Damn it, I'm in the garbage book I wrote

Chapter 697 The senior simply observes the changing world with a smile; it's not that it's impossible.

"Dou'er shuffles the cards."

Dou'er first laid out the cards on the table to show Xia Lin, and then retaliated by shuffling the cards with a clattering sound. While shuffling, he said, "Master, why don't you let Dou'er admit defeat? Dou'er won't bully you anymore."

The onlookers burst into laughter, but Xia Lin simply waved his hand impatiently: "Keep shuffling, shuffle until you're satisfied."

Upon hearing this, Dou'er shuffled the tiles even more diligently, only stopping when the mahjong tiles were warm from shuffling. Then he made a gesture of invitation: "Master."

Xia Lin looked around at the people around him, then smiled and stretched out both hands to flip over two cards at the same time.

"Wow!!! Yaoji, how did you do that?"

"It's amazing!"

"No, no, it's four Ones!"

Xia Lin calmly flipped over the cards with both hands. First, he revealed four One of Bamboo, then four Two of Sticks. At this moment, the onlookers around him exclaimed in amazement.

However, when Xia Lin made this move, Dou'er broke out in a cold sweat. He never expected that his master would be so amazing. He could remember every card after such a long shuffling time. What kind of immortal is he?

This time, Dou'er suddenly remembered that the driver he thought was so powerful was just a subordinate of someone else, who was actually the Chief Inspector of the Bureau of Investigation...

However, as more and more people gathered around, they even overshadowed the two people on stage. After all, most people had a morbid sense of humor; they would rather watch people flip mahjong tiles than watch two pedantic scholars attacking each other.

It has to be said that this mahjong game is truly amazing. This simple game that everyone loves to play to pass the time is played like art in this person's hands.

Xia Lin flipped through all the mahjong tiles in the correct order, from the One of Bamboo to the White Dragon, and the others in the middle. The timing was exactly the same as Dou'er's, which meant that he not only had a clear view of the tiles, but he also had the ability to control the score.

Dou'er sat there looking as if she had been hit, while Xia Lin raised his chin and said, "Still bragging in front of me?"

Dou'er shook her head hastily: "I wouldn't dare..."

But by now, their game had attracted too many people, even neglecting the two scholars on the stage. Shang Anshan walked over, feeling both amused and exasperated. He glanced at them and vaguely felt that the two looked quite familiar, but he couldn't remember where he had seen them before. However, there was no doubt that he had seen them before.

The people around them stopped paying attention to why the two scholars were hosting a dinner party; instead, they started asking Xia Lin how he had mastered this unique skill.

Xia Lin was also very generous. He laughed heartily as he explained to everyone how he did it, and his explanation was effective. The math teacher would be laughing in his dreams.

Shang Anshan, who was standing to the side, was somewhat displeased. He had spent a full ten thousand taels of silver to compete with Lu Yi today and win the title of the number one talent in the capital. Now, his ten thousand taels had been used to hire someone to watch others play mahjong.
After waiting for a while, Shang Anshan coughed and asked, "What else would you all like to play? Could we join in?"

Xia Lin looked up at him and said with a smile, "I'm so sorry, I made a bet with my servants and disturbed Young Master Shang's enjoyment."

"It's alright." Seeing that Xia Lin was understanding, Shang Anshan did not pursue the matter further. Instead, he turned around and went back to the stage, looking around as he said, "I invited everyone here today simply to have you witness something. I have a long-standing feud with Brother Lu, and I would like to take this opportunity to reconcile with him."

“Master, why does he talk so vaguely? If there is a grudge, there is a grudge. What do you mean by making up?”

"Cultural people value gentleness, not force. Although they may yearn to kill their opponent with a single sword strike, resorting to violence would be undignified."

Xia Lin's words made Dou'er overjoyed. At this moment, their first round of magical combat began on the stage. No one was competing in poetry or anything like that, since it would be unseemly to put such things on the stage. So their first match was a contest of painting skills.

Each of the two had a table in front of them, with the Four Treasures of the Study on the table. Then, one of them had to choose a topic, and the two of them would create a painting based on that topic. After that, everyone would judge the painting together.

Before Shang Anshan began, he glanced around and then fixed his gaze on Xia Lin: "Sir, could you please suggest a poem for us?"

"Me?" Xia Lin, still holding half a cucumber in her hand, pointed at herself and asked, "Me?"

Shang Anshan nodded and said, "That's right."

Xia Lin scratched his face: "Then I'll give you a poem."

"That would be wonderful."

After a moment of silence, he cleared his throat and snapped his small fan shut: "Green locust trees and tall willows, cicadas sing their first song. A gentle breeze first touches the strings. Incense smoke curls beneath the green gauze window. The sound of chess startles a midday nap. A light rain passes, lotus leaves flutter. Pomegranate flowers bloom, almost bursting into flame. Delicate hands play with clear spring water in a jade basin. Pearls shatter, then reappear." The two on stage were stunned, and those in the audience who knew their stuff were also visibly startled. Almost everyone looked in Xia Lin's direction, astonished by this perfectly natural and serendipitous creation. Combined with the current season and the lotus pond, moonlight, and the old and new locust trees outside the window, a mere few dozen words evoked a refreshing breeze.

"Good good!"

Startled, Shang Anshan clapped his hands repeatedly: "What a beautiful poem about pomegranate blossoms in full bloom!"

A poem inspired his creative inspiration, and Lu Sheng in front of him seemed to have a picture in front of him as well. Without saying a word, the two of them began to paint.

The scene was very quiet throughout, but many people were secretly observing the senior who was eating a cucumber.

There are descriptions of Xia Lin's appearance in the market, but those are all of his appearance when he was a teenager. Now Xia Lin has changed his clothes and his appearance has changed with the years. No one can recognize him. They just think he is an unknown scholar in white.

It was truly remarkable that a scholar in white could compose such exquisite lyrics so effortlessly. Even the courtesans waiting nearby had already copied them down. You see, if you were to buy such a poem, it would cost hundreds or even thousands of taels of silver. After all, ordinary people couldn't write it, and just inviting those famous scholars to come would cost a considerable sum.

The painting was completed quickly, and the two summer scenes were hung up. Both of them had excellent painting skills, but because Old Zhang had started a very bad trend, he had forcibly separated freehand and meticulous brushwork into two separate categories. Now, freehand brushwork was considered somewhat inferior, and when it came to meticulous brushwork, no one could surpass Old Zhang himself...

Xia Lin stroked his chin and nodded: "They are all well drawn, but in my opinion, Lu Sheng's drawing is better. Shang Anshan's drawing lacks a bit of charm."

"Master...you're so naughty."

Xia Lin didn't respond, but deliberately raised his voice slightly in his evaluation. Even if he pretended to be calm, his inherently wicked nature would never change.

It's important to understand that artistic creation is inherently difficult to evaluate; otherwise, there wouldn't be the saying "there's no first place in literature." But when everyone is hesitant about how to judge it, if someone suddenly steps forward and offers a reasonable evaluation, the whole direction will go astray.

So his words really made people feel awkward no matter how they looked at Shang Anshan's paintings, but they found Lu Sheng's paintings beautiful no matter how they looked at them. Psychological suggestion and the principle of conformity are quite useful at this time.

Of course, there will be different opinions here, but the problem is that artworks cannot be truly judged. After all, they are not comparing the sketches of old men to see who can draw more realistically. There is no standard for imaginative painting.

In the end, Shang Anshan was more magnanimous. After observing the reactions of those around him, he cupped his hands towards Lu Sheng and said, "Brother Lu, since everyone says your painting is good, then I will accept it this time."

Lu Sheng, on the other hand, appeared less dignified at that moment. He gave a cold smile and waved his hand dismissively, saying, "Thank you for your kind offer."

This action lowered Xia Lin's impression of Lu Sheng by twenty percent, but he still didn't say anything. After all, as a professional spectator, he needed to wait until the competition was over before he could speak.

"Since Brother Lu won just now, let Brother Lu set the questions for the second round of the competition."

Shang Anshan spread his hands and said to Lu Sheng, "Please."

Lu Sheng didn't stand on ceremony, and with a cold snort, he said, "Since that's the case, then I won't stand on ceremony."

After Lu Sheng finished speaking, he clapped his hands lightly, and then several songstresses walked to the front of the stage: "The second round, dancing."

Upon hearing the question, Shang Anshan was clearly taken aback. He looked around blankly, and when he saw Xia Lin, his gaze even carried a hint of pleading.

Xia Lin then picked up a cucumber and took a bite, saying in a strange tone, "Dancing in a brothel, this scholar is quite the refined gentleman. I wonder if this brother has any official rank. If he does, the Ministry of Rites will have a good laugh when they find out."

Upon hearing this, Lu Sheng blushed. He indeed had no official rank, but Shang Anshan did. He was a Xiucai (a successful candidate in the county-level imperial examinations) and was going to take the Juren (another successful candidate in the provincial-level imperial examinations) this year. If the Ministry of Rites found out that he, a Xiucai, was dancing in a brothel, although the law wouldn't interfere, the Ministry of Rites would definitely disqualify him.

At this moment, Shang Anshan's expression softened a bit, and he cupped his hands to Xia Lin and said, "This time, Brother Lu chose the topic. Since he has chosen it, I have no choice but to accompany him."

"Why bother? It's not worth it," Xia Lin said slowly. "Your dancing isn't very seductive, and it's boring for us to watch. How about this: back then, Xia Daosheng wrote poems for a group of women at the Tengwang Pavilion, and every one of them has been passed down through the ages. Why don't you follow the example of the predecessors? I think these singing girls are all very beautiful. There are six of them in total. How about each of you write six poems and let everyone judge them?"

Shang Anshan wanted nothing more than to rush over and kiss Xia Lin, who was practically his savior, while Lu Sheng glared at him with eyes full of resentment.

"If you look again, I'll gouge your eyes out!" Xia Lin pointed at Lu Sheng with the wine jug. "Turn around, sir!"

The crowd around him burst into laughter, making Lu Sheng seem rather clueless...

(End of this chapter)