly contained "eight," signifying "wang ba" (a derogatory term, meaning scoundrel), which sounded like "turtle." Shen Chun's lower line implicitly contained "shame," signifying "shamelessness." The parallelism was precise, and the implied meaning was the same, making it an excellent response.
"You are too kind," Shen Chun replied with a humble gesture.
"Amazing, truly a scholar," Zhou Sisi also praised him from the side.
She and Shen Chun had grown up together and were good friends. Seeing her friend shine, she was genuinely happy.
However, her praise caused Gong Juren's eyes to twitch slightly.
He kept glancing at Zhou Sisi, his expression unreadable, his thoughts unknown.
Receiving Zhou Sisi's praise, Shen Chun's face lit up with joy.
He subtly glanced at Gong Juren. Their eyes met, and a subtle tension began to build.
"What's there to be so proud of? If you have the guts, compete with me in singing," Gong Juren muttered softly, withdrawing his gaze.
After listening to Su Yu's explanation, he realized that he had just gotten lucky.
However, seeing Shen Chun hogging the spotlight still bothered him.
Following this, several other people presented couplets.
Shen Chun managed to respond to all of them.
With Wu Xiaomeng intentionally yielding, he truly stole the show during the couplet segment.
Finally.
A wine cup stopped in front of Wu Xiaomeng.
She stood up.
But then she turned to look at Gong Juren.
"I have an upper line and would like to ask this brother to respond," she said, then looked at Shen Chun again.
She mouthed the words, "I'll help you."